Seneca Valley girls miss WPIAL basketball championship after nearly upsetting Canon-McMillan
MT. LEBANON — Seneca Valley had top-seeded Canon-McMillan on the hook.
The Raiders just couldn’t reel the Big Macs in.
Fueled by an electric fourth quarter by senior guard Natalie Hambly, No. 5 Seneca Valley cut a 36-27 deficit down to 40-39 — and had the ball with less than a minute to play — before suffering a 47-42 loss in the WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball semifinal game Tuesday night at Mt. Lebanon High School.
“Our girls never quit. They kept fighting. I’m proud of them,” SV coach Dorothea Epps said.
Hambly, Seneca Valley’s all-time scoring leader, produced the Raiders’ first 14 points of the final period. She sank a deep 3-pointer to pull her team within 38-34 with 3:02 to play. She nailed another long trey with 1:44 left, trimming the deficit to 40-39.
When the Big Macs (20-4) missed a shot at the other end, Seneca Valley regained possession with 1:25 on the clock.
“We weren’t playing for a last shot at the end,” Epps said. “Our plan was to go down, find a way to score, then call timeout to set up our defense.”
But that score didn’t come.
Big Macs senior guard Madison Clair stepped in front of a pass inside and stole the ball with 42 seconds left. Fellow senior Lauren Borella sank her first free throw with 37.8 seconds left but missed the second. A scramble for the rebound resulted in a jump-ball call, and possession went to Canon-Mac.
Clair sank two free throws with 30.7 seconds on the clock, extending the Big Mac lead to four. Borella added two more free throws with 15.2 seconds left.
Reece McFadden sank a trey for Seneca Valley with 3.1 seconds left, but the Raiders (14-7) were out of time by that point.
Hambly wound up leading all scorers with 21 points.
“She’s a fantastic player who is capable of taking over a game,” Big Macs coach John Fontana said. “We were worried about that coming in. Fortunately, we were able to hold them off.”
Hambly explained her fourth-quarter explosion matter-of-factly.
“We were down by nine points. We gotta go,” she said. “I was gonna do anything I could to get us back in this game.”
Epps was not surprised by Hambly’s late-game heroics.
“It was that time of the game,” the coach said. “This was a big moment, and some of our girls were a bit uneasy in that situation. You look to your leaders in times like that.
“Natalie is a cool customer. She just plays. She went after it.”
Canon-McMillan’s victory marked the program’s first trip to to the WPIAL 6A title game. The Big Macs will face Norwin — a 46-28 winner over Upper St. Clair — at 5 p.m. Saturday at the University of Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center.
“I told the girls that dreams really do come true. You don’t have to go to Disney for it,” a smiling Fontana said.
Seneca Valley will play Upper St. Clair in the third-place game at 7 p.m. Thursday on the Panthers’ floor for the final WPIAL qualifying spot in the PIAA tournament.
McFadden had 12 points, Brooke Dufford five rebounds and three assists, Makayla Canty five rebounds for the Raiders.
Clair had 15 points, Brooke Stanton 13, Borella 11 points, three steals and three assists for Canon-Mac. Faye Saunders had six rebounds and five assists.
Canon-Mac sank 11 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter. Seneca Valley sank all eight of its free throws on the night.
Both teams had 10 turnovers, and the Raiders had a 20-18 rebounding edge. The lead changed hands eight times in the first half, and neither team ever held a double-digit lead.
“We went toe-to-toe with them in all phases,” Epps said. “This gives us momentum going into that (play-in) game. Our girls realize we have a pretty good team that can play with anybody.”
“We’ll be back in the gym tomorrow,” Hambly said. “We’re not done.”
SENECA VALLEY 42
Reece McFadden 4-9 2-2 12, Makayla Canty 3-9 0-0 7, Ella Omasits 0-0 0-0 0, Natalie Hambly 6-14 6-6 21, Brooke Dufford 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor Dixon 0-1 0-0 0, Erica Rebovich 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 14-35 8-8 42.
CANON-McMILLAN 47
Izabella Bobitski 0-1 0-0 0, Madison Clair 3-7 8-8 15, Samantha Miller 2-5 0-0 4, Lauren Borella 2-2 6-10 11, Faye Saunders 2-6 0-0 4, Brooke Stanton 6-8 0-0 13. Totals: 15-29 14-18 47.
Seneca Valley 12 7 6 17 — 42
Canon-McMillan 10 11 9 17 — 47
3-point goals: Seneca Valley 8 (McFadden 2, Canty, Hambly 3), Canon-McMillan 3 (Clair, Borella, Stanton)
Thursday: Seneca Valley at Upper St. Clair, 7 p.m.
