By Ron Poniewasz Jr.
New Castle News

There will be just one section champion in WPIAL Section 2-AA girls basketball this year.

Mohawk made sure of that last night.

Shelby Brown netted 13 of her game-high 18 points in the second quarter to lift the Lady Warriors to a 35-26 section win over visiting Shenango.

The win secures the section title outright for Mohawk (11-1 section, 15-6 overall). It’s the program’s first section championship since the 2000-2001 season.

The Lady Warriors owned at least a share of the section with last week’s 54-33 win over New Brighton. Beaver Falls (10-2, 13-8) finishes in second place because of Mohawk’s win over Shenango.

“You don’t want to share that, whatsoever,” said Lady Warriors coach Mike O’Lare, who is in his seventh season at the helm. “We just did everything we could to force it out of the WPIAL to make a decision now (for seeding).

“The girls don’t want to share that championship with anyone. We’re hoping to get one of the eight byes (in double-A) and get some respect in the section.”

The WPIAL will announce the boys and girls basketball playoff pairings at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Doubletree Hotel in Green Tree.

Brown, one of eight seniors on Mohawk’s roster, was held to just nine points earlier in the year against the Lady Wildcats.

“I hit one shot, and then it just came one right after another,” Brown said. “We got our adrenaline up. We were pressing a lot. We were getting turnovers and we were pushing it up the court. I was just feeling it in the second quarter.

“We’ve been wanting the section title. The thing we wanted the most is as a group of seniors to put 2013 up on the banner. Tonight was amazing because we finally got to do that.”

The Lady Warriors held a 9-4 advantage after the first quarter, but built a 26-8 halftime advantage behind Brown’s second-quarter effort.

“Shelby has pretty much done that all year,” Shenango coach Brian Turk said. “I knew she was bound and determined because we held her to nine points earlier in the year.”

Nine of Brown’s points in the second frame came in the first 90 seconds. She capped the quarter with a field goal at the buzzer.

Mohawk stretched the lead to 30-8 with 4:28 left in the third. But the Lady Wildcats clawed back. The Lady Warriors turned the ball over six times in the first half and six more in the third quarter.

“It was our denial pressure off the ball,” Turk said of his team’s adjustments. “Our girls were sagging off to far in the first half.

“In the second half, we denied that pass from Shelby so that it stayed in her hands a little bit longer.”

Shenango (0-12, 7-14) scored the final 10 points of the third period to close to 30-18. Mohawk scored the first two field goals of the final stanza to regain control.

“We got it to a point where it was manageable and that’s what we were trying to do each quarter,” Turk said. “We wanted to make it manageable to where the last few minutes of the fourth quarter we had a shot.”

The Lady Wildcats got no closer than the final margin. Shenango was 2 of 12 from the foul line, compared to 2 of 8 for Mohawk.

“What I really liked is we got to the foul line, but we just didn’t cash in,” Turk said. “That was a big part of the game. I thought if we could just make our foul shots, we had an opportunity.”

Mohawk was just 4 of 16 from the field in the second half compared to 7 of 36 for Shenango.

“We can’t afford letdowns in a quarter, especially in the third quarter, and especially two weeks from now,” O’Lare said. “I know we came with that energy of the gymnasium to start. In the third quarter and fourth quarter, we didn’t play very well. We were just pretty lethargic. You can’t have letdowns in the playoffs.”

Brown added six rebounds with her 18 points. Paige Ruby chipped in with 12 markers, six in each half, and a team-best seven boards.

“She’s tough inside,” O’Lare said of Ruby. “She’s a big kid and she’s got a lot of strength to her game. If she gets position on you, she’s going to get a shot. Now we’re working on finishing those shots.”

Angelina Sibeto recorded eight points to lead the Lady Wildcats and Samantha Seaburn was next with seven.

Mohawk’s girls JV team posted a 31-28 decision over Shenango. The win upped the Lady Warriors’ mark to 11-0 in the section and 18-0 overall.

(Email: rponiewasz@ncnewsonline.com).