Trojans handle Elizabeth Forward, 73-53
CRANBERRY TWP — No. 5 seed North Catholic entered the postseason seeking its fifth WPIAL boys basketball championship appearance in six seasons.
After a 73-53 win over Elizabeth Forward on Friday night, the Trojans are one step closer.
North Catholic’s relentless full-court press proved too much for Elizabeth Forward to overcome. The Trojans consistently turned defense into offense with nine different players scoring. Max Hurray led North Catholic with a game-high of 24 points.
“That’s our calling card,” North Catholic coach Jim Rocco said. “That’s what we do. We play hard, we play fast, and we play a lot of guys … There’s a bit of a championship mentality that we have.”
Elizabeth Forward couldn’t find any rhythm on the offensive end in the first half, entering the locker room down by 22 points. But the Warriors didn’t go away quietly. Isaiah Turner willed Elizabeth Forward back into the game – with 16 of his 20 points coming in the second half – cutting the deficit to just 10 late in the third quarter.
“One thing I’ve been proud of about our team all year long is that they don’t give up,” Elizabeth Forward coach Nolan Larry said. “We just got jumped out on early, we made some careless turnovers and it led to their baskets. But in the second half, we battled and if we played like that in the first half and would’ve been able to handle the press a little bit, maybe it ends up being a little bit different.”
But each time Elizabeth Forward made a run, North Catholic answered with timely baskets of its own.
“In the third quarter they didn’t give in, and they made big plays,” Rocco said of Elizabeth Forward. “We were just fortunate to be poised. In the first round of the playoffs, when you are a five seed playing a 12 [seed] you can play weird. I was proud of how we didn’t do that.”
Eli Stofko and Jude Rottmann combined for six of North Catholic’s 10 threes on the evening – two of which came in the biggest stages of the game. Shorty after the Warriors cut the lead to 10, Stofko and Rottmann hit back-to-back threes to put the game away.
North Catholic will meet No. 4 seed Uniontown in the second round of the WPIAL 4A Playoffs on Wednesday – a rematch of last’s season’s WPIAL and PIAA quarterfinals, which were split.
ELIZABETH FORWARD 53
Isaiah Turner 9 0-0 20, Cy Herchelroath 4 2-3 11, Charles Meehleib 5 1-2 11, Tyler Basic 2 0-0 6, Justin Flournoy 1 1-2 3, Daniel Spence 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 4-7 53.
NORTH CATHOLIC 73
Max Hurray 8 6-6 24, Jude Rottmann 6 0-1 15, Eli Stofko 3 0-0 9, Joe Waskiewicz 4 0-0 8, Jason Siket 2 2-2 6, Owen Maddalon 1 1-2 3, Willis Kontul 1 0-0 3, Cristian Zech 1 0-0 3, Brady Koziara 1 0-0 2. Totals: 27 9-11 73
North Catholic 24-19-13-17 --- 73
Elizabeth Forward 9-12-21-11 --- 53
3-point field goals: North Catholic 10 (Stofko 3, Rottmann 3, Hurray 2, Kontul, Zech); Elizabeth Forward 5 (Turner 2, Basic 2, Herchelroath)
Wednesday: North Catholic vs Uniontown
