Norwin girls ramp up fun factor while racking up wins

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Saturday, February 10, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Norwin leads the league in smiles.

Watch the girls play basketball and you see an infinite loop of happy moments. High-fives and fist-bumps interrupted by hugs and pats on the back.

It looks like fun to play for this team.

Senior guard Ava Kobus makes a high-arcing 3-pointer that seems destined to hit the rafters, and she is greeted with fanfare and giddy laughter as she runs back on defense.

Senior post player Lauren Palangio sends a block off the wall padding and reacts as arms wrap around her shoulders from teammates who enjoyed a good swat.

Junior guard Kendall Berger makes a hard-driving layup and slides across the floor, only to be helped up by other Knights who screamed “and 1,” as she crashed to the hardwood.

“We always hype each other up,” Berger said.

Norwin (16-3, 8-0), the No. 2-ranked team in WPIAL Class 6A, has a way of celebrating small moments in the hopes that it translates one day into the ultimate ones: WPIAL and PIAA championships.

A recent season sweep of rival North Allegheny brought waves of confidence into the “Castle.”

“Norwin knows who they are,” North Allegheny coach Spencer Stefko said. “We wanted to beat them. We weren’t bad. They are just very good.”

Often, it is the seniors providing the demonstrative encouragement.

“I’m glad someone noticed that,” coach Brian Brozeski said.

Palangio, Kobus and point guard Bailey Snowberger are the seniors in the starting lineup, joining Berger and promising sophomore guard Ava Christopher.

“The three of us are approachable,” Palangio said of the seniors. “If any of the girls wants to talk about something, we are there to listen. We don’t care how many points we score. It’s about getting wins.”

Norwin, which reached the WPIAL and PIAA semifinals last year, had won seven straight and 9 of 10, with its three losses coming outside of the WPIAL: Spring-Ford, Kennedy Catholic and Wheeling Park (W. Va.).

“We have always had great chemistry,” Berger said. “We build confidence in each other. I know I can always count on (Palangio) to get me fired up and cheer me on. I do the same for her.

“It’s going to stink next year when the seniors are gone.”

The enthusiasm comes naturally, some of the girls say. With Norwin, players aren’t padding their stats. They’re playing hard on defense to earn finishes on the other end.

When one girl makes a play, the others let her know it was meaningful.

“We’re genuinely happy for everyone else,” Kobus said.

Brozeski, who has led the program since 2011, said his seniors understand the importance of staying upbeat and positive to set examples for the next wave. And he loves the energy coming from his bench.

“Time is precious,” Brozeski said. “It’s the same thing in sports. Game experience is something that can’t be taught in practice. You learn it on the court, and you pass it on and learn from it.”

Brozeski, a coach who puts more into the program than he ever could get out, wants his players to show emotions.

Being robotic means a lack of engagement.

“Bad body language is contagious,” Brozeski said. “You need everyone to buy in, and we have that. Small moments lead to the big moments.”

Norwin won back-to-back WPIAL championships in 2015 and ’16. Brozeski said that team also took time to acknowledge the little things, the small moments, that were part of the season-length tapestry.

“They had it,” he said. “The team with Emily Brozeski and those girls had it, too. Leadership and attitude can go a long way.”

Championships, should they happen next month and into March, aren’t just for the team’s five seniors. Senior guard Evelyn Moore is a reserve, and Kendall Williams is out until March with an injury.

“We want it,” Kobus said. “(The underclassmen) want it just as bad as the rest of us.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

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