WEXFORD, Pa. – A year ago Kennedy Catholic walked off the court at the Giant Center in Hershey with a bitter taste in its mouth following a loss in the PIAA Class 1A title game.
That taste has lingered for an entire year, and now the Golden Eagles will have a chance to lose the sour taste after beating Greensburg Central Catholic, 56-44, in the PIAA Class 2A semifinals Monday night at North Allegheny High School.
Kennedy Catholic will play for the 2A title at Noon Thursday against Homer-Center back in Hershey.
“These girls have been on a mission since last year,” Kennedy Catholic head coach Justin Magestro said. “No disrespect to being second, because that is a major accomplishment for our seniors that graduated last year and they attained something very, very special. But, we didn’t like coming in second. We said as soon as we got on the bus that we would do whatever it took to get back down there again. Just like any other team, we have had good times and bad times, and a little bit of adversity by going 0-3 at the beginning of the year. But that adversity that I think we had early in the season helped us for a game like today. That team was phenomenal. They are a very, very good team, extremely well-coached. We knew going into it that we would have to play pretty perfect. We, by no stretch of the imagination, played perfect. But we persevered.”
For an entire half Greensburg Central Catholic (24-6), the fifth-place WPIAL finisher, gave D10 champion Kennedy Catholic (25-4) everything it could handle.
After trailing 7-0 early, the Centurions took a 16-14 lead early in the second quarter and a 21-19 lead late in the first half.
But Layke Fields tied the game at 21 with 46.7 seconds left, and then the Golden Eagles got a chance to hold for the last shot, which Monique Vincent made count with a 3-pointer from the left corner in front of the GCC bench to give Kennedy Catholic a 24-21 halftime lead.
“I just remember Bella (Magestro) throwing me the ball and that there were four seconds (left),” Vincent said. “I had to get my shot off. I just shot it, and it happened to go in. I knew it was in. I think it gave us a lot (of momentum).”
Senior guard Hayden Keith said Vincent’s shot was huge.
“That gave us a lot of momentum going into halftime,” Keith said. “Especially coming out in the third quarter, we went on a little run. That (shot) gave us a lot of momentum, so we got to push that through to the end. I think that is what got us the win.”
The run Keith was talking about was a 6-0 spurt in the first 2:06 of the second half that pushed the Golden Eagles’ lead to 30-21.
Layke Fields did all the scoring during the run getting three easy layups.
After being held to just eight first-half points, Fields scored 10 third-quarter points and finished the night with 22 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 10 of 14 from the floor.
Justin Magestro credited his son, Drew, with making the adjustment that helped get Fields loose in the third quarter.
“We knew that their guards were very high and wide,” Justin Magestro said. “Our shooters, we really couldn’t get the ball to them. We wanted to post someone in the middle that can actually turn, catch, shoot, and get the ball to Layke. My son, Drew, came out of the stands and said ‘hey dad, put Bella (Magestro) in the middle and see what she can do.’ That is what we did. We all agreed on it, got her in the middle, and the rest was history. She can knock down that 15-footer but she passes the ball very well.”
Keith concurred that getting Bella Magestro in the middle was a big help to opening up the paint for Fields.
“(Bella) is a great playmaker,” Keith said. “She passes the ball really well inside to Layke. I think putting her in there opened up the floor for us and gave us a lot more options.”
Even with the early run to start the second half by Kennedy Catholic, GCC wouldn’t go away riding the hot hand of freshman Erica Gribble to get back within four, 34-30, with 1:53 to play in the third quarter.
Gribble, who was held to one point in the first half, scored all nine of the Centurions’ third-quarter points and 13 in the second half to finish with 14.
Down four, GCC had a chance to cut it to two when a steal led to a breakaway layup for Abigail Dlugos with about a minute and a half left in the third quarter.
But Dlugos missed the wide-open layup, and Isabella Bianco scored on a great backdoor cut by Bianco and a great pass from Magestro with 1:15 left to put Kennedy Catholic up six, 36-30.
Watch the Bianco basket courtesy of the NFHS Network
The Golden Eagles then scored four points in a three-second span at the end of the quarter to take a 10-point, 40-30, lead going into the final eight minutes.
First, Fields, who had missed her previous nine free throws dating back to the quarterfinal win over Bishop McCort, hit two free throws with 6.7 seconds left.
Then, after GCC turned the ball over trying to inbound the ball, Vincent was at it again on a layup with 3.7 seconds to play in the quarter. The hoop came after a Kennedy Catholic timeout following the turnover.
“It was a big basket,” Vincent said. “We knew it was a big play coming out the timeout, so it was really a big basket to send us to the fourth.”
Also see: Kennedy Catholic practice the end-of-quarter situation
Up 10 going to the final eight minutes, Kennedy Catholic quickly got it to 12 on a Fields’ basket, but a 3-pointer from Mya Morgan brought GCC back within nine, 42-33, with just under seven minutes left.
But any thoughts of a Centurion comeback were squashed when Magestro and Fields scored back-to-back hoops to give the Golden Eagles their biggest lead of the game up to that point at 46-33.
Vincent, who added 13 points, then hit 8 of 8 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
“It’s so exciting,” Vincent said. “Obviously, we didn’t get what we wanted last year, so this year we are hoping to get back and get what we really wanted, that we came for.”
Watch Vincent’s full postgame interview
Bianco chipped in 10 points in the victory with Magestro scoring eight and Keith three.
“It means a lot to us,” Keith said. “Last year was a really bitter feeling, losing. To get the win and go back there and hopefully come out with the W, especially with my team around me, my two other seniors, it is an amazing feeling.”
Watch Keith’s full postgame interview
KENNEDY CATHOLIC 56, GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC 44
Score by Quarters
Kennedy Catholic 14 10 16 16 – 56
Greensburg CC 14 7 9 14 – 44
KENNEDY CATHOLIC – 56
Monique Vincent 2 8-8 13, Bella Magestro 3 0-1 8, Isabella Bianco 4 2-2 10, Hayden Keith 1 0-0 3, Madison Pfleger 0 0-0 0, Ka’Mya Thompkins 0 0-0 0, Cassie Dancak 0 0-0 0, Lochlyn Shimrack 0 0-0 0, Layke Fields 10 2-6 22. Totals 20 12-17 56.
GREENSBURG CENTRAL CATHOLIC – 44
Mya Morgan 7 2-2 20, Avery Davis 2 0-0 6, Erica Gribble 6 1-2 14, Cadence peters 1 0-0 2, Cara Dupilka 0 0-0 0, Erica Rodriguez 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 5-7 44.
Three-pointers: Kennedy Catholic 4 (Magestro 2, Vincent, Keith). GCC 7 (Morgan 4, Davis 2, Gribble 1).
Rebounds: Kennedy Catholic 30 (Fields 14, Bianco 6, Magestro 5). GCC 18 (Morgan 5, Gribble 4).
Shooting: Kennedy Catholic 20 of 37 (54.1%). GCC 16 of 44 (36.4%).
