Defense does the job for Waynesburg
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Addison Blair (13) squeezes past McGuffey鈥檚 Faith Ealy during the Lady Raiders鈥� win Jan. 5. Blair hit four 3-pointers and scored 14 points. (Photo by Mark Marietta)
Closely guarded by McGuffey鈥檚 Taylor Schumacher, Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Kaley Rohanna drives into the lane Thursday night.
Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Kaley Rohanna (15) splits the McGuffey defenders on the way to two of her 14 points Thursday night.
McGuffey鈥檚 Sarah Brownlee (left) defends Waynesburg Central鈥檚 Josie Horne during Thursday night鈥檚 game. (Photos by Mark Marietta)
CLAYSVILLE 鈥� It was a good night for anybody who had the under.
That鈥檚 a joke, of course.
There鈥檚 no betting allowed in high school girls basketball or any other prep sport but the under would have hit if betting lines were available for Waynesburg Central鈥檚 game at McGuffey Thursday night.
Waynesburg beat McGuffey, 44-30.
The night went differently than Waynesburg coach Chris Minerd wanted, particularly offensively.
Minerd鈥檚 defense, however, came to play.
鈥淥ur goal is to keep people under 40,鈥� Minerd said. 鈥淚 think we have a good enough offense, on most nights, to score more than 40, so that鈥檚 the goal.鈥�
Mission accomplished.
Waynesburg (2-0, 10-1) held McGuffey鈥檚 Taylor Schumacher, a sophomore averaging around 20 points per game, to seven points.
鈥淲e did lock down a little bit on Schumacher,鈥� Minerd said, 鈥渟eeing what she鈥檚 been doing all year. She鈥檚 been having a great year.
鈥淎nd then everybody else was just kind of in help position. So, they did a great job with that. I get a little rowdy on the (sidelines) sometimes, but they鈥檙e a good bunch of kids, and they know how to stand up to adversity. So I鈥檓 proud of them for that.鈥�
On the other side, McGuffey (0-2, 9-4) coach Andrew Kurzawski summed up the night well.
鈥淲e just couldn鈥檛 hit shots,鈥� Kurzawski said. 鈥淲e have Taylor Schumacher, one of our top scorers. She (averages) almost 20 a game. They did an exceptional job on her defensively. Couldn鈥檛 find a rhythm. Same with Libby Mallah (two points). Just couldn鈥檛 find a rhythm tonight.鈥�
The Lady Raiders never found their rhythm offensively, either. Their best player, Kaley Rohanna, got into foul trouble early and ended with a relatively pedestrian, for her, 14 points.
Taking care of business despite not having Rohanna for stretches of the game, for Minerd, 鈥渟howed a lot of guts.鈥�
鈥淲e got handcuffed a little bit,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ad to take Rohanna out a couple of times, obviously one of my better players. So the girls kept their composure. McGuffey鈥檚 a good team. They鈥檙e on the rise. They鈥檙e a young team.鈥�
Waynesburg led 24-16 at the half and didn鈥檛 allow a basket in the third quarter until the final minute. McGuffey鈥檚 defense held its own, which was why the game never became too lopsided.
Addison Blair added 14 points with four 3-pointers for Waynesburg.
Aside from Blair and Rohanna, no other player from either side cracked double figures. Josie Horne contributed eight points for the Lady Raiders.
Waynesburg looks to keep rolling Monday night at Yough. McGuffey will try to get its first section win on the same night at the same time against Brownsville at home.
Despite the loss, Kurzawski was happy with his team鈥檚 performance, mainly on defense.
鈥淎ll in all, I鈥檓 pretty happy with how we played,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to getting them again.鈥�
鈥淲asn鈥檛 the performance that I wanted,鈥� Minerd said. 鈥淏ut part of that had to do with McGuffey. They have a good young team, and they鈥檙e well-coached.鈥�