‘Dreams do come true’
Canon-Mac tops Seneca Valley, advances to first WPIAL final
MT. LEBANON – Canon-McMillan girls basketball coach John Fontana summed up the moment succinctly.
“Dreams do come true and you don’t even have to go to Disney for them to happen,” Fontana said.
No, the Big Macs just had to travel to Mt. Lebanon to realize a goal three years in the making.
They’re headed to a WPIAL final for the first time in program history.
The top-seeded Big Macs withstood a tough challenge from No. 5 Seneca Valley and earned a 47-42 victory in the WPIAL Class 6A semifinals Tuesday night.
Canon-McMillan (20-4) will play No. 2 Norwin in the WPIAL Class 6A championship, 5 p.m. Saturday at the Petersen Events Center. Seneca Valley, which was also seeking its first trip to a WPIAL final, meets Upper St. Clair in the consolation game for a spot in the state playoffs.
“The program is 50 years old and the other day I met the woman who was the first coach here,” Fontana said. “Before last year we had never been to a semifinal before, so we’re making program history. It’s exciting for the girls and a great win for the community.”
Madison Clair had 15 points, Brooke Stanton scored 13 and Lauren Borella finished with 11.
The game was tight throughout with the largest lead in the game being seven.
In the weighty moments Borella and Clair were excellent from the free throw line going 11 of 12 in the fourth quarter.
Clair was 6-for-6 and Borella was 5-for-6, including making two with 2.3 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Before they went to the line Stanton met them to give a message of confidence.
“She always holds my hands and tells me to take a deep breath,” Borella said. “That’s what I did and I made them. Every time she does that I always make them.”
Stanton, a sophomore, said she was just returning a favor for her senior teammates.
“They’ve done that for me before so many times and I just followed their lead,” Stanton said.
After the buzzer sounded the Big Macs celebrated in front of a packed grandstand.
When asked what that moment meant to her, Borella got emotional.
“It’s so exciting and what we’ve worked for forever,” Borella said. “I could cry right now.
“I’ve been dreaming of this moment ever since I stepped on the court my freshman year. We’ve all been looking forward to this and for it to come true is great.”
The Big Macs had to withstand a huge fourth quarter from Seneca Valley’s all-time leading scorer Natalie Hambly.
Hambly had 14 of the Raiders’ 17 points in the fourth quarter, including eight in succession that cut Canon-McMillan’s lead to 40-39.
Hambly finished with a game-high 21 points.
“(Hambly) might be the best player that we’ve faced all year,” Fontana said. “She can take over a game and thank god we outlasted them.”
Canon-McMillan led by two at halftime and got two huge buckets from Stanton in the third. She hit a big three-pointer and followed that up with a basket on a runout at the buzzer, which gave Canon-McMillan a 30-25 lead.
“I just knew that I was open and that the ball was going in,” Stanton said about the three pointer. “I knew that everyone would support me and the fans were going to go crazy when it went in.”
The first half featured nine lead changes, the last coming when Borella dished a bounce pass to Faye Saunders for a layup that gave Canon-McMillan a 21-19 halftime lead.
Seneca Valley (14-7) led 12-10 at the end of the first quarter.
The Big Macs (20-4) led 7-3 early after Clair got a shooter’s roll on a three-point attempt that hit the front rim and bounced off the heel of the hoop before falling through the net.
Seneca Valley finished the quarter on a 9-3 run with threes from Reece McFadden and Makayla Canty. McFadden banked in a shot in the paint in the final seconds of the quarter to give the Raiders the lead.
Seneca Valley 12 7 6 17 – 42
Canon-McMillan 10 11 9 17 – 47
Seneca Valley: Natalie Hambly, 21 points, Reece McFadden, 12.
Canon-McMillan: Madison Clair, 15 points; Brooke Stanton, 13; Lauren Borella, 11.