CRANBERRY TWP — Kylee Lewandowski is just one thread in a tapestry for the North Catholic girls basketball team.

A very important stitch.

The 6-foot-1 junior guard from Butler has become more than just a sharp shooter in her second year with the Trojanettes.

She's become a shot blocker, a pick-pocket — she's among the team leaders in steals — a rebounder and a scoring threat from the inside as well as the outside.

Lewandowski is part of an intricate engine driving a steamroller that the North Catholic girls basketball team has become this season on the way to a 16-1 record, an unbeaten 11-0 mark in the section, and winning each game by an averaging margin of nearly 40 points.

Fellow juniors Cassie Foster, Tess Myers, Emma Pospisil, Belle O'Hara, Lucy Waskiewicz and Branygan Bianchin and senior Dani Short have formed a formidable force, not only in the section and the WPIAL, but in the state.

“When we play our game and play as a team,” Myers says, “I think we're unstoppable.”

In many ways, North Catholic has been unstoppable this season, scorching the earth on the way to lopsided wins by gaudy scores like 91-11, 85-19 and 75-12.

With sometimes little challenge in games, practices have taken on a larger importance for the Trojanettes.

“Honestly, in practice, we keep each other motivated,” Myers said. “Kylee and I going up against each other, Emma and Cassie and Dani going up against each other. I think we're doing a good job going hard. Practice is fun. Even the girls who go against us who don't play really push us. We've really stepped up our practices to another level.”

That was by design by North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann, who wanted to make things as challenging as she could for her team.

“I'll have Tess and Kylee guard each other. I'll have Dani guard Tess so she has to go up against someone big, or I'll have Emma go up against Kylee,” Rottmann said. “I'll tell them, 'Don't be nice. If you can take the ball off of them five times, take it.' That's only going to make them better. In those blowouts, you're just creating bad habits. That's all you're doing.”

Lewandowski learned quickly just how high the expectations were at North Catholic.

Nervous at first about assimilating into a new school and a new team after leaving Butler before her sophomore year, Lewandowski quickly had those fears quelled.

“They accepted me really easily,” Lewandowski said. “They included me. It was really nice.”

Lewandowski also enjoys being a part of a team that is so well-balanced.

Five players average at least 7.2 points per game, led by Myers at 14.9.

Lewandowski is right behind at 14.8 points per game.

The Trojanettes are also close off the court.

“Off the court we are all best friends,” Myers said. “It's so much fun and I love playing with them. We are so close this year and I think that's why this has been so special.”

But Rottmann has noticed this season hasn't been treated like it is special at times.

Chalk that up to the sky high bar that has been set.

One look around the North Catholic gym, at the countless championship banners hanging, and it's easy to see how skewed success can be at the school.

North Catholic has won 18 WPIAL and eight PIAA titles.

“Coach even had a conversation with us. I think we kind of take it for granted,” Myers said. “She told us to enjoy every win. Every team would love to be a section champ, but we kind of walk in and are expected to do it and, in a way, know we're going to do it, you know? And to go the WPIAL — I've already won two WPIAL championships, which is crazy because most teams don't even get there.

“It's a little but of pressure,” Myers added, smiling. “But we can take it.”

Rottmann, though, doesn't want playing basketball to become a job for her team.

She has seen first-hand — and sometimes has fallen victim to it herself — the lack of emotion after big wins.

“We need to enjoy those victories,” Rottmann said. “I need to do a better job. You can't carry that pressure around.”

Players on the North Catholic roster have also been able to drown out the familiar chatter.

The elephant in the room.

The non-boundary vs. boundary school debate continues to rage and North Catholic is often Exhibit A.

“There are kids who come here for a variety of reasons,” Rottmann said. “If you really dig into the reasons why some of them are here, you'll see some of them needed to be here.”

For Myers, a Burrell native, she has developed a thick skin about the debate and those who disparage her and the Trojanettes' program.

“It doesn't even bother me. I don't pay attention,” Myers said. “I guess they can hate or whatever, but it's not my problem. We all put in the work.”