Lady Pioneers steamroll into Class A semifinals
Darnell Graham
Darnell Graham Darnell Graham West Greene鈥檚 Madison Lampe (21) dribbles past Rochester鈥檚 Julia Sabbio (10) as she heads to the basket in Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A quarterfinal playoff game at West Allegheny High School.
West Greene's Kaitlyn Rizor (10) sets for a shot as Rochester's Tiffany Blackwell (14) defends during Friday's WPIAL Class A quarterfinal playoff game at West Allegheny High School.
Darnell Graham
Darnell Graham West Greene鈥檚 Brianna Goodwin (23) keeps her eyes on the basket through the defense of Rochester鈥檚 Jasmine Mack (13) during Friday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A quarterfinal playoff game at West Allegheny High School.
IMPERIAL 鈥� Even before the West Greene girls basketball squad hit the court, they already made history by being the first team in school history to play in the quarterfinals.
After the game, the Lady Pioneers continued to make history by beating Rochester, 51-37, Friday night in the 缅北禁地 Girls Game of the Week at West Allegheny High School.
鈥淲e got contributions from everyone tonight,鈥� West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. 鈥淥ur guards combined for 39 points and our bigs made some huge baskets for us in key situations. This was more of a possession-type game and we had to hunker down on defense to get stops.鈥�
The win advanced fourth-seeded West Greene to the semifinals on Tuesday against top-seeded Winchester Thurston at a site and time to be determined. Both teams played in a non-section game on Jan. 20 with Winchester winning 58-42 on the road.
The Lady Pioneers (19-4) also qualified for the PIAA playoffs for the first time ever with the victory and the 19 wins ties the school鈥檚 highest mark set by 1998-99 squad.
McKenna and Madison Lampe were the catalysts for West Greene on both ends of the floor, as the twin sisters scored 18 and 17 points, respectively.
鈥淲e were just focused in practice and worked on some stuff,鈥� McKenna Lampe said. 鈥淲e really didn鈥檛 care where we played. Our coaches do a nice job of scouting and they give us the most information they can get. We were hungry for this game and this is a good win for us.鈥�
The Lady Rams (14-8) were led by 17 points from Jasmine Mack.
Despite an 11-day layoff and having to travel over 60 miles to get the quarterfinal site, compare to just 25 miles for Rochester, West Greene was on fire out of the gates in front of a large contingent of Lady Pioneers鈥� fans. West Greene and its fans travel well.
鈥漌e were happy to get a bye and get that layoff, but on the other end we were a little afraid of being rusty,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淢e and (assistant coach) Justin (Allen) have never had to learn how to deal with the bye. We were kind of learning on the fly.
鈥漌e scrimmaged some teams and I think we picked up the intensity in practice in the middle of the week. We were mentally ready for this one from the start. We knew we had to play a full 32 minutes to win in the playoffs.鈥�
West Greene pulled away from a 6-6 deadlock midway through the opening quarter with a 6-2 run to end the first period and held a 12-8 lead going into the second.
鈥淥ur half-court defense was key tonight,鈥� Madison said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been practicing it a lot and we knew we needed it for the playoffs. We haven鈥檛 been very good in the half-court during the season, but we have gotten better at it lately.鈥�
Aided by their pressure defense and steady half-court defense, the Lady Pioneers got timely buckets on offense and started the second stanza on an 8-1 spurt that was capped off by an inside hoop by Brianna Goodwin.
Rochester rallied to end the second quarter, scoring nine of the final 14 points for a 25-18 deficit at halftime. The Lampe sisters combined for 21 of West Greene鈥檚 25 points in the first half.
鈥淭heir defense would play right on me and Madison, so we had to dribble around it and passed the ball inside,鈥� McKenna Lampe said. 鈥淲e had fast ball movement. We worked on our skip passes and reversing the ball around. We found some open looks and hit those shots.鈥�
West Greene controlled things in the third frame, outscoring the Lady Rams by a 10-2 margin and closing with a buzzer-beating long jumper by Kaitlyn Rizor to end the period.
鈥淲e are so used to pressing teams and forcing a ton of turnovers,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淚 knew we would need our half-court defense in the playoffs. The playoffs are a grind and sometimes you have to gut out wins. We boxed out their bigger girls. I thought we ran under their high-ball screens well and got to the shooters.鈥�
Rochester found itself back into the quarterfinal contest in the fourth quarter after a 10-4 run that made the score 39-33 with 3:37 left in regulation.
West Greene countered the run with a 12-4 rally to secure the postseason victory.
The Lady Pioneers went 8-for-10 at the free throw line in the final eight minutes, while their lone senior Marissa Rode scored six critical points down the stretch to preserve the win.
鈥淭his means a lot to win this game and go onto the semifinals,鈥� Madison Lampe said. 鈥淣obody in our school or even in (Greene) county has ever been this far in the playoffs for a long time. This is a special feeling for us and we are excited for the semifinals on Tuesday.鈥�
{p style=鈥漷ext-align: center;鈥潁WPIAL Girls Playoff Sum
{p style=鈥漷ext-align: center;鈥潁Class A
{p style=鈥漷ext-align: center;鈥潁Quarterfinals
{p style=鈥漷ext-align: center;鈥潁at West Allegheny
Rochester 8-10-2-17 鈥� 37
West Greene 12-13-10-16 鈥�51
Rochester: Jasmine Mack 17. West Greene: McKenna Lampe 18, Madison Lampe 17. Records: Rochester (14-8), West Greene (19-4).