SOUTHERN SECTION GIRLS’ BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS : DIVISION II-A : Troy’s Size Takes Its Toll on Kennedy

FULLERTON — The clash of styles was evident from Wednesday’s opening tipoff.

There stood Troy, monstrous, with three starters looking down on their opponent’s tallest player.

And there was Kennedy. Short, quick, scrappy.

They battled each other through four quarters and an overtime period before Troy finally ended it, 46-44. In fitting fashion, the game’s final shot--a three-point attempt by Kennedy’s Lynly Matsumoto--was blocked by Audra Gamst.

As the players and home fans rushed the court as though they had won a championship, the tears began streaming down the cheeks of the aptly named Fighting Irish.

They definitely went down fighting, coming back from a six-point deficit with 5 minutes 59 seconds. They held the lead twice, at 2-0 and 44-42, with 2:31 left in overtime. They trailed by as many as 10.

The victory was the 17th in the last 18 games for Troy (22-4) which meets the winner of the West Torrance-Burbank Burroughs game on Saturday in a Division II-A quarterfinal matchup.

Kennedy ended at 18-8.

The game was won when 6-foot-3 sophomore Jennie Gadd grabbed the partially blocked shot of Gamst with 46 seconds remaining. She squared to the basket and buried it. It was an uncommon sight.

“I didn’t think about all the pressure,” Gadd said. “I just wanted to get the ball in the hole because it was going to be our last chance to do something.

“My shots hadn’t been going in all night.”

The basket was her only one in the second half. She finished with nine points.

Kennedy inbounded the ball with five seconds left. Karin Kitagawa threw it to leading scorer Matsumoto, who found a wall in front of her in the form of the 5-11 Gamst. The seconds ticked away, and off-balance, she threw the ball to the basket. Gamst got a portion of it. The game was over.

It was the eighth blocked shot of the night for Troy, whose taller players came through in a big way. Gadd had nine points and 14 rebounds, Jill Katsis (6-3) had eight points and seven rebounds, Brandee Richardson (6-3) had 11 points and 12 rebounds and Gamst had five points and six rebounds. And they all played big on defense.

“Height is intimidating when you’re 5-4,” Kennedy Coach Karen Wolfe said. “Even our post players were falling away (in the first half) instead of going to the basket.”

Kennedy made only 15 of 73 shots (21%).

“I would like to think we had something to do with that,” Troy Coach Brad Sand said.