Big 2nd half lifts North Catholic girls past GCC
CRANBERRY TWP — A tale of two halves.
Greensburg Central Catholic came into North Catholic’s gym on Saturday and drained seven treys in the first half, taking a 27-19 lead over the Trojanettes.
North Catholic (6-4) outscored the Centurions 39-15 in the second half, however, in claiming a 58-42 girls basketball victory as part of the Don Graham Classic.
“We got into the flow of our offense much better in the second half ... and we started hitting shots,” North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann said. “Their best 3-point shooter got hurt, too, and I’m sure that changed a lot of things for them.”
The Trojanettes sank only seven of 27 field goal attempts in the first 16 mi utes, including two of 11 in the second quarter.
When Jayla Peterson stuck back an offensive rebound with 3:11 left in the first half, the Centurions (7-3) had a 25-14 lead.
Senior guard Mya Morgan sank three treys in the first quarter and one in the second for GCC before going down with a knee injury late in the first half. She did not return.
“Mya is so much more than a 3-point shooter to us,” Centurions coach Chris Skatell said. “She’s my senior captain, a leader on the floor.
“It looks like she may be out for two weeks or so.”
GCC entered the game riding a five-game winningstreak. The Centurions return four starters from a team that reached the PIAA Class 2A semifinals last season.
North Catholic won its third straight game. The Trojanettes are starting a pair of freshmen this season in Brady Wehner and Lauren Reitz.
“Lauren Mihm is a senior starter, but this is her first year with us,” Rottmann said. “We are a team in transition. I’m hoping we’re much better in February than we were at the start of this season.”
They were pretty good in the second half Saturday.
Alayna Rocco scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the final two quarters, sinking four treys. Wehner scored 12 of her 14 points in the secod half.
“Alayna was going to get hot at some point. We knew that,” Skatell said. “She was in her home gym, where she’s spent hundreds of hours shooting a basketball.
“We lost track of her a few times and it cost us.”
Rocco had eight rebounds to go with her 24 points.
“We executed our offense much better in the second half,” Rocco said. “We cut to the basket more, set better screens.”
Sarah Loughry contributed eight points, 10 rebounds and three assists for the Trojanettes while Mihm had five rebounds.
Erica Griddle paced GCC with 17 points, five rebounds and three assists. Morgan had 12 points before her injury and Peterson had 10 points.
Rocco received the Don Barth MVP award for the game.
GREENSBURG CENTRAL 42
Jayla Peterson 4-9 1-2 10, Mya Morgan 4-9 0-1 12, Avery Davis 1-7 1-2 3, Erica Gribble 5-17 4-6 17, Cara Dupilka 0-5 0-0 0, Erica Rodriguez 0-0 0-2 0, Abigail Dlugos 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-46 6-12 42.
NORTH CATHOLIC 58
Brady Wehner 5-10 2-2 14, Alayna Rocco 8-22 2-2 24, Sarah Loughry 3-9 2-4 8, Lauren Reitz 1-2 2-4 5, Lauren Mihm 1-6 4-5 7, Emma Shoemaker 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-49 13-18 58.
Gbg. Central 14 13 8 7 — 42
North Catholic 12 7 20 19 — 58
3-point goals: Greensburg Central 8 (Peterson, Morgan 4, Grindle 3), North Catholic 9 (Wehner 2, Rocco 6, Mihm)
Monday: North Catholic at Valley
