North Catholic eager for a ‘five-peat’
Trojanettes will have new starting five for final
Five is on the mind of North Catholic players and coaches, who know that winning a WPIAL title Saturday would give the program its fifth in a row.
The number five has additional significance, too. If the Trojanettes do indeed “fivepeat,” they will have done it with a completely different starting five than a year ago.
For North Catholic, it’s a case of new players, same story.
North Catholic (18-2), which has won a record 20 WPIAL titles, will shoot for another when it takes on section foe Mohawk (16-4) for the third time this season. The two will meet for the Class 4A title 5 p.m. at North Allegheny.
Like each of the other five girls championship games, this one matches up the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds.
When North Catholic “four-peated” last season at Petersen Events Center, it did so with five senior starters who had been key players for three or four seasons. Tess Myers (Duquesne) and Kylee Lewandowski (Richmond) are now at Division I schools.
This season, youth is being served. Longtime coach Molly Rottmann starts two freshmen, two sophomores and a senior who transferred from Vincentian, which closed at the end of the 2019-20 school year. But despite the revamped lineup, the Trojanettes find themselves in a familiar place, which has exceeded even Rottmann’s expectations.
“We’re so young,” Rottmann said. “Their composure on and off the court is amazing. And the freshmen don’t appear to be freshmen at all.”
Those freshmen are guards Alayna Rocco and Ava Walker, neither of whom have wilted under the playoff spotlight. Rocco scored 30 points against Freedom in the quarterfinals. But the two aren’t the team’s only impressive guards. They are flanked by sophomores Dacia Lewandowski and Tori Drevna and senior Tara Lucot. Lewandowski made a late 3pointer in last year’s final, but none of the other four starters even played in that game.
Mohawk had never reached a WPIAL final until last season. The Warriors have now done it two years in a row. A season ago, they fell to Laurel in the Class 3A final. Four starters from that team returned, a group highlighted by senior guard Paige
Julian. A West Liberty recruit, Julian was fourth in the WPIAL in scoring in the regular season and is averaging 21.3 points a game.
Mohawk has more experience, but North Catholic is the favorite, especially when taking into account the Trojanettes won the regular-season matchups by scores of 54-38 and 58-49.
“There are a lot of things we have to do better,” Mohawk coach Mike O’Lare said. “When you lose by 20 or 30, you try to throw the kitchen sink at them. But when we played them the first time we were down by three or four with four minutes to go, and last time we lost by nine. So we’re talking about small things.”
Class 6A
Upper St. Clair coach Pete Serio spoke about his team being the underdog against North Allegheny when he threw out this gem of a line about a line.
“I think the Danny Sheridan line is 12½ or maybe even 14 [points],” Serio quipped.
Whatever the case, North Allegheny, as the No. 1 seed and defending champion, is where it was expected to be before the season began. The Tigers (23-1) hope to win a second in a row when they face No. 2 Upper
St. Clair (15-2) Saturday at Peters Township.
“They’re so athletic,” Serio said. “You’re talking about two nice Division I players [Lizzy Groetsch and Jasmine Timmerson] and a Division I volleyball player [Paige Morningstar] who could probably play college basketball. They run their dribble-drive really well. They know what their strengths are and they play to them.”
Groetsch and Timmerson are among the WPIAL’s best players. Groetsch leads the Tigers in scoring (15.9 ppg) and is a Penn recruit. Timmerson is only a sophomore, but she’s an outstanding defender and already has some Division I offers.
North Allegheny beat Upper St. Clair in last year’s semifinals, and again, 65-41, on Jan. 8.
Upper St. Clair started five freshmen in that semifinal game, but is down to just three of them after Mia Brown and Ava Keating suffered significant injuries prior to the season. Keating saw her first action against Norwin in the semifinals. The Panthers’ top scorers have been 6-1 Kate Robbins and Paige Dellicari, both sophomores.
North Allegheny’s Spencer Stefko has coached a team to the championship game nine years in a row. Upper St. Clair’s most recent title came in 2008.
Class 5A
It’s the McConnell Bowl Part II.
A year after Tim McConnell coached against sister Kathy McConnell Miller in the championship, the Chartiers Valley and Trinity coaches will have a family reunion again Monday at Peters Township.
But unlike last season, two-time defending champion Chartiers Valley (22-3) isn’t riding a long winning streak, this after Trinity (21-1) put an end to the Colts’ state-record 64-game streak by knocking them off, 49-42, Jan. 23.
Trinity’s only loss came Jan. 16 at Norwin. Since then, the Hillers have won 17 games in a row. The Hillers have never won a WPIAL title.
Both teams like to run and have the horses to turn this into a track meet. Trinity (68.8 ppg) has the No. 1 scoring offense in the WPIAL and Chartiers Valley (65.0) is No. 2.
Trinity is led by 6-1 senior forward Courtney Dahlquist, a Campbell recruit who leads the Hillers in scoring with 17.7 points per game.
Chartiers Valley starts five juniors, a quintet highlighted by sharpshooting guard Aislin Malcolm, a Pitt recruit who averages 17.6 points a game and will be starting her third WPIAL championship game.
Twins will play key roles in this game. Trinity starts the Venick twins (seniors Kaylin and Emily) and Chartiers Valley starts the Cowan twins (Hallie and Helene).
Class 1A
It’s Rochester vs. West Greene for the third year in a row Monday at Peters Township. West Greene just hopes it’s a different outcome this time around after Rochester took the previous two meetings, topping the Pioneers, 62-56, in 2019, and again last season, 59-43.
Rochester (14-3) had never won a title prior to 2019. The Rams can now “threepeat.” West Greene (18-3) is seeking its first title. The Pioneers finished as the runner-up each of the past three seasons. Neither team has lost to a Class 1A opponent this season.
Like the previous two seasons, Rochester features an outstanding backcourt led by Corynne Hauser and sisters Alexis and Mekenzie Robison. Hauser is averaging 20.1 points per game and Alexis Robison 19.1. Robison poured in 29 against Avella in the quarterfinals.
West Greene senior guard Jersey Wise is a three-year starter who averages 16.6 points, 4.7 steals and 4.2 assists. Anna Durbin averages 11.4 points.