TJ girls reach title game with upset
Will play undefeated Chartiers Valley for 5A championship on Saturday
For the first time in almost 40 years, Thomas Jefferson’s girls basketball team will have a chance to play for the WPIAL championship.
If senior point guard Jenna Clark plays anything like she did against Oakland Catholic Wednesday night, the Jaguars had better reserve some space in their trophy case.
Clark scored a game-high 30 points while junior Alyssa DeAngelo added 21 in Thomas Jefferson’s 68-55 upset win against the No. 2 seed Eagles (20-4). Having knocked off the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the WPIAL playoffs, the No. 6 seed Jaguars (19-6) will take on No. 1 seed Chartiers Valley (24-0) Saturday afternoon at Petersen Events Center.
“It’s really amazing,” Thomas Jefferson coach Lisa Fairman said. “Words really can’t express the emotions that I’m feeling right now, just how proud I am of these girls.”
Clark took control of the game from the opening possession, driving into the lane at will and drawing fouls on almost every attempt. She outscored Oakland Catholic with 11 points in the first quarter, powering the Jaguars to a 17-8 lead.
The Eagles began mounting a comeback in the second quarter, and the teams went into halftime tied, 25-25.
But DeAngelo came out of the break aggressively, and almost every shot she took went in. A couple of long jumpers gave Thomas Jefferson a 33-29 lead, then she buried another 3-pointer to make it 40-34 late in the third quarter. Shaylor Williams and Graci Fairman followed with 3-pointers to give the Jaguars a 48-34 lead heading into the final quarter.
Clark scored 12 of her 30 points in the last eight minutes, making four free throws in a row to stretch Thomas Jefferson’s lead to 52-40. After drawing another foul, Clark clapped in her defender’s face and was whistled for a technical foul. But she made both of her free throws.
The Jaguars led 60-47 with less than four minutes left, and a few more trips to the free-throw line sealed the win and Thomas Jefferson’s second trip to the WPIAL championship game in school history.
“It means everything, and I think that’s a huge thing that we’ve been thinking about,” Clark said. “We knew that it’s never been done. We’re a big football school, we’re a big school for that, and girls basketball hasn’t really been recognized yet.”
Other semifinal
Mackenzie Wagner was hot. Penn Hills was not. That was the story of Chartiers Valley vs. Penn Hills.
Wagner, a senior guard, scored 25 points to lift Chartiers Valley to a 45-37 victory against Penn Hills at Fox Chapel.
Wagner made five 3-pointers and scored 14 of Chartiers Valley’s first 18 points of the game. She finished with five field goals, all 3-pointers. Penn Hills shot 25 percent (13 of 52) for the game and made only 1 of 12 3-pointers.