State goal: Lady Pioneers seek first PIAA win; Southmoreland, Monessen, EF also in action
Holly Tonini
Monessen鈥檚 Avanti Stitch makes a pass around West Greene鈥檚 Kasie Meek to Hailey Johnson during a Jan 31 game at Monessen. Both teams qualified for the PIAA playoffs and play first-round road games tonight.
Jim Downey | 缅北禁地
Southmoreland鈥檚 Olivia Cernuto (10) is surrounded by Knoch鈥檚 Hattie McGraw (13) and Nina Shaw (25) during the first quarter of a WPIAL Class 4A semifinal playoff game at Gateway High School on March 1. The Lady Scotties begin PIAA play tonight with a game at Tyrone.
Rob Burchianti | 缅北禁地
Elizabeth Forward鈥檚 Haven Briggs attempts a 3-point shot as Blackhawk鈥檚 Kassie Potts defends during a WPIAL Class AAAA semifinal playoff game at West Allegheny on March 1. The Lady Warriors open PIAA play tonight with a game at Bedford.
West Greene鈥檚 girls basketball team kept a frustrating streak alive in this year鈥檚 WPIAL Class 1A playoffs.
For the sixth year in a row, the Lady Pioneers were felled by the district champion.
Winchester Thurston won titles in 2017 and 2018, knocking off West Greene in the semifinals and then the final. Rochester took home the next three crowns with wins over the Lady Pioneers in the championship game each year.
This season a furious fourth-quarter rally by Bishop Canevin eliminated West Greene in the quarterfinals and the Lady Crusaders went on to win the WPIAL title.
鈥淵eah, we were looking at that, that鈥檚 a pretty interesting streak,鈥� West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. 鈥淲e were a two seed and Bishop was seven but we knew they were under-seeded. We saw it has a close match-up. We鈥檝e been fortunate to win a bunch of those 50-50 games but this year we got beat.鈥�
While the Lady Pioneers (18-4) came up short of playing at Petersen Events Center after reaching the WPIAL final the previous four years, Watson鈥檚 team does have a program first within its reach.
鈥淣o one in our county has ever won a state game,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the goal. Waynesburg plays (Tuesday night) so they have a chance to do it, too.鈥�
The Lady Pioneers are one of four area girls teams that begin PIAA play tonight. Also in action are Southmoreland, Monessen and Elizabeth Forward. All four teams face long road trips.
West Greene wound up as the fifth-place team out of District 7 (WPIAL) thanks to Bishop Canevin鈥檚 run to the championship. Had the Lady Crusaders lost in the semifinals to Union, the Lady Pioneers鈥� season would鈥檝e been over.
鈥淲e took off that Thursday to Monday to see if Bishop was going to beat Union or not,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淥nce they did then it was just wait and see what spot we鈥檇 be in depending on if they won in the final or not.鈥�
The Lady Pioneers are in the state tournament for the fifth time in the last six years and play District 6 champion Portage (21-5) in a 6 p.m. game at Mount Aloysius College.
Watson and assistant coach Justin Allen saw both their opponent and the site up close recently.
鈥淲e went to Mount Aloysius on Friday to see Portage play,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a really nice facility.
鈥淧ortage is very balanced. Everybody in their rotation averages between five-to-10 points a game so they鈥檙e very balanced. Their best players are No. 11 (Sydni Sossong), No. 3 (Arianna Wozniak) and No. 10 (Alex Chobany). They don鈥檛 have that one girl that鈥檚 going to score 30 but they have a bunch of girls that are capable of scoring 10.
鈥淭he films we鈥檝e watched and then when we saw them in person, they鈥檙e a lot like us really. They play man defense, man out of bounds, half-court man and then they try to press a lot and fall back into a man. They鈥檙e going to do a lot of 1-2-2 press with somebody on the ball.
鈥淚t should be a fast-paced game with a lot of points.鈥�
Watson doesn鈥檛 see an almost three-hour drive to the game as a problem. He鈥檚 more concerned about the long layoff his players have had.
鈥淚t鈥檒l probably be close to three hours on the bus,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 necessarily worry about that, though. You just look at our section, Avella鈥檚 a pretty good hike, Geibel鈥檚 a good hike, Monessen鈥檚 a good hike. I don鈥檛 think the long bus drive plays a role.
鈥淎s for being off such a long time, well, we鈥檒l see. This was different this year in that you鈥檝e got like about two weeks between games. We had a scrimmage last week against Burgettstown.
鈥淭his is another one where we think it鈥檚 a toss-up game. We鈥檝e got to match their intensity because they鈥檒l have at least 90 percent of the crowd probably.鈥�
West Greene鈥檚 leading scorers are Anna Durbin, Katie Lampe and Brooke Barner.
Monessen (17-6), the sixth-place District 7 team which finished second in Section 2 behind West Greene, will play at District 9 champion Elk County Catholic (24-3) at 7 p.m.
Coach Janine Vertacnik鈥檚 Lady Greyhounds got into the PIAA postseason thanks to Aquinas Academy, which beat Monessen in the quarterfinals, reaching the WPIAL final. Monessen got its first postseason win in 10 years when it rolled past Riverview, 51-16, in the first round.
Southmoreland and Elizabeth Forward, who were first and second in Section 3, are both in the Class 4A bracket.
The Lady Warriors (19-5) and Lady Scotties (18-4) both lost in the WPIAL semifinals to Blackhawk, 76-53, and Knoch, 56-45, respectively. Blackhawk defeated Knoch in the final, putting EF as the third-place team in District 7 with Southmoreland fourth.
The Lady Scotties, coached by Amber Cernuto, romped over Highlands, 50-24, in their playoff opener after receiving a first-round bye.
Southmoreland, in the state tournament for the second time in three years (it went 1-1 in 2020), travels to District 6 champion Tyrone (22-1) for a 7 p.m. game.
The Lady Warriors, coached by Krystal Gibbs, took out Central Valley, 75-41, and Beaver Area, 46-42, before losing to Blackhawk. They are in the PIAA playoffs for the second time in four years.
Elizabeth Forward is at District 5 champion Bedford (21-5) for a 7 p.m. game.
Wednesday鈥檚 winners will advance to the PIAA second round on Saturday.