Rochester stages huge rally in 2nd half, defeats Riverview in girls 2A 1st-round game

By: Michael Love
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 | 9:03 PM

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The Rochester girls basketball team trailed Riverview by 15 points with 4 minutes, 6 seconds left in the third quarter of Tuesday’s WPIAL Class 2A first-round playoff game at Kiski Area High School.

But the 10th-seeded Rams roared back.

They controlled the boards, forced turnovers and made shots in the fourth quarter, and they converted free throws down to stretch to come away with a 57-53 victory over the No. 7 Raiders.

“We just didn’t want this to be our last game of the year,” Rams coach Ron Moncrief said. “We didn’t want to send the seniors out that way. We knew Riverview was a great team and was really well-coached. We knew we had to play a lot better than we did in the first half. We were able to turn it around and make plays and play our game down the stretch.”

Rochester, which finished tied with No. 8 Laurel for third place in Section 1 behind No. 1 Neshannock and No. 2 Aliquippa, improved to 10-12 overall and advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals Friday where it will meet the Quips for the third time this season.

Aliquippa defeated Carmichaels, 79-6, in a first-round game Tuesday.

“Aliquippa is so strong in so many areas,” Moncrief said. “They are very physical. We know them well from playing them twice already. The girls will be ready. But I want the girls to celebrate this win tonight, and then we will prepare the next couple of days.”

Riverview, a WPIAL-playoff participant for the eighth year in a row, capped its season at 14-5. It was the final varsity game for seniors Kat Tsambis and Lily Bauer.

Tsambis and Bauer fouled out in the game’s final minute.

“From the beginning to the end of this whole season, the two seniors knew what they needed to do to lead this team,” Riverview coach Jill Catanzaro said with tears welling up in her eyes. “They hung in there and gave it all they could. They helped a lot of the younger players along and helped raise their potential to where we had a really successful season.

“As a team collectively, these girls gave so much of themselves. It really hurts for it to end this way, and it’s pretty emotional for them right now. But they have nothing to hang their heads about.”

Junior guard Isabel Chaparro led the Raiders with 25 points, but she was limited to two points in the fourth.

Chaparro hit a 3-pointer and then nailed a jumper at the midway point of the third to give Riverview a 41-26 lead.

Rochester’s leading scorer during the regular season, junior guard Tia Yellock, followed with a jumper at the 3:54 mark that started a 13-6 run to close out the quarter.

Then came the fourth quarter.

Juliette Brun, a junior, hit a layup with 6:34 left to put Riverview ahead 51-43. The Raiders went cold from the field after that. They missed nine straight shots, including several layups.

They also turned the ball over six times in the fourth, and Rochester pulled down a majority of the rebound chances at both ends of the court.

“We had our chances to keep the lead,” Catanzaro said. “It was shot selection at times, and then we had some situations with foul trouble where they were able to do some things offensively, get some second chances, and convert shots. The girls battled, but we just weren’t able to hold on.”

Junior Kamryn Newman sank two free throws with 56 seconds left to give the Rams a 54-53 lead. It was their first advantage since they were up 8-7 with 2:07 to play in the first quarter.

Newman hit 1 of 2 from the line 17 seconds later, and Yellock connected on 2 of 4 from the free-throw line in the waning seconds to help seal it for Rochester.

Riverview had the ball down three with 9 seconds to go, but a turnover led to Tsambis fouling Yellock to set up Yellock’s final trip to the line with 4 seconds on the clock.

“The girls played hard no matter what the score was,” Moncrief said. “I give them a lot of credit for overcoming so much adversity. They showed a lot of toughness the way they were able to get the lead and then finish it out.”

Yellock led all scorers with 27 points, 11 in the fourth quarter.

“I though Tia played really well,” Moncrief said. “She demands a lot of attention. She maintained her composure and also did what she could to help keep her teammates involved, and they produced. It was just a total team effort, and that’s what we needed in order to beat Riverview.”

Newman finished with 14 points, and senior Marque Taylor chipped in 12 for the Rams.

Tsambis scored 14 points in her finale, and Bauer added nine points, four blocks and eight rebounds for the Raiders, who came in winners of eight of their final nine regular-season games.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Riverview, Rochester