Clairton stymies Geibel Catholic鈥檚 offense to reach WPIAL Class A final
CHARLEROI 鈥� Geibel Catholic jumped out to a five-point lead in the first quarter, but unfortunately for the Lady Gator faithful, Clairton didn鈥檛 let the advantage last, as it took the lead in the second quarter, and pulled away in the second half for a 52-32 victory Monday night at Charleroi Area High School in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class A girls basketball playoffs.
The Lady Bears (19-4) will play Union (24-0) on Friday at the Petersen Events Center on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh at 3 p.m. for the WPIAL Class A championship.
The Lady Scotties are seeking their third straight and overall district title, while Clairton is hoping for its third WPIAL championship after winning back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002.
鈥淚鈥檓 elated,鈥� Clairton coach Carlton Wade said. 鈥淚鈥檓 mad I didn鈥檛 take off work tomorrow. I鈥檓 happy for the school, the city, for my daughter (Iyanna Wade), who wanted to get down there (Petersen Events Center), and she鈥檚 down there now. The community support is always there. We are not the biggest but our supporters made a lot of noise tonight.鈥�
Although the Lady Gators (22-2) were denied the opportunity to play for an eighth WPIAL title, they are in the state playoffs and can enter the tournament as the third seed if they win on Wednesday against Aquinas Academy (15-8) in the consolation final.
The game will be played at Geibel Catholic Junior/Senior High School. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Despite falling short of reaching the final, Lady Gators coach Sara Larkin was pleased with her team for winning a playoff game this season and also qualifying for the state playoffs.
鈥淲e鈥檝e made good progress this year, and I think we exceeded expectations,鈥� Larkin said. 鈥淵es, it would have been great to win tonight, but the better team won tonight, so hats off to them. They had a great game plan and executed, and we didn鈥檛, but this one鈥檚 done. We will lick our wounds tonight, refocus and get ready for Aquinas on Wednesday.鈥�
Ava Henderson buried a three-pointer and Emma Larkin scored on a layup in transition for a 5-0 Geibel Catholic advantage before Clairton鈥檚 Reyonee Williams made back-to-back baskets on mid-range jumpers to cut the deficit to 5-4.
Janiah Darnell scored inside and Larkin鈥檚 layup put the Lady Gators up five for the second time, but it would be the largest lead Geibel would maintain.
Karma Fuqua and Iyanna Wade connected on field goals to pull the Lady Bears within one at 9-8 as the first quarter closed.
Clairton tied the game at 10-10 on a jumper from Fuqua before Mallory Clemmer made a jumper of her own for a 12-10 advantage for the Lady Gators.
After Wade tied the game on a tremendous move for a layup, Clemmer buried a three-pointer, but the Lady Bears鈥� Jamiya Juju Childs nailed a shot from behind-the-arc to tie the game at 15-15 before Wade scored, drew the foul and made the free throw for an 18-15 lead with three minutes remaining in the second period for Clairton鈥檚 first lead.
Wade made two three-pointers to extend the Lady Bears鈥� advantage to 24-18 at halftime.
Sara Larkin felt her team didn鈥檛 run their offense and took too many outside shots, especially when the game was closer.
鈥淲e relied way too much on the three-point shot,鈥� Larkin said. 鈥淎nd no matter how many times I told them, 鈥楽top, run the offense, be patient,鈥� we continued to shoot them, and then at the end of the game when I鈥檓 telling them, 鈥楾his is when we need it, you gotta shoot the ball,鈥� everyone didn鈥檛 want to.
鈥淲e just got to understand situations better. We鈥檒l learn and grow from there. We weren鈥檛 crashing the boards today, and when you鈥檙e standing out on the perimeter and nobody鈥檚 crashing, we鈥檙e only getting one attempt and going the other direction.鈥�
Clairton pushed its lead to 28-18 with 5:12 left in the third quarter on a field goal from Juju Childs and two free throws from Wade.
Emma Larkin made a three-pointer, was 1 of 2 at the foul line and added another field goal on a drive, but she was the only Geibel player to score in the third quarter.
The Lady Bears had a 38-24 advantage after three quarters.
鈥淲e stressed defense all week,鈥� Carlton Wade said. 鈥淲e knew if we could stop Emma from getting downhill, we would win the game, and that鈥檚 exactly what we did.鈥�
Clairton slowed up its offense in the fourth period, and despite Larkin scoring a drive to cut the deficit to 12 with 5:30 left in the game, the Lady Bears had a 14-8 edge in the frame.
Larkin scored 12 of the Lady Gators鈥� 14 points in the second half. She finished with 17 on seven field goals (one 3-pointer) and was 2 of 4 at the foul line. Clemmer added eight and Henderson five.
Wade had an off day by her standards in scoring a game-high 22 points on six field goals (three 3-pointers) and was 7 of 9 at the line. Fuqua dropped 16 and Juju Childs 10.
鈥淚yanna (Wade), Karma (Fuqua) and Jamiya (Juju Childs) are my three big scorers,鈥� Carlton Wade said. 鈥淚f we can continue with those three playing well, it will go well for our team. Jamiya had the flu when we played them (Geibel) the second time. Iyanna didn鈥檛 shoot the ball well, and I felt we should have won that game, also.鈥�