Rockets take aim at section championship
Rob Burchianti
Jefferson-Morgan has made the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs all four years Brandon Lawless has been coach, and that’s the goal again this season with one stipulation.
The Rockets want a section championship, too, this time.
“That’s what we’re aiming for,” said Lawless, whose team finished second to Chartiers-Houston in Section 3-2A last season.
The Rockets were 15-8 overall and 10-4 in the section.
Lawless has a 52-39 overall record at J-M, including a 27-17 section mark. J-M has never finished below .500 in the section under Lawless.
He’s got an experienced, senior-laden team for the 2025-26 season.
“Our starting lineup, they’re all seniors and they’ve been playing together for some time,” Lawless said. “They’re pretty cohesive, have good chemistry and kind of feed off each other and lean on each other.”
That group consists of 6-foot-5 Dayten Marion, 6-2 John Woodward, 5-10 Jaymison Robinson, 6-0 Jeremiah Robertson and 5-11 Brayden Ellsworth.
Lawless does have a good news, bad news situation with his starting five, though.
“We really have no true point guard and we haven’t had one come through for some time so that’s something we’ve struggled with,” Lawless said. “That’s kind of a handicap.
“But on the other hand, we do have five guys who can handle the ball so we do have some versatility that way. They’re all capable of commanding the offense. The closest thing we have to a point guard I would say is Jeremiah.”
Lawless likes the way his team fits together, even without a true point guard.
“They’re all special in a different way,” he said. “Each of them has a unique role and it kind of all works hand in hand. One thing for sure is they all run really well. That’s kind of been our philosophy this year is getting out and trying to run. We have the personnel to do that with these guys.”
All are seasoned veterans.
“Deyton and John are four-year starters,” Lawless pointed out. “Jaymison is a three-year starter. Jeremiah and Brayden were sort of like starters last year with the amount of minutes they played.”
Marion, who has a chance at reaching the 1,000-point mark this season, is J-M’s top returning scorer and was among the top two shot blockers in the state with 104 during the 2024-25 regular season.
“Deyton is our big,” Lawless said. “He’s a guy who can give offenses a lot of problems. He’s our best rebounder, he averaged 10-plus a game last year, and is one of our best scorers as well.
“He’s very versatile. As a 6-5 kid, he can move. He’s athletic. He’s not your stereotypical big guy.”
Woodward is also an important cog for the Rockets.
“John is another one who does a little bit of everything,” Lawless said. “He’s been a double-digit scorer for us. He can rebound the ball. He’s a strong, athletic kid who we lean on for sure at both ends of the court. He’s another strong defender.”
When it comes to defending the opponent’s best offensive player, that assignment usually falls on Robinson.
“Jaymison is a really, really good, lock-down defender,” Lawless said. “He is our best defender when it comes to being fundamentally sound.”
Robertson brings plenty of energy.
“Jeremiah is explosive,” Lawless said. “He has a niche for the basketball and for scoring. When there’s a group of people fighting for the ball he’s the one who comes out of there with it. He just has to avoid foul trouble, which plagued him a bit last year.”
Ellsworth is like a coach on the floor, according to Lawless.
“Brayden played a ton of meaningful minutes for us last year off the bench so he’ll have no problem stepping into a starting role,” Lawless said. “Brayden is a high-IQ player. He’s kind of like the director, he knows where he’s supposed to be and where everyone else is supposed to be at all times. He knows the game.”
Jefferson-Morgan was one of the top defensive teams in the WPIAL last season, allowing just 41.7 points per game.
“We play man 99 percent of the time,” said Lawless, who is a Carmichaels graduate and played under longtime coach Don Williams, a strong proponent for man-to-man defense. “Yeah I hate zone. I think that’s the Donnie Williams in me,” Lawless said with a laugh. “We will run a press occasionally. Marion and Jeremiah are our top rebounders.”
Lawless has two reserves he expects to count on for valuable minutes.
“A couple guys who will contribute off the bench are juniors Triton Farabee and Miles Sowden,” Lawless said.
“Triton played quarterback for the football team. He’s another real tall kid (6-5) that will really help us. He can shoot the ball and rebound the ball.
“Miles is another good shooter who can light it up off the bench if we need that.”
Lawless is striving for not only a section title but an elusive playoff win.
Last year Lawless didn’t feel the Rockets were treated very fairly by the WPIAL pairings committee. They were matched up in a preliminary round game with a Springdale team that was seeded last in the 21-team bracket despite being 13-8, while Bentworth, a 10-10 team the Rockets defeated easily during the regular season, 47-29, was handed a game against an 11-11 South Side team that the Bearcats routed, 64-40.
“We lost to Springdale even though we held them to 42 points because we shot one of 19 from 3,” Lawless said. “You play defense that well you should win every night but we just had a horrible shooting night. As for the seedings and all that, I don’t know what they were thinking.”
Lawless sees three teams as top threats to J-M’s quest for a section crown.
“I’d say Chartiers-Houston, Fort Cherry and Beth-Center will all be up near the top,” Lawless said. “Beth-Center has a lot of seniors back. Chartiers-Houston is the defending champs and they have a good program all the way up through. Their coach does a very good job. They lost a lot of seniors but I would never write them off. And Fort Cherry is always tough.
“Burgettstown is another team that’s usually pretty good.”
West Greene, Carmichaels and Mapletown fill out the section.
Lawless has one assistant coach in J-M athletic director Bruce Ellsworth.