North Catholic winning despite younger roster

Molly Rottmann has seen it all in her basketball career.

She’s among the few who have won WPIAL and PIAA championships as both a player and a coach at North Catholic and has more than 500 career victories.

But although the Trojanettes program has won three consecutive WPIAL titles, one in Class 3A in 2022 and the last two years in Class 4A, being centerpieces for a defending titlist is a relatively new experience for many of the current players.

“I looked out at the [Mt. Lebanon] game and I had three sophomores and two freshmen out there,” Rottmann said. “We very much talked about that — if we’re doing what we need to be doing, we’ll be a completely different team by the end of January.”

Senior point guard Sarah Loughry missed the first two games of the season — both North Catholic losses — while recovering from offseason elbow surgery.

But since her return to the lineup in the Section 1 opener against Oakland Catholic, the Trojanettes are 7-0, including a victory against reigning Class 6A champion Norwin last week in the North Allegheny tournament.

Loughry had perhaps her best games of the season in the North Allegheny tournament, with 15 points against Norwin and a team-best 13 against McKeesport.

“That has been hugely helpful to have her leadership since she has been back because we have so many young kids,” Rottmann said. “That was extremely hard not having her out of the gate when we played Greensburg Central Catholic and [Mt. Lebanon].”

Senior guard Mackenzie James is in her first year as a starter after recovering from a pair of anterior cruciate ligament tears.

Two sophomores, Brady Wehner and Lauren Reitz, contributed last year as freshmen. Although the two saw action for a championship team, they weren’t the focal points throughout the season.

Now, Wehner is the team’s leading scorer, averaging close to 14 points per game, while Reitz is putting up nearly 7 points and 7 rebounds per night. Wehner is the younger sister of former Central Catholic star football quarterback Payton Wehner.

“Their roles have obviously changed from them being freshmen and more role players,” Rottmann said. “Brady and Lo did do a great job as freshmen. They’re a year in and the only two with major varsity experience. They’re doing well, and I feel like they’ve embraced that role, but they’re still young.”

Perhaps the biggest addition has been the emergence of freshman guard Sam Weir, who is averaging in double figures and has become a weapon from beyond the arc.

“She’s going to be a really good player. There’s an adjustment to high school speed, strength, and she has done a really good job at being able to make that transition,” Rottmann said. “She is very quiet but just sort of goes to work.”

Still, though North Catholic (7-2, 3-0) remains a work in progress, the team has reeled off seven consecutive victories and is in first place in its section with a matchup at Burrell (7-3, 2-1) slated for 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

That gives the Trojanettes nearly six weeks to get their game together before they make a run at becoming the first to win a fourth straight WPIAL title since Vincentian won five in a row from 2012-16.

“You can see the process happening,” Rottmann said. “It still gets crazy, and we still have a lot of work to do, but absolutely, as these girls mature and they understand the actions and the concepts, we could be a really good team come playoffs.”

What a tangled web

Erica Gribble had 20 Division I offers on the table, but the prized Greensburg Central Catholic junior guard did her due diligence before she made her college choice.

“It was definitely a lot to think about, but I went on a lot of visits and kind of really thought it through with my family,” Gribble said. “My sisters helped me a lot with the recruiting process since they went through it, and I kept saying no to schools, and my list kept getting shorter and shorter.”

Last week, after nearly 10 campus visits and months of contact with various coaches, she finally whittled her list to one and committed to play at the University of Richmond.

There are currently no WPIAL alumnae playing for the Spiders.

“It was the place I wanted to go,” Gribble said. “I loved the campus, I watched a game when they were playing, so I could see myself running what they do and their playing style. I loved the coaches and the girls, and it was overall a great atmosphere to be in.”

Gribble, who was the 2024 Post-Gazette Class 2A Player of the Year, is averaging close to 20 points per game this season and has been looked at by colleges since her freshman year.

Now that she has made her college choice, she can relax and enjoy her final two years playing for the Centurions.

“I feel very relieved. A lot of stress has been taken off my shoulders,” Gribble said. “It can be a stressful process calling a bunch of coaches here and there. I feel very relieved and I’m excited for my next chapter of life and what’s to come.”

Eckerle hits milestone

Don Eckerle has been around the block a few times and coached Our Lady of the Sacred Heart to its only WPIAL championship when the Chargers defeated Brentwood 50-48 to take the Class 2A crown in 2019.

He added another line to his coaching resume Sunday, when this 72-year-old guided Our Lady of the Sacred Heart to a 54-44 win against City League No. 1 Allderdice in the California University Hoopfest to give him the 400th win of his career.

Eckerle joins a select group of current coaches with 400 wins, three of whom — Rottmann (Class 4A), Shady Side Academy’s Jonna Burke (Class 3A) and Neshannock’s Luann Grybowski (Class 2A) — have their teams ranked No. 1 in their respective classifications.

Eckerle has Our Lady of the Sacred Heart sitting pretty at 8-1, alone in first place in Class 3A Section 1 at 3-0 and with a chance for win No. 401 on Thursday at home against Sto-Rox.