One step away: Southmoreland, EF hope to play for WPIAL title
There are always debates about which sections are the strongest in high school sports.
Southmoreland and Elizabeth Forward have put together a pretty strong case for Section 3 in the WPIAL Class AAAA girls basketball playoffs.
The second-seeded Lady Scotties and fifth-seeded Lady Warriors make up half of the final four along with Section 2 champion Blackhawk and Section 1 champion Knoch. Southmoreland and EF claimed first and second, respectively, in Section 3.
Those four teams will battle tonight to see who reaches Saturday鈥檚 3 p.m. final at Petersen Events Center.
The second-seeded Lady Scotties (18-3) and No. 3 Knoch (20-2) meet in one semifinal at Gateway High School with fifth-seeded Elizabeth Forward (19-4) taking on top-seeded and unbeaten Blackhawk (22-0) in the other at West Allegheny High School.
Both games tip off at 6 p.m.
Elizabeth Forward has already taken out two Section 2 teams. The Lady Warriors routed visiting Central Valley in the first round, 75-41, and won at Beaver Area in the quarterfinals, 46-42.
Blackhawk swept both teams, beating Central Valley 61-25 at home and 64-19 on the road, and beating Beaver 72-51 at home and 62-48 on the road.
The Lady Cougars advanced to the semifinals with a home win over Quaker Valley, 62-24.
Lady Warriors coach Krystal Gibbs doesn鈥檛 believe her team will be intimidated by Blackhawk and its perfect record. While Gibbs acknowledged the success of the Lady Cougars鈥� program she also noted some history on EF鈥檚 side.
鈥淲hat we always know about Blackhawk is they鈥檙e a tough team,鈥� Gibbs said. 鈥淚 had film five minutes after the (Beaver) game on them. They鈥檙e fast, they鈥檙e quick, they鈥檙e skilled.
鈥淏ut they鈥檙e not unbeatable. What is encouraging to me is the second time Beaver played them they were winning at halftime. The first year I coached (2012-13), I was an assistant, and we were playing Blackhawk in the semis. They were undefeated and no one gave us a chance. We beat them by 14. I tell these kids, that could be us. Nobody gives you a chance.鈥�
Elizabeth Forward has three seniors who played in the semifinals three years ago as freshmen in Bailie Brinson, Haven Briggs and Brooke Markland. That trio, along with junior Joselyn Dawson, are the Lady Warriors鈥� top players.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e used to playing big games,鈥� Gibbs said. 鈥淲e know Blackhawk is always a strong team, always well coached. But any given day anything can happen.鈥�
Southmoreland and Knoch both received first-round byes. The Lady Knights beat visiting Montour in the quarterfinals, 67-48, while the host Lady Scotties topped Highlands, 50-24.
Highlands was a section foe of Knoch with the latter winning both regular-season meetings, 50-33 at Highlands and 56-48 at home.
Southmoreland and Knoch have two other common opponents.
The Lady Scotties rolled past section foe Yough twice, 47-13 on the road and 47-26 at home, with the Lady Knights beating the Lady Cougars, 56-26, on the road.
Southmoreland also triumphed over section foe Ligonier Valley twice, 51-20 at home and 53-26 on the road, while Knoch beat Ligonier at Kiski Area, 68-17.
The Lady Scotties will have a probable starting lineup of seniors Gracie Spadaro, Delaynie Morvosh and Elle Pawlikowski and juniors Olivia Cernuto and Maddie Moore.
Southmoreland coach Amber Cernuto was pleased with how her team handled its playoff opener.
鈥淭hey were ready to go, much better than I anticipated after the layoff we had,鈥� Cernuto said. 鈥淭he long break kind of worried me a little bit. Would we be a little bit rusty or would we be ready to go? We started off a little bit sluggish but we picked it up pretty quick.鈥�
The Lady Scotties are facing almost a mirror image of themselves in Knoch, according to Cernuto.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been watching some film on them. They鈥檙e a really good team,鈥� Cernuto said. 鈥淭hey kind of match up with us a little bit size-wise and with their style of play. They鈥檝e got two really big players, the taller girl reminds me a lot of our Delaynie Morvosh and their point guard reminds us a lot of Olivia.
鈥淭hey play mostly man and get after you kind of like we do. It should be a pretty good, even game.鈥�