Published Saturday, March 15, 1997
HIGH SCHOOL BOYS PIAA BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
Eagles 59
Panthers 40
KC heads to Final Four
* * *
Eagles land in 7th semis in 12 years
* * *
KENNEDY GAINS REVENGE FOR D-10 LOSS TO PANTHERS
By Ed Farrell
Herald Sports Writer
GROVE CITY _ The Saegertown High boys' basketball team entered Friday night's PIAA Class A Western Regional semifinal as the District 10 champion, armed with the better overall record, and the emotional edge of already having defeated Kennedy Christian 2 1/2 weeks ago.
All of which meant Kennedy had the Panthers right where it wanted them.
With senior sharpshooter Erik Hemsing connecting on his first three floor shots, the Golden Eagles erupted to an early 8-0 edge and Saegertown struggled through a 32 percent shooting night, resulting in a 59-40 rout at the Grove City College Arena.
By virtue of the victory, Kennedy Christian (22-8) will meet Sewickley Academy, a 56-41 winner over Bishop Guilfoyle also Friday night, next Tuesday in the Western Regional finals at a site and time to be announced.
In Saegertown's 56-53 D-10 semifinal win over Kennedy, the Golden Eagles squandered an 8- point lead in the fourth frame. Veteran head coach Joe Votino was intent that there would be no such encore performance.
``I always told the kids, `The way to play the game is with a lot of intensity, but not so much intensity that you're tight,' '' explained Votino, who more than delicately whacked a few fannies at intermission, despite the fact his club maintained a 23-7 margin at that juncture.
``We have a motto _ we don't go one game at a time _ we have really taken it one day at a time,'' Votino related. ``It's all over our lockerroom, `One day at a time.' Each day, one day at a time. And I'll tell you what, as long as they keep that in their heads, they'll remain focused. If they start thinking ahead to Friday, they're in trouble. If they start even thinking ahead to Tuesday, we're in trouble 'cause we've got two practices before that.''
Although each team committed a half-dozen first-frame turnovers, the Eagles _ specifically Hemsing _ appeared focused, although, in the back- to-back wins over Clairton and Homer Center, the senior turned in a collective 7-for-25 shooting line.
``Erik Hemsing is great. He was so relaxed, but intense,'' Votino praised. ``He was really relaxed before the game, but very focused and, man, he came out and he was on fire! He definitely set the tempo for the game.
``Right now, Erik Hemsing's possessed. He wants to win, and he wants to win a championship bad, so we're all excited,'' Votino admitted.
With Hemsing stroking his first three jumpers from a variety of angles and Justin Green scoring on a drive, the Eagles assumed an 8-0 edge. Saegertown head coach Randy White hailed a timeout with 4:06 remaining, by which time his club had committed four turnovers and misfired on its first five floor shots.
Kennedy Christian connected on 6 of 8 attempts during the opening period, while Saegertown struggled through a 2-for-9 effort, as the Birds burst to a 12-4 lead.
Saegertown suffered the same fate during the second stanza, laboring through a 1-for-11 nightmare en route to a 16-point haltime deficit. By intermission the Panthers had committed more miscues (8) than points scored (7), and the club's two leading scorers, forward Justin Johnson and point guard Jason Shea, had one point between them and were an aggregate 0-for-11 from the field.
Led by Hemsing's half-dozen markers and an 8-4 spree to conclude the quarter, Kennedy forged to an insurmountable 41-19 margin by the third-quarter turn, despite four points apiece by Shea, Johnson and Jason Hart.``We just did not set good screens and get ourselves entered into our offense and they beat us back on a couple because we weren't shooting shots within our offense,'' White assessed. ``And then I thought the kids started to press a little bit, started to put things on their own shoulders.
``But all the credit's gotta go to Kennedy Christian,'' White insisted. ``They made us play poorly in the first quarter, and we never recovered from it.''
Coming off back-to-back blowout wins over Western Beaver and Geibel, Saegertown, nonetheless, faced the daunting task of trying to defeat an emotionally-stoked Kennedy team for the second time in a 2-week span.
``It's very difficult,'' White admitted. ``It was just such a difficult thing coming into tonight, and they came out so very aggressively. And Hemsing hit those three shots on us early _ and it wasn't even out of their offense _ and I thought that staggered us right at the beginning. And then we had two or three balls go right through our hands under the hoop. And instead of it being, maybe, 8-6, it's 8-zip, and we just never recovered from it. I think our kids got a little shell-shocked there and they just never responded. But that's a tremendous credit to Kennedy because they came out and did what we like to do to other people _ what we did against Geibel the other night _ and didn't let people get into our offense and that really hurt us tonight.''
Kennedy committed 10 turnovers, only one less than Saegertown, and each team garnered 30 rebounds. But the Golden Eagles, led by Green (4-for- 4), Carlos Oatis (4-for-5) and Damon Clayton (3-for-4) connected on 22 of 42 floor shots (52.4 percent), compared with Saegertown's 16-for-50 effort. Johnson, who tallied a game-high 27 points in the win over Kennedy, was limited to a dozen points (on 4-of-13 shooting), eight of which he scored during the fruitless fourth frame.
``I knew our defense was gettin' better, but wow!'' Votino admitted. ``We're starting to play defense the way we've wanted 'em to play. Now up 'til the end of February, that was nonexistant. Now in the playoffs, we're really starting to play defense the way we have taught it: with some ball pressure, with some denial pressure, with a lot of emotion and intensity. And I think that really bothered Saegertown.
``They've got a great guard (Shea), and for us to bother that guard, says that our pressure is excellent, 'cause he is very good,'' Votino noted.
Asked to assess where his club stands, the veteran mentor offered,
``I think we have a little maturity, I think we have some leadership. I think my little point guard's phenomenal _ he's a true leader as a junior _ I think we've got some solid bench play out of (Ryan) McElhinny and (Marcus) Render and (John) Reimold. Justin Green is ... being consistent, because one of his problems was inconsistency, but he's given me three straight games.''
This is the seventh season in the last dozen in which Kennedy Christian has advanced to the Western Regional finals.
``They're really, really focused. They're on a mission. I hope they can get to where they want to go, because it's very, very difficult. ...
``(But) the kids are responding, they're handling playoff pressure, it's fun. They're having a lot of fun. This is very exciting.''
PIAA Class A Quarterfinals
SAEGERTOWN _ Shea 5-1-2-11; Grubbs 0-1-2-1; Johnson 4-3-3-12; Hart 6-0-2-12; Sisley 1-2-3-4; Edge 0-0-0-0; Stainbrook 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Johnson 1. Totals: 16-7-12-40.
KENNEDY CHRISTIAN _ Oatis 4-1-2-9; Jefferson 1-3-4-5; Clayton 3-1-1-7; Hemsing 6-2-2-14; Green 4-1-2-9; Reimold 1-1-2-3; Render 1-0-0-2; McElhinny 2-6-8-10. Totals: 22-15-21-59.
SAEGERTOWN........... 4 7 19 40
KENNEDY CHRISTIAN....12 23 41 59
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Updated March 15, 1997
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