Lady Raiders advance with a little help from MJ
WAYNESBURG — Basketball legend Michael Jordan turned 60 Friday night.
On Saturday, Waynesburg coach Chris Minerd quoted him when speaking to his team before their WPIAL Class AAA first round girls basketball matchup against Seton-LaSalle, and it worked as the Lady Raiders downed the Lady Rebels, 64-55.
“I told the girls, ‘Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships,'” he said after the game about the quote. “Our keys today were to outrebound them, outhustle them, get them in foul trouble and be smart on offense.
“We did all four things.”
Junior Kaley Rohanna scored 31 points to pace Waynesburg (20-3) in the well-rounded win.
“Big players step up in big games,” Minerd said before adjusting to what motivated the team all week. “The girls felt disrespected by getting the eighth seed despite winning the section, and the message all week was it’s us against the world.
“Nobody else thought we could do it, but we did. We knew we were better than our seed and I am proud of the effort everybody gave.”
The Lady Raiders used a 10-0 run in the first quarter to take control, and they led 19-10 heading into the second.
Waynesburg extended its lead to 28-14 with just under five minutes to go in the half, but the Lady Rebels (13-10) were able to trim the deficit down to 10, 35-25, at the intermission.
A quick 8-0 run over the first two minutes of the third quarter gave the Lady Raiders a 43-25 lead, but Seton-LaSalle coach Jordan Giles called a timeout and the Lady Rebels responded with a 19-6 run that lasted until the final seconds of the quarter, when Waynesburg’s Avery Davis hit a three-pointer to give the hosts a 52-44 lead heading into the fourth.
Seton-LaSalle cut the lead to 54-51 with 6:21 to go, but Kyliegh Donnelly fouled out with 5:24 to go and its best player, Mallory Day, fouled out with 4:01 to go.
“We had keyed on Day and Addie Lonergan, but when Day fouled out, we were able to adjust,” Minerd said. “Tiara Curry had 22 for them as we had to pick our poison, but once the players fouled out, we were able to adjust.”
Waynesburg led 56-51 when Day fouled out, and the Raiders slowly gained breathing room down the stretch as they closed out the win.
Junior Josie Horne finished with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists for Waynesburg and freshman Peyton Cowell had seven points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Curry was joined in double figures by Day (13) and Lonergan (11).
The Raiders will prepare for top-seeded Shady Side Academy (20-2) on Wednesday at a location and time to be determined.
“The girls did a great job and have nothing to lose against the one-seed next,” he said. “And no matter what happens, it won’t be our last game.
“My sickest feeling this morning coming in was if we lost, it was the end. I didn’t think our season deserved to end that way, and we get to play on.”
A win would return the Lady Raiders to the WPIAL semifinals while a loss would put them into the play-in bracket for a state berth.