CW North Catholic beats buzzer, Beaver
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Myers led North Catholic with 18 points, with senior Dani Short adding 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Trojanettes outscored the Bobcats, 29-16, in the fourth quarter, on the way to their WPIAL record 18th title.
In the fourth quarter, sophomore Cassie Foster stole the ball and made two free throws to bring the Trojanettes to within one point at 47-46 with 37.3 seconds to go. Myers made a layup as time wound down giving North Catholic a 48-47 lead, but Beaver senior Sydney Barney, who had 12 points, was fouled with 6.6 seconds to play. She made both free throws to give Beaver a 49-48 lead.
Myers sprinted down the court and got a 10-footer off just in time for the win. Her teammates rushed over to her after the shot swished. Eight of Myers’ 18 points camein the fourth quarter.
“These seniors, they wanted another banner on the wall, so I think it held great importance,” Molly Rottmann said. “I think in the fourth quarter it clicked a little bit more.”
Beaver led, 22-11, at halftime after a late second-quarter-surge in which point guard Bella Posset made 3 of 3 3pointers. Posset finished with 29points to lead all scorers.
North Catholic shot 7 of 31 from the field the first three quarters and trailed, 33-21, entering the fourth quarter after Barney made a 3pointer and Posset drove for a layup.
The Trojanettes made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts in the fourthquarter.
“[Beaver] did a tremendous job, and we had no business winning that game,” Rottmann said. “Right? Everyone who’s watching it, there’s no way we win that game. But these girls stepped up.”
Sophomore Kylee Lewandowski’s layup to open the fourth made it a 10-point game, and a layup and free throw by Short brought the Trojanettes within seven. North Catholic continued to gain ground as a layup by senior Amanda Bucklew and free throw by Lewandowski narrowed the deficit to 35-29, but Posset responded with a 3-pointer.
In total, Posset made 5 of 6 3-point shots and was 8 of 16 from the free-throw line. North Catholic didn’t make a 3-pointer. The Trojanettes looked to double-team Posset and slow her down in the fourth, Rottmann said.
“I think our team did an amazing job,” Posset said. “It [stinks] that we lost by a buzzer-eater, but I think we put our hearts and souls into it.”
Short made a layup and free throw with more than three minutes to play and Lewandowski added a basket to cut the deficit to 41-36. Beaver led, 43-40, with 1:51 to play after another layup by Short, but couldn’t slow North Catholic down in the stretch.
It was the Bobcats’ first appearance in a WPIAL championship. They will advance to the PIAA playoffs along with North Catholic.
“We did a nice job for the first three and a half quarters, and then all the sudden it seemed like they opened the floodgates on us a little bit,” Beaver coach Greg Huston said. “But you know, that’s because they’re really good. They’re the No. 1 seed fora reason.”