Similar story: West Greene falls to Rochester in finals
West Greene captains (from left) Kaytlynn Walls, Brooke Barner and Jersey Wise accept the WPIAL runner-up trophy after a 71-41 loss to Rochester in the WPIAL Class A championship game. (Photo by Eleanor Bailey)
West Greene鈥檚 Kaytlynn Walls saves the ball from going out of bounds against Rochester during Monday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A championship game at Peters Township. (Eleanor Bailey)
Eleanor Bailey
Eleanor Bailey
West Greene鈥檚 Jersey Wise attempts a shot over Rochester鈥檚 Corynne Hauser during Monday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A championship game at Peters Township.
Eleanor Bailey
West Greene鈥檚 Elizabeth Brudnock looks to shoot against Rochester during the WPIAL Class A championship game at Peters Township on March 15. Brudnock was named to the Greene County Messenger All-Country Girls Basketball First Team.
Rochester's Corynne Hauser (11) attempts to block a shot by West Greene's Jersey Wise (3)聽during Monday's WPIAL Class A championship game at Peters Township.
West Greene鈥檚 Jersey Wise drives to the basket against Rochester鈥檚 Aleaya Mercier during Monday鈥檚 WPIAL Class A championship game at Peters Township. (Photo by Eleanor Bailey)
McMURRAY 鈥� This is becoming a habit.
For four consecutive years, West Greene High School鈥檚 girls basketball team has overwhelmed opponents in the regular season and early rounds of the playoffs with an aggressive and determined style of play that has worn out all types of foes.
It is a formula for success that worked every year until the WPIAL Class A championship game, when the Pioneers ran into opponents with more high-end talent. The Pioneers played well for stretches in each title game but would have to settle for silver medals instead of gold.
West Greene鈥檚 latest runner-up finish came Monday evening when the Pioneers ran into Rochester鈥檚 high-scoring trio of Alexis Robison, Corynne Hauser and Makenzie Robison. The trio combined for 62 points in Rochester鈥檚 71-41 victory at Peters Township High School鈥檚 new gymnasium.
For Rochester (15-3), it is the Rams鈥� third consecutive WPIAL championship, all coming against West Greene. And this one was the most impressive.
Rochester clamped down defensively on the Pioneers, holding leading scorer Jersey Wise to only two points and forcing an uncharacteristic 15 turnovers by West Greene in the first half.
鈥淲e try to play quality teams in non-section play, but it鈥檚 hard to simulate Rochester鈥檚 athletic ability in practice,鈥� West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. 鈥淗auser is a Division I girl. She鈥檚 as quick as anyone we鈥檝e ever played against. Division I girls don鈥檛 grow on trees.鈥�
Hauser scored 23 points, many of them on end-to-end driving layups. Her biggest contribution, Rochester coach C.J. Iannini said, came on defense. Hauser played sticky man-to-man defense against Wise as the Rams鈥� ball pressure caused all kinds of problems for the Pioneers.
鈥淗er defense was phenomenal,鈥� Iannini said. 鈥淲e gave Corynne the challenge of guarding their leading scorer, who was averaging 17 points per game. We wanted her to hold Wise to half of that.鈥�
Alexis Robison led Rochester with 29 points and Makenzie Robison had 10.
Anna Durbin led West Greene (18-4) with 13 points. Elizabeth Brudnock and Brooke Barner each had strong games, scoring 11 points. Barner had a team-high eight rebounds.
Because the PIAA tournament is limited to only district champions this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, West Greene鈥檚 season is over. Watson said the Pioneers will miss their three seniors, Wise, Brudnock and Kaytlynn Walls.
鈥淚t鈥檚 disappointing to get here and lose four in a row, but this is a great senior class,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淚n 2018, if somebody would have told those three kids that we鈥檇 win four section titles, not lose a home game, not lose a section game and get to the WPIAL finals four years in a row, I think they鈥檇 take it. It鈥檚 disappointing now, but they had great careers.
鈥淟ast year, six teams made the state tournament so this game wasn鈥檛 an elimination deal. This year, only one team goes and it makes losing harder because it鈥檚 the last game. Our girls will be going to softball practice Tuesday.鈥�
Rochester started quickly, forging a 6-0 lead before West Greene battled back behind long-range shooting and tied the score at 12-12 in the final minute of the opening quarter. The Rams, however, scored two baskets in the final five seconds to lead 16-12.
鈥淭hey did a good job of closing quarters,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e fought back and tied it, then in a blink it was 16-12. Those are daggers when it comes to momentum. It should have been tied after one quarter.鈥�
Rochester built the lead to 31-21 at halftime as Alexis Robison had 14 at the break. Barner made a three-pointer from the corner with two seconds left in the half to keep West Greene within striking distance.
Even with all of their turnovers, the Pioneers were thinking comeback because Rochester missed each of its first 17 three-point shots and finished 1-for-19 behind the stripe. West Greene, however, couldn鈥檛 fuel enough offense to generate a comeback.
Alexis Robison had nine points in the third quarter and Hauser scored eight as Rochester pushed its lead to 48-33.
鈥淲e had too many mental lapses,鈥� Brudnock said explaining the turnovers.
鈥淭heir ball pressure took away our drives, and our offense is a lot of drive and pitch for an open shot,鈥� Wise added.