PREP BASKETBALL Late comeback keys K. Catholic

The Golden Eagles advanced to the Class A western finals.
SLIPPERY ROCK -- For the Kennedy Catholic High girls basketball team, it was deja vu.
In their last outing, the Golden Eagles trailed Clairton by eight points with 51 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter before they battled back to win in overtime.
Saturday at Morrow Field House, Kennedy Catholic trailed Union-Rimersburg by six points with three minutes remaining before rallying for a 60-57 win, advancing to the PIAA Class A western finals.
Kennedy's opponent for that game will be either Serra Catholic or Bishop Carroll.
"No matter what happens on Wednesday, we know what our T-shirts are going to say," said Kennedy Catholic coach Pat Mastrian. "They are definitely going to say 'Don't Ever Give Up' because that is the attitude that has carried these girls through the last two games."
Saturday's come-from-behind win came despite point guard Hallie Arena sitting on the bench with five personals and three other starters -- Kendra Radkowski, Teresa Picciotto and Heather Brooks -- saddled with four fouls for much of the fourth period.
"With the pressure they [Union] put on, I felt I had to gamble and let those girls out there as long as they could go," said Mastrian. "I made that decision earlier with Teresa and she hung in there for the rest of the game. Hallie just got a little wild and out of control to pick up her fifth foul, but the seniors know they have to be ready to play good defense, even if they have four fouls."
Key stretch
Kennedy trailed 58-54 with two minutes remaining before Radkowski made a free throw and Picciotto sank two.
Tiffany Corle made a free throw to push Union's lead back to two, setting up one Alexis George's 3-pointer with 12 seconds remaining.
"She is one of our seniors and you would expect something like that from her," said Mastrian. "We missed an opportunity to hit a shot a few seconds earlier, but we got the rebound, kicked it out to her and she hit nothing but net."
Saddled with four personals for the final 10 minutes of the game, Radkowski came up big for Kennedy.
In the win over Clairton, she led all scorers with 21 points. Saturday, she scored a game-high 26 points, with nine coming in the final 51/2 minutes of the game.
"I am not sure how many people know or realize how badly she is hurting," said Mastrian. "She separated her shoulder in the last game and she is extremely sore. I give her so much credit because she came to me and said, 'Coach I am ready to play.' She knows what to do with the basketball in crunch time and I think her performance in the past two games certainly proves that."
Leaders
Andrea Mortimer scored 19 points for Union and Bethany Koch added 13.
A number of other players made big contributions for Kennedy. Picciotto played tough defense despite her four personals, Brooks battled for loose balls and rebounds while scoring four points down the stretch and Jenna Schwarz came off the bench to contribute in the fourth quarter.
"We have preached to these girls all season that in order for them to win, they have to play as a team," said Mastrian. "That has been drilled to them since the first game and as the season went along, it became apparent that was the thing they needed to do. We have a lot of girls on this team who can play when they are put in the situation. Today, Jenna Schwarz came in and did a tremendous job and I think that is something we have developed over the course of the season."