Peters Township girls top rival Bethel Park, earn return trip to WPIAL Class 6A final

By: Jesse Geleynse
Tuesday, February 26, 2019 | 9:19 PM

The top-ranked Peters Township girls basketball team leads WPIAL Class 6A squads in scoring at nearly 70 points per game.

But the undefeated Indians proved Tuesday they can also win when scoring half that number.

Peters Township withstood a slowdown, deliberate game plan from section rival Bethel Park, and the Indians defeated the Black Hawks, 36-28, in WPIAL semifinal action at Canon-McMillan High School.

“We figured they’d do something different,” said Peters Township coach Bert Kendall, whose team knocked off Bethel Park, 68-60 and 61-46, in regular-season section games. “You have to try something different. We didn’t know what it was or what it would be, but I don’t think we were really surprised.”

The Indians (24-0) advance to their second straight WPIAL title contest against second-ranked North Allegheny at 7 p.m. Saturday at Pitt’s Petersen Events Centers. The game will be a rematch of last year’s contest in which North Allegheny defeated Peters Township.

“We wanted to win the section championship, and we wanted to win one more game in the WPIAL tournament than we did last year,” Kendall said. “We’re on that doorstep.”

The Black Hawks (21-3), whose three losses have all come to the Indians, will also advance to the PIAA playoffs.

Peters Township star guard Makenna Marisa led all scorers with 13 points. Seven came during an 11-0 Indians run in the second quarter to help Peters Township thwart Bethel Park’s game plan.

“It did take us awhile (to adjust) because we’re used to playing a fast pace,” said Marisa, a Penn State recruit. “We knew we were probably going to have to slow our game down to match theirs, but once we got our game going, I think they had to start playing at our pace.”

Marisa scored just four points after halftime, but fellow senior guard Isabella Mills compensated as she tallied nine of her 11 during the final two quarters.

Mills hit a devastating 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter that stretched the Indians’ lead back to nine points at 26-17 after a Maddie Dziezgowski three-point play had pulled the Black Hawks within four points late in the third quarter.

“Every time there is a different game plan, and somehow they find a way to get through it, and again that’s because of … Makenna Marisa,” Bethel Park coach Jonna Burke said. “She makes every big play there is to make. She makes every kid around her better, and she is a factor. She is a game-plan breaker.”

Peters Township took a 23-17 lead into the fourth quarter. Then Mills connected for her 3-pointer, and Marisa hit a short jumper to open up a 28-17 advantage.

The Black Hawks never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

“Once we started making shots, we got our adrenaline going and the team just got really energetic, and we just got going,” Marisa said.

Peters Township led 4-2 after one quarter before Marisa keyed the 11-0 run with two short jumpers and a 3-pointer as the Indians opened up a 15-7 halftime lead.

Dziezgowski’s three-point play cut the deficit to four with 2:10 to go in the third, but a Journey Thompson jumper gave Peters Township a 23-17 lead through three quarters.

Dziezgowski scored 11 points to pace the Black Hawks. The Indians held star Black Hawks sophomore Olivia Westphal to just five points.

Tags: Bethel Park, Peters Township