The New Castle High girls basketball team ended the suspense at Hopewell last night.

Shelby Rodgers had 16 points in the Lady ’Canes’ 56-48 victory that clinched the WPIAL Section 2-AAA title.

“We finally did talk about it after the game,” New Castle coach Luann Grybowski said. “They still weren’t happy (with how they played).

“They have an expectation level and that’s great. They didn’t celebrate. I told them now we can celebrate, we’re section champs. But they didn’t even cheer.”

Hopewell trailed by six after three quarters and couldn’t get any closer than five in the final frame.

New Castle (8-1 section, 17-2 overall), ranked No. 2 in the WPIAL in Class AAA by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, secured the victory at the foul line, sinking nine of 12 fourth-quarter attempts.

Rodgers was 5 of 10 from the floor with six rebounds. Kaylynn Waters contributed 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting with six boards and LaShauna Brothers added 12 markers and five rebounds. Jazelle Dennis handed out a game-high nine assists.

Elise Farris paced the Lady Vikings (5-4, 14-6) with 15 points.

Plagued by turnovers throughout the season, the Lady ’Canes committed just 10 with only one in the first half.

“We took care of the ball the majority of the time,” Grybowski said.

New Castle was 21 of 44 from the floor, compared to 19 of 52 for Hopewell.