Section 4-AAAA should be strong again this season in girls basketball
Section 4 proved to be one of the top Class AAAA girls' basketball sections in the WPIAL a year ago.
After falling to Shaler in the WPIAL championship game, Mt. Lebanon rallied with five successive victories in the PIAA playoffs to win the 2011 state championship, the run capped by a stirring 47-46 victory over Archbishop Carroll at the Bryce Jordan Center on the Penn State campus in Statle College. The Blue Devils had to overcome section rival Bethel Park along the way before avenging their loss to Shaler Area in the PIAA quarterfinals with a convincing 65-39 victory.
Midway through this season, guess who the Blue Devils visit? The same Archbishop Carroll team they vanquished by just one point a year ago.
Bethel Park lost just six games last season en route to a 22-6 record and a second-place finish in the section with a 10-2 record.
The unfortunate circumstance for the Black Hawks is that three of those losses came against Mt. Lebanon. Bethel Park lost regular-season games by margins of 12 and six points and in the second round of the PIAA tournament by a 60-42 margin.
Candace Martino, who averaged 14.4 points a game for the Black Hawks last year, was unable to play in the last of the three games against Mt. Lebanon as she sustained a season-ending knee injury in a 58-46 victory over North Allegheny in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
Megan Marecic, a 5-11 sophomore guard, had an outstanding season, averaging 13 points a game. However, she won't be available until after Jan. 1 as she is recovering from an injury.
Baldwin was third in the section at 9-3, but the Highlanders did something just five other teams did all season and that was beat Mt. Lebanon. That occurred on Jan. 3 when the Highlanders stunned the Blue Devils, 48-46, on a driving layup with 2.4 seconds left by since-graduated Belma Nurkic.
The win snapped a 12-game losing streak for the Highlanders against the Blue Devils.
After falling to Shaler in the WPIAL championship game, Mt. Lebanon rallied with five successive victories in the PIAA playoffs to win the 2011 state championship, the run capped by a stirring 47-46 victory over Archbishop Carroll at the Bryce Jordan Center on the Penn State campus in Statle College. The Blue Devils had to overcome section rival Bethel Park along the way before avenging their loss to Shaler Area in the PIAA quarterfinals with a convincing 65-39 victory.
Midway through this season, guess who the Blue Devils visit? The same Archbishop Carroll team they vanquished by just one point a year ago.
Bethel Park lost just six games last season en route to a 22-6 record and a second-place finish in the section with a 10-2 record.
The unfortunate circumstance for the Black Hawks is that three of those losses came against Mt. Lebanon. Bethel Park lost regular-season games by margins of 12 and six points and in the second round of the PIAA tournament by a 60-42 margin.
Candace Martino, who averaged 14.4 points a game for the Black Hawks last year, was unable to play in the last of the three games against Mt. Lebanon as she sustained a season-ending knee injury in a 58-46 victory over North Allegheny in the WPIAL quarterfinals.
Megan Marecic, a 5-11 sophomore guard, had an outstanding season, averaging 13 points a game. However, she won't be available until after Jan. 1 as she is recovering from an injury.
Baldwin was third in the section at 9-3, but the Highlanders did something just five other teams did all season and that was beat Mt. Lebanon. That occurred on Jan. 3 when the Highlanders stunned the Blue Devils, 48-46, on a driving layup with 2.4 seconds left by since-graduated Belma Nurkic.
The win snapped a 12-game losing streak for the Highlanders against the Blue Devils.
basketball