North Catholic wins top-5 showdown with Greensburg Salem

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, January 4, 2024 | 10:49 PM

Purchase Photo Options

“North is North,” Greensburg Salem girls basketball coach Rick Klimchock said in a back hallway at North Catholic after his team fell behind early and dropped a 62-35 decision to the host Trojanettes in a matchup of Class 4A top-five girls basketball teams Thursday night on Barth & Graham Court.

The fourth-ranked Golden Lions wanted to validate their hot start by staying close with the two-time defending WPIAL champions. No. 2 North Catholic (5-4, 4-0), though, was still very much “North” as it made another Section 1 team’s hopes go south.

“This is a tough place to play,” Klimchock said. “They were on fire, and we couldn’t answer them.”

Greensburg Salem (10-2, 2-1), on a roll since before the holidays, saw a nine-game winning streak end. The Trojanettes, who had lost two of three — to Bishop Guilfoyle and 6A Seneca Valley — showed why they are ranked No. 4 in the state.

Senior point guard Alayna Rocco, a Harvard commit, scored 22 points, and freshman Brady Wehner poured in 20, including three 3-pointers, as North Catholic built 17- and 18-point leads after the first two quarters.

While Greensburg Salem didn’t allow the 30-point mercy rule to take affect, it did allow North Catholic to fire away from the perimeter. The Trojanettes made four 3s in the opening quarter, three from Wehner, to pull ahead 23-6.

They stretched the advantage to 36-18 at the half.

They led Bishop Guilfoyle by double figures at halftime, too, but lost that game. This time, they finished the job going away.

“We talked about that game and how we lost our intensity,” North Catholic coach Molly Rottman said. “We let it slip away. We lost (senior guard) Ava (Walker) in the second quarter. That’s not a reason we lost. We talked about it and learned from that game.”

Rocco, shooting from mid-range and driving the lane with ease, had nine in the third as the lead reached 26 (51-25).

“We had to keep our intensity up,” said Rocco, who lives in Trafford, “and hold each other accountable and play for each other. A lot of what we did tonight was (based on) ball pressure and backside help. We wanted to alter their passing.”

The plan was successful as they limited Golden Lions senior forward Kaitlyn Mankins to 15 points. Her first basket didn’t come until late in the second quarter away from the rim, on a 3-pointer.

“Kait is one of the best players in the WPIAL,” Klimchock said. “Maybe we needed to get her the ball more.”

Coming into the night with the best defensive average in the section (25.4 ppg), the Golden Lions gave up a season high for points, by 22.

They had allowed 79 points combined in their previous three games.

Greensburg Salem’s longest scoring run was 5-0, with three points coming from senior guard Gia Rosensteel to cut it to 42-23 with 4 minutes, 10 seconds left in the third.

The lead never dipped below 21 the rest of the way.

North Catholic kept its starters in, which showed a measure of respect for the Golden Lions.

“They’re a good team. They weren’t going away,” said North Catholic coach Molly Rottman said. “We had to come out with intensity and set the tone and put pressure on the ball and on their guards.”

Wehner back lit Rocco with her own big night. The former North Huntingdon resident was tough to guard on the outside.

“Wehner had a great game,” Klimchock said. “They have some really good guards, and they made shots.”

Junior guard Sarah Loughry added 13 for the Trojanettes, also getting to the basket effectively.

“They made us work and took us out of our zone,” Klimchock said. “Their ball movement was good against our zone.”

Senior guard Ashlan Price and junior forward Regan Kerr scored seven each for Greensburg Salem.

A third player with Westmoreland County ties also started for North Catholic in 6-foot-2 freshman Lauren Reitz, who is from Murrysville.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg Salem, North Catholic