Lansdale Catholic puts clamps on North Catholic in PIAA final four

By: David Bohr
Saturday, March 22, 2025 | 4:58 PM

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CHAMBERSBURG — North Catholic’s girls basketball season came to a halt in the PIAA Class 4A semifinals with a 54-16 loss to Lansdale Catholic on Saturday at Chambersburg High School.

The lopsided defeat was deflating in the moment, but Trojan head coach Molly Rottmann said her players would soon remember their season more for the big moments that got them to both the WPIAL and state final fours.

“I think only time will help when there’s a loss at the end of the season,” Rottmann said after completing her 27th season as the Trojans’ head coach. “If you told me we’d be in the state final four with the age of our roster, I’d be very happy with that. You see what Lansdale Catholic did with seniors, and what we were doing with sophomores, we are where we want to be.”

For the first 10 minutes of the game, North Catholic (25-5) may not have had the lead but was hanging with the District 12 reps. After a layup by Anna Lazzara, the Trojans were within 12-11.

But then it all came apart, as the Crusaders (23-5) scored the last 16 points of the half to take a 28-11 advantage into the break.

“There were two things happening,” Rottmann said of the end of the second period. “We were giving them multiple looks at the basket, and we weren’t scoring ourselves. I thought we got some good looks and couldn’t hit them.”

The problem, in part, was Grace McDonough, who took most of the caroms that came to her area. She finished with 13 rebounds. North Catholic had just 18 rebounds as a team.

Also causing difficulties for the Trojans was Sanyiah Littlejohn, who scored 24 points, 12 in each half.

Any thoughts of a wild second-half comeback were put to rest early in the third quarter, when Aubrey Mobley scored back-to-back buckets, followed by a layup by Nadia Yemola, to make it 34-11 and stretch the run to 22-0.

Sam Weir finally ended the run with a jumper. Weir, who made two 3-point baskets in the first half, finished with a team-high 10 points for North Catholic.

Sarah Loughry had five boards for the Trojans.

North Catholic also had 13 turnovers, though the Crusaders also had 10 themselves.

Most of the fourth quarter was played under a running clock for the mercy rule once the Lansdale Catholic lead reached 30 points.

North Catholic was denied its first trip to the state finals since 2019. The Trojans last won the championship in 1995 and have seven PIAA championships overall.

Meanwhile, Lansdale Catholic will face Neuman-Goretti in the championship game at Hershey’s Giant Center at noon next Saturday. Neuman-Goretti defeated Audenried Charter, 71-52, in the other semifinal.

Tags: North Catholic