Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Hopewell's Kayla McLaughlin raises the Class AAA championship trophy aloft after the Vikings' win vs. Allentown Central Catholic. Click photo for larger image.

HERSHEY, Pa. -- There isn't a need to convolute it; no reason to try anything different.

After all, if the opposition has a hard time dealing with the same high-post offense, then why go away from it?

That's exactly what Hopewell (30-3) did in a 57-40 win against Allentown Central Catholic (28-6) last night in the PIAA Class AAA girls' championship at the Giant Center.

The simplicity allowed Hopewell to get easy interior basket after easy interior basket. It also permitted the 6-foot-2 Novacek twin sisters -- juniors Becky and Joyce -- to control the play. Both had double-doubles, with Joyce scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds and Becky scoring 13 with 12 rebounds.

That simple strategy by Hopewell coach Chris Raso was enough to help give the Vikings their first PIAA crown.

"He's a good coach," Allentown Central Catholic coach Mike Kopp said of Raso. "You know, you don't have to be a genius when you have 6-2 and 6-2 on the front. But the system he runs, he understands his strengths and stays within them. I think that says a lot about their program."

And it says a lot to what Hopewell did this year. The Vikings won the final 24 games of their season, losing for the final time before Christmas.

The PIAA title game was different than most of those wins though, as Hopewell jumped out to a 17-2 lead. The Vikings' high-post set led to five layups in the first 7 minutes, 45 seconds. Conversely, the Vikings stifled Allentown Central Catholic's offense, holding the Vikettes to 2-of-13 shooting in the first quarter.

Joyce Novacek scored 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the first half to propel Hopewell to a 28-19 lead at halftime.

And that was enough to effectively put Allentown Central Catholic away. The Vikettes had to play from behind as Hopewell continued its meticulous offensive game plan.

"You have to play to your strengths, I mean, we won 24 straight times doing things the same way," Raso said. "When you have the type of athletes like the Novaceks, you have to put it in their hands. They proved they can go up and catch an entry pass, and then they proved they could finish. We got up on them and I think that was a huge key."

The Vikings diversified their offense a tad in the second half, with junior shooting guard Jordan Zuppe (10 points) forcing Allentown Central Catholic's defense to stretch out. Hopewell held the Vikettes to 1-of-16 shooting in a seven-minute span to advance its advantage to 45-25 after three quarters.

Class A

Pottsville Nativity BVM (27-6), the 10th consecutive District 11 representative to play for a PIAA Class A title, slipped past the District 6 champion Conemaugh Valley (30-3), 53-49.

Samantha Jansson led Nativity BVM with 18 points while teammate Angela Altemose had 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Conemaugh Valley was paced by the play of Samantha Pollino, a Duquesne recruit who scored a game-high 20 points.