A losing streak can teach a team a lot about itself, especially a team that isn’t used to losing.
Take Norwin, the defending WPIAL 6A champion. The Knights recently dropped three straight — to North Catholic, Shaler and No. 1 Upper St. Clair.
They had not endured such a streak since 2021.
Of course, they rebounded with three wins in a row — against No. 5 Mt. Lebanon, Canon-McMillan and Hempfield — to move to 7-5 overall and 4-1 in Section 2. They are ranked No. 3 in 6A.
The trio of games, absent of any slouches, taught Norwin a few things, coach Brian Brozeski said.
“No. 1, they’re high school kids,” the coach said. “Sometimes we as coaches lose sight of that. You want to get your message across and let them know what you want them to do. Communication is so important.”
Something else that jumped out at the Knights: They miss their senior trio that played a huge part in a championship run in Lauren Palangio, Ava Kobus and Bailey Snowberger.
“We had great leadership last year,” Brozeski said. “They were lead-by-example kids who we could rely on. In the wake of those leaders, we’re looking for leaders this year — that chemistry and motivation — so their teammates can rely on them, even in hard times.”
Brozeski said Upper St. Clair is one of the better shooting teams he has seen, while Shaler is a playoff contender in 5A, and North Catholic is No. 1 in 4A.
The win over Mt. Lebanon reignited the Knights, and the momentum allowed them to take care of Hempfield, which played a 2-3 zone against them.
“We’ve seen more zone this year,” Brozeski said. “It’s one of those things where a wrinkle gets thrown in. Hempfield, we knew they’d be better. They were up on Canon-Mac and Mt. Lebanon.”