Twice as Nice: Gators Girls Claim Back-to-Back State Basketball Titles

Tournament play is supposed to get more difficult for a team as it advances deeper into a bracket, unless, of course, that team is the 's varsity girls basketball squad, which merely hit its stride in the semifinals and final of this year's state championships, held at The University of Scranton's John Long Center from March 25-27.

After all, St. Gabriel's, which is based in  and is Pittsburgh's representative in these state playoffs, trailed Erie's representative – Saint George Catholic School – at halftime, 14-12, in Friday's quarterfinals before coming back to beat Saint George's in overtime, .

St. Gabe's then met Greensburg's Aquinas Academy Catholic School in Saturday's semifinals and advanced in convincing fashion with a  win in regulation.

Amazingly, things seemed to get easier for the Gators in the final, as they walked away with a second straight state championship after topping Scranton representative St. Clare/St. Paul School, 48-22, in regulation on Sunday.

Eighth-grader Cassidy Walsh led St. Gabe's with 15 points against St. Clare/St. Paul's, followed by teammates and fellow eighth-graders Nicolete Newman and Amanda Larkin, who both added eight points.

St. Gabe's almost made it three straight championships at the state tournament – sponsored by the Catholic Youth Organization – as the Gators lost the 2009 state title game by just two points.

Still, Sunday's victory capped an impressive three-year run for St. Gabe's, which went to the state tournament as the champions of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh.

Over 100 Gators fans made an approximate five-hour drive to watch at least Sunday's state title game, and roughly 50 more fans greeted the team bus as it returned home at 11:30 that night in Whitehall.

2010-11 St. Gabriel's Varsity Girls Basketball Roster

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