Berth in state title game on line for North Catholic, Vincentian Academy
In the moments following Vincentian Academy's stunning come-from-behind 54-50 victory over North Catholic High in the WPIAL Class A girls championship game, Royals senior Noreen Fischer made a prophetic statement about the intense rivalry that exists between the Royals and the Trojanettes.
"It's good competition," she said. "But we're always going to see North Catholic."
She wasn't talking about the two annual games the Section 2-A rivals play each this season. No, Fischer -- one of four seniors on this team -- was talking about an anticipated fourth game with North Catholic this season.
Fischer was right.
That date has arrived as the two girls basketball teams will meet for the fourth time this season at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Ambridge High School. A trip to Penn State awaits the winner.
Both teams saw to the rematch by winning their respective games in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class A girls basketball tournament this past weekend. North Catholic enters the game with a 23-6 record. Vincentian is 27-1. The Royals' only loss came against North Catholic in a 45-43 regular-season loss at Don Graham Court on the North Catholic campus.
While North Catholic was holding off Fort Cherry 57-51 in one quarterfinal last Saturday at Chartiers Valley High School, Vincentian rallied from a six-point deficit at the outset of the fourth quarter to defeat District 10 champion Kennedy Catholic, 56-51, at North Allegheny High.
Fischer said playing from behind -- while not desirable -- is something the Royals have embraced throughout the playoff that has them on the verge of the championship game.
"We look at it this way: there are four quarters with eight minutes each, and we play until that buzzer goes off (at the end of the game)," she said. "We played to the end against Fort Cherry, North Catholic and Kane. We're used to it, and sometimes the other teams gets lackadaisical when they're up. We take that as an opportunity to come back."
Two crucial plays in the victory over Kennedy Catholic took place in a matter of seconds and put the Royals back into the lead for good. Abbey Bartoszewicz sank a 3-point goal with just over five minutes remaining in the game. Then, the Royals then stole the inbounds pass and Ashlee Darby sank the layup to give Vincentian 47-45 lead. Kennedy Catholic was able to stay close for the rest of the game, but could never regain the lead.
"That's when the momentum changed," Fischer said of those five points in a span of about five seconds. "Momentum was on our side, and we had to keep running with it. Basketball is a game of runs. We made a run there, and we wanted to stick it out to the end."
If the first three games are any indication of what to expect, then Wednesday's game should go down to the wire. The teams split the two regular-season meetings. Vincentian won the first game 57-51 in a game on Jan. 18 that the Vincentian Academy administration moved from the school's on-campus gym to La Roche College because of an anticipated large crowd that did show up. Freshman standout Brenna Wise scored nine of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Royals snapped a 37-37 tie and went on to beat the Trojanettes.
In the rematch on Feb. 9, Tina Ferrari's baseline layup with time running out gave the Trojanettes a 45-43 victory and a share of the Section 2-A championship. The victory also gave North Catholic the top seed in the WPIAL Class A playoffs with Vincentian placed in the No. 2 slot.
The playoffs went according to chalk, and the two teams met for the WPIAL Class A championship on March 3 at the Palumbo Center. North Catholic held a 44-34 lead with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter after Lauren Wolosik sank a pair of free throws. But the Royals chipped into the lead and then tied the issue at 50-50 with 1:45 left in the game on Laura Primyon's fourth 3-point goal of the fourth quarter.
The Trojanettes committed three turnovers in the game's final 90 seconds and never scored another point while the Royals ran off four more points in the game's final 56 seconds to set the final score.
"They are going to have paybacks and revenge on their mind," Vincentian coach Ron Moncrief said of the Trojanettes. "But once the game starts, they are going to play. We didn't really beat them really bad. It was just a couple of possessions here and there. Both teams will be motivated because we're one game away from (the state championship final at) Penn State."
North Catholic has played once at Ambridge High this season, defeating Fort Cherry, 53-45, in the Pittsburgh Classic. Playing in big games has become quite familiar to North Catholic girls' basketball players, and there's also the chance to leave a permanent reminder of their contributions to the North Catholic High program.
"This group of seniors has one last opportunity to put a banner on the wall," North Catholic girls basketball coach Molly Rottmann said. "So I think they are focused and ready for the challenge. We're not a long shot. If we play like we're capable of playing, we can play with anybody."
"It's good competition," she said. "But we're always going to see North Catholic."
She wasn't talking about the two annual games the Section 2-A rivals play each this season. No, Fischer -- one of four seniors on this team -- was talking about an anticipated fourth game with North Catholic this season.
Fischer was right.
That date has arrived as the two girls basketball teams will meet for the fourth time this season at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Ambridge High School. A trip to Penn State awaits the winner.
Both teams saw to the rematch by winning their respective games in the quarterfinals of the PIAA Class A girls basketball tournament this past weekend. North Catholic enters the game with a 23-6 record. Vincentian is 27-1. The Royals' only loss came against North Catholic in a 45-43 regular-season loss at Don Graham Court on the North Catholic campus.
While North Catholic was holding off Fort Cherry 57-51 in one quarterfinal last Saturday at Chartiers Valley High School, Vincentian rallied from a six-point deficit at the outset of the fourth quarter to defeat District 10 champion Kennedy Catholic, 56-51, at North Allegheny High.
Fischer said playing from behind -- while not desirable -- is something the Royals have embraced throughout the playoff that has them on the verge of the championship game.
"We look at it this way: there are four quarters with eight minutes each, and we play until that buzzer goes off (at the end of the game)," she said. "We played to the end against Fort Cherry, North Catholic and Kane. We're used to it, and sometimes the other teams gets lackadaisical when they're up. We take that as an opportunity to come back."
Two crucial plays in the victory over Kennedy Catholic took place in a matter of seconds and put the Royals back into the lead for good. Abbey Bartoszewicz sank a 3-point goal with just over five minutes remaining in the game. Then, the Royals then stole the inbounds pass and Ashlee Darby sank the layup to give Vincentian 47-45 lead. Kennedy Catholic was able to stay close for the rest of the game, but could never regain the lead.
"That's when the momentum changed," Fischer said of those five points in a span of about five seconds. "Momentum was on our side, and we had to keep running with it. Basketball is a game of runs. We made a run there, and we wanted to stick it out to the end."
If the first three games are any indication of what to expect, then Wednesday's game should go down to the wire. The teams split the two regular-season meetings. Vincentian won the first game 57-51 in a game on Jan. 18 that the Vincentian Academy administration moved from the school's on-campus gym to La Roche College because of an anticipated large crowd that did show up. Freshman standout Brenna Wise scored nine of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Royals snapped a 37-37 tie and went on to beat the Trojanettes.
In the rematch on Feb. 9, Tina Ferrari's baseline layup with time running out gave the Trojanettes a 45-43 victory and a share of the Section 2-A championship. The victory also gave North Catholic the top seed in the WPIAL Class A playoffs with Vincentian placed in the No. 2 slot.
The playoffs went according to chalk, and the two teams met for the WPIAL Class A championship on March 3 at the Palumbo Center. North Catholic held a 44-34 lead with 6:27 left in the fourth quarter after Lauren Wolosik sank a pair of free throws. But the Royals chipped into the lead and then tied the issue at 50-50 with 1:45 left in the game on Laura Primyon's fourth 3-point goal of the fourth quarter.
The Trojanettes committed three turnovers in the game's final 90 seconds and never scored another point while the Royals ran off four more points in the game's final 56 seconds to set the final score.
"They are going to have paybacks and revenge on their mind," Vincentian coach Ron Moncrief said of the Trojanettes. "But once the game starts, they are going to play. We didn't really beat them really bad. It was just a couple of possessions here and there. Both teams will be motivated because we're one game away from (the state championship final at) Penn State."
North Catholic has played once at Ambridge High this season, defeating Fort Cherry, 53-45, in the Pittsburgh Classic. Playing in big games has become quite familiar to North Catholic girls' basketball players, and there's also the chance to leave a permanent reminder of their contributions to the North Catholic High program.
"This group of seniors has one last opportunity to put a banner on the wall," North Catholic girls basketball coach Molly Rottmann said. "So I think they are focused and ready for the challenge. We're not a long shot. If we play like we're capable of playing, we can play with anybody."
basketball