There are times when things just don’t seem to go your way.
The Seton Hill women’s basketball team had that happen Monday in the opening round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoffs.
No. 6 Pitt-Johnstown used a big second quarter and hot 3-point shooting to upset No. 3 Seton Hill, 78-62, at the McKenna Center.
The Mountain Cats (13-16) will advance to the quarterfinals Wednesday at No. 2 Gannon. Seton Hill ended a successfully season at 21-11.
Pitt-Johnstown opened the second quarter on a 14-0 run to break a 13-all tie behind its strong 3-point shooting. The Mountain Cats shot 61.9% (13 for 21) from beyond the arc for the game including 75% (8 of 12) in the first half when they built a 38-23 lead at halftime. Pitt-Johnstown outscored Seton Hill, 24-10, in the second quarter.
Peyton Alazaus hit six 3-pointers and finished with 18 points. Makalyn Clapper (17 points) and Hayden Taylor (15) each had three 3-pointers.
“We know we have that capability, it hasn’t always been that way, but we have some kids who can knock it down from deep,” Pitt-Johnstown coach Mike Drahos said. “They stepped up in a big situation. I was proud of them.
“The second quarter was a good quarter for us. We held (Katie) Nolan down (he chuckled). I guess we did.”
Nolan scored 31 points in the first meeting and 23 the last meeting. She finished this game with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“They deserve credit,” Seton Hill coach Mark Katarski said. “They played really well. It was playoff basketball.”
Seton Hill, which trailed by as many as 20 points in the third quarter, rallied with a 14-0 run to pull to within 47-40 late in the third quarter and had a chance to trim the lead to five.
But Pitt-Johnstown finished the quarter strong, and an Alazaus 3-pointer at the buzzer pushed the lead back to 56-44.
Seton Hill never was able to recover.
Christina Frye led the Griffins with 18 points.
Late in the game, Katarski pulled his seniors and graduate students from the game and gave them hugs.
“I couldn’t be prouder of my team.” Katarski said. “We often remember the first and last thing as things that happen, but this was a group that won 20 of 25 games at one stretch and had votes in the top 25 poll.
“It was an amazing team. The hurt they have in the locker room was more representative than any win or loss they’ll ever have. Honestly, it was the most enjoyable team I’ve had around.”
Katarski loses eight players from the squad, so he will be looking to build a new group of the 2022-23 season.
