No. 2 North Allegheny gets defensive to upend Upper St. Clair in Class 6A quarterfinals

By: Joe Sager
Friday, February 22, 2019 | 8:41 PM

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The offense was cold for North Allegheny’s girls basketball team Friday night.

However, the defense was hot.

The Tigers overcame a sluggish offensive performance to stave off Upper St. Clair’s upset bid with a 33-26 win in a WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals at West Allegheny.

North Allegheny (22-1), the two-time defending WPIAL champ, was limited to a season-low point total, thanks to the scrappy Panthers (11-12).

“We knew that that’s an underrated team we were playing. We thought they might slow it down a bit, and they did a real nice job,” North Allegheny coach Spencer Stefko said. “They did a nice job handling our pressure, too. We came at them at different angles and they did a beautiful job being poised, and you have to give them credit for that. None of that bothered them.

“We were tough enough to stay in the game when we couldn’t make shots. This was probably our worst shooting performance of the year and, honestly, as a coach, you wouldn’t want it any other way because, if you’re going to go anywhere, you have to be able to win one of these where you just have to find a way and we found a way.”

Upper St. Clair’s 2-3 zone stifled the Tigers, who could not shoot their way out of the defense.

The Panthers had a 9-8 lead after the first.

“We did not shoot well. They came out and played hard defense. We made up for it with other things, like rebounding and playing defense. We know the shots will fall eventually,” North Allegheny senior Rachel Martindale said. “We knew it was going to be a grind right from the beginning. I think we have to be mentally tougher next time. We pulled through in the end, and that’s all that matters.”

While Upper St. Clair’s defense was strong, North Allegheny’s was even more effective. After falling behind, 11-10, with 7:06 left in the second quarter, the Tigers shut out the Panthers for the rest of the half as well as the first 3:14 of the third quarter.

“Defense is the one thing we work on a lot,” Martindale said. “I am glad it pulled through. We always want to play great defense. Our defense leads to our offense. Scoring helps, but, I think, without everything else, we don’t win that game. It’s the little things that make the difference.”

Clinging to a 14-11 halftime lead, Martindale, an Akron recruit, gave the Tigers some breathing room when she hit jumpers at the start of the third and with 3.4 seconds remaining. The team carried a 24-18 lead into the final frame.

“Those two buckets were as big as any of the night,” Stefko said. “They were huge.”

Upper St. Clair remained within a shot of North Allegheny until 4:08 to play when Martindale swished a 3-pointer. On the Tigers’ next possession, Lizzy Groetsch connected for another trey to give the squad a crucial eight-point buffer (31-23) with 3:04 left.

“That’s what they do for us. They always have their teammates behind them because they’re such great kids,” Stefko said. “Missing four or five shots in a row isn’t a problem for anybody on this team because they know they have their teammates behind them. That’s one of the best things we have going for us. There is a cohesiveness that is built for games like tonight.”

Martindale led all scorers with 14 points to help North Allegheny advance to a semifinal matchup with Norwin (21-1), a 39-35 winner over Mt. Lebanon. The two teams split during Section 1 play. The win secured a PIAA playoff berth as well for the Tigers.

“We know what our goal is, but we’re just going one game at a time,” Martindale said.

Sarah Price had a team-high 10 points for Upper St. Clair, which will qualify for the PIAA tournament only if North Allegheny wins the WPIAL title.

Tags: North Allegheny, Upper St. Clair