Unbeaten Neumann-Goretti Too Much For Seton-LaSalle in PIAA Girls AA Finals

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 20, 2015 | 3:21 PM

Eight minutes and ten seconds was all it took to undo the reign of the Seton-LaSalle Rebels as PIAA Champions. The Rebels went without a field goal from the 4:30 mark of the opening quarter to 4:20 of the second as the Neumann-Goretti Saints pulled away to take a 20-point lead during that stretch and finish a 30-0 undefeated season with a 79-34 victory in the Class AA girls title game at Hershey’s Giant Center.

{Left: The seven seniors from Seton-LaSalle girls team hold silver basketball trophy as runner-up after falling to Neumann-Goretti}

The Saints were also undefeated entering last year’s title tilt with the Rebels and suffered a 58-50 defeat. Senior Cianni Cryor said the Saints were looking to play to Rebels and that they had unfinished business from last year. The Georgia Tech recruit scored 11 points and dished out 15 assists as she led the Saints to the second highest margin of victory in a girls state title game.

The victory also gives Neumann-Goretti the mythical national championship, as the Saints were ranked number one in the country by USA Today in their Super 25 poll entering the game. 

Despite not scoring for the final four plus minutes of the first quarter, the Rebels trailed 17-10 after one quarter. But Neumann-Goretti outscored Seton LaSalle 26-6 in the second period. Rebels head coach Spencer Stefko said that he ran into a buzzsaw today. Stefko said if the Rebels could have hit a couple of shots, it would have helped with the “quicksand” feeling that the Rebels seemed to be in. But he was also quick to give all the credit to the Saints, as he called Neumann-Goretti a special team.

After trailing by twenty, the Rebels were able to cut into the lead, but the Saints ended that hope, scoring 13 unanswered points to finish the frame for a 43-16 lead at halftime. Neumann-Goretti then scored the first nine points of the third to finish the Rebels off.

AJ Timbers led the Saints with 20 points, as the Towson recruit had four three-pointers and added six rebounds. Sianni Martin scored 16 and Christine Aborowa, a 6-4 senior committed to Texas, added 13 points and 10 rebounds. Alisha Kebbe only scored 4 points, but she contributed mightily with 11 rebounds, 4 steals and 2 blocks for the Saints.

The win was the first state title for Saints head coach Andrea Peterson, who took over for Letty Santorelli in November amongst allegations of awarding athletic scholarships surfaced. Investigations by both the PIAA and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have turned up no wrong-doing so far by the Saints program. Cryor spoke at length about everything that happened this year. She commented that they were able to prove all the doubters wrong, that the Saints played with their hearts together and they finished their business.

Neumann-Goretti was 31-57 from the field at 54 percent, including 9 of 19 from behind the arc. The Saints won the board battle in a big way, 47-27. 

Seton-LaSalle was led by Pitt recruit Cassidy Walsh’s 11 points. She went 4 of 20 from the field. Cleveland State recruit Nicolete Newman struggled as well, going 3 of 17 and finishing with just nine points. The Rebels finish with a record of 23-8 and see their 17-game playoff winning streak and 8-game overall streak come to an end.

Score By Quarters:
Neumann-Goretti Saints 17 – 26 – 23 – 13 = 79
Seton-LaSalle Rebels 10 – 6 – 6 – 12 = 34