Frazier’s upset bid falls short against South Side Area

By MIKE CIAROCHI

For the MV Independent

WASHINGTON – South Side Area made 13 of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter and held off pesky Frazier for a 61-47 win in the first round of the WPIAL Class AA girls basketball playoffs Friday at Trinity High School.

The Commodores gave the fifth-seeded Rams all they could handle for three and a half quarters.

A six-point Frazier run tied the score, 43-43, with 5:39 remaining, but the Rams responded by scoring seven straight points in an 11-2 run that made it 54-45 with about a minute left.

Sierra Twigg capped her 1,000-point career at Frazier with 20 points to lead the Commodores, while junior Kaelyn Shaporka netted a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Twigg added nine boards.

Frazier finished its season 9-14, but coach Winston Shaulis is encouraged about a promising future.

“Certainly, we’ll miss our two seniors (Twigg and Lindsey Somers), but we have a lot of good younger girls who are coming up through the program,” the first-year coach said. “We gave a good team a good game tonight. We didn’t care what our seed was (12) or who we were playing against.

“Even though we are disappointed with the outcome, I’m still proud of how we played.”

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