WPIAL champion North Allegheny girls set PIAA path

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 9, 2018 | 11:00 PM

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Attitude won't be part of the equation if the North Allegheny girls basketball team doesn't make a return trip to the PIAA Class 6A championship game.

Spurred on by ferocious practices, the Tigers are tough. Thanks to smart scheduling, North Allegheny is experienced with different styles.

Following injury news recently, the Tigers will need to lean on both qualities. North Allegheny junior point guard Rachel Martindale, who eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in the Tigers' 79-48 win over Peters Township in the WPIAL title game March 3, will be out for the rest of the playoffs with an injury.

What will make things a little easier for those who remain is the Tigers' path. Starting with its PIAA opener against Upper St. Clair last Friday, there is a possibility North Allegheny could have rematches in every round. The Tigers already beat the Panthers in the opening round of the WPIAL playoffs, and would get the winner of Altoona and Mt. Lebanon.

North Allegheny has also already beaten potential foes Peters Township (twice), Bethel Park and Spring-Ford.

The Tigers have already beaten Altoona twice in the regular season and Mt. Lebanon in the playoffs.

Lizzy Groetsch, Courtney Roman, Brynn Serbin and Piper Morningstar will all be counted on to help fill in during Martindale's absence.

“We are blessed with really great players,” North Allegheny coach Spencer Stefko said following the title-game win. “It's a pocket of really talented kids coming through. We have four college point guards. Most teams struggle to find one. When we were (coaching) at Chartiers Valley, we had to put three kids together to get one good one.”

What has helped the Tigers is already having gone through the process of replacing a Division I player. Haley Zeise left to play at Division I Stony Brook, and the North Allegheny machine kept rolling.

“We should have lost something when we lost Haley Zeise,” Stefko said. “She was as good as anyone we had in six or seven aspects that we had to replace. Everyone of them did a piece to chip in for it.”

The Tigers have outscored their opponents by an average margin of 29 points. North Allegheny had the top scoring defense in the WPIAL's Class 6A, holding opponents to 38.5 points per game.

“Our competitive attitude in practices makes that the best thing,” Morningstar said. “I think that toughness flowed on this year.”

Demonstrating fortitude allowed them to get this far.

North Allegheny doesn't plan on getting tripped up yet.

“I'm so excited about the chance to coach them again (last) Friday and in practice,” Stefko said before the PIAA first-round game, played after deadline for this edition. “As I put the medals around their neck, I told them let's not let this be the highlight of our season. We get a couple of more days with each other.”

Josh Rizzo is a freelance writer.

Tags: North Allegheny