No. 1 North Allegheny girls pass Section 1-6A test against No. 4 Norwin

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, January 4, 2019 | 9:18 PM

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North Allegheny girls basketball coach Spencer Stefko was thrilled with his team’s victory over Norwin on Friday.

But the veteran coach knows a win in the first meeting with a quality opponent is not nearly as important as a victory in the second meeting — or a potential third or fourth.

“I kinda feel like we escaped because we made some shots. I don’t feel like we outplayed them,” said Stefko whose top-ranked Tigers remained perfect on the season with a 55-44 victory over previously unbeaten Norwin in a Section 1-6A game Friday at North Allegheny High School.

“This is nice, but I don’t think we’re good enough to win at Norwin in three weeks. But we got three weeks to get there, and it’s nice to know where you need to get better, because I feel like they exposed us in a couple areas. I think you gotta give them a ton of credit for coming into this gym, (and) weathering that tough start that we put together.”

North Allegheny (11-0, 4-0) and No. 4 Norwin (8-1, 3-1) meet again Jan. 30 at Norwin High School. Then, perhaps, a postseason meeting or two could be in the works.

“The product you’re putting out on the court right now is not the final product,” Norwin coach Brian Brozeski said. “The final product that you’re putting out at the end of February or the beginning of March is a different team out there. We gotta take this, review it and learn from it and get better and see what happens the next time out.”

Akron recruit Rachel Martindale led a balanced North Allegheny attack with 19 points, and Lizzy Groetsch chipped in 11 and Paige Morningstar added 10 for the Tigers.

North Allegheny raced to double-digit leads in the first and third quarters, only to see Norwin respond both times. The Knights got within five points several times in the fourth quarter.

But Norwin got no closer as a pair of back-to-back baskets from Morningstar extended the lead back to nine with 2 minutes, 2 seconds to play.

“Our locker room feels right, so our kids are always behind each other,” Stefko said. “I think that showed up because we made enough mistakes to lose tonight, but one mistake never made the next mistake. … Our kids can bet pretty hard on themselves, (but) tonight it was really neat to watch. They traveled lightly. No one was carrying any baggage tonight, and that is fun to watch.”

The score was tied 26-26 at the half, but North Allegheny opened the third quarter with a 13-0 run to take a 41-34 lead into the final quarter.

Brooke Barcia and Martindale had back-to-back 3-pointers, and Martindale added a traditional three-point play as part of NA’s third-quarter surge.

“I wish I could tell you it was some adjustment or some kid gave a passionate speech or something, but it wasn’t,” Stefko said. “It was just kids trusting each other, and we made some shots and they didn’t in that stretch.”

North Allegheny’s third-quarter onslaught answered a strong Norwin second quarter that saw the Knights draw even after trailing 18-7 after one quarter.

Norwin’s Olivia Gribble hit three 3-pointers in the second quarter, including one as time expired following a steal to tie the score 26-26 at the half. Gribble finished with a team-high 14 points.

“We dug a little bit of a hole early, but we knew they could explode out of the gate and they came out and gave us a good punch right off the bat, and I liked the way we responded in the second quarter,” Brozeski said.

“They came back and punched us in the mouth again in the third. We battled back, but that’s the type of game you’ve got to be in to learn how to compete with them and get on the other side of the scoreboard.”

Norwin will have at least one — if not two or three — chances to make that happen.

Jesse Geleynse is a freelance writer.

Tags: North Allegheny, Norwin