Mohawk wins Class 3A championship, stopping North Catholic’s title reign

By: George Guido
Saturday, March 13, 2021 | 6:57 PM

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC02-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Mohawk’s Hannah McDanel (left) celebrates with Paige Julian after defeating North Catholic in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC01-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Mohawk’s Nadia Lape celebrates as time expires in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game against North Catholic on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC03-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Mohawk’s Abigail Shoaff (4) celebrates with Jordan Radzmymski after hitting a three-pointer during the fourth quarter of the WPIAL Class 3A championship game against North Catholic on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC07-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

The Mohawk girls basketball team celebrates with the WPIAL championship trophy after defeating North Catholic in the Class 3A final on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC05-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Mohawk’s Hannah McDanel celebrates with Paige Julian in the final seconds of the WPIAL Class 3A championship game against North Catholic on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC09-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Mohawk’s Paige Julian (left) celebrates with Abigail Shoaff after she scored during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game against North Catholic on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC10-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Mohawk head coach Mike O’Lare hugs Hannah McDanel next to Paige Julian during the gold medals presentation after defeating North Catholic in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC11-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

The Mohawk girls basketball team celebrates after defeating North Catholic in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC04-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Mohawk’s Paige Julian scores during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game against North Catholic on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC08-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Mohawk’s Hannah McDanel eyes up a three-pointer during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game against North Catholic on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

3635308_web1_PTR-MohawkNC06-031421 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Mohawk’s Paige Julian drives between North Catholic’s Alayna Rocco (11) and Tori Drevna during the WPIAL Class 3A championship game on Saturday, March 13, 2021, at North Allegheny High School.

Mohawk senior Paige Julian thought she fouled out when she collided with a North Catholic player while driving the lane and hit a basket late in Saturday’s WPIAL Class 3A girls final at North Allegheny.

Instead, Julian was credited with the go-ahead basket as the Warriors ended North Catholic’s quest for a fifth consecutive WPIAL title with a 54-48 victory.

The Trojanettes had taken their first lead when freshman Alayna Rocco stole the ball at midcourt and drove in for a layup to give North Catholic a short-lived 45-44 lead.

Julian finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds as Mohawk won its second straight championship.

“To be honest, my heart dropped. I thought I had fouled out,” Julian said as she carried the WPIAL trophy to the locker room. “I looked at the ref, and my coach told me to calm down because it was a block.”

The subsequent free throw gave the No. 2 Warriors (17-4) a lead they wouldn’t relinquish with 1 minute, 10 seconds left. Nadia Lape hit four late free throws the ice the victory.

“This is special for a team up there like Mohawk to come down and get two in a row is sweet,” said Warriors coach Mike O’Lare. “We needed everybody’s best tonight. Everything had to go our way.”

After drawing an opening-round bye, Mohawk will open the PIAA tournament at home Friday night against the winner of Tuesday’s game between Everett and Punxsutawney.

Top-seeded North Catholic, winner of 20 WPIAL titles, finished its season at 18-3. The Trojanettes (18-3) defeated Mohawk twice during the section season.

O’Lare didn’t mind being placed in the same section during the offseason realignment with North Catholic.

“We felt like we had to make adjustments coming down here, and we couldn’t do it without playing them first,” said O’Lare. “We might have gone with our style of pressing and we might have gotten exposed, and we stayed back and didn’t press them once.”

Mohawk started out with a 3-point barrage, hitting four long-distance shots to take a 16-6 lead with 3 minutes, 16 seconds left in the first period.

Also, North’s Ava Walker picked up two early fouls and had to leave the game.

“She’s one of our leading scorers and her presence on the floor, offensively and defensively, picking up a couple of quick ones really hurt,” said Trojanettes coach Molly Rottmann.

Dacia Lewandowski and Tori Drevan hit 3-pointers in the second period to cut the gap to 30-25 by the intermission. Mohawk committed just three turnovers in the first half but had four miscues in the opening 4 ½ minutes of the second half, and Lewandowski and Rocco nailed 3-pointers to cut the Mohawk lead to 35-33 as the fourth quarter got underway.

The Warriors took a 44-35 lead on a3-pointer from Hannah McDanel, but that merely set the stage for a 10-0 North Catholic surge that ended with the lead just for 21 seconds.

Said Rottmann: “We were able to run some sets and find some openings and did a good job. We were just sort of struggling offensively because they extended their zone a bit.”

North Catholic had to foul four times in the final minut just to get Mohawk to the free-throw line, where Lape hit her crucial free throws.

Rottmann got considerable mileage out of a team that starts two sophomores and two freshmen.

“We didn’t play like ourselves. We absolutely played like our age as far as confidence early on,” Rottmann said. “To their credit, they shot really well tonight. We got the lead and couldn’t sustain it.”

Lewandowski finished with 16 points, and Tara Lucot pulled down 13 rebounds.

It was Mohawk’s 31st WPIAL playoff trip while North Catholic has made the playoffs all 46 seasons as a WPIAL member school.

Watch an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.