BY CORY ISENBERG
BUTLER — North Star’s appearance Tuesday night in the second-round of the PIAA Class AA playoff game against the top-ranked Villa Maria Academy girls was bittersweet.
The Cougars came out on the losing end of a hard-fought 55-34 battle at Butler High School, but it was one of the first times all season when their opponents did not evoke the mercy rule.
“I thought we played very, very hard,” said an emotional North Star coach Ed Danel. “We left it out on the floor. Villa Maria is very good. We struggled to get our shots off, and that’s a credit to their defense. I thought they did a nice job on Chelsea (Danel). Our offense could never get in sync because they put a lot of pressure on us. When you don’t get shots, you don’t get many points. We worked extremely hard on defense.”
Villa Maria coach Scott Dibble said his team also struggled offensively.
“When you get to the playoffs, the games get closer,” said Dibble, referring to the mercy-rule games in which his team has been involved.
Emily Lohr topped the North Star scoring with a game-high 19 points while Breann Putman added nine for the Cougars.
“We just wanted to go in as a team and to contain them and play the best defense we played all year against them and give it our all,” Putman said. “Our motto coming into this game was ‘Respect all and fear none’ and we played our hearts out. We’re a team that doesn’t quit. All 17 girls, including those on the bench, we are a team that stays together.”
North Star (25-2) led just once in the contest, 3-1 at the five-minute mark of the first quarter on a Lohr 3-pointer. After that Villa Maria went on a tear, getting eight of Kayla McBride’s 17 points as well as scoring from four other players as the Victors took a 17-6 lead.
The Cougars won a moral victory in the second quarter, outscoring the District 10 champions 10-9 to trail by 10 at halftime, 26-16.
“I thought we struggled in the first half shooting the ball,” Dibble said. “We’re a pretty good shooting team, and I said at halftime that our shots were bound to start falling, and they did. We were a little more patient offensively in the second half, and we sort of wore them down.
“They were playing a sagging 1-2-1 zone and basically daring us to shoot it. We had looks, but if you don’t make shots, it creates havoc.”
The Victors opened the second half by forcing six straight North Star turnovers and converting on the other end to 34-17 lead at the 3:02 mark. One of Putman’s three 3-pointers in the game broke the scoreless streak of the Cougars, who ended the third trailing 40-20.
Villa Maria, which took its starters out with 2:20 left, outscored the Cougars 15-14 in the fourth.
The Victors, who did not miss many shots in the second half, also got 10 points from Ashley Prischak. Villa Maria outrebounded the Cougars, 33-26 with McBride, the Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year, grabbing nine. Lohr had seven for North Star.
Despite the loss, Coach Danel was proud of his District 5 champion squad.
“We’ll take away great memories of playing in the Sweet 16 for the second year,” he said. “There are a lot of other teams that wish they could be here. We’ll have memories of our 17 players and all their hard work. Words can’t express how I feel emotion-wise. It’s been wonderful.
“This group of seniors helped to lead us to 25 wins with all the support of the underclassmen. We’ve had this group since third and fourth grade, and it’s just amazing from the Windber Leagues on up through junior high, it’s just a wonderful group of girls. They are going to be missed.”
Villa Maria (25-2) will play either Marion Center or Seton LaSalle on Friday.
“I’m happy we’re moving on,” Dibble said. “I give Coach Danel and his team a lot of credit, they’ve been together a long time, and he told me this was his last game coaching. He’s a class act. He’s done a great job with those kids.”
