Published Saturday, Feb. 22 , 1997
KC, GJR open up D-10 play with routs
Kennedy Christian and George Junior Republic opened up defense of their respective District 10 championships in fine fashion Friday night with a pair of first-round routs.
The Golden Eagles routed Abraxas, 78-40, in Class A play, while the Tigers rolled past Rocky Grove, 74-53, in Class AA action.
Following are game reports:
CLASS A
Kennedy 78, Abraxas 40
At Farrell High School, the Golden Eagles fell behind early in the contest before storming back on the strength of a 22-0 run.
``We came out the first six minutes and looked like we never played the game of basketball in our life,'' said Kennedy coach Joe Votino. ``We settled down, started shooting the ball very well and started attacking the way we're supposed to.''
Kennedy (18-7) will face Saegertown, a 74-40 winner over Tidioute Friday, in the semifinals at a site, date and time to be determined.
Abraxas (10-11), an independent entry, led 9-8 with 1:07 left in the first quarter before the Golden Eagles' run put them ahead, 30-9 with 3:45 left in the first half.
Kennedy, paced by a balanced scoring attack, coasted from there.
Damon Clayton scored 15 points, Carlos Oatis had 13, Ryan McElhinny added 11, and Lamar Jefferson and Justin Green each added 10 for the Golden Eagles, who led 39-14 at the intermission.
Clayton scored 11 first-half points, while Oatis pumped in 9 first-half points, all on shots behind the arc, to lead the charge early.
Votino attributed the hot shooting in the second quarter to good ball movement.
``We got the ball reversed from side to side,'' Votino said. ``We weren't doing that to start the game. We were just coming down and trying to throw the ball inside right away.''
Abraxas made a small run, closing to within 49-31 by the end of the third quarter, before a 29-9 fourth-quarter surge iced the game.
Jason Gibson paced Abraxas (10-11) with 17 points.
Kennedy finished 32-of-50 (64 percent) from the floor, while Abraxas was 14-of-59 (23.7).
``It's the first playoff win,'' Votino said. ``It's the kind of a game where you get the jitters out. We'll be much more tested (in the next game).''
George Junior 74
Rocky Grove 53
At Oil City, Jamal Benjamin broke out for a game-high 36 points to pace the defending PIAA Class AA champions to the opening-round rout of the Tri-County Athletic Conference-champion Orioles.
The win qualified the Tigers for the PIAA state playoffs, as District 10 AA will advance four teams into interdistrict play for the first time this season.
``It was a good win, a real good win,'' said GJR mentor Bob McConnell. ``Benjamin played just unbelievably. We knew he had to step it up tonight with our other guys (guards Theo Fields and Mike Brown) missing. He carried us. We thought he needed to score 30, and he did even better than that.''
McConnell said Fields and Brown, a sophomore and senior, respectively, averaging 17.1 and 8.7 points per game, have been suspended from the team for the balance of the campaign for disciplinary reasons. He did not elaborate.
After a 13-all deadlock entering the second stanza, GJR assumed a 31-26 halftime margin and never was headed.
Also for GJR (15-10), Cliff Bradley and Shane Keen contributed 14 and 11 points, respectively.
For Rocky Grove (18-7), Jocko Porter, Chad Sanner, Ben Swacha and Kossick evenly divided 40 markers.
``It was just a phenomenal game,'' McConnell said of Benjamin, specifically, and the Tigers' performance, in general. ``The kids did a good job of following the game plan. We knew we had to get the ball inside (to the 6-foot-4 Benjamin).''
``Going into tonight, we were just hoping to win and be able to play three more games for some of our younger guys we're hoping to keep around for next year,'' McConnell admitted. ``By no means did we think we'd beat anybody by 20 points, let alone Rocky Grove. We're thrilled to death to get a win at districts.''
GJR will face Conneaut Valley _ an 81-61 winner over Sheffield _ next Tuesday at a site and time to be announced.
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Updated Feb. 22, 1997
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