FARRELL, Pa. – Farrell led from start to finish, putting the finishing touches on an outright Region 1 title with a 45-33 win over Kennedy Catholic.
The win was the eighth in a row for the Steelers (18-4 overall, 8-0 Region 1) and their second this season over Kennedy following a 53-32 win on Jan. 27.
“A win is a win and we’ll take it,” said Farrell coach Myron Lowe.
It wasn’t a thing of beauty at times, as the Steelers were just 12-of-28 from the free-throw line, but Farrell senior Malachi Owens knows they can win a lot of different ways.
“It feels really good to win and beat everybody in the region,” Owens said. “Our last couple of games we started slow. We still have to work on that, but all of our guys have got that grind in them.”
See Owens’ full interview here:
It was a balanced offensive effort from Farrell, as Lamont Samuels Jr., Danny Odem, and Nasir O’Kane had 10 points each, while Owens finished with nine in a game that was, for the most part, played in the half-court.
“It was the same as last game,” said Lowe about the pace of play. “They played a 2-3 zone and packed it in and forced us to make shots. The last game we didn’t make any, so we knew they’d probably come out and do the same thing again.”
Farrell’s Danny Odem (24) drives to the basketball while being defended by Kennedy Catholic’s Max Southworth. Photo by Andy Close.
A pair of Levi Hailstock free-throws got the Golden Eagles (11-9, 5-2) within six at 35-29 with 6:22 to play, but the Steelers responded with a 10-2 run to help close the game out, including a strong putback by Owens and four points from O’Kane.
“We play really well as a team and really well together,” Owens said. “If we keep playing like that we’ll be really good.”
Remington Hart kept Kennedy Catholic in the game early with eight nine first-half points, while O’Kane had five early points for the Steelers.
Farrell took its first double-digit lead of the game, 18-7, on a layup from Samuels with 1:30 to go in the half, but Kennedy closed the half with four-straight points, all from Hart.
The Steelers were able to keep the Golden Eagles at bay in the second half, with the lead never going below five (24-19 after a Nick Ondo bucket with 4:42 to go in the third quarter). It grew back to 10 at the end of the third quarter on an Odem three and a Samuels free throw.
Remington Hart led Kennedy Catholic with 13 points, while Thorsten Hart and Hailstock had eight each.
Farrell will now have a layoff before the start of the District 10 Class 1A postseason, with a chance they could see the Golden Eagles for a third time.
Kennedy, meanwhile, closes out the regular season on Friday at Jamestown.
Kennedy Catholic’s Levi Hailstock drives while being defended by Farrell’s Kylon Wilson. Photo by Andy Close.
“We’re playing alright,” Lowe said. “We’re still not doing the small things all the time like boxing out and hitting free throws. We have to make our free throws and we have to do the small things.”
