HERMITAGE, Pa. – It was an ending you almost had to see to believe.
Tied at 49-all, Kennedy Catholic’s Lochlyn Shimrack was fouled with 2.6 seconds left in the fourth quarter against Norwin and knocked down both free throws to make it 51-49.
Norwin’s Kendall Berger took the ensuing inbounds pass and hoisted up a prayer from midcourt as time expired. The shot was no good, but officials whistled Kennedy Catholic’s Bella Magestro for a foul and awarded Berger three free throws with no time on the clock.
Berger made the first, but missed the next two and the defending PIAA 2A state champions earned a wild 51-50 win over the Class 6A power Knights.
See the final play here:
This is called a foul against Kennedy, up 51-49 as time expires. Kendall Berger makes first but misses next 2 and Kennedy comes out with the 51-50 win. Wow pic.twitter.com/01VMMoC8Ww
— YDL Sports Network (@ydlsportsnet) December 27, 2023
“A lot of defense and a lot of communication led to the win,” said Kennedy Catholic freshman Tori Harvey, who scored a career-high 14 points in the win.
See Harvey’s full Cole Orthodontic Associates postgame interview here:
Kennedy Catholic (5-2) coach Justin Magestro was proud of how his team came up clutch when it mattered the most.
“What I’m going to say is clutch free-throw shooting by Lochlyn Shimrack,” Magestro said. “All our kids, they all have a role on our team, they know what they need to do. Lochlyn all year has come off the bench for us and today she came off the bench for us and proved she could hit two big free-throws. Unbelievable game.”
The two teams traded buckets in the final minute, with Layke Fields giving Kennedy Catholic a 49-47 lead with a minute to play and Norwin’s (7-2) Lauren Palangio tying the game on her bucket with 33 seconds left.
“Hats off to Norwin,” Magestro said. “One of the best teams we’ll play. They’re a phenomenal team with a phenomenal coach.”
The game was tied at 34-all going to the fourth quarter, and Kennedy Catholic went on an 11-2 run to take a 45-36 lead with 4:21 to play.
Fields (7 points) and Harvey (4 points) did all the scoring during the run.
“When push came to shove, we were going to Layke Fields in the paint,” Magestro said.
Berger, who finished with 18 points, went on a personal 7-0 run to make it 45-43 with 3:17 to play. The Knights tied the game at 47-all when Ava Kobus knocked down 1-of-2 from three free-throw line with 1:28 to play.
It was a game of runs, as Norwin jumped out to a 14-5 lead early in the second quarter, which was followed by a 18-6 spurt to close the half by Kennedy Catholic to take a 23-20 lead into halftime.
Monique Vincent and Harvey knocked down two 3’s each during the second-quarter run.
Fields led Kennedy Catholic with 20 points and 14 boards, while Harvey had 14 points and seven rebounds and Vincent nine points.
Palangio was also in double figures for Norwin with 16 points, while Kobus added nine.
“This is going to do a lot for us,” Harvey said. “Once we play other teams, since we beat this team, we should blow most teams out. This was a really good win.”
