Lady Pioneers get back on winning track
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Elizabeth Brudnock (4) sinks a 3-pointer over Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Kayleigh Coneybeer (14) during the third quarter of Friday鈥檚 game at West Greene.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Anna Durbin scores in the lane against Jefferson-Morgan during Friday鈥檚 game at West Greene.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Savannah Clark dribbles the ball across midcourt during Friday鈥檚 game at West Greene.
Rob Burchianti
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene head coach Jordan Watson (right) and assistant coach Justin Allen talk to their players during a timeout in Friday鈥檚 game against Jefferson-Morgan at West Greene.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene鈥檚 Jersey Wise sinks a 3-pointer against Jefferson-Morgan on Jan. 15 at West Greene.
West Greene鈥檚 Anna Durbin (5) takes off on a fast break with teammate Brooke Barner (40) trailing during Friday鈥檚 game against Jefferson-Morgan at West Greene. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
West Greene鈥檚 Elizabeth Brudnock looks to shoot as Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Savannah Clark defends during Friday鈥檚 game at West Greene. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Kayla Larkin (3) takes a jump shot as West Greene鈥檚 Elizabeth Brudnock (4) defends during Friday鈥檚 game at West Greene.
West Greene鈥檚 Katie Lampe (1) prepares to throw a pass during Friday鈥檚 game against Jefferson-Morgan at West Greene. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
West Greene鈥檚 Jersey Wise (30) puts a move on Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Lacey Ryan (13) on Jan. 15 at West Greene. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Savannah Clark watches her shot go in during Friday鈥檚 game at West Greene.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Catherine Diamond (30) defends against West Greene鈥檚 Jersey Wise during Friday鈥檚 game at West Greene.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
West Greene coach Jordan Watson gives his players instructions during a game against Jefferson-Morgan in January. Watson enters his 11th season as head coach of the Lady Pioneers with a 157-82 record, including an impressive 86-14 mark over the past four years.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Jefferson-Morgan coach Jarell Rodriguez watches the action as Savannah Clark (left) and the Lady Rockets play at West Greene on Friday.
West Greene鈥檚 Anna Durbin (5) and BreAnn Jackson (12) set up on offense against Jefferson-Morgan during Friday鈥檚 game at West Greene. (Photo by Rob Burchianti)
ROGERSVILLE 鈥� West Greene鈥檚 girls basketball team had been mired in an unusual slump.
The Lady Pioneers headed into last Friday night鈥檚 Section 2-A game against visiting Jefferson-Morgan on a four-game losing streak, dating back to last season.
Sure those defeats were to Rochester (WPIAL final), District 10 champion Kennedy Catholic (PIAA tournament), defending WPIAL Class 3A champion Mohawk (in December) and Class 2A power Sewickley Academy (on Wednesday), but even so, coach Jordan Watson鈥檚 team was longing to get back on the winning track.
The Lady Pioneers did that in resounding fashion against the Lady Rockets.
West Greene exploded to a 31-0 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in taking its section opener, 60-5.
鈥淥ur last win was last year at the end of February so it鈥檚 good to get that taste again of winning,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淥verall tonight I thought we played hard and had real good balance.鈥�
Brooke Barner and Katie Lampe led the way for West Greene with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Jersey Wise followed with nine points, Anna Durbin had eight and Elizabeth Brudnock added seven.
Kaytlynn Walls scored five points while BreAnn Jackson, Taylor Karvan and Ali Goodwin each chipped in with a basket as nine Lady Pioneers got in the scoring column and all saw playing time.
West Greene (1-0, 1-2) extended its winning streaks to 46 games in section play and 32 at home.
After going perfect in the regular season a year ago and earning a third consecutive trip to the Petersen Events Center for the WPIAL championship game, the two opening losses may have been eye-opening to some.
Watson explained that playing teams like Mohawk and Sewickley Academy will help his team in the long run.
鈥淚t鈥檚 always hard to lose, even if it鈥檚 to really good teams, so our kids were a little bit discouraged,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e told them we did the undefeated thing last year but this year we鈥檙e not necessarily worried about our record. We want to play quality teams, the best teams we can, no matter how good or what level they are. Our main goal is to win a WPIAL title.
鈥淚t just so happens we jumped into it this year playing the Lakers and Celtics right off the bat,鈥� Watson added with a laugh. 鈥淏ut, really, I think we actually may have played the best team in Double-A and the best team in Triple-A.鈥�
Watson thought both losses provided learning experiences.
鈥淚 told the girls when you play a really good team it鈥檚 hard to beat them if they play harder than you, and I think Sewickley played a lot harder than we did,鈥� Watson pointed out.
鈥淭he main thing with both of those losses were we started off extremely slow. So our focus tonight was on starting strong and coming out with a lot of energy. We wanted to get back in that mindset.鈥�
West Greene did just that against Jefferson-Morgan as five different players rang up four or more points in the opening quarter, led by Lampe with 10, including a pair of 3-pointers.
The Lady Pioneers extended their advantage to 43-2 by halftime with Kalya Larkin provided J-M with its lone basket of the first half. The Lady Rockets鈥� only other scoring came in the fourth quarter on a basket by Savannah Clark and a free throw by Larkin, who led her team with three points.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been tough dealing with the COVID situation and not getting as much practice time,鈥� Jefferson-Morgan first-year coach Jarell Rodriguez said. 鈥淏ut this game came down to us not executing the way we needed to. We prepared in practice for everything we saw today.鈥�
The Lady Rockets fell to 1-2 in section play and 1-4 overall.
While victories are always welcome, Rodriguez felt J-M鈥檚 lone win, 50-10 over Geibel Catholic, may have been detrimental to his team.
鈥淚t was definitely good to get that win and build a little bit of confidence, but at the same time when you get a big lead like that you start getting away from the structure of the game and running correct plays, and that may have hurt us in the long run,鈥� Rodriguez explained.
鈥淲e got a big lead and got comfortable and then the last two games and got it put to us.鈥�
All of Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 players saw playing time against the Lady Pioneers as Rodriguez hopes to build up the program.
鈥淲e got a decent amount of girls to come out for the team and for a lot of them it鈥檚 their first time playing organized basketball,鈥� said Rodriguez, a Waynesburg University graduate who played for the Yellow Jackets. 鈥淲e had even more but six opted out because of COVID which is understandable.
鈥淢y team is young. We don鈥檛 have any seniors so we鈥檙e taking it step by step. I told the girls you either win or you learn, there鈥檚 no such thing as losses. Even thought the score is bad and it鈥檚 going to be a tough ride back home, tomorrow we鈥檒l wake up and get back to work.鈥�
Watson agreed with Rodriguez on the difficulty of practicing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淚t almost feels like two seasons for us because I think Mohawk was around 31 days ago,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e played a game then had all that time off. The biggest thing is getting into a routine again because there鈥檚 been so much starting and stopping. We need to get into a rhythm and get back into basketball shape and get our legs back.鈥�
West Greene faced several more stiff tests, all on the road, this week.
The Lady Pioneers went up against the top two threats in their section, Avella (1-1, 2-1) on Monday and Monessen (2-0, 2-0) on Thursday. They also played a strong Class 3A Waynesburg Central squad (3-0) on Tuesday and take on another 3A team, McGuffey (2-1), Friday.
鈥淎vella is always good and Monessen is going to be a handful,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淭hose are big. You always want to win your section.鈥�
Watson admitted he鈥檚 just happy the season restarted.
鈥淲e鈥檙e just mainly glad to be back playing games again,鈥� he said. 鈥淲henever we went on pause I wasn鈥檛 sure if we鈥檇 be back or not. You never know these days.鈥�