Only one team finishes the WPIAL Class AAAA girls basketball playoffs with a winning celebration, and two-time defending champion Mount Lebanon looked like the favorite to claim the prize again after defeating Pine-Richland, 59-33, in a first-round matchup Wednesday night at Baldwin High School.
“We were getting the shots, but we just couldn’t get them to fall on a night when Mount Lebanon shot well,” Pine-Richland coach Molly Copple said.
The Rams finished the season at 8-11 overall, including victories in three of their final five games.
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Senior guard Abbie Altman and senior forward Lisa Rader led Pine-Richland with eight points each, and junior forward Kara Peters added seven points.
“Unfortunately, we lose a great group of seniors after this game,” Copple said. “We will miss them. They contributed a lot to the program during their careers.”
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In addition to Altman and Rader, the playoff loss marked the final game for Pine-Richland senior guard Kaleigh Jackson, guard Taylor Berresford, forward McDarragh Minnock, and guard-forward Kelly Keenan.
Pine-Richland played its way into the tournament by defeating Norwin, 53-45, in a preliminary-round tournament game Friday night at Gateway.
Mount Lebanon senior guard-forward Madison Cable, a Notre Dame basketball recruit regarded as one of the top all-around players in the state, finished the game with 15 points. Cable averaged 17.1 points per game this season. Blue Devils junior guard-forward Emma Pellicano also tossed in 15 points against the Rams.
Mount Lebanon (18-5) jumped out to a 20-8 lead in the first quarter and extended it to 30-14 at halftime, but Pine-Richland tightened up its defense in the second half.
“Once our transition game picked up, we played with them the rest of the way,” Copple said.
The Pine-Richland boys (13-6) open the Class AAAA playoffs against Connellsville (19-2) at 8 tonight at Hempfield High School gym.
The Rams boys finished the regular season with a four-game winning streak that included a 56-52 upset over top-ranked and previously unbeaten Shaler.