North Allegheny ends Bethel Park’s season
Bethel Park had plenty of chances to knock off nationally ranked North Allegheny in a PIAA quarterfinal girls’ basketball playoff game on March 16. The Hawks just could not convert.
As a result, the Tigers escaped Baldwin High School with a 44-34 victory, their 28th of the season. With the win, they earned a berth in the Final Four game played where they lost to Central Bucks South, 52-49, on March 19. Meanwhile the Hawks ended their season with a 19-7 record.
“Ultimately, we lost the game because we couldn’t capitalize on all the empty trips we caused in the defensive end,” said BP skipper Jonna Burke. “Bottom line, we had too many missed opportunities on the offensive end.”
Though the Hawks trailed, 18-10, after the first frame and 30-20 at halftime, they clawed their way back into the contest with defense.
After nearly four minutes of scoreless action in the third period, Maria Cerro sunk two free throws to close the gap to eight. Her layup with 1:53 remaining in the quarter made it a six-point deficit, 30-24. A bucket by Ashley Spence cut the advantage to four. A 3-pointer from Brynn Serbin, however, gave the Tigers breathing room and a seven-point edge, 33-26, heading into the final eight minutes of play.
During the eight minutes of action, BP’s defense excelled. The Hawks caused the Tigers to convert just 4 of 22 shots from the field in the second half.
For the game, they converted just 31 percent of their shots (13 for 42). The Hawks were no better, cashing in on 12 of 42 attempts for a paltry 29 percent conversion rate.
“The defense we played in the third quarter was the kind of defense that we needed for four quarters,” noted Burke.”They are just so good that they’d expose any slight mistake we made.”
Though Kamryn Lach pulled BP within three points, 35-32, with 4:52 to play, the Tigers went on seven-point run that was capped by Lizzie Groetsch’s free throws with 61 seconds to play. A 3-pointer, NA’s seventh of the contest, by Courtney Roman, also keyed the uprising.
In the end, the effort was not enough to topple the Tigers, who are ranked No. 16 nationally by USA Today.
“I thought my girls played as hard as they could,” Burke said. “I’m always proud of their effort.”
Point-wise Lach submitted the best offensive effort for the Hawks. She finished with nine points, six off 3-point field goals. Olivia Westphal supplied eight tallies.
Tops for the Tigers were Roman with 11 markers and Groetsch with 10 points.
The Hawks finished the season having won eight of their final 10 games; and 14 of 18 since the beginning of 2018. They finished runner-up to Peters Township in Section 3 and reached the Final Four in Class 6-A of the WPIAL.
“I was very pleased with my team this season,” said Burke. “We had our share of ups and downs but we grew stronger and became more together as a result. The run we had is just proof of that.”
The Hawks graduate two senior starters in Lach, who will play at Carlow University next fall, and Spence. Key reserves Emma Papalia and Jillian Acker are also seniors. Westphal, a freshman, Maddie Dziezgowski, a sophomore, and Cerro, a junior, return next season.
Other action
In other quarterfinal PIAA basketball playoff action, Bishop Canevin edged Mohawk, 31-30. Brionna Allen tossed in 15 points for the Crusaders.