Knoch rides strong start to 56-45 win over Lady Scots
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Southmoreland鈥檚 Maddie Moore (32) shoots a layup in the first quarter of Tuesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game against Knoch at Gateway High School.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Southmoreland鈥檚 Gracie Spadaro (15) fights to release a shot through the arms of Knoch鈥檚 Hattie McGraw (13) and Naturelle Ewing (15) during the second quarter of Tuesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game at Gateway High School.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Knoch鈥檚 Madilyn Boyer pushes the ball away from Southmoreland鈥檚 Olivia Cernuto to teammate Serenity Kosecki (11) in the second quarter of Tuesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game at Gateway High School.
Southmoreland's Olivia Cernuto (10) is surrounded by Knoch's Hattie McGraw (13) and Nina Shaw (25) during the first quarter of Tuesday's WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game at Gateway High School.
Southmoreland's Olivia Cernuto pulls up for a jump shot over Knoch's Madilyn Boyer (33) and Hattie McGraw (13) in the first quarter of Tuesday's WPIAL Class AAAA semfinal playoff game at Gateway High School.
MONROEVILLE 鈥� The Knoch girls set the tone early with a stifling defense and accurate shooting, and carried that momentum throughout the game Tuesday night for a 56-45 victory in the WPIAL Class AAAA semifinals against Southmoreland at Gateway High School.
The third-seeded Knights (21-2) advance to the title game Saturday at 3 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center against top-seeded Blackhawk. Blackhawk defeated Elizabeth Forward, 76-53, in the other semifinal.
The second-seeded Lady Scots (18-4) will return to action next week in the PIAA playoffs.
Madilyn Boyer鈥檚 long-range shooting, plus an effective motion offense, sparked Knoch鈥檚 offense in the first half. Boyer finished with a game-high 27 points, including four 3-pointers at key points for the Knights. She also made 7-of-9 free throws.
On the other side of half court, the Knoch defense denied any 3-point opportunities and made shooting in the lane difficult, effectively thwarting the Lady Scots鈥� offensive pattern.
鈥淭hey played tremendous defense tonight. They really studied film. We like to put the ball in the paint. They doubled-teamed us and triple-teamed us in the paint. They were very good at recovering. So, we didn鈥檛 get any really good open looks,鈥� said Southmoreland coach Amber Cernuto.
Southmoreland, after a timeout, closed the first quarter on a three-point run to trail the Knights, 12-7.
鈥淲e started off very sluggish. I don鈥檛 know if we weren鈥檛 focused. We didn鈥檛 play like ourselves tonight, especially defensively. We were a little lost,鈥� said Amber Cernuto. 鈥淲e knew No. 33 (Madilyn Boyer) and 25 (Nina Shaw) were good at the top and they could take the ball to the hoop, and they could shoot.
鈥淭hey have an excellent team.鈥�
Knoch kept doing what it was doing as the playoff game moved into the second quarter. Southmoreland鈥檚 ability to spark a rally was affected with Olivia Cernuto and Melaynie Morvosh dealing with foul trouble. Cernuto picked up her third foul with around 2陆 minutes remaining in the half.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not used to getting in foul trouble early. For the first time we had two starters with three fouls by halftime. Changes the whole dynamic of the team,鈥� said Amber Cernuto.
The Knights鈥� advantage grew to 17 points before settling into the halftime break with a 27-15 lead.
Southmoreland opened with a 7-3 run in the third quarter and the Lady Scots had a couple possessions to cut the deficit, but were unable to do so. Knoch鈥檚 advantage floated between eight and 13 points in the quarter, settling at 10 points, 36-26, entering the fourth quarter.
鈥淭urnovers and rebounds, we didn鈥檛 get as many as we like. We struggled a little bit there,鈥� said Amber Cernuto.
Olivia Cernuto picked up her fourth foul just 35 seconds into the fourth quarter. Knoch steadily increased the gap, building the lead to 47-32 when Cernuto fouled out with 3:37 remaining in the game.
Knoch looked to bleed the clock in the final three minutes of the game, trusting the ball to Nina Shaw, who converted 7-of-8 fouls shots in the quarter and 11-of-12 for the game to finish with 15 points.
The Lady Scots鈥� Gracie Spadaro picked up some points late in the game to finish with 19. Olivia Cernuto and Maddie Moore both scored nine.
Now, the Lady Scots鈥� attention turns to a state championship run.
鈥淭his is a rough one. One of our goals was to get to the states and get past this game back to the Pete. Our seniors were looking forward to it,鈥� said Amber Cernuto. 鈥淲e will think about it for 24 hours, and then get back at it and get ready for states. Our season鈥檚 not over yet.鈥�