Norwin girls fend off Canon-McMillan’s rally, return to WPIAL Class 6A title game
By:
Tuesday, February 25, 2025 | 8:48 PM
Norwin celebrates beating Canon-McMillan in their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Bella Furno hits a 3-pointer to help pull away from Canon-McMillan during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Averi Brozeski defends on Canon-McMillan’s Madison Clair during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Kendall Berger is fouled by Canon-McMillan’s Izabella Bobitski (right) during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Averi Brozeski defends on Canon-McMillan’s Madison Clair during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Ava Christopher drives past Canon-McMillan’s Faye Saunders during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Kendall Berger tries to squeeze between Canon-McMillan’s Olivia Ross (23) during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Kendall Berger defends Canon-McMillan’s Faye Saunders during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Kendall Berger (10) celebrates hitting a 3-pointer against Canon-McMillan during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Kendall Berger grabs a rebound from Canon-McMillan’s Olivia Ross during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Elizabeth Yarosik fights for a rebound with Canon-McMillan’s Faye Saunders during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Kendall Berger blocks the shot of Canon-McMillan’s Izabella Bobitski during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Norwin’s Kendall Berger is fouled by Canon-McMillan’s Brooke Stanton during their WPIAL Class 6A semifinal Tuesday at Mt. Lebanon High School.
Kendall Berger was doing most of the heavy lifting for No. 1 seed Norwin through three quarters, but she needed some help — especially when Canon-McMillan started to close in.
She got it, and Norwin took another step toward a repeat.
Fourth-seeded Canon-McMillan made its run in the fourth quarter, but so did Bella Furno and Ava Christopher for the Lady Knights, who advanced to the finals with a 42-26 victory in a WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball semifinal Tuesday night at Mt. Lebanon.
Furno, coming off a six 3-pointer game in the quarterfinals, scored all eight of her points in the fourth, and Christopher added five as Norwin (15-7) staved off the Big Macs (14-9) and made the most of its third straight trip to the semis.
“We weathered the storm,” Norwin coach Brian Brozeski said. “Basketball is about runs, and we knew (Canon-McMillan) was going to have one. Kendall made some timely shots. Ava and Bella stepped up.”
Norwin will play No. 2 seed Upper St. Clair (18-6) for the title at 5 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
Those teams split in Section 2 play.
Upper St. Clair beat Mt. Lebanon, 55-39, in the other semifinal.
In a six-plus-minute stretch in the fourth, Norwin turned a three-point lead into a 16-point rout, scoring the final 13 points of the game after experiencing a near-six-minute scoring drought.
“I probably should have burned (a timeout) there,” said Brozeski, whose team clinched a PIAA berth with the victory. “That was on me.”
Defense also helped make this win happen. The Lady Knights held Canon-McMillan to two points in the fourth quarter.
“I knew I had to come out hot,” said Berger, who scored a game-high 18 points, all in three quarters. “I knew at some point the ball was going to go through the hoop. Bella and Ava made two key 3s. There’s nothing better than that.”
Except maybe two straight titles. Norwin did it once before, in 2015-16.
After Faye Saunders hit a short jumper to get the Big Macs to within 29-26, Norwin made its decisive move. Furno hit a two, then a 3 — she put her hands up to signify, “finally” — and Christopher followed with a 3, then scored off a steal.
In a flash, Norwin was up 39-26.
“We trusted the shots were going to fall,” said Christopher, who finished with nine points.
Canon-McMillan, in the semifinals for the first time, had not won a playoff game since 2015 before a 58-41 win over Butler in the quarterfinals.
All four semifinal teams are from Section 2, where Norwin won both games against the Big Macs during the season and completed a three-game sweep.
Norwin raced to a 13-6 lead after the first quarter as Averi Brozeski opened the scoring with a 3-pointer.
Berger began to feel it in the second quarter as she nailed two 3s and scored nine points to push the advantage to 24-13 at the half.
An 8-0 run by the Lady Knights made it 19-6. Berger’s 3 gave Norwin a 22-10 lead.
But Canon-McMillan outscored the Lady Knights, 11-5, in the third to get within 29-24.
The Big Macs went scoreless in the final five-plus minutes.
Brian Brozeski was pleased with the defense and rebounding from Lexi Heller and Liz Yarosik. Norwin had 15 offensive rebounds.
“We had to make sure we didn’t create our own (self-inflicted) pressure,” Brozeski said. “The challenge had to be their burden. Canon-McMillan took advantage of some open looks and contested shots.”
Izabella Bobitski led the Big Macs with 11 points, and Madison Clair added nine.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Canon-McMillan, Norwin
More High School Basketball
• South Fayette dethrones 4-time champs to win program’s 1st state title• Philadelphia’s West Catholic rallies back to defeat South Allegheny in PIAA Class 3A final
• 2025 PIAA Class 5A girls basketball championship breakdown: South Fayette vs. Archbishop Wood
• 2025 PIAA Class 3A boys basketball championship breakdown: South Allegheny vs. West Catholic
• Upper St. Clair goes cold against powerful Perkiomen Valley in era-ending state final
