Mohawk girls mow down another undefeated opponent, earn trip to Hershey

By: Don Rebel
Monday, March 22, 2021 | 11:03 PM

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The good news for Mohawk girls basketball is that the team is going to Hershey to play for the PIAA Class 3A championship.

The bad news is that its opponent on Thursday, West Catholic, has already tasted defeat this year.

The WPIAL champion Warriors knocked off their second straight undefeated opponent on the Road to Hershey on Monday with a 74-58 victory over District 6 champion Forest Hills.

The Rangers were a perfect 20-0 coming into the semifinals, just as Punxsutawney was 19-0 when it faced Mohawk in the state quarterfinals.

“We honestly didn’t even talk much about it,” Mohawk coach Mike O’Lare said of playing back-to-back undefeated teams. “We have played six straight lose-and-you’re-done games. If you add in last year, this group has played 11 in a row and hasn’t lost yet in the playoffs.”

Both of the Warriors’ opponents tasted defeat by 16 points each thanks to three-headed scoring machine monster.

In the quarterfinals against Punxsutawney, seniors Paige Julian, Hannah McDanel and Nadia Lape combined for 56 points.

On Monday, the three combined for 67 points.

“That was the best performance of their career on the night we needed it the most,” O’Lare said. “They’ve individually played that well, but not collectively in one time in one game. We needed all of it.”

Home court was no advantage for Mohawk early on as Forest Hills raced out to a 6-0 lead. However, Mohawk scored the next 10 points.

After the Rangers claimed a 12-10 advantage on a 3-pointer by Maddie Cecere, senior Abigail Shoaff answered with a 3-pointer that put Mohawk up for good.

“I don’t think Abby came out of the game at all tonight,” O’Lare said. “If you’re not coming out of the game, you’re in there because you are doing something right. Abby got her hands on loose ball after loose ball. Abby does all the little things we need her to do.”

The game opened up a bit in the second quarter. After a total of 27 points were scored by both teams in the opening eight minutes, the Warriors scored 27 points themselves in the second quarter to take a 42-35 lead into the locker room.

The game became a grind in the third quarter as neither team broke into double-digit points for the quarter.

“I don’t know what it was (to start each half). I felt like we just couldn’t do anything right there,” O’Lare said. “Every loose ball we’d get, we’d take a dribble and dribble off somebody’s foot.”

One advantage Forest Hills had that kept the game close until the fourth quarter was on the offensive glass where they routinely got second and third opportunities on a possession.

“We felt like all night we could score. We were just struggling with how we are going to defend them,” O’Lare said. We stayed in our zone all night and made a few adjustments, but mostly it was rebounding the ball. It wasn’t a coaching thing. It was just getting on them to get in there and rebound their first shots.”

Forest Hills cut the Mohawk lead to five points in the first minute of the fourth quarter, but the Warriors outscored the Rangers 23-12 the rest of the way.

“I thought they were faster than us,” Forest Hills coach Carol Cecere said. “They beat us down the floor at times. They were just faster than us. I thought in the third quarter when it was 42-40, I thought it we could have made a jump at that time and taken the lead, maybe it could have been a different outcome.

“We just couldn’t at that point buy an inside bucket, foul shot or anything. They’re a good team.”

McDanel led Mohawk (19-4) with 24 points while Lape scored 22 points and Julian, who battled foul troubles, scored 21 points.

Forest Hills (20-1) was led by senior Jordyn Smith with 20 points.

Mohawk had its state playoff run interrupted a year ago by the covid shutdown. Now the Warriors are headed to the state championship game for the first time in school history. They will face District 12 champion West Catholic.

“I don’t know how you would explain it,” O’Lare said about the emotions of the moment. “I’m 42 years old, and I’ve been waiting my whole life to try to get there, so we’re going to enjoy this together at the same time for the first time.

“And I won’t have to buy a ticket this time, I don’t think. All I know is those kids will be ready to play when the ball goes up at 5 o’clock on Thursday.”

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