Streak continues: Greyhounds win 16th straight, knock out Jeannette, 69-59
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
The Greyhounds鈥� Lorenzo Gardner (2) shoots over the defense of Jeannette鈥檚 Tyler Horn (5) in the second quarter of Tuesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AA first round playoff game at Monessen. Gardner scored 25 points in Monessen鈥檚 69-59 victory.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Jeannette鈥檚 Tyler Horn (5) fouls Monessen鈥檚 Kody Kuhns (10) as he drives the lane in the second quarter of Tuesday鈥檚 WPIAL Class AA first round playoff game at Monessen. Kuhns finished with 18 points.
The Greyhounds' Leonaj Thomas (4) wins the opening tip from Jeannette's Shane Mickens (10) in Tuesday's WPIAL Class AA first round playoff game at Monessen.
The Greyhounds' Lorenzo Gardner (2) shoots between Jeannette's Shane Mickens (10) and Tyler Horn (5) underneath the basket in the first quarter of Tuesday's WPIAL Class AA first round playoff game at Monessen.
The Greyhounds' Jaisean Blackman makes a reverse layup in the first quarter of Tuesday's WPIAL Class AA first round playoff game against Jeanette at Monessen.
MONESSEN 鈥� It wasn鈥檛 pretty, but Monessen made enough plays to down Jeannette in a WPIAL Class AA boys basketball first-round game Tuesday night, 69-59.
鈥淚t was one of those ugly ones, but we did enough to win,鈥� Monessen coach Dan Bosnic said with a smile. 鈥淚 thought the game was played at a really fast pace and there were times when we handled ourselves well and were able to attack different areas we wanted to.
鈥淎t other times, we got sped up too fast and were not playing the way we know how to.鈥�
The teams combined for 53 turnovers (Jeannette 33, Monessen 20), 46 fouls (Jeannette 26, Monessen 20) and 50 free-throw attempts (Monessen 31, Jeannette 19).
It may not have been a Picasso on the court, but the Greyhounds did what they had to for a win.
Lorenzo Gardner (25) and Kody Kuhns (18) combined for 43 points for Monessen (19-4), but as Bosnic pointed out, the team did the little things and that was the difference.
鈥淲e were effective on the offensive glass, had several deflections and made some good passes when needed,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to keep doing the little things as they add up.鈥�
Monessen opened the game on a 7-0 run, but Jeannette (10-12) countered with its own 7-0 run to tie the score midway through the first quarter.
The teams played the rest of the frame within four points of each other, and the Jayhawks led 16-15 after one.
The Greyhounds opened the second quarter with a 9-0 run to take a 24-18 lead. Jeannette answered with a 7-2 run to trim the Monessen lead to 26-23 with two minutes to go in the quarter, but the Hounds closed the quarter on a 7-0 run to take a 33-23 lead at the half.
鈥淭he kids are capable of going on runs,鈥� Bosnic said. 鈥淚 think we went on runs that our defense allowed us to get out and get easy scores on.鈥�
Jeannette opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run, and it trimmed the Monessen lead to 36-35 halfway through the quarter, but the Greyhounds never gave up the lead and led 46-39 going into the fourth.
The Jayhawks got no closer than six points in the fourth, and Monessen put away its 16th straight win.
The Greyhounds used numerous defenses on Jeannette, and that limited the Jayhawks offensively.
鈥淒efensively, we continued to bother them with our trap, but at times, we did not rotate well enough,鈥� Bosnic said. 鈥淲e have to clean up some things, but at times, we played solid defense.鈥�
Kuhns had a double-double as he grabbed 10 rebounds with Leonaj Thomas also grabbing 10.
Monessen only made 15 of 31 free throw attempts, with the usually reliable Gardner only making three of his 18 attempts.
Jeannette鈥檚 Anton Good led all scorers with 28 points.
Fifth-seeded Monessen advances to the quarterfinals, where it takes on fourth-seeded Greensburg Central Catholic (17-3) at Norwin Friday night. Tipoff is 7 p.m.
鈥淲e have seen a lot of film on them already,鈥� said Bosnic. 鈥淭hey are a quality team and hopefully we prepare well the next two days. We are excited for the opportunity.鈥�