Basketball beat: Kellenberg righting ship?

It's been a season of highs and lows for Kellenberg, which has put together an impressive three-game win streak against steely competition followed by a five-game swoon, and though a win against Monsignor McClancy Sunday is exactly the thing the tempestuous Firebirds need, it's not the only cause on the radar.

Kellenberg takes on McClancy as part of the Tom Crotty Classic at Chaminade. Crotty, a former basketball player at Maria Regina (now Kellenberg) was the managing director at Sandler O'Neill and died in the World Trade Center attacks at the age of 42. He played four years at Marist College.

"His daughter goes to Kellenberg, the whole community gets behind the game," coach Jack McCutcheon said. "It's a game that's more about that community than about winning."

The Kellenberg game is at 1 p.m., and Chaminade later takes on Westhampton at 2:45 p.m. in the John Salvo Invitational.

Even for the game's emotional aspects, Kellenberg is a team looking for the win. The Firebirds, who showed promise after handing out defeats to Farmingdale, South Side and, most notably, St. Anthony's, have struggled in recent weeks and are now 2-4 in the league. Still, the outlook is promising. The team recently returned from a three-day retreat to help them get back on track, McCutcheon said.

"We hope [it] will refocus our efforts in the second half of the season," he said.