03/14/25 Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski / Central Cambria's Alaina Sheehan has the ball tipped away by Our Lady of the Sacred Heart's Libby Gallick.

By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

IRWIN — Central Cambria’s girls basketball team exceeded expectations all season whether the Lady Red Devils were qualifying for the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference playoffs, earning the No. 2 seed in the District 6 Class 3A playoffs or shocking previously unbeaten River Valley to win that championship.

Central Cambria won so much that anything started to seem possible, especially after the Lady Devils cruised in their first two PIAA playoff games.

But Friday night against WPIAL third-place finisher Our Lady of Sacred Heart in the PIAA quarterfinals, it wasn’t until most of the people in the gymnasium at Norwin High School finally gave up on the Lady Devils that they truly turned the switch and nearly completed a final-minute rally before falling, 47-43.

“We didn’t have the start that we wanted,” Central Cambria coach Brittany Bracken said. “They shot the ball very well. We had a couple miscommunications and found ourselves in a hole, but we didn’t quit. We made some adjustments, and I’m very proud of my girls for playing until the final buzzer sounded, and that’s a credit to how hard they worked all year and the heart that they have for the game.”

The Lady Devils trailed by as many as 14 points in the fourth quarter, and OLSH seemed content on stalling and running out the remaining time on the clock.

Central Cambria had other ideas.

With 1:16 left, senior Keira Link made her second 3-pointer of the night — and the season — to cut OLSH’s lead to 45-36.

Claudia Ierullo, who will play college basketball at Slippery Rock and led OLSH with 17 points, beat the Central Cambria press for a layup seconds later — but those were the last points the Chargers scored as Ierullo missed four straight free throws.

Abigail Sheehan made a jump shot, and Katie George drilled a 3-pointer with 48 seconds left that made it a two-score game. With 20.1 seconds left, Link made a layup to bring Central Cambria within four.

George got a rebound off Ierullo’s missed free throw and passed ahead to Alaina Long, who missed a 3-pointer. The ball went out of bounds to Central Cambria with 3.6 seconds left, and the Lady Devils missed another 3-pointer at the buzzer.

“We missed some free throws, which I just screamed at them about,” OLSH coach Don Eckerle said. “We knew they didn’t have any timeouts left, and there were only three seconds on the clock, so we just were going to let the clock run out. But they put me through more than they needed to put me through.”

Link finished with game highs in points with 19 and rebounds with 12. Her scoring average skyrocketed during the postseason, and she made the game-winning basket against River Valley in overtime.

“Keira has been huge for us this postseason,” Bracken said. “She has worked so hard. She stays after practice every single day, and she has such a desire and commitment. She wanted to keep playing and winning. She didn’t want the season to end, and she often took it into her own hands to make sure that it did not end. We’re very proud of Keira. I think her two 3-pointers today were her first of the season.”

Link is a key member of the Central Cambria softball team and also runs cross country in the fall and helped that team win a District 6 title.

“I did not want this to end,” Link said. “They are like my family, and for most of them, this is the last sport I play with them. They are my best friends. There is softball, but a lot of them run track — so this felt like a last hurrah.”

Central Cambria will face several challengers in District 6 in softball this year, but Link said this basketball season taught her anything is possible.

“Winning districts in basketball makes me 100 percent more motivated,” Link said. “It makes me know it’s possible now. This basketball season showed us how much we don’t know our potential. For us to beat River Valley and win districts, we saw what we were capable of.”

For other seniors like Abigail and Alaina Sheehan, they will transition into track and field where they will be among the favorites to win districts in several of the relay races.

“It would be really special to get it in three sports,” Alaina Sheehan said. “It was really special to get it in basketball — obviously cross country is always an accomplishment — but winning basketball gave us the chance to win in all three.”

Playing multiple sports throughout the year with so many members of the team have made the girls extremely close.

“Most of them, we go straight from cross country to basketball,” Alaina Sheehan said. “Some of them even go to track with us. We’re just so close, especially because the season is so long. We really have to grind the playoff weeks. We fight a little bit in practice sometimes, but we know we’re making each other better and we’re a family.”

OLSH will play fellow WPIAL team Shady Side Academy in the PIAA semifinals next Friday after Shady Side topped Trinity, 46-43, in another quarterfinal.

The Chargers got 13 points each from Leah Parker and Lola Gardner and were playing without point guard Sara Daeschner, who suffered an injury in OLSH’s second round win over Greensburg Central Catholic.

“We had a short period here, and Sara does so much for this team,” Eckerle said. “We had to make sure we had the right person taking the ball out of bounds. I know it’s a simple thing, but it’s really not. We trusted Libby Gallick with that, she did a great job.”

Central Cambria never really recovered from a 15-4 deficit to start the game, though it looked like it may get into the half down by just three before Parker made a 3-pointer to double OLSH’s lead at the second-quarter buzzer.

“We just had a slow start where we weren’t making anything, and they started out hitting all their shots,” Alaina Sheehan said. “It’s tough when you’re playing catch up all game.”

Central Cambria finished the season 20-9 and came up just short of making the PIAA semifinals for the first time since 2019.

“I’m very proud to be the Central Cambria girls basketball coach,” Bracken said. “I love my athletes. I love my girls. They have a desire and a commitment to get Central Cambria into the state playoffs and make Central Cambria known again. I think it’s a credit to how hard they work year round. A lot of them are three-sport athletes, and they go from one sport to the next. In the summer, they are doing all three, and it’s a credit to their work ethic.”

CENTRAL CAMBRIA (43): Al. Sheehan 0 0-0 0, Ab. Sheehan 1 0-0 2, A. Ruddek 0 0-0 0, Long 2 0-0 5, Link 7 3-4 19, Barra 2 2-2 7, George 4 0-0 10, R. Ruddek 0 0-0 0. Totals — 16 5-6 43.

OUR LADY OF SACRED HEART (47): Gallick 0 2-2 2, Trombetta 1 0-0 2, Parker 4 2-2 13, Ierullo 6 4-8 17, Garner 6 1-2 13, Grayson 0 0-0 0. Totals — 17 9-14 47.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Central Cambria 10 11 6 16 — 43

OLSH 17 10 12 8 — 47

3-point goals: Central Cambria 6 (Link 2, George 2, Long, Barra); OLSH 4 (Parker 3, Ierullo).

Records: Central Cambria (20-9); OLSH (25-4).

Officials: Edward Danel, Denise Grove, Craig Stahl.