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Three-peat : Monessen derails California

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Monessen’s Lavalle Rush grabs a rebound above California’s K.C. Zajicek and Kass Taylor, right, during the second quarter of a WPIAL Class A quarterfinal Friday at Charleroi.

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Monessen head coach Joe Salvino discusses a call with an official during the Greyhounds’ WPIAL Class A quarterfinal game Friday against California.

CALIFORNIA – The first two times the boys basketball teams from Monessen and California met this season, things went really well for the Greyhounds as they defeated Cal by an average of 55.5 points per game.

The one thing Monessen head coach Joe Salvino had to guard against as the teams met for the third time Friday night in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals was having an overconfident team.

That didn’t happen.

Justice Rice’s playmaking and scoring ability was on full display as the Greyhounds made it three-for-three against the Trojans with a 73-38 victory at Charleroi High School.

“That was one thing I was very worried about,” said Salvino. “You always hope you are focused and don’t come out overconfident after you beat somebody handily like we did. California is a good team and isn’t going to quit. I knew if we didn’t play the type of basketball we are capable of, then we could be in for a challenge.”

Rice finished the night with a game-high 21 points while Lavalle Rush chipped in 16 and Jaden Altomore added 12 for the Greyhounds.

When Rice wasn’t scoring, he had success creating shots for teammates as he assisted on baskets by seven different teammates.

It helped the Monessen (18-6) defense was solid, forcing a multitude of turnovers, many of which were turned into easy baskets.

“When we come into a game, we like to get our offense going off our defense,” said Rice. “We want to force turnovers and create our offense that way. I got great teammates and they can really score the rock. I just had to find them. After that, coach told me that when I have a shot to take it and I got into a pretty good rhythm.”

Monessen advances to meet Vincentian in a semifinal matchup Tuesday.

The Greyhounds had success on the defensive end as they pressured the ballhandlers into many mistakes. It was rare when the Trojans (17-6) got open looks at the basket. Even then, the Trojans didn’t have much success.

Monessen came out hot shooting the three-pointer, making nine shots from beyond the arc on the night.

“That’s a great team,” said California head coach Bruno Pappasergi. “I don’t know how you beat them, and every time we play them they just shoot lights out. We tried to do so many different things, but Monessen doesn’t let you execute what you practice. Once we got down, we just panicked.”

The Trojans took a 4-3 lead before Monessen put together a 10-0 first-quarter run built with three-point shots from Noah Rullo, who made three, and Altomore.

Yet, California was down only 14-7 after one quarter, but things got away from them in the second. Monessen outscored the Trojans 18-3 to close the half.

“We had a chance,” said Pappasergi. “If we just do some of the fundamental things right it isn’t a 35-point game. We didn’t box out once and that is something that we work on every day in practice. But we missed seven layups and seven free throws in the first half. That’s 21 points right there. If we get 13 of those even it is only a 10-point game at the half.”

Monessen came out in the third quarter and did much of the same, extending their lead to 25, leading 53-28 after three quarters.

Despite the big win, Salvino wants to see the Greyhounds correct some things before Tuesday.

“I actually wasn’t happy with our defense in the first half,” Salvino said. “When we played them the first two times we didn’t allow them to get into any of their offensive sets. We are a team that is based on defense and we have to clean that up. When we played Vincentian last year it was an up-and-down game and one of the highest scoring in the WPIAL. Our defense has to be the key.”

Tray Matthews and Kass Taylor each finished with 12 points for Cal. The Trojans move into the play-in bracket for a berth in the PIAA tournament and will face Cornell Monday.

“We have to forget about this one,” said Pappasergi. “We have a quick turnaround.”

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