W&J sweeps Waynesburg for first time since 2009-10
W&J’s and Waynesburg's Mackenna Drazich (11) fight for control of the basketball.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Washington & Jefferson’s Amirah Moore is defended Wednesday night by Waynesburg’s Rachel Eng.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s Monica Starre passes to a teammate Wednesday night in front of Washington & Jefferson’s Lauren Gilbert, left, and Mya Gordon.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Washington & Jefferson’s Alie Seto battles Waynesburg’s Mackenna Drazich in the post during in the second quarter Wednesday night.
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Waynesburg’s Monica Starre attempts to split the defense of Washington & Jefferson’s Mia Woytovich (24), Alie Seto (10), Taley Dunaway (33) and Danielle Parker (13) Wednesday night.
For much of the past decade, the basketball series – both men’s and women’s – between Waynesburg and Washington and Jefferson has been entertaining and unpredictable. That’s why it has been rare for either school to sweep both the men’s or women’s series.
Washington and Jefferson, however, was able to cap a 4-0 sweep this year by winning the doubleheader Wednesday night over the Yellow Jackets in Presidents’ Athletic Conference contests at Henry Memorial Center.
The W&J women kept alive their hopes for a spot in the NCAA Division III tournament by combining strong first and fourth quarters for an 86-73 victory. The Presidents won the men’s game by playing some sticky defense over the final eight minutes for a 66-62 victory.
The two victories gave W&J its first four-game sweep in men’s and women’s basketball over Waynesburg since the 2009-10 season.
The win by the W&J men was only the fifth in 24 games but two wins over arch-rival Waynesburg has kept the Presidents in contention to garner one of the eighth spots in the PAC tournament that begins next week.
“We have been working hard all year and it’s good to see everything come together with some positive results,” W&J head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith said. “We’ve been such an inconsistent team, but when we make it tough on the opponent …”
On this night, W&J’s man-to-man defense made rough on Waynesburg’s two leading scorers, senior Jon Knab and freshman Matt Popeck. Knab, who recently scored his 1,000th career point, led Waynesburg with a game-high 23 points and Popeck, the Washington High School graduate who was back playing in his hometown, followed with 12 points. The duo had to take 33 shots to get those 35 points.
“Knab and Popeck, we only gave them a few quality looks,” Stewart-Smith pointed out. “We did a good job of getting in the gaps and denying.”
According to Stewart-Smith, Waynesburg goes as Knab and Popeck go. He pointed out that in Waynesburg’s victories, the duo has averaged 37 points per game and shot 48 percent from the field. In the Yellow Jackets’ losses, they average 28 points and shoot 38 percent.
Wayneburg (5-12, 9-15), which could have clinched a spot in the conference tournament with a win, led 33-29 at halftime and was still leading, 49-48, after Popeck stole the ball and made an end-to-end rush for a fast-break layup with 8:42 remaining.
After that, W&J’s defense buckled down and held Waynesburg to only three field goals over the remainder of the game.
In the second half, we didn’t make enough shots,” Waynesburg coach Mark Christner said. “We shot 28 percent in the second half. I’m not sure we took good ones.”
W&J took the lead for good when Brian Graytok, who scored a team-high 16 points, made two layups and a a pair of free throws that made it 54-51. Brian Lindquist also made two free baskets down the stretch and drained a pair of free throws that left W&J ahead 60-54 with three minutes to play.
Four free throws by Knab in the final minute trimmed W&J’s lead to 63-62 with 16 seconds left. The Presidents’ Mitch Dezort, who came off the bench to score 14 points, made one of two free throws to make it a two-point game and Waynesburg had a chance to win the game with a final shot.
The Yellow Jackets’ Nate Gearhart missed a three-pointer from the right wing but Waynesburg snagged the rebound. W&J’s Sean Stinelli, however, thwarted another attempt as he stole a pass and fed Graytok for a game-clinching layup.
“The last three minutes, we did some things correctly on offense, so that was good,” Christner said. “We had the ball in a good shooter’s hands with an open look at the end but didn’t make the shot.”
W&J, 86-73
Washington & Jefferson did just enough in the first and fourth quarters to make many associated with the Presidents to forget what happened in the periods between as W&J won the women’s game, 86-73.
W&J (15-2, 21-3) raced to leads of 17-5, 24-8 and 25-12 in the first quarter. The Presidents pushed the lead to as many as 19 points in the second quarter before Waynesburg (10-7, 13-11) rallied and made the game interesting in the fourth quarter.
Waynesburg closed to within 64-56 after three quarters, which did not leave W&J coach Jina DeRubbo in a happy mood following the game.
“We have been so much better defensively. Tonight, we gave up at least five uncontested three-pointers and it was a case of us not knowing who were had to guard.”
W&J, however, got back in a groove in the fourth quarter and secured the win with a 10-0 run. Mia Woytovich, a Charleroi graduate, made consecutive three-pointers during the pivotal run.
Danielle Parker led W&J with 21 points and Lauren Gilbert had 20. Each player made three three-pointers. Amirah Moore had 14 points.
Mackenna Drazich and Addy Knetzer each scored 15 points to lead Waynesburg. Rachel Eng had 11 points.
W&J outworked us,” Waynesburg coach Sam Jones said. “They smacked us in the moth in the first quarter and we didn’t respond. Later, in the game, they did it again. Defensively, we were a mess in the first half.”