By Joe Sager
New Castle News

BEAVER FALLS — Sometimes, all-star talent is too much to overcome.

That was the case last night for the Neshannock High girls basketball team. The Lady Lancers battled fiercely, but could not overcome Seton-La Salle in a 60-43 loss in a WPIAL Class AA quarterfinal at Geneva College’s Metheny Fieldhouse.

The win put the Lady Rebels (17-7), who are the defending WPIAL and PIAA champs, into the WPIAL semifinals again. They meet Carlynton, a 58-46 winner over OLSH, on Tuesday.

“Survive and advance. Against a good team, it’s not going to look like a work of art because they are pretty good,” Seton-La Salle coach Spencer Stefko said. “They are not going to let it look like a Picasso, so sometimes you have to paint by numbers. They did a good job turning it into that kind of game.”

Neshannock (19-4) takes on OLSH on Monday at 6:30 p.m. at Ambridge in a state playoff play-in bracket game. Since the WPIAL gets seven of its eight quarterfinalists to the PIAA tournament, the Lady Lancers are guaranteed another game after Monday’s as well to determine seeding.

“It’s great for the kids and great for the program. It’s a really quick turnaround, though,” Neshannock coach Luann Grybowski said. “They played and played their hearts out. They did everything I asked them to do and that’s all you can expect as a coach.”

After falling behind, 10-5, with 3:38 to go in the first quarter, the Lady Lancers made things interesting. They closed the frame with a 6-2 run to come within 12-11 at the buzzer.

The Lady Rebels went up 14-11 to start the second, but Cassidy Burrelli and Regan Moorhouse both tallied hoops to give Neshannock a 15-14 advantage with 5:58 left in the first half.

Then, Seton-La Salle showed why it won two championships last season. The Lady Rebels rattled off a 15-0 blitz in 2:54. By the time Madison McHale’s bucket ended the spree with 1:48 to go, the Lady Lancers faced a 29-17 deficit.

“We kept it close; we played with them for 12 minutes,” Grybowski said. “They went on that big run and I called two timeouts within that time. We just couldn’t stop it.”

Seton-La Salle’s swarming defense and quickness overwhelmed Neshannock. The Lady Rebels’ offense was tough to contain as well. The team boosted its lead to 32-17 at halftime and did not relent in the second half.

“That’s the blessing I have in talented kids. When they buy into constant pressure, you hope you can get a couple spurts,” Stefko said. “It’s really nice to have those types of players because it covers up some of the things we were able to expose in our half-court defense.”

Four players reached double figures in scoring for Seton-La Salle. Shaunay Edmonds led the way with 15 points, while Cassidy Walsh had 14, Nicolete Newman added 12 and Morgan Henderson finished with 11. Walsh (Pitt) and Newman (Cleveland State) are NCAA Division-I recruits.

“Every one of our kids was mismatched. It was difficult,” Grybowski said. “They made it difficult for us to run our offense. They trap well and they have the players. I am proud of the effort. They played hard and never gave up.”

McHale led Neshannock with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting, while Tayler Grybowski finished with 16 markers. Grybowski was 5 of 10 from the floor, including 5 of 9 from behind the arc.

Madison Jones led the Lady Lancers with six rebounds and three steals. Grybowski pulled down five boards with three steals.

Seton-La Salle was 22 of 47 from the field, while Neshannock drained 15 field goals in 35 attempts.

(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)