The Kennedy Knights boys hoop squad, playing for the Bronx and the memory of fallen teammate Andre “Pops” Davidson who died last summer during a pickup game, could only hold off the Lincoln Railsplitter juggernaut and history for so long.
After closing to within two points of the Railsplitters toward the end of the first half, Kennedy could not contain superstar senior Lance Stephenson’s team in the second half, and Lincoln cruised to a 78-56 victory in the city championship game at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, March 21.
It was Stephenson’s and Lincoln’s fourth title in as many years.
It was a tough, but not surprising loss for Kennedy, which had only lost one game all season and had won 15 in a row going into the championship. But Lincoln is incredibly big and athletic and Stephenson is widely regarded as the best player in the city. It would have been a huge upset, one of the biggest in city history, if the Knights had won.
Kennedy graduates four of its top players, leaving junior guards Naquan Pierce and Jeffrey Short to pick up the slack.
—with various news reports and Adi Talwar
admin
Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.