Knoch’s Laura Gray (35) tries to get a shot between Laurel Highlands’ Taylor Mathers (32) and Marissa Guynn (50) during the Knights’ 49-44 WPIAL Class AAA girls basketball playoff win.

NEW KENSINGTON— Laurel Highlands' pressure blew up Knoch's 23-point lead Saturday afternoon.

But the Lady Knights' season remained intact.

After seeing its 31-8 third-quarter lead disappear completely, Knoch pulled itself together and posted a 49-44 WPIAL Class AAA girls basketball victory at Valley High School.

"I would have loved to be able to sit back and watch an easy win, not add any more gray hairs to my head,"Knoch coach Curt Vasas said. "But in reality, none of these girls have been in a playoff game before.

"Sure, I was nervous coming down the stretch, but once the double-zero showed up on the clock, I was happy. I know this experience is going to be good for these girls."

Knoch (15-8) faces West Mifflin at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Gateway High School in the next round.

Laurel Highlands (14-9) trailed 27-8 at halftime after a disastrous first half. The Fillies sank only two of 25 shots in the first two quarters, including an 0-for-14 performance in the second period.

Taylor Mathers, averaging 16 points per game, had one point at halftime. Senior guard Meg Mahoney, playing despite a broken foot, had no points.

"I've never had a team go through a half like that,"Laurel Highlands coach Mark John said. "We didn't do anything."

Knoch's Hannah Novotny converted a steal into a layup to begin the third quarter. When Laura Gray sank two free throws, the Knights led 31-8 with 6:28 left in the third quarter.

Then the roof caved in.

Knoch suffered nine of its 22 turnovers in the third period. After sinking just two shots in the first half, the Fillies scored six field goals in two minutes.

By quarter's end, Laurel Highlands trailed just 36-32.

"One, they started making some shots,"Vasas said. "Two, we kept passing them the ball. And three, they really turned up the intensity with their press."

"For a press to work, you have to make some shots,"John said. "Once we started hitting a couple, the girls got more into the press. They fedoff those results."

Despite starters Mathers, Maressa Guynn and Bethany Mehall fouling out in the fourth quarter, the Fillies kept coming. Two Mahoney free throws tied the game at 43 with 3:13 to play.

"We play eight or nine girls every game,"John said. "That came in handy today."

In spite of their 22 turnovers and missing 12 free throws in the fourth quarter, the Knights pulled the game out.

Novotny, the team's junior point guard, sank two free throws with 3:09 left and another with 2:40 to go, giving Knoch a 46-43 lead.

<table width="300" height="275" border="0" align="right" valign="top" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><embed src="/assets/mov/BE64728216.MOV" width="320" height="250" autostart="true" loop="false" ></embed></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/" target="_blank"><span class="style11">Requires Quicktime Media Player </a><br><font size="1" face="Tahoma, Times New Roman">Video by Brandon Gerthoffer</font></span><td></tr></table>Sara Montgomery, who missed her first five free throws in the final quarter, sank one with 1:22 left for a 48-44 edge. Two free throws by Taylor Tresatti with 16 seconds to go finally iced the win."We figured they were going to make a run at us,"Novotny said. "They didn't want to see their season end, either."It was rough there, watching them come back so quickly, but we just had to weather the storm and play the game through."Gray had 17 points and five rebounds for the Knights before fouling out with 3:13 left. Novotny had 11 points and six rebounds while Montgomery had 14 of Knoch's 44 rebounds."We can't get Hannah to say two words, she's such a quiet kid,"Vasas said. "Her personality helped us today. She never gets too high or two low with what's happening on the court."Caitlin Wontroba paced Laurel Highlands with 15 points and seven rebounds. Guynn grabbed nine boards for the Fillies, who sank just two of 16 shots in the final quarter.Laurel Highlands hit 11 of 17 shots from the field in the third quarter, 4 of 41 the rest of the game."It was a good comeback,"John said. "But it wasn't enough."<B>KNOCH 49Hannah Novotny 3-9 4-7 11, Haley Hutterer 1-8 2-2 5, Emily Protzman 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor Trisatti 1-3 3-7 5, Lindsay MacArthur 0-1 2-2 2, Sara Montgomery 2-10 3-8 7, Laura Gray 4-8 9-12 17. </B>Totals: 12-41 23-38 49<B>LAUREL HIGHLANDS 44Bethany Mehall 1-10 0-0 2, Caitlin Wontroba 4-18 6-8 15, Meg Mahoney 2-12 3-4 9, Taylor Mathers 3-8 1-4 7, Maressa Guynn 3-5 0-0 6, Samantha Lee 1-3 1-4 3, Jordan Paglia 0-0 0-0 0, Erica Quarrick 0-1 0-0 0, Jenna Erminio 1-1 0-0 2.</B> Totals: 15-58 11-20 44<B>Knoch 15 12 9 13—49Laurel Highlands 6 2 24 12—443-point goals:</B> Novotny, Hutterer; Wontroba, Mahoney 2<B>Wednesday:</B> Knoch vs. West Mifflin, WPIALClass AAA playoffs, 6:30 p.m., at Gateway