STATE COLLEGE — Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic was geared to contain Berks Catholic's Dejah Terrell.

While the 6-foot senior center was held in check, it was the team's backcourt that did in the Trojanettes.

Guards Molly Duncan and Jackie Kirwan, who had combined to average a modest 8.8 points per game entering Saturday's PIAA Class 4A girls basketball semifinal, dropped 29 on the Trojanettes, who were unable to account for the unexpected scoring in a 56-47 loss to the Saints at State College High School.

Terrell ended the game with 13 points. She averages 17 per game.

“Kylee (Lewandowski) did a great job on (Terrell),” said CWNC coach Molly Rottmann. “She was the main one we were trying to stop. But (Duncan and Kirwan) shot better from what I saw on tape. They caught fire.”

The backcourt duo combined to drain seven 3-pointers in the game. But the Trojanettes made the Saints sweat out their latest postseason victory.

After falling behind 10-0 midway through the first quarter, CWNC trimmed its deficit to 28-23 by halftime. And when Lewandowski completed a conventional 3-point play, followed by a steal and trey from Emma Pospisil at the end of the third quarter, the Trojanettes had earned their first lead of the game at 37-34.

Baskets from Dani Short and Tess Myers helped push the edge to 43-37 early in the fourth quarter, but it proved to be the high-water mark for CWNC as the Saints (25-5) closed the game with a 19-4 run.

A key sequence began with 4:32 left in the game when Berks Catholic's Abigail Gaffney got a layup to fall and headed to the line in an attempt to make it a 3-point play. Though she missed the free throw, Terrell controlled the rebound and completed her own 3-point effort.

The five points in a span of just three seconds cut CWNC's lead to 43-42. Moments later, Terrell struck again with a bucket that put the Saints up for good.

The Trojanettes (25-4) committed four costly turnovers in the final four minutes of the game and Berks Catholic iced the contest at the line. Eleven of its 13 made free throws came in the final period.

“It's been an issue all year with us,” said Rottmann. “There are times when we seem to just lose our minds on offense, start running things we're not supposed to run. When you're trying to get mismatches set up, that makes it very tough.”

Berks Catholic coach Bob Birmingham figured his team wouldn't melt under the pressure of facing a deficit in such a big game.

“We've played in a lot of close games this season,” he said. “This was the third time in four years we've made it this far. We lost the previous two, so it's nice, especially for our seniors, to get over the hump.”

Duncan led all scorers with 18 points.

“We know what we're going to get from Terrell. She's very consistent,” added Birmingham. “But the games we got from Duncan, Kirwan and Meghan Leininger (five points), they were huge. The 18 points is a career-high for Molly.”

Short scored 17 points and had nine rebounds for the Trojanettes. Myers added 16 points.

Rottmann's program has very high standards — the Trojanettes won a state title just two years ago. But this season, which included a second straight WPIAL championship — should stack up well.

“It's tough after a loss,” she said. “The kids wanted to win, but when we reflect on it, with the youth we had, it was a good season. It's a great experience to build on with our younger girls.”

C.W. NORTH CATHOLIC 47

Emma Pospisil 1 0-0 3, Cassie Foster 1 1-1 3, Kylee Lewandowski 1 3-3 5, Tess Myers 4 7-8 16, Dani Short 6 5-6 17, Kari Karanikos 1 0-0 3, Ashley Robbins 0 0-0 0, Amanda Bucklew 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 16-18 47.

BERKS CATHOLIC 56

Meghan Leininger 2 0-0 5, Jackie Kirwan 4 0-0 11, Molly Duncan 5 4-4 18, Abigail Gaffney 2 5-8 9, Dejah Terrell 4 4-5 13. Totals: 17 13-17 56.

CWNC 9 14 14 10 — 47

Berks Catholic18 10 6 22 — 56

3-point goals: CWNC 3 (Karanikos, Myers, Pospisil); Berks Catholic 9 (Duncan 4, Kirwan 3, Leininger, Terrell).