Sheepshead Bay

Kearney upsets St. Edmund Prep in regular season finale

February 18, 2015 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Bishop Kearney senior Jen Kaye helped lead her team in an upset of the previously undefeated St. Edmund Prep with 24 points including eight in the fourth quarter. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese
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The Bishop Kearney Tigers pulled off a stunning upset, beating the previously undefeated St. Edmund Prep Eagles 51-48 behind a tremendous 24-point performance from senior Jen Kaye in Sheepshead Bay on Monday.

“This was a big game,” said Kearney head coach Rocco Sellitto. “It was supposed to be at our place, and then we couldn’t find a neutral gym. We didn’t want to play [at St. Edmunds Prep], but we had to play somewhere, and I knew that, even if we lost, to come to their gym and play them right before the playoffs would be a great test for us.”

Kaye had a game-high 24 points, Emily Bosiazki had 12 and Tara O’Keefe had eight for Kearney. Alexandra Jacques led St. Edmund Prep with 18, Kelly O’Donnell had 10 and Kellie O’Neill had nine.

This was a close game throughout the entire 32 minutes. The two teams were tied after one, Kearney led 24-20 at halftime and they were up 38-37 going into the fourth.

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Despite that slim lead, St. Edmund Prep appeared to have all of the momentum headed into the fourth after Alexandra Jacques scored nine points in the third and Kelly O’Donnell hit a shot at the buzzer to make it a one-point game.

Kaye — who has interest from St. Peter’s and Fairleigh Dickinson and an offer from St. Joseph’s Brooklyn — took over the game in the fourth quarter as she scored eight of her 24 points. She was the one who tied it at 48-48 and put Kearney up 50-48 on a putback with 15.9 seconds left. She also played strong defense down low and limited St. Edmund to just three field goals in the fourth.

“It was going to come down to who wanted it more, who was going to dive for loose balls, who was going to do whatever they could to win this game, and that’s why we won,” Kaye said. “We wanted this more than them.”

The win clinched second place in the Brooklyn/Queens Girls Catholic High School Athletic Association for Kearney (11-9 overall and 9-3 vs. CHSAA teams), and it kept St. Edmund Prep (15-3 and 11-1) from completing an undefeated season against league opponents.

Kearney’s head coach played down the significance of handing St. Edmund its first loss, saying the fact that it won a big game just before the playoffs was the most important thing.

“This win gives our team a chance to see what it is capable of doing,” Sellitto said. “We’ve had some rough patches this year. It’s a young team. We have a core of seniors, but we also have three sophomores who get a lot of minutes so it’s big for them to know how good they can be and to have momentum heading into the playoffs.”

“Now we know, headed into the playoffs, that if we can beat a strong team like this, then we can beat anybody that comes our way,” Kaye added.


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