Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Norwin good at playing waiting game

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Norwin has sat idle many times before in the WPIAL girls basketball playoffs, and this year is no different.

The defending WPIAL Class 6A champion Knights (13-7) finally will open the postseason Friday night at home against rival North Allegheny (9-12) in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

The 6A tournament is starting later than others because it has only eight teams.

Previous down time, often the result of first-round byes, has given Norwin some practice to get creative with, well, practice.

There are scrimmages, as usual, but Norwin also tries to keep things from getting stale in other ways.

“We’ve done lots of team building things outside of basketball,” senior Averi Brozeski said. “It’s important to maintain our friendship because team chemistry is crucial to success on the court as well as continuing to work hard.”

Norwin celebrated a section title and getting the No. 1 seed. But those were only checkpoints as the team moves forward.

“We know it’s easy to get satisfied with what we’ve accomplished, but, at the same time, section champs was not the end goal,” Brozeski said. “We’ve continued to improve and push each other during our time off because, truthfully, we most likely won’t have time off again. Not to mention, lots of recovery and continuing treatment to strengthen our bodies and keep everyone healthy.”

PIAA playoffs

The WPIAL playoffs also serve as a qualifier for the PIAA tournaments. The state playoffs begin March 7-8.

The number of qualifiers varies by classification. Here is the breakdown: Class 6A – 3; Class 5A – 8; Class 4A – 6; Class 3A – 6; Class 2A – 8; Class A – 6.

So far, Penn-Trafford (5A) is the only local qualifier.

State playoff seeds will be determined by play-back games, with higher-seeded teams hosting games.

Yes, dear

There is a local tie to the Bethel Park girls team, which upset Franklin Regional, 46-45, in the Class 5A first round.

Assistant coach Katie Shawley is the wife of Ryan Shawley, a former Latrobe baseball standout who is an assistant baseball coach at Washington & Jefferson.

The couple lives in McMurray.

Experience for Brown

Belle Vernon has one of the up-and-coming young players in the WPIAL in freshman Aubrey Brown.

The 6-foot-1 forward earned some valuable playoff experience in her first season of varsity basketball. She was the leading scorer for the Leopards in Monday’s 55-46 loss to Central Valley in the Class 4A first round.

Brown finished with 13 points, including two 3-pointers, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Latrobe, Norwin