North Catholic wears down Lady Raiders, 58-29
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Kaley Rohanna shoots over North Catholic鈥檚 Kaitlyn Tavella during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Clara Paige Miller puts up a shot against North Catholic during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Nina Sarra drives into the lane against North Catholic during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Addison Blair scores against North Catholic during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Kaley Rohanna drives around North Catholic鈥檚 Anna Waskiewicz during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Brenna Benke finds space between North Catholic鈥檚 Victoria Drevna (30) and Kaitlyn Tavella (22) to get off a jump shot during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Emily Bennett makes a free throw against North Catholic during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
North Catholic鈥檚 Dacia Lewandowski (12) dribbles the ball as Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Emma Kindervater defends during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Clara Paige Miller takes a jump shot against North Catholic during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Kaley Rohanna scores inside against North Catholic during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Wayneburg Central鈥檚 Kaley Rohanna is defended by North Catholic鈥檚 Anna Waskiewicz during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Emma Kindervater shoots a free throw during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game against North Catholic at North Hills.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Nina Sarra flies in to grab a rebound against North Catholic during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game at North Hills.
Waynesburg Central coach Dave Sarra talks to his players during a timeout in Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game against North Catholic at North Hills. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Kaley Rohanna throws a bounce pass during Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL playoff game against North Catholic at North Hills.
PITTSBURGH 鈥� There are plenty of reasons why North Catholic鈥檚 girls basketball team is the No. 1 seed in the WPIAL Class AAA playoffs.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e long, they鈥檙e athletic, they鈥檙e tall, they handle the ball well and they shoot well,鈥� 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.
鈥淎nd they鈥檙e smart defensively. You do one thing and they adjust like that.鈥�
With all those special ingredients it鈥檚 not surprising that coach Molly Rottmann鈥檚 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 Waskiewicz 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 driving basket to open second-quarter scoring made it 12-8.
Rottmann wasn鈥檛 pleased with her squad鈥檚 play in the early going and she used a timeout to express that to her players.
鈥淚 told them we were settling and suddenly becoming very selfish,鈥� Rottmann said. 鈥淲e weren鈥檛 working the plan, we weren鈥檛 working the ball, we were just randomly being individuals out there shooting the ball, and they weren鈥檛 even good shots.
鈥淚 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.鈥�
The Trojanettes outscored Waynesburg 14-2 the rest of the quarter to go up 26-10 at halftime and were never threatened again.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 match up well with them,鈥� Sarra said. 鈥淲e played hard but eventually their athleticism and their length breaks you down.
鈥淲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.鈥�
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 Waskiewicz.
The main highlight of the final frame for the Trojanettes was a basket by Anastasia Peterson.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had an emotional couple days,鈥� Rottmann pointed out. 鈥淣o. 4鈥檚 (Peterson) mom passed away last night. So it鈥檚 been a rough week and we had an emotional morning.鈥�
Rottmann commended the Lady Raiders.
鈥淚 think Waynesburg is a good team,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e well coached. They have some really good players in 15 (Rohanna) and 33 (Miller). They鈥檙e tough kids. I thought they were physical. They competed. I thought they did a nice job.鈥�
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.
鈥淲e had a battle on Wednesday at South Park and I don鈥檛 even know if we got our legs back,鈥� Sarra said. 鈥淲e tried to have two easy practices. We qualified for the state tournament so we鈥檒l give them a few days off and let them rest up.
鈥淭he girls worked really hard. They earned the right to be here. I thought we should鈥檝e had a higher seed but that鈥檚 fine. You can鈥檛 control that. So we did what we needed to do to get to the semis. I鈥檓 happy for the girls.鈥�