By Dan Irwin
New Castle News

PLUM — Granted, this isn’t the way you want to finish the season.

Still, while a 68-25 loss last night to Burrell in the first round of the WPIAL Class AA playoffs at Plum High School may have brought the year to a close for the Shenango High girls basketball team, the Lady Wildcats’ story is far from over.

With every player back from a squad that ended a 17-year postseason drought and even won a preliminary-round contest, Shenango (13-10) is eager to put last night’s lopsided loss in the rear-view mirror and head down the on ramp to 2014-15.

“I’m proud of where we came from,” sophomore Samantha Seaburn said. “No one expected us to be where we are today. We came together as a team and we’re a family now.

“We know we have everyone returning. Ashleigh has another year, and everyone else has two or three more years together.”

None of this year’s squad was born the last time the Lady ’Cats made the playoffs — a fact, sophomore Angelina Sibeto said, that was not lost on her generation as it came up through the elementary and junior high school ranks.

“Since we were young, we knew it (the program) wasn’t that good.” she said “We knew coming up last year as freshmen that we wanted to change the program because our group of girls has been together for a long time.”

But while there’s been a lot to like about the 2013-14 campaign, last night’s 43-point loss also demonstrates just how much work remains if Shenango is to break into the ranks of the WPIAL elite.

“It’s definitely a learning experience,” Shenango coach Brian Turk said of the loss. “I know they want to be that team some day and be 23-0, and they could be.”

Burrell (23-0) is the No. 2 seed in the Class AA playoffs and showed why early on. The Lady Bucs bolted out to a 17-2 lead after one quarter, capitalizing on a decided height advantage. Jessica Cercone, a 6-foot senior, scored eight of her team-high 16 points in the first eight minutes.

“Size-wise we just didn’t match up, and that definitely showed, especially the first half,” Turk said. “They got out on us and it was going to be tough for us to catch up.

Shenango appeared to be setting down in the second quarter, with Burrell outscoring the Lady ’Cats by just a 19-12 margin. But Burrell came out at full boil in period three, allowing Shenango just four points — none after the 5 1/2-minute mark. The Lady Bucs, meanwhile, went on a 17-0 run to wrap things up early.

Defensively, Burrell’s pressure forced Shenango into 20 turnovers, while the Lady Bucs themselves committed just nine.

“We didn’t show the discipline tonight that I like to see,” Turk said. “I know that’s something that’s going to come as we grow as a young team. Their speed and size really took over that third period, and once we were down, we didn’t pick ourselves up like we normally do and get that little spark like we’ve done all year.”

As much as the Lady ’Cats probably would like to forget about last night’s game, junior Ashleigh Presnar promises they won’t.

“We saw what really worked against them and what didn’t,” she said, “so we have to build on the positive side of what we did well and learn from our mistakes, and get better.”

(Email: d_irwin@ncnewsonline.com)