Champs defend crown

Bishop Canevin routs Neshannock

Bishop Canevin could not have drawn it up any better.

From the opening tip, the Crusaders did everything they wanted against Neshannock in the WPIAL Class 3A championship. They pounded the ball inside to Shamyjha Price at will and, when she left with early foul trouble, the team attacked the Lancers from the outside with their 3-point game.

In the end, third-seeded Neshannock (23-2) proved to be barely an obstacle as No. 1 Bishop Canevin (19-5) rolled to a 30-point halftime lead and cruised to a 65-36 victory for the team’s second consecutive title and third in the past five years.

“That’s what we had hoped to do,” Bishop Canevin coach Tim Joyce said. “If we can score early and get into our presses, then the whole game seems to flow a lot better for us.”

Bishop Canevin opened the game on a 9-0 run and made 8 of 12 shots in the first quarter as Price was a perfect 5 of 5 from the floor for 10 of her game-high 21 points. When she got into foul trouble in the second quarter, Gillan Gustine came off the bench for five 3-pointers — all from the left corner — to take a 45-15 lead into the intermission.

“I thought we were really well prepared, they’re a very good team, not to take anything away from them, and they hit on all cylinders,” Neshannock coach Luann Grybowski said. “When you play man-to-man defense, you have to give up something, so if we wanted to take away 3s, Price or [Brionna] Allen would drive to the rim and … they just hit every single shot they took.”

Bishop Canevin was on target from the floor in the first half as it made 17 of 26 attempts (65.4 percent), including eight 3-pointers. The Crusaders also forced 26 turnovers and held their opponent to just 13 field goals.

Conversely, Neshannock, which entered the game with the best defense in the WPIAL allowing only 28.5 points per game, gave up 45 in the first half.

“The kids run good stuff and, when you’re forcing turnovers, it’s gets you easy baskets, too,” Joyce said.

Bishop Canevin will enter the PIAA Class 3A playoffs Saturday against District 6 fifth-place finisher Central Cambria, while Neshannock will square off with Everett, which came in fourth in the District 6 tournament.