North Catholic girls basketball can’t figure out Oakland Catholic defense in WPIAL semifinal loss
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North Catholic's Sam Weir (14) draws a foul from Oakland Catholic's Madi Pullen (21) in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic's Sam Weir (14) sinks a 3-point shot against Oakland Catholic in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic's Harmony Jones (4) drives to the rim as Mackenzie James (13) watches against Oakland Catholic in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic's Sarah Loughry (22) bows her head after she fouled out against Oakland Catholic in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic's Lauren Reitz (33) gets the rebound over the heads of Oakland Catholic defenders in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic's Sarah Loughry (22) looks up the court against Oakland Catholic in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic's bench cheers in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals against Oakland Catholic on Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic's Sarah Loughry (22) gets past Oakland Catholic defender Alayla Bivins (1) to score in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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Oakland Catholic's Savanna Daye, right, and North Catholic's Harmony Jones force a jump ball in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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Oakland Catholic's London Creach (11) attempts to block a shot by North Catholic's Brady Wehner (2) in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic head coach Molly Rottman looks on as her team faces Oakland Catholic in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic's Harmony Jones (4) makes a shot against Oakland Catholic in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic head coach Molly Rottman coaches her team against Oakland Catholic during a timeout in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
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North Catholic lost to Oakland Catholic in the WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinals Monday, Feb. 24, 2025, at Fox Chapel High School. Holly Mead/Special to the Eagle
O’HARA TWP — North Catholic entered expecting what Oakland Catholic would throw at them. The latter expected to play better than it had the first two times against the former — and did just that.
The third-seeded Trojanettes fell into an early and insurmountable 12-0 hole against the No. 2 Eagles. North Catholic trailed wire-to-wire in a 57-29 WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball semifinal loss at Fox Chapel High School.
Oakland Catholic will face top seed Blackhawk in Saturday’s championship game at Petersen Events Center. The No. 3 Trojanettes, who have clinched a PIAA berth, will face No. 4 Elizabeth Forward in a third-place game at a site and time to be determined.
As it tried to solve its opponent’s three-quarter-court press, North Catholic (21-4) went 6 for 23 (26.0%) from the field in the first half and had 13 turnovers, including one in which the Trojanettes took too long to cross mid-court.
“We knew they were going to do that,” North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann said. “We thought they would actually be up full-court. We saw their three-quarter-court (press) before, you know, had been able to attack it in other games. I just think that I’ll take full blame as far as kids of not having them maybe ready to go against that.
“We came out hesitant, and you can’t go out and get down with a good team like that and play from behind.”
The two teams had split their regular-season series as section foes. North Catholic has lost only twice in its last 23 games, both times to Oakland Catholic.
“I said all along, the first time we played them, we didn’t play that great,” Oakland Catholic coach Henry Schechter said. “We didn’t play well at all, really. We were down a bunch and the second, third, fourth quarter, we played better. I think our team (was) disappointed with the way we played.
“The second time around, we beat them. We still felt like, you know, that wasn’t a great game from us. We played well, well enough to win, but we still had more left.”
Oakland Catholic (22-3) scored on its first three possessions, with a London Creach make, a Madi Pullen 3-pointer and a pair of Creach free throws. During that span, the Trojanettes had a deep try fall short and turned it over, a sequence that was a harbinger of things to come.
North Catholic didn’t score double digits in any quarter. It had just one made field goal in the final frame. An 8-0 Eagles third-quarter surge put the game out of reach.
“We defend,” Schechter said. “That’s been our signature all year. We’re pretty committed to it. You know, we play multiple levels. We’ve really improved. I think the kids feel pretty comfortable in that (press), and it’s sometimes risk-reward. We want to make sure that we get back if things don’t work out.
“Teams have a tough time. It’s easy to kind of walk through stuff, you know, but when they see the speed and athleticism in person, it makes it pretty tough.”
Trojanettes senior Sarah Loughry helped her side figure things out in spurts, scoring four points and assisting on four treys in the first half. Sam Weir led NC with nine points.
“We had sideline open, we had middle open and we were just, you know, sort of holding onto the ball a little bit too long,” Rottmann said. “Sometimes we took it, and we took quick shots, which is also part of it.”
NORTH CATHOLIC 29
Sam Weir 2 3-4 9, Brady Wehner 2 2-4 7, Sarah Loughry 2 0-0 4, Mackenzie James 1 0-0 3, Lauren Reitz 1 0-0 2, Harmony Jones 1 0-0 2, Anna Lazzara 1 0-0 2. Totals: 10 5-8 29.
OAKLAND CATHOLIC 57
Josie Fontana 7 2-2 16, London Creach 4 5-6 14, Alayla Bivins 6 0-2 12, Madi Pullen 3 0-0 7, Makayla Canty 1 0-0 3, Savanna Daye 1 1-2 3, Zephaniah Troxler-Scott 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 8-12 57.
North Catholic 7 9 7 6 — 29
Oakland Catholic 16 9 17 15 — 57
3-point goals: North Catholic 4 (Weir 2, Wehner, James); Oakland Catholic 3 (Creach, Pullen, Canty)
