Unbeaten EA gets revenge

Wildcats shake off 2017 heartbreaker

Tri-State Sports & News Service

Considering the opponent, the venue and that her team’s record was exactly the same as last season at this stage, East Allegheny senior Amani Johnson could not help but think back on the Wildcats one-point loss to Neshannock in the 2017 WPIAL Class 3A semifinals.

“It was a huge motivation for us for the whole team,” Johnson said.

“We only have five of the same players back because we didn’t have a big team last year, but we talked about it the whole season to get to this point.”

This time, it was East Allegheny (24-0) that kept its undefeated record intact and earned a spot in the WPIAL Class 3A championship game at 11 a.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center as Johnson scored 16 points to help the second-seeded Wildcats to a 51-33 victory against Neshannock (20-4) at Fox Chapel.

It will be East Allegheny’s first appearance in the final since defeating Carlynton, 51-43, to win the school’s only title in the 1998-99 season.

But to get there, the Wildcats had to erase the demons of that heartbreaking, 34-33 semifinal loss to the Lancers last season.

Amaia Johnson notched 11 points and six rebounds for East Allegheny, Myla Bortoluzzi chipped in 10 and Abby Henderson scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter and also controlled the boards with 10 rebounds.

“Theirdefensive intensity was way more intense this year and, obviously, we missed breakaway layups which, in my mind, makes no sense,” Neshannock coach Luann Grybowski said.

Other semifinal

Bishop Canevin (19-4) built a 24-7 first-quarter lead and cruised past Mohawk, 47-30, in Class 3A to reach a WPIAL championship game or a third consecutive season.

“We came out the best I’ve seen us all year,” said Bishop Canevin coach Scott Dibble.

“We were clicking on all cylinders.”

After falling behind early, Mohawk (19-5) fought back and trailed, 31-23, at halftime. The Crusaders netted four points and Mohawk just one in the third quarter.

The Warriors held the Crusaders scoreless for the first 5:07 of the fourth quarter, but because they were trailing they had to come out of their zone defense and play man-to-man, which favored Bishop Canevin.