Vincentian Academy girls topple Serra Catholic to earn 7th straight WPIAL finals berth

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, February 26, 2018 | 10:24 PM

It's back to the WPIAL girls basketball finals for Vincentian Academy for a seventh straight season.

The Royals used an early second-half surge to down Serra Catholic, 59-30, in a Class 2A semifinal Monday at Northgate.

After Rylan's German's basket 25 seconds into the third quarter brought the Eagles to within 24-18, Vincentian Academy went on a 13-2 run to put the game out of reach.

Katie Bartlett had a solid game for the Royals, scoring 19 points and pulling down 15 rebounds. Duquesne-bound Caroline Elliott scored 17 and added seven rebounds.

Vincentian (22-1) will face Chartiers-Houston at 5 p.m. Thursday at Pitt's Petersen Events Center in a rematch of last year's final, won by the Bucs. The Royals will be going for their 11th WPIAL title.

“We talked at halftime about coming out fast in the third quarter,” Vincentian coach Ron Moncrief said. “We knew we had to come out and put them away. Serra's a good team.”

Although the Eagles (16-8) never led, coach Bill Cleary felt good about his team's chances at halftime.

“I thought we were doing what we needed to do up to that point,” Cleary said. “But we lost our rebounding edge by the end of the half, and they were getting some second, third and fourth chances. We didn't shoot the ball well at all, but that had something to do with their defense.”

The Royals defense held Serra Catholic to seven field goals. The Eagles were 16 of 27 from the foul line for their other points.

Vincentian committed just two turnovers in the first half.

Elliott was held to just four points in the first half, but reached her scoring average of 17 after a strong second half before fouling out with 4 minutes, 17 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“We're thankful to God to be going down there again,” Moncrief said about what has become a perennial trip to the finals. “Hopefully, we can take the gold this time.”

Alana Walker had nine rebounds for the Royals.

Andrews led Serra with 13 points and eight rebounds. The 5-foot-9 sophomore also was 9 of 11 from the foul line.

Despite the loss, the Eagles have qualified for the PIAA playoffs, which begin March 9.

George Guido is a freelance writer.

Tags: Vincentian Academy