A Throwback, Somers defeats Kennedy Catholic in Mike DePaoli Basketball Tournament

In the previous century, when Somers and JFK (Kennedy Catholic) matched up, bragging rights made the competing campuses sizzle, and as the son of Somers basketball coach Mike DePaoli, Gerard DePaoli recalled the times at the tournament that bears his father’s name. “It was a little more wild, I remember the way it used to be,” said the 1982 grad on Saturday December 16, and so maybe with a little nostalgia in mind, the Kennedy Catholic-Somers rivalry has been reborn.

A tight game into the third quarter, the first round went to the Tuskers by a score of 65-43, but despite the lopsided finish, Nate Cohen sees a possible return to the past. “Maybe we could get a nice back and forth between the town and schools,” the senior said.

The guard would also start the scoring. Going around a screen, Cohen pulled up and hit a short jumper.

Long was on the agenda for Somers, though. Kennedy had a height advantage across the board, and Sebastian Jackson’s jumper at guard towered over any of his defenders in the back or front court.

Adding some pretty quick feet on Kennedy’s part, Somers' game plan meant being a step ahead. “Moving the ball throughout helped spread their defense apart and this allowed us to get into the lanes,” said Cohen.

The Tuskers didn’t wait to get started either. Jacob Hauser took the inbound, kicked to Cohen, and he ran the pick and roll with Chris Spano. The opening in place, the forward went glass and gave Somers a 4-2 lead.

The boys could do it from the outside too. Andrew Violante to Hauser to Brady Leitner in the corner, and the net had good company with 3:58 left in the first.

Kennedy’s 6’7” power forward, on the other hand, couldn’t say the same of his hosts. Plenty of height on Mike Cunningham, he got a lesson on boxing out from the much shorter Hauser, and the ball in hand, the Tusker carried on the continuing education. The senior quickly shoveled to Leitner, and he went coast to coast to build a 10-5 lead.

But it’s still hard to keep good men down. Cunningham muscled a put back, and dunked off a half court steal, and adding in a Jackson three, the Gaels took a 14-10 lead at the buzzer.

No apologies for going glass, Kennedy’s even bigger man got schooled on the boards to start the second. A long seven feet, Anthony Mann stood no chance versus the aggressive offensive bound by Matthew D’Ippolito, and that cued Leitner up for another three ball.

Then Tuskers gave the Gaels a little postgraduate study in ball movement. D’Ippolito drove baseline, threaded to Hauser in the paint, and completely surrounded, his kick to the corner allowed Philip Santore to drill the analytics. Bang, the sweet arc for three was all swish.

Undeterred, Kennedy kept it a back and forth. Cunningham rolled to the hoop on the post up, and after Leitner drilled a pop and shoot, Jackson got one from the line.

An 18-18 game at 5:38, Somers had a game plan on defense too. We tried to stay in front of them on the inside and out, said Hauser.

On point, Leitner kept Jackson contained on the way up court, and the ensuing pick and roll with Cunningham drew a herd of elephants to force the miss at the rim.Still, Kennedy took a 22-19 on Luke Stephan’s three.

But Somers would win the rest of the quarter. First, Hauser’s baseline drive yielded two at the line, and Leitner did most of the closing. His steal led to an easy layup, and after Violante dropped a three, the Somers guard completed the fast break for a 28-23 halftime lead.

Jackson did open with a deuce to start the third, but not before long, Kennedy was readying to head back across town. Violante got to the line for two, got two more on the steal and left it to Cohen to open a 35-25 lead with his corner three.

Leitner then put his stamp on the Kennedy shuttle. Ahead of the break, he passed back to Hauser for the short jumper, nailed a pull up, and his diving steal sent Cohen in for a 41-28 lead.

Kennedy mostly cooked at this point, the icon’s son was attuned just like the current players and coaches. “Kennedy came out with a lot of speed and pressure, but once Somers figured that out in the second half, they dominated,” said DePaoli.

A recipe that would have warmed his father’s heart. “This is exactly what he would love,” concluded DePaoli.

On Friday night versus Tappan Zee, Somers fell 55-52 when Leitner’s last second shot went off the front rim.