Westmoreland County girls basketball notebook: Norwin, North Allegheny ready for another high-stakes showdown

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, January 24, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Two of the top teams and rivals in WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball will meet for the second time this season Thursday night when North Allegheny visits Norwin in Section 1.

Norwin (13-3, 5-0) is ranked No. 2 and North Allegheny (14-1, 4-1) No. 3 in the TribLive HSSN rankings.

Norwin won the first meeting, 47-42, in McCandless, as senior Ava Kobus scored 15 points and senior forward Lauren Palangio added 13.

Norwin outscored the Tigers in the second quarter 19-4 but was outscored in the fourth 20-12.

Last year, the teams met four times, splitting the matchups, 2-2. Each won a regular season game, then North Allegheny won 38-36 in the WPIAL semifinals, before Norwin responded with a 50-30 victory in the PIAA quarterfinals.

Shootout at Seton Hill

The Shootout at Seton Hill showcase will be Saturday and Sunday at Seton Hill’s McKenna Center.

On Saturday, girls matchups are Trinity vs. Hempfield at noon and McKeesport vs. Greensburg Central Catholic at 6.

McKeesport is ranked No. 3 in 5A, and GCC is No. 1 in 2A.

There are also four boys games that day.

Sunday’s schedule has one girls game — Franklin Regional vs. Belle Vernon — and four boys games.

Stately recognition

SBLive Pennsylvania let a fan vote decide who are the 15 best girls basketball players in the state so far this season.

Two of them are from Westmoreland County.

Norwin senior Lauren Palangio was the leading vote-getter for post player, and senior Mya Morgan of Greensburg Central Catholic got the most votes for combo-guard.

The others selected were point guards Meghan Murray of Hampton, Lainey Yater of South Fayette and Bella Bacani of Perkiomen Valley; combo-guards Haylie Adamski of Garnet Valley and Ava Persichetti of River Valley; wing players Savannah Curry of Westtown, Alena Fusetti of Blackhawk and Rylee Kalocay of Upper St. Clair; forwards Zariyah Whigham of Lebanon, Erica Hall of South Fayette and Sam Bumenthal of Bishop Shanahan; and post players Rachael Manfredo of McKeesport and Ava Darvassy of Perkiomen.

Near shutout

Derry nearly pitched a shutout Monday night in a home game against Valley.

The Vikings scored in the third quarter after Derry (5-11, 2-6) took a 34-0 lead into halftime.

Valley (0-16, 0-8) has been limited to single digits fives times this season and is averaging 11.5 points.

The near-shutout conjured memories of the last girls basketball whitewash in the WPIAL. Ford City blanked Leechburg, 56-0, in 2014.

The Sabers, who later merged with Kittanning to form Armstrong, took a 32-0 lead into the half. With starters still playing in the second half, the Sabers made it 46-0 after three quarters.

They had 11 players score, and all 17 players on the roster played.

Last year, Aliquippa flirted with a shutout when it throttled New Brighton, 63-1.

Double trouble

Latrobe senior guard Elle Snyder tied the Wildcats’ single-season record for double-doubles in a season with her 15th Tuesday night when the Wildcats pushed past visiting Hempfield, 58-43. Snyder, who had 22 points and 14 rebounds, pulled even with former Wildcats center Emma Blair, who had 15 double-doubles in her junior season.

Snyder is headed to Evansville, a Division I program, as a preferred walk-on.

“Elle has been a pleasure to coach,” Latrobe coach Mackenzie Livingston said. “She is a beast.”

Snyder is the seventh player to score 1,000 career points in the Wildcats’ program. The others are Jody Sobota, Jen Sobota, Loren Muessler, Emily Fenton, Madison Kollar and Laura Graytok.

Layups

There are only three undefeated teams left in WPIAL girls basketball: Peters Township (16-0), Oakland Catholic (17-0) and Lincoln Park (15-0). … Yough’s Autumn Matthews scored a career-high 34 points in Monday’s 63-46 win over Ligonier Valley. … Greensburg Central Catholic is ranked No. 4 in the TribLive HSSN Class 2A state rankings. The rest of the top five is, Kennedy Catholic (1), Bishop McCort (2), Marian Catholic (3) and Portage (5).

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Derry Area, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Norwin