How District 10 basketball teams fared in second-round PIAA playoff games Tuesday
SHARON – Northwestern has spent years building a program that could contend not only in the District 10 playoffs but the PIAA tournament as well.
On Tuesday, the Wildcats showed their progress by going toe-to-toe with WPIAL champion Shady Side Academy but fell 62-45 in the PIAA Class 3A girls basketball second round at Sharon High School.
Shady Side (26-2) moves on to the quarterfinals on Friday, while Northwestern ends the season 22-5.
The Wildcats trailed just 13-11 after the first quarter before Shady Side took a 32-22 lead at halftime. Each loose ball or rebound seemed to be just out of Northwestern's reach throughout the game, but the Wildcats hung tough and cut Shady Side's lead to 37-31 midway through the third quarter.
The Bulldogs, however, made enough shots to pull away over the final 10 minutes.
“I think we played an awesome game and had a really good defensive game. Their shots fell and ours didn't,” said Northwestern coach Julia Shipton. “We had some rebounds in our hands that got tipped out right into their hands and the ball literally didn't bounce our way.”
Makayla Presser-Palmer wrapped up her impressive sophomore year with 19 points and nine rebounds, while Taylor Stagl scored 14 and Penn State Behrend recruit Chloe Yazembiak had six for the Wildcats.
Presser-Palmer is up to 1,077 career points heading into her junior season. The Northwestern scoring record is 1,620 by Chandra Phillips. Presser-Palmer has a chance to become the second girls basketball player in Erie County history to score 2,000 points along with Brooke Freeburg of Fort LeBoeuf (2,075).
Karis Thomas led the Bulldogs with 19 points, while Maggie Spell had 16 and Cassie Sauer had 13,
Northwestern says goodbye to a solid group of seniors, including Brooke Miller, Madison Adams, Rylee Schwartz, Stagl and Yazembiak.
“The senior class and I have been through a lot,” Shipton said. “Their freshman year, I was coaching behind a camera screen because of COVID and I was pregnant with my son. We've been through a lot. I've yelled at them and celebrated with them and it's a special group that were role models for the future kids in the program.”
Playoff tracker: Find District 10 high school basketball PIAA postseason results, box scores for March 12-16
Kennedy Catholic girls roll to another win
IRWIN – Kennedy Catholic drilled seven 3-pointers in the first half and held off Portage throughout a 54-43 win Tuesday in the PIAA Class 2A girls basketball second round at Norwin High School.
Kennedy Catholic (22-4) moves on to the quarterfinals on Friday against District 6 powerhouse Bishop McCort, while Portage ends the season 24-4.
The Golden Eagles led 33-16 at the half after erupting for 20 points in the second quarter. Monique Vincent scored 15 of her 16 points in the first half on five 3-pointers, while Tori Harvey and Bella Magestro also made 3-pointers.
Layke Fields then took over underneath for Kennedy Catholic as she scored 14 of 22 points in the second half to help the Golden Eagles secure the win. Harvey had seven points for Kennedy and Magestro added six. Jenna Burkett led Portage with 23 points.
Farrell boys head to state quarterfinals
CLARION – Juelz Johnson and Danny Odem combined for 46 points as Farrell beat Cameron County 69-56 in the PIAA Class 1A boys second round on Tuesday at Clarion University.
Farrell (21-5) moves on to the PIAA quarterfinals on Friday against Imani Christian, while Cameron County ends the season 23-6.
The Steelers led 33-28 at halftime before outscoring the Raiders 36-28 in the second half to secure the win. Odem scored 25 points, including 11 in the third quarter, and Johnson had 21 points, including eight in the third quarter. Dontaye Bell added eight points and Julius Phillips scored seven.
Landon Farren had 15 points followed by Ryan Shaffer with 13, Josh Beer with 12 and Josh Smith scored 11 for Cameron County.
West Middlesex girls end season in second round
WEXFORD – West Middlesex couldn't overcome a first-quarter deficit in a 54-45 loss to Greensburg Central Catholic on Tuesday in the PIAA Class 2A girls basketball second round at North Allegheny High School.
West Middlesex ends the season 20-6, while Greensburg Central Catholic (22-6) moves on to the quarterfinals on Friday.
The Centurions raced out to a 19-5 lead in the first quarter before the two teams played even the rest of the game. Caitlin Stephens led West Middlesex with 24 points and Emma Mild scored eight, while Mya Morgan had 15 points, Jayla Peterson scored 14 and Avery Davis added 12 for Greensburg.
Contact Tom Reisenweber at treisenweber@timesnews.com. Follow him on X @ETNreisenweber.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Northwestern falls to WPIAL champion in PIAA girls basketball playoffs
