NA HANDS NORWIN FIRST LOSS OF SEASON IN BATTLE OF UNBEATENS

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North Allegheny and Norwin combined to win each of the last four WPIAL championships in the largest classification. With both teams entering Friday night’s Section 1-6A showdown at North Allegheny undefeated, it was bound to be another good game. After surviving a series of runs throughout the game, the Tigers were victorious, 55-44, to take sole possession of first place in the section.

Norwin’s only lead of the game was at 5-4 before NA finished the first quarter on a 14-2 run to take a commanding 18-7 lead.

Norwin quickly got back in the game as the Tigers went nearly five minutes before scoring their first point of the quarter. After building their lead back up to nine, the Knights went on a 9-0 run to close out the half, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer by junior Olivia Gribble to tie the game 26-26 at the break. Gribble finished with a team-high 14 points for the Knights.

The halftime break was the perfect time for the Tigers to regroup themselves, as they stormed out of halftime on a 13-0 run to take command of the game.

NA was able to ice the game from the line, going a perfect 9 of 9. Senior Rachel Martindale was right in the mix, converting on all three of her attempts and finishing with a game-high 19 points.

Sophomore Lizzy Groetsch was 4 of 4 from the line, finishing with 11 points. Sophomore Paige Morningstar made both of her attempts from the free-throw line and finished with 10 points.

With the win, North Allegheny improves to 11-0 overall and 4-0 in the section. Norwin falls to 8-1 overall and 3-1 in the section. The Tigers will travel to Pine-Richland for a section match on Monday at 7:30 p.m. The Knights will look to rebounds when they travel to Butler in a section game on Monday at 7:30 p.m.