With the clock ticking down on what would have been Jody Sabo's final high school game Tuesday, she gathered her Serra Catholic teammates and told them they needed to step it up. That the time was now. Sabo engineered a late rally on her way to scoring a game-high 38 points to lead Serra Catholic to a 75-70 overtime victory over Ford City in a WPIAL Class AA girls first-round playoff game at North Allegheny High School. Serra plays Avonworth in a second-round game at a time, date and place to be determined. 'I didn't want this to be my last game,' said Sabo, a 5-foot-9 senior guard who has a bad ankle and asthma. 'I tried to stay positive, and I believed that if I did, my teammates would follow me. This is the most memorable game I can remember.' It's a game Serra Catholic coach Bill Cleary won't soon forget, either. He tried to remain positive, even when his team was behind 57-41 with three minutes to go in the fourth quarter. 'There was a point where I thought it is going to be tough to win,' Cleary said. 'But I never quit on these girls, and they never quit, obviously. They weren't going to come this far and lose. Once we got (the deficit) into single digits, I felt there was still time left.' The three minute mark is when Sabo gave a quick inspirational speech to her teammates. Seconds later, she hit a 3-point basket with 2:51 to go, cutting Ford City's lead to 57-44. That ignited teammate Samantha Solada who made a shot, then Julia Lawrence hit one, and Amy Lewicki added a 3-point shot to cut the lead to 57-51. Katie Suwala made a free throw for Ford City, but Sabo answered with two baskets. Ford City lead, 58-56, with 38 seconds to go. Serra's Amanda Hudak tied the score, 60-60, which sent the game into overtime. In overtime, Serra outscored Ford City 15-10 for the win. Ford City's Tera Stewart fouled out with 2:09 to go in the overtime with 19 points. Suwala led Ford City with 20 points. 'Jody is an incredible kid,' Cleary said. 'She is playing with just one leg, kind of. She told the trainer to tape her ankle tighter, and she never asked to come out. Jody did not want her high school season to end. She is the type of kid who finds ways to pull games out.' Serra broke a 4-4 tie on a 3-point shot by Sabo with 3:51 to go in the first quarter. The game was a back and forth for most of the first half, and the score was tied, 26-26, at halftime. Sabo came out strong to open the second half. She scored eight consecutive points before Ford City answered Sabo's eight consecutive points with a 3-point shot by Katie Suwala with 6:28 left in the third quarter. That shot started a 16-2 run for Ford City which lead 44-38 to end the third period. 'They played great defense and got us in some bad passes,' Ford City coach Al Davis said. 'They cut that lead pretty quick. They made some big threes to bring them back. We not deep, and if we had more depth we could have done better.'

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---