North Catholic girls basketball’s season ends in PIAA Tournament semifinals vs Lansdale Catholic
CHAMBERSBURG — Playing the brand of basketball it takes to stay with Lansdale Catholic for stretches of a game is very challenging.
Maintaining that level for an entire 32 minutes is extremely difficult.
After holding its own for a quarter and a half in Saturday’s PIAA Class 4A girls basketball semifinal, North Catholic’s execution wavered. The Crusaders pounced on the Trojanettes and never let up to post a 54-16 victory at Chambersburg High School.
Sanyiah Littlejohn’s basket put Lansdale up 14-11 with 4:53 left in the second quarter and began a 16-0 run to close the first half.
“We knew we would have to rebound at both ends of the floor, limit them to one shot,” North coach Molly Rottmann said.
“But they had a number of possessions where they got off three or four shots. And we ended the game with just two offensive boards.”
The Crusaders controlled 38 rebounds to just 14 for North Catholic.
Already trailing 28-11 as the third quarter began, North desperately needed a spark from its usually potent outside shooting. It had helped the team remain close earlier in the game, but was non-existent in the second half as all eight of the team’s attempts from beyond the arc missed.
“We don’t normally play that much man defense, but it was working,” Lansdale coach Tom Lonergan said. “We made sure to keep a fresh body on their No. 22 (senior point guard Sarah Loughry) because everything runs through her.
“They have some very good shooters from the outside, so when they would dribble-drive, we made sure to stay with (Brady Wehner and Sam Weir).”
Littlejohn, a point guard and George Mason University commit, sank 24 points to lead all scorers. Her drives for two points mounted while North made just two of its 16 field goal attempts in the final two quarters — both from Weir in the third period.
“(Littlejohn) is the driving force for them,” Rottmann said. “We tried to keep her in front of us, but it’s tough against a player and a team that good.”
Treys from Weir (2) and Wehner kept the game close into the second quarter.
“We did a nice job early of filling in the gaps defensively,” Rottmann said. “But they are a force inside (with 6-foot-2 power forward Grace McDonough), and their other players are really good, too.”
A James Madison commit, McDonough scored eight points and had 10 rebounds.
Weir scored 10 points to lead North.
Lansdale Catholic (23-5) will play Neumann Goretti, which defeated Audenried Charter, for the state championship next Saturday, March 29, at the GIANT Center in Hershey.
The Trojanettes finish the season with a record of 25-5.
“Overall, we had a young and inexperienced roster this year,” Rottmann said. “If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we’d reach the state semifinals, I would have been a little surprised.
“We learned and matured this year. We are losing four amazing seniors, but for the players coming back, this was a learning experience, seeing what it takes at this level.”
NORTH CATHOLIC 16
Brady Wehner 1 0-2 3, Anna Lazzara 1 0-0 2, Sam Weir 4 0-0 10, Kate Vislosky 0 1-2 1, Sarah Loughry 0 0-0 0, Lauren Reitz 0 0-0 0, Harmony Jones 0 0-0 0, Maggie Tatar 0 0-0 0, Alexa Stolz 0 0-0 0, Lyndsay Luff 0 0-0 0, Khristina Rushak 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie James 0 0-0 0. Totals: 6 1-4 16.
LANSDALE CATHOLIC 54
Sanyiah Littlejohn 11 2-2 24, Nadia Yemola 3 0-0 7, Grace McDonough 4 0-0 8, Ali Kaltenbacher 1 2-2 4, Aubrey Mobley 4 0-0 9, Lily Clair 1 0-0 2, Allie Esposito 0 0-0 0, Isabella Ciccocelli 0 0-0 0, Kaitlin Jacoby 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 4-4 54.
North Catholic 6 5 4 1 — 16
Lansdale Catholic 10 18 14 12 — 54
3-point goals: North Catholic 3 (Weir 2, Wehner); Lansdale Catholic 2 (Yemola, Mobley).
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