Tigers escape West Allegheny with 43-42 win
North Allegheny traveled to West Allegheny High School for a midweek non-section matchup with the Indians. In a back-and-forth contest that came down to the final seconds, Vange Balouris hit a free throw late to give the Tigers the 43-42 win on Wednesday night.
The home team was the aggressor, jumping out to a 10-0 lead in the first four minutes. NA responded with a 12-3 run for the remainder of the quarter highlighted by a Rae Shanahan buzzer-beater to finish the frame, and North Allegheny trailed 13-12 after a quarter of play.
The second quarter was a much tighter contest with neither team making a run. The Tigers got another buzzer-beater to go into halftime, this time by Natalie Kinross, and NA led 27-23 at the break.
It was a very defensive third quarter as neither team saw double digits. The frame was a stalemate and North Allegheny led 35-31 going into the final period.
Things stayed tight in the fourth quarter. The Tigers led 42-40 with under a minute to go. West Allegheny got a layup to tie the score 42-42, but fouled Balouris with three seconds left sending her to the line. Balouris made one of two, the Indians wouldn’t get a shot off on their final possession and NA escaped with the 43-42 win.
Balouris finished with 17 points. Rosalia Varlotta added 10 points while Maddie Williams had seven points.
North Allegheny improves to 6-8 overall. West Allegheny falls to 9-7 overall. On Friday, the Tigers return to action when they host first-place Seneca Valley at UPMC Court at 6:30 p.m. This is the first game of a girl/boy doubleheader and will be broadcast on the North Allegheny Sports Network.
Girls Basketball Summary at West Allegheny, 1-22-25
| GAME SUMMARY | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCORE BY QUARTERS | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| North Allegheny | 12 | 15 | 8 | 8 | 43 |
| West Allegheny | 13 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 42 |
