Strong 2nd quarter propels No. 1 CW North Catholic past Central Valley in WPIAL semifinals
By: HSSN Staff
Monday, February 26, 2018 | 11:35 PM
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic starters celebrate beating Central Valley during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores past Central Valley's Allyson Kirby during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores over Central Valley's Christiane Frye during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Dani short fights for a rebound with Central Valley'snAllyson Kirby during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores past Central Valley's Allyson Kirby during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores past Central Valley defenders during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Dani Short splits Central Valley defenders Madison Hiltz (23) and Allyson Kirby during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski saves the ball in against Central Valley during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores past Central Valley's Allyson Kirby and Kaelyn Underwood during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski steals the ball from Central Valley's Kaelyn Underwoon during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Tess Myers scores over Central Valley's Christiane Frye during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic starters celebrate beating Central Valley during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores past Central Valley's Allyson Kirby during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores over Central Valley's Christiane Frye during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Dani short fights for a rebound with Central Valley'snAllyson Kirby during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores past Central Valley's Allyson Kirby during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores past Central Valley defenders during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Dani Short splits Central Valley defenders Madison Hiltz (23) and Allyson Kirby during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski saves the ball in against Central Valley during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski scores past Central Valley's Allyson Kirby and Kaelyn Underwood during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Kylee Lewandowski steals the ball from Central Valley's Kaelyn Underwoon during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic's Tess Myers scores over Central Valley's Christiane Frye during 4-A girls WPIAL semifinal Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 at Moon High School.
As the preseason title favorites, Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann admitted she was a little nervous for Monday night's WPIAL semifinal.
“You've been No. 1, so you feel those expectations,” said Rottmann, whose top-seeded Trojans eased those nerves by halftime and defeated No. 5 Central Valley, 58-39, earning the team its ninth WPIAL championship appearance since 2007.
Defending champion CWNC (21-3) will face No. 3 seed Beaver (18-5) in the WPIAL Class 4A final at 7 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center.
A 22-point second quarter calmed CWNC's nerves. The Trojans led 32-14 at half.
“We came out like gangbusters,” Rottmann said. “If anyone had watched our game on Thursday, we were very sluggish to start. I could tell our kids were better in the locker room pregame. They came out ready to go tonight.”
Kylee Lewandowski led CWNC with 20 points, and Tess Myers scored 17.
The team also had a more personal motivation Monday. Mary Ann Barth, the widow of legendary North Catholic girls coach Don Barth, was in the crowd at Moon to watch. Don Barth won 11 WPIAL titles, the most of any girls coach.
“Oh, I wanted to win because she was here,” Rottmann said. “All sorts of different things play into (the nervousness).”
