Oakland Catholic Hopes London Creach's Return to Lineup Can Spur Eagles to Their First WPIAL title since 2006

Creach, a Robert Morris recruit, returned to Oakland Catholic's lineup in late January and has helped the Eagles reach the district championship game for the first time since 2023, but Oakland Catholic would like a different result this weekend

Oakland Catholic senior guard/forward London Creach attempts to shield the ball from Noth Catholic's Sarah Loughry during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Monday night at Fox Chapel High School. Creach scored 14 points in a 57-29 win for the Eagles. / Josh Rizzo

O’HARA TWP, Pa. -- London Creach was eager to have an opportunity to play North Catholic Monday night at Fox Chapel High School. The Oakland Catholic senior guard spent nearly a year waiting for the opportunity to check into the lineup. 

Creach, a Robert Morris recruit, tore her ACL in her left knee last February during the WPIAL playoffs. She didn’t return until late January and has been slowly building back her conditioning.

Creech scored 14 points against the Trojanettes during a Class 4A semifinal, helping Oakland Catholic return to the WPIAL championship game with a 57-29 win over the section rival Trojanettes. 

Oakland Catholic and North Catholic split their two regular season meetings and shared the section title.

“I know they were waiting for me to play for a minute,” Creach said. “I honestly couldn’t wait to play them. Because it was win-one, lose-one in the regular season. I know I had to come here and play hard.”

Alayla Bivins, left, and Savanna Dye, right, trap North Catholic guard Sarah Loughry during a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal Monday night at Fox Chapel High School. The Eagles won 57-29 to advance to the championship game for the first time since 2023. / Josh Rizzo

The Eagles (21-3) hope with Creach working her way back to 100 percent, and a strong supporting cast, Oakland Catholic can topple top-seeded Blackhawk to win the championship Saturday at Petersen Events Center.

The Eagles haven’t won a district title since 2006. Oakland Catholic’s last win was the close of a dominant stretch for the program. The Eagles won all six of the program’s WPIAL titles between 1999 and 2006.

Oakland Catholic last played in the championship game when it lost the 5A crown to South Fayette in 2023.

Creach returned to the lineup Jan. 20 and scored six points in a 63-27 win over Highlands. In the playoffs, Creach has been a consistent double-digit scorer. She scored 11 points during a first-round win over Hampton and added 10 in a quarterfinals against Central Valley.

Creach said she is focused on keeping up with her teammates.

“All we have to do is play fast and grab every rebound we can,” Creach said.

Eagles coach Henry Schechter said Oakland Catholic’s full-court defense can be difficult for any team to handle. Creach plays a large role in helping apply pressure.

“Teams have a tough time,” Schechter said. “It’s easy to walk through stuff in practice. When they see the speed and athleticism in person, it makes it pretty tough.”

The Eagles (21-3) played without Creach in both of their regular-season meetings with the Trojanettes. North Catholic won the first meeting 42-34. During the second matchup, Eagles guard Madi Pullen made a 3-pointer in the final seconds to give Oakland Catholic a 39-37 win.

That victory stopped North Catholic’s 112-game section winning streak that stretched back to 2016.

Oakland Catholic forward Josie Fontana, right, attempts to beat North Catholic's Harmony Jones in a foot race for a loose ball during the first half of the WPIAL Class 4A semifinal at Fox Chapel High School. Fontana scored a game-high 16 points and the Eagles won 57-29. / Josh Rizzo

Eagles 6-foot-2 forward Josie Fontana said beating North Catholic in the regular season was a big boost. Oakland Catholic’s defense created chaos early in the game, allowing the Eagles to build a 12-0 lead.

“Coming in a third time knowing we can beat them and having London back, she’s a great athlete, it flipped out mentality and got the 10 points we had before they got one,” Fontana said. “That flipped the switch for us.”

Now that Oakland Catholic dispatched its rival, the Eagles are focused on putting together their best performance in the championship game. Oakland Catholic has an idea of what that means.

“I said all along, the first game we played (North Catholic) we didn’t play that great,” Schechter said. “We didn’t play well at all, really. We were down a bunch and in the second, this and fourth quarter we played better. I think our team felt like we were disappointed with how we played. The second time around, we beat them but it wasn’t a great game for us. We played well enough to win, but we still had more left.”

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--Josh Rizzo | rizzo42789@gmail.com | @J_oshrizzo

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