Published Sunday, March 7, 1999 
That Yellowjacket blizzard dumped a 17-0 first-quarter deficit on Kennedy Christian en route to a 50-18 demolition of the Lady Golden Eagles in the District 10-AA championship game before approximately 1,500 fans at Edinboro University's McComb Field House.
"When you're coaching and get a quarter like that, it's something you never expect," said Girard coach Larry Seneta, whose squad won its fourth consecutive District 10 title. "These two teams are very even; they're very, very even. This was just one of those fluke things that happen once every 10 years."
That certainly would have to be one too many times for Kennedy Christian coach Father Rick Tomasone.
"I can't remember one (as bad as this) since I've been coaching, a start like that," Tomasone said. "We had some decent looks; we just didn't put them down. And it kind of snowballed on us I guess. It didn't seem to matter what I tried, nobody really picked it up today."
The Lady Golden Eagles committed turnovers on their first four possessions and seven of their first 10. They didn't even get a shot off until the 6-minute mark of the first quarter and didn't register their first
point until a Jamie Cicuto bucket with 7:11 remaining in the first half snapped a 19-0 Girard run.
Kennedy finished the half with more turnovers - 19 - than field goal attempts - 15 - and never recovered. The Lady Golden Eagles got no closer than 15 points the rest of the way.
"Just about everything we did was right today," said Seneta, who returned only one starter and his sixth man from last year's state championship team. In fact the Lady Yellowjackets, who start four juniors and a sophomore, have only one senior on their roster and she's not one of their top eight players.
"This is kind of a surprise because we lost a lot of starters," Seneta said, referring to the success this year's team has enjoyed. "I'm just very pleased they put a lot of time and effort in during the summer and preseason and it's starting to pay off."
The only payoff, perhaps, for Kennedy Saturday was for its senior standout Cicuto, who improved her career scoring total to 1,510 points with a 12-point effort. She became only the fifth player in Mercer County annals to surpass the 1,500-point plateau.
Cicuto, a 5-foot-11 center, also hauled down 12 rebounds before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter. She was one of three Lady Eagle starters to head to the bench early for the evening because of fouls. Tara Stevens and Julie Fill also went out within 41 seconds of each other in the first minute of the fourth quarter.
All-State 5-10 junior Ann Mimm paced the Lady Yellowjackets with 15 points, including 11 in the first half when her team built a 26-8 lead. Lynn Newson contributed 11 points and 8 boards.
Girard (26-1), winners of 24 consecutive games, is scheduled to meet the WPIAL No. 6 team Friday in the first round of the state playoffs. Kennedy (25-2), which had its 15-game winning streak severed, will meet the District 6 runner-up. Sites and times haven't been determined.
"We'll remind the girls that the sun is coming up tomorrow - that this is not the end of the world," said Tomasone. "They've still got five more games if they want to go play five more. I think they learned how tough it is. It's not something you can just talk about any longer."
Notes:Kennedy turned the ball over 28 times in all, while finishing 9 of 32 from the floor and 0 of 5 from the free throw line. Girard was 14 of 26 from the floor and 20 of 34 at the charity stripe. ... Entering the game, Girard was ranked No. 1 in the state by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, while Kennedy was third. ... Kennedy's Sara Laslow, coming off a 16-point semifinal that featured four 3-pointers, was shut out for only the second time this season. The first came against Franklin, Kennedy's only other loss.
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District 10 AA Championship
KENN. CHRISTIAN 0 8 6 4 18
GIRARD 17 9 8 16 50
KENNEDY CHRISTIAN - Cicuto 6-0-3-12; Laslow 0-0-0-0; Stevens 0-0-0-0; Camouse 0-0-0-0; J. Fill 1-0-0-2; Meier 0-0-0-0; Christiansen 0-0-0-0; Frankovich 0-0-0-0; Necastro 1-0-0-2; Madden 1-0-0-2; Moats 0-0-0-0; Steltzer 0-0-2-0; Harris 0-0-0-0; K. Fill 0-0-0-0; Bartholomew 0-0-0-0. Totals: 9-0-5-18.
GIRARD - Mimm 4-6-13-15; Thompson 1-6-7-8; Newson 3-5-6-11; Weidler 1-0-0-2; Mathews 3-0-0-7; Dudas 0-0-3-0; Weed 0-2-2-2; DiFucci 1-0-1-2; Boyce 1-1-2-3; Benton 0-0-0-0; Moryc 0-0-0-0; Dibble 0-0-0-0; Wehr 0-0-0-0. 3-pt. goals: Mimm 1, Mathews 1. Totals: 14-20-34-50.
