New Castle girls toppled in Western semifinal tilt

Oakland Catholic ended the Red Hurricanes' season, 54-43.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WEXFORD, Pa. -- Trailing 22-14 at halftime, the New Castle High girls basketball team needed a strong start to extend its season.
Instead, the Red Hurricanes suffered their worst four-minute stretch of the season, missing their next eight shots while Oakland Catholic pounced for a 15-point lead.
The Red Hurricanes (25-5) spent the rest of Friday's Western Pennsylvania Class AAAA semifinal chasing but not catching the Eagles in a 54-43 loss at North Allegheny High School.
"Being down big hurt us," New Castle coach Luann Grybowski said. "Coming out in the third quarter, we turned it over. And then when we would hit a big shot, they would match it."
Sams leads New Castle
Junior Jaleesa Sams led the Hurricanes with 23 points and seven rebounds.
"They just outplayed us," Sams said. "Are they a better team? No. They just came to play and we didn't.
"The first half, the game was pretty close, but in the second half, they were 16-for-20 and we couldn't hit anything," Sams said. "Some of us folded, some of us couldn't handle the pressure, but I guess we have to work on it next year. We didn't reach our mission."
The loss was New Castle's second to the Eagles (30-1) in the postseason. Oakland won the first game, 54-50.
"They killed us on the boards [30-21] and you can't let that happen in a semifinal game," Grybowski said. "And we didn't score. When that happens against a good team, they're going to convert."
Hurricanes led early
The Hurricanes jumped out to an 8-4 lead when Oakland coach Bill Irr began switching defenses.
"We knew that we weren't going to press from the start because we didn't want Jaleesa getting any layups breaking our press," Irr said. "So we waited for them to get a little tired and then we put the press on."
A 3-pointer by Carmela Breslin and basket by Erica Prosser at the end of the first quarter put the Eagles ahead for good.
"Both teams played hard, both teams played well and both got into foul trouble," said Irr, who added that the Eagles' "gameplan was to come in with a zone and to try and keep [Sams] as far away from the basket as possible."
Once the lead grew to double digits in the third quarter, Sams said, "it was a little tough because we were down by so many and they never let up, not once."
Sams credited the Eagles defenders, especially in the second quarter when the Hurricanes were limited to two baskets.
"They went from a man to a zone to a man and forced us to keep switching our offense," Sams said. "That took us out of our game a little bit."
Pulling away
Early in the third quarter, Aysha Jones' putback basket out the Eagles ahead, 24-14. After Prosser made a free throw, Bridget Finnegan and Amanda Sedlack scored for the 15-point edge.
The Hurricanes crept closer when Sams made a free throw and Ryenn Micaletti hit a 3-pointer, but they never got closer than eight.
"We just tried to stay calm because we realized that we still had a chance," Logan Hartman said. "We tried to keep our heads in it. We couldn't get shots off and when we did, nothing was falling for us."
Micaletti finished with nine points and Hartman four.
Jones led the Eagles with 14 points while Finnegan had 10, and Sedlack and Vickery Lauro had eight apiece.
williams@vindy.com