CLASS A PLAYOFFS Kennedy Catholic drops Villa Maria
Sharron Summerville led the Golden Eagles with 23 points.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- For Kennedy Catholic to defeat Villa Maria in the opening round of the District 10 Class A playoffs Friday, it seemed imperative the Golden Eagles couldn't allow Villa's 6-foot-7 Kevin Buczynski to dominate in the paint.
As it turned out, Buczynski was bottled up for only 13 points as Kennedy advanced to the next round with a 55-48 verdict over the Victors.
Going into the game, Villa Maria was two games under .500 at 11-13, but Kennedy coach Tim Loomis knew that his club was going to be in for a battle.
"There is always going to be a struggle in a first-round game," said Loomis. "The first game of the first round is always going to be a real weak team, and Villa is anything but a weak team. They played McDowell twice and Cathedral Prep twice so they certainly weren't going to be scared of us."
As for allowing Villa to stay in the game until the final minutes of the fourth period, Loomis felt it was due to standing around on defense.
"I thought we played defense reasonable hard, but at times we stood around and watched them shoot the ball, especially in the first half," he said. "I told them at halftime they better wake up or we are going to be in trouble. I thought it would be a game that would stay in the four-to-six point range and it did."
Leaders
Leading the Golden Eagles (21-4) in scoring was the duo of Sharron Summerville and Brandon Mirizio with respective totals of 23 and 16 points
As a matter of fact, for the last five minutes of the second period, all of the third period and five minutes of the fourth quarter, Summerville and Mirizio were the only two Kennedy Catholic players to score as they combined for 25 points.
A reserve point guard in the past, Mirizio was quick to admit that he likes the starting role much better.
"Starting is just so much more fun," said Mirizio. "Coming off the bench is OK, but the key for us is that we play together."
As for he and Summerville carrying the load, Mirizio said that is the way the team has played all year.
"The one thing about our team is that every game, somebody new steps up," said Mirizio. "We just go out and play hard and whoever is getting the job done, we try and get the ball to them."
As for Summerville, he felt it was time for him to assert his senior leadership.
"I was looking to score more tonight because the ball wasn't going in for my teammates," said Summerville. "Any way I can step my leadership up and help the team, whether it is passing the ball or scoring, that is what I am going to do."
For Villa Maria, Kalen Gambill led the way with 15 points, followed by Buczynski with 13 and Cory Chaffee with 12.