Lady Pioneers fall to Mohawk in tough opening test
West Greene鈥檚 girls basketball team didn鈥檛 expect to play its first game until January after its season-opening tip-off tournament at Southmoreland was canceled.
There the Lady Pioneers were, though, on the court at St. Joseph鈥檚 High School on Friday, not only playing a game but facing Mohawk, the defending WPIAL Class 3A champion.
West Greene hung with the Lady Warriors but a slow started doomed coach Jordan Watson鈥檚 squad in a 75-66 loss.
Watson had no regrets about the last-second addition of the game, even though the loss foiled the Lady Pioneers鈥� chance at putting together back-to-back undefeated regular seasons.
鈥淲e were supposed to play Yough Friday and then Southmoreland (Saturday),鈥� Watson said. 鈥淭hat got canceled so we had nobody to play as of Monday. But then St. Joe鈥檚 had somebody drop out late at their tournament and they called and wanted to know if we were looking to play and I said sure. They said it would be against Mohawk. I said yeah, that鈥檚 fine, we don鈥檛 care.鈥�
Mohawk jumped out to 28-14 lead in the first quarter. West Greene fought back in the second to pull within 44-37 by halftime and eventually sliced the gap to five in the fourth quarter but could get no closer.
Julian Page led the Lady Warriors with a game-high 30 points, Hannah McDaniel followed with 17 and Jordan Radzmynski added 10.
鈥淲e really started absolutely dead,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淭here were no fans in the stands so it was absolute dead silence in there. You sort of have to create your own energy. It鈥檚 a little different right now and I don鈥檛 think they鈥檙e used to that, but that鈥檚 not an excuse.
鈥淚t got to 12-2 right away and I had to use two early timeouts. We talked about how No. 11 (McDaniel) was a really good shooter. Well, she had five threes in the first quarter. After that we did a really good job on her. She only scored two points the rest of the game.鈥�
Watson feels his team learned a lesson in the defeat.
鈥淲e weren鈥檛 mentally engaged at the beginning and that cost us in the long run because we outscored them over the last three quarters,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e told them, basically, when you鈥檙e playing a high-quality team like Mohawk you鈥檝e got to play 32 minutes to win. If you play 27, 28, that might be good enough to beat some teams but not a good team like that.鈥�
Still, the Lady Pioneers threatened to pull the game out in the final minutes.
鈥淲e cut it to 69-64 and they had the ball in transition and there was one of those bang-bang plays, was it a charge or a block,鈥� Watson explained. 鈥淭hey called it a block and Mohawk got a three-point play off that and then we had to start fouling. If we get the benefit of that call then we still have a chance to come back. We were right there with them.鈥�
The Lady Pioneers put four players in double figures, led by Anna Durbin with 17 points. She was followed by Jersey Wise with 15, Elizabeth Brudnock with 12 and Katie Lampe with 11.
鈥淥ur balance was pretty good on offense,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e always want those three seniors (Wise, Brudnock and Durbin) to combine for at least 40 and they had 44, and Katie had three 3-pointers.
鈥淏eaver only scored 28 points on Mohawk at the Pete in the WPIAL championship game last year. It was definitely a good test to start with after an interesting week.鈥�
Watson laughed when recalling the past week.
鈥淲e got the news that we were shut down until Jan. 4 while we were at practice on Thursday so I was going to go over press rotations again and a few more plays, but we just cut if off at that point, figuring we had no game and were now off for three weeks,鈥� Watson explained.
鈥淭hen we got news about the possible game at St. Joe鈥檚 and our school had a board meeting that night and then I found out at about 10 o鈥檆lock that we actually were playing. That was a pleasant surprise, I wasn鈥檛 sure how the board would go on that, but that made me think I shouldn鈥檛 have cut off that last practice. We ran a couple sets wrong in the game where I wish we would鈥檝e gone over that a little more Thursday night, so that鈥檚 on me.鈥�
Overall, Watson felt the game was very beneficial for his team.
鈥淲e were happy to get one game in,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淪ome schools actually played two games yesterday (Mohawk defeated St. Joseph鈥檚, 67-29, in the final later Friday night). Any time you can play a good team like Mohawk, whether it鈥檚 in the summer or early in the season, I think it helps you down the road. They had four starters coming back so we knew they were really good.
鈥淟ooking ahead, if we do come back on Jan. 4th we don鈥檛 know what the WPIAL is going to do, if they鈥檙e going to give us a 12-game schedule, a 14-game schedule or just have you play your section. Any time we can play somebody good non-conference we need to.鈥�
Dealing with situations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic 鈥� for instance, West Greene voted to require its players to wear masks while playing 鈥� is a challenge that Watson hopes his players can answer.
鈥淲e鈥檙e used to having a lot of fans but with no one there you鈥檝e got to pump yourself up,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淭his was also our first game playing with the mask on. That鈥檚 different, too.
鈥淣ow we鈥檝e got three weeks off so the main thing is the girls have got to stay in shape kind of on their own. If they do that, we鈥檒l be alright. But if not, then you鈥檙e back to step one.
鈥淚 do think we have good senior leadership so that makes me think they鈥檒l be ready when we return.鈥�