Kennedy Cath. works overtime for playoff win

Golden Eagles rallied from eight-point deficit in last minute of regulation.
NEW WILMINGTON -- With their backs to the wall and time running out, the Kennedy Catholic Golden Eagles found a way to win.
Trailing by eight points with slightly more than a minute remaining in regulation, the Golden Eagles outscored Clairton 10-2 for a 57-all tie after regulation before winning 60-57 in overtime.
"I told the kids before we played this game that I thought this team was similar to Youngstown Rayen, a team that we played last year," said Kennedy coach Pat Mastrian. "As it turned out, it was exactly the same type of game. We were losing near the end of the game, Kendra [Radkowski] made a bucket to tie it and send it into overtime and then we won it in overtime."
The win sends Kennedy (24-3) into the next round to face Union Rimersburg (27-2) on Saturday.
Kennedy built up a 16-5 lead five minutes into the game.
Radkowski, who finished with 21 points, led the Golden Eagle spurt as she scored the first nine points and had 11 for the quarter.
"The game started out just as I hoped it would, but then we let them back in the game," said Mastrian.
Clairton closed out the opening period with a 4-2 advantage before outscoring Kennedy 21-5 in the second period to take a 30-23 lead at halftime.
"We talked at halftime about rushing our shots," said Mastrian. "We had some open shots, the focus was there and then in the fourth quarter, we finally got things going."
Using the momentum they had built up in the second period, the Golden Bears stretched their lead to as many as nine during the second half, and they still led by eight with slightly more than a minute to go in regulation.
"They went to the zone and that slowed us down and we couldn't keep any momentum we had going," said Mastrian. "Other than giving them two or three wide open layups on the press, I thought we played a pretty solid third quarter. When we could have improved the score, we seemed to let down and give them an easy score. That played a big role in that part of the game."
Radkowski, who was held to just two points in the second and third quarters, agreed with Mastrian's assessment of the effect of the zone defense by Clairton.
"When they went into that zone, it slowed our entire team down," she said. "I couldn't get open for a while, but at the end, I just made up my mind that I had to do it."
But as Kennedy rallied, Radkowski scoring the tying basket with a runner down the lane despite operating with a slight shoulder separation.
"We were all hugging her because that took a lot of courage for her not only to come back, but to make the big shot to send it to overtime, that was really something special," said Mastrian
In the extra period, it was all Kennedy Catholic as it scored the only three points of the period on a basket by Radkowski and a free throw from Hallie Arena.
"I just looked at my seniors and I knew that if something didn't happen, it would be my last game with them," Radkowski said. "I didn't want that to happen so I knew we had to pull it together."
Heather Brookwith added 13 points and Alexis George scored 10 for Kennedy. For Clairton, Carele Smith led four players in double figures with 15 points.