For most high school basketball teams — even those coming off three consecutive WPIAL championships and seven in the past eight years — starting off the season with back-to-back losses would typically be cause for concern.
Then again, North Catholic isn’t like most high school teams, and this isn’t Molly Rottmann’s first rodeo.
Now in her 27th season as head coach at her alma mater, Rottmann surpassed her legendary mentor and former coach Don Barth last season by winning her 12th WPIAL championship, with either Rottmann or Barth overseeing each of the Trojanettes’ record 23 WPIAL titles. A winner of more than 500 games in her career, Rottmann has steered North Catholic to 10 consecutive WPIAL championship appearances and 104 consecutive victories in section play.
Both streaks rank second in WPIAL history behind the previous Trojanettes dynasty, which reached 19 consecutive WPIAL finals under Barth’s watchful eye and won 162 consecutive section games.
“When you say that, it causes me anxiety,” Rottmann said with a laugh. “That’s exciting stuff. It’s good stuff. We just want to keep working on getting better, and if it ends up continuing streaks, great.”
After graduating 2023-24 PUP Player of the Year Alayna Rocco — now a freshman at Harvard — and with no returning all-section players in her lineup going into the season, Rottmann knew there would be some growing pains and ups and downs along the way with a young and inexperienced lineup. Still, it has been quite some time since one of Rottmann’s teams stumbled to an 0-2 start, and some began to wonder if North Catholic might be in for a rare down year after opening the season with back-to-back losses against Greensburg Central Catholic and Mt. Lebanon.
For the Trojanettes, there was no reason and no time to panic — not with rival Oakland Catholic coming to town for the opening game of section play on Dec. 11 after dropping down from Class 5A. Fortunately for North Catholic, senior point guard Sarah Loughry returned from preseason elbow surgery just in time for the pivotal matchup with the Eagles — and not a moment too soon.
“I was like, ‘Why could this game not be at the tail end of the section?’ Because that was Sarah’s first game back,” Rottmann said. “At least we had her, but we hadn’t been working out with her. Them coming into our gym, that was a huge win. I think it also gave the girls a boost of confidence. You’re 0-2, you’re like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ That was a big win.”
Through her first four games, Loughry is averaging seven points and four assists while resuming her role as the floor general and primary ball handler for the Trojanettes (4-2, 2-0). Her exceptional vision and passing ability has helped spark a four-game winning streak that included a pair of marquee wins at the She Got Game Classic in Washington, D.C., last weekend.
First, North Catholic defeated John Marshall, Va., on Saturday, 68-54, then the Trojanettes took down Bishop O’Connell, Va., on Sunday, 54-52, before returning home to defeat Freeport on Monday, 57-17.
“You can’t be like, ‘Oh, we’re young, I’ve got to change the schedule,’” Rottmann said. “I always give the [Class] 5A and [Class] 6A teams a ton of credit for playing us. Our schedule is tough. We had Greensburg Central and Lebo and Oakland Catholic, and then we have Norwin and McKeesport over Christmas. We’re definitely not hiding.
“I told them, ‘It’s a part of the process, guys.’ You have to play good teams to get better.”
In the win against John Marshall, sophomore Brady Wehner and freshman Sam Weir tied for the team lead with 16 points apiece. Against Bishop O’Connell the following day, Wehner erupted for 26 points on eight 3-pointers to propel North Catholic to victory.
So far this season, Wehner leads the team with an average of 13.3 points per game, while Weir is right on her tail with 12.7 ppg. Elsewhere, sophomore forward Lauren Reitz is averaging 6.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, providing a reliable presence in the paint to complement the Trojanettes’ top-notch backcourt.
“Every year is new and different. You sort of just start over again,” Rottmann said. “If you don’t have the players — you can work really hard, but it’s hard to have that much success.”
There’s still a long way to go for North Catholic on its quest for another WPIAL championship four-peat, and Rottmann is making sure to keep her young players focused on the task at hand without looking too far into the future. In fact, if she had it her way, her entire team would be completely unaware of the historic milestones the Trojanettes are barreling toward.
Then again, with all the championship banners hanging inside the gymnasium and the overstocked trophy case in the hallway, keeping that secret will be easier said than done.
“As a coaching staff, our goal is hopefully to be a different team by the end of January,” Rottmann said. “We’re very, very young and inexperienced. There’s a big learning curve. We know that. We understand that there are going to be ups and downs these first couple of weeks.
“To see them battling and see the baby steps that are happening, it’s exciting. You can just see the process, and we have to stick to it and stay together.”
‘Sister Sledge’ stepping into spotlight for Allderdice
Star point guard R.J. Sledge is enjoying a stellar start to his senior season for the back-to-back WPIAL and PIAA champion Imani Christian boys in Class 6A — but it turns out, he isn’t the only Sledge sibling dropping the hammer on opponents so far this year.
For the defending City League champion Allderdice girls, sophomore Rhyan Sledge has stepped into a starting role alongside standout guards Bailey White and Peyton Lynch, giving the Dragons a formidable backcourt capable of giving opponents fits. Sledge announced her arrival onto the scene with an 18-point outburst in a 76-49 win over Connellsville on Dec. 7, which she then followed up with a 17-point effort in a 73-58 win against Clairton two days later.
Together, R.J. and Rhyan Sledge already have three WPIAL titles, three state titles and one City League title to their credit. And with both siblings looking to add more hardware to their collection this season, they might soon be giving a whole new meaning to the classic Sister Sledge song, “We Are Family.”
Leroux on the mend for South Fayette
Another younger sister following in the footsteps of her talented older sibling on the court, South Fayette junior Juju Leroux is off to a hot start for the three-time defending WPIAL Class 5A champions. But the unbeaten Lions took a big hit when Leroux went down with a high-ankle ankle sprain in a 69-48 win against West Allegheny on Monday night. She is expected to be sidelined for at least three to four weeks.
Leroux’s older sister, Ava, helped the Lions win back-to-back WPIAL titles in 2022-23 alongside former PUP Player of the Year Maddie Webber. After the two graduated in 2023, though, many expected South Fayette to take a step back — but the Lions had other plans, as the younger Leroux helped lead the way to a WPIAL championship three-peat last March.
A multi-faceted 5-11 guard-forward, Leroux is averaging 14.2 points, 4 rebounds and 3 steals per game so far this season, as the Lions have roared out to an impressive 6-0 start. But with Leroux now on the mend for the time being, South Fayette will need to rely on emerging junior guard Ryan Oldaker (15.7 ppg) to carry the load on offense along with sophomore guard Lailah Wright (8.5 ppg) and junior guard Haylie Lamonde (6.5 ppg).
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
