The drought is over for the Shenango High girls basketball team.

Angelina Sibeto scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Lady Wildcats to a 61-47 WPIAL Section 2-AA road win over Laurel.

The victory wrapped up the fourth and final WPIAL playoff berth out of the section for Shenango. The Lady Wildcats (7-4 section, 12-8 overall) are tied with Laurel (7-4, 12-8) for third place. The teams split the season series.

It’s Shenango’s first trip to the district playoffs since the 1996-1997 season.

“We finally got that credible win and it came against a credible team,” Lady Wildcats coach Brian Turk said. “This is huge for our girls. I couldn’t be prouder of the whole team.”

Shenango would have clinched a playoff berth with a win over Laurel or a Mohawk victory over Riverside. The Lady Warriors held off the Lady Panthers, 37-35.

“It was nice to earn our way in,” Turk said. “Now that we’re in, we’re not going to be comfortable. We want another win, so that we get second instead of third or fourth.”

Shenango finishes up section play at 6 p.m. Friday at home against Mohawk (8-3, 14-4). The Lady Wildcats could tie for second place with a win over the Lady Warriors. Mohawk won the first meeting.

Sibeto added 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals for the winners. Samantha Seaburn chipped in with 13 markers and 11 boards, while Carolyn Peterson provided 12 points.

Shenango sealed the win at the foul line, going 23 of 29 from the stripe. Sibeto was 9 of 12 from the foul line in the fourth frame.

“We shot a lot of foul shots,” Turk said. “That was huge and it came from our whole team. It’s big, because it’s late in the season and late in the game. They were able to step to the line with the rubbery legs and knock them down.”

Brooke Dicks delivered a team-high 13 points for the Lady Spartans and Ellen Shaffer supplied 12.

“The ball has to go into the hoop,” Laurel coach Jessica Shevitz said. “We were below 14 percent from the field. There’s not much you can do when the shots aren’t going in.

“They were playing a zone and you have to hit shots. They weren’t bad shots and they weren’t rushed. They just didn’t go in.”

The Lady Spartans visit section-champion Neshannock at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the section finale. Laurel is attempting to climb into second place with a win. The Lady Spartans dropped the previous encounter against the Lady Lancers.

“We haven’t lost two section games in a row yet this season,” Shevitz said. “Hopefully, we don’t start that this late in the season. It’ll be a tough task.

“We have to go to their place and we have to play our best game. We played a great game against them the last time. Hopefully, we’ll do the same thing again Thursday. We have to get back on track and hope that we have a better night shooting.”