Tigers avenge early season loss, outduel top-ranked Knights 52-45

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by Jonathan Spina

On January 3, the Norwin Knights put together a dominant performance and defeated the North Allegheny Tigers 53-32 on their home floor. On Thursday night at UPMC Court, things were much different as North Allegheny shot the ball much better than the first matchup and played smothering defense en route to a 52-45 win in section play against the top-ranked team in 6A.

The first quarter started very tight with both defenses coming to play. The Tigers went on a mini 6-0 run getting back-to-back three pointers from Lydia Betz and Caroline Henderson to jump out to a 13-9 lead. Norwin would settle the water but after a quarter of play North Allegheny led 15-13. The second frame is where NA started to gain some separation as they started the quarter on a 10-0 run and outscored the Knights in the quarter 15-5 and took a 30-18 lead and the momentum into the locker room.

The third quarter saw more dominance from the Tigers as they extended to their biggest lead of the game at 17 points, leading 43-26 going into the fourth quarter. In the final frame, as expected, Norwin made their push. The Knights comeback effort was spearheaded by sophomore Kendall Berger who really came alive scoring 14 of her 16 points in the second half. Norwin started the quarter on a 12-2 run to cut the Tigers lead to 45-38 but with about 90 seconds remaining, Jasmine Timmerson got a steal and was able to go coast to coast and finish an-and-one in traffic to give the North Allegheny the momentum back. The Tigers were able to fend off the pesky Knights escaping with a 52-45 win.

Betz led all scorers with 20 points. For her efforts, she was named the Wright Automotive Player of the Game. Timmerson added 17 points.

For the fourth time in the last five seasons, North Allegheny and Norwin have split the season series with both teams winning on their home floor. The win improves North Allegheny to 11-4 overall and 5-1 in Section 1-6A. With the loss, Norwin falls to 14-3 overall and 5-1 in section play. The win also kept the Tigers 61-game home win streak against WPIAL opponents alive.

North Allegheny will be back in action on Saturday, at Bethel Park where they will participate in the Joey Fabus Memorial Classic with an opponent and time to be determined.

Girls Basketball vs. Norwin, 1-26-23

GAME SUMMARY
SCORE BY QUARTERS1234FINAL
Norwin13581945
North Allegheny151513952