End of the Road
ROSS TWP – Three times North Catholic had met with Section 1-3A foe Freedom before the teams’ state semifinal matchup Friday night. And three times the Trojanettes prevailed.
It looked early on as if North would dispatch the Bulldogs yet again. But, on the doorstep of the PIAA Class 3A girls basketball title game, Freedom wound up avenging their earlier defeats, vanquishing the Trojanettes by a 46-39 final.
Interestingly, the Bulldogs (22-5) overcame the odds after tallying just as many turnovers (4) as they did points in the first quarter.
“We were frustrating them some with finding the open person and cutting off their drives,” North coach Molly Rottmann said of her defense, which allowed Freedom only two points in the contest’s first 7:56. “I think that (our defense) was effective in the first quarter.”
Yet, the Trojanettes (22-6) couldn’t put that much ground between themselves and their opponent. They gave the ball away five times in the first eight minutes and notched only one make from the field in that same span.
Somewhere around the time North’s Anna Waskiewicz sunk a pair of free throws to give her team an eight-point lead – its largest of the night – in the second period, Kaercher tailored his strategy.
“The only thing that they’d seen (from us) all year had been our full-court 2-1-2 press,” Kaercher said. “We’d been working on a diamond defense all season long, just for instances like this. As soon as we went to the diamond defense midway through the second quarter, that’s when we started to claw and climb back in it.”
Rottmann said her team recognized the Bulldogs’ defensive change right away, but the Trojanettes couldn’t take advantage of opportunities in transition.
“We struggled to make some passes around the perimeter,” Rottman said. “(Kaercher)’s kids played hard. They got their hands on a lot of basketballs. They always do.”
Behind scoring contributions from five different girls in the four minutes before halftime, Freedom shaved North’s lead to two points. After the third, the Bulldogs trailed by the same sum. They’d gain their first advantage during a 9-2 surge that came in the initial two minutes of the final frame.
“When we were at the Pete, we were down 12,” Freedom coach John Kaercher said. “When we played them at home, we were down by eight. But we kept climbing back. We said we were going to climb back.
“We knew we took their best punch in the first quarter.”
Sophomore Shaye Bailey swished a trey not long into the fourth to spark the run, adding another basket before sisters Renae and Julz Mohrbacher joined the fold. The trio combined for all 19 of the Bulldogs’ points in the last eight minutes.
Tori Drevna’s three pulled North within a possession with 1:25 left to play. Her team turned the ball over three times after that.
The Trojanettes shot 2-for-15 overall in the fourth. Alayna Rocco put up 16 points and Waskiewicz another 10 in the loss.
“We were taking some quick shots,” Rottman said. “We weren’t moving the ball like we wanted to offensively. They (Freedom) are very good on the boards and then they were coming down in transition.
“I just think the tide turned.”
FREEDOM 46
Renae Mohrbacher 3 11-16 17, Julz Mohrbacher 5 2-5 12, Shaye Bailey 3 1-3 8, Olivia Evans 2 0-0 4, Grace White 1 0-0 3, Cadence Gorajewski 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 14 24 46.
NORTH CATHOLIC 39
Alayna Rocco 4 7-10 16, Anna Waskiewicz 3 5-6 11, Dacia Lewandowski 2 5-11 9, Tori Drevna 1 0-0 3. Totals: 10 17-27 39.
Freedom 4 13 10 19 – 46
North Catholic 7 12 10 10 – 39
3-point goals: Freedom 2 (Bailey, White); North Catholic 2 (Rocco, Drevna)
