by Warren Kozireski
Their last boys basketball Section V championship came 13 years ago in 2000 when the Eagles won the Class CC crown.
They entered this postseason seeded fifth in Class CCC and defeated fourth seed Dundee on the road 46-38 before upsetting top seed Naples 61-51 in a game played at Victor.
That earned the Eagles a trip to the Big House – the Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial – where they fell to second seed Clyde-Savannah 72-28 in the championship game.
Kendall had difficulty with the press employed by the Golden Eagles and quickly fell behind 9-0 before Jonah Dalcin hit a lay-up and Mookie Nauden a three-pointer in consecutive trips to pull them within four points of the lead.
That was the closest they would get as the Eagles managed just nine more points in the first half and 14 more in the second.
“We weren’t able to maintain our composure the first three or four minutes of the game and our body language changed and we were never able to recover from that,” Kendall head coach Justin Laureano said.
“We started the season off with a lot of suspensions and different situations; we were able to learn from them and believe in each other and act like team and trust one another and that’s why we got to the finals.”
Dan Kelly led Kendall with seven points with Dalcin adding six and both Nauden and Garret Love scoring five points. Love also pulled down a team-high ten rebounds.
Dalcin and Kelly were named to the Class CCC All-Tournament Team while Dustin Furness was awarded the Ted Bondi Memorial Sportsmanship Plaque, presented to a player on each finalist team who best exemplifies good sportsmanship on and off the court.
The Eagles finished the season with a 12-9 record with starters Kelly and Dalcin along with other seniors Mathew Edick, Evan Christenson, Dan Price and Jake Bailey all completing their high school basketball eligibility.
