Allderdice girls top Obama Academy to defend City League title

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, February 16, 2025 | 3:41 PM

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Bailey White sported a wide smile as she grabbed the City League championship trophy Sunday at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. With the win, White and the Allderdice girls basketball team left no doubt to their spot in the district’s hierarchy.

The Dragons’ 52-45 win over Obama Academy was their second straight title.

“It’s really important,” said White, who scored a game-high 24 points and was chosen as the MVP for the second consecutive year. “It shows who we actually are and that it wasn’t luck to win it two years in a row. It feels good.”

Allderdice (19-5) also got an important lesson in what postseason basketball was going to be like. Nothing moving forward is going to come easy.

The Dragons beat the Eagles by 38 and 36 points, respectively, during their regular-season meetings.

But the Eagles (10-11) didn’t fade under the bright lights. Allderdice surged to a 33-18 lead at halftime. However, by the end of the third quarter, Obama had cut the lead to 43-37.

Eagles coach Monique McCoy said her team showed their resilience.

“I think that we tend to get a bit overwhelmed because of some of the calls and everything and you get a little distracted and you have to remember these are kids,” McCoy said. “We just told them, this is what you’re doing. This is what we need to stop, reset, refocus and dig deep. Leave it all out there on the court.”

Sophomore guard Arianna Treadwell led the Eagles with 18 points. Taylor Phillips, who averages 22.9 points per game, was limited to 14.

Obama Academy shot 25.4% (16 of 63) from the field and 12.5% (1 of 8) from the 3-point line.

“They box-and-oned her,” McCoy said of Phillips. “They have been boxing-and-one-ing her in our previous meetings this season. We had some sets for her so she could get some points because we needed her. We also told the girls regardless of the box-and-one on Taylor, other people needed to step up.”

The Dragons led by 18 at one point. Allderdice got a surge of momentum at the end of the first quarter when Rhyan Sledge made a half-court shot to stretch the lead to 15-8.

Sledge finished with 10 points.

Even with the lead at halftime, Dragons coach Ellen Guillard didn’t feel comfortable.

“Championship games are set for people to make upsets,” Guillard said. “I was literally taking it a minute, a step at a time. We were trying to instill everything that got us to the lead and build upon it. But it didn’t go as planned.”

The Dragons shot 33.3% (17 of 51) from the field and 56.5% (13 of 23) from the free-throw line. Despite late struggles, Allderdice found the recipe to be champions again.

Sledge was playing in her first City game after transferring from Oakland Catholic. She said she settled in once the game started.

“I was nervous, but once the game started all the nerves went away,” Sledge said. “I was just ready to play.”

Tags: Allderdice, Obama Academy