Passaic County Tournament Boys Semifinals: Kennedy 72, Wayne Valley 64

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Wayne Valley led by 7 with just 3 minutes left, but could not hold on. The Indians turned the ball over three times in those final minutes - twice on five second inbound violations and once on a 10-second back court violation.

“I thought both of those five-second calls were quick and shouldn’t have been called,” said Wayne Valley head coach Joe Leicht. “But give Kennedy the credit; they continued to battle every single possession on both ends of the floor. I thought we took a couple of ill-advised shots late and it cost us. If you told me that we would have a seven-point lead and the ball with less than four minutes to play, I’d be pretty confident that we’re going to win the game, but it didn’t turn out that way.”

Kennedy's Shondel Stewart exploded for 38 points. Dawan Lighty added 26 points.

"They both played great," Leicht said. "Stewart has the stats to prove it. Lighty is underrated. He can make a three if don't play him and he can also drive to the basket."

Valley was hampered badly down the stretch by foul trouble. Both starting guards, Jason Rosenberg and Tom Larranaga, were saddled with four fouls apiece and could not play as aggressively when it counted most.

"We were in the double bonus and they were in foul trouble," Lighty said. "That made a huge difference. We were able to aggressively drive to the basket because we knew they couldn't foul us. Wayne Valley is a really good team. We knew it wasn't going to be easy. We couldn't get them rattled. We just kept playing our game and when we got them in foul trouble we were in good shape."

"I have a lot of respect for Joe (Leicht) and his team," Kennedy coach Jim Ring said. "It was obvious that we were going to have to make them work for everything they got. I think that aggressiveness really started to pay off at the end."

Nick Siljee led Wayne Valley (15-8) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Jason Rosenberg recorded 13 points, 12 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. Andrew Herasimtschuk and Tom Larranaga contributed 11 and 10 points respectively. Larranaga also grabbed 8 rebounds. Keith Greve also had 8 boards. Mark Tucker grabbed 5 rebounds. Many more details, quotes and photos to come.