Bishop Canevin finishes as PIAA runner-up
Sarah Green attempts to comfort Finley O’Shea while Diasha Allen exams her silver medal after Bishop Canevin fell to Neumann-Goretti, 62-56, in the PIAA Class AAA championship basketball game.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Brionna Allen walks off the court in despair while Neumann-Goretti players celebrate their victory over Bishop Canevin, 62-56, during the PIAA Class AAA girls’ basketball championship.
Shamyjah Price splits the Neumann-Goretti defenders Minika Glenn and Dajiah Parmley as she drives to the basket. Despite 21 tallies from Price, Bishop Canevin dropped a 62-56 decision to the Saints during PIAA Class AAA girls’ basketball championship action.
Bishop Canevin players Zoe Woods, Annie Meier and Winnie Yang agonize over their team’s fate during the PIAA Class AAA girls’ basketball championship game. The Crusaders lost their bid for a state title, falling to Neumann-Goretti, 62-56.
Bishop Canevin players Lauren Gamble, Zoe Woods, Brionna Allen and Sarah Green accepted the runner-up trophy after their loss to Neumann-Goretti, 62-56, in the PIAA Class AAA championship game.
When the final buzzer sounded at the Giant Center in Hershey, tears flowed from the eyes of several Bishop Canevin girls’ basketball players. Neumann-Goretti had just posted a 62-56 victory to claim the PIAA Class AAA title.
And, while the season did not have the ending the Crusaders had hoped for, it provided an impetus for the 2017-18 campaign. Canevin will seek to improve upon its 23-6 record, that not only included a runner-up showing in the state finals but a WPIAL championship as well.
“They are heartbroken,” BC coach Tim Joyce said after the defeat, “but when they look back on it, they will realize it has been a great season. We’ve got a couple great trophies and we also got a taste of (the state championships). They will work to come back here.”
Indeed, the Crusaders will be back as they graduate only two seniors: Sarah Green and Zoe Woods, both starters. Green provided seven points, five rebounds and two steals in the loss to the Saints while Woods played 10 quality minutes in the contest.
Shamyjha Price, who appeared to take the loss the hardest, is just a sophomore. She led the team with 21 points. Junior Brionna Allen followed with 15 markers and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Lauren Gamble, another junior, finished with seven tallies.
The Crusaders, however, met their match in Ashley Jones and Chyna Nixon. Jones exploded for 20 points. She cashed in on 4-of-7 beyond the arc, including a buzzer-beating three-pointer that cut Canevin’s first-frame lead to 18-11. A Mississippi recruit, Nixon fired in 19 tallies, dished up four assists, picked up six steals and pulled down six rebounds.
“They have good players. All of us have,” Joyce said. “That’s how you get here (to the state final). You have to have good players and be well-coached.”
The Crusaders certainly were well prepared for the Saints, who had won PIAA titles in 2016 and 2015 as well. They jumped ahead, 16-4, before Neumann-Goretti took over the lead for good, 28-25, on back-to-back layups by Nixon and Jones.
“It was a great start but they adjusted and against their pressure, we had too turnovers,” Joyce said of his team’s 26 miscues. “We let them have open 3s and we had some breakdowns.”
The breakdowns continued as the Saints expanded a 30-28 halftime margin to 52-37 by the end of the third quarter. However, Canevin made a final rally in the fourth quarter, cutting the margin to 56-50 but with 17 seconds to play Minika Glenn blocked a 3-point field goal attempt by Gillan Gustine, who is another of Canevin’s underclassmen.
“When we were down by four, their girl made a heck of a defensive play on the ball (blocking Gustine’s shot). At that point, I thought if we could get it to one and they were missing at the line,” continued Joyce of the Saints, who were 5-of-12 from the charity stripe compared to Canevin’s 14-of-23 showing.
“We surprised them,” Joyce added of the Crusaders’ fast start and furious finish. “I think, in the fourth quarter, they thought it was over, but our kids battled back.
“We felt it was going to be a game of runs. We weren’t going to roll on them and they weren’t going to be able to roll on us. We were one run too short.”
In addition to Allen, Price, Gamble and Gustine, the Crusaders will return Diasha Allen, Annie Meier and Winnie Yang to its roster for next season. In addition to reaching the finals in both the district and state tournaments, Canevin captured the Section 3 title with a 12-0 record.
NOTES: Canevin reached the PIAA state final by beating West Shamokin, 50-48. In that semifinal contest played at North Allegheny, Brionna Allen (15), Price (12) and Green (10) all finished in double digits.
The Canevin boys’ did not join the girls in Hershey because Sewickley Academy posted a 50-48 win in the Class AA semifinals. Eugene Goodwine (18), Mitchell King (12) and Walter Bonds (10) led Canevin.
In girls’ 5-A action, South Fayette lost its bid to compete in the state finals when the Lions lost to Trinity, 61-51. The Lions leaped ahead, 12-2, but the Hillers narrowed the gap by first-frame’s end, 15-12, and 32-28 by intermission.
For the Lions, Jordyn Caputo (16), Maddie Gutierrez (11) and Carlee Kilgus (10) finished in double figures