CENTRE COUNTY — In what was the second epic confrontation between Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy girls and Williamsburg this season, SJCA’s Naomi Crispin poured in 49 points and led her team to a thrilling, last-minute 68-67 victory.
The teams were playing in the District 6, Single-A consolation game on Thursday, Feb. 27 after both the WolfPack and the Lady Pirates lost in the tournament semifinals.
The game decided the No. 3 and 4 seeds from D6 for the PIAA Tournament, and with the win SJCA will now face No. 2 Clairton from District 7 on Saturday, March 8, at Clairton.
In the first meeting between the WolfPack and Blue Pirates, SJCA came back from a cold third quarter and toughed out a 75-72 win at Williamsburg.
Crispin scored 40 points in that game, her season high until the teams met again in the playoffs.
That playoff game saw the WolfPack build a lead heading into the fourth quarter and Williamsburg cut into that lead as time began to run out.
SJCA began the fourth quarter with a 7-point, 55-48 lead. But a basket with under a minute on the clock brought the Pirates to within 66-64, and they were finally able to stop the clock on a foul with 10 seconds left.
The player they fouled, however, was Crispin, and she nailed both shots and gave her team a 68-64 lead.
Williamsburg had a chance after an SJCA foul, but both shots missed, and the WolfPack celebrated its hard-earned victory.
Crispin was instrumental in building the WolfPack lead–she scored 33 points in the first half–and then she scored 10 points down the stretch, including 4-for-4 from the line.
“We were locked in,” SJCA head coach Bethany Irwin said. “Naomi had a fantastic offensive and defensive game. When she starts to hit early, you can just tell when she starts to feel it and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is going to be fun.’
“You could tell by her step, her bounce, her demeanor, but that doesn’t take away from everybody else on the team because JC Cunningham had a phenomenal game. Lauren Himes shot well and played great defense, and Alex Lukovich was the person assigned to guard their best scorer. In the last game that girl scored 30 points, but Alex held her to 9 points.
“So, yeah, it was a total team thing. In the postseason, you know you’re not going to get better, but you can do the little things to help you win the next game.”
That next game will be on Saturday, March 9, at 7-2 Clairton.
The Lady Bears are 19-5 overall this season and are led by senior point guard Iyalla Wade, who is averaging an astounding 41.5 points per game.
Clairton came into the WPIAL Tournament on a seven-game winning streak and then defeated Saint Joseph 71-44 in the quarterfinals.
The Bears faced No. 2 Geibel Catholic in the semifinal and steadily pulled away in a 52-32 victory. The Bears held GCHS to single digits in every quarter.
In the final, Clairton ran into undefeated and No. 1 ranked Union Area and fell, 51-40. The Bears, therefore, entered the PIAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed from the district.
The winner of the SJCA, Clairton game will face either 9-1 DuBois Central Catholic (24-2) or 7-6 Bishop Canevin (13-11) in the second round on Wednesday, March 12.
PIAA SINGLE-A GIRLS FIRST ROUND
- 6-3 Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy girls at 7-2 Clairton
- Saturday, March 8, 1 p.m.
- Clairton High School, Clairton
