Fourth time is a charm for Bethel Park against Peters Twp.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township’s Makenna Marisa shoots over Bethel Park’s Kamryn Lach during the first half of Friday’s PIAA Class 6A playoff game.
Olivia Westphal rips the ball away from Jordan Bisignani during third-quarter action of Bethel Park's fourth battle with Peters Township in a PIAA girls' basketball playoff game.
Isabella Mills (No. 21) of Peters Township drives past North Allegheny's Piper Morningstar during a non-section game.
CANONSBURG – The old adage of it being tough to beat the same team three times in one season carries extra weight when you need to do it a fourth time to keep a season alive.
For the Peters Township High School girls basketball team, that weight was too much to bear.
It took four tries for coach Jonna Burke’s Bethel Park team to beat section rival Peters Township, but this was the one that counted the most, in the first round of the PIAA 6A tournament, as the Black Hawks upset the Indians 44-35 Friday night at Canon-McMillan High School.
It was sweet revenge for the Black Hawks (18-6) as they lost each of the first three meetings to Peters Township (21-5), the most recent coming Feb. 27 at Baldwin High School in the WPIAL semifinals.
But this one felt different from the opening tip, according to Burke and Indians coach Bert Kendall
“The first game we lost at home by one point right before Christmas, but the other two games, they kind of manhandled us, especially on the boards,” Burke noted. “We knew we couldn’t run with them because of how athletic they are. We wanted to slow them down and that’s what we did.”
Burke credited her squad’s ability to operate a slowdown offense that bled time from the clock and made the Indians impatient defensively.
“They did a nice job spreading us out and making us work on defense,” Kendall noted. “They got us out of what we wanted to do on both sides of the ball.”
Mario Cerro was the catalyst for the Black Hawks, especially in the second half as she poured in 19 of her game high 23 points.
“She went off on us pretty big the first time we played them, but we did a better job slowing her down the next two times,” Kendall added. “We had a hard time containing her tonight.”
Makenna Marisa scored 17 points for the Indians and Olivia Ziegler added 15.
The Black Hawks were in control defensively most of the night as they held the normally potent Indians to 13-for-36 from the field.
Bethel Park sealed the win in the fourth quarter by going 10-for-14 from the foul line. Cerro led the way by making six of seven from the charity stripe.
“She’s been that way all year for us,” Burke said in reference to Cerro. “Always there for us when we need her.”
Marisa did her best to bring the Indians back in the fourth quarter as she scored a tough basket in the lane to cut the Black Hawks’ lead to 32-28 with 5:34 left. But Cerro answered with a driving layup and four consecutive foul shots to push the advantage to 10 with 1:45 remaining.
A Ziegler three-pointer and a Marisa layup off a turnover cut the deficit to 38-33 with under a minute to go, but the Black Hawks stayed strong as they held off the Indians with their defense and foul shooting.
Cerro put the Black Hawks on her back in the third quarter as she scored 10 points in the frame. Most of which came from drives to the hoop through a spread out Indians defense. Emma Papalia’s three pointer from the corner gave the Black Hawks a 30-24 lead at the end of the third.
Bethel Park seemed intent on not allowing themselves to be victims of a four-game sweep as they came out snarling defensively in the game’s opening quarter.
The Black Hawks established an 11-4 lead at the end of one, thanks to forcing five Peters Township turnovers and limiting the Indians to 20 percent shooting in the quarter. Olivia Westphal led the Black Hawks with seven first-quarter points.
Bethel Park seemed to have an answer by mixing defenses with zone looks and the occasional double team on Marisa. They also used ultra-quick guard Kamryn Lach to deny Marisa the ball.
Peters Township swung momentum in its favor in the second quarter by going on a 13-0 run to take a 17-15 lead. Ziegler paced the Indians with seven points in the run while Marisa chipped in with a layup and a three pointer during the push.
“We did a good job in the second quarter getting the game back to even,” Kendall said. “But in the second half, our shots just didn’t fall. Credit to Bethel Park for their defense.”
Kendall added he looks forward to coaching next year’s squad as it will return Marisa, to go along with Isabella Mills, Jordan Bisignani and others.