A-K Valley girls basketball notebook: Plum, Indiana vie for section title

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, February 7, 2024 | 6:40 PM

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The Section 1-5A title is on the line for Plum on Thursday as it clashes with Indiana to conclude section play.

The stage was set for the Mustangs on Monday as they kept pace with the Indians in a 61-49 victory over Kiski Area on senior night at Plum High School.

Senior Megan Marston poured in a career-high 36 points, while fellow senior Pascale Olczak added nine points and 10 rebounds to help lift Plum to 13-7 overall and 9-2 in section play.

Sophomore Riley Stephans left Monday’s game early in the third quarter with an ankle injury. She was in a boot after the game, and Plum coach Rich Mull said Wednesday that “things are still up in the air at this point” for her to play Thursday.

Indiana clinched at least a share of the section title Monday by pulling away from Woodland Hills.

The Indians led by one at the end of the third quarter before outscoring the Wolverines, 18-9 in the fourth to produce a 44-34 win. Senior Bella Antonacci led the way for Indiana with 22 points, with 15 of the 22 coming on five 3-pointers. She also made 7 of 7 free throws.

The first meeting between Plum and Indiana on Jan. 15 went down to the wire with the Indians pulling out a 41-36 win. The Mustangs are 4-2 since that game with a tough 47-44 loss to Penn Hills on Friday, keeping Thursday’s matchup from being a winner-take-all game.

Indiana’s only loss in section came against Penn Hills just two days earlier, 41-37.

Close call

North Catholic won its 102nd consecutive section game Feb. 1 with a dominating victory over Valley

The Trojanettes have clinched the Section 1-4A title with one game at Knoch on Thursday remaining.

Many games during the streak have been wide margins of victory, although some have been closer battles with the likes of Knoch, Freeport, Mohawk, and Freedom.

But no team has come closer to ending the streak than Highlands on Jan. 18. Highlands trailed by just two with 2 minutes, 33 seconds left and by one with under two minutes to play.

The Golden Rams tied the score on a 3-pointer by senior Kate Myers with one minute to go.

But the Trojanettes found a way to close out a 43-39 win. It was North Catholic’s closest margin of victory in the streak.

Highlands has clinched second place in the section. At 9-2, the Golden Rams hope to finish off section play strong Thursday against Valley.

Down to the wire

Freeport first-year coach Mallory Ketterer said that while her team was unsuccessful in its goal of reaching the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs, the opportunity to finish strong in the section remained.

The Yellowjackets (8-12, 4-7) visit playoff-bound Greensburg Salem (14-7, 6-5) on Thursday to finish section play. They carry with them the momentum from Monday’s 43-41 victory over Derry Area that saw sophomore Jaisa Gaillot hit the winning shot with 5 seconds left in regulation.

Freeport led by six at halftime and held off a rally by the Trojans.

“The goal is to end the season with two wins,” said Ketterer, whose team was coming off losses to section heavyweights North Catholic, Highlands and Knoch. “We still have that chance, of course. Monday’s game was super exciting. We did discuss in the locker room after the game about how we made plenty of mistakes which put us in that buzzer-beater type situation. But it was awesome to have Jaisa come up with that shot at the end.

“We got to play all 10 girls in that game, so we were able to emphasize that everything each one did individually made a difference in the win. It was the first time we had all 10 players healthy and on the floor since our tip-off tournament to start the season.”

Spartans-Raiders rematch

St. Joseph has shown unquestioned dominance in Section 3-A, and that included a 70-40 victory over Riverview in the teams’ first meeting Jan. 15.

The Spartans (18-2, 7-0) go for the sweep at Riverview on Thursday, while the Raiders (14-5, 5-1) hope to shake things up.

St. Joseph’s only two losses this season are to Class 5A Kiski Area and Class A power Aquinas Academy in overtime.

Riverview has won three in a row and four of five since the loss to St. Joseph, and that included Saturday’s nonsection win, 50-25, over a Monessen team that was 15-4 overall and 9-0 in Section 2-A heading into a game against Avella on Wednesday.

Going with a bigger lineup to counter-attack Monessen’s strength on the boards, Riverview thrived defensively, and sophomore Isabel Chaparro connected from outside with five 3-pointers for 15 points.

A big game for Johns

Somewhat overshadowed by a career game for Plum’s Megan Marston in the Mustangs’ win over Kiski Area on Monday was a huge effort from Cavaliers senior Abbie Johns, who collected 28 points including 11-of-13 free-throw shooting. She added seven rebounds.

“She has that ability to do that every night and has been that caliber of player for us for a long time,” Kiski coach Dave Williamson said

Kiski Area, which had hoped to play spoiler for Plum’s playoff hopes, kept the game close into the third quarter before the Mustangs gradually pulled away.

Sophomore Gianna DeVito added 12 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the loss that put Kiski at 6-14 overall and 2-9 in Section 1-5A.

“We played well enough to win that game,” Williamson said. “We played good defense but didn’t take advantage of some opportunities on offense. Turnovers was our bugaboo that night.

“We faced a really tough schedule that didn’t afford us too many breaks. But the girls have played hard each night and have never quit. Our motto is that we’re going to play until the last bounce of the ball. It’s been about going out and competing no matter the opponent or situation.”

Kiski Area closes out its season Friday at home against Penn Hills.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Freeport, Highlands, Kiski Area, Knoch, Plum, St. Joseph