RECAP
University of Pittsburgh recruit Yacine Diop scored 10 points, pulled down 23 rebounds and blocked six shots, and WPIAL champ Seton-La Salle won its second PIAA-AA girls’ basketball in the last three years on Friday afternoon compliments of a 58-50 win over previously undefeated District 12 champ Neumann-Goretti in Hershey’s Giant Center
Seton-La Salle opened the season as the No. 1 team in PennLive’s state rankings. Neumann-Goretti was No. 1 for the last month. Both teams were ranked No. 1 or No. 2 the entire season.
The Rebels will finish the season atop the heap after beating the Saints for the third PIAA title in program history; Seton-La Salle also won a state crown in 1984.
Neumann-Goretti finished its season 29-1 overall, with a Philadelphia Catholic League championship under its belt.
THE DIFFERENCE
Diop.
The Senegal native was simply sensational.
The 5-10 jumping-jack forward had a dozen rebounds at the half and she swatted four shots in the second half for Seton-La Salle, which finished the season 27-4 overall.
Neumann-Goretti had no answer for Diop on the boards.
“I challenged myself because they’re a talented team and they have players who can jump and compete," Diop said. "So I knew I had to rebound. And I kept telling myself: They’re not going to stop me.”
COLD SHOOTING
Neumann-Goretti trailed by as many as 14 points — 37-23 in the third quarter — and rallied valiantly to take a 46-44 lead with 5:27 to play on a pair of free throws by Sianni Martin.
It was the Saints’ only and last lead.
Seton-La Salle went ahead for good, 48-46, when junior point guard Cassidy Walsh made two free throws with 2:50 to play.
In full-blown comeback mode, Neumann-Goretti, which had three starters foul out down the stretch, misfired on 3-pointer after 3-pointer in the waning minutes.
The Saints, who trailed at halftime for just the second time this season, shot 5-for-30 from 3-point territory and just 16-for-66 from the floor overall.
Meanwhile, Seton-La Salle’s Nicolete Newman, who scored a game-high 17 points, iced the game with six fourth-quarter foul shots. She also buried a pair of 3s in the third, when the Rebels opened the second half with a 9-2 blitz, upping its lead to 14.
Newman had a 3 and a run-out and Shaunay Edmonds had a pair of breakaway layups during the spree.
Emma Awobajo scored 13 points for Neumann-Goretti, including a clutch 3 during the Saints' fourth-quarter run.