The Penn-Trafford Warriors (7-4) suffered a tight loss against undefeated Oakland Catholic (12-0) in a section game for Class 5A basketball on Jan. 8, 59-44.

     P-T was the underdog to the undefeated Oakland Catholic Eagles who are the No. 1 seed in the section.

The Warriors started strong defensively as sophomore Kamryn Pieper blocked two of Oakland Catholic’s shots in the first quarter.

     Both teams accumulated numerous fouls at the start of the game, with the Eagles’ sophomore Josie Fontana collecting two fouls within the first two minutes. The Eagles picked up a total of five fouls in the first quarter, compared to P-T’s three. 

     The Warriors ended the first quarter down by five, with only one sub coming onto the court. P-T rotated between seven players for the entirety of the game. The Warriors were also missing sophomore guard Torrie DeStefano due to a season-ending MPFL injury and chipped femur.

     Oakland Catholic’s full-court press stumped P-T at the start of the second quarter. After trapping the Warriors, senior Raygen Hintemeyer of the Eagles scored a deep three to make the score 16-8 for O.C..

     After another easy score by Oakland Catholic’s junior London Creach, P-T called the first timeout of the game to stop the Eagles’ rush.

     The Warriors rebounded in the third quarter, with senior Olivia Pepple scoring 14 of her 23 points during the quarter.

     “We were a lot more aggressive and confident on offense,” Pepple said. “This allowed us to make a run and put Oakland Catholic in a position they weren’t used to.”

     Following a timeout called by Oakland Catholic in the middle of the third to try and stop P-T’s 8-point scoring streak, Pepple performed a behind-the-back dribble through Eagles defenders. Only down by three, the momentum shifted, and the Warriors were within striking distance.

     Despite this, the Eagles maintained their lead, and the score was 42-38 leading into the final quarter.

     Creach, Hintemeyer and freshman Kaylee DeAngelo of the Eagles shot lights out in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of their 17 total points in the quarter.

     P-T stayed in zone defense throughout this time, even when Oakland Catholic’s last four scores were 3-pointers.

     The Warriors lost the game 59-44, but are still looking to make playoffs and hope to recover from this loss.

     “We’re going to take a lot of the good things we did this game and build off of them,” Pepple said. “We’ll also look at the bad things and make some changes in order to improve for next game.”

     The Warriors travel to McKeesport High School to take on the Tigers on Jan. 11.