St. Joseph girls relish another shot at Aquinas after upset

By: Michael Love
Sunday, February 27, 2022 | 5:02 PM

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The St. Joseph girls basketball team will get another crack at Aquinas Academy as the Section 3-1A rivals do battle at 6 p.m. Monday at North Hills in the WPIAL semifinals with a trip to Petersen Events Center on the line.

Most playoff pundits and other observers probably thought the youthful Spartans wouldn’t still be alive with a chance for WPIAL gold. After all, they were in the quarterfinals against No. 1 Rochester, the three-time defending WPIAL Class 1A champion that featured a pair of all-state talents.

But No. 9 St. Joseph, which toppled No. 8 Mapletown in the first round, seized on the opportunity every team is given when it steps on the court in the postseason and shocked the Rams with a come-from-behind 57-54 victory.

“It was such a big win for us, but we also have to remember that that game just got us another game toward the bigger goals we have,” said Trinity Lockwood-Morris, the team’s lone senior who scored nine points in Thursday’s upset.

“We celebrated on the bus ride home, and we saw all the congratulations on social media. We all woke up the next day and were ecstatic, but we all realized quickly that we have another game to prepare for. We had to put the Rochester win aside and focus on Aquinas Academy. We don’t want to let that game be our peak. We have to keep up the momentum going into Monday.”

Sophomore Julie Spinelli led St. Joseph (10-13) with 15 points. Fellow sophomore Anna Kreinbrook, who hit a field goal and a pair of free throws in the final minute to seal the win over the Rams, and freshman Gia Richter tallied 11 points apiece.

Sophomore Emma Swierczewski joined Lockwood-Morris with nine points in the win.

“It was so much of a team effort,” Swierczewski said. “That’s what it takes to win big games like these, especially in the playoffs.”

Down 30-17 at halftime, St. Joseph found itself trailing the Rams by as many as 19 in the third quarter before making its comeback.

“We got steals, we were sharing the ball, communicating, and were just playing really well as a team,” said Spinelli, who leads the team in scoring at 14.6 points per game.

“We focused on one play at a time and kept going like that.”

The Spartans’ resolve was not lost on coach Dennis Jones.

“I was just trying to keep them calm,” he said. “I felt that if we did what we were supposed to do and what we’ve been practicing, we could come back. I liked our height advantage, and I felt we could use our mismatch there. We knew they had two really good players who liked to shoot. I just thought we could eventually minimize those effects.

“The girls have really matured and come together as a team. They don’t quit on any game or each other. If this would’ve happened a month ago or two months ago, I don’t know what would’ve happened, but it might not have been good. I don’t know what is going to happen Monday, but I know we are not going to quit.”

The players enjoyed the celebration with a large and loud St. Joseph fan contingent that made the trip west. They all knew that in addition to punching a ticket to the semifinals, the Spartans also clinched their first trip to the PIAA playoffs since 2017 and third overall in program history.

“It was insane,” Spinelli said of Thursday’s win. “Everyone was celebrating. We went to the locker room and celebrated there, and we went to the bus and celebrated there.

“We got the news that Aquinas had won, and we got really excited. This is our chance to get back at them and show them how good of a team we’ve become.”

Aquinas Academy (14-6) captured the Section 3 title with an 8-0 record and secured the No. 4 seed for the WPIAL playoffs. That section run included wins over St. Joseph of 47-16 and 34-24.

“When we played Aquinas the first two times, we just weren’t playing the way we know we can play,” Richter said. “We’re happy to face Aquinas again and have the chance to show who we really are against them.”

The Crusaders earned a bye into the quarterfinals and then raced past No. 4 Monessen, 60-37, on Thursday.

Aquinas, which is averaging 48.9 points and giving up just 33.3, took advantage of Monessen turnovers, missed layups and other miscues and also got 21 points from Elizabeth Hardy, 15 from Emilia Kartsonas, and 13 from Elizabeth Russell.

“We saw some of the predictions before the playoffs started, and we weren’t among those top teams who were favored,” Spinelli said.

“Our record didn’t get us there. But we knew we had played a really tough schedule against some bigger schools and won some big games. We really improved and worked so hard to have a chance in the playoffs. We were ready to show everyone what we could do.”

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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