WPIAL Class 6A girls final preview: North Allegheny looks to cap off undefeated season with another title

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 2, 2018 | 12:24 AM

When Peters Township junior Makenna Marisa takes the floor at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday night, she might have a flashback.

As a sixth-grader, Marisa frequently practiced at the Pete for her AAU team, which was guided by Spencer Stefko. Stefko, currently the coach of North Allegheny, is hoping to lead his No. 1 Tigers to an undefeated season and back-to-back Class 6A championships, but Marisa will represent the biggest hurdle in that path.

Marisa, who is averaging nearly 23 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks, is unquestionably the focal point of the second-seeded Indians on both sides of the floor.

Peters Township coach Bert Kendall highlighted some the attributes that have led to Marisa receiving offers from a half dozen Division I programs already.

“She's a complete player. She's such a good dribbler; she can play the point, but she's 6-foot tall,” Kendall said. “What makes her special is that she's such a team player. She's naturally unselfish.”

While Marisa has received the headlines, the contributions of her teammates have been just as paramount to the team's success in reaching this stage. Junior Isabella Mills and senior Lillian Young both average in double figures and were named first-team and second-team all-section performers, respectively. Additionally, Olivia Ziegler has grown into a confident player during her senior campaign, while freshman Jordan Bisignani has developed rapidly.

The Indians' improvement in recent weeks is evident to Stefko, whose Tigers edged Peters Township, 67-54, in a nonsection contest in early February.

“They're all playing with confidence now,” he said. “When we played them earlier in the year, it seemed like they had two or three kids playing with confidence, and two or three kids still learning.”

Since then, Peters Township defeated section-champion Norwin to close out the regular season, and then knocked off Hempfield and Bethel Park in the postseason. In the 55-39 victory against the Black Hawks — the third time Peters Township prevailed against its section foe this season — the Indians' defense was instrumental.

“We know we can score, so if we can hold teams down with our defense, we can be in just about any game we play,” Kendall said.

While Stefko knows first-hand the greatness of Marisa, his Tigers have proven to be a balanced and deep team all season. North Allegheny, which won its first official WPIAL crown last season, has consistently been ranked as one of the top teams in the state in 2017-18.

Tigers junior Rachel Martindale, who along with Brynn Serbin was also on the AAU team with Marisa, has paced North Allegheny at 15 points per game. Seniors Madelyn Fischer and Piper Morningstar both also average double-digit scoring, while the other two starters, senior Courtney Roman and freshman Lizzy Groetsch, are just shy of 10 points per game.

North Allegheny often utilizes five reserves too, with Serbin, who started earlier this season, pacing the bench attack.

“She's one of those kids who has a knack for coming off the bench,” said Stefko, who is in his third year at North Allegheny, following successful tenures at Seton LaSalle and Chartiers Valley.

For Peters Township to capture the first title in team history, the Indians will have to rebound at a high level, according to Kendall. He also believes that if the game goes to the wire, his team might hold the advantage over North Allegheny, which has easily dispatched of most of its opponents.

“If it gets close, we know what we do,” Kendall said. “We probably have more experience in close games.”

Sean Meyers is a freelance writer.

Class 6A girls

No. 1 North Allegheny vs No. 2 Peters Township

7 p.m. Saturday, Petersen Events Center

On the air:Tribhssn.triblive.com

North Allegheny (24-0)

Coach: Spencer Stefko

No. Player, Pos., Ht., Yr.

13 Courtney Roman, G, 5-8, Sr.

14 Rachel Martindale, G, 5-9, Jr.

21 Piper Morningstar, G, 6-0, Sr.

32 Lizzy Groetsch, G, 5-11, Fr.

55 Madelyn Fischer, G/F, 5-11, Sr.

Peters Township (21-3)

Coach: Bert Kendall

No. Player, Pos., Ht., Yr.

2 Jordan Bisignani, G, 5-5, Fr.

10 Lillian Young, G/F, 5-10, Sr.

20 Makenna Marisa, G/F, 5-11, Sr.

21 Isabella Mills, G/F, 5-11, Jr.

22 Olivia Ziegler, G, 5-7, Sr.

Title history: North Allegheny won the inaugural Class 6A title last year, the first in program history. The Tigers finished as the runner-up six times, including in 2016. North Allegheny won a basketball title in 1972 in the Western Pennsylvania Girls Athletic League, but girls basketball championships were not recognized by the WPIAL until 1973. Peters Township has never captured WPIAL gold, and the Indians only previous title appearance came in 2008.

Stat leaders: NA: Martindale 15.1 ppg; PT: Marisa 23.0 ppg

Notable: North Allegheny is one of just two WPIAL girls teams still undefeated. … The Tigers have four players who average between 3.3 and 3.0 assists per game — Groetsch, Martindale, Serbin and Morningstar. … Stefko has guided a team to the WPIAL finals five straight seasons — 2016-18 at North Allegheny, and 2014-15 at Seton LaSalle. … The Indians hold victories over the No. 1 seed in 5A (Trinity) and the No. 1 seed in 4A (Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic). … Prior to becoming the Peters Township head coach, Kendall was an assistant coach at Bethel Park. Two of his current assistants, Samantha Loadman and Katie Kendall, were prolific scorers during their playing careers with the Black Hawks.

Predicted winner: North Allegheny

Tags: North Allegheny, Peters Township