Norwin cruises past Tigers

N. Allegheny falls in the quarterfinals

North Allegheny had overcome its share of double-digit second half deficits this postseason.

It even pulled one out against Norwin girls basketball in the WPIAL semifinals.

But eventually, the Tigers were going to run into a team that wouldn’t let them make that dramatic comeback in the closing seconds.

And, as fate would have it, the Knights were that team.

Norwin (24-4) jumped out to an 11-point lead in the third quarter and did not allow a North Allegheny field goal in the entire fourth quarter as the Knights ended the WPIAL champion Tigers season with a 50-30 victory in the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals Friday at Fox Chapel.

It was the fourth time the two Section 1 co-champions had played this season. With the win, Norwin earned a 2-2 split, but this was the biggest of them all.

“We thought that the mindset was going to be the most important thing,” Norwin coach Brian Brozeski said. “The girls really bought into that. At no time did they feel threatened and that was a big phrase for us. Don’t feel threatened. Feel challenged.”

Norwin turned in one of the best defensive games any team had played against North Allegheny this season. The Knights relentlessly hounded the Tigers and held their offense held to a dismal 7 of 39 ( 17.9 percent) shooting night from the floor.

“A lot of that felt like Norwin and you have to give credit to those kids,” North Allegheny coach Spencer Stefko said. “They’re good, they’re talented, they’re tough and it was their night. That wasn’t an accident. They’re talented and they worked for it:”

Norwin all but shut down North Allegheny senior and Pitt recruit Jasmine Timmerson after halftime. After posting a teambest nine in the first half, she was held to one point after the intermission as the Knights pressured her every time she touched the ball.

She wasn’t the only one. North Allegheny junior guard Kellie McConnell, who was coming off an 18point night in the second round against Mt. Lebanon, did not make a shot from the field and was held to two free throws with 4:06 left in regulation.

“We planned for it practice. We knew it was going to be a challenge, that they were a really good offensive team,” Norwin sophomore guard Kendall Berger said. “(We were) just working together, hyping each other up and knowing we were always going to be at help and, if you get beat, someone was there to help you.”

Berger led Norwin with 18 points and helped the team find an answer whenever it needed it. That was evident in the fourth quarter when she and Ava Kobus, who finished with 12, stymied a North Allegheny rally before it could get started.

North Allegheny appeared ready to make its move when, trailing by 11, Caroline Henderson banked home a desperation 3-pointer from about 40 feet as time expired in the third quarter to get the Tigers back to a single-digit deficit, 33-25. But that was as close as the Tigers ever got.

“I think we knew that feeling after we had the lead in the last game and we didn’t want that again,” Berger said. “We had lots of family here to see us and we didn’t want to let them down again.”

Before North Allegheny really had an opportunity to make a run, Norwin shut it down. Leading 35-26, Kobus drilled a 3-pointer with 4:44 left then, on the next possession, Berger converted a rare four-point play when she was fouled on a 3pointer to put the Knights ahead, 42-26 with 4:17 left in regulation.

“It would have been nice if we could have cut it down closer, but it wasn’t meant to be,” Stefko said. “The Norwin kids deserve a ton of credit. There isn’t one ounce of blame for me to put on my locker room.”