PITTSBURGH — Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic girls basketball coach Molly Rottmann stated the obvious.

The Trojanettes had no business winning the WPIAL Class 4A championship game Friday night at Petersen Events Center.

“Everyone was watching it, there's no way we win that game,” Rottmann said. “Beaver did a tremendous job. Their three seniors came in calm, cool and collected.”

But the Trojanettes did the improbable, rallying from an eight-point fourth quarter deficit to win 50-49 and collect their second straight district crown and 18th in school history. Tess Myers provided the go-ahead basket for North Catholic, scoring on a runner with 1.1 seconds remaining.

Myers caught the ball around mid-court and went straight toward the basket.

“I don't know what I was thinking,” said Myers, who scored a team-high 18 points. “Coach called a timeout and told me to get the ball and go, don't stop.”

Beaver had taken a 49-48 lead five seconds earlier following two free throws from Sydney Barney.

In the final minute, the Bobcats committed a pair of key mistakes.

Emma Pavelek had the ball stolen away from her by Cassie Foster, who went straight for the rim and drew a foul. Foster made both free throws to cut the deficit to 47-46.

On the ensuing possession, Emma Pospisil collected another steal for the Trojanettes. Myers would cash in on that with a layup to give North Catholic its first lead, 48-47.

“We were trying to get back and protect the rim, but we didn't do a good job of it,” Beaver coach Greg Huston said. “We had a couple of opportunities for charges we didn't take. They made some tough shots going to the rim. They made shots when they needed to.”

That was a rare sight in the first half.

Beyond the arc or inside the paint, there were 24 minutes of head-scratching offensive struggles for North Catholic. The Trojanettes — who had averaged 59.5 points per game during the regular season — saw all of their offensive prowess dry up.

North Catholic didn't made a 3-pointer — shooting 0-for-7 and for the game — and only had 21 points after three quarters. The Trojanettes were shooting 16.6 percent (3-of-18) from the field at halftime, when they were trailing 22-11.

Bella Posset, who scored a game-high 29 points, had 13 in the first half for the Bobcats (18-6).

“We couldn't get the lid off the rim,” Rottmann said. “I talked it about it at halftime, I can scream and yell, but we need to relax. We were already playing tight. The realization in the fourth quarter we were going to lose, sometimes it's easier to play aggressively then to play not to lose.”

Kylee Lewandowski, a Butler resident who finished with nine points, was one of many players who had to adjust. Lewandowski was 0-of-8 through the first three quarters.

“I had to keep attacking in the fourth quarter,” Lewandowski said. “I remember they kept telling me keep driving, keep driving, they will eventually fall.”

Things eventually the right way for North Catholic.

Deserving or not, the sum of their performance allowed the Trojanettes to win their second straight WPIAL title and 18th in school history.

BEAVER 49

Emma Pavelek 0 0-0 0, Qhanille Montero 1 1-2 3, Paige Ziggas 2 0-0 5, Sydney Barney 4 2-2 12, Bella Posset 8 8-12 29, Kristi Buckenheimer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 11-16 49.

CWNC 50

Ashley Robbins 0 0-0 0, Kylee Lewandowski 3 3-4 9, Tess Myers 7 4-5 18, Dani Short 6 4-5 16, Kari Karanikos 0 0-0 0, Cassie Foster 0 0-0 0, Emma Pospisil 0 0-0 0, Amanda Bucklew 1 3-4 5, Lucy Waskiewicz 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 16-20 50.

Beaver 9 13 11 16 — 49

CWNC3 8 10 29 — 50

3-point goals: Beaver 7 (Posset 4, Barney 2, Ziggas).

Next: PIAA Class 4A playoffs, TBD