Norwin girls pass test against Seneca Valley to finish unbeaten in section

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, February 8, 2024 | 10:26 PM

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When the fourth quarter came around, upset-hungry Seneca Valley stopped attacking. Norwin, in turn, went into full attack mode and never took its eye off the prize.

The prize was an undefeated section championship, the first for the Lady Knights since 2015-16, the year they won their most recent WPIAL title.

It remains to be seen if another district title run is in store, but No. 2-ranked Norwin rallied to finish off the Section 1-6A crown with a 46-39 victory over the Lady Raiders on Thursday night in North Huntingdon.

“Wait for four or five weeks,” Norwin coach Brian Brozeski said. “Then we’ll figure out how important this is. This was a tough one.”

In a section finale with a playoff feel, Norwin (18-3, 10-0) stretched its winning streak to nine and likely secured a top-two seed in the playoffs as senior forward Lauren Palangio scored 10 of her 19 points in the fourth.

Playoff pairings will be announced Monday.

Norwin, which is 16-0 against WPIAL competition this season, hadn’t won a section outright since 2017-18.

Seneca Valley (12-9, 4-6), temperamental with the lead late, started fast. Sophomore guard Natalie Hambly hit four 3-pointers in the first quarter and scored 14 of her game-high 20 points in the opening frame.

Seneca Valley led 18-14 after one quarter and led by seven before it took a 27-22 lead into the half after senior Emerson Peffer hit a buzzer-beating 3 to end the second quarter.

The teams produced only seven points apiece in the third, with Seneca Valley making just one field goal. Still, it led 34-29 with eight minutes to play.

After senior forward Allison Sevin converted a turnaround jumper to give the Lady Raiders a 36-32 edge, Norwin made its move.

Brozeski called for more high double-teams as Seneca Valley tried to move the ball.

“I was just yelling to give them an extra voice,” the coach said.

The result produced a switch in momentum and an 8-0 run that put Norwin back in front to stay.

Palangio scored back-to-back baskets, the second off a rebound, and sophomore Ava Christopher swiped a steal and took it in for a layup to give the Lady Knights a 38-36 lead with 2:57 to play.

“She takes it to heart,” Brozeski said of Christopher’s defensive play. “There is a fine line as to how and when you start to take time off the clock. It’s tough to know when to switch from a passive mindset to an aggressive one.”

Norwin became the aggressor as senior Ava Kobus put back her own miss, and Palangio made a layup off an assist from junior Kendall Berger. Suddenly, Norwin was up 42-36.

“We weren’t looking to score. We were looking not to lose,” Seneca Valley coach Dorothea Epps said. “You can’t play like that. We played very well for three-and-a-half quarters. We knew Norwin was going to come after us. We didn’t handle their pressure well and didn’t look to score off of it.”

Junior Bella Furno dove for a loose ball during the go-ahead run, resulting in a jump ball and another Norwin possession.

Crisp ball movement around the key helped Norwin erase some clock before Palangio made four free throws inside the final 30 seconds to ice it.

“We needed a couple games like that,” Palangio said, also referencing a recent 51-44 win at Pine-Richland. “We needed a game where we aren’t up 25. We needed that chaos, but we kept our heads through it. We knew if played our game, we’d come through.”

Hambly had one more 3 in her with 20 seconds left to cut it to 44-39.

The Lady Raiders have dropped 5 of 6 but could be a playoff sleeper given how they played Norwin and North Allegheny close. But they did lose to Hempfield during their four-game losing streak.

“We could have beaten a lot of teams,” Epps said. “The last five games we were right there. Tonight, we were right there with them.”

The Lady Raiders’ scoring by quarters dipped all night as they went 18-9-7-5.

“You have to tip your cap to (Seneca Valley),” Brozeski said. “They came out and we made some errors, and they capitalized. We showed a weakness, and they took advantage.

“Hambly put on a show. She’s the best scorer in our section.”

Berger and Kobus finished with nine points each for Norwin.

Senior point guard Bailey Snowberger played with a face guard after breaking her nose against Hempfield last week.

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

Tags: Norwin, Seneca Valley