Peters Township one win away
Eleanor Bailey
Makenna Marisa (20) protects the basketball while defended by Jessica Kolesar (2).
Eleanor Bailey
Peters Township’s Makenna Marisa weaves her way around Norwin’s Emily Brozeski.
Eleanor Bailey
Jordan Bisignani chases down the ball against Norwin. The sophomore fired in 13 points in Peters Township’s 64-47 win against the Lady Knights.
Eleanor Bailey
Bert Kendall gets emotional during Peters Township’s 64-47 victory against Norwin.
Eleanor Bailey
Mackenzie Lehman (24) and Cassie Cole (54) battle for a rebound while Jordan Bisignani (22) attempts to lend a hand during Peters Township’s 64-47 victory against Norwin in a PIAA Class 6A girls’ basketball quarterfinal playoff game.
Eleanor Bailey
Isabella Mills looks for a passing option during Peters Township’s 64-47 win against Norwin. Mills scored 13 points in the victory, including eight critical free throws in the fourth quarter.
With victories against Harrisburg, 54-34, Bethel Park, 62-44, and Norwin, 64-47, Peters Township (28-0) found itself one win away from competing for the PIAA Class 6A state girls’ basketball title.
“It’s hard to fathom,” said Indians’ floor boss Bert Kendall.
True, because the last time PT advanced to the Final Four, it was 1984. In 2019 on March 18, the Indians will challenge Upper Dublin, a 41-31 winner over Abington, for the right to compete in the state championship game set for March 22 in Hershey.
“We are thrilled,” Kendall continued. “I am sure our girls will be determined and we will do our best to represent our school and our community.”
Since winning the WPIAL championship on March 2, the Indians have been representing District 7 well.
First, they dispatched the District III sixth-place finisher and ended Harrisburg’s season at 14-11. Makenna Marisa fired in 25 points. Isabella Mills followed with 11 points. Mackenzie Lehman led on the glass with 11 rebounds while Mills and Journey Thompson grabbed seven and eight boards respectively. Thompson also chipped in with nine points.
Next, Peters eliminated its stiffest section rival. In beating Bethel Park (22-4) for the fourth time this season, Marisa tallied 18 points while Lehman and Thompson added double-doubles. Both finished with 10 boards while Lehman pumped in 14 points and Thompson fired in 13 more.
Jordan Bisignani, who reached double figures for the first time in her career with 10 tallies against the Lady Hawks, achieved the plateau again in the triumph over Norwin (23-3). She was one of four players in double digits, finishing with 13 markers.
Marisa led the way particularly when the Knights trimmed PT’s lead to nine, 41-32, with five minutes to play. While the Penn State recruit topped out at 20 tallies, she made two critical steals that led to baskets and changed the complexion of the contest.
“When the game is on the line, we want the ball in her hands but even then she found the open player when she needed to,” Kendall said. “Makenna really took control, The game was going through her there at the end and that is fine with me.”
It is fine with Kendall, too, that Mills is the one going to the charity stripe late in the game. The Case Western recruit chipped in 11 points, including an 8-for-8 showing from the line down the stretch.
Additionally, Thompson finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
“Really everybody on the floor played their game,” said Kendall, who reaped benefits, also, when Avana Sayles entered the contest to spell the foul-plagued Lehman. “It was a team effort. Everybody contributed.”
Everybody but Marisa contributed to PT’s 12-0 start that swelled to a 16-6 advantage by the end of the first frame. When Marisa got into the scoring action, the Indians streaked ahead even further, 26-8, by halftime.
“They were trying to contain (Marisa),” said Kendall of Norwin’s strategy. “We have been working hard at practice when teams do that, someone else is open. We know Makenna will get us the ball and she just did. When we took that away from them, they had to go to other things.”
Meanwhile, even though the Knights started to hit their outside shots and narrowed the margin twice to under 10 points, the Indians stuck with the method that has earned them an undefeated season so far.
“We were saying on the bench that there is no way that they are going to play our game and beat us at our game,” Kendall said. “They are scrappy but so are we. They run and so do we.”
With all the WPIAL teams behind them, the Indians now have a chance to make their run for the state title.
“We have to represent the western half of the state now because everybody else left is from out east,” Kendall said. “This is what we have been working for. Everybody wants this as bad as the others, particularly the seniors because its their last chance.”
CV advances
Chartiers Valley (27-0) used wins against General McLane, 59-24, and Slippery Rock, 54-35, to advance to the Elite Eight in the PIAA Class 5A girls’ basketball tournament.
Aislin Malcolm (13) and Mackenzie Wagner (12) finished in double digits against Slippery Rock.