Mar 1, 2024 By Bill Hughes and Rob Burchianti 4 min read

MONESSEN – West Greene’s girls basketball team battled Monessen three times this season and each time the game got tighter.

The Lady Greyhounds survived each time, including on Saturday with a 34-30 win over the visiting Lady Pioneers in a WPIAL Class A consolation game.

Monessen (19-6) won the two regular-season meetings between the Section 2 rivals, 40-25 and 45-39.

The loss, following West Greene’s defeat at the hands of top-seeded Union, 59-16, in the quarterfinals, puts an end to the Lady Pioneers’ season, although it did include a first-round playoff victory over visiting Jeannette, 55-33.

The win over the Lady Jayhawks marked the eighth consecutive season West Greene (10-15) has won at least one playoff game.

Turnovers were costly in the loss to Monessen with the Lady Pioneers coughing the ball up 32 times against the Lady Greyhounds harassing defense.

“I thought our offense and defense were pretty good, but they pushed it out further than usual,” said West Greene coach Austin Crouse of Monessen’s unyielding pressure. “We shot ourselves in the foot today.

“Our defense was strong all game long, and we held them to 34 points, which is pretty low for them. We just turned it over too many times.”

West Greene led 12-6 after the first quarter, and the Lady Pioneers led most of the first half until Sidney Campbell gave Monessen its first lead at 14-12 with 3:33 to go before halftime. The teams were tied at 16-16 at halftime.

Kasie Meek scored the first six points of the second half to give West Greene a 22-16 lead, but Monessen intensified its defensive pressure and held the Lady Pioneers scoreless the rest of the quarter.

The Lady Greyhounds scored the last seven points of the quarter to take a 23-22 lead into the fourth, and they extended their lead to 27-22 early in the fourth quarter.

Meek’s free throw ended the West Greene drought, but the Lady Pioneers would get no closer than three points the rest of the way.

My’Asia Majors and Maddie Johnson led a balanced Monessen attack with 10 points apiece.

Meek led all scores with 16 points and Kendra Tharp added 10 points for West Greene.

“Our intensity and press were the difference,” said Monessen coach Janine Vertacnik. “Our shots weren’t falling, so we turned up the pressure defensively.

“We were down early, but I am proud of the team effort, and we are moving on after beating a good team in a tough game.”

Despite the high number of turnovers, West Greene was still in it late as the Lady Pioneers defense held Monessen (19-6) to 20 percent (10-of-49) from the field, including 27 percent (9-of-34) inside the arc and just 7 percent (1-of-15) from 3-point range.

Crouse and the team will miss their two seniors, but he is excited for the future.

“Our young girls were phenomenal and I am already looking forward to next season,” said Crouse.

Union 59, West Greene 16 – The top-seeded Lady Scotties sprinted out to an 18-0 lead in the first six minutes and cruised from that point for a WPIAL Class A quarterfinal victory over the visiting Lady Pioneers on Feb. 22.

West Greene’s Kendra Tharp broke the early run when she scored a field goal with 1:49 left in the first quarter. She later made 1-of-2 free throws as the Lady Pioneers (10-14) trailed 29-3 after the first quarter.

Union (17-5) clamped down in the second quarter, holding West Greene scoreless for a 46-3 halftime lead.

The second half was played with a running clock under the mercy rule.

West Greene outscored the defending Class A champions in the third quarter. Kylee Davis hit a 3-pointer and Marissa Tharp, Kendra Tharp and Madelyn Roberts all scored two points.

Kendra Tharp led West Greene with five points. Roberts scored four.

Kelly Cleaver paced Union with a game-high 16 points. Kylie Fruehstorfer and Mia Preuhs both scored 11.