ORANGE COUNTY PREP BASKETBALL : Empire League : Kennedy Starts Quickly, Then Slows as Katella Wins, 45-42

For three quarters Friday night, the Kennedy High School basketball team ran and drove and pushed its way to a 10-point lead over Empire League-leading Katella.

But as quickly as you could say stop, Kennedy did, scoring just two points in the fourth quarter. At about the same time, Katella regained its failed shooting touch, outscored Kennedy, 15-2, in the quarter and won the Empire League game, 45-42.

“We beat them for three quarters,” said John Mayberry, Kennedy coach. “But we just slowed down in the fourth quarter. That’s not our game.”

Kennedy’s game for the first three quarters was a blur of bodies and a single-mindeness to drive the ball to its basket at every opportunity.

Leading this head-first charge was Kennedy’ Mike Keith and Wendell Lauderdale. Keith, a hefty 6-foot 3-inch, 195-pound forward, shot the ball whenever open. On more than one occasion he got a rebound and drove the length of the floor for a basket. He finished with 12 points, but his aggressiveness set the tone for Kennedy.

Lauderdale, a 6-0 whippet of a guard, spent most of his time passing off and stealing the ball. If Keith wasn’t pushing the ball up the court like the buzzer was about to sound, then Lauderdale would.

Mayberry used 10 players to keep this sprint offense in order, and after the third quarter Kennedy led, 40-30.

Then rolled around the fourth quarter, at which point Kennedy ceased to move.

“I don’t know what happened,” Mayberry said. “We weren’t making things happen at the end. We just seemed to stop. Maybe we were intimidated.”

Katella did come into this game 10-0 in league play, 18-2 overall and ranked No. 3 in the county. The Knights didn’t play like it.

“That might be the worst we’ve played for three quarters this season,” said Tom Danley, Katella coach. “But what can I say. We’ll take it. We’re lucky. I feel fortunate to come away from this with a win.”

Katella’s main problem lay with its outside shooting. With Kennedy packed in a tight zone to defend 6-8 center Richard Lucas, Katella’s perimeter players were unable to connect on their outside shots.

As Katella slumped from the outside, Kennedy outscored the Knights 31-18 in the second and third quarters.

But in the fourth quarter, with Kennedy slumping, Katella finally started to move. The Knights scored 10 unanswered points in the first five minutes of the quarter to tie the scored at 40-40. Tom Villanueva, who led Katella in scoring with 12, had six points in the five-minute run.

Keith scored on a drive to put Kennedy ahead, 42-40. But Katella went ahead for good, 43-42, when Ian Donnelly made two free throws.

Keith had a chance to change all that with three seconds left when he stepped to the free-throw line for a one-and-one opportunity. But a controversey over whether Kennedy was in a bonus situation made him wait for about five minutes. After the matter was ironed out, Keith, a 70% free-throw shooter, missed short.

“I’m sure that wait had something to do with it,” Mayberry said.

Brett Smith made two free throws with one second left to put Katella ahead, 45-42.

“I guess things just finally flowed our way,” Danley said.

Pacifica 75, Esperanza 72 (OT)--Rob Nay scored with 15 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime at Esperanza. Rich Gammalo then stole the ball but the Ross Harvey missed the front end of a one-and-one.

The Mariners made 6 of 8 free throws in overtime. Mike Short scored 26 for Pacifica (5-4).

Alan Bruce scored 15 and Brian Merry scored 14 for Pacifica.

Nay led the Aztecs (4-5, 6-12) with 23 points and Harvey scored 22 for Esperanza. Nay had 17 rebounds and Harvey 9.

Los Alamitos 82, Cypress 52--The Griffins (9-1, 17-4) used their fastbreak to rout the Centurions (4-6, 7-12) at Cypress. Guard Ryan Blossey led Los Alamitos with 20 points, Mo Warner added 17, Doug Wadleigh had 13 points and 13 rebounds and point guard Mark Parkinson had 16 assists.

Frantz Reyes had 15 points, only one coming in the second half, and 12 rebounds to lead Cypress.

Loara 63, El Dorado 54--Center Ara Amerkhanian led the Saxons past the Golden Hawks for their first league victory in two years. The 6-foot 3-inch junior scored 26 points and had 11 rebounds as Loara improved its league record to 1-9 and overall record 3-14. Forward Todd Eaton added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Saxons. Brian Cardenas led El Dorado with 15.