St. Gabe's Girls Back in State Championship Game

After basically coasting through the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh championships on its way to a third straight diocesan title, the ’s varsity girls basketball team have found things a bit harder to come by in the state playoffs.

Still, just like that past two years, St. Gabriel’s is back in the state championship game after surviving the first two rounds of the state playoffs on Friday and Saturday at The University of Scranton’s John Long Center.

St. Gabe’s lost the 2009 state championship game by two points before winning it all last year, and after two wins this weekend, the Gators are poised for back-to-back titles at the state tournament, which is sponsored by the Catholic Youth Organization.

The Gators, based in , are Pittsburgh’s representatives in these state playoffs. They trailed Erie’s representative – Saint George Catholic School – at halftime, 14-12, in Friday’s first round before tying Saint George’s at the end of the second half, 26-26, and forcing overtime.

St. Gabe’s took care of business in the extra period and won, 34-28. Eighth-graders Nicolete Newman and Cassidy Walsh scored 13 and 10 points, respectively, to lead the Gators into Saturday’s second round, where they met Greensburg’s Aquinas Academy Catholic School.

The Gators found things a bit easier against Aquinas Academy and won, 48-27, after leading at halftime, 21-16. Eighth-grader Amanda Larkin led St. Gabe’s with 16 points against Aquinas, followed by Nicolete’s 11 and Cassidy’s eight.

The Gators will now play the tournament’s Scranton representative – St. Clare/St. Paul School – in the state final on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Check back at baldwin-whitehall.patch.com for updates.

(Doug Newman, a friend of St. Gabriel’s School, contributed greatly to this report.)