No. 11 Mohawk upsets No. 6 Apollo-Ridge in 1st round, gets rematch with Neshannock

By: Michael Love
Saturday, February 18, 2023 | 3:15 PM

The Mohawk girls basketball team had a long ride home from Apollo-Ridge after a WPIAL Class 3A first-round game Saturday afternoon.

But the nearly 90-minute trip back to the New Castle area was a joyous one.

Three players landed in double figures as the No. 11-seeded Warriors came away with a 55-41 victory over the No. 6 Vikings.

“This is a good win for our program,” Mohawk coach Ron Moncrief said. “I am very happy for them, especially after a long bus ride. With the 11th seed, we felt we were better than that. With our section, I felt we were battle-tested. To come into a really hostile environment against a really good Apollo-Ridge team, the girls played hard and deserved to get this win.”

Mohawk improved to 15-8 overall and will get a third crack at Neshannock in the quarterfinals Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

The No. 3 Lancers (17-6) rolled past shorthanded Charleroi, 72-29, on Saturday.

The Warriors played Neshannock tough in two Section 1 meetings, losing the games by a combined seven points.

“I am going to let the girls celebrate and enjoy this win today,” Moncrief said. “Then, as coaches, we’re going to get together and prepare for the next round. We played Neshannock close both times. A couple possessions here and there, and we could’ve won both. The girls are excited and will be ready to play.”

Apollo-Ridge, the runner-up to top seed Shady Side Academy in Section 3, wrapped up its season at 19-4. Saturday’s was the first home basketball playoff game in the history of Apollo-Ridge basketball, boys or girls.

The Vikings players exited their locker room one by one, each one receiving an ovation from a large group of supporters who populated the court after the final buzzer.

“I told the girls that they had a great season. They won 19 games,” Apollo-Ridge veteran coach Ray Bartha said. “They won a lot of big games on the road. I wanted them to make sure this game didn’t define them. They were a good basketball team this year.”

Mohawk junior guard Aricka Young scored 14 of her game-best 17 points in the first half.

Fellow junior Erynne Capalbo, a 6-foot-2 forward, added 15 points to go with six rebounds, and senior guard Alexa Kadilak also was in double-figures with 12 points.

Senior Madisyn Cole chipped in seven points in the victory.

“It was important to be as balanced as possible so they couldn’t key on just one or two players,” Moncrief said. “If we get that balance in scoring, we’re tough to beat.”

Mohawk led by 12 at halftime and slowly started to pull away in a third quarter, which had its share of interesting moments. The Warriors led by as much as 22 (54-32) with 3 minutes, 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“They can run an up-tempo style, and they have a lot of good shooters,” Moncrief said. “We wanted to run our pressure defense well and not let them set up their offense. We were able to do that on a number of occasions.”

Three Apollo-Ridge seniors — Brinley Toland, Sydney McCray and Delaney Fitzroy — suited up at home for the final time.

Toland and McCray were not able to finish the game. Toland scored five points and fouled out with 1:19 left in the third quarter.

Toland’s fifth elicited a furious response from the Apollo-Ridge faithful, including Bartha, who was whistled for a technical foul.

McCray, who led the Vikings with 13 points and 11 rebounds, picked up her fifth foul early in the fourth.

“I didn’t think the referees were consistent throughout the game,” Bartha said. “We were getting whistled for touch fouls, and they were throwing forearms and getting away with it. We just couldn’t afford to have Brinley and Sydney on the bench. As long as we stayed within 10, we had a shot to come back. Everyone was deflated when they went out. That’s not the way you want two seniors to go out. “

Vikings junior Jaden Mull came off the bench and reached double figures with 10 points, all in the second half.

Neither team had its best day from the free-throw line: Mohawk finished the game 11 for 30, and Apollo-Ridge was 10 of 22.

Apollo-Ridge struggled to possess the ball at times in the first quarter as the Vikings committed 10 turnovers through the first eight minutes.

Mohawk took advantage and opened a 16-8 lead after the first, closing the quarter on a 9-1 run.

Young capped the quarter with a jumper with five seconds left.

But Apollo-Ridge regrouped early in the second with a 6-0 run on a 3-pointer from Toland, a free throw from Fitzroy and a jumper from McCray to close the gap to 16-14.

Mohawk was able to expand its advantage as halftime got closer. As they did at the end of the first, a run from the Warriors — this time 11-3 over the final four minutes of the second quarter — allowed them to extend their lead to 31-19 at the break.

“The girls kind of felt like they let their fans, family and friends down, but they definitely did not,” Bartha said. “They played as hard as they could play. They were still hustling for loose balls and playing good defense in the fourth quarter. But we just couldn’t get in sync the way we needed to.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Mohawk