A Short-Lived Celebration

After Leading Gonzaga to Win, Kenyi Quickly Looks Ahead

With his team's championship victory secure, Gonzaga forward Max Kenyi broke into a brief smile as he congratulated a few teammates. Kenyi had made 13 of 16 shots, scored a game-high 30 points and played stiff defense on one of the best players in the Washington area last night in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 5,000 at American University.

But by the time the rest of top-ranked Gonzaga's players took the celebration to the locker room with the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference championship trophy, Kenyi was no longer thinking about the Eagles' thrilling 71-63 victory over eighth-ranked O'Connell.

"We answered our critics and accomplished our goal," Kenyi said. "I'm pretty excited, but the season is not over. We've still got some things to accomplish."

That would be next week's City Title game and a mid-March trip to the Alhambra Catholic Invitational Tournament, at which Gonzaga (30-1) hopes to add to the hardware it took home last night as it continued the best season in school history.

It was a game played at a high level throughout, with Kenyi and O'Connell All-Met guard Jason Clark doing much of the work. One night after spraining his right ankle, Clark had 19 points in the first half on 7-of-7 shooting. But as good as the Georgetown-bound Clark was, the Harvard-bound Kenyi was equally tough, making 12 consecutive shots as he more than doubled his season scoring average of 13.2 points and came within one point of his career high.

"He seized the moment," Gonzaga Coach Steve Turner said. "He understood. He knew he had to step up big and took advantage of the opportunity. He didn't force the issue."

Gonzaga never trailed, but never led by a comfortable margin. Each time the Eagles put together a brief run, O'Connell (25-6) responded.

Kenyi gave Gonzaga its biggest advantage, 55-45, early in the fourth quarter after he drove the right baseline for one basket then made a jumper from the right side. But sophomore guard Kendall Marshall, who committed to North Carolina before the season, countered for the Knights with a three-pointer, a free throw and then a layup following a steal by Clark, making it 55-51. Marshall finished with 19 points.

Gonzaga sophomore guard Tyler Thornton finished with 13 points, including a crucial late steal that led to a pair of free throws, and Cedrick Lindsay had 11 and senior forward Cameron Johnson added 10. But perhaps even more important than Gonzaga's offense was its ability to slow Clark in the second half. Clark took only five shots over the final two quarters as he was hounded by Kenyi and others and finished with 26 points.

No. 1 Gonzaga 71 No. 8 O'Connell 63

Up Next: Gonzaga will play D.C. public school champion Theodore Roosevelt in the City Title game, on March 4 at Verizon Center at 7:30 p.m.

JT3&G: Georgetown Coach John Thompson III -- a 1984 Gonzaga graduate -- waved a purple 'G' hat from the Bender Arena balcony.