Bishop Canevin in 3-peat
Crusaders hand East Allegheny first loss of season
Bishop Canevin coach Scott Dibble likes to consider his team one big family, and the majority of his starting five are literally just that — family.
Brionna and Diajha Allen are sisters and Shamyjha Price is their cousin.
After trailing for most of the game Saturday against East Allegheny, Brionna Allen and Price decided that family comes first, and their play helped Bishop Canevin finish first yet again.
Allen scored nine of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter, including her team’s final seven, and Price added 14 and was excellent defensively as Bishop Canevin rallied to win its third consecutive WPIAL title by defeating previously undefeated East Allegheny, 56-52, in the Class 3A final at Petersen Events Center.
It was the fourth title overall for Bishop Canevin (20-4), all coming in the span of just six seasons. East Allegheny (24-1) was trying to become only the 14th girls team to win a WPIAL title with an undefeated record.
Keeping up with the theme of this year’s championships, one of the WPIAL’s most potent scorers was kept in check. Just like Chartiers-Houston’s Alexa Williamson Thursday and Mars’ Robby Carmody Friday, East Allegheny star Amani Johnson was held well below her season average. Johnson, second in the WPIAL with 26 points per game, was 6 of 16 from the field (0 for 5 on 3-point attempts) and finished with 15 points.
“They go as she goes, and that was kind of the key. I thought we did a nice job containing her overall,” Dibble said.
It almost went for naught, as East Allegheny saw other players step up such as Amani’s sister, Amaia (13 points), Myla Bortoluzzi (10) and Abby Henderson (10).
East Allegheny went nearly 24 minutes without trailing, and led for just about that entire time. Bishop Canevin took a 46-44 lead on Kasey Kaczorowski’s 3-pointer with 4:18 remaining in the fourth quarter. Kaczorowski (12 points), who didn’t make a 3-pointer in Bishop Canevin’s previous two playoff games, made four Saturday. The Crusaders never trailed again.
“People could say they outplayed us for three quarters. Maybe they did. But guess what? Bottom line is we won,” Dibble said.
After Kaczorowski’s goahead 3-pointer, Allen took over. She was the only Bishop Canevin player to score in the final four minutes and made two free throws with 1:09 left to put Canevin ahead, 53-50. Johnson then misfired on a stepback 3-pointer that would have tied the score.
“I could tell when I shot it, I was off,” Johnson said. “My feet weren’t set exactly how I wanted them to be. It could have went in, but I’m not surprised that it missed. I wished itwould have.”
Allen made 1 of 2 at the free-throw line to extend Bishop Canevin’s lead to 5450, but Johnson made two free throws to cut her team’s deficit to 54-52 with 29 seconds left. Allen was fouled again and missed both free throw, but got her own rebound and was fouled again, and this time made them both to put the game away.
Said Allen: “I said, ‘Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I missed it. I’ve got to get the rebound and make up for it.’ And I got it.”
Allen added 10 rebounds and Price had seven. Price scored three points in the fourth quarter, and she and Allen trapped Johnson throughout.
Price’s father, Kevin, won three WPIAL titles at Duquesne in the early 1990s. Shamyjha now has three, and with one year left, the junior might eventually surpass her dad.
Kevin Price sat court side wearing a T-shirt that read “3 Cousins3 Peat.”
And that’s exactly what happened.