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Sports

It Takes a While to Get Going, but Corona del Mar Finally Topples Kennedy, 49-43

Sea Kings shake off slow start to defeat Fighting Irish and advance to Tuesday's quarterfinals of the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA boys basketball playoffs.

After a sluggish start, Corona del Mar High’s boys basketball team took control of the game in the second quarter as they got past Kennedy, 49-43, in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division 3AA playoffs on Friday night at Corona del Mar High.

Midway through the second quarter neither team had been able to get much going offensively, as the Sea Kings held a 17-13 lead. But a three-pointer by senior guard Keegan Jackosky seemed to spark Corona del Mar as it led to an 11-4 run to end the quarter.

Marcus Bradley finished a break with a slam dunk that pushed the lead to 22-13. Kennedy answered with four consecutive points, but senior guard Danny Cheek put the Sea Kings back in control. His baseline drive and reverse layup gave Corona del Mar a 24-17 lead and his fall-away jumper a minute later made it 26-17.

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“At the beginning of the game we just did not come out strong enough,” Cheek said.

But the Sea Kings upped their intensity after that. Cheek finished the quarter with an uncontested layup off a Sea King defensive stop and long lead pass to Cheek up court. After a free throw early in the fourth quarter, Cheek hit a three-pointer that pushed the lead to 32-17 at 7:01 of the fourth quarter.

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Bradley led the Sea Kings with 20 points, while Cheek had 14 and senior point guard Clayton Ragsdale added eight. Kennedy did respond with an 11-3 run in the fourth quarter to cut its deficit to 35-28, but could not get closer than five points the rest of the way

Corona del Mar coach Ryan Schachter said his team played well in spurts but missed shots and early turnovers hurt them. He also noted the early struggles, but credited Kennedy’s defense with creating problems for his team.

“I think we were a little too hyped up, but I also think we didn’t do a good job moving the ball and attacking the holes in the zone,” Schachter said. “They figured it out though. They did enough.”

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