north hills girls basketball gets blueprint for how to improve after season-opening win over Fox Chapel

North Hills guard Zoe Devlin attempts to control the ball while being hounded by Fox Chapel's Lyla Jablon Tuesday in O'Hara Township. Devlin finished with 15 points in the Indians' 46-43 win. Josh Rizzo/Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges

O'HARA TWP - North Hills girls basketball coach Jason Pirring shouted the information his bench statisticians relayed to him Tuesday night at Fox Chapel High School. Fox Chapel was beating the Indians on the boards.

"Eight offensive rebounds," Pirring shouted toward his team.

The pesky Foxes made the Indians sweat during their non-conference contest. But North Hills did enough in the second half to pull away for a 46-43 win. Pirring had a blueprint for how to proceed following the season opener.

"Imagine what we're working on tomorrow, as well," Pirring said. "Offensive rebounds killed us tonight. We're not a big team either. They're not a big team, but they outhustled us."

North Hills (1-0) fought off a slow start on offense. The Indians shot 14 percent from the field in the first quarter and 20 percent (2-of-10) from the 3-point line in the first half. Fox Chapel led 17-16 at halftime and limited North Hills to five points in the first quarter.

"We couldn't rebound," Pirring said. "We're not making foul shots - we were shooting 50 percent from the line. You can't win games like that. We were making it harder on ourselves."

Fox Chapel coach Marty Matvey was happy with how his team got on the glass. During the summer league, the Foxes struggled to score more than 32 points a game. Fox Chapel's shooting wasn't pretty in the first half either, but the extra opportunities provide more scoring chances.

Lyla Jablon scored six of her team-high 15 points in the first quarter. Emily McKee scored on a layup and drew a foul to stretch the Foxes' lead to 10-4 late in the first quarter.

Fox Chapel shot 11 percent from 3-point line in the first half. The Foxes, who shot 25.8 percent (15 of 58) for the game, saw their offensive go in waves throughout the game.

"I would say tonight was a little bit better," Matvey said. "A lot of people are going to play a zone against us because of the shooting. We're really good in our man sets and we're going to get to the rim. We still have things to work out, but I thought people started to look more comfortable."

North Hills took the lead, 18-17, in the third quarter on a transition basket by Zoey Devlin, who finished with 15 points. Delaney Amato made a 3-pointer to stretch the Indians lead to 27-22 and provide some breathing room.

Fox Chapel (0-1) hung around in the game. The Foxes cut the lead to 43-38 in the final three minutes on a jumper by Jablon. Fox Chapel got a stop on defense and cut the lead to 43-31 with 2:05 remaining on a 3-pointer from McKee.

The Foxes got the ball back after forcing a turnover when North Hills turned the ball over on a closely-guarded five seconds call. Fox Chapel missed a shot that could have tied the game on the ensuing possession. Devlin missed a pair of free throws that could have closed out the game.

The ensuing rebound landed in between three players and was kicked out bounds. The ball was awarded to North Hills, who extended the lead to four on a pair of Amato free throws. Fox Chapel's Bailey Sacco scored on a layup to cut the deficit to two points.

Amato split a pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining to stretch the lead back to three. McKee, who finished with 11 points, had a 3-point attempt to tie the game blocked.

​Matvey said he was happy with his team's effort.

"I talked to them after the game about let's be good early and often so when it comes down to the last quarter, we're sitting comfortable," Matvey said. "These guys are a little further along than I expected."

Josh Rizzo is the editor and publisher of Pittsburgh Preps and Colleges. Story ideas can be submitted to [email protected] or on X @J_oshRizzo.