Kiski Area girls come together to end playoff drought

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, February 8, 2023 | 9:19 PM

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The last time the Kiski Area girls basketball team earned a spot in the WPIAL playoffs was the 2011-12 season when it went 16-7 overall and finished 8-4 in section play.

That streak had to come to an end, senior guard Lexi Colaianni said.

And it did Monday as the Cavaliers celebrated both senior night and a 49-35 victory over Plum to wrap up a berth in the WPIAL Class 5A tournament.

“That was such an amazing night,” said Colaianni, who was celebrated before the game with fellow seniors Lorelei Oshidan, Sydney Joyce and Maddie Bachar.

“Starting off with the senior night ceremony, we didn’t want that to get into our heads and not come out focused and ready to play. We were locked in. We all played our hearts out and left it all on the court. It was our last home game of the season. With about a minute and 30 seconds left, (junior) Abbie Johns was at the line, and when she hit those free throws, I was like, ‘Yes, we’re going to win it.’ I started tearing up on the court. It was such a great feeling.”

Three Kiski players scored in double figures against Plum. Johns led the way with 15 points. She tallied nine points and was 5 for 5 from the line in the fourth quarter.

Sophomore Rikiya Garcia-Broaden added 12 points, and Colaianni scored 10 as the Cavaliers improved to 6-5 in Section 1 play, won their fourth straight in section and avenged a seven-point loss at Plum from Jan. 12.

“We always said it’s been a goal of ours (to make the playoffs),” Colaianni said. “Our new coach this year, coach (Dave) Williamson, he said this isn’t a goal, it’s an expectation. He saw in us, and he made us believe, that we had what it took to make the playoffs. It wasn’t easy, but we worked hard and we made it happen.”

The road back to qualifying for the playoffs was a struggle for the Cavaliers.

Kiski went 5-9 in its section during the 2012-13 season and then won just seven section games over the next nine seasons. The Cavaliers were 3-9 in their section last year.

Kiski, 3-17 overall in 2020-21, took part in the open-playoff format that season when the covid pandemic wreaked havoc on section schedules and caused the WPIAL to scrap its normal qualifying process.

“We’ve all been working together for such a long time wanting to turn the program around,” Johns said. “We are so happy that we got to do it with this senior group leaving soon. We wanted to make sure we did it with them and for them.”

With clinching Monday, the Cavaliers players had the relief of knowing their playoff fate didn’t come down to Wednesday’s section finale at Penn Hills.

Penn Hills topped Kiski Area, 50-38, and the Indians clinched a playoff spot.

Kiski Area defeated Penn Hills, 38-33, on Jan. 17 to snap a three-game section losing streak. But after a loss to section leader Indiana a week later, the Cavaliers were behind the eight ball at 2-5 in the section with little room for error.

That is when the team rallied. It defeated Gateway, 40-35, Franklin Regional, 44-40, and Woodland Hills, 50-45, leading up to the victory over Plum.

“We knew Indiana was the top team, but we didn’t want that loss to bring us down,” Johns said. “We knew we were capable of beating any other team in the section. We just worked hard and game planned in practice. We knew we could win all of those games if we just played like we knew we could.”

In addition to giving Plum a little payback, the Cavaliers also avenged an overtime loss to FR and a 13-point setback to the Wolverines.

“We were playing too well to not win the games we lost,” Williamson said. “We challenged ourselves as coaches to make adjustments and keep finding out what works. We kind of found a spark in our starting lineup with a player like (5-foot-9 freshman forward) Gianna Devito, who gave us some length. We started to win those close games. I was confident we could win those games. We just had to put four quarters together.”

Johns said protecting the basketball, rebounding, making free throws and some of the other little things added up for the team in clinching the playoff spot.

“Coach always stressed that games come down to which team can make their foul shots,” Johns said. “Any time I am in the gym or at practice, I really try to focus on that. We ended three wins in a row just getting to the line and hitting our foul shots. It’s just really important to our game.”

Johns was 12 of 13 from the line and finished with a team-best 18 points as the Cavaliers withstood a Gateway rally to defeat the Gators on Jan. 27.

Kiski Area will discover its playoff fate Monday when the Class 5A bracket is revealed.

The Cavaliers’ last playoff victory came in the 2009-10 Class AAAA first round as they topped North Allegheny, 60-57, before falling to eventual WPIAL runner-up Baldwin in the quarterfinals.

“Hopefully, we’ve given the committee some good things to look at and hope we get a good draw,” Williamson said. “It’s a new season in the playoffs, and the girls are excited to be a part of it.”

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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