Unsung hero
CRANBERRY TWP — A great deal is asked of Ashley Robbins.
The sophomore point guard for the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic girls basketball team rarely comes off the court, is often tasked with guarding potent scorers and is sometimes counted on to hit a big shot in crunch time.
It’s a lot on the plate for the Wexford native, but she has taken it all in stride during her first year as a starter for the Trojanettes, who will play Our Lady of Lourdes Regional at noon Saturday for the PIAA Class A title at the Giant Center in Hershey.
“What she does often goes under the radar,” said North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann. “Unless you know the game, you don’t notice all the little things she does.”
Robbins said she worked hard on her game this offseason with the knowledge she would be called upon to run the point for North Catholic this season.
“I just knew a lot was going to be different between my freshman and sophomore seasons,” Robbins said. “When you have five really unselfish players on the floor, it makes things easier.”
Robbins has played her best in the state playoffs.
Opponents often feel they need to press North Catholic because the Trojanettes start three players who stand over 6-feet tall.
That puts added pressure on Robbins to break the press and get North Catholic into its offense.
Robbins has committed few turnovers in the state playoffs and held dangerous Bishop Guilfoyle guard Lili Benzel to just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting in the semifinal win Tuesday.
“Her game (Tuesday) was tremendous,” Rottmann said.
Robbins took particular pride in her defense.
“I just knew going into that game it was going to be a battle,” Robbins said.
“We had to play as a team if we were going to win. All I knew is I had to faceguard (Benzel). They caught on and started setting screens for her and even when I did lose her, the help defense was there.”
Robbins also hit two big 3-pointers in that semifinal victory.
That’s another part of her game she has steadily improved.
North Catholic has a prolific scorer in 6-foot-2 Sam Breen. She gets a lot of attention and that leaves Robbins, as well as others, open on the perimeter at times.
“I’m not very tall — I’m 5-4 — and my coaches and my dad and grandpa told me that they’re going to collapse on Sam and I’m going to have to shoot all around the perimeter,” Robbins said. “I really worked on my outside shot, but I’m not the only one. Kylie Huffman is really good from the outside and Abby Goetz can hit from out there, too.”
Robbins said getting to the state title game has taken some of the sting out of the loss to Vincentian Academy in the WPIAL Class A final.
One more win will really erase that bitter taste.
“It feels so good,” Robbins said. “This is probably the best team I’ve ever been on. The WPIAL championship game, that loss really brought us together and made us stronger and the state championship is one more thing for us to shoot for.”
