The Herald, Sharon,
PA Published Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1997

WINTER SPORTS Boys basketball

Eagles 60
Big Reds 45

KC not slippin' away

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GOLDEN EAGLES TOP BIG REDS, COP PLAYOFF SLOT

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Triumph comes in completion of earlier `salt-out'

By Ed Farrell
Herald Sports Writer

action shot There was something of a surrealistic quality to the start of Tuesday night's Kennedy Christian-West Middlesex Mercer County Athletic Conference Class A boys' basketball game.

The contest originally began almost a month ago to the day, but was halted when slippery floor conditions rendered play too dangerous. So it was stopped at the 5:53 mark of the second stanza with Kennedy leading, 15-12.

Kennedy Christian's Eric Hemsing looks to pass as West Middlesex's Steve Bowers guards. Hemsing led KC with 21 points, while Bowers led the Big Reds with 28. (Jean Angelo/Herald)



Another sub-plot was West Middlesex's MCAC-A title-clinching win over Kennedy a week ago, reducing the meaning of Tuesday's tilt from the Big Reds' perspective. However, Kennedy's urgency was evident and the Golden Eagles, needing a win to avoid a tiebreaker with Commodore Perry, were stoked.

Paced by Erik Hemsing's 10-for-17 marksmanship, the Golden Eagles avenged that loss to West Middlesex and garnered the MCAC's second seed entering this weekend's District 10 playoffs, via a 60-45 triumph.

Kennedy (2-2, 17-7) will meet Abraxas 7 p.m. Friday at Farrell High in the opening round of the D-10 playoffs, while West Middlesex (3-1, 15-9) is awaiting the outcome of tonight's Jamestown-Linesville French Creek Valley Conference tiebreaker to determine its opening-round opponent in the 8:30 nightcap of that twin bill.

Tuesday's weather, with temperatures in the 50s, stood in stark contrast to the day when the clubs initially met last month. So, too, was the Golden Eagles' performance.

``We played much harder; we played with a higher level of intensity, and we played with some emotion,'' summarized Kennedy head coach Joe Votino. ``Those have been key ingredients in Kennedy basketball. They have been absent on some nights. But tonight, I felt, we had more emotion than we did all year.''

West Middlesex head coach Larry Ellison also saw a change in his club's collective demeanor as well as Kennedy's.

``(The Golden Eagles) did come out really fired up; they were in a must-win situation,'' Ellison said. ``We came out a little flat, I think, knowing that we had already won the league and this game didn't mean a whole lot to us, other than we wanted to play well and get ready for the playoffs. We did not play real well. (Steve) Bowers played with some intensity (with a game-high 28 points) everyone else was a little flat.''

Hemsing was flat, too _ flattened by the flu _ though his jump shot was flawless.

Kennedy assumed a 23-22 halftime margin, and a Bowers' free throw seconds into the second half knotted the count at 23. At the 7:41 mark, Dave Jennings scored off a Kennedy turnover for a 25-23 West Middlesex lead, but from that juncture Hemsing seized the game by the throat. The senior turned in a 6-for-8 shooting performance during the third period, igniting a 22-5 Kennedy spree during a 5:26 span and enabling the Golden Eagles to assume a 46-30 margin entering the final frame.

``Erik Hemsing, what can you say about him?'' Votino rhetorically asked. ``He had 21 points and he played with the flu. ... That was a really good shooting performance by Erik Hemsing. He was 10-for-17. I can live with that all year. If he wants to do that the rest of the year, I mean, if this is the time for him to start getting hot. ... I'll take my chances with Erik shooting a 17-foot shot at the top of the key, right in the middle of the floor. I'll take my chances there.''

Votino continued.

``I really felt our defensive ball pressure was the key. I felt Lamar Jefferson really bothered their guards; I thought Carlos Oatis really bothered their guards. That bought us some denial pressure _ we call it one-pass away defense _ and we were able to force them further out in their offense than they normally would like to be.''

During the second half, West Middlesex connected on only 7 of 19 floor shots and committed seven turnovers during the decisive third quarter.

Kennedy junior Damon Clayton then posted a 6-point, 3-rebound fourth frame, and West Middlesex drew no closer than 56-43 on a pair of Marc Bator free throws with 11/2 minutes remaining.

The game began with Bowers shooting a pair of free throws, the result of a technical foul assessed because he had not been officially included in the scorebook when the teams first met. He was still recovering from a broken foot then, but he responded with a 17-point, 9-rebound effort Tuesday.

``We were a little nervous,'' Votino related regarding the awkward outset. ``cause they knew they had to win. We really wanted to avoid a game (today); playing three games this week, I don't think would've helped us very much, 'cause we have kids with the flu.

``If we would've had to play tonight (in the tiebreaker), it would have been interesting,'' Votino admitted, ``because after how hard we played (Tuesday night), if we were to have gone down, I'm not quite sure how much Hemsing and (flu-stricken) Justin Green would've helped us.''

``But the flu doesn't affect your arms,'' said Votino, referring to Hemsing.

Both coaches feel their clubs are primed for the playoffs.

``Anytime you make the playoffs, I mean, that's what this is all about, making the playoffs, giving us a chance. (The win) should carry over, it should give us some life,'' Votino said.

``After our last loss, we came out and won six in a row, and that was a game against Saegertown at our place where we came out flat and lost by two in a game, again, that didn't mean much in the league,'' Ellison recalled. ``We just didn't play well, but we turned around and bounced back and won six in a row.

``I told the kids in the locker room, `Win six in a row, now, and we should be in the western finals.' Our goal, though: One-at-a-time, try to get into the District 10 finals first.''
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