CRANBERRY TWP — What to do with a week off?

For North Catholic, enough to stay sharp heading into the PIAA Class 4A girls basketball playoffs.

“We were able to rest some legs a little bit and try to get those back,” Trojanettes coach Molly Rottmann said. “Just a little time to focus on things that we need to get better at.”

North Catholic scrimmaged with WPIAL runners-up North Allegheny and Armstrong and another state playoff qualifier form the same district, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, earlier in the week. During Saturday afternoon’s first-round tilt, the Trojanettes were eager to get back to where it counts.

At home seven days after claiming a third straight WPIAL crown, North Catholic hung the first 16 points of the game on the scoreboard against District 10 fourth-place finisher Conneaut. It was a prompt surge that helped afford the Trojanettes a 47-29 win. North Catholic (18-7) never trailed in the contest.

“We knew that we could pressure them a little bit and I think that our kids did a good job that,” Rottmann said. “We knew where their scorers were and what they were running. ... I thought we did a good job of sharing the ball, pushing pace, and getting the ball ahead a little bit.”

Freshman Lauren Reitz scored six of her eight total points in the opening frame, classmate Brady Wehner assisted on baskets made by senior Alayna Rocco and Anna Lazzara then knocked one down herself, and Lazzara added a breakaway lay-in as North Catholic jumped out to a 16-0 lead.

“We just weren’t patient on the offensive end,” Eagles coach Christine Krankota said. “Our first couple of possessions, we did a good job of moving the ball around and finding good shots. Then, they hit a couple buckets and we got a little rushed offensively.

“That threw us out of rhythm on both ends of the floor.”

Lainie Harrington’s jumper finally got Conneaut (16-9) some points with 1:37 to go in the initial quarter. Courtney Perrye sank a pair of three-pointers in the next, but that was all Conneaut could manage before the midway point.

The Trojanettes had a 20-2 edge heading into the second and Wehner’s second of back-to-back three-pointers fell as the halftime buzzer sounded, widening the team’s advantage to 30.

The Eagles shot 3-for-23 (13%) in the first 16 minutes, while North Catholic went 16-for-33 (48.4%) in the same stretch. Wehner bucketed each of her game-high 13 points in the first half, while Rocco finished with 12 overall.

The Trojanettes upper hand rose to as many as 37 points during a 7-0 run that concluded with a Rocco basket with 1:29 to go before the fourth frame.

The win was the first state playoff test for the freshman starting duo of Wehner and Reitz. Senior Lauren Mihm hadn’t seen such a platform, either. North Catholic advances to play Warren on Wednesday at a time and location to be determined.

“The WPIAL Championship, that was a big stage,” Rottmann said. “Here, it’s more comfort because we’re at home. But from here on out, we just have to make sure we’re locked in on doing what we’re doing because there’s going to be nerves.

“It’s new to enough of them. We just need Sarah (Loughry) and Alayna to continue to be those solid leaders.”

CONNEAUT 29

Lainie Harrington 6 1-1 14, Courtney Perrye 3 2-4 10, Hannah Brady 1 1-2 3, Kaitlyn Crabb 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 4-7 29.

NORTH CATHOLIC 47

Brady Wehner 5 0-0 13, Alayna Rocco 5 0-0 12, Lauren Reitz 3 2-2 8, Anna Lazzara 3 0-2 6, Lauren Mihm 1 0-2 4, Sarah Loughry 1 0-0 2, Emma Shoemaker 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 2-6 47.

Conneaut 2 6 5 16 — 29

North Catholic 20 18 9 0 — 47

3-point goals: North Catholic 5 (Wehner 3, Rocco 2); Conneaut 3 (Perrye 2, Harrington)