Northern Cambria Defeats Bishop McCort, AGAIN!!!

JOHNSTOWN — When Northern Cambria opened its PIAA Class AA semifinal at the UPJ Sports Center on a 17-6 run only to be answered with an 18-2 Bishop McCort run prior to halftime, it seemed as though the gas in the Lady Colts’ tank had finally run out.

As it turned out, halftime served as a perfect pit stop.

Northern Cambria came out running in the third quarter, scoring the first 10 points, and held off the hard-charging Lady Crushers at the finish line, 45-42, Tuesday.

Northern Cambria will face two-time defending champion York Catholic for the state championship at noon Friday at Penn State’s Bryce Jordan Center.

“Coach [Eric Thomas] told us the first three or four minutes of the third quarter will be very important,” Northern Cambria senior Jen Valeria said. “We just had to pick up our defense and get our running going again, and that’s what we did. When we get that little lead and hold the ball, no one can stop us.”

For the second time this postseason, McCort proved Valeria right.

The Lady Crushers fared much better than in their 65-48 loss to NC in the District 6 finals, but could not take advantage of a window of opportunity left open by the Lady Colts late in the game.

Leading by three, Breanna Kochinsky made only 2-of-6 from the free-throw line in the final 1:07, and Valeria, who suffered through a 4-for-13 performance from the line in NC’s first-round state playoff game, made just 2-of-4.

“All you can ask for is a chance to win it at the end,” Bishop McCort coach John Hahn said. “And we did; we got a great look at the end of the game.”

The look turned out to be for a chance to tie the game, not win it, thanks to a McCort turnover due to a full-court press in the final 10 seconds and a Valeria free throw that extended a two-point lead to three.

“I’ve been working on [free throws] a lot in practice,” Valeria said. “[The shooting performance in the earlier round] was in the back of my mind, but I was still pretty confident. The first one rimming out got me pretty frustrated, but I was able to stay calm and make the second.”

Despite having a foul to give, Northern Cambria allowed Brittany Genday to get an open look at what would have been a game-tying 3-pointer. The shot rimmed out, and time expired before Bishop McCort could get off another shot.

“We probably should have given one foul,” Thomas said. “But at the same time, what if we foul real quick right after that and give them two shots to tie it up? We were a little weary of doing that.

“So we just wanted to apply enough pressure to make it hard for them to get up. They did get a good look, but at the same time it was a rushed look.”

Genday and Marissa Basile combined for 30 points in the loss; Basile fouled out with 8.9 seconds remaining and was not on the court for the final shot. Kochinsky led Northern Cambria with 16 points.

The Lady Colts, who defeated Girard, 41-30, in the PIAA quarterfinals Sunday, played their five starters the entire game, and Thomas felt it may have played a role in the poor foul shooting down the stretch.

“I think at different times in games we do look fatigued,” Thomas said. “If you look at our fourth quarters, we do tend to miss a lot of our foul shots then.”

Northern Cambria will have two days to refuel its batteries before taking on York Catholic.

“We need one more,” Thomas said. “These girls are tough, and they’re ready to get [a state title].”