Knights win first semifinal berth
Knoch’s Shaw shakes muscle cramps to ice victory against Cougars
For the better part of four quarters on Friday night, Knoch’s Nina Shaw did everything in her power to will the Knights to the WPIAL semifinals for the first time in school history.
Then, all of a sudden, Shaw left the game with muscle cramps midway through the final quarter — and all of Knoch’s supporters collectively held their breath. She laid flat on her stomach on the bleachers as trainers attempted to alleviate the pain.
With the Knights (10-1) clinging to a slim lead and time winding down, Shaw finally decided enough was enough.
“I saw two minutes left [on the clock] and I was like, ‘I’ve got to get back in right now,’” Shaw said.
The 5-2 point guard returned to the game to finish what she started — and she delivered. Shaw delivered three clutch free throws along with a gameclinching steal in the final minute, finishing with a game-high 21 points in No. 4 seed Knoch’s dramatic 51-45 home win against No. 5 Blackhawk (136).
“I know how to take that stress,” Shaw said. “Just being a point guard for all these years, I kind of learned how to absorb it and use it to my benefit, so it doesn’t really get to me. … I was ready for it.”
Knights coach Chris Andreassi spoke after the game about the significance of the win for his program — not just advancing to their first WPIAL semifinal, but also eliminating one of the WPIAL’s most tradition-rich programs along the way.
“My No. 1 concern was, Blackhawk is a been-there-and-done-that kind of a team,” Andreassi said. “They’re always there, and we’re not. And that was a concern, honestly, coming in. But we weathered that.”
The Cougars had three players finish with eight points apiece — junior Jillian Mannarino, sophomore Kassie Potts and freshman Alena Fusetti — and had several opportunities to tie the game late, but couldn’t get their shots to fall.
“We didn’t play our best game, but I’m proud of the girls and I love the girls,” said Blackhawk coach Steve Lodovico. “I really thought Nina [Shaw] for Knoch controlled the entire show out there today. … I thought she was the difference-maker for them tonight.”
Some players begin heating up as games progress, but Shaw was on fire from the opening tip on Friday.
The sophomore drained a pair of 3pointers in the first quarter, but Blackhawk still led, 15-10, going into the second. Her third 3-pointer of the game gave Knoch a 23-22 lead, then she immediately buried another triple the next time down the court. With the Cougars beginning to key on her, Shaw dished the ball to Madilyn Boyer for another 3-pointer to give the Knights a 29-24 lead going into the break.
Knoch led, 37-31, after a pull-up 3pointer by Shaw followed by an andone layup by Neveah Ewing, but Blackhawk responded with a 10-3 run to take a 41-40 lead into the final quarter. The teams went back and forth as Shaw exited the game to receive treatment for muscle cramps, and Boyer put the Knights back on top, 45-43, with an and-one layup with 3:30 remaining.
With 29.3 seconds to play, Shaw made one of two free throws to make it a 49-45 Knoch lead. She then stole the ball on the other end, drew a foul and made both free throws to clinch the 5145 win and continue Knoch’s historic season.
“I was like, ‘I’ve got to make one of these because one would make a difference,’” Shaw said.
The Knights will travel to Beaver next week to take on the No. 1 Bobcats (18-0) with a trip to the WPIAL Class 4A championship on the line.
“We scrimmaged them, so they already know them,” Andreassi said. “They know what they are, they know what they do. So we’ll go down there and play and see what happens.”