With dark clouds brewing overhead and the skies opening up on a stormy Saturday afternoon in Allison Park, sharp-shooting North Catholic guards Brady Wehner and Sam Weir were the ones who made it rain inside Hampton’s gymnasium.
When the final horn sounded after a thrilling PIAA Class 4A quarterfinal grudge match against defending state champion Blackhawk, it was the Trojanettes who emerged with a 51-44 victory that was much closer than the final score would indicate. And with the North Catholic boys also clinching a spot in the PIAA semifinals the night before, Trojanettes coach Molly Rottmann was not about to let her team go quietly into the night.
“We couldn’t let the boys outdo us, right?” said Rottmann, winner of a record 12 WPIAL titles.
Wehner tallied a team-high 17 points in the win to go with 13 from Weir, a 6-foot freshman guard who helped ice the game with a pair of free throws late in the fourth quarter. Both players knocked down a trio of 3-pointers to help North Catholic regain the momentum in the second half on its way to securing a spot in the Western Region final.
“No matter what, you just have to come in the next day and pick it back up,” Wehner said about her mindset ever since a WPIAL semifinal loss to Oakland Catholic. “You can’t look back at the past. You just have to look to the future.”
One of the top players in the WPIAL, junior guard-forward Aubree Hupp did everything she could to will the Cougars to victory. Hupp registered 16 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, corralling a handful of offensive rebounds and overpowering the Trojanettes in the paint while getting to the hoop at will and repeatedly drawing fouls.
Despite her best efforts, though, Blackhawk fell two wins short of a third consecutive trip to the state finals.
“[Hupp] did a great job attacking the hoop. They didn’t have much of an answer for her in there,” said Cougars coach Greg Huston. “I told the girls, I’m proud of the way they played. We just came up a little bit short today. But give North Catholic credit — they shot the ball really well, especially in the second half. That was the difference in the game.”
The first 10 minutes of the game were all Blackhawk, as the Cougars took a 12-7 lead into the second quarter and stretched their cushion to double digits after a 3-pointer by Mia Sheesley, who contributed 12 points on the afternoon. Despite falling behind by 12 points in the first half, though, the young but mighty Trojanettes never wavered.
North Catholic utilized a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to five going into halftime, then the Trojanettes stormed out of the break with a third-quarter surge to take their first lead of the game. Both teams then went back-and-forth throughout an action-packed fourth quarter, with North Catholic clinging to a slim lead during the game’s final minutes.
“You can’t shrink away from a challenge,” Rottmann said. “It’s two great teams, it’s two great programs. I have all the respect in the world for them. … It was a great environment. It was a packed gym. That’s what you’re playing for, that type of environment, that type of game going down to the wire.”
A late turnover gave the ball back to Blackhawk with 32 seconds to play and a chance to knot the score, but the Cougars couldn’t convert on a potential game-tying 3. Senior point guard Sarah Loughry then calmly stepped to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Trojanettes some breathing room, and Weir added two more free throws moments later to put the finishing touches on the 51-44 win.
“Our defense is really what fuels our offense,” Weir said. “Once we got a couple stops, it was easier for us to start making shots. … We’ve worked for this for so long, and we’re really excited to get back [to the Final Four].”
Other Class 4A
• After scoring 75-plus points in each of its first two PIAA playoff wins, Oakland Catholic‘s offense fell flat against District 12 third-place finisher Lansdale Catholic (22-5). A Philadelphia Catholic League powerhouse seeking their third state championship appearance in the past four seasons, the Crusaders built a double-digit lead in the opening quarter before pulling away in the second half for a lopsided 63-29 win. Sanyiah Littlejohn finished with a game-high 22 points for Lansdale Catholic, while Alayla Bivins led the Eagles (25-4) with 11 points in the defeat.
Class 5A
• After a pregame technical foul assessed to District 6 champion Hollidaysburg (25-4) due to the Golden Tigers wearing their away uniforms while designated as the home team, WPIAL runner-up South Fayette (27-2) took a 2-0 lead before the opening tip and never looked back on its way to a 70-52 win at Armstrong. JuJu Leroux led a trio of double-digit scorers for the Lions with 21 points, followed by 15 from Haylie Lamonde and 11 from Lailah Wright.
• Miami recruit and first-team PUP all-star Natalie Wetzel led all scorers with 14 points for WPIAL champion Peters Township (26-3), which used a suffocating defensive effort to take home a 35-25 win against District 10 champion Cathedral Prep at Slippery Rock University. Addison Biel scored a team-high 9 points for the Ramblers (18-8), while the Indians move on to a WPIAL championship rematch against South Fayette in the Western Region final.
Scoreboard
PIAA Class 5A quarterfinals
South Fayette 70, Hollidaysburg 52
Peters Township 35, Cathedral Prep 25
PIAA Class 4A quarterfinals
Lansdale Catholic 63, Oakland Catholic 29
North Catholic 51, Blackhawk 44
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
