PIAA Class A girls basketball championship breakdown: Our Lady of Lourdes Regional vs. Union

By: Bill Hartlep
Thursday, March 23, 2023 | 10:20 PM

Purchase Photo Options

PIAA Class A girls basketball championship

Our Lady of Lourdes Regional vs. Union

Noon Friday at Hershey’s Giant Center

On the air: TV: PCN. Streaming audio: TribHSSN.TribLive.com

PIAA titles: Lourdes 1 (1994); Union 0

Lourdes Regional (22-7)

Coach: Mike Klembara

Probable starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.

0, Masie Reed, 5-8, jr., PG

10, Tori Lindemuth, 5-1, sr., G

14, Paityn Moyer, 5-9, jr., G

22, Chloe Rishel, 5-8, sr. G/F

30, Leah Kosmer, 5-10, jr. F

Notable: Lourdes Regional reached the PIAA final after a 34-33 victory over District 2 champion Mountain View. Paityn Moyer hit a jumper in the final seconds for the winning basket. In a strange twist, Lourdes was assessed a technical foul when fans swarmed the court to celebrate. Officials put 0.4 seconds back on the clock and Mountain View’s Addison Kilmer hit 1 of 2 free throws, giving Lourdes the one-point win. … Reed had 14 points to lead the scoring for the Red Raiders. She leads the Red Raiders at 11.9 ppg. … The District 4 third-place finishers also posted wins over Nativity BVM and Shade before avenging a loss to St. John Neumann in the quarterfinals. The Red Raiders lost to St. John Neumann in the District 4 semifinals earlier this month. They qualified for the PIAA tournament with a win over North Penn-Liberty. … The Red Raiders average just 43.1 points but also only allow 33.9. … Lourdes will play in the PIAA title game for the fourth time — they won in 1994 and lost in 1993, 2016 and 2019.

Union (22-6)

Coach: Rob Nogay

Probable starting lineup

No., Name, Ht., Yr., Pos.

3, Kayla Fruehstorfer, 5-6, sr., G

4, Kylie Fruehstorfer, 5-5, so., G

10, Kelly Cleaver, 6-0, jr., F

11, Zoe Lepri, 5-10, sr., F

24, Kendall Preuhs, 5-5, sr., F

Notable: Winners of 16 straight games, Union advanced to the PIAA championship with a 45-31 triumph over Berlin-Brothersvalley on Tuesday. Kelly Cleaver had 15 points and 11 rebounds in the victory. Union outscored Berlin, 36-18, in the second half. … The Scotties also posted PIAA playoff victories over Clarion, Elk County Catholic and Williamsburg after capturing their first WPIAL championship earlier this month at the Petersen Events Center. … Union, which reached the state quarterfinals last year, is playing in the PIAA championship game for the first time. Union will try to be the school’s first girls team to win a state championship. … The Scotties average 48.5 points while allowing 33.3.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Union