Bishop Canevin girls shut down Springdale in WPIAL Class A quarterfinals

By: Josh Rizzo
Monday, February 17, 2025 | 10:01 PM

Previous Next

Isabella Sysak patrolled the top of the 3-point line with great interest in procuring the ball.

The Bishop Canevin junior guard created chaos Monday night at Donald McGhee Fieldhouse.

Sysak produced two steals and scored four points in the first 90 seconds to help spark the Crusaders to a 45-12 win over Springdale during a WPIAL Class A quarterfinal win.

“I think it motivates us and gets our defense going,” Sysak said. “It gets us to keep the pressure on.”

Bishop Canevin (12-9) was patient on defense when looking to create turnovers, and the Crusaders continuously jumped into passing lanes to fluster Springdale.

This was the second-fewest points the Dynamos (11-12) scored this season. Springdale was held to 11 points by top-seeded Union on Jan. 3 on the road.

The Dynamos shot 13% (3 of 23) from the field in the first half.

Springdale was its their first playoff appearance since 2022, and it hasn’t won a playoff game since 1998, when the Dynamos beat Charleroi, 43-27, in a Class 2A preliminary-round game. Springdale has lost nine straight postseason games.

“I don’t think we played our best game tonight,” Springdale coach Mike Dudjak said. “I think we’ll take away the taste of it. We want to come back next year and get over the hump next year. We don’t want to let the moment get too big for us.”

Bishop Canevin coach Rob Travis said he needed his team to be smart. Too often down the stretch, the Crusaders were punished by teams that took advantage of their willingness to gamble.

“We communicated well defensively,” Travis said. “I thought going in, we were taking too many chances. At practice, we emphasized waiting on the passing lanes and jumping passing lanes. We were unselfish, too, and got the ball up the floor quickly.”

The Crusaders only allowed Springdale to make one field goal in the first quarter, a jump shot by Ashlyn Federbar. Sage Joliet led the Dynamos with five points.

Bishop Canevin led 29-7 at halftime. Springdale went seven minutes without a basket to open the second half.

Joliet broke the slide with a jumper.

“I felt like we had to calm down and relax,” Dudjak said. “I felt we were nervous at that moment. We needed to calm down and play our game. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that.”

Sysak led the Crusaders with 19 points, and Kya Cooley finished with 10. Travis hopes the Crusaders can continue their magic in the next round against Union.

“We shot around earlier this morning, we were locked in,” Travis said. “They were focused and energetic.”

Tags: Bishop Canevin, Springdale