Two-pointers are fine and all, but North Allegheny sharpshooter Rachel Martindale prefers to knock down a 3-point shot when the opportunity arises.
“They’re just an extra-enthusiastic shot,” said Martindale, a sophomore guard. “They give you momentum and everything else and that helps in a back-and-forth battle.”
The Tigers certainly had reason to be excited Thursday night. Martindale connected on 3 of 6 3-point attempts and finished with 21 points as Class 6A No. 2 North Allegheny avenged its only loss this season by beating Pine-Richland, 55-49, in a Section 1 showdown to hand the top-ranked Rams their first loss of the season.
As a team, North Allegheny, was 7 of 18 from behind the arc. Just as important was free-throw shooting. North Allegheny (16-1, 6-1) made 12 of 14 and finished the game by making eight in a row shortly after Pine-Richland had fought back to within a point midway through the fourth quarter.
Hailey Zeise added 13 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals for the Tigers. Piper Morningstar also made a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 12 points.
Defensively, the Tigers opted not to press the action, as they typically do, but rather sat back in half-court sets, determined not to allow the Rams to penetrate. Pine-Richland (17-1, 6-1) settled for long-range shots 24 times, but only made seven of those.
“We’re used to shooting a lot better than we did tonight,” said Pine-Richland coach Tom Reighard. “But we’ll get better from this game. These kids will respond well to this loss.”
So who developed North Allegheny’s brilliant defensive game plan? It wasn’t the coaching staff.
“There was zero coaching done tonight,” North Allegheny coach Spencer Stefko said. “[The players] came up with the game plan during the week.”
Pine-Richland senior guard Amanda Kalin was held to 11 points. She began the game as the third-leading scorer in the WPIAL averaging 24.7 points per game.
The last time Pine-Richland lost a game was in the second round of the WPIAL playoffs last season to North Allegheny, who beat the Rams three times. Reighard and his squad would love to have a playoff rubber match this season.
“I’m sure we’re going to see them again at some point later in the playoffs, hopefully,” Reighard said.
North Allegheny raced to a 17-9 first-quarter lead, but the Rams rallied within two, 28-26, at halftime. The Tigers controlled the game for most of the first half, but Pine-Richland took a brief lead when Taylor Brenner hit a corner 3 to give the Rams a 26-25 edge. The Tigers’ Rachel Martindale answered on the next possession with a 3-pointer, and North Allegheny took a lead into the locker room.
The score was tied three times in the first half and the lead changed hands four times. North Allegheny’s biggest lead was 10 points, 19-9, early in the second quarter.
First Published: January 27, 2017, 5:00 a.m.