North Catholic gets past Blackhawk in OT to win WPIAL title for 3rd straight season
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Saturday, March 2, 2024 | 4:59 PM
North Catholic’s Lauren Reitz celebrates with teammates after defeating Blackhawk in overtime of the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann celebrates with her team after defeating Blackhawk in overtime of the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
North Catholic’s Alayna Rocco drives to the basket to score against Blackhawk during overtime in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
North Catholic’s Alayna Rocco scores against Blackhawk during overtime in the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
North Catholic’s Alayna Rocco celebrates with the WPIAL championship trophy and her teammates after defeating Blackhawk in overtime of the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
North Catholic took home its third WPIAL title in a row and seventh in the past eight years with a 40-37 win over Blackhawk in overtime in a championship rematch in the Class 4A finals Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
The Trojanettes were spearheaded by Alayna Rocco, who tallied 26 points, 11 in the fourth quarter. Rocco scored 17 of the last 19 Trojanette points.
North Catholic was stifled offensively in the first half, but coach Molly Rottmann and the Trojanettes game planned to make sure Rocco had a lane to the rim.
“They were helping on Brady (Wehner), so we were trying to open up a gap for me to drive and it worked very well,” Rocco said. “Opening the gap really helped.”
North Catholic won without one of the heroes of last year’s title game, Ava Walker, who endured a season-ending injury in December. Rottmann talked about how the team persevered and how Wehner stepped up.
“We have missed her tremendously,” Rottmann said. “We’ve brought it up, but I just want them to remember that there is someone out there that would do anything to be playing. You can’t be too tired. You can’t be too tired to win for Ava (Walker). Brady understood at that time (that) Ava is one of our scorers, and she really changed her game at that point in time and became more active offensively.”
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The North Catholic Trojans came away with #wpial 4A Girls gold with a tense, thrilling overtime victory over Blackhawk 40-37#HSSN pic.twitter.com/wlLAxmCukl
— TribLive HSSN (@TribLiveHSSN) March 3, 2024
The Trojanettes trailed 26-21 after three quarters, but Rocco heated up in the fourth. The Cougars dialed in on Wehner, who finished with seven points, and that’s when Rocco took over.
“We needed to get some stops and we needed to get to the rim,” Rottmann said. “We did a good job early getting to the rim, but we were having trouble finishing in the first half.”
North Catholic’s plan worked and the Trojanettes stormed back. They had a chance to win late in regulation on a last-second shot from Rocco that rimmed out, sending it to overtime.
The Trojanettes defense smothered the Blackhawk offensive attack in the opening minutes of overtime. Rocco’s two buckets put North Catholic up 38-34.
A Piper Romigh corner 3 cut it to one with a little under a minute left.
Rocco was then fouled, sending her to the line where she made both free throws.
The Cougars had one more chance, but Rocco blocked a Hupp 3-pointer late. The Cougars crashed the glass and Hupp threw up one last shot that missed left.
Rottmann commented on the team’s tenacious defense throughout the entire game.
“I can’t speak about the defense enough,” Rottmann said. “Sarah (Loughry) did an amazing job on (Alena) Fusetti. Alayna did an amazing job on (Aubree) Hupp. Those are two really hard kids to defend. Everyone else’s role in understanding who to help off of, who is the outside shooter, they were focused in and that was a huge part of tonight.”
North Catholic’s defense led to the victory as it held Blackhawk in check much of the game. The Cougars shot 24% from the field and were 2 for 16 from 3-point range.
“We had to defend Fusetti’s shot. She has a great outside shot,” Rocco said. “We had to defend Hupp — her drive, her up and under and her post-ups — so we had to dig in and stay tight.”
Rocco was assigned to Hupp and held her to 10 points. Loughry was assigned to Fusetti and answered the bell, holding her to 0 for 4 shooting from 3-point range. Fusetti, Blackhawk’s leading scorer, had 11 points.
“I just like defense,” Loughry said. “I take pride in defense. That’s one of my favorite parts of the game.”
North Catholic routed Blackhawk in last year’s finals after moving up to Class 4A. Both teams were defending champions going into that matchup as the Trojanettes won the 3A title and the Cougars won the 4A title in 2022.
The North Catholic defense owned the first quarter. With their intense man-to-man coverage, the Trojanettes pressured the ball and forced six turnovers. The Cougars shot 1 of 11 in the first quarter.
The Trojanettes were also unable to get into rhythm offensively as they were 3 for 11 from the field. North Catholic led 6-2 at the end of the first quarter.
The Cougars went on a 9-3 run to end the second quarter. Andrea Kinger drilled a 3-pointer going into halftime to make it 15-15.
Blackhawk retook the lead for the first time since the opening minutes of the game thanks to Ava Davis and Hupp, but the Trojanettes largely stifled their offense.
The Cougars shot just 24% for the game and went 2 for 17 from 3-point range.
Hupp and the rest of Cougars kept their team in it with tight defense of their own and hustle. The Cougars outrebounded the Trojanettes 39-25 and had 18 offensive rebounds.
Hupp finished with 15 rebounds.
“There is nothing to cry about in terms of our effort,” Blackhawk coach Greg Huston said. “We played hard. We talked about being fearless and we were that. I have no issue with how we competed. It’s unfortunate we came up short.”
Huston credited North Catholic’s defense.
“They’re tall and Rocco and (Lauren) Reitz, they bothered us on some of the shots,” Huston said. “They just did a nice job. These are two teams that know each other very well. They defended us really well. We defended them really well. … You’ve got to find a way to create some shots, and they did that a little bit better today unfortunately.”
Although they came up short, Huston had plenty of praise for his players.
“I’d take this team any day of the week,” Huston said. “I love this group and this is a community team. These girls grew up together and have been playing together since fourth grade.”
Fusetti and Davis and the rest of the squad turn their attention to states.
“We will have a lot more revenge in us,” Fusetti said. “Same as last year, we had a lot going into this. Losing two championships is hard, but on to Hershey.”
“We will have a chip on our shoulder,” Davis said.
Tags: Blackhawk, North Catholic
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