JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — On January 17th, the Bishop Kenny Crusaders (14-3) took on their rival the Bolles School (10-5) at home in front of a packed gymnasium.
The Crusaders started the game with a lot of energy in their tanks. Junior point guard Daniel Buckley (Bishop Kenny) was a spark from the jump on offense and defense. Knocking down shots from beyond the arc and then sacrificing his body to get charges called on the Bulldogs. His efforts helped the Crusaders get the early lead of 15-9 at the end of the first quarter.
The Bulldogs won the second quarter 16-7. Junior guard Richie Rosenblum (Bolles) helped the Bulldogs take the lead with his contributions of 8 points. While Garrett Beagle (Bishop Kenny) matched Rosenblum’s 8 points.
Coming out of the locker room Bolles went on a 9-0 run. The Crusaders found themselves down by as many as 14 points in the third quarter and sophomore guard Ben McGraw (Bolles) was to blame. The right corner three pointer was McGraw’s happy place. 6 of his 13 points were scored during the third quarter from that spot. Ending score after three: 42-28 Bolles.
Just when Bolles believed they had ran away in this rivalry game, sophomore center Ross Candelino (Bishop Kenny), turned up his energy level. Candelino dropped two big three pointers in the last five minutes of regulation to help bring the Crusaders within seven and took a charge. That energy sparked the rest of his team and at the end of regulation, the score was tied at 50 and headed to overtime.
In overtime Beagle (Bishop Kenny) scored 6 of the 11 points in OT. Beagle even played wide receiver in the last couple of seconds of the game to help put the Crusaders up by five. Bishop Kenney ended up winning in OT 61-58 and the students stormed the court. Garrett Beagle (Bishop Kenny) scored a game high 18 points, Candelino (Bishop Kenny) had 15 points. McGraw had a team high 15 points for Bolles.
