Kennedy Christian's Tara Stevens and Vincentian's Crystal Thomas battle for a loose ball, while Lady Golden Eagles' Jamie Cicuto (51) movies in at right.
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LADY EAGLES RALLY IN FINAL FRAME FOR WIN
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Team effort is key to overcome foul problems
By Brad Isles Herald Sports Writer
Some people consider the playoffs to be a matter of survival. If that's the case, Vincentian's girls basketball team had Kennedy Christian within an inch of its life.
The Lady Golden Eagles overcame a four-point deficit the final three minutes of the game to defeat Vincentian 50-41 in the second round of the PIAA Class A playoffs Wednesday night at Sharon High School.
Kennedy (24-5) will play Bishop Carroll, 56-49 winners over Mount Alvernia, Saturday at a site and time yet to be determined. The Lady Royals (22-6) are eliminated.
``We're playing on Saturday and I love it,'' said Kennedy coach Father Rick Tomasone.
With the Lady Eagles holding a 23-19 lead, Vincentian went on a 14-6 run to claim a 33-29 advantage after a Erin Havrilla 3-pointer with 6:30 remaining. During the run, Kennedy was without its top inside players, Jamie Cicuto and Tara Stevens, who each were on the bench with four fouls.
Vincentian's Dawn DeCicco was the beneficiary of their absence. The 5-11 senior scored nine of her team-high 16 points in the second half
The Lady Eagles, however, managed to keep the game close while they were out, and trailed 34-31 when they returned with 4:40 left.
``We were in such dire foul trouble, I thought if we could weather the storm long enough to get Jamie and Tara back on the court, I thought we would be okay,'' Father Tomasone said.
Kennedy countered with a 17-7 run to pull out the victory. Cicuto keyed the run with three consecutive hoops to tie the game at 41 with 21/2 minutes left.
Stevens followed inside to give Kennedy its first lead in more than a quarter. Sara Laslow hit a foul shot after a steal to make it 44-41 with 55 seconds remaining, and Colleen Hough went 6-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch to ice the win.
``We were going to go into a delay with 21/2 left if we could maintain the lead,'' Vincentian coach Eric Mozzetti said. ``We turned the ball over twice. You can't do that. We have to be smart with the ball and not make stupid mistakes. We just didn't play well the last minute and a half. That's what it comes down to.''
Cicuto led Kennedy with 16 points and 12 rebounds despite missing more than a quarter and a half due to foul trouble. Hough added 12 points and Laslow had nine points and seven rebounds.
``Colleen did a great job down the stretch running the offense,'' Father Tomasone said. ``It was a total team effort. I think that the focus would be on Colleen after hitting the foul shots down the stretch. But we're down four points and we kept battling back and battling back.''
The way the game started, it appeared it would be close until the end.
Vincentian, with a 1-3-1 zone forced Kennedy to the perimeter and the Lady Eagles made just 2 of 16 attempts. The Lady Royals connected on 2 of 6 attempts and led after the first, 7-5.
In the frame, Stevens picked up her third foul with 35 seconds left and didn't return until a minute left in the half. Cicuto picked up her second foul at the 2:43 mark and sat out until the beginning of the second quarter.
When Cicuto returned, Kennedy switched to zone from a man-to-man defense. Maureen Heckert hit a 3-pointer to make it 12-7, but the Lady Eagles started running.
After a Julie Fill foul shot, Laslow scored on a layup and Cicuto had a putback to tie the game at 12. Cicuto followed at the other end with her second-straight steal and went coast-to-coast but missed. Hough got the board, was fouled, and hit both free throws to put Kennedy up 14-12.
The Lady Eagles went on to lead at the half, 16-15.
Cicuto scored Kennedy's first seven points of the third, while the Lady Eagles opened up a 23-16 lead. With 4:20 left in the third, Cicuto fouled Dawn DeCicco for her fourth personal.
The game's outcome then switched to the Lady Eagles' defense.
``Defensively I think we sucked it up,'' Father Tomasone said. ``It was just a great effort I thought.''
Kennedy's defense held Vincentian to 29 percent shooting (12-for-42) and forced the Lady Royals into 16 turnovers. In the third, when Vincentian had the opportunity to take control of the game with Cicuto and Stevens out, it made four of 17 shots from the floor.
``Game in and game out you can't be sure that your offense is going to shoot the ball well,'' Father Tomasone said. ``Game in and game out you know the defense can preform. And I think tonight, even though they scored 41 points on us, I think our defense preformed well enough to win. At this point of the season, giving up 41 points in the second round of the playoffs, I don't think that's too bad.''
Published Thursday, March 13, 1997
