After 4 losses last year, TJ girls get satisfying win over PT
McMURRAY – It looked like the Thomas Jefferson girls basketball team took out four games worth of frustration on Peters Township Friday night.
That’s how many times the Indians beat the Jaguars last year.
Who knows how many times the two teams will face off this year, but it’ll be at least two and the first round went to the Jaguars in emphatic fashion.
Thomas Jefferson built a double-digit lead halfway through the first quarter and never looked back on its way to a 65-51 victory in the Class 5A Section 4 opener at Peters Township’s AHN Arena.
“It was great to see the girls execute,” Thomas Jefferson coach Matt Gould said. “Our focus coming in was to play four quarters. I thought we dipped a little bit in the fourth when we saw the finish line, but we came away with a win.”
Noah Sear canned a three-pointer at the buzzer to make it a clean sweep for Thomas Jefferson. The Jaguars boys beat the Indians 42-39.
Last year the Peters Township girls (0-1, 3-2) beat Thomas Jefferson (1-0, 5-1) twice in the regular season, in the WPIAL semifinals and the second round of the state playoffs.
The Jaguars got off to a roaring start against the Indians, much like it did against them last season when they came to AHN Arena.
Peters Township produced a big comeback to win that one, but this time the Jaguars controlled things from start to finish.
They built a 13-1 lead before Alina Sopko nailed a runner for Peters Township’s first basket at the 3:06 mark of the first. The Indians missed their first seven shots.
“It was not lost on me what happened here last year,” Gould said. “I walked into the huddle when we were up 11-1 and told the girls not to think this game was over. We had been in that position against this team before.”
Peters Township made a little run to get to within seven at 19-12 with Bri Morreale capping the quarter with a steal and score.
But Thomas Jefferson opened the second quarter on an 11-4 run. A three-point play on a basket and foul by Emma Altavilla doubled up the Indians at 32-16.
“It felt like we were chasing uphill the whole game,” Peters Township coach Steve Limberiou said. “Credit to them. They played better than us and started the game with more urgency. The things we talked about what we needed to do to win we did not do until late in the second half.”
Maggie Spell scored on three consecutive possessions to close out the half and the Jaguars went into the break leading 38-20.
Spell, a Campbell recruit, finished with a game-high 25 points.
Riley McCabe scored 17.
“I thought Riley played a fantastic basketball game,” Gould said. “She’s our point guard and I recall her only taking one bad shot all night and that was toward the end of the game. A lot of credit goes to Emily Hritz, who face-guarded Bri Morreale all game. She held her to two points and that’s tough to do. We think the world of Bri. She hurt us a lot last year.”
The Jaguars maintained their lead by outscoring the Indians 15-12 in the third quarter. Taylor McCullough did her best to try to will Peters Township back into it by scoring nine of her team-best 20 points in the quarter.
Jordyn Welsh finished with 12 points and Alina Sopko scored. 10
Thomas Jefferson won the game without Kaylee DeAngelo, who is out for the season with a knee injury. DeAngelo, a junior, is a Robert Morris commit.
TJ, 42-39
The Jaguars finished off a sweep in dramatic fashion.
Sear took a shot from the right side and the ball slipped through the hoop as the clock hit zero to give Thomas Jefferson a 42-39 win.
It made for a memorable ending in each team’s Class 5A Section 3 opener.
Jake Wetzel made one of the free throws after being fouled with 30 seconds remaining to tie the game at 39-39.
Thomas Jefferson (1-0, 5-0) called timeout and drew up a play that ended in the game winner.
The Indians (0-1, 3-2) led 32-28 after three quarters, but a three from the right corner by Noah Sear gave Thomas Jefferson a 36-35 lead with just over two minutes remaining.
Jayden Greco responded with a three-pointer, his first basket of the game, at the minute mark to put Peters Township in front 38-36.
Nicholas Trklja made a shot inside while being fouled to tie it with 41.1 seconds remaining. He had missed four foul shots in the quarter, but drained his next one to give the Jaguars the lead.