PIAA basketball: North Catholic girls flip switch to run past Forest Hills in Class 4A first-round win
CRANBERRY TWP — North Catholic didn’t have a characteristic start in its PIAA Class 4A first-round playoff game against Forest Hills on Saturday afternoon.
With just over two minutes remaining in the first half, the Trojanettes were in a six-point hole that — because they hadn’t scored in nearly six minutes — felt much larger.
The surge that followed helped push Molly Rottmann’s team to the next round with a 50-37 win over the visiting Rangers (16-9). North Catholic will face District 10’s Harbor Creek, a 42-28 winner over South Park, on Wednesday at a site and time to be determined.
The Trojanettes’ run began with a Harmony Jones steal and layup, then Lauren Reitz stuck in a put-back on North Catholic’s next possession.
Reitz soon after added another layup via an Evangeline Offi assist, and Khristina Rushak joined in on the fun eight seconds before halftime, giving the North Catholic (21-6) its first lead.
“It’s crazy. It’s a fast-paced game, and it’s next play mentality,” said junior guard Brady Wehner, who led all scorers with 16 points. “So you can’t worry about what just happened. You have to just get the next play, and no matter what the score is, you have to get back on defense, then get a stop, bring it back down and just play basketball.”
The Trojanettes didn’t score for the first 5:58 of the second quarter, falling behind 18-12, but tacked up the next eight points. They never relinquished the advantage after the midway point.
Before the sudden shift, North Catholic had gone 0 for 6 shooting and given the ball away five times in the frame.
“I never really second-guessed us,” Wehner said. “Yeah, we were down, but I know what we can do, and that just wasn’t us. We know how to pull away, and we know how to flip the switch like that. So that’s all we needed to do, and we kinda just probably were rusty.”
The visitors got out to an 8-2 advantage in the initial quarter.
“They came out ready to play,” Rottmann said. “They got to every loose ball. They had at least seven offensive rebounds in the first quarter. They got to the rim. ... They were playing harder than us, and that’s what I said to (my team), ‘No one told them that they’re just supposed to come in here and roll over.’”
Forest Hills standout Aivah Maul pulled her side within five thanks to a bucket with 7:15 to go, but Reitz answered with a 3-pointer. The Trojanettes got into the bonus with 3:56 remaining, allowing them to coast the rest of the way. They climbed ahead by as many as 15 points in the frame.
North Catholic dealt with a handful of injuries this season but is finding its stride at the right time.
“I think that we’re finally a cohesive unit and we have more trust in each other,” Rottmann said.
FOREST HILLS 37
Aivah Maul 5 3-4 15, Morgan Gdula 2 7-10 11, Eva Myers 2 1-3 5, Isabella Carpenter 2 0-0 4, Danika Faith 1 0-0 2, Kinleigh Baumgarnder 0 0-2 0. Totals: 12 11-19 37.
NORTH CATHOLIC 50
Brady Wehner 5 5-6 16, Lauren Reitz 4 1-2 11, Sam Weir 2 1-2 6, Maggie Tatar 2 2-2 6, Harmony Jones 3 0-0 6, Finley O’Shea 1 0-0 3, Khristina Rushak 1 0-0 2, Evangeline Offi 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 9-12 50.
Forest Hills 14 4 8 11 — 37
North Catholic 12 8 13 17 — 50
3-point goals: North Catholic 5 (Reitz 2, O’Shea, Wehner, Weir); Forest Hills 2 (Maul 2).
Wednesday: North Catholic vs. Harbor Creek, time and site to be determined.
