CRANBERRY TWP — The Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic girls basketball team struggled to score in its last two playoffs wins.

The Trojanettes got the looks they wanted, the shots just haven't gone in.

When North Catholic matches up against California in the second round of the Class A playoffs at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Canon-McMillan High School, the Trojanettes could find it even tougher to find good shots.

California (25-2) has the WPIAL's stingiest defense regardless of class, limiting opponents to 26.2 points per game.

“You need to hit a couple of outside shots to open up the inside,” North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann said. “They do a good job scouting and they have someone in the lane out of their zone defense.

California's discipline makes it tough for anyone to put up points. Mars — which beat California 71-49 to open the season at the Slippery Rock Tournament — was the only team to score over 50 points against Cal.

California also eliminated North Catholic (21-6) from the postseason last year, winning 45-43 in the WPIAL quarterfinals.

North Catholic's offense averages 59.3 points per game.

“We just try to close our gaps and play good disciplined defense,” California coach Chris Minerd said. “We try not to take a lot of chances. We don't necessarily need steals, we need to force teams into mistakes. That's what our defense is predicated on.”

Rottmann said her team's solution to shooting below 40 percent in a 54-40 PIAA win over Cochranton and 41-40 WPIAL win over Riverview was to generate more chances.

Rottmann had her team employ a full-court press, which has found success. Against the Cardinals, North Catholic forced 11 turnovers in the first quarter.

“I think it helps us and gets us running instead of thinking,” Rottmann said. “The half-court sets can be effective, but we're not finishing. We try to get some easy buckets off of transition and once that happens it's contagious and maybe you make some.”

Inside, California has two players — 6-2 sophomore forward/center Kylie Huffman and 6-0 center Lynsdsey Huhn — to match up with North Catholic's 6-2 sophomore Sam Breen, who averages around 23 points and 12 rebounds per game.

Huhn scored her 1,000th point in California's 40-28 win over Venango Catholic in the first round, which was the program's first-ever PIAA win.

“In Sam's case, she's so good at catching the ball,” Minerd said. “The only defense for her is to not let her get the ball. She has so many ways to beat you.”

California was upset by Riverview in the WPIAL quarterfinals. Minerd is excited for another opportunity to play North Catholic.

“I don't think we're going to catch them off-guard and they won't catch us off guard,” Minerd said. “At this point in the season, teams have already seen every defense. Whatever team that executes better will win.”

Rottmann hopes it can be her bunch, who had several players stay after practice to get more shots up.

“It's a comfort level,” Rottmann said. “We can be young at times and missing layups can be contagious. We're working hard in practice and will work to get easy buckets in transition.”