close

Daily Double: Avella, California girls win

5 min read
article image -

McMURRAY – As a first-year head coach calling the shots in a first-round playoff game, Mike Drazich was prepared Tuesday night to make a lot of tough and important decisions in Avella High School’s girls basketball playoff game against Propel Andrew Street.

It turned out that Drazich had to make only one meaningful decision, but it was one he pondered for a long time and was glad he had to make.

Drazich had to decide when would be the right time to clear his team’s bench.

Avella dominated overmatched Propel Andrew Street, scoring the game’s first 21 points and cruising to a 52-12 victory in a WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Peters Township High School.

The win by the Eagles was part of a good night for Section 2-A teams. California followed with a thrilling 36-35 upset of Greensburg Central Catholic in the nightcap of a tripleheader on the PT court.

The answer to Drazich’s tough decision was 3:33 remaining in the third quarter, with Avella firmly in control and leading 39-8. Even the Eagles’ reserves got into the act as backup guard Hannah Brownlee quickly drove for a basket and, on the Eagles’ next possession, banked in a three-pointer.

It was that kind of night for Avella (17-6), which has won six of its last seven.

“We handled the playoff pressure a lot better this time,” Drazich said. “Last year, we played Aquinas Academy in the first round and won but ran into (eventual WPIAL champion) Rochester the next round. We didn’t play a good game against Aquinas but we did tonight.”

How good was Avella? The Eagles led 12-0 after one quarter and 21-0 with 4:30 left in the first half. The shutout ended with 3:13 remaining in the first half, when Propel’s Daysia Brown scored after grabbing an offensive rebound that bounced off a teammate’s head. Avella led 31-6 at halftime.

“We didn’t expect it to be that easy,” said Avella point guard Brianna Jenkins, who scored a team-high 11 points. “But after watching the film of Propel, we thought we had a good chance to win.”

The win sends Avella into the quarterfinals Friday and the setting will be familiar. The Eagles will be back on the same court at Peters Township and playing undefeated and second-seeded West Greene (22-0), the Eagles’ Section 2 rival. This will be their third meeting of the season.

“Naturally, when you lose by 38 points to a team the last time, that’s not who you are expecting to play if you win (in the first round),” Drazich said. “But you play who the schedule says.”

Brianna Lloyd, with 10 points, was the only other Avella player to score in double figures.

California 36, GC Catholic 35:

The two things you have to like about California’s Jordyn Cruse is her sense of timing and ability to adjust on the fly.

Cruse gave California the lead with a layup – her only basket of the game – with 14 seconds remaining and clinched the Trojans’ 36-35 win over Greensburg Central Catholic by making a steal with 2.8 remaining.

California (13-10) will play Clairton (19-3) in the quarterfinals Friday (6:30 p.m.) at Charleroi.

The Trojans overcame a 20-15 halftime deficit by scoring the first 11 points of the second half.

GCC (14-8) regrouped and closed to within 28-25 after three quarters. The Centurions forged a 35-32 advantage when California made it final move in the last 90 seconds. Charlee Petrucci worked inside for a basket, her third of the second half, that cut GCC’s lead to 35-34.

The Centurions then held the ball before Natalie Ward was fouled, but she missed the front end of a one-and-one with 36 seconds remaining. The Centurions went 1-for-8 at the free-throw line in the second half.

California then called a timeout with 21 seconds left but the Trojans didn’t exactly run what coach Chris Niemiec drew up as the final play. And nobody was complaining about the result.

The Trojans inbounded the ball against GCC’s 2-3 zone to Camari Walden at the side of the lane. With a defender behind her, Walden turned and saw Cruse cutting unguarded down the middle of the lane. Her pass led Cruse for an easy layup that gave the Trojans the lead.

“I was supposed to go to the corner,” Cruse explained. “Coach always says to read the court. If the defense is pushing to the corner, then cut to the basket. … We’ve run that play before but I’ve never cut to the basket. The person who was supposed to guard me either went to the low block or the corner.”

Niemec said California got the ball inbounds to the right person in Walden.

“She’s one of the best passers in the high post I’ve seen,” he said. “I am just so proud of this team that I just don’t know what to say. They really battled.

“We were down five at halftime and weren’t making shots. We came out in the second half and made some shots and that got us into a rhythm.”

Makayla Boda was the only California player to score in double figures. She had 12 points. Sydney Smichnick scored six of her eight points in the pivotal third quarter, when the Trojans outscored GCC 13-5.

GCC’s Gia Scala had a game-high 14 points.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today