By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News

The Shenango High girls basketball team put it together in the fourth quarter last night.

The Lady Wildcats turned up the defensive pressure and the offense came alive in the final eight minutes. The recipe added up to a 56-48 WPIAL Section 1-AA road win over Laurel.

Shenango trailed 36-32 after three quarters.

“We needed the fourth quarter to rally and win,” Lady Wildcats coach Brian Turk said. “We were able to pick it up there in the fourth. “I didn’t think we played our best defense tonight. We’ll take the win. It was a good, key win. I just thought we came out a little slow and rusty and we were sluggish early. But, we were able to get some momentum.”

The win keeps Shenango (5-4 section, 10-7 overall) alone in fourth place by two games over Beaver Falls (3-6, 6-10) for the fourth and final playoff berth. The Lady Tigers did win the first meeting on their home floor, 55-47.

The rematch is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday on Shenango’s home court.

“We have Union first (tomorrow), then we’ll concentrate on Beaver Falls,” Turk said. “That game will make or break it for the playoffs for either team.”

Laurel turned the ball over 28 times.

The Lady Spartans (2-8, 7-12) led throughout the game, including 12-9 after one quarter and 26-18 at the half. But the Lady Wildcats were 13 of 22 at the foul line in the fourth quarter to overcome the deficit.

“The 24 points in the fourth quarter is tough,” Laurel coach Jessica Shevitz said. “We just can’t seem to finish.

“We had three good quarters. We’ve been hanging with most of these teams until halftime. But we just can’t seem to find a way to finish. They came out in a press in the fourth quarter and we had some struggles getting into our offense.”

Said Turk, “We did what we had to do to get the ball in the hoop in the fourth quarter; it was a good local battle.”

Angelina Sibeto supplied a team-high 16 points and a team-best five assists. Jacqui Baker was next with 14 markers and 10 rebounds, while Carolyn Peterson provided 11 points.

“Baker hit some key jump shots for Shenango,” Shevitz said. “She was a difference maker. She played well and hit some big shots.”

Ellen Shaffer and Diana Pontius notched 16 points each to lead Laurel. Shaffer grabbed seven rebounds. She has 698 career rebounds, setting the school’s all-time record for rebounds, passing Lisa Dicks’ mark of 692.

Pontius drained five 3-pointers to push her season total to 34. The 34 single-season 3-pointers broke the school’s old mark of 31 set by Nicolette McCormick. The five single-game trifectas tied the school’s old mark set by Deanna Shaffer.

“It’s frustrating, disappointing and heartbreaking,” Shevitz said of the loss. “All of those great things happened and you’re happy for the girls. And then we gave it away late.”