Knoch girls hold off Southmoreland, reach WPIAL title game for 1st time
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Tuesday, March 1, 2022 | 9:44 PM
Southmoreland’s Olivia Cernuto is called for a foul on Knoch’s Nina Shaw during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Southmoreland’s Grace Spadaro scores past Knoch’s Nina Shaw during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday.
Southmoreland’s Maddie Moore scores past Knoch’s Karlee Buterbaugh during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Southmoreland’s Olivia Cernuto stands alone after as she fouls out with 3:37 to go during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Southmoreland’s Olivia Cernuto drives past Knoch’s Nina Shaw during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Knoch’s Nina Shaw fights for the ball with Southmoreland’s Olivia Cernuto during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Knoch’s Madilyn Boyer scores past Southmoreland’s Regan Carson during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Knoch’s Madilyn Boyer ties up Southmoreland’s Maddie Moore during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Southmoreland’s Kaylee Doppelheuer blocks the shot of Knoch’s Madilyns Boyer during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Southmoreland’s Regan Carson scores past Knoch’s Nina Shaw during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Knoch’s Madilyn Boyer scores past Southmoreland’s Maddie Moore during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Knoch’s Madilyn Boyer defends on Southmoreland’s Grace Spadaro but both run into Olivia Cernuto during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
Knoch’s Nina Shaw scores over Southmoreland’s Olivia Cernuto during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Tuesday, March 1, 2022, at Gateway High School.
The Knoch girls basketball team reached the WPIAL semifinals last year for the first time in program history, but it fell one win short of its goal of reaching the championship game and an opportunity to play for the gold.
But the Knights weren’t going to be denied in their return to the Class 4A final four.
Senior Maddie Boyer scored a career-high 27 points and added 10 rebounds, and junior Nina Shaw tallied 15 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, as No. 3 Knoch defeated No. 2 Southmoreland, 56-45, on Tuesday at Gateway High School.
“I still am feeling almost disbelief,” said Boyer, who scored 14 of her 27 in the second half, including all nine of her team’s points in the third quarter.
“I don’t know if I have words for how excited I am and how excited the whole team is right now. We’ve worked so hard for this.”
Knoch (21-2) will face undefeated and No. 1 Blackhawk (23-0) for the title at 3 p.m. Saturday at Petersen Events Center.
“I am so happy for them that they get to experience going to a championship (game),” Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said.
“They’ve done a lot of ground-breaking work as a group: the first time with 20 wins, the first section championship (in 50 years), the first (Knoch team) to make semifinals (last year). In fact, as far as we know in 50 years, the Knoch girls had never been in the playoffs more than two years in a row, and now they are on their fifth (straight year).”
Blackhawk’s last loss was to Knoch in last year’s WPIAL quarterfinals.
“We deserve this. We’ve worked so hard,” said Shaw, who finished 11 of 12 from the free-throw line against the Scotties, including 7 of 8 in the fourth quarter.
“To finally get (to the championship game), it’s so awesome. This was a great win for us, but now we keep pushing and keep preparing for Saturday. We’re not going to stop and just celebrate this one.”
Despite the loss, Southmoreland (18-4) is still alive in the postseason.
The Scotties clinched a spot in the PIAA playoffs with their quarterfinal victory over Highlands.
They will wait to see if they are the No. 3 or No. 4 team from the WPIAL based on the outcome of Saturday’s championship game under the WPIAL’s follow-the leader format.
“This is a rough one,” said Southmoreland coach Amber Cernuto, who guided her team to the WPIAL title game two years ago.
“This was one of our goals, to get past this game and get back to the Pete. The seniors were really looking forward to it. They can think about this for 24 hours, and then we’ll get back in the gym and get ready for states. Our season is not over yet, so we have to continue on. We have a lot more games to play. We need to regroup, learn from this, watch some film, see what we were doing and focus on us right now.”
Knoch led 12-7 at the end of the first quarter and extended it to 27-10 on the strength of a 15-3 run to open the second.
The Knights forced six Scotties turnovers in the second quarter, and Southmoreland junior guard Olivia Cernuto picked up her third foul with 2:37 left before halftime.
But the Scotties got a pair of free throws from 6-foot junior forward Maddie Moore and a three-point play from senior forward Grace Spadaro to close the gap to 12 at halftime.
Southmoreland used a quick 7-2 run to open the second half to get the lead down to 30-22. The Scotties got withing 10 twice early in the fourth quarter, but Shaw, Boyer, sophomore Naturelle Ewing and the rest of the Knights didn’t let Southmoreland get any closer.
Shaw hit a pair of free throws, and Boyer drained a 3-pointer to start a 13-2 run to all but put the game on ice with three minutes left in the fourth.
“We had to remind ourselves that we were still in a good spot, and if we continued to play the way we know how, we would be fine,” Boyer said.
Knoch junior Hattie McGraw scored all eight of her points in the first half, with six coming on a pair of 3-pointers.
“When we were in fifth and sixth grade, my dad (assistant coach Shane McGraw) said that when we get to high school, we were going to the Pete,” McGraw said. “Now, to see that come true, it’s awesome.”
Boyer added four 3-pointers, one in each quarter. She also was 7 of 9 from the foul line.
“I saw (Maddie) in school today, and she said, ‘Coach, I feel great,’ ” Andreassi said. “She backed up her feeling. She’s a senior and a leader on this team. I am very happy for her.”
Spadaro scored 14 of her team-best 19 points in the fourth quarter, and Cernuto and Moore each finished with nine points for the Scotties.
“I was confident. We prepared for this,” Shaw said.
“We’ve prepared all year for games like this and moments like this. So, we were ready for whatever they threw at us. We just had to keep pushing and playing good defense. Then our offense came along.”
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.
Tags: Knoch, Southmoreland
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