Our Lady of the Sacred Heart’s boys and girls basketball teams faced tall tasks Monday night in their respective brackets of the WPIAL Tournament.
In both cases, the Chargers came up a bit short.
OLSH’s boys team, facing a Sewickley Academy front line that measured 6-foot-8, 6-foot-8 and 6-foot 5, couldn’t neutralize that size disadvantage and wound up falling 56-30 to the Panthers in the semifinals of the Class 2A tournament at Peters Township High School.
Meanwhile, the Chargers’ girls team had to contend with Quaker Valley’s 6-4 senior standout Mimi Thiero, and she delivered in a big way, scoring 26 points in the Quakers’ 41-25 win over visiting OLSH in the battle for fifth place in the Class 3A tournament.
Both OLSH teams will see their seasons continue; the boys will host Clairton at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the WPIAL tournament third-place game.
The Chargers girls team will move on as the WPIAL’s No. 6 representative in the PIAA tournament. First-round action is scheduled to begin Friday, March 6.
In the boys semifinal game at Peters Township, OLSH saw its 16-game winning streak end. The Chargers, now 20-5, hadn’t lost a game since falling to Riverview of Sarasota on Dec. 23 in the Tampa Holiday Tournament. OLSH had only lost once to a WPIAL team prior to Monday night; that came in a 69-46 setback to Neshannock on Dec. 12.
But second-seeded Sewickley Academy’s size was a bit too much to handle, as the Panthers featured a pair of 6-foot-8 underclassmen in Adam Ikamba and Mamadou Kane and 6-5 senior Lucas Grimsley.
OLSH’s 6-7 Patrick Altmar made his presence felt but it wasn’t enough as Sewickley Academy – ranked No. 2 in the state by TribLive – improved to 24-1 on the season. The Panthers’ only loss came in a 54-53 overtime decision to Roselle Catholic of New Jersey on Feb. 9.
OLSH coach Mike Rodriguez said his team did what it could “but they’re extremely long,” he said of the Panthers.
“Pat (Altmar) played outstanding and did the best he could. We tried to take advantage of some things on offense, but they were there to stop it every time.
“Their length bothered us.”
Ikamba and Drew Steals each scored 12 points for Sewickley Academy, Grimsley added 11 and Kane finished with 10. Altmar led OLSH with 12.
Sewickley Academy held OLSH scoreless through the first half of the opening quarter and led 12-3 after the first eight minutes.
The Chargers’ Jake Johnson scored five quick points at the start of the second quarter to trim the deficit to 14-8, but OLSH would never get closer as the Panthers went on a 14-7 run to close out the quarter and build a 28-15 halftime lead.
Sewickley Academy used another run – this one 12-2 – to open the third quarter, and that 40-17 lead proved plenty to salt away the win.
Rodriguez said he thought his team played extremely hard, despite the results.
“The effort was there, but we came up short,” he said. “(Sewickley Academy’s) a fantastic team – they’re well-disciplined and well-coached. They’re going to go far in the tournament.”
GIRLS BASKETBALL
Quaker Valley 41, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart 25
Mimi Thiero scored a game-high 26 points and eclipsed the 2,000-point mark for her career in helping the Quakers down the Chargers in the Class 3A fifth-place game at Quaker Valley High School.
Thiero, Quaker Valley’s standout 6-foot-4 forward, scored 10 of her team’s first 17 points, helping the Quakers build a 17-8 halftime lead. OLSH was limited to five, three and four points in the first three quarters before putting together a 13-point fourth quarter.
But by then the game was out of reach.
Rowan Winter scored eight points for OLSH, which fell to 19-7 heading into the state playoffs. Keira Watson added 10 points for Quaker Valley, which has beaten the Chargers three times this season.
Photos by Mike Longo Jr.
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