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Patience pays off for Peters Township

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 4 min read
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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Isabella Mills and Makenna Marisa celebrate after Peters Township’s 36-28 victory against Bethel Park. The win put the Indians in the championship game for the second straight season.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Makenna Marisa (20) is fouled by Emma Dziezgowski (12) while her sister, Maddie Dziezgowski (13) trails the play. Marisa made both of her free throws on the play in the third quarter.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Peters Township players, including Isabella Mills (21) and Makenna Marisa (20) celebrate after beating rival Bethel Park, 36-28, in the WPIAL Class 6A girls’ semifinal basketball game.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Makenna Marisa makes her move to the basket against Bethel Park Juliana Carbone (24) during WPIAL Class 6A girls’ basketball action.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Peters Township’s bench reacts jubilantly to the action on the court during the Indians’ triumph against Bethel Park. The 36-28 win catapulted PT into the WPIAL Class 6A girls’ final for the second time in two years.

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Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac

Backed up by Isabella Mills, Journey Thompson controls the rebound against Olivia Westphal (22) before driving to the hoop Tuesday during WPIAL Class 6A girls semifinal basketball action.

Good things come to those who wait. Just ask Peters Township.

By outlasting their opponent’s slow-down tactics, the Lady Indians defeated Bethel Park, 36-28, in a WPIAL Class 6A semifinal basketball game played Feb. 26 at Canon-McMillan High School. The win catapulted them into the championship game for the second straight season.

“It feels great,” PT coach Bert Kendall said about returning to the WPIAL finals. We set team goals at the beginning of the year as every team does but it is always nice when those team goals are realized. But,” he added, “we had to be patient to get there.”

That’s because after losing twice to the Indians in section action this season, 68-60, in overtime and 61-46, the Hawks tried to slow them down. The strategy worked for a quarter as BP trailed, 4-2, after one quarter. But at the 5:42 mark in the second stanza, the Indians went on an 11-0 tear.

Makenna Marisa engineered the uprising, scoring on a baseline jumper. She then made a layup and buried a 3-point field goal. Journey Thompson added another bunny and Jordan Bisignani hit a bucket to make it 15-4 with 1:37 left in the first half.

“They are a very high-scoring, talented offensive team,” Jonna Burke said. “So our idea was to try and limit some possessions on their end so that we could keep it a closer, low-scoring game. When they were able to get it to that 15-4 mark then we had to play a little faster than we wanted to before.”

Of the approach, Kendall said he was not surprised. After having played the Indians three times without success, he figured the Hawks would do something different.

“We didn’t know what it was (until we saw it) but we’ve said all along that whatever happened, we were just going to be patient because we figured that we would get rebounds and get fast breaks.”

He added once Peters got the lead it was a lot harder for BP to stick with its game plan. The Indians held their edge despite being outscored, 10-8, in the third quarter. They owned the final frame, 13-11.

Meanwhile, the Indians stuck to their defensive strategy. They held Olivia Westphal and Maria Cerro to three baskets from beyond the arc and forced the Hawks to shoot from 22 percent from the field. Maddie Dziezgowski ended up leading the team with 11 points.

“Their defense was really good and we shot a bad percentage,” said Burke. “A lot of that is due to the size that they have on the interior. They really block a lot of shots in there.”

Kendall agreed that defense fueled the victory.

“Our team defense was excellent,” he said. “Westphal makes them go so we tried to limit her shots. That was an emphasis. We were focused on their big two guards. Anytime you can hold shooters like that to three then we are very pleased.”

The Hawks had to be pleased with their defense. They limited Marisa to 13 points, seven below her average, and held Isabella Mills to 11 points. Journey Thompson finished with six points and five rebounds while Marisa and Mackenzie Lehman pulled down six boards each.

“Defensively, we did what we needed to do. Those are good numbers (we held Marisa and Mills to),” Burke said, “but not when you only score 28 points.”

Marisa has been a backbreaker for the Hawks all year. She registered 25 points in the team’s first meeting, the overtime decision. She fired in 26 in the second encounter.

“Every time there is a different game plan somehow they find a way to get through it and then again that is because of Makenna Marisa,” Burke said. “She makes every big play there is to make. She makes every kid around her better. She’s always the factor. So she is a game-plan breaker.”

As a whole, the Indians present problems for opponents, including North Allegheny, which edged Norwin, 37-36, amd reached the WPIAL finals for the second straight season, too.

“We have five options on the floor at any given time.” Kendall said. “Mills can hit that big three. Journey can get open. Lehman hit a big one in the fourth quarter. But make no mistake about it. You want the ball in Makenna’s hands even if it’s just for ball handling. She’s a smart player.”

Despite the loss to the Indians, Bethel Park (21-3) still qualified for the PIAA tournament.

Peters Township (24-0) was scheduled to play North Allegheny (23-1) March 2 at the Petersen Center for the title. Visit www.thealmanac.net for story details.

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