Union girls take care of St. Joseph to earn 1st trip to WPIAL championship game

By: Michael Love
Monday, February 27, 2023 | 8:47 PM

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The St. Joseph girls basketball team took down the top seed in last year’s WPIAL Class A quarterfinals.

The Spartans attempted to do it again Monday, this time in a semifinal matchup against Union at North Allegheny.

But the Scotties, who used a big first quarter to open a 19-point lead, were able to hold off a St. Joseph comeback attempt and punch their first ticket to a WPIAL championship game with a 55-40 victory.

“This is an amazing feeling, especially after last year where we got upset by Bishop Canevin in the semifinals,” said Union junior forward Kelly Cleaver who led all scorers with 24 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. “Our goal was to come down here and not let it happen again.

“We knew it wasn’t over after the first quarter. Even going into the fourth quarter. St. Joseph upset Rochester last year, and Rochester was up 18 going into the fourth. We remembered that the whole game. St Joseph has great shooters, and we knew they could make a run at any time. We just couldn’t let up, and we were able to close it out.”

Union (17-6) won its 11th straight game and will take on Aquinas Academy for the title at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Petersen Events Center.

Aquinas, the No. 3 seed, topped No. 2 Bishop Canevin, 43-37, in Monday’s other Class A semifinal.

“I couldn’t be any happier for this group,” Union coach Rob Nogay said. “They worked so hard through the summer and the fall to be ready to make this run. The seniors, especially, have dedicated themselves throughout their four years. It is such a great feeling to see them get the opportunity to go down there and compete for a championship.”

St. Joseph (20-5) also sought its first trip to the WPIAL finals. The Spartans have clinched a spot in the PIAA playoffs, and they will face No. 2 Bishop Canevin (11-8) in the third-place game Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.

“When you get down by that many (19) early, it’s tough to come back,” St. Joseph coach Brian Swierczewski said. “We told the girls to win every quarter moving forward. We did that in the second quarter (17-7) and built up some momentum. If you stay in stuff too long, a good coach and a good team will find out how to use it against you. We tried to change up defenses and our offense a little bit to give them different looks. We just couldn’t catch up all the way.

“But the girls played tremendously hard, and they have no reason to hang their heads. It was a tough game against a really good, experienced team. We have two more games, at least. We’ll regroup and get ready for Wednesday.”

Sophomore Kylie Fruehstorfer complemented Cleaver’s big night with 15 points for the Scotties. Senior forward Zoe Lepri added seven points and nine rebounds.

St. Joseph junior forward Julie Spinelli led her team with 16 points before fouling out with 2 minutes, 47 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.

On a 3-pointer with 2:51 left until halftime, Spinelli surpassed 1,000 points for her varsity career.

Sophomore Gia Richter added 11 points for the Spartans.

Trailing by nine at the break, St. Joseph got back-to-back field goals — a putback from 6-foot-3 junior center Anna Kreinbrook and a jumper from fellow junior Emma Swiercewski — to reduce the deficit to a two possession game at 28-23.

But Cleaver followed with six straight points for Union, and the Scotties closed out the third on a 15-3 run to re-establish a 17-point advantage. Cleaver scored 10 of her 24 points in the third quarter after collecting eight points in the first.

“We knew that run was going to come,” Nogay said. “We were fortunate the get a little bit of a cushion there early. They’re too good of a team not to make a run at us. We just had to buckle down, play good defense and weather any storms. We got to go in at halftime and regroup a little bit. We came out in the second half and were able to dictate the pace a little bit.”

It was a first quarter to forget for St. Joseph and one to remember for Union.

The Scotties were getting rebounds, forcing turnovers and hitting shots. They led 19-0 with 1:07 left in the quarter.

St. Joseph got on the board with 1:02 on the first-quarter clock as Spinelli was fouled and sent to the line. She sank both foul shots.

Kylie Fruehstorfer, who, along with Cleaver, scored eight points in the first quarter, responded with a layup to set the 21-2 score at the end of the opening eight minutes.

Undaunted by the sizeable margin, St. Joseph started to chip away and outscored Union 8-0 to start the second quarter.

While the Spartans hurt themselves with eight first-quarter turnovers, the Scotties started to turn the ball over in the second quarter.

Spinelli scored 11 of her 16 points in the second quarter and had 13 at the break.

Dennis Jones, St. Joseph’s regular head coach, returned to the bench Monday for the first time since early January as he recovers from medical issues that included a lengthy hospital stay.

He said he hopes to be at all of the Spartans’ remaining games this season.

“We’re still a pretty young team, and these girls continue to build something pretty special,” coach Swierczewski said. “We’re still pretty excited about this season. There is still a lot to play for.”

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: St. Joseph, Union