Aquinas Academy races past Lady Greyhounds
Aquinas Academy didn’t need a second-half rally this time.
The fourth-seeded Lady Crusaders pulled away from visiting Monessen for a 60-37 victory in a WPIAL Class A girls basketball quarterfinal playoff game on Thursday night.
Two years ago Aquinas had to dig out of a 14-point halftime deficit to defeat the Lady Greyhounds. The Lady Crusaders were in command all game in their latest meeting.
Aquinas jumped out to a 14-6 advantage in the opening quarter and led 32-14 at halftime and 48-29 after three quarters.
Lizzie Hardy scored a game-high 21 points for the Lady Crusaders (13-6) who also got 15 points from Emilia Kartsonas and 13 points from Elizabeth Russell.
Mercedes Majors paced the Lady Greyhounds (17-6) with 12 points and Hailey Johnson added 10.
Aquinas will play St. Joseph in the semifinals on Monday after the Lady Spartans stunned top-seeded Rochester, 57-54.
Monessen still has hopes of qualifying for the PIAA tournament as one of the top six WPIAL teams in Class A.
If the Lady Crusaders can defeat St. Joseph for the third time this season — they beat them twice during the regular season by scores of 47-16 at home and 34-24 away — they would reach the district final and drag the Lady Greyhounds into the states.