Defense takes night off as Wash High falls to Ironmen
Attack offensively and play sound fundamental defense. The philosophies installed by Washington High School head boys basketball coach Ron Faust are simple, yet effective.
When Wash High faced Steel Valley, a Class AAA opponent, Monday night to prepare for the WPIAL playoffs, Faust did not see either from his team.
The Prexies lacked consistency from the opening tip-off and the Ironmen had little trouble imposing their will as Steel Valley won, 74-62, in a non-section game.
The loss snaps the Prexies’ 11-game winning streak and gives Steel Valley (14-7) momentum heading into the postseason.
“We were more passive than attacking. I said it earlier in the year that there are times we play hard and times we hardly play,” Faust said. “Tonight, there was more hardly playing than playing hard. For whatever reason, we just didn’t get aggressive, yet I thought that team could be pressed.”
Though Wash High (15-7) struggled to combat the Ironmen’s zone defense throughout the first half, sophomore Matt Popeck, who scored a team-high 19 points, made a layup with 3:53 remaining in the second quarter to tie the score, 27-27.
It was the Prexies’ last field goal for more than seven minutes as they struggled to find room through Steel Valley’s defense, which was led by 6-7 forward Dominique Keyes. Wash High had eight turnovers over the middle quarters. During the offensive drought, the Ironmen went on a 20-3 run to grab a 17-point lead.
“When we play our game, it’s hard for anyone to beat us,” Steel Valley head coach Drew Schifino said. “We can be tough to stop on both ends. We wanted to limit their second chances and keep them to one shot.”
Having Keyes made that an easy task. The junior scored a game-high 21 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, blocked three shots and altered several others to prevent Wash High’s offense from attacking the lane.
“Having a 6-7 guy like Dominique makes a coach’s job easy,” Schifino said with a grin. “This was a good test for us. Wash High is a good team that won 10 straight. They beat South Fayette and (Seton-LaSalle). We treated this like a playoff game.”
Steel Valley increased its lead to 21 points with less than three minutes remaining in the third quarter before Popeck and junior forward Nate Swart, who scored 18 points, sparked a 15-0 run. After closing to within six points with 6:36 remaining, the Prexies’ defense collapsed, allowing uncontested layups and short jump shots.
“The offense will come and go, but the defense has to be steady. You can’t give up 74 points and win a game, certainly not a playoff game,” Faust said bluntly. “Hopefully, it’s a learning lesson for us. If not, our playoffs will be short-lived because we have to play better defensively.”
Though defense was an issue in the opening minutes with the Ironmen finding Keyes inside for easy points, Wash High was attacking offensively, drawing fouls inside and establishing an inside presence, despite playing without senior forward DeQuay Isbell.
Perimeter defense was also an issue for Wash High. Steel Valley made four three-pointers in the first half while Wash High failed to execute a press defense. The Ironmen had four players score in double figures and did not have trouble generating a transition offense.
The loss was concerning to Faust. He watched his team grow into a contender over the past month, but the progress evaporated against a tough opponent to close out the regular season.
“We wanted to make them play the whole floor, but for whatever reason, we kept backing up and didn’t even guard against layups,” Faust said. “I’m not sure what we did, but I hope I don’t see it again. You can’t win games playing the way we did, especially playoff games, and I saw this as a playoff game.”