Mar 21, 2014 By Eleanor Bailey 2 min read

Seton-La Salle weathered a fierce comeback by Neumann Goretti (29-1) and claimed its third PIAA championship in school history by virtue of a 58-50 victory in the Class AA girls’ basketball final at Giant Center in Hershey.

The Saints overcame a 37-23 deficit and used a 22-7 run to edge ahead, 45-44, of SLS 5:27 to play but the Lady Rebels maintained their composure down the stretch. SLS converted six free throws in the last 79 seconds to seal the victory. Nicolete Newman and Cassidy Walsh cashed from the charity stripe. Newman led all scorers with 17 points while Walsh finished with 11 markers.

Yacine Diop fired in 10 points but was a force on the boards, gathering in 24 rebounds.

Shaunay Edmonds ignited the Lady Rebels in the third quarter. She swiped several passes and converted two layups as SLS expanded its halftime lead from 28-21 to 37-23.

Emmanuella Awobajo and Ciani Cryor, who both fouled out of the contest with 4:21 and 2:13 left to play, led the Saints with 13 and 12 points respectively.

Poor shooting plagued Neumann Goretti. The Saints missed on 49 of their 60 field goal attempts in suffering their first loss of the season.

The Rebels finished 27-4 overall. They won state titles in 2012 and 1984.

In 2012, SLS defeated York Catholic, 71-47. The 1984 club defeated Strath Haven, 55-53. That team featured Suzie and Kathy McConnell and was won in overtime on a last-second shot by Pam Wiseman, assisted by Jean Foley.

In addition to Newman, Walsh, Diop and Edmonds, members of the 2014 championship team included: Naje Gibson, Morgan Henderson, Julie DeKlaven, Madalena Psillidis, Giavanna Facchiano, Bailey Canavan, Delaney Daly, Alexia Facchiano, Mia Marzina, Julia Cipollone, Bridget Sigg.