Eagles get first basketball win of the season

On Friday, the day the world was supposed to end according to interpretations of the Mayan calendar, the Kennedy Eagles defeated Stellar Prep High 70-36. Entering the game at 0-7, the Eagles were determined not be turned into winless cosmic dust.

Kennedy came out hot and never trailed the entire game. Using their size and speed against an undermanned Thunder team, they regularly went to the line while building a 35-17 halftime lead.

One first-half highlight was a thunderous dunk by 6’5″ forward Tyrell Chenevert. The trailer on a fast break, the senior grabbed a missed layup off the rim and threw it down with two hands. The crowd went bonkers, especially the Concord High Minutemen who were waiting to play the next game.

“Something in my mind told me he was going to miss the layup,” Chenevert explained, recounting the Lebron James-like moment. “So when I jumped I just grabbed it and was like ‘Yes!’ And I just threw it down.”

Chenevert drew more loud cheers on the very next play when he blocked a shot 15 feet out of bounds. But as the lanky senior came down he rolled his ankle and had to sit the remainder of the game. Chenevert finished the game with six points.

The game was played at Salesian High and was part of the 1st Annual Salesian-De Anza Holiday Classic. The event featured 12 teams from the Bay Area.

Eagles head coach Dewayne Hoskin told his players at halftime he was proud of his entire team and thought they were finally playing selfless basketball. But one area of concern was how his big men were not distributing the ball, he said.

Assistant coach Reggie Figgs told his low post players catching and swinging the ball to the other side was like eating a hamburger. “When you eat a hamburger you take small bites,” he told his players in the locker room. “You don’t put the whole thing in your mouth. Let’s take a bite to the left. A bite down low and then the burger is gone. It’s easier [to score] that way.”

In the second half Kennedy’s big men saw the open court and limited Stellar Prep’s offense to one shot each time down the court.

“We’ve been putting in a lot work in practice,” said big man Jose Trujillo after the game. “We’ve been doing a lot of post moves, boxing out, and it paid off today on the court. Coach said hard work pays off and we came out today and played a hell of a game.”