Feb 14, 2025 By Jerin Steele 4 min read

MCMURRAY – With Natalie Wetzel hampered by an ankle injury, Peters Township girls basketball coach Steve Limberiou decided to hold her out of Friday’s WPIAL playoff opener and only use her in case of emergency.

“It was like the red button I didn’t want to push tonight,” Limberiou said.

Wetzel’s teammates made sure the thought never crossed Limberiou’s mind.

With their Miami (Fla.) recruit sidelined, the second-seeded Indians rode the inside presence of Daniela Radulovich and the outside shooting of Bri Morreale to a 66-58 victory over No. 15 Fox Chapel in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs Friday night.

Morreale had 21 points and Radulovich had 20 to go along with a bevy of rebounds and a half-dozen blocks.

“We’re were like, ‘we’re not losing this game for Nat’,” Morreale said. “We had to win it.”

Peters Township (20-3) advanced to play No. 7 Indiana in the quarterfinals Wednesday at a site and time to be announced. Fox Chapel finished 13-10.

Wetzel injured her left ankle in Peters Township’s regular-season finale against Mt. Lebanon on Monday.

Limberiou said that she would’ve been available if they absolutely needed her, but was relieved that she could take the night off.

“The five days between now and the next game will do wonders for her,” Limberiou said. “I wanted to avoid playing her tonight and luckily we were able to do that. That’s a credit to the girls on the court.”

Radulovich set the tone with eight points in the first quarter. Standing 6-3 she was six inches taller than any Fox Chapel player.

The Foxes pushed and hacked on Radulovich, and at times used double teams, but she fought through it.

“I thought she did a great job tonight,” Limberiou said. “I think she’s capable of doing that more with Natalie as good as she is, often times you’re not going to throw the ball inside to two people. It’s not how you space in this day and age. It felt like the Hack-A-Shaq stuff with people on her shoulders and arms. I know how frustrating that is, but she did a good job working through it.”

Morreale caught fire in the second quarter to help the Indians distance themselves from a scrappy Foxes team.

After Bella Urso hit a jumper to cut Peters Township’s lead to 17-14, Morreale hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions.

She hit another to give the Indians a 10-point lead for the first time and closed out the scoring in the half with another making it 31-19 at halftime.

It didn’t matter what spot of the floor she spotted up to shoot. She made them from the corners and the top of the arc.

“I just try to look for my shot when it’s going in, but not too much, because we want to get everyone else opportunities,” Morreale said.

Fox Chapel made a couple of runs at Peters Township in the second half.

Urso hit a runner to cut the Indians’ lead to 37-32 midway through the third, but they responded with baskets from Taylor McCullough, Jordan Welsh and a fastbreak layup from Morreale to get the lead back to double-digits.

The Foxes got to within seven early in the fourth quarter, but a pair of runners from McCullough and a layup by Alina Sopko gave the Indians some breathing room.

They weren’t threatened again the rest of the game.

“Regardless of seed I feel like everyone is going to come out and play their best game like it’s their last,” Radoulovich said. “I think Fox Chapel did that today and that’s what we did too.”

McCullough had 10 points, six of which were in the fourth quarter.

Lyla Jablon led the Foxes with 23 points and Urso had 20.