By RON PONIEWASZ JR.
rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com

The Mohawk High girls basketball team came in determined last night.

That spelled doom from the opening tip for visiting Shenango.

Alyssa Natale’s 21 points led the Lady Warriors to a 65-33 rout of the Lady Wildcats in a WPIAL Section 2-AA contest.

The win secures the third spot in the section for Mohawk (7-4 section, 13-7 overall). Last year, the Lady Warriors were fourth in the section, earning the 25th and final seed in the AA playoffs.

“The one or two seed is very important, but where we are in the program, the next step was to get a higher seed from last year,” Mohawk coach Mike O’Lare said. “The fourth seed in our section, you’re staring at a section winner like we did last year. A three seed gives you the opportunity to compete and get a win.”

The Lady Warriors had to face Section 3-AA champion Bishop Canevin in a preliminary-round game last year, losing 64-27.

“We came in knowing we didn’t want to be a No. 4 again,” Natale said.

Natale had 12 points in the second half. She came in averaging a team-best 13.2 points a game, but just 5.7 in the previous four contests.

“She needed this, she has been struggling and she needed one game to break through before the playoffs,” O’Lare said. “She just lacked a little confidence.”

Said Natale, “I finally got things to work for me after a little slump. Shots were falling tonight.”

Mohawk built a 20-8 lead after one period as Chelsea Brown netted eight of her 18 points in the first frame. Brown finished with a game-high 16 rebounds.

“We thought if we could weather the storm early we might be able to stay in it,” said Shenango coach Chris Vecenie, whose team gave Mohawk a battle in the first meeting before falling 43-33.

“Once you start losing a grip you really start fighting against yourself as the game progresses.”

The Lady Warriors took control with a 14-1 run over a span of 5:30 in the opening stanza.

“It’s always important to start strong,” O’Lare said. “We had that momentum.”

Shenango (0-11, 4-17) got into foul trouble in the second quarter, finishing the half with 14 team fouls. Mohawk, which made 16 of 22 from the line in the first half, was in the double bonus halfway through the second quarter.

“I think a key was we made those foul shots early and the deficit kept growing.” O’Lare said.

The Lady Warriors put the game away with a 13-0 run to open the second quarter for a 33-8 bulge. They led 41-12 at the break.

“We needed to match their intensity early and we didn’t do that,” Vecenie said. “The momentum started building for them and it just kept snowballing.”

Foul shooting has plagued Mohawk the past two years, but the Lady Wildcats made 21 of 32 last night.

“The foul shooting was strong,” O’Lare said. “It’s important to set the press after that second made free throw and we did that.”

Brooke Shasteen contributed 14 markers for the Lady Warriors, 13 in the first half.

Lauren Pruchnic came off the bench to net a team-high eight points for Shenango.

Shenango, which has no seniors, has lost 14 straight games, but Vecenie remains encouraged.

“There’s flashes of brilliance and there’s more of that now than earlier in the season,” Vecenie said. “It’s not going to happen overnight.

“You want it to turn around right away. All you can do is keep focusing and have the girls buy into what you believe in and go from there.”

Mohawk suffered a blow with two minutes remaining when Amanda Shaffer left with a sprained right ankle.

“We may hold her out to be safe,” O’Lare said. “The good thing is we get time to rehab it before the playoffs.

“She’s a big part of what we do.”