Kennedy Catholic spurts to playoff win

The Golden Eagles reeled off a 26-2 run for a 54-40 win over Conneaut Valley.
By BILL ALBRIGHT
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
NEW WILMINGTON -- At the outset of the Kennedy Catholic High girls basketball game with Conneaut Valley Saturday, the Golden Eagles found themselves in a rather unfamiliar position -- trailing 10-2.
However, from that point on, they turned it up a couple of notches on the offensive end, outscoring the Indians, 26-2, over the next nine minutes and coasting to a 54-40 victory in the opening round of the District 10 Class A playoffs.
Kennedy Catholic coach Pat Mastrian felt that the slow start might have been due to the amount of time since the Golden Eagles played their last game.
"We haven't played for nine days or so," he said. "We talked as a team and didn't want to start that way and I knew the girls were going to be nervous. I told them the best way to get rid of the nerves is to go out and play hard. What we needed was a couple of steals and a couple of lay-ups, but we weren't able to do that early in the game."
Mastrian also gave Conneaut Valley credit for creating the situation.
"They played a nice game and were able to take us out of what we wanted to do," he said.
"I think it just took us a little time to realize, hey, we are back in the playoffs so we need to get moving out there."
Hitting shots spurred run
Mastrian said the huge run was simply a matter of hitting shots.
"That relaxed us a little bit," he said. "Heather Brooks hit two in a row and I think that is when we started to move a little better.
"We have been that kind of a team this year where we play in spurts and I have been trying to get the girls to play with a little more consistency. But as long as the spurts keep getting longer, I'll be happy."
Kendra Radkowski suffered a shoulder injury last year, and according to Mastrian, she has struggled with that for most of the season. Despite her physical problems, Radkowski was able to score 15 points.
"She has struggled with it all season," said Mastrian. "She separated it about a month ago and she did it again in the last game of the regular season. She just got released by the doctor Thursday so that is why I decided to bring her off the bench today."
Reimold sparks spurt
The Golden Eagles led 30-14 at halftime, then behind the efforts of Dierdre Reimold, who converted three straight steals into baskets, scored the first 14 points of the third period before cruising to the win. Reimold led all scorers with 18 points.
"We always feel that the first four minutes of the third period are the most important in every game," said Mastrian. "I reminded the girls that even though we were up by 15, they [Conneaut Valley] could get back into the game, whereas if we came out strong, we could pull away from them. They [Kennedy] came out the way I wanted them to and that was good to see."
Brianna Hamilton led Conneaut Valley with 17 points.