GIRLS GAME OF THE WEEK: Lady Pioneers reach first WPIAL final; depth key in 66-59 win over Quigley
Lori C. Padilla
West Greene’s Elizabeth Brudnock is fouled by Quigley Catholic’s Lilianna Briscoe as she dribbles past her during the second half of their WPIAL Class A girls basketball semifinal game at Peters Township High School on Tuesday night. Brudnock scored 14 points as the Lady Pioneers won, 66-59, to advance to the WPIAL championship game for the first time.
Quigley Catholic's Taylor Kirschner (back) attempts to block a shot by West Greene's McKenna Lampe during first-half action of their WPIAL Class A girls basketball semifinal game at Peters Township High School on Tuesday night. Lampe scored a team-high 15 points as the Lady Pioneers won, 66-59, to advance to the championship game on Friday.
Lori C. Padilla
West Greene’s Jersey Wise hits a shot despite the defensive efforts of Quigley Catholic’s Clara Stephenson (left) during the second period of their WPIAL Class A girls basketball semifinal game at Peters Township High School Tuesday night. The Lady Pioneers won, 66-59, to advance to the WPIAL championship game for the first time.
Lori C. Padilla
West Greene’s Madison Lampe (21) powers her way to the basket against Quigley Catholic during second-half action of their WPIAL Class A girls basketball semifinal game at Peters Township High School on Tuesday night. Lampe scored 13 points as the Lady Pioneers won, 66-59, to advance to the WPIAL championship game for the first time.
Quigley Catholic's Clara Stephenson (left) bumps West Greene's Kaitlyn Rizor out of bounds duriing first-half action of their WPIAL Class A girls basketball semifinal game at Peters Township High School on Tuesday night. Rizor scored 13 points as the Lady Pioneers won, 66-59, to advance to the WPIAL championship game for the first time.
McMURRAY — One of the biggest differences between this year’s West Greene girls’ basketball squad and last year’s team is depth.
That depth got tested in the WPIAL Class A semifinals against Quigley Catholic on Tuesday at Peters Township High School, as the Lady Pioneers had two starters foul out, but the squad regrouped and made history with a 66-59 victory.
“Our motto all year has been we have eight starters and every one of those girls believe that,” West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. “When we had foul trouble in the second half and had to go to the bench, the girls never stopped believing in each other. There was no drop off in play and we had so many kids step up big for us in that fourth quarter.”
This is the school’s first ever trip to a WPIAL basketball final and it’s also Greene County’s first ever girls basketball championship appearance.
“It’s really exciting,” McKenna Lampe said. “Because nobody in the county has accomplish this feat and to do it with this group is just special. I’m at a loss for words right now. So many emotions and I was so glad we held on to win this one.”
Greene County, known for its wrestling and softball success, has only had one basketball team win a title and that was the Mapletown boys in 1972.
The second-seeded Lady Pioneers, whose roster includes several players that helped West Greene win a PIAA and two WPIAL softball titles, will battle top-seeded Winchester Thurston on Friday at the Peterson Event Center. Tip-off is 3 p.m.
“Obviously this win is huge for our community and our school,” Watson said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the girls and their resolve tonight. We made the playoffs six of the last seven years, but we could never get over that hump and make a deep run.
“Greene County has always been known as a wrestling county, but I think with the success of both of our basketball (girls and boys) programs over the last couple of years, we are hopefully turning into a basketball school. These girls expected to win and they never blinked tonight.”
Winchester (18-5) defeated West Greene in last year’s semifinals and also holds two regular-season wins over the Lady Pioneers the last two seasons.
McKenna Lampe scored a team-high 15 points for the Lady Pioneers (22-2), followed by Elizabeth Brudnock’s 14. Madison Lampe and Kaitlyn Rizor added 13 points apiece.
“We never hit the panic button,” Rizor said. “We have been a good passing team all season long. We passed up the good shot for an even better shot. We had better ball movement and so many people stepped up in the final quarter.”
Taylor Kirschner tallied a game-high 26 points for the Lady Spartans (15-9). Ciara Stephenson and Ashley Mineard chipped in with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
With things deadlocked at 43-43 entering the fourth quarter, Quigley took a 49-46 lead with an early 6-3 run.
West Greene responded with the next five points to retake the lead. After a basket by the Lady Spartans, the Lady Pioneers stretched their lead to 60-54 with a 9-3 spurt.
“It was total teamwork in the final eight minutes,” McKenna Lampe said. “We were just motivated and we wanted this win so bad. We had to push each other and play with the right emotions. I still can’t believe we are going to play at the Pete on Friday.”
After two foul shots by Quigley, West Greene preserved the win with six of the final nine points of the game. The Lady Pioneers shot an impressive 14-of-18 at the charity stripe in the final 3:39, including five-of-six by freshman Jersey Wise. West Greene also had to battle against both Lampe sisters fouling out in the fourth.
“That was the most exciting game I ever played in,” Brudnock said. “As a freshman, I knew I couldn’t be afraid of the moment and I had to step up my game. I hit some outside shots early in the game and that really made me confident in my game. It was a great team win.”
West Greene jumped out of the gates red-hot with a 9-0 run to start the opening quarter and held a 17-9 lead at the end of one.
“Our press really sped things up in that first quarter and we got some turnovers off of it,” Watson said. “We were face-guarding their scorers and making them uncomfortable. We hit some outside shots and typically we always come out strong. But we knew we had to play a full 32 minutes to win this one.”
Quigley battled back with a 17-8 scoring edge in the second period and clung to a 26-25 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, the action was back-and-forth and full of momentum swings. West Greene got separation from a 31-30 deficit with a 10-5 burst to retake the lead. Quigley countered with a 7-3 rally to knot things up at 43-43 and set up an exciting final eight minutes of play.
“It’s just a different feeling to get to the finals than in softball,” Rizor said. “I just don’t think anybody expected us to make it this far. We were focused and stayed calm during the whole game. We never panicked or pointed fingers. We won this game with our depth.”