Kingston girls lose in Disney tourney
Commack hands Tigers first loss of season, 48-39, in KSA Classic Pre-Holiday Tournament in Florida
Kingston High battled through foul trouble, but lost its first girls basketball game of the season Friday, losing to Long Island school, Commack, 48-39, in the semifinals of the KSA Classic PreHoliday Tournament at the Wide World of Sports complex at Walt Disney World.
The (2-1) Tigers conclude their Florida trip Saturday with a 10:30 a.m. game. Kingston heads home Sunday morning. Kingston opened tournament play on Thursday with a 65-23 victory St. Francis-Phoenix School from Ontario, Canada.
Commack, which went 21-3 last season, jumped out to a nine-point lead in the first quarter.
“Their defense made it a frantic pace for us. We did not play our game,” Kingston coach Steve Garner said. “We definitely settled down in the second and third quarters and started playing defense.”
The Tigers’ starting front line of Chloe Chaffin, Jaid Harrell and Lanasia Dorsey were in foul trouble. Dorsey had three fouls in the first half, picked up her fourth early in the second half and fouled out in the final period.
Chaffin had 16 points, Harrell scored eight and Nicole Spinelli connected for 11 as Kingston fought through the foul situation to back into the game. The Tigers trailed by only one points at halftime and were down three heading into the fourth quarter. The (3-0) Cougars, however, hit three critical 3-point field goals to pull away.
Guards Katie Kelly and Casey Hearns scored 18 and 11 points, respectively, to lead Commack. COMMACK (48)—Hearns 3 5-8 11, Kelly 6 3-5 18, Shalhoub 2 0-0 5, Ferraro 0 2-2 2, McMahon 2 1-2 5, Maline 1 0-1 2, Rosenoff 2 1-2 5. Totals 16 12-20 48. KINGSTON (39)—Burke 1 0-0 2, Spinelli 4 1-1 11, Dorsey 0 1-5 1, A. Cook 0 1-2 1, Chaffin 5 5-8 16, Harrell 2 3-3 8. Totals 12 11-19 39. Commack 15 6 10 17—48 Kingston 9 11 8 11—39 3-point field goals: Kelly 3, Shalhoub; Spinelli 2, Chaffin, Harrell. Team records: Commack 3-0; Kingston 2-1.