Feb 18, 2022 3 min read

WAYNESBURG – In NCAA March Madness, it’s believed that matchups between No. 12 seeds and No. 5 seeds are the ones most likely to end in an upset.

It happens sometimes in high school basketball, too, and fifth-seeded Waynesburg was in real danger of being a causality on its home court Friday night against No. 12 Brentwood in the first round of the Class 3A girls basketball playoffs.

In the third quarter, Waynesburg trailed by 10 points and was on serious upset alert.

But the Raiders got it together, turned defense into offense and came back for a 56-50 win.

Kaley Rohanna scoring 30 points helped a little, too.

Behind Rohanna – who scored 23 of her points in the second half – the Raiders kept their season alive.

“She said, ‘Hey, I’m going to carry this team,'” Waynesburg coach Dave Sarra said. “And she did. We know at the end, we want to get her the ball.

Brentwood (9-12) scrapped to a 20-17 halftime lead and kept that momentum well into the third quarter. But after falling behind by 10, the Raiders (16-4) fought to cut the deficit and entered the last eight minutes down by three.

“We were getting good shots,” Sarra said. “They weren’t falling. We said ‘Maybe we have to get the ball inside and score or go inside out to get some shots that are a little more open.’ And I really think the defense triggered our offense from about that point on.”

Rohanna concurred that defense made the difference in the comeback.

“We started out on defense being more aggressive and making sure we were in the right positions, so we could turn good defensive possessions into good offense,” she said. “So we could push the ball faster off of making them play faster. When we start getting aggressive, then we (play) better.”

Waynesburg outscored Brentwood 22-13 in the fourth quarter, with all 22 points coming from Rohanna (12) and Clara Paige Miller (10). Miller finished the night with 15 points, and those two combined for 44 of Waynesburg’s 56.

The Raiders were playing before a pretty significant fan. Rudy Marisa, now 88 years old, was in attendance, and the legendary Waynesburg University coach posed for a team picture with the squad after the game.

“He told us he was proud of us and he was glad he got to come,” said Rohanna, who has worked on her game with both Rudy and his granddaughter, Makenna – who is among the nation’s leading scorers at Penn State. “He said he enjoys watching us.”

For Brentwood, Maura Daly led the way with 15 points, Bella Grimm added 14 and Paige Boehm an even 10.

Waynesburg is now on to play fourth-seeded South Park Wednesday night. The Eagles, who are in Class 3A Section 2 with Waynesburg are 19-3 and split the regular-season series with the Raiders as each team won on its home court.

“They know us, we know them,” Sarra said.

Rohanna expects the Raiders to see “a lot of pressure” Wednesday night at 7.

“They like to play fast and try to make us make our own mistakes,” she said. “So we just have to think keep calm, do our own thing and not worry about what they do.”