Norwin Lady Knights basketball is safe and sound under coaches Mr. Brian Brozeski and Mr. Joseph Oestreich. Head coach Brian Brozeski leads a top-20 team in the state after last season, when they finished with a cumulative record of 24-5, and made it to the PIAA Semifinals in 6A basketball. The Lady Knights have been rolling with a 14-3 record and 6-0 in section play.
“I think that from the beginning of the season to now we have shown so much growth. We aren’t where we want to be yet playing wise, but we are definitely getting there,” said Senior Lauren Palangio. “Everyone has been giving their everything in practices which makes all of us better. Even off the court we all hangout which makes the team chemistry so much better.”
The Lady Knights are lead by seniors Lauren Palangio (33) Bailey Snowberger (3), Ava Kobus (22), Kendall Williams (14), and Evelyn Moore (0). Palangio leads the team in scoring with Junior Guard Kendall Berger not far behind.
In the Lady Knights exhilarating 2023-24 campaign, Norwin showcased their prowess on the court with impressive victories . The journey began in West Virginia, where they faced off against Cameron High, the defending 2-time West Virginia state champions. Norwin left more than a scratch in a commanding 66-27 triumph on December 1, led by stellar performances from players Lauren Palangio and Ava Kobus, who contributed 10 points each, while Bella Furno added 15 points in a relief role off the bench.
Norwin’s record of 14-3 is far from a fluke. An established core of girls in Berger, Palangio, and Kobus have led the team throughout the season. The girl’s suffered their first loss of the season to the Spring-ford Rams. Since then, just Kennedy Catholic’s narrow 51-50 victory over the Knights on Dec. 27 and Wheeling Park’s 52-51 victory on Jan. 6 have been the only hiccups this season for the Lady Knights.
“We have faced some really tough teams this year and some games haven’t ended up how we wanted them to,” said Palangio. “Instead of dwelling on it, we learned from it and moved on to get better which has made us better as a team.”
Since Jan. 6, the Knights are 5-0, including 3 road games, in which the team won by an average of nearly 22 points a game on the road in this stretch. The Lady Knights have not lost a game in the WPIAL this year. Jan. 25th’s game against PIAA #8 North Allegheny was not an easy team to face. Coming into Thursday night, North Allegheny was 14-1, with their only loss to Norwin on Jan. 2nd. The game plan for North Allegheny was clear as the Tigers were poised to take back the top spot in WPIAL 6A.
Coach Brozeski and the Norwin Lady Knights had something else in mind. Norwin jumped out to a 10-0 lead on the backs of fastbreak oppurtunities set up by Lauren Palangio and Bailey Snowberger. By halftime, North Allegheny had started to find its footing as Norwin still possessed a 30-22 lead going into intermission.
After halftime, the Lady Knights took over, winning with a final score of 64-44. The emotional victory saw a 21-point outburst by junior Kendall Berger, 10 points by sophomore Ava Christopher, and a tremendous 4-block effort by senior Lauren Palangio.
“Everyone has so called ‘on nights’ where the shot feels good and last night was one of those nights for me,” Kendall Berger said on her outburst. “NA made it a point to not let me get open, so I tried to utilize shots fakes to get them in the air and go into them. I can always count on my team to get me the ball and get me good looks too.”
The Lady Knights are 14-3 and the PIAA #7 according to MaxPreps. Senior night for the Lady Knights is Feb. 1 against Hempfield (7-9).
