ECC TO FACE KENNEDY CATHOLIC FOR RIGHT TO GO TO PIAA CLASS A TITLE GAME

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By Chris Rossetti

CLARION – When the PIAA Class A Boys’ Basketball Playoffs started two weeks ago, few if any thought that any District 9 team would be playing for the right to go to State College and the championship game.

But after three straight wins, including an upset of defending champion Serra Catholic in the quarterfinals, District 9 champion Elk County Catholic is one win away from its second trip to the title game in four years.

Standing in the way of the Crusaders is a familiar foe in District 10 champion Kennedy Catholic. ECC (23-7) will meet the Golden Eagles (25-2) at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at Clarion University’s Tippin Gym.

ECC and Kennedy Catholic are meeting for the fourth time in the PIAA playoffs since 2001 and for the third time since 2005. It’s the first time the two have met in the semifinals in that stretch. The Crusaders won 67-34 in the second round in 2006 on their way to the PIAA Class A title, while Kennedy Catholic eliminated ECC in the quarterfinals in 2005 (51-48) and 2001 (64-48), when the Golden Eagles won their fourth of four straight PIAA titles. Kennedy Catholic also beat the Crusaders 48-30 in the 1994 quarterfinals.

Kennedy Catholic, winners of 17 straight, is making its third straight trip to the semifinals but is looking for its first win in that span after suffering to heartbreaking losses.

Two years ago the Golden Eagles blew an 18-point lead with just over 13 minutes to go and lost to DuBois Central Catholic 51-50 on an Andrew Welch 3-foot jumper with just over two seconds to play at Tippin Gym. Then last year, Kennedy Catholic fell to Serra Catholic 78-76 in overtime.

But winning semifinal games is nothing new for Kennedy Catholic, which made five straight title-game appearances from 1998-2002 winning titles four straight years from 1998-2001. The Golden Eagles also advanced to the PIAA Class A title game in 2005 before losing in the title game to Bishop O’Reilly.

ECC is in the semifinals for the first time since it beat Blairsville 77-62 in front of a sold-out crowd at Tippin Gym. The Crusaders are making their fourth trip to the semifinals under 27^th year head coach Aaron Straub. ECC is 1-2 in semifinal games under Straub losing to Monessen 54-44 in 1988 and falling to Duquesne 43-33 in 1992 before getting the win over Blairsville in 2006. That season, the Crusaders beat Bishop Hannan 71-61 in Hershey to win their first state title.

In order to get back to the state-title game, ECC will have to find a way to slow down Kennedy Catholic senior guard Kyle Randall. Randall is averaging 25.4 ppg and has scored 1,960 career points. He scored 27 points in the Golden Eagles 65-50 quarterfinal win over WPIAL champion Sewickley Academy Friday night at Slippery Rock. He has scored a ton of his points from the free-throw line hitting 203 of 272 (74.6 percent) on the year including going 17 of 21 in the PIAA second round vs. Tussey Mountain and 17 of 22 in the quarterfinals vs. Sewickley Academy.

Randall is the only Kennedy Catholic player in double figures, although 6-foot-6 senior forward Aundra Jones is averaging 9.4 ppg and 5-9 senior guard Phil Kaikis adds 8.4 ppg and a team-high 46 3-pointers. Junior forward Jake Penn (6.5 ppg) also is a key player and might have to raise his game considering the Golden Eagles will be without 6-2 junior forward Rocky Farmartino (4.2 ppg), who received two  technical fouls, an automatic ejection and an automatic one-game suspension in the win over Sewickley Academy.  

Nate Higgins, a 6-foot-5 senior forward, leads ECC in scoring at 15.9 ppg, while junior Robby Wortman is adding 10.1 ppg and is averaging 14.6 ppg in the Crusaders seven District 9 and PIAA playoff games. Higgins, who has 1,042 career points, is adding 9.3 rpg, while Wortman chips in 6.4 rpg. Guards Matt Bauer (6.2 ppg) and Joe Jacob (5.8 ppg) also have played key roles for ECC, while junior  Tony Chiodo (4.3 ppg) and sophomore Tyler Herzing (1.6 ppg) have done an outstanding job filling in for starting point guard Kyle Detsch (5.5 ppg), who has missed ECC’s first three PIAA playoff games with an illness. Chiodo is coming off a career-high 18 points in the quarterfinal win over Serra Catholic and is averaging 10.7 ppg in the three PIAA playoff games, while Herzing has scored 12 points in three PIAA playoff contests.

NOTES – This is the 11^th all-time meeting between ECC and Kennedy Catholic with Kennedy holding a 7-3 series lead … ECC has won seven straight and nine of 10 while Kennedy Catholic has won 17 straight … The teams have won common opponent, Keystone. ECC beat Keystone 37-36 in overtime in the District 9 semifinals while Kennedy Catholic topped the Panthers 40-30 in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs … Kennedy Catholic’s two losses have come to John F. Kennedy High School in Ohio and Reynolds … Straub is 604-178 in 27 years at ECC including 33-22 in the PIAA Playoffs. The PIAA mark includes a 13-4 record since 2004 … This is the third time in four years District 9 has had a Class A boys’ team reach the semifinals (DCC was state runner-up in 2007) and the fourth time since 2004 a D9 Class A boys’ team has reached the semifinals (Johnsonburg lost in the semifinals in 2004) … ECC is trying to become the 15^th District 9 boys’ team to make a PIAA Title game and the 12^th in Class A (see list) … Kennedy Catholic has been to nine PIAA Title games, all in Class A. In addition to the four wins from 1998-2001, the Golden Eagles, who have won 12 straight District 10 titles, also won titles in 1986 and 1987 and lost in  the title game in 1990, 2002 and 2005 … Kennedy Catholic head coach Marion McGaughy is in his third year and is 53-18 ... The winner of the game takes on the winner of the Girard College/Scotland School semifinal game at 2 p.m. Friday at the Bryce Jordan Center on the campus of Penn State University in State College.