Hawks make inaugural tourney a festive one J.P Stevens girls defend home court with tournament win BY SHAWN LAYTON Staff Writer EDISON — The J.P. Stevens High School girls basketball team won its inaugural John P. Stevens Holiday Tournament with wins over Keyport and South Plainfield. "We used to travel to Elizabeth for its tournament," Stevens head coach Andy Eng said. "After it dissolved it was either we look for a new tournament or hold our own, so we made our own tournament. We had good crowds for both games despite the afternoon tip-offs." The Hawks knocked off Keyport in the opening round, 71-53. Stevens outscored Keyport 29-7 in the second quarter to cost into the locker room with a 46-16 advantage Keyport wouldn’t overcome despite a well-played third quarter. Senior Tania Kennedy scored 14 of her team-high 20 points in the second quarter and dished out 10 assists to finish with a double double. Kennedy is averaging just over 21 points a contest. Senior Amy Bonk was one of four Hawks to finish in double figures as she ended with 16 points, one above her season average, and five rebounds. Classmate Jamie Gonzales enjoyed her best offensive game with 11 and sophomore guard Kathryn Ruhno poured in 12. Ruhno also finished with five rebounds and three assists. "Jamie has been coming on strong as of late," Eng said. "She’s really starting to show some senior leadership." As usual, Caitlyn Seamster did a nice job cleaning the glass as she tallied 10 boards against Keyport and eight in the title game . She’s currently second on the team with 6.8 rebounds per game. "Caitlyn has been doing a stellar job on the defensive end," Eng said. "She’s playing well underneath." Fellow sophomore Brittany Mullings is the current team leader with 7.2 boards a game. Mullings grabbed five rebounds in the tournament’s opening round and led the team with nine in the finals. She scored five points in each tournament game. "Brittany has also been playing well defensively," Eng said. "Brittany’s been a solid rebounder for us and a team leader." The Hawks capitalized on a strong start in the title game to hold off South Plainfield 50-37. As in the opening round game, Stevens jumped out to an early lead and its opponent couldn’t successfully chip away. South Plainfield was only outscored by one point in the second half, but the 24-12 advantage for Stevens at the half was all that was needed. Kennedy paced the Hawks with 19 points and Bonk finished with 13. "The win over South Plainfield was a total team effort," Eng said. "We played a tough team. South Plainfield is very scrappy. We were fortunate to get off to a 14-7 lead that we were able to maintain." The Hawks are currently 5-0 and are set to host cross-town rival Edison High School tomorrow. Game time is set for 7 p.m. On Saturday Stevens will play host to East Brunswick for a 1 p.m. showdown. "We are where we should be at this point in the season," Eng said "There are some areas that we still need to work on and this weeks looks to be a busy and competitive week for us."