Knoch girls denied first WPIAL championship
PITTSBURGH – Through three quarters, things were going fine for Knoch.
As the fourth frame of their WPIAL Class 4A championship tilt against Blackhawk got underway, the Knights went cold, however. The undefeated Cougars took advantage, adding to what began as a two-point edge by scoring 10 unanswered points in the 3:09 that followed.
Knoch could net only four points in the last eight minutes, ultimately bowing by a 55-35 final score at the Petersen Events Center. The loss was the Knights’ first since before Christmas.
“For the first three quarters, we played a good defensive game and most of our shots were falling offensively,” Knights senior Madilyn Boyer said. “I told Coach (Chris Andreassi) whenever we were warming up that it felt no different than shooting on any (other) basketball court.
“We just didn’t finish it out.”
Knoch (21-3) clung to a four-point advantage with 4:51 remaining in the third period. Blackhawk’s Quinn Borroni and Alena Fusetti worked to level the scoreboard less than two minutes later and the Knights missed four of five shots afterward.
With her only bucket of the night, the Cougars’ Haley Romigh claimed a 33-31 lead before heading into the final eight minutes.
Before the final period got underway, the Cougars had connected on only one of their nine trey attempts. Their three total treys were the least in any game this season, according to Blackhawk coach Steve Lodovico.
They used a stiff defensive effort to jolt their attack to life.
“(Nina) Shaw completely controlled the tempo of the game the whole first half,” Lodovico said. “You really can’t gamble on her … Once you take the ball out of their quarterback’s hands, they kind of got a little bit off-balance, forcing bad shots. Once they were shooting a bad shot, we rebounded and converted and we started getting our run going.”
The Knights waited nearly five minutes to get on the board in the fourth. Boyer’s make with 3:11 to go ended up being Knoch’s last field goal, as the team would shoot 1-for-7 (14.3%) in the final frame.
“I think they did exactly what Nina and I talked about coming out in the second half,” Andreassi said. “They were going to double team her after they scored … They were successful in getting the ball out of Nina’s hands and that’s a big change in our offense when she doesn’t have the ball a lot.”
Meanwhile, Borroni tallied five points in the first minute of the period and the Cougars (24-0) made good use of seven of their first eight fourth-quarter possessions. The Knights were outscored 22-4 in the last eight minutes.
“One of the big things was stopping dribble penetration, because you have to do that first and then get out on those shooters,” Andreassi said. “I think we started the beginning of the quarter over-committing to the help and then they (Blackhawk) got in a rhythm.”
Knoch’s Shaw was limited to 13 total points and Boyer to eight. It was the Knights’ second-lowest scoring output of the season.
The Knights will check off another first on Wednesday when they play in their first state playoff contest.
KNOCH 35
Nina Shaw 4 3-6 13, Madilyn Boyer 2 3-4 8, Naturelle Ewing 3 0-4 7, Karlee Buterbaugh 2 3-4 7. Totals: 11 9-18 35.
BLACKHAWK 55
Quinn Borroni 8 4-6, Alena Fusetti 5 4-4 14, Kassie Potts 1 3-4 5, Casey Nixon 1 1-2 4, Deryn Moye 1 2-2 4, Jillian Mannarino 1 0-0 2, Haley Romigh 1 0-2 2, Piper Romigh 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 14-20 55.
Knoch 9 13 9 4 -- 35
Blackhawk 14 4 15 22 -- 55
3-point goals: Knoch 4 (Shaw 2, Boyer, Ewing); Blackhawk 3 (Borroni 2, Nixon)
