New Castle forced 38 turnovers in a Section 2-AAA decision over Blackhawk.

The Lady ’Canes (2-1, 10-1), ranked No. 4 in the WPIAL in Class AAA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, had troubles of their own handling the ball, committing 22 miscues.

“I don’t know if it could have got any uglier,” New Castle coach Luann Grybowski said. “We were sloppy and I can’t put my finger on it.

“We’d force a turnover and we either missed a layup or turn it over. When you shoot twice as many shots as the other team and you don’t finish it’s mind-boggling.”

New Castle went scoreless for the first five minutes of the contest but trailed just 2-0 before building a 15-9 buffer after one stanza.

Shelby Rodgers netted a game-high 21 points with 14 rebounds, seven steals and five assists. She was 7 of 20 from the floor.

JaNia McPhatter was next with 13 markers, 10 boards, four steals and was 5 of 14 from the field.

“I thought Shelby played well; she didn’t shoot well but she played well defensively,” Grybowski said. “JaNia played a good game, too.”

Carrie Dvorsak paced the Lady Cougars (1-2, 4-9) with 11 points.

The Lady ’Canes were 20 of 62 from the field, compared to 15 of 34 for Blackhawk.

Second place will be on the line in section play at 7:30 p.m. Monday when Hopewell invades the Ne-Ca-Hi Field House. The Lady Vikings had their 46-game section winning streak snapped last night by Ambridge, 41-34.

Hopewell, ranked No. 3 in the WPIAL in Class AAA, has won the section crown four years in a row, including back-to-back state championships in 2006 and 2007.

“They are the class of the section,” Grybowski said of Hopewell. “They’ve had a lot of success down there the last four years and we’re going to have to play hard to beat them.

“We can’t continue to play the way we’re playing.”

Ambridge (3-0, 6-4) is atop the section standings and handed New Castle its lone setback.