Sewickley Academy girls wrap up playoff spot in last game on section schedule

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, February 16, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Sewickley Academy’s playoff chances in girls basketball hinged on two things.

The Panthers needed to win Feb. 6 and have Eden Christian lose its final section game. They got both.

The Sewickley girls won a nailbiter against Leechburg, 36-35, and the Warriors dropped a 75-12 decision to Union, the Section 1-A champion with a 22-0 record.

Sewickley Academy (5-14) received the 11th seed and was scheduled to oppose No. 6 St. Joseph on the road Feb. 17 in the WPIAL Class A first round.

“Being in a playoff bracket is a great experience,” Panthers coach Jill Capozzi said, “and one that we will fully embrace and be prepared for in terms of what we will need to do to be competitive. Our team will play with effort and to the best of our ability.

“Our preparation will hopefully build the confidence needed to compete with a very talented St. Joe’s squad.”

St. Joseph tied for second place with Aquinas Academy in Section 1-A and finished 15-7 overall. Sewickley Academy lost twice against the Spartans by scores of 59-31 and 61-18.

“Our first-round opponent is a section team that we are very familiar with,” Capozzi said. “Our players continue to be committed to improving and playing as a team. We have nothing to lose, so I expect our team to play loose and give their best effort. We will be fully prepared.”

The Panthers have been hampered by the loss of 5-foot-4 sophomore point guard Emma Eannarino, the team’s leading scorer who has been out of the lineup since Jan. 8 with a broken right hand.

Eannarino was averaging a team-leading 15 points, four steals and five rebounds per game when she suffered the injury.

“After losing Emma for the season halfway through our schedule — and the 15 ppg she was contributing — our team had to adjust in a big way,” Capozzi said. “Grace Jardini stepped into the point guard role, and she also embraced taking on a bigger scoring role. She had a career-high 20 points in our last regular-season game versus Leechburg.

“Layla Miller also scored in double-digits (10 points) for the first time in her young career.”

Jardini is a 5-7 sophomore forward who is averaging 14 ppg. She accounted for 17 points in Sewickley’s 30-29 section win against Leechburg earlier in the season.

Miller also helps out in the frontcourt as a 5-8 sophomore forward.

Several others have offered contributions offensively and defensively, including the team’s only two seniors — 5-7 guard Skylar Nocito and 5-8 forward Josie Whitcraft — and a pair of 5-6 freshman guards, Molly Cephas and Bella Walsh.

Nocito is a fourth-year player for the Panthers.

Freshman forwards Gabby Edmunds and Lena Rothbauer along with Walsh are the Panthers’ top reserves.

The St. Joseph girls won eight of their final 10 regular-season games.

“A lot of them are new to playoff basketball,” said St. Joseph coach Geoff Dutelle once the WPIAL brackets were revealed. “But they will be excited to play at home one more time. That will be a nice consolation to having to play a first-round game.”

Sewickley Academy finished in a tie for fifth place with Eden (5-15, 4-10) in the section as six teams qualified for the WPIAL Class A tournament.

Union zeroed in on the top spot with a 14-0 record, followed by St. Joseph and Aquinas Academy at 11-3. Springdale ended up fourth at 8-6.

The Sewickley Academy-St. Joseph winner moves on to the quarterfinals and will play Feb. 20 at No. 3 Clairton (17-4).

Tags: Sewickley Academy