Farrell ends cold-shooting Greyhounds’ season, 44-37
Joel Brewton
Monessen’s Justice Wright (12) looks for an opening as Farrell’s Leon Lewis (21) and Jarod Messett (10) defend during Friday’s PIAA playoff game at Slippery Rock University. Farrell’s zone defense stymied the Greyhounds’ offense and propelled the Steelers to a 44-37 victory.
Joel Brewton
Monessen’s Alan Duncan (4) goes in for the layup against Farrell’s Malik Miller (11) and Kyi Wright (3) during Friday’s PIAA playoff game at Slippery Rock University.
Monessen's Lavalle Rush (5) ties the game at the end of the third quarter against Farrell's Kyi Wright (3) during Friday's PIAA playoff game at Slippery Rock University. Rush ended with 10 points but the Greyhounds fell to the Steelers, 44-37.
Monessen's Dwight Moore (2) scores the first basket of Friday's PIAA playoff game against Farrell at Slippery Rock University. Moore led the Greyhounds with 16 points but it wasn't enough in a 44-37 loss to the Steelers.
SLIPPERY ROCK — Monessen coach Joe Salvino and Farrell coach Roland Shannonhouse knew each other’s team well enough to come up with an alternate strategy on defense for their PIAA Class A first-round playoff game.
Both coaches surprised the other by using a zone defense rather than their preferred man to man.
The result was a much more deliberate pace than most expected on Friday night.
The defensive change worked slightly better for Farrell than it did for Monessen, which allowed the Steelers to pull out a 44-37 victory at Slippery Rock University’s Morrow Field House.
“I’m sure a lot of people thought this was going to be a track meet,” Salvino said. “But I saw them and I thought like they thought, the perimeter shooting wasn’t all that great.”
While neither team shot well from the outside, that didn’t prevent Farrell’s Kyi Wright from scoring a game-high 20 points as all his baskets came from close range.
Wright scored 14 of his points in the second half, including a three-point play early in the fourth period that gave the Steelers the lead for good, to help Farrell advance into the second round against Elk County Catholic.
The Greyhounds’ postseason that was so highly anticipated thus ends with a two-game losing streak. Monessen fell to Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic in the WPIAL semifinals. Poor shooting from the outside was a factor in both losses.
“We just couldn’t put the ball in the hole,” Salvino said. “The last two games that’s been our problem.”
Two seniors playing their final game with the Greyhounds (21-5) led the team in scoring as Dwight Moore had 16 points and Lavalle Rush followed with 10. Monessen’s high-scoring junior tandem of Jaden Altomore and Justice Rice combined for just seven points, however, and as a team the Greyhounds made just four 3-pointers while missing over 20 shots from behind the arc.
“We were averaging 10 3s a game,” Salvino said. “We practiced a lot of that. But game situations and practice situations are totally different. When you don’t score, pressure starts to get to you because you don’t feel confident within yourself.”
That allowed Farrell (20-6) to pack in its zone even further.
“When you don’t hit your perimeter shots, that’s what they’re going to do,” Salvino said. “They’re just going to keep sinking in and sinking in and sinking in. It makes it hard to penetrate five people.”
While Monessen played well defensively and limited Farrell star Malik Miller to just eight points and one 3-pointer, it’s offense could never solve the Steelers’ zone.
The game was tied 31-31 heading into the fourth period, which began with a short jumper by Moore.
Neither team scored again until Wright converted a three-point play with 4:46 left to put Farrell up 34-33.
The next time the Steelers got possession, Shannonhouse called time out with 4:06 left and had his team pull the ball out, which eventually led to a basket by Wright to make it 36-33.
Miller drove and dished to Terrance Holloway for a basket to make it 38-33, and after Moore made one of two foul shots with 1:32 left, Wright scored again inside to make it 40-34.
Rush gave the Greyhounds hope by nailing a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left, snapping a scoring drought of 5:44 and cutting the gap to three.
Miller was then fouled and sent to the line for a one-and-one with 27 seconds left. He banked in his first attempt and his second bounced high off the rim and fell through, all but sealing the game for the Steelers.
“It was a good game,” Salvino said. “Unfortunately, we were on the losing end again.
“Any time you lose a game, it doesn’t feel good. When it’s your final game, it feels even worse.”
Monessen got off to a quick start when Moore scored and its press forced a turnover that led to a basket by Alan Duncan. The Steelers out-scored the Greyhounds 12-3 the rest of the period, though, to take a 12-7 lead.
Down 16-9 in the second, Monessen went on a 12-point run sparked by 3-pointers by Rice and Rush that also included four points by Moore and a tip-in by Altomore to give the Greyhounds their biggest lead at 21-16 and they led 21-18 at halftime.
Farrell opened the third period with a 10-point run to go up 28-21, but Monessen out-scored the Steelers 10-3 the rest of the frame, capped by a basket by Rush, to pull even at 31-31.
Farrell owned the fourth period, though.
“Farrell is good, there’s no doubt,” Salvino said. “They’re a nice disciplined team. It’s good to play teams like that. I give them all the credit and I wish them good luck.”
As for his own, team, Salvino said, “I feel bad for the seniors, like Lavalle Rush who’s given me four years of hard work and a lot of effort, and Dwight Moore who came to Monessen two years ago and was a welcome sight, and Alan Duncan.
“You miss those kind of people because you know what I put them through, and they adapted to the system and worked very hard to get to where we got today.”
{p style=”text-align: center;”}PIAA Boys Basketball
{p style=”text-align: center;”}First Round
{p style=”text-align: center;”}At Slippery Rock University
Monessen 7-14-10-6 — 37
Farrell 12-6-13-13 — 44
Monessen: Dwight Moore 16, Lavalle Rush 10. Farrell: Kyi Wright 20. Records: Monessen (21-5), Farrell (20-6).