Even after winning three WPIAL titles in a row, these undefeated Union Scotties insist the feeling never gets old.
After outlasting No. 3 Clairton in a back-and-forth affair for a 51-40 win in the WPIAL Class 1A final at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, the Scotties jumped into a dogpile at center court to celebrate their championship three-peat. Seniors Addie Nogay and Kylie Fruehstorfer cried tears of joy while jumping into the arms of their fathers, head coach Rob Nogay and assistant coach John Fruehstorfer.
“It’s bittersweet,” Addie Nogay said about playing her last WPIAL championship game with her father as coach. “Obviously we bicker, but at the end of the day, we get along. And we’re not done yet.
“The end is going to be sad, but it’s nice to celebrate right now.”
It took a total team effort on both sides of the ball for Union (25-0), which had seven players score at least five points. Fruehstorfer led the Scotties with 12 points and 5 assists, while Hayden Strickler added 10 points and 7 rebounds in the win.
“I think our kids have learned that we hang our hats on defense and that defense wins championships,” Rob Nogay said. “They have bought into that for years now. … When we’re doing well defensively, we feed off of that offensively.”
Union’s top-ranked defense, which came into the game allowing just 28 points per game, held Clairton star Iyanna Wade to just 22 points — nearly 20 points below her scoring average for the season — while Jamiya Childs added 12 points in the defeat for the Bears (19-5). Wade now has 3,095 points for her career, putting her 15 points away from second place on the WPIAL’s all-time scoring list.
“I don’t think we’ve seen a zone [defense] all year,” Wade said. “We knew that they played a 3-2 [zone] against everybody, so why would they stop? They’re 24-0. That definitely threw us off a little bit and got us out of our groove. … We could have executed better, but that’s on our end.
“I know a lot of people wouldn’t even think that we would be here, so [it feels good] to just prove everyone wrong and see the growth of the team.”
Clairton raced out to an early 6-0 lead — and to the surprise of everybody in the building, none of those six points were scored by Wade. Instead, Jamiya Childs started things off with back-to-back buckets for the Bears, followed by a layup by Karma Fuqua off a nice feed from Wade.
A 3-pointer by Childs stretched Clairton’s lead to 9-3 late in the first quarter, then Wade finally got on the board with a tough and-one layup after missing her first seven shots, giving the Bears a 12-5 lead going into the second.
“We knew we weren’t going to stop Wade. We just wanted to contain her,” Rob Nogay said. “She’s a good scorer and a great penetrator. I think a lot of her game is the penetration, and we were able to slow her down a lot there. Still, putting up 22 against us, that’s a pretty good feat for her.
“She caused us a lot of long days the past three days to prepare for her.”
The Scotties began chipping away at the deficit in the second quarter, as a long step-back jumper by Fruehstorfer made it a one-point game midway through the quarter. Wade then responded with a runner followed by a deep 3-pointer from NBA range to make it a 19-13 lead for Clairton.
Just when it seemed like the Bears had regained control, Union closed out the half on a 6-0 run to tie things up, 19-19, going into the break.
“I told the girls, ‘We’ve been in this situation before,'” Rob Nogay said. “These seniors have been here multiple times. They’ve played on the big stage. You can’t get down. … The game is not over after the first quarter. You’ve got to play four.”
Union took its first lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Nogay early in the third quarter, then Strickler added to the advantage with a basket in the paint. A rainbow 3 by Fruehstorfer made it a 27-19, then another basket by Strickler capped off a 16-0 run for the Scotties before Wade finally stopped the bleeding with a driving layup.
Finally coming to life midway through the third quarter, Wade knocked down a pair of free throws followed by an acrobatic and-one layup for a 3-point play. All of a sudden, Union’s lead was back down to three at 29-26.
“Iyanna has been doing this for the last four years,” said Clairton coach Carlton Wade. “It’s nothing new to me. I knew she had something up her sleeve. But every time we would strike, there was a whistle blown. It slowed us down. Then it got into a couple of girls’ heads and it frustrated us, and we were pretty much out of the game.”
The teams took turns trading the lead back-and-forth during a frenetic final quarter, starting with a game-tying bucket by Fuqua early in the fourth. Wade immediately followed with a steal and score to put Clairton back on top, 36-34, then Mia Preuhs answered with a 3-pointer to give the Scotties a one-point lead. After another basket by Fuqua gave the lead back to the Bears, Nogay knocked down a corner 3 to make it a 40-38 advantage for Union.
After a layup attempt by Wade rattled in and out, Preuhs found Miera Gunn for a fastbreak layup to give the Scotties a six-point cushion with 2:26 to play. From there, Union closed out the game on a 14-2 run to wrap up its third consecutive WPIAL championship.
Now, the Scotties will set their sights on the PIAA tournament as they begin their quest for a second state title in the past three seasons.
“It’s great to even be here right now,” Fruehstorfer said. “I’m excited for the state run. I think we’re ready to play hard and hopefully get back to Hershey.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
