Published Thursday, March 20, 1997
PIAA BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS
Pirates 53
Eagles 30
Kennedy girls ousted
* * *
Williamsburg too powerful for the locals
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LADY PIRATES RIP GOLDEN EAGLES, UP RECORD TO 31-0
By Brad Isles
Herald Sports Writer
INDIANA, Pa. _ Chalk one up to experience.
Williamsburg, making its fifth consecutive trip to the Western Finals, scored a 53-30 victory over Kennedy Christian Wednesday night in the PIAA Class A Western Finals at Indiana University of Pa.'s Memorial Field House.
The Lady Pirates kept their perfect record intact at 31-0, while Kennedy, making its second trip to the state semis in seven years, finished the season at 25-6.
``The young kids, when you get to this point, you ask them to play with poise,'' said Kennedy Christian coach Father Tomasone. ``Tonight, I don't think some of our younger kids played with as much poise as they have been. Of course, the stakes aren't as high in those other games.
``Really, in the entire state playoff system, the Western Final and the Eastern Final are the biggest games. Those are the games that have so much riding on them. Really the state final game doesn't have that much riding on it, in terms of getting there. This is it.''
On the other hand, the Lady Pirates knew what to expect.
``With all the cameras and excitement around here, it's not something you get during the year,'' said Williamsburg coach Jeff Appleman. ``I think our kids handled it pretty well.''
Williamsburg will play Marian Catholic, 50-48 overtime winners over Columbia, Saturday at Hersheypark Arena.
``We kinda expected to be here,'' said Appleman. ``Anything less than a win tonight would have been tremendously disappointing. We did come in with quite a bit of pressure.
``The first couple of years we were afraid to talk about Hershey, for fear it would be some kind of a jinx. Now we've already made all the plans. It will be a lot easier when we put everything into trying to get down there.''
Williamsburg's defense set the tone of the game early, holding Kennedy to six first-quarter points on 3 of 12 shooting. It didn't get much better the rest of the way.
The Lady Pirates switched from different zones to man-to-man throughout the game, keeping Kennedy off-balance. The Lady Golden Eagles shot 34 percent (13-for-38) for the game and turned the ball over 24 times.
The Lady Golden Eagles missed their first six shot attempts and didn't score until the 3:35 mark when Jamie Cicuto hit inside to make it 8-2.
After Carrie Hoy made it 10-2 with a hoop inside, the Lady Pirates went scoreless for five minutes until Jess Gordon scored to make it 12-6 with six minutes left in the second quarter. Cicuto countered for Kennedy but that's the closest the Lady Golden Eagles would get the rest of the game.
``When we didn't get the layups to go early on, we started to press a little bit,'' Father Tomasone said. ``Their defense began to wear on us. We just never got any offensive flow or offensive rhythm going, partially because we missed the shots we could have made and partially because of their defense.''
Cicuto led Kennedy with nine points, while grabbing 12 rebounds and four steals.
But at 5-foot-11, she was no match for Gordon, Williamsburg's 6-1 center. She finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
``I thought we matched their quickness, it was more their size I was concerned with,'' Father Tomasone said. ``In terms of physical size, we're not a real big, physical team. (Gordon) is tough to handle down low.''
Gordon hit two consecutive hoops in the lane with less than two minutes remaining in the first half to give the Lady Pirates a 21-10 lead.
Sara Laslow hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with six seconds left to pull Kennedy within eight at 21-13.
``I was happy with our defense the whole first half, up until the last shot,'' Appleman said.
Becky Metlzer and Gordon scored to open the second half, but a Colleen Hough 3-pointer cut the Lady Pirates' lead back to 25-16. Annie Parks hit from the foul line for Williamsburg, and Cicuto followed to keep Kennedy within nine points with 3 1/2 left in the third quarter.
But a Gordon three-point play finished off a 5-2 run to end the quarter, giving the Lady Pirates a 32-20 lead going into the fourth.
Kennedy managed to get within 11 points, after a 3-pointer by Melanie Giordano made it 35-24 with seven minutes left, but a five-minute scoreless drought enabled Williamsburg to lead by as many as much as 53-24 with two minutes to go.
Williamsburg scored 13 of its 21 fourth-quarter points from the foul line, going 13-for-15. For the game, the Lady Pirates went 16-for-20, while Kennedy went to the line just seven times, making one.
``That happens,'' Father Tomasone said of the fouls. ``When you're pressing, you're trying to do just a little bit more defensively than you're capable of doing.''
But Father Tomasone can look forward to next year, since he loses just three seniors, Hough, Giordano and Kathy Sokolak. He'll have three starters and a strong contingent off the bench coming back, however.
``When you start three sophomores and get to the Western Finals, and you can bring juniors and sophomores off the bench, this is a great learning experience,'' Father Tomasone said.
PIAA Class A Semifinals
WILLIAMSBURG _ Parks 3-2-2-9; B. Metlzer 3-2-3-8; Gordon 8-6-7-22; Holland 0-0-0-0; Tate 0-0-0-0; Hileman 0-0-0-0; Hoy 2-4-6-8; Lower 1-2-2-4; C. Metzler 0-0-0-0; Kelly Bellew 0-0-0-0; Lilly 1-0-0-2. 3-pt. goal: Parks 1. Totals: 18-16-20-53.
KENNEDY CHRISTIAN _ Meier 1-0-2-2; Pearce 0-0-0-0; Hough 1-0-0-3; Sokolak 0-0-0-0; Laslow 2-0-0-5; Lanier 0-0-0-0; Koscinski 0-0-2-0; Christiansen 3-0-1-6; Fill 0-0-0-0; Cicuto 4-1-2-9; Stevens 1-0-0-2. 3-pt. goals: Hough 1, Giordano 1, Laslow 1. Totals: 13-1-7-30.
WILLIAMSBURG...10 21 32 53
KENNEDY........ 6 13 20 30
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Updated March 12, 1997
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