Staff photo / Brian Yauger JFK’s Henry Phillips falls as he puts up a shot during the Eagles’ regional semifinal tilt against Norwalk St. Paul in Barberton.

BARBERTON — After losing four seniors who defined a program, Kennedy went into the 2024-25 campaign with the same expectations as normal. With a lineup that had one returning starter, however, that wasn’t going to be easy.

Now they’re back where last season ended, the regional title game, after dispatching Norwalk St. Paul, 64-51, in the back half of Tuesday’s regional twinbill in Barberton.

“It’s really exciting to be going back and for this group of kids to get this one under their belt means a lot,” Eagles coach Mark Komlanc said. “I know we have some guys who played in this setting before, but aside from Nick (Ryan), everybody was kind of role players and I thought today everybody stepped up at the right time.

“One of our mottos is ‘Grabbing greatness’ and making sure that we’re wearing teams down. We felt like at halftime, we were in a good spot. We could wear them down, we continue to push the pace and pressure the crap out of them, and our guys really buy into that. We made it interesting at the end, but yeah. I’m really, I’m ecstatic for them, because they’ve earned this.”

Entering Tuesday’s game, Nick Ryan only needed 18 points to reach 1,900 career points.

He did it in the first half.

Ryan, who finished with 24, scored 19 before halftime to help pull his team out of an early hole, and cross that threshold. Ryan is the lone returning starter from last year’s team, and the obvious focal point of the offense.

“He’s special,” Komlanc said. “He makes my job a heck of a lot easier and beyond basketball, he’s just a great kid. He picks everybody up. He makes everybody around him better. … Today, he had to feel it out a little bit but when it was time for him to step up and carry us a little bit, he did that.”

As the defense keyed in on Ryan, it left things open for other Eagles to step in.

Henry Phillips got his moment.

Phillips, a junior, finished with 20 points on the night.

Just from the beginning of the season to now, he’s grown leaps and bounds.

“He’s been stepping up,” Komlanc said. “Nick gets so much attention, that kind of opens things up for Henry. But what people don’t realize is he’s not just a shooter. I was really, really hard on him early in the season. He was bad at making layups. He shot a layup once in practice and I think I lost my mind, but he’s really bought into improving that part of his game and he’s shooting really well. If you come out to take away the 3, he’s making the smart decision. He’s attacking and he’s finishing at the rim and a lot of the time he’s getting to the free throw line.”

If this season had a theme, it’d be about emerging from the shadows.

Kennedy’s class of 2024 left an impact on the school’s athletic program that few classes can claim.

Instead of trying to recreate that magic, they’ve emerged to carve their own path.

“They wrote their legacy. I think a lot of people expected this to be a down year for us, but they just keep winning,” Komlanc said. There was never any doubt in my mind that they could do it and that they would do it. Just for years, they were just kind of in the shadows. And we talked about that at the beginning of the year. This was a season about coming out of the shadows and all the hard work and the effort and the roleplaying that they had to do throughout their previous three years. They stepped out, and the spotlight wasn’t too big for them.”

The Eagles have a chance to surpass last year’s squad Friday when they take on Cornerstone Christian in Barberton. Start time is set for 7 p.m.