Refuse to lose: Peters Township girls rally to beat TJ for 4th time
CANONSBURG – It’s been said countless times that beating a good team three times in one season is extremely difficult.
How about four times?
And doing so when falling behind that team in three of the four games.
That’s the accomplishment Peters Township girls basketball team finished off Wednesday night against Thomas Jefferson.
The Indians trailed by seven going into the fourth quarter, but once again rallied and beat the section rival Jaguars for a fourth time this season, 57-53, in the PIAA Class 5A second-round game at Canon-McMillan.
Indians coach Steve Limberiou said his players have a “refuse to lose” mentality and they certainly proved that again.
“I can’t quantify what that’s worth in terms of points per game, but we have it and it’s a rare quality,” Limberiou said. “I’m thankful that we have it. To me that’s not a coach thing. It’s a player-led thing. We have great leaders on this team, and it starts there.”
The Indians advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals on Saturday where they’ll face District 10’s Cathedral Prep at a site and time to be announced.
Peters Township, much like in its WPIAL semifinal matchup, trailed Thomas Jefferson for most of the first three quarters.
But backed by some key shots from Daniela Radulovich and Natalie Wetzel, turned a 46-39 deficit into a 54-53 lead. Wetzel hit a pair of free throws to put the Indians on top. Bri Morreale hit two clutch free throws in the waning seconds to make it a two-possession game. The Jaguars did not score on their final four possessions.
“It’s disappointing,” Jaguars coach Matt Gould said. “I thought we gave three good basketball games out of four against Peters Township, so we’re proud of that. They’re all disappointing, but this one ends our season, so that makes it really tough.”
Radulovich scored nine points and with Wetzel getting double-teamed, she found some open space near the foul line and made four crucial shots in the second half. She also had a couple of blocks in the fourth quarter and an assist that led to a Wetzel layup.
She did it playing with three fouls for the entire second half and did not commit another one.
“I said she was my MVP during the WPIAL playoffs and that hasn’t changed through two state games,” Limberiou said of Radulovich. “She stepped up. Just the way people play us defensively they leave her open and she hit several of those 14-foot jumpers in the second half and that was huge. Defensively she played most of the second half with three fouls and she was able to manage that while doing a great job.”
The Jaguars caught fire in the third quarter. They finished the frame on a 12-2 run with three’s from Kaylee DeAngelo, Riley McCabe and Emma Altavilla as well as a tough layup by Maggie Spell at the buzzer.
Wetzel had a game-high 27 points and 15 of those came in the second half. She helped the Indians outscore the Jaguars, 18-7, in the fourth quarter with seven points.
“Coach always talks about how it’s a game of runs,” Wetzel said. “Their run was at the end of the third quarter, but at the start of the fourth it was our turn. We always know that in the back of our minds that the season is on the line and I don’t think that there’s a better motivator than that. We just found a way.”
Thomas Jefferson led for most of the first half, but the largest lead was five points at 16-11 when McCabe finished off a pass from Spell to begin the second quarter.
Wetzel gave Peters Township a brief 24-23 lead with a three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining in the first half, but DeAngelo responded with a three of her own to put the Jaguars on top by two points going into the break.
Radulovich, Alina Sopko and Morreale picked up two fouls each in the first half for the Indians, but they never got into foul trouble in the second half.
DeAngelo led the Jaguars with 17 points, but Peters Township kept her off the scoreboard in the fourth quarter. Spell scored 15. Morreale finished with 13 points for the Indians.