Mohawk tops Neshannock in OT
Mohawk (54) Vs. Neshannock (46)
Jan 18, 2013
The senior experience of the Mohawk High girls basketball team came through last night.

The Lady Warriors outlasted host Neshannock, 54-46, in a WPIAL Section 2-AA overtime thriller.

“No matter what the situation is, they never lose focus. They always believe they’re going to win a game,” Mohawk coach Mike O’Lare said. “Being down eight or nine, you can always read them and know they can come back. Every time, they seem to rally together and feed off each other and pull these games out.”

Trailing by nine midway through the third quarter, the senior-laden Lady Warriors (7-0 section, 11-5 overall) showed their resolve, adjusting to a stifling Lady Lancers defense by going to a 2-2-1 press.

“We’ve got an advantage over a lot of teams with our seniors,” O’Lare said. “Our girls have been through the battles and you can adjust in the game. They continue to play through it and believe in each other.

“Neshannock had a great gameplan and stuck to it very well for most of three quarters,” O’Lare said. “When we switched to that press, it got the game moving up the floor. They couldn’t have the half-court defense they were using before. It got our game into a flow.”

Neshannock (3-4, 6-8) keyed on locking down Mohawk’s dynamic senior guards, Shelby Brown and Devon Giancola. The gameplan worked for the first three quarters as Brown, the county’s leading scorer, was held to five points. But as the turnovers and pressure mounted in the fourth quarter, the Lady Lancers lost their swagger and their lead as the game went into overtime.

“It’s a tough one to take,” Lady Lancers coach Luann Grybowski said. “I really thought we outplayed them until about the four-minute mark of the fourth quarter. Katie Burrelli was doing a great job on Brown, and Tayler (Grybowski) was on Giancola. Mohawk went to the press, and then we turned it over about six times.”

Brown scored the first five points in the overtime frame as the Lady Warriors never looked back. She finished the game with a team-high 20 points. Paige Ruby was next with 11. Giancola added nine, including a team-leading three 3-pointers.

“Any road win you can get in section play is a great win,” O’Lare said. “It’s very important to get that win and get out of there.”

Madison McHale led all Neshannock scorers with 20 points. Alexandra Fischer followed with nine.

The loss especially was frustrating for Grybowski, as she saw an opportunity to put the first blemish on Mohawk’s undefeated section record slip away.

“This might be one of the toughest losses in my 30 years of coaching,” she said. “I really thought we played well enough to beat them.”

Nightly Roundup
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Mohawk 13 7 9 11 14 54
Neshannock 12 8 14 6 6 46
Box Scores
MOHAWK (54)
Katie Hoover 2 1-2 5
Shelby Brown 7 4-6 20
Lucia Fee 0 1-2 1
Devon Giancola 3 0-0 9
Hannah Morrow 1 2-2 4
Samantha Carr 2 0-0 4
Paige Ruby 5 0-1 11.
Totals: 20 8-13 5.

NESHANNOCK (46)
Katie Burrelli 2 0-0 5
Cassidy Burrelli 1 0-0 2
Erin Warvell 2 0-0 4
Tayler Grybowski 2 1-3 6
Alexandra Fischer 2 3-5 9
Madison McHale 3 13-15 20.
Totals: 12 17-23 46.

MOHAWK 13 7 9 11 14 — 54
NESHANNOCK 12 8 14 6 6 — 46
3-point goals — Mohawk 6 (Giancola 3, Brown 2, Ruby 1); Neshannock 5 (Fischer 2, Grybowski 1, McHale 1, K. Burrelli 1).
JV score: Mohawk 31, Neshannock 20. High scorer: M — Jaki Bender 14; N — Cassidy Burrelli 8.

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