Where were you the last time North Catholic lost a section game in girls basketball?
Well, if you can remember what you were doing on Jan. 11, 2016, then more power to you. For the rest of us, it feels like another lifetime ago when the Trojanettes last fell to a section foe. And despite moving back up to Class 4A, it has been more of the same for North Catholic this season, with a 10-0 record in section play and 15-3 overall entering Thursday’s game at Valley.
The Trojanettes will carry an 89-game section winning streak into that matchup, and many are already expecting them to wrap up a seventh consecutive unbeaten season in their section. But of course, this is a program with higher goals, including winning a record 22nd WPIAL championship — a feat that would even North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann and her mentor Don Barth with 11 WPIAL titles apiece.
The Trojanettes won a Class 3A title last season before falling in the PIAA semifinals, and this year’s team has a pair of key pieces back who weren’t able to play last season in guards Ava Walker and Sarah Loughry. Add to that another year of experience for returning starters Alayna Rocco, Dacia Lewandowski, Anna Waskiewicz and Tori Drevna, and you have the recipe for a true juggernaut in Class 4A.
“I think getting Sarah and Ava back after a year, I fully expected us to take a while. Everyone has to get used to their roles,” Rottmann said. “I don’t think we’re where we need to be yet.”
Rocco, a 5-11 junior and Harvard recruit, is again the team’s leading scorer at 16.8 points per game. Lewandowski (10.6 ppg) and Waskiewicz (10.4 ppg) also average double figures, and Drevna averages 9 ppg to go with a team-leading 4.5 assists per game. And although the team has dealt with injuries to several key players this year, the return of Walker and Loughry has provided plenty of depth at just the right time for North Catholic.
“Coach Molly hasn’t lost a section game in a while, so it’s a lot of pressure, but we’re doing well,” Walker said. “On our team, there’s not really one player you can say who does everything. We have a bench. All our players know each position on the court. During practices, when we run our plays, each person has to know all the spots. … I feel like I can play everywhere.”
Walker is a 5-9 guard and Loughry a 5-6 guard who burst onto the scene as freshmen starters during the 2020-21 season. Both were thrust into key roles with the Trojanettes graduating almost all of their key players while coming off four consecutive WPIAL titles. Along with fellow freshman Rocco and sophomores Lewandowski, Waskiewicz and Drevna, they made it all the way back to the WPIAL championship game before losing to section-rival Mohawk.
Walker then tore her ACL and meniscus in a fall league game in September 2021 and missed her entire sophomore season, while Loughry tore her ACL in a game last December. Both watched from the sidelines as their teammates captured WPIAL title No. 10 for Rottmann, with Rocco, Lewandowski, Waskiewicz and Drevna playing starring roles.
Loughry came back just before the start of the season, and Walker finally made her return on Dec. 19. Walker, whose great-grandfather Cornelius “Connie” Simmons was an NBA player for the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks in the 1940s and ’50s, wasted little time getting back to her old ways of filling up the stat sheet. She recently finished with a game-high 21 points in a 59-40 win against Freeport on Jan. 23.
“It feels great [to be back]. The first games back, there were of course bumps in the road, but I see the game differently now,” Walker said. “I learned a lot sitting on the bench. I got to see the game from the same point of view as my coaches. … I wasn’t playing, but I kept learning about the game. Seeing all the points of view made me grow as a player, honestly.”
Rocco and Lewandowski both earned all-section honors in each of the past two years, and they comprised one of the top duos in the area last season. As soon as Walker and Loughry came back from their knee injuries this year, though, Lewandowski went down with an ankle sprain in the very next game. Lewandowski returned against Greensburg Salem on Monday after missing about a month, but Rottmann said she is playing at less than 100% for now.
With seemingly another player getting injured every time one comes back, Rottmann is just thankful to have the luxury of a deep and balanced lineup where versatility reigns supreme.
“I just think that whole group together, with their skills and their knowledge of the game and just their different abilities, it just adds some depth,” Rottmann said. “That would be huge [to get them back to full strength].”
After traveling to Valley on Thursday, North Catholic will return home to host Pine-Richland for a special “Alumni Day” event at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. The Trojanettes will have dozens of former players and alums in attendance to celebrate 50 years of girls basketball at the school, which first began admitting female students in 1973. The game will also serve as a chance to honor the legacy of Barth, the legendary coach who died in 2017. Rottmann said Barth’s wife will be in attendance for the festivities.
“He’s the reason that I’m here,” Rottmann said. “He started all that. If you just see what people write about him and how they feel about him and how they talk about him, he’s been a huge impact on their lives and on the program. It’s certainly a lot about honoring him as well as the program in general.
“No matter what we do, you can’t [live up to it]. Nineteen years in a row, he was in the WPIAL championship. His numbers were astounding.”
Rottmann may not want to admit it, but North Catholic is in the midst of its own dynasty under her watch, with no end in sight any time soon. Now in her 25th season at the helm at her alma mater, the coach with 10 WPIAL championships and more than 500 wins is simply focused on getting the most out of this year’s group and helping them succeed.
After facing the Rams, North Catholic will then finish out the regular season next week with matchups against Knoch and Oakland Catholic, arguably the hottest team in the WPIAL. Needless to say, Rottmann will have a great idea of where her team stands going into the postseason after those two clashes — and no matter what, these Trojanettes will be a proven and battle-tested bunch with plenty of big-game experience.
“I do think we’re trending in the right direction,” Rottmann said. “We have Pine-Richland, who is doing well. And then Knoch in our section, and then Oakland Catholic is going to be a big game to end our season.
“I think we’re all probably striving for success as a way to honor [Barth], because he was very driven. He did everything the right way. So I think that’s a big motivator. Not tying [his record] or getting there, but just winning for him.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
