GIRLS GAME OF THE WEEK: Lady Pioneers fall to Farrell, 67-63
Darnell Graham
West Greene’s Madison Lampe (21) dribbles past Farrell’s Dakita Filby (1) during the PIAA Class A first-round playoff game at Peters Township High School.
West Greene’s Elizabeth Brudnock (4) gets off a shot as teammate Savannah Pettit (11) boxes out against Farrell in a PIAA Class A first-round playoff game at Peters Township High School last season. The Lady Pioneers qualified for the state tournament for the first time in school history two years ago and again in 2017-18.
West Greene's Madison Lampe (21) splits the Farrell's Jeseena Mathis (3) and Marissa Hopson (4) to make a layup during Saturday's PIAA Class A first-round playoff game at Peters Twp. High School.
West Greene's Madison Lampe (21) makes a layup as Farrell's Jeseena Mathis (3) and Marissa Hopson (4) defend during Saturday's PIAA Class A first-round playoff game at Peters Twp. High School.
McMURRAY — The West Greene girls basketball team has qualified for the PIAA playoffs the past two seasons, but have unfortunately suffered two losses by a combined total of eight points.
The Lady Pioneers couldn’t overcome a sluggish second quarter and dropped an opening round game in the Class A state playoffs, 67-63, to Farrell last Saturday night at Peters Township High School in the Herald-Standard Game of the Week.
“You can throw the records out in the state playoffs,” West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. “Every opponent you face is going to be tough. Farrell has a lot of quality ball-handlers and they were able to break our press at times. We knew this was going to be a coin flip game.”
Last season West Greene had to travel a good distance to Bradford High School for its PIAA playoff game, and suffered a 61-57 setback to Otto-Eldred.
Farrell will play District 9 champion North Clarion (25-0) on Wednesday with a site and time to be determined.
Mar’Nae Otis registered a game-high 25 points for the Lady Steelers (13-11). Kyra Crosby added 15 points and Marissa Hopson chipped in 14 for the District 10 runner-up.
There’s only four teams in Class A in District 10, so throughout the year the Lady Steelers were in the same region as a lot of competitive Class AA and AAA teams.
The Lady Pioneers (22-4) had four players in double figures. Madison Lampe led with 16 points, while Elizabeth Brudnock and Savannah Pettit scored 13 apiece. McKenna Lampe rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points.
West Greene was without one of its starters with junior Kaitlyn Rizor sitting out after sustaining a finger injury in the first quarter of the WPIAL semifinal against Quigley Catholic.
“We did miss Kaitlyn and her versatility,” Watson said. “She can play every position on the court and we just had less flexibility in our lineup tonight. We knew we couldn’t get into foul trouble, but, unfortunately, we had a couple kids that fouled out.”
It was a frenetic opening eight minutes, as the teams exchanged runs and rallies. West Greene led 19-18 at the end of one quarter. Madison Lampe scored eight points in the frame.
Farrell controlled the second quarter with a 17-7 scoring edge and carried a 35-26 lead into halftime.
West Greene quickly trimmed the deficit to 37-32 after McKenna Lampe and Brudnock connected on 3-pointers, sandwiched around a bucket by the Lady Steelers, in the third period.
Trailing 49-40 midway through the third quarter, the Lady Pioneers ended the quarter with a 7-2 run and had the momentum heading into the fourth quarter, down 51-47.
After a bucket by Farrell opened the fourth quarter, West Greene responded with the next five points and took its first lead since the second quarter with an inside hoop by Pettit with 4:35 left in regulation.
The Lady Steelers responded with an 8-0 run and took a 62-54 advantage with two minutes left in the seesaw quarter. The Lady Pioneers answered back with a 7-2 burst to cut the lead down to 64-61.
Pettit scored an interior basket in the final minute, but Farrell was able to capture the state playoff game with enough points from the foul line to secure the win.
“We stayed within striking distance in the second half and I was really happy with the fight our girls showed,” Watson said. “We had some foul troubles in the second half and no matter who was on the floor, we battled. To use a softball analogy, we couldn’t take strike three looking. We had to swing for it and leave everything on the court.”
Both teams had their struggles at the foul line, Farrell shot 14-for-24 and West Greene went 11-for-24.
The Lady Pioneers did force 30 turnovers with their pressure.
It was truly a historic season for West Greene, as the Lady Pioneers advanced to the WPIAL finals for the first time in Greene County girls basketball history, won their second straight section title, extended their section unbeaten streak to 21 games and set a school record for wins in a season with 22.
West Greene has no seniors on the squad and will bring up a couple of talented eighth graders to the varsity team next season.
So maybe it will be “third time the charm” for the Lady Pioneers in the PIAA playoffs in 2019.
“We are definitely excited about next season,” Watson said. “When you look at our juniors, they have played eight playoff games over the last three seasons. That’s a school record for those kids. We get a step farther every year and we don’t take anything for granted. We were happy to reach the finals and to make it back to the states. I couldn’t be prouder of this group.”