Lady Scotties fall to juggernaut Trojanettes in final, 61-44
Paul S. Brittain
Southmoreland无毛视频檚 Grace Spadaro (15) looks for room while being double-teamed by North Catholic无毛视频檚 Belle O无毛视频橦ara (left) and Kylee Lewandowski in Friday无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 4A championship game at Petersen Events Center. Spadaro scored a team-high 12 points, but the Lady Scotties lost, 61-44.
Paul S. Brittain
Southmoreland无毛视频檚 Delaynie Morvosh (2) is fouled by North Catholic无毛视频檚 Tess Myers (23) during Friday无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 4A championship game at Petersen Events Center.
Paul S. Brittain
Southmoreland无毛视频檚 Sarah Pisula (24) tries to drive past North Catholic无毛视频檚 Kylee Lewandowski (21) during Friday无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 4A championship game at Petersen Events Center.
PITTSBURGH 无毛视频� Southmoreland无毛视频檚 perfect season was wrecked by an almost perfect opponent.
Top-seeded North Catholic pulled away in the second quarter and handed the second-seeded Lady Scotties their first loss of the season, 61-44, in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball championship game at Petersen Events Center on Friday.
The Trojanettes, loaded with a talented senior class that includes Kylee Lewandowski (14 points), Tess Myers (13 points) and Emma Pospisil (game-high 18 points), won their fourth consecutive district title.
It was Southmoreland无毛视频檚 first appearance in the title game.
无毛视频淚 knew we had a special group, and even though we lost, it无毛视频檚 an honor to be here,无毛视频� said Lady Scotties senior Sarah Pisula, who scored eight points. 无毛视频淚无毛视频檓 so proud of us for getting this far.
无毛视频淲alking in here, it无毛视频檚 like a movie, I can无毛视频檛 explain it, the feeling getting to play here. That无毛视频檚 what you work for.无毛视频�
Southmoreland (24-1) held early leads of 2-1 on Olivia Cernuto无毛视频檚 runner and 5-3 on Cernuto无毛视频檚 3-pointer, but North Catholic followed with a nine-point run that forced Lady Scotties coach Brian Pritts to call timeout.
The Trojanettes (24-1) still led by seven late in the quarter when Charity Henderson came up Southmoreland无毛视频檚 play of the game by nailing a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 19-15.
无毛视频淚 practice those every day, but I only made one in practice,无毛视频� Henderson said with a laugh. 无毛视频淚 was like, 无毛视频榃hoa!'无毛视频�
无毛视频淐harity hit a big shot and I thought that was momentum,无毛视频� Pritts said.
It didn无毛视频檛 last long, however.
Erika Sherbondy hit a driving shot to open the second quarter to get the Lady Scotties back within two, 19-17, but North Catholic went another nine-point run to go up 31-18 and the Lady Scotties (24-1) never got closer than 11 the rest of the way.
The Trojanettes led 42-26 at halftime and 52-33 after three quarters.
无毛视频淚 thought we were getting good looks on the offensive end,无毛视频� Pritts said. 无毛视频淲e just weren无毛视频檛 getting the ball to go in. And they shot the ball extremely well. They were shooting with confidence. I felt we were a little sluggish in the first half. We couldn无毛视频檛 get into a groove and that无毛视频檚 because of the team that they are.
无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檝e won four years in a row, their 20th overall. It无毛视频檚 an historic program.无毛视频�
Gracie Spadaro led Southmoreland with 12 points, Cernuto had 10 and Henderson finished with seven.
Five different players made 3-pointers for North Catholic, including four by Pospisil.
Both teams will now prepare for the PIAA tournament.
Trojanettes coach Molly Rottman praised the Lady Scotties.
无毛视频淚 give Southmoreland a lot of credit,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淚 thought they played hard the entire time. They never quit. They have a nice team and we have the utmost respect for them. They have nice length. They have great depth.无毛视频�
Pritts felt last year无毛视频檚 success, when his team made the postseason and won a playoff game, carried over to the 2019-20 season.
无毛视频淭his group of girls has always had a lot of drive, a lot of potential,无毛视频� Pritts said. 无毛视频淭hat experience helped mold this team for this year. And, hopefully, this experience and getting to the state playoffs is going to help to mold next year无毛视频檚 team.
无毛视频淭he nice thing about this group of girls is they gel. They care about each other and they respect the game.无毛视频�