Defense, foul shots lift Wolverines
Woodland Hills turns back Moon rally in fourth, capped by block at buzzer
When Woodland Hills gave up its lead against Moon in the final minutes, the Wolverines knew it wasn’t over.
Jazmine Dunn, a sophomore guard for Woodland Hills, knocked down a pair of huge free throws and blocked a shot as time expired to secure a 52-49 victory in a WPIAL Class 5A quarterfinal game at Mt. Lebanon.
The Wolverines (19-4) played in a WPIAL quarterfinal game for the first time since the 2007-08 season. They will face Trinity Wednesday at a time and site to be determined. Woodland Hills’ win broke up a potential semifinal field of all Section 1 teams. Chartiers Valley, Thomas Jefferson and Trinity all made it to the next round. Moon also is a Section 1 team, while Woodland Hills is in Section 3.
The Tigers (17-7) took the lead for the first time since the second quarter with 2:37 remaining after a basket by Cassie Depner. Later, with the Wolverines clinging to a one-point lead, Dunn calmly knocked down two free throws to make the score 52-49 with 17 seconds left. The foul shots forced the Tigers into needing a 3-pointer to tie.
Moon star Reilly Sunday got off a shot at the other end and missed. The ball went out of bounds off a Woodland Hills player and Moon had another chance. The Tigers wanted Sunday to take the final shot.
“We wanted her to have the ball in the last six seconds and give it our best shot,” said Moon coach Meghan Mastroianni.
The Wolverines clamped down on Sunday on the inbounds play and the ball instead made its way to Aubree Evans, who appeared to have an open look on the left wing. But Dunn closed in and got a hand on the ball to stuff the shot as the buzzer sounded.
“I was so excited because I know that sealed the game for us,” said Dunn. “We got the ‘W.’ ”
Defense throughout the game was a key ingredient to Woodland Hills’ success. Coach Von Pitts tried everything, and it worked.
“We tried to stymie them with several defenses,” said Pitts. “We threw the kitchen sink at them with a 2-3 [zone], 1-3-1 and, our signature, a 2-2-1. We have the quickness and the size to do it. Not every team possesses that. We’re fortunate to have both size and speed.”
The Wolverines had a bye in the opening round and had not played a game since Feb. 7. During that time, they worked on their free-throw shooting. The Wolverines were 13-for-17 Saturday, including those clutch shots by Dunn at the end.
“We knew what was at stake,” said Pitts. “We practiced and we performed on our foul shots.”
Tatiana Vasquez and Joi Burleigh paced Woodland Hills with 10 points each. Dunn, Peyton Pinkney and Jasmyn Fisher had eight points apiece. Dunn, Burleigh and Pinkey tied for the team lead in rebounds with nine each.
Moon’s Emma Theodorsson led all scorers with 21 points to go with six rebounds. Sunday finished with 15 points but struggled to find her shot. She was 5 of 16 from the floor and 4 of 8 from the stripe.
As a team, the Tigers shot 20 of 48 from the floor and 7 of 15 from the freethrow line. They were just 2 of 11 from 3-point range.
Woodland Hills shot 17 of 53 from the floor and made 5 of 14 on 3-pointers.