Special moment for Radnor and Jordan family
Throughout her basketball career Radnor High School senior point guard Katie Jordan has been the beneficiary of being able to share memorable moments on the hardwood with her father who also happens to be the head coach.
With this being her senior year, Jordan is all too familiar with the fact that, once district playoffs begin, her season and now her career could end at any time. When she took the court Feb. 14 in the opening round of the PIAA District One Class AAAA tournament against Central League foe Strath Haven, Jordan was hoping it would not be for the final time.
“The team was just talking about that,’ said Katie Jordan. “We discussed how this could be our last game and that Friday could have been our last practice. We wanted to use that as motivation.’
With Jordan quarterbacking the team on the floor, she gave her father another memorable moment in their career together, leading the 19th seeded Raiders to a 41-37 heart stopping win over the 14th seeded Panthers in the opening round of the PIAA District One Class AAAA playoffs.
“It was awesome watching her (Katie) out there,’ said proud coach and father Mark. “From the time she was a young freshman to a confident senior has been very special. It doesn’t get any better because not many fathers have a chance to coach their child for an entire four year career.’
While there have been times during her career where Katie may not have taken a shot in key situations, Saturday was not one of those times. With the score knotted at 31 with 1:30 left in regulation, Jordan took a skip pass from Kristin Hamill and immediately took an open three-pointer from the top of the key which she buried giving her team a 34-31 lead.
“There was a time Katie would not have entertained a shot like that,’ Mark said. “But today she got the ball in motion, took the shot and hit it. It was huge for the team and as a father and a coach it’s great to see.’
Hamill, who finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds said, “That shot was huge. It brought our spirits up and gave us a big motivation lift.’
Prior to that shot it appeared as though Radnor was going to run away with the contest building a 30-20 lead following a Lauren Pacifico three-pointer and Allison Lanzone making one of two from the free throw line.
With the two teams playing for the third time in nine days, Jordan knew Strath Haven was going to make a run. Haven did just that tying the game at 31 when Katie Fisher hit a fade-away three from the wing setting up Jordan’s huge shot.
The two teams continued to battle before going overtime. In the overtime period, Hammill took over on the boards along with hitting two big shots to give Radnor a lead that would not relinquish.
“Kristin was huge today. The whole team was,’ said Mark. “They used last year’s experience to help grind out games this year.’
With time running down and Haven still within one possession, Katie came up with a big steal to help seal the win and send Radnor into the second round where they played Mount St. Joseph’s in a game that place after the Main Line Times went to press.
Saturday’s contest will get added to the file that Mark keeps regarding games that have involved his daughter and the Radnor teams throughout the last four years. During that time, Radnor has captured a Central League title and a PIAA District One Class AAA title.
Since Radnor has moved up to the big school classification, the Raiders will have another opportunity to create more memories.
