Four-Bagger
PITTSBURGH — The nine seniors on the North Catholic girls basketball team crowded into the media room at the Petersen Events Center.
They laughed. They smiled. They crammed in front of microphones and sang.
They thoroughly enjoyed their latest WPIAL championship.
It was a glorious “four-Pete” for the Trojanettes.
“It means everything,” said senior guard Tess Myers. “Us nine seniors, we're like sisters. We've made memories that are going to last forever and it's awesome.”
“It is awesome,” added North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann.
With the 61-44 win over Southmoreland Friday night in the WPIAL Class 4A title game, this group of Trojannette seniors became the first to win four straight district crowns. North Catholic has now won 20 in its storied history.
“We've been talking about this,” Rottmann said. “You want to go out and win every game you can and they did that.”
Two more seniors, Emma Pospisil and Butler native Kylee Lewandowski, weren't about to let this fourth straight title slip away.
The North Catholic duo combined to score 18 points in the second quarter as the Trojanettes turned a close game into a comfortable halftime cushion.
Pospisil scored 10 points in the frame; Lewandowski added eight as North Catholic took a 42-26 advantage at the half.
Pospisil scored a game-high 18 points and Lewandowski added 14 points and 12 rebounds for North Catholic (24-1).
The Trojanettes did their second-quarter damage with Myers, their leading scorer this season at 24 per game, on the bench in foul trouble. Myers finished with 13 after scoring nine in the first quarter.
“Not really (uncomfortable for me),” Myers said. “I've been in that situations like that. It's all about keeping your head in the game on the sidelines, cheering.”
Like Myers, North Catholic started out hot, going on a 9-0 run to lead 12-5.
But Southmoreland (24-1) rallied and cut the lead to 19-15 at the end of the first on a half-court 3-pointer from Charity Henderson.
The Scotties scored the first basket of the second quarter to cut the North Catholic lead to two, but that was the beginning of the end for Southmoreland as North Catholic went on an 18-5 run to take a 37-22 lead.
“I thought we were getting good looks on the offensive end, we just couldn't get the ball to fall,” said Southmoreland coach Brian Pritts. “And they shot the ball extremely well. It seemed like every time the ball left their hands they were shooting with confidence.”North Catholic was 24-of-51 from the field; meanwhile Southmoreland struggled, making just 16 of its 58 field goal attempts.Pospisil was particularly hot. Wearing flame-yellow shoes, Pospisil was 7-of-10 from the floor and 4-for-4 from 3-point range.“It felt good to pick up your teammates,” Pospisil said. “But someone always steps up.”Lewandowski stepped up as well. She also hit a pair of 3-pointers in the decisive second quarter.“We knew that this was our last time at the Pete, so we wanted to come together and win as a team,” Lewandowski said. “I think we did that pretty well.”Belle O'Hara and Sarah Berardelli also had a big game inside. They only combined to score nine points, but they did the dirty work in the paint for the Trojanettes. The duo had 16 rebounds between them.“It gives you 10 fouls versus of five,” Rottmann said. “They have done a great job. Having two of them to run in and out is huge.”Now that the fourth straight WPIAL title is in the bag, the celebration will be short.North Catholic still has unfinished business – a state title that eluded it last year.“At the beginning of the season we never looked ahead,” Lewandowski said. “We always took it one step at a time. So now that we completed this step, we're ready to move on to the next step, which is winning games to get to the state championship.”“We can celebrate for two days,” Rottmann added, smiling.SOUTHMORELAND 44Charity Henderson 3-11 0-0 7, Olivia Cemuto 3-15 3-4 10, Erika Sherbondy 1-5 0-0 2, Gracie Spadaro 4-12 4-6 12, Sarah Pisulo 3-8 2-3 8, Delaynie Morvosh 2-5 1-2 5, Maddie Moore 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 16-58 10-15 44.NORTH CATHOLIC 61Emma Pospisil 7-10 0-1 18, Cassie Foster 1-4 1-2 4, Kylee Lewandowski 6-11 0-0 14, Tess Myers 5-14 2-5 13, Belle O'Hara 1-4 1-2 3, Sarah Berardelli 3-4 0-0 6, Lucy Waskiewicz 0-1 0-0 0, Branygan Biancghin 0-1 0-0 0, Dacia Lewandowski 1-2 0-0 3, Shealin O'Shea 0-0 0-0 0, Lexi Raabe 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-51 4-10 61.Southmoreland 15 11 7 11 — 44North Catholic19 23 10 9 — 613-point goals: Southmoreland 2 (Henderson, Cemuto); North Catholic 9 (Pospisil 4, Foster, K.Lewandowski 2, Myers, D.Lewandowski)
