WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball championship breakdown: North Catholic vs. Mohawk

By: Bill Hartlep
Friday, March 12, 2021 | 6:12 PM

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WPIAL Class 3A girls basketball championship

No. 1 North Catholic vs. No. 2 Mohawk

5 p.m. Saturday at North Allegheny

On the air: TribHSSN.TribLive.com (video stream)

Winner plays: Winner of District 9 champion vs. District 5/8 champion in PIAA quarterfinals, March 19

How they got here: North Catholic defeated No. 17 Brownsville, 78-31, in the first round; No. 9 Freedom, 69-49, in the quarterfinals; and No. 4 Laurel, 57-36, in the semifinals. Mohawk beat No. 15 Washington, 77-42, in the first round; No. 7 Keystone Oaks, 71-49, in the quarterfinals; and No. 14 Beaver Falls, 61-31, in the semifinals.

Starting lineups

North Catholic (18-2)

Coach: Molly Rottmann

No., Player, Pos., Ht., Yr.

5, Tara Lucot, G, 5-7, Sr.

11, Alayna Rocco, G, 5-10, Fr.

12, Dacia Lewandowski, G, 5-11, So.

24, Ava Walker, G, 5-10, Fr.

30, Tori Drevna, G, 5-7, So.

Mohawk (16-4)

Coach: Mike O’Lare

No., Player, Pos., Ht., Yr.

3, Jordan Radzmynski, G, 5-10, Jr.

4, Abigail Shoaff, G, 5-5, Sr.

10, Paige Julian, G, 5-8, Sr.

11, Hannah McDanel, G, 5-8, Sr.

24, Nadia Lape, G, 5-5, Sr.

Title-game history: North Catholic has won 20 titles, including the past four in Class 4A. Mohawk has won one WPIAL title, last year in Class 3A.

Notable: A pair of defending champions will square off to retain their title. North Catholic has been the top-ranked team in Class 3A since dropping down via PIAA realignment in the offseason. The Trojanettes were hit hard by graduation, losing nine contributors. Their lone losses came against Class 6A Mt. Lebanon and Norwin. The Trojanettes are led by freshman guards Alayna Rocco (14.8 ppg) and Ava Walker (12.4 ppg) as well as sophomore point guard Dacia Lewandowski (14.1 ppg), who has scholarship offers from Akron, Marshall, Navy and Toledo. Senior guard Tara Lucot also has been a key contributor after transferring from now-closed Vincentian Academy. … Two of Mohawk’s losses came to North Catholic in Section 1 play. The Warriors are the highest-scoring team in Class 3A at 62.4 ppg. They are led by senior guards Paige Julian (20.9 ppg), Nadia Lape (15.9 ppg) and Hannah McDanel (18.2 ppg). Julian and McDanel each had 20 points, and Lape added 13 in the semifinals.

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.

Tags: Mohawk, North Catholic