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Kennedy steps up to help Spring-Ford boys past North Penn

12/04/2024, 9:00am EST
By Matthew Allibone

By Matthew Allibone (@bad2theallibone)
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Jack Kennedy’s emergence for the Spring-Ford boys’ basketball team might seem like a surprise to some.

Just not to him.

The junior helped the Rams earn a come-from-behind 48-34 home win over North Penn in their season opener Tuesday night with 10 key points. It was the varsity debut for Kennedy, who transferred to Spring-Ford from Malvern Prep in the offseason.


Jack Kennedy (above) scored 10 points in his Spring-Ford debut. (Photo: Matthew Allibone/CoBL)

Star senior Jacob Nguyen led Spring-Ford with 17 points, but Kennedy helped keep the Rams afloat with several important buckets when they were floundering in the first three quarters. For a team with several key returnees from a squad that went 25-8 and reached the state quarterfinals, Kennedy’s presence was eye opening.

“He’s obviously been a really pleasant surprise,” Spring-Ford head coach Joe Dempsey said. “We only got word back in the summer he was transferring back here so we didn’t know what to expect. But he’s played really well and has been a nice addition for us.”

Kennedy didn’t surprise himself Tuesday night.

“I’ve been getting worked into the rotation all preseason so I knew my role,” Kennedy said. “I’ve gotten really close with the guys and I feel the chemistry coming. I feel really good.”

But Kennedy’s role wasn’t guaranteed this summer.

A 6-foot shooting guard with a nice shooting touch and sneaky quickness, Kennedy attended the Spring-Ford Area School District until seventh grade. He started JV for Malvern Prep as a sophomore but didn’t get many varsity minutes.

He said he decided to come back to his home school district this summer because he missed the friends he’d grown up with. But he was also rejoining a basketball program stocked with returning talent and determined up-and-comers waiting for their opportunity.

Kennedy didn’t get the chance to share the court with his new teammates until open gyms in the fall.

“I’m very protective of our summer league team. Anybody can’t play summer league with us,” Dempsey said. “I didn’t really get to know Jack until fall. But things are very organic at Spring-Ford. We had 30 to 40 kids coming to open gym and he proved he could hold his own.”

Early on Tuesday, most of the Rams looked like they couldn’t hold their own with a clearly improved North Penn team coming off a 10-12 season.

Spring-Ford needed a 6-0 run to take a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter. But the Rams scored just three baskets in the second quarter and trailed 19-17 at the break. Point guard Ahmaar Godhania paced North Penn all night and finished with 17 points.

Nguyen couldn’t find his shooting stroke and had just five points. He called it “one of the worst first halves in Spring-Ford history.”

While Nguyen was confident his team would snap out of the funk, Dempsey was more concerned. For the longtime coach, his team’s struggles amounted to not being patient and looking for the best possible shots.

“I was very disappointed in out guys in the first half, and I let them know my thoughts at halftime,” Dempsey said. “We weren’t working the ball around. We were shooting after one pass. We were giving them extra possessions and falling into playing how they wanted to play and not how we wanted to play. That’s not how we went 53-12 the last two seasons. Our guys weren’t trusting me and that was surprising for a team with a bunch of seniors. I told them you’re going to miss some shots and assignments, but you have to pass the ball.”

The game remained a back-and-forth affair for most of the third quarter. That was when Kennedy shined the most, with three key buckets where he got to the rim in transition.

The Rams still trailed by four nearly midway through the period but finished on a 13-2 run to take a seven-point lead into the fourth quarter. Junior guard Syaire Barnes only scored five points on the night but had two important buckets, a 3-pointer to extend the lead and a driving floater before the buzzer, during this stretch.

Nguyen had only seven points entering the fourth but heated up with 10 points in the final frame to put the game away. Fellow senior standout Tom Kelly finished with 10 points.

“Tonight was important because Jacob is going to receive attention (from opposing teams),” Dempsey said. “Where are you going to be when he’s double teamed? Are you going to find yourself standing and watching and waiting for him to perform magic? Teams with one scorer don’t go far. If you have two in high school basketball you can be good and if you have three you can maybe be great.”

Spring-Ford hosts reigning Class 6A finalist Parkland on Friday. The Rams are hoping Tuesday’s rough first half was a lesson to be learned in what will be another long and successful season.

“We’re going to be fine,” Nguyen said. “The first half was so slow like there was a lid on the rim. We just have to think about the next shot and not the past.”

By quarter
Spring-Ford 11-6-15-16-48

North Penn 10-9-6-9-34

Scoring
Spring-Ford: Nguyen 17, Kelly 10, Kennedy 10, Barnes 5, Marsilio 4, Turner 2

North Penn: Godhania 17, Atkinson 10, Martin 4, Hammond 3


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