Imani Christian too much for West Greene, 67-41
West Greene鈥檚 Austin Crouse protects the ball while being defended by Imani Christian鈥檚 Jacquez Myers in Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Peters Township High School. (Photo by Luke Campbell)
West Greene鈥檚 Chase Blake rises above Imani Christian鈥檚 Jacquez Myers for a shot in the first half of Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Peters Township High School. (Photo by Luke Campbell)
West Greene鈥檚 Chase Blake fends off Imani Christian鈥檚 Aiden Betsill in Saturday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Peters Township High School. (Photo by Luke Campbell)
McMURRAY 鈥� West Greene boys basketball coach Jim Romanus knew being an offensively-challenged team would be a problem.
It鈥檚 been that way all year for the West Greene boys basketball team.
Shooting woes and lack of offensive firepower reared its ugly head again Saturday afternoon. Trailing from start to finish, West Greene couldn鈥檛 make enough shots to keep up with athletic Imani Christian in a 67-41 loss in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs at Peters Twp. High School.
鈥淲e鈥檝e done it all year,鈥� said Romanus. 鈥淭wice we鈥檝e scored in the 60s. We are just an offensively challenged team. That鈥檚 a problem because you have to make shots when you get to the playoffs. We just don鈥檛 have offensive punch at all.鈥�
The second-lowest scoring team in all of Class A at 46 points per game, West Greene (8-13) lost in the opening round for the fifth consecutive season.
The Pioneers lost to St. Joseph in the first round last season. They fell to Imani Christian in 2018, and lost to Eden Christian and Vincentian Academy the two years prior to that.
鈥淲e鈥檝e made the playoffs five straight years, which is a school record,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淲e have played five private schools. I do wish we could overcome this and beat a team.鈥�
Bucking the trend of the first-round failures got off to a slow start for the Pioneers, who failed to score until over halfway though the first quarter and fell behind 10-0.
Imani Christian (15-8) got the early lead and never was threatened. Jacquez Myers kept the Saints鈥� lead at a distance throughout the first half, making back-to-back baseline 3-pointers after West Greene showed life late in the first quarter.
Myers, who scored all 11 of his points in the first half, then turned it over the rest of his teammates to carry the load.
Leading 31-19 at halftime, Malik Shannon rattled in a straightaway, line-drive 3-pointer with 5:33 left in the third quarter to continue to a 10-4 run that extended the Saints鈥� lead to 18 points.
Imani made seven threes to the Pioneers鈥� one, which didn鈥檛 come until 6:08 left in regulation.
鈥淪ometimes in basketball it鈥檚 day-to-day,鈥� Imani coach Omar Foster said. 鈥淪ometimes we shoot the ball really well. Sometimes we don鈥檛. I thought we shot the ball pretty good today.鈥�
Aiden Betsill was in double figures for the Saints with 14 points. Elijah Arrington and Senique Jenkins each finished with nine to balance the offense.
The only punch on offense for West Greene came from Ben Jackson, who scored a game-high 21 points, including 11 from the frequently visited foul line. Austin Crouse added nine points for the Pioneers, who used seven defenders this week in practice to try and mimic the Saints鈥� defensive pressure.
鈥淲hen opportunities existed today we didn鈥檛 take advantage of them,鈥� Romanus frustratingly said. 鈥淚n a game like this you have to be opportunistic in your offensive approach. We really had some mental lapses. We can鈥檛 afford stuff like that because we鈥檙e not overly blessed with talent. We have to play fundamentally sound, and I thought we made some just ridiculous blunders.鈥�