2022 WPIAL Class A girls basketball championship breakdown: Aquinas Academy vs. Bishop Canevin

By: Bill Hartlep
Friday, March 4, 2022 | 4:44 PM

WPIAL Class A girls basketball championship

No. 4 Aquinas Academy vs. No. 7 Bishop Canevin

11 a.m. Saturday, Petersen Events Center

On the air: Video livestream: TribHSSN.TribLive.com

WPIAL titles: Aquinas Academy 0; Bishop Canevin 5 (2013, ‘16, ‘17, ‘18, ‘20)

Aquinas Academy (14-6)

Coach: Chris Lebakken

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Cl., Pos.

1, Elizabeth Russell, 5-9, sr., F

2, Laura Richthammer, 5-7, sr., G

3, Isabella Hite, 5-3, jr., G,

12, Elizabeth Hardy, 5-3, sr., G

14, Emilia Kartsonas, 6-0, sr., F

Notable: Aquinas Academy rolled through the early rounds of the WPIAL playoffs, defeating No. 5 Monessen, 60-37, in the quarterfinals and No. 9 St. Joseph, 42-29, in the semifinals. … The Crusaders are making their first trip to the WPIAL finals after reaching the semifinals last year as the No. 4 seed. They lost to champion Rochester, 75-34. … Aquinas features a senior-heavy lineup. Forward Elizabeth Russell and guard Laura Richthammer combined for 27 points in the semifinals. Senior guard Elizabeth Hardy had 21 points in the quarterfinals. And senior forward Emilia Kartsonas tallied 15 against Monessen. … Aquinas, which started the season 3-4, took first in Section 3 at 8-0 and has won eight of its past nine games.

Bishop Canevin (16-9)

Coach: Maddie Bazelak

Projected starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Cl., Pos.

2, Rachel Boehm, 5-10, fr., F

5, Mackenzie Huet, 5-7, jr., G

11, Ashley Lippold, 5-8, jr., G

13, Josie Bochicchio, 5-7, jr., F

14, Erin Jameson, 5-11, sr., F

Notable: Bishop Canevin, which was the third-place finisher in Section 1 at 4-4, has been an underdog through most of the playoffs. After beating No. 10 Avella, 76-54, in the first round, the seventh-seeded Crusaders pulled upsets over No. 2 West Greene, 67-63, in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Union, 49-43, in the semifinals. … Bishop Canevin is looking for its fifth WPIAL title in the past seven seasons. … Junior guard Ashley Lippold leads Bishop Canevin’s scoring at 16.1 points per game. She scored 19 points in the semifinal win over Union and poured in 32 in the first round. … Junior guard Amber Cross added 10 points off the bench. Freshman forward Rachel Boehm tallied 28 points in the quarterfinals. … Coach Maddie Bazelak is in her first season.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Aquinas Academy, Bishop Canevin