MOON TWP — Avoiding nerves before playing in a first WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinal playoff game was impossible for Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic sophomore Kylee Lewandowski.

“I was so focused on tonight” said Lewandowski, a Butler resident. “I didn't want to look ahead and jinx anything”

How could Lewandowski swerve away from the nervous energy? Even 20th-year coach Molly Rottmann — who clinched her 12th trip to the WPIAL finals as a coach by guiding the Trojanettes to a 58-39 win over Central Valley Tuesday night at Moon High School — could feel a tinge of anticipation.

“I know there are expectations,” Rottman said. “Mr. (Don) Barth, who I played for, had all the transition. His wife came tonight. I wanted to win for a variety of reasons. I think our kids, they are young and I think they really realized they wanted to get there.”

CWNC (21-3) shook off a slow start to cruise to its fourth straight trip to the Petersen Events Center. The Trojanettes, who will play Beaver in the final Friday, took down Blackhawk last season.

Lewandowski helped carry CWNC through a slow start, scoring eight of her 20 points in the first quarter. Tess Myers, who finished with 17 points, put CWNC ahead 10-8 by making a jump shot at the first-quarter buzzer.

“Thank God we came out and played the defense we did,” Rottmann said. “I think we were a little tight offensively. We do scouting and went over different stuff with our scout team.

“We knew Frye and Underwood were the two we had to focus on. They did a much better job than they did against our scout team. You wonder if they are listening.”

The Trojanettes opened the second quarter with a 9-2 run to pull away for good.

CWNC did so diligently. The Trojanettes limited the Warriors (17-6) to 34.8 percent (15-of-43) from the field.

“We knew we had to keep on attacking them,” Lewandowski said.

CWNC stretched its lead to 32-14 by the half. The Warriors, who were led by nine points from Kaelyn Underwood, never got the deficit back under 10 points.

It helped CWNC be more confident of a victory.

Both for player and coach.

“Oh, I think they are worse now,” said Rottmann, who is 6-5 in the WPIAL title game as a coach. “The first year was bad, but there are worse as I go along.”

CENTRAL VALLEY 39

Christine Frye 3 1-3 7, Kaitlyn Lyons 2 0-0 6, Kaelyn Underwood 3 3-6 9, Madison Hiltz 2 1-2 5, Allyson Kirby 2 0-0 6, Harlee Johns 1 0-2 2, Hannah Engleman 1 0-0 2, Lauren Kotoskey 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 5-11 39.

CW NORTH CATHOLIC 58

Ashlwey Robbins 1 0-0 2, Kylee Lewandowski 6 6-7 20, Tess Myers 7 4-6 17, Dani Short 3 0-0 6, Kari Karanikos 1 1-2 4, Amanda Bucklew 1 0-0 2, Emma Pospisil 1 0-0 3, Cassie Foster 1 1-2 4, Lucy Waskiewicz 0 0-0 0, Belle O'Hara 0 2-2 2. Totals: 19 14-19 58.

Central Valley 8 6 9 16 — 39

CW North Cath.10 22 8 18 — 58

3-point goals: Lyons 2, Kirby 2; Lewandowski 2, Karanikos, Pospisil, Foster

Friday: CWNC vs. Beaver, WPIAL Class 4A Championship, 7 p.m., Petersen Events Center