Young North Catholic lineup wins battle of WPIAL champions over Mohawk
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Friday, January 29, 2021 | 12:50 AM
North Catholic’s Tara Lucot celebrates next to Mohawk’s Paige Julian during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
North Catholic’s Alayna Rocco celebrates her 3-pointer during the third quarter against Mohawk on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
North Catholic’s Ava Walker scores past Mohawk’s Paige Julian during the fourth quarter of their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
North Catholic’s Alayna Rocco shoots a 3-pointer during the fourth quarter against Mohawk on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
North Catholic’s Dacia Lewandowski battles Mohawk’s Erynne Capalbo for a rebound during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
Mohawk’s Nadia Lape drives past North Catholic’s Dacia Lewandowski during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
North Catholic’s Alayna Rocco pressures Mohawk’s Hannah McDanel during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
North Catholic’s Tara Lucot grabs a rebound in front of Mohawk’s Erynne Capalbo during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
North Catholic’s Anna Waskiewicz shoots over Mohawk’s Hannah McDanel (right) and Nadia Lape during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
Mohawk’s Hannah McDanel pressures North Catholic’s Tori Drevna during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
North Catholic’s Alayna Rocco pulls down a rebound next to Mohawk’s Alexa Kadilak during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
Mohawk’s Jordan Radzmynski collides with North Catholic’s Anna Waskiewicz during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
Mohawk head coach Mike O’Lare talks with Hannah McDanel during their game at North Catholic on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
Mohawk’s Paige Julian battles North Catholic’s Alayna Rocco for possession during their game on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
Mohawk’s Nadia Lape shoots a three-pointer during a game at North Catholic on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Cranberry.
Ava Walker and Alayna Rocco are freshmen starters for North Catholic’s girls basketball team, and teammates Dacia Lewandowski and Tori Drevna are only sophomores.
They might form the youngest starting lineup in the WPIAL this season, but their coach reminded them Thursday night how she won’t accept that as an excuse.
“You guys are playing like you’re young and you’re scared and you’re better than that,” coach Molly Rottmann said, repeating the words she shared in a tense third-quarter timeout.
“It’s time to grow up.”
Walker scored 20 points, Rocco had 15 and Lewandowski added 12 as top-ranked North Catholic shook off any nervousness and defeated No. 2 Mohawk, 54-38, in a rare section matchup of reigning WPIAL champions.
Rottmann called the third quarter a “gut-check.”
Trailing by a point and at times playing timid, the Trojanettes settled down and outscored Mohawk by 18 over the final 12 minutes. Rocco had two key 3-pointers after halftime and Lewandowski added two more.
“We came out a little rough and got yelled at,” Walker said with a laugh. “But we really did need it.”
“I just sort of challenged them,” Rottmann said. “’Do you have the heart? Come on. This is the time.’ I love how they responded.”
This matchup had plenty of hype. North Catholic (8-1, 5-0) won the Class 4A title four years in a row before dropping down in classification. Mohawk (9-2, 4-1) won 3A last season.
They’re now rivals in Section 1-3A.
New opponent, new lineup, but the same result: North Catholic extended its section winning streak to 63 games. The streak started in January 2016. That means Walker and Rocco were in fourth grade the last time the team lost in section.
North Catholic has an all-new lineup from last season, a transition from a year ago when Rottmann had a senior-heavy rotation. The only senior starting Thursday was Tara Lucot, a transfer from Vincentian Academy.
“I said tonight, you’re officially off of last year’s team’s backs and making a name for yourself,” Rottmann said.
Nadia Lape led Mohawk with 18 points and Paige Julian added 10. The Warriors like to shoot 3-pointers — around 30 per game — and they’ll take them from well beyond the arc.
Against North Catholic, those shots didn’t go in.
Mohawk missed its first eight 3-point attempts and finished 4 for 33 from beyond the arc. The Warriors went 1 for 17 in the first half and 3 for 16 in the second.
“We didn’t hit any shot tonight,” Mohawk coach Mike O’Lare said. “We had our chances to make some of those 3s. We just didn’t hit them.”
North Catholic also shot poorly in the first half, finishing 8 for 28 from the field and 0 for 4 from the arc. But the Trojanettes shot 48% after halftime (13 for 27) with 12 second-half points from Walker.
“We started hitting our threes, made our layups and our defense got us rolling,” Rocco said. “We felt the energy more.”
The teams rematch Feb. 22 at Mohawk.
Rottmann said she couldn’t remember facing a team that shoots as many deep 3s at Mohawk. Against other opponents, they wouldn’t have worried as much about defending them, but North Catholic believed it couldn’t ignore Mohawk’s shooters.
“I’ve watched lots of tape and they absolutely have the ability to do that,” Rottmann said.
Overall, Mohawk shot 3 for 22 from the field in the first half and trailed 18-13 at halftime. The Warriors rallied in the third behind three 3s by Lape, taking a 23-21 lead around the 5-minute mark.
But in the fourth, they went 0 for 7 from the arc as North Catholic’s defense forced deep shots.
“We got exposed a little bit tonight,” O’Lare said. “It’s not a bad time of year to be exposed, I guess. It’s better to do it halfway through and figure out what we need to work on.”
Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.
Tags: Mohawk, North Catholic
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