On a roll: Pioneers ride hot streak, including win at Monessen, to top of section standings
West Greene saw its program-best string of WPIAL boys basketball playoff appearances come to a halt at seven last year and many wondered what was in store for the Pioneers for the 2023-24 campaign with no seniors in sight..
Coach Jim Romanus鈥� squad already has provided an emphatic answer.
West Greene is back better than ever.
The Pioneers (5-1, 10-5) enter the week tied for first place in Section 2-A, having won seven of their last eight games and five in a row, including a stunning 46-43 victory at Monessen on Jan. 24.
鈥淥bviously that was a very big win for us,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the first time a West Greene boys basketball team has won at Monessen. Our kids were ecstatic about it.鈥�
West Greene followed up that landmark win by avenging its lone section loss of the season with a 61-49 home victory over California last Friday.
Romanus is pleased with how his team, which has already clinched a playoff spot for the eighth time in the last nine years and has won twice as many games as it did last season, is playing.
But he doesn鈥檛 want to get too far ahead of himself.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a very rewarding season so far, but we have a lot of basketball to go yet,鈥� Romanus pointed out.
West Greene was slated to play section games at Geibel Catholic Tuesday and at home in a rematch against Monessen on Friday, along with a non-section game at Class AAA Waynesburg Central on Wednesday.
West Greene doesn鈥檛 have a lot of depth but it does have a solid starting lineup.
鈥淚鈥檝e got really good kids, just no seniors,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淭he three juniors, Parker (Burns), Lane (Allison) and Patrick (Durbin), are our leaders. The whole team is unselfish and everybody knows their role.
鈥淚鈥檝e got the big sophomore, Matt Wassil, he鈥檚 6-7 and averaging 10 rebounds a game and gives us seven-to-eight points a game. We try to put him in positions where he can succeed. Darrin Knight, another sophomore, is our point guard and a very good athlete, good shooter and can handle the ball. He knows his role. And Patrick, Parker and Lane are like triplets. They鈥檙e almost interchangeable.鈥�
The trio of juniors were unexpectedly tossed into the limelight a year ago when early in the season Ian Van Dyne left the team.
鈥淭he boy that quit was my leading scorer when he was a junior and we had set the majority of the plays up for him,鈥� Romanus explained. 鈥淲hen he left, all of a sudden there was a void. That鈥檚 when Patrick, Lane and Parker pulled together, and towards the end of last year Lane just exploded offensively.鈥�
Allison鈥檚 scoring is a little down from last year as teams are more wary of him now but the Pioneers have adjusted.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 happening is, especially in the last six or seven games, team鈥檚 are playing Lane in a box-and-one or a 1-3 chaser,鈥� Romanus explained. 鈥淪o we鈥檝e got certain plays for him where we can get him open or we have plays where we just essentially set some screens and play four-on-four and our other kids are scoring.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to find ways to get everybody involved. I play six kids mainly, three juniors and three sophomores. The one boy coming off the bench, Will Shipman, he鈥檚 getting better and that鈥檚 very important.鈥�
Though the Pioneers are young, they鈥檙e also a mature group that鈥檚 proven to be mentally tough, as was shown in road wins against the Greyhounds and Jefferson-Morgan.
The win over the Greyhounds surprised many, but no Romanus.
鈥淭o be honest, we scouted Monessen and they鈥檙e certainly athletic but I just thought with the style of ball we play that we matched up better with them than in past years,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淲e certainly weren鈥檛 cocky going in but we were confident that we could do some things against them that could possibly keep us in the game.鈥�
The game was tied 10-10 after the first quarter with Monessen nudging out to a 23-20 lead at halftime and a 34-28 advantage after three quarters, but the Pioneers outscored the Greyhounds 18-9 in the final frame.
鈥淲e basically hung around,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淲e were down six at the end of three quarters, and then in the fourth quarter we started to break their traps better. We started to get a better feel for where we鈥檙e supposed to be. We also caught on to what they were doing on offense. We ended up taking some of the momentum away from them.
鈥淲e got the lead and down the stretch we made some foul shots but not enough and (Lorenzo) Gardner had a chance to tie it with a 3-pointer but he missed so we ended up pulling it out.鈥�
Allison led West Greene with a game-high 21 points with Burns adding 11 points.
Timothy Kershaw led Monessen, which saw its 11-game winning streak come to an end, with 17 points and Gardner followed with 15.
Romanus pointed out that the Pioneers are old school in one way.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not a great shooting team to be honest,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e do execute to the point where we get high-percentage shots. So far this year we鈥檝e taken 65 more foul shots than our opposition. A lot of teams any more fall in love with the three, but our kids buy in to our philosophy. Like I tell them, you鈥檙e not getting to the foul line if you鈥檙e shooting outside shots. You鈥檝e got to get into the paint, whether it鈥檚 driving or whether it鈥檚 post. We spend time with all of our kids posting up.鈥�
Romanus stresses situational basketball to his team as well.
鈥淲e practice situations all the time, down one with 15 seconds left, up two with 30 seconds left, things like that, on offense and defense,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淲e drill our kids constantly on what they need to do when in those situations, when to foul, when we should shoot a three, when we should look for a layup. About every third practice we鈥檒l work on our last shot. We鈥檒l have a zone play and a man-to-man play.鈥�
West Greene runs a disciplined offense that stresses passing over dribbling.
Romanus feels he and his players have a good understanding of each other.
鈥淲e have smart kids, all honor roll kids and they have a good basketball IQ, especially Patrick and Parker,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淚鈥檒l start talking about something and Parker will know right away where I鈥檓 going. This combination of kids with our style of play has been very beneficial so far.鈥�
While Romanus is pleased with his team鈥檚 consistency in reaching the playoffs, he admits one accomplishment is missing.
鈥淚鈥檓 real proud of that, it鈥檚 just that we have to find a way to win in the playoffs,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen we get there we鈥檙e normally matched up with some of these big, athletic teams. I think if we can keep improving, maybe we can get a better seed this year.鈥�
Romanus, who served a long, successful stint as coach of Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 boys basketball team 鈥� which included two wins over Monessen with one of those in the playoffs 鈥� before eventually coming to West Greene, has always been known as a stern coach but feels time has had an effect on him.
鈥淚鈥檝e changed a lot. I have mellowed somewhat,鈥� Romanus admitted. 鈥淚 try to look at things a little differently. During the Jefferson game the players and I disagreed as to what offense to run so what we did is we morphed some of what they wanted to do with what I wanted to do and it worked out. I鈥檓 not sure in the past I would do that.
鈥淏ut as I keep saying, I鈥檝e got really good kids. It all depends on the kids you have and I have really good, mature kids who listen to me.鈥�