MONROEVILLE — Dave Long believes the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic boys basketball team needs to refocus.

Chances for a WPIAL Class A title went out the window with a 55-50 quarterfinal playoff loss to Jeannette Friday night at Gateway High School.

The Trojans can still make the PIAA playoffs, but will need to win two more games, starting against top-seeded Sewickley Academy Monday at a site and time to be determined.

The Panthers (22-1) were upset by Eden Christian, 38-35.

“I think it’s fix our mentality. You have the game in hand and you don’t take of the little things,” Long said. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance to beat Jeannette on the free throw line. We got anxious.”

Fixing that mindset won’t be easy after a tough loss to the fifth-seeded Jayhawks.

Jeannette rallied from a 12-point deficit at the end of the third quarter to take a 51-50 lead with 14 seconds left on a layup by Anthony Schmidt.

That was the first time Jeannette (15-7) led all game. Winning seemed a long with off with how the Jayhawks started the game.

The Trojans outscored Jeannette 14-3 in the first quarter.

The Jayhawks struggled from the field, shooting 1-of-13 overall and 0-of-8 from the 3-point line.

“We had to make shots,” Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said. “We were pressing early. We were really hyped for the game and those shots weren’t falling.”

North Catholic led 38-26 after three quarters and 49-41 after Vince LeGrande dunked with 2:16 remaining.

LeGrande (14 points), Timon Gribbin (13) and Kenny Fukon (11) all scored in double figures for the Trojans.

“We were just moving the ball well,” Fukon said. “We ran our offense and were moving the ball good.”

North Catholic (14-9) just couldn’t find the right mix offensively to close the game out.

Long said the Trojans weren’t necessarily looking to stall.

“With some personalities on the floor, that’s not an option,” Long said. “You try to strike a happy medium between pulling it out and maintaining an offense where you’re icing yourself up. That may have been a situation where we were stalling and may have iced ourselves.”

Batts, who scored a game-high 23 points, cut the lead to 50-49 with 35.6 seconds remaining.

Jeannette got the ball back on a turnover and set up an inbounds play.

The Jayhawks wanted to get the ball to Batts, but found Schmidt open under the basket.

Schmidt laid it in to take the lead, drawing a foul in the process. He missed the free throw, but Swade Redman corralled the rebound and was fouled.

Redman finished with 13 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

North Catholic was also called for an intentional foul in the process.

That allowed the Jayhawks to knock down free throws and complete the comeback.

Fukon, who is a sophomore, made his first start and was tasked with trying to contain Batts, who is Jeannette’s second all-time leading scorer.

He said North Catholic learned a valuable lesson.

“Just how to close a game,” Fukon said. “We could have made more plays down the stretch to win the game.”

JEANNETTE 55

Julian Batts 8 5-8 23, Swade Redman 3 4-8 13, Zack Altieri 0 1-2 1, Seth Spino 0 1-2 1, Anthony Schmitt 6 2-5 14, Kareem Hall 0 0-0 0, Jim Malik 0 0-0 0, Brent Bilick 1 0-0 3, Terrell Canady 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 14-25 55.

CW NORTH CATHOLIC 50

Tom Braun 0 0-0 0, Tristan Newcamp 1 0-0 2, Vince LeGrande 6 2-4 14, Kenny Fukon 3 5-5 11, Isaiah Harvin 0 0-0 0, Chris Goetz 1 1-2 13, Jake Matschner 3 0-0 7. Totals: 14 15-21 50.

Jeannette 3 11 12 29 — 55

North Catholic14 8 16 12 — 50

3-point goals: Jeannette 3 (Redman 2, Batts); North Catholic 2 (Gribbin 2)

Tuesday: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic vs. Sewickley Academy, WPIAL play-back game