PITTSBURGH — Cranberry Township resident Brenna Wise couldn't help but think of how lucky she was to have so much support Saturday morning at the Petersen Events Center.

The 6-foot-1 Vincentian Academy senior forward celebrated with her teammates by dropping 35 points and winning an unprecedented fourth straight WPIAL Class A girls basketball crown with a 74-35 win over Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

Wise, a University of Pittsburgh recruit, also had a chance to showcase her skills to her future coaches and teammates.

“It's nice to get a win under your belt with many more to come on this court,” said Wise, who has 2,192 career points. “To have my future teammates and future coaches behind my bench and my current coaches and teammates with me, not many people can say that happened.”

Trojanettes coach Molly Rottmann knew North Catholic was in for a tough battle. The defending state champion Royals swept the regular-season series, winning 72-44 and 61-48.

“I'm proud of our kids and glad for our senior class that we got back here,” Rottmann said. “We haven't been here since their freshman year. It's important for the younger ones. I would have hated to go through and not have anyone with WPIAL experience under their belt.”

The Trojanettes' (20-6) season isn't over yet. North Catholic will play Cochranton – the District 10 runner-up – in the first round of the PIAA playoffs at 1 p.m. Saturday at Canon-McMillan High School.

Against an attacking Vincentian press, Trojanettes senior guards Mia Palmer and Evelyn Brazil were constantly under siege.

“I was trying to find the gaps,” Brazil said. “Against that team, it's hard to get the ball over them, but it's better than getting the ball forward by passing it because they have girls that attack you.”

The Royals (24-1) forced 30 turnovers and never trailed. Sam Breen tied the game at 2 with a layup, followed by a jumper from Wise that sparked a 17-2 run. By the end of the first quarter, Vincentian was ahead 23-6.

The Royals shot 50 percent (32-of-64) from the field.

“I think that's our staple,” Vincentian Academy coach Ron Moncrief said. “We like to press and get after teams, make teams make mistakes. … North Catholic is a really good team and we didn't want to sit back and let them attack us. We wanted to make them make mistakes and capitalize on those mistakes.”

Vincentian, which led 38-23 at halftime, opened the second half on an 11-0 run with another string of buckets off turnovers.

“We changed our press break and worked on some things,” Rottmann said. “It's just about composure. Brenna's a big target on the ball and there's multiple times we talked about running the baseline after made shots, trying to lose her a little bit and we lost our composure.”

Sam Breen led the Trojanettes with 12 points, while Abby Goetz added eight.

Wise remarked she was proud to have a future as a Panther.

She's not ready to look ahead to college. Wise has some unfinished business as a Royal.

She wants to enjoy her last playoff run.

“We're not done yet,” Wise said. “You have to go out and have fun. My dad always told me to go out and have fun. If I do that, everything else will be OK. We do that. We've had fun for four years.”

CW NORTH CATHOLIC 35

Mia Palmer 1 0-0 2, Abby Goetz 3 2-2 8, Evelyn Brazil 0 0-0 0, Mary Cassamassa 1 5-7 7, Sam Breen 5 2-3 12, Kiki Palmer 1 1-2 3, Ashley Robbins 0 1-2 1, Malaya Franklin-Marshall 1 0-0 2, Lillia Smyers 0 0-0 0, Amanda Bucklew 0 0-0 0, Ellyssa Paras 0 0-0 0 Totals 12 11-16 35.

VINCENTIAN ACADEMY 74

Torrieonna Cash 2 0-0 4, Maia Joiner 6 1-1 13, Kiersten Elliot 2 2-2 7, Lexi Griggs 4 0-0 8, Brenna Wise 14 3-4 35, Marissa Muth 1 0-0 3, Caroline Elliott 2 0-1 4. Totals 31 6-8 74.

North Catholic 6 15 10 4 — 35

Vincentian 23 15 18 8 — 74

3-pointers: Vincentian Academy 4 (Wise 2, Elliot, Muth)

Saturday: North Catholic vs. Cochranton, 1 p.m. at Canon-McMillan