North Catholic wears down Lady Raiders, 58-29 (copy)
Waynesburg Central无毛视频檚 Kaley Rohanna shoots over North Catholic无毛视频檚 Kaitlyn Tavella during Saturday无毛视频檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Waynesburg Central无毛视频檚 Clara Paige Miller puts up a shot against North Catholic during Saturday无毛视频檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Waynesburg Central无毛视频檚 Nina Sarra drives into the lane against North Catholic during Saturday无毛视频檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Waynesburg Central无毛视频檚 Addison Blair scores against North Catholic during Saturday无毛视频檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
Waynesburg Central无毛视频檚 Brenna Benke finds space between North Catholic无毛视频檚 Victoria Drevna (30) and Kaitlyn Tavella (22) to get off a jump shot during Saturday无毛视频檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
PITTSBURGH 无毛视频� There are plenty of reasons why North Catholic无毛视频檚 girls basketball team is the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs.
无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e long, they无毛视频檙e athletic, they无毛视频檙e tall, they handle the ball well and they shoot well,无毛视频� said Waynesburg Central coach Dave Sarra, who watched his team succumb to the Trojanettes in their district semifinal game, 58-29, on Saturday afternoon at North Hills High School.
无毛视频淎nd they无毛视频檙e smart defensively. You do one thing and they adjust like that.无毛视频�
With all those special ingredients it无毛视频檚 not surprising that coach Molly Rottmann无毛视频檚 team will be playing in its eighth consecutive WPIAL final and seeking its fifth title in that span.
Alayna Rocco led North Catholic (18-5) with 22 points and Anna Waskiewski followed with 15 points. Both players also pulled down nine rebounds as the Trojanettes dominated the boards with a 41-15 advantage.
Dacia Lewandowski added nine points for North Catholic, which will face No. 3 Freedom in Thursday night无毛视频檚 final at the Petersen Events Center.
Kaley Rohanna led the fifth-seeded Lady Raiders (17-5) with 12 points. Clara Paige Miller and Emily Bennett each scored five points.
The Trojanettes jumped out to a 12-2 lead with Waynesburg无毛视频檚 lone bucket in that span coming from Rohanna. The Lady Raiders scored the final four points of the opening quarter on a Rohanna 3-pointer and a Bennett free throw to get within 12-6.
Miller无毛视频檚 driving basket to open second-quarter scoring made it 12-8.
Rottmann wasn无毛视频檛 pleased with her squad无毛视频檚 play in the early going and she used a timeout to express that to her players.
无毛视频淚 told them we were settling and suddenly becoming very selfish,无毛视频� Rottmann said. 无毛视频淲e weren无毛视频檛 working the plan, we weren无毛视频檛 working the ball, we were just randomly being individuals out there shooting the ball, and they weren无毛视频檛 even good shots.
无毛视频淚 thought they settled down after that and did a better job of sticking with the game plan and working a little harder to find the open person.无毛视频�
The Trojanettes outscored Waynesburg 14-2 the rest of the quarter to go up 26-10 at halftime and were never threatened again.
无毛视频淲e didn无毛视频檛 match up well with them,无毛视频� Sarra said. 无毛视频淲e played hard but eventually their athleticism and their length breaks you down.
无毛视频淲e started out in man then went to a zone. The zone actually slows them down. It makes them at least pass the ball more but they find seams.无毛视频�
North Catholic led 42-20 at the end of the third quarter and took its biggest lead of 56-25 late in the fourth quarter on a free throw by Waskiewski.
The main highlight of the final frame for the Trojanettes was a basket by Anastasia Peterson.
无毛视频淲e无毛视频檝e had an emotional couple days,无毛视频� Rottmann pointed out. 无毛视频淣o. 4无毛视频檚 (Peterson) mom passed away last night. So it无毛视频檚 been a rough week and we had an emotional morning.无毛视频�
Rottmann commended the Lady Raiders.
无毛视频淚 think Waynesburg is a good team,无毛视频� she said. 无毛视频淭hey无毛视频檙e well coached. They have some really good players in 15 (Rohanna) and 33 (Miller). They无毛视频檙e tough kids. I thought they were physical. They competed. I thought they did a nice job.无毛视频�
Sarra, whose team was coming off an exhilarating 71-68 double overtime victory over South Park in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, felt his team had nothing to be ashamed of.
无毛视频淲e had a battle on Wednesday at South Park and I don无毛视频檛 even know if we got our legs back,无毛视频� Sarra said. 无毛视频淲e tried to have two easy practices. We qualified for the state tournament so we无毛视频檒l give them a few days off and let them rest up.
无毛视频淭he girls worked really hard. They earned the right to be here. I thought we should无毛视频檝e had a higher seed but that无毛视频檚 fine. You can无毛视频檛 control that. So we did what we needed to do to get to the semis. I无毛视频檓 happy for the girls.无毛视频�