HERSHEY -- With the suspense long since removed from Friday’s PIAA Class A championship game, the Kennedy Christian High boys basketball team commenced crunching numbers, while crushing Fairfield, 87-45, at Hersheypark Arena.

En route to collecting its fourth consecutive commonwealth crown, the Golden Eagles etched the program in PIAA annals, joining the Billy Owens/Jeff Lebo-led Carlisle teams of 1985-88 as the only cage contingents - boys or girls, regardless of classification -- to earn four straight state titles.

"When you win a state championship, it’s the same feeling as all the other ones, but I guess it’s a little bit special becaus we happened to do it four times in a row,"head coach Joe Votino (421-126) summarized after earning his sixth state title during his 19-year tenure.

"This truly is a great team,"Votino praised. "They’ve worked so hard, and I told them before the game: They deserve, they deserve to win today and they deserve to tie the state record. I really believe that.

Senior Keenan Christiansen concluded his career with a game-high 27-point performance, and took his place alongside Owens as what is believed to be the only twosome in state-wide schoolboy annals to earn four gold medals. Christiansen’s 9-for-16 shooting performance included a handful of 3-point field goals, extending his Mercer County single-season (104) and career (274) marks, and he ended sixth in all-time county career scoring with 1,547 points.

"Unbelievable!" Votino gushed. "If you want to know why he’s such a great player, you ought to come and watch one of his workouts in the offseason. They’re about three hours long; they’re brutal. He shoots 1,000 shots a day - I’m not kidding.

"Keenan came out and he wanted this bad. He was on fire!" Votino understated.

Perhaps most impressive of all the numbers put up by Christiansen and senior classmates Gary Satterwhite, Nick George and Tony Rossi was this: 111-14. That was the aggregate won-lost record of the four title teams they were part of during their scholastic cage careers.

"It was all hard work. For four years, we worked as hard as we could to be the best, and it does pay off," Christiansen emphasized. "To all those people who have those dreams, I say follow them and work as hard as you can, because they do come true.’’

The 42-point victory established a new standard in the half-century PIAA Class A annals, besting Jenkintown’s 37-point win (88-51) over Centre Hall in 1953, and the win was Kennedy’s 32nd straight postseason success spanningn four seasons.

"That’s a lot to be proud of. I didn’t know it was that high,"Votino admitted, adding, "but that’s amazing."

Kennedy Christian (27-5) assumed a commanding 18-7 first-quarter lead as Christiansen connected on four of his first six floor shots, and the Golden Eagles soared from there, building a 37-10 margin at intermission and 63-30 bulge by the third-quarter turn.When Keenan Christiansen took a pass from brother Sean and converted a jump shot with 6:22 remaining in the third quarter, he actually singlehandedly had outscored Fairfield, 18-15, as Kennedy led 42-15 at that juncture.

Christiansen had plenty of assistance, as Satterwhite posted a 17-point, 6-rebound, 7-blocked shots line; Nolan Reimold contributed a 10-point, 7-rebound, 4-assist performance, and Danny McElhinny added a dozen points and distributed a half-dozen assists. Even Rossi, playing on a severly sprained ankle, added a trey in his scholastic swan song.

"The four seniors made sure we kept our heads on straight the whole year, and no matter what, we played our hardest, and that’s what brought us here," Keenan Christiansen added.

While contemplating his Kennedy career, the shy Satterwhite simply smiled and admitted, "I couldn’t have written any better of a script.’’

"I miss them already. They’re great guys, they were true senior leaders, they were outstanding in today’s game, and they brought us to the tournament,and they’re going to be very much missed," Votino praised.

While the Golden Eagles connected on 29 of 56 (51.7 percent) floor shots and 18 of 20 free throws, Fairfield finished 16 for 52 (30.7) from the field and converted only 13 of 28 free throws. Kennedy, keyed by the unheralded defensive stopper George, also coerced the Knights into 20 turnovers and outrebounded them, 38-31.

Junior Andy Winebrenner turned in a 24-point, 10-rebound double-double for Fairfield (18-15).

In addition to his high school coach, Bob Pacsi, and his collegiate coach, Dom Roselli, Votino apprenticed for two years under legendary Eddie McCluskey, who led Farrell to seven state championships.

"I think coach McCluskey would be very proud," Votino admitted. "I was very lucky and honored to at least spend two years with him. He is a direct result of some of my success, along with my high school coach and my college coach.’’

Fourteen players competed for Kennedy during Friday’s finale, 10 of whom, led by juniors McElhinny, Reimold and Phil Doyle, are underclassmen. "We like the pressure of being the No. 1 team in the state," Reimold reasoned, "because we want to win the state title every year - that’s our goal.’’

"What are we gonna do?" Votino rhetorically asked, before replying, "We’re gonna try to win another one, that’s what we’re gonna try to do. You saw some pretty good young kids in there ... we’re gonna work our tails off and try to do it again.

"This feeling, I can’t describe. It’s the greatest feeling in the world, and I want to do it again," Votino concluded.

PIAA CLASS A CHAMPIONSHIP

FAIRFIELD -- Gills 0-4-4-4, Armstrong 1-4-10-6, Dowd 2-0-0-5, Wuethrich 0-0-2-0, Winebrenner 10-4-6-24, Winner 1-0-0-2, Smith 2-0-2-4, Haughwout 0-0-0-0, Polvinale 0-1-4-1, Lovelace 0-0-0-0, Redding 0-0-0-0, McClain 0-0-0-0, Kump 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Dowd 1. Totals: 16-13-28-45.

KENNEDY CHRISTIAN -- McElhinny 3-4-4-12, George 0-0-0-0, Reimold 4-2-2-10, K. Christiansen 9-4-4-27, Satterwhite 6-3-4-17, S. Christiansen 1-1-2-3, Doyle 0-0-0-0, Truxon 2-0-0-4, Rossi 1-0-0-3, Wellman 0-4-4-4, Harris 1-0-0-2, Zinchiak 0-0-0-0, Golub 1-0-0-2, Wittway 1-0-0-3. 3-pt. goals: K. Christiansen 5, McElhinny 2, Rossi 1, Wittway 1. Totals: 29-18-20-87.