CLASS A GIRLS
Who: Farrell (18-5) vs. Quigley Catholic (20-3).
What: PIAA playoffs, 2nd round.
When: 6 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: New Castle Area High School.
Key Players: Farrell - D’Asia Chambers, 5-10 Sr. guard (22.9); Marissa Carry, 5-6 Soph. guard (15.4); Jalisa Archie, 5-9 Soph. forward (6.6); Deidre McKenith-Williams, 5-10 Sr. forward (6.0); Tyra Robinson, 5-8 Soph. guard (6.0); Johntae Scott, 5-5 Fr. guard (1.7). Quigley Catholic - Taylor Verrico, 5-8 Sr. forward (18.6); Allison "Allie" Brooks, 5-7 Sr. guard (15.2); Jennifer DelTondo, 5-4 Soph. guard; Drew Meeker, 5-5 Soph. guard; Ashley Fink, 5-6 Sr. guard; Angela Skonieczny, 5-8 Sr. foward; Natalie Delon, 5-9 Fr. forward.
Bonus Shots: Coach Ed Turosky’s Farrell High Lady Steelers have put together an impressive season after only going 4-18 last year. ... Turosky has compiled 157 wins and 95 losses over his 10 seasons at Farrell. ... Farrell captured the District 10 Region 1 title with a perfect 8-0 mark and then hammered Eisenhower (41-29) in the D-10 semifinals before edging Kennedy Catholic (49-48) for the D-10 championship. ...Farrell has won the D-10 Class A title 3 out of the 4 years its been in D-10 after leaving the WPIAL. ...In Farrell’s PIAA opener on Saturday, Turosky’s squad routed Coudersport (73-31) as Carry rifled in 28 points, Chambers bucketed 19 and Archie added 10. ... Chambers, who will play college hoops at St. Bonaventure next season, has 1,419 career points. Carry, who won the D-10 title with Kennedy Catholic last year, is already at 622 as a sophomore. ...Chambers, whose lowest output this season was 9 points vs. Greenville, broke Jill Platteborze’s school record (46) for single-game scoring with 50 against Rocky Grove on Jan. 4. ... Farrell’s 5 losses came vs. Greenville (51-43 and 60-53), Wilmington (48-42), West Middlesex (43-40) and Warren Harding (69-30). All of those teams, except WM, made the playoffs. Greenville lost Saturday in the PIAAs, defending state champ Villa Maria ousted Wilmington in the D-10s and Harding finished at 17-4 after Shaker Heights pulled off a huge upset (62-51) in the Division I Warrensville Heights Regional. Shaker Heights came into that game with a 10-11 record and Harding was seeded 2nd. ... The farthest Farrell has gone in the PIAA playoffs under Turosky was to the Elite 8 in 2007-08, which was the year the talented trio of Kaveeda Myers, Tieshia Stubbs and Chloe Stewart (all 1,000-point scorers) were seniors. That year they lost to Mt. Alvernia. ... Prior to that year, Farrell was eliminated 3 straight years in the 2nd round - to Claysburg-Kimmel in 2006-07, Serra Catholic in 2005-06 and Bishop Carroll in 2004-05. ... Farrell was an honorable mention team in the latest state rankings by the Harrisburg Patriot-News while Quigley Catholic is ranked 7th. ... Dan Donawitz is 131-95 in 10 years at Quigley (13 seasons overall). Quigley High School is in Baden, Pa. (north of Aliquippa). ... The Lady Spartans shared the WPIAL Section 1-A title with Rochester as both went 9-1. ... Quigley’s 3 losses this season were against Franklin Regional (62-50) in the Pine-Richland Christmas Tournament, Rochester (43-42) and Vincentian Academy (62-52) in the WPIAL semifinals. ... The loss to Rochester snapped a 38-game section winning streak. Vincentian went on to win the WPIAL Class A championship with a 57-31 victory over North Catholic. ... In the 1st round of the WPIAL playoffs, Quigley routed Western Beaver (69-20) and then ousted Serra Catholic (43-35) in the quarterfinals. ... In the PIAA playoffs on Saturday, Quigley defeated Shade, 67-45, at the Sports Center on the campus of Pitt-Johnstown. In that game, Verrico scored 15, DelTondo had 14, Brooks had 13 (3 treys) and Meeker added 11. Quigley held a slim 16-14 lead after the 1st quarter and outscored Shade 19-11 in the 2nd quarter to pull away. It was Quigley’s first PIAA playoff victory since 1989. Shade was the District 5 runner-up (lost to Tussey Mountain in title game). ... Brooks and Verrico both went over 1,000 career points in January. ... Quigley’s offense averages 64 a game, the best in the WPIAL among Class A girls teams. After Saturday’s win vs. Shade, Donawitz told our sister paper, the Johnstown Tribune Democrat, "We push the ball up and down the court the whole game, every game." ... Last year, Quigley finished 20-4 and was ousted in the 1st round of the PIAA playoffs with a 53-45 loss to Tussey Mountain. ... Farrell and Quigley were section opponents in the WPIAL before Farrell made the jump to District 10. The last time the 2 teams met was during the 2005-06 season when the Lady Steelers swept Quigley (57-35 on Jan. 5 and 51-31 on Feb. 2).
