Oakland Catholic girls defeat Mars to earn another WPIAL finals berth

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, February 28, 2018 | 10:12 PM

Cierra Christian's phone hasn't filled up with text messages yet, but it will.

The Oakland Catholic sophomore guard/forward will be able to converse with many of those familiar faces soon after helping the Eagles beat Mars, 48-44, in a WPIAL Class 5A semifinal Wednesday night at North Hills Middle School.

Christian, who transferred to Oakland Catholic from Gateway before this year, will face off against those same Gators on Saturday at Peterson Events Center.

The Eagles (17-8) won their last WPIAL crown in 2006 and lost to Chartiers Valley in the final last season.

“It's exciting,” Christian said after Wednesday night's victory. “I haven't got any messages yet. I probably will. (Gateway's) game just ended.”

Christian provided the much-needed lift for the Eagles with 7 minutes, 9 seconds remaining. She scored on a driving layup, drew a foul and made the ensuing free throw to put Oakland Catholic ahead 41-38.

“My main goal was to rebound, rebound, rebound,” said Christian, who finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds. “I didn't care about the points.”

Oakland Catholic didn't seem like they would need to sweat out much with how they started. Following a 3-pointer by Jayde Boyd with 1:27 left in the first, the Eagles held a 18-3 advantage. Boyd finished with a game-high 16 points.

“We needed to take care of ourselves and worry about playing good defense and getting rebounds,” Oakland Catholic coach Shannon Kearney said. “We needed to execute our plays despite who our opponent is.”

Defensive execution was a key factor. Nerves for Mars (19-6) may have been another. The Planets have lost three straight playoff games to the Eagles.

“We kept saying in practice every day, we kept saying they aren't as good as they were last year and they aren't,” Mars coach Dana Petruska said. “After what they did to us last year back-to-back games, it was what it was. That's what you're dealing with with 14- and 15-year-old kids.”

Those kids grew up after halftime. Mars chipped away at the lead throughout the third quarter. Alek Johnson tied the game at 38 with 41 seconds left in the frame.

Bella Pelaia led the Planets with 13 points.

“Mars is a great team, and I knew and we all knew they were going to make a comeback; that's what great teams do,” Kearney said.

Christian's three-point play gave Oakland Catholic a spark. She then scored off an offensive rebound to stretch the lead to five points.

Mars wasn't able to mount another comeback.

“We have to keep the intensity up,” Christian said. “We let up a lot of 3-pointers. We got back on defense and our help defense was better in the fourth quarter. We had to have the same mindset. Our mindset was we are down by 10, and we have to keep pushing.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

Tags: Mars, Oakland Catholic