By JON GERAMITA
jgeramita@ncnewsonline.com

Give the Mohawk High girls basketball team a pass on this one.

Three days after clinching a WPIAL playoff berth, the Lady Warriors played without a sense of urgency last night and suffered a 54-22 Section 2-AA contest against Riverside at home on Senior Night.

“We played like we had a hangover,” Mohawk coach Mike O’Lare said. “We had two bad practices this week and we played exactly like we practiced.”

If the Lady Warriors (5-7 section, 10-13 overall) want to make a legitimate run in the playoffs, they will have to shoot better than last night’s 7-for-44 (16 percent) performance from the field.

Kelly Eichenlaub’s 3-pointer in the first quarter and Teresa Westover’s layup in the second were the only Mohawk baskets in the first half. Riverside closed the second quarter with a 16-2 run for a 26-8 halftime lead.

It didn’t help that Riverside’s defense was trapping, pressing and getting turnovers and deflections.

“I was really pleased with the defense, especially in the first half,” Lady Panthers coach John Wolf said.

Riverside’s Amy Gatnarek made it 47-18 midway through the fourth quarter, prompting O’Lare to begin subbing in JV players.

Eichenlaub scored six points off the bench to lead the Lady Warriors. Westover was next with five.

Carly Schubert and Tory Laughner led the rebounding effort as each grabbed eight.

Gatnarek scored 12 of her game-high 15 points in the second half while adding nine rebounds. Brooke Mulneix had 14 points and seven rebounds, with Perkins adding nine points and eight rebounds.

Riverside (10-2, 16-7) finishes up the regular season as section co-champion with Neshannock (10-2). Beaver Falls (9-2) can also share a piece of the crown if it beats fifth-place New Brighton tonight. Mohawk finishes fourth.

“We set a goal this year to repeat as section champions, so this meant a lot to us,” Wolf said. “This, hopefully, will bring us some momentum going into the playoffs.”

The Lady Warriors, though, still have a chance to redeem themselves in the playoffs.

“Mike’s done a great job,” Wolf said. “I was worried coming up here tonight. Best of luck to them.”

O’Lare’s main concern entering the playoffs is his guard play. Leading scorer Alyssa Natale, point guard Kelly Fox and Eichenlaub, the top guard off the bench, are all sophomores.

“Sometimes they play excellent together and sometimes they play like sophomores,” said O’Lare. “We’ll go as far as they take us.”

“(The team) will be nervous and be anxious, I’m sure,” he continued, “but we’ll all be ready, we have to be.”

The WPIAL boys and girls basketball pairings will be announced 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Embassy Suites in Coraopolis.