Bears no match for focused Eagles

By Jose Negron

jnegron@yourmvi.com

The Serra Catholic girls basketball team looked like a group that was focused and determined to advance in the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs Thursday night. 

The top-seeded Eagles used a balanced scoring attack and a stingy defensive effort to overwhelm and roll past No. 9 Winchester Thurston, 63-34, in a quarterfinal matchup at Penn-Trafford High School. 

On offense, senior Rayna Andrews set the tone for the Eagles (17-3), scoring a team-high 22 points and collecting 14 rebounds for the double-double. Grace Navarro (12) and Rian Watson (10) also finished in double figures, while the duo of Nicole Pawlowski and Chloe Pordash added eight and seven points, respectively. 

On the defensive side of the ball, Serra was relentless. The Eagles forced 32 Winchester Thurston turnovers, including 21 in the first half. 

“It was a total execution of the gameplan,” said Serra Catholic head coach Bill Cleary, whose team showed little indication that it was playing in its first meaningful game in 12 days. 

“We had a long time to prepare for this game, so we watched film and spent a lot of time defensively preparing. I think it showed because we created turnovers and we made them go one shot and out.” 

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