Eagles get wings clipped

By JOSE NEGRON

jnegron@yourmvi.com

Second-seeded Serra Catholic fell short in its bid for the program’s fifth WPIAL title as it suffered a 54-44 loss at the hands of top-seeded Neshannock in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game at North Allegheny Friday. 

The Eagles (16-1) trailed by eight at halftime before cutting their deficit to one with around five minutes to go in the fourth quarter. 

In the final four and a half minutes, however, Neshannock (17-2) outscored Serra by a 15-6 margin to clinch its second WPIAL championship in the last three years. The Lancers previously won the 3A title in 2019. 

“It just got away from us at the end,” Serra Catholic head coach Bill Cleary said. “We had some breakdowns when we needed to not have breakdowns, but it was a tough game. I have no problem with how hard we played. We busted our butts and they did, too. That’s a great team we played.” 

Facing a stingy Serra Catholic defense that had only allowed 37 points per game entering Friday, Neshannock head coach Luanne Grybowski said she thought if the game stayed in the 30s, her team might be in trouble. 

“The name of the game is we had more points at the end,” Grybowski said. “(I thought) if we could get into the 40s or 50s, we’d be good to go.

“Serra has a really nice team and they’re well coached. They have different kids who step up and I think they did a great job, too.” 

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