10 Dec Kennedy High Eagles Take Flight, Win by 32

Sophomore wing Jalen Kelly unintentionally does his best Air Jordan Jumpman logo impersonation in his Kennedy Eagles’ 56-24 win Friday in Richmond.

Story and photos by Joe Porrello

Kennedy High came out firing on all cylinders against Valley Christian High in Richmond on Friday and pulled away early en route to a 56-24 drubbing.

The Eagles now hold a three-game undefeated streak at Kennedy High. 

“I’m trying to get my team to be more hungry for wins,” said Kennedy senior captain and guard Jayson Scarborough.

 

The Vikings, conversely, are yet to come out on top in a game this season and have lost their first two on the road.

The two schools had not faced off in a boys varsity basketball game for over 20 years.

 

Successful on nine of their first 10 possessions and applying a defensive full court press that stifled Valley Christian, the Eagles built a 19-2 advantage just five minutes into the game.

Scoring on their initial attempt, Valley Christian would only make one more field goal for the rest of the opening frame and finish with six total points. Senior Kennedy captain and forward Tyler Martin’s 11 first quarter points were more than or as many as the Vikings scored together, in any quarter.

 

Valley Christian ratcheted up their own defensive tenacity and outscored the Eagles in the following frame, but a handful of Viking turnovers on offense in the third quarter led to easy layups for Kennedy. 

Going into the final stanza ahead by 26 allowed the Eagles’ reserve players a chance to get on the court and substitutes more minutes of game time.

 

With the score lopsided and an outcome all but decided, clock operators let game time continuously run in the fourth quarter and neither team scored over eight points. 

Helping Kennedy to victory was their assertiveness and physicality, which led to them taking 20 free throws. The Vikings, contrarily, shot only two from the charity stripe.

Almost one-third of Valley Christian’s points came from three-point range (9 of 24), whereas the Eagles only made a single shot from beyond the arc.

 

The game’s high scorers both donned Eagles jerseys. 

Martin led the way with 17 points and his fellow senior captain, Scarborough, chipped in with 14. The pair scored over half their team’s points and more than the Vikings entire roster.

 

Valley Christian has now been outscored by a combined score of 146-43 in their first two bouts after losing their last matchup 90-19. The Vikings hold an overall record of 4-38 since 2022 and have just one league win in that span.

Without a winning overall or league record the last four seasons, the Eagles look to get back to their previous prosperity; from 2014-2019, Kennedy had only one losing league season.

“I’m just trying to get the program back to being respectable,” said Kennedy head coach Michael Booker. “I think we’re heading in the right direction.”

The coach is in his third stint and eighth year with the team, starting in 2003 for five seasons, followed by campaigns in 2019 and 2020.

 

After losing their first four matchups, the Eagles have now won three of their last four. 

“We started off really slow to start the season, but now, we’re whole in terms of players,” said Booker. “We started with eight guys, then kids started trickling in.”

The team now has 14 players on the roster.

He noted the difference between his stints leading Kennedy High, like when there were also junior varsity and freshman teams — neither of which currently exist due to a lack of players.

“We don’t have a lot of guys that have played organized basketball before,” Booker said.

The Eagles look to extend their home winning streak when they take on the Hayward High Farmers in Richmond on Tuesday, Dec. 10. Then, they’ll look to earn their first road win when they begin the Red Brown Tournament against the Archie Williams High Peregrine Falcons on Thursday.