Feb 22, 2018 4 min read

HOUSTON – There will be a new king of the WPIAL Class A mountain when the dust settles on the 2018 boys basketball season.

Defending champion Monessen went out on its shield Thursday night at Chartiers Houston High School as the Greyhounds fell 61-59 in overtime to Imani Christian at Chartiers-Houston High School.

The Greyhounds finish the season with a 13-9 record. Imani Christian, who fell last year to the Greyhounds in the WPIAL A championship game, will move on to the semifinal round slated to start Monday.

“We’re a very young team with not a lot of experience out there,” Greyhounds coach Joe Salvino said. “All year that was an issue for us and it came back to bite us this evening.”

The two squads combined for a staggering 56 turnovers, 28 by each team. At times the action resembled a roller derby instead of a basketball game as the ball changed hands over and again, especially in the first half.

“There were times it looked like some of our guys had never played the game, ever,” Salvino said outside the Greyhounds’ locker room.

Lyndon Henderson scored 23 points for Monessen. Elijawah Payne and Vaughn Taylor chipped in with 17 and 13 points, respectively.

Deshawn Hubbard led the Saints (13-9) with 21 points while Sam Fairley contributed 16.

Hubbard’s two clutch foul shots with 10 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Saints a 60-59 lead.

Monessen had a chance to win on its final possession, but Henderson’s running shot hit the side of the backboard and bounced out of bounds with two seconds left, effectively ending the contest.

“That’s why we play the schedule we do,” Imani Christian coach Anwan Wesley said. “That’s why we play Fox Chapel, Woodland Hills and Plum – to get us ready for playoff basketball like we played tonight.”

After a turnover-filled first quarter ended with the Saints holding a 10-8 lead, Hubbard and Ray Jackson went to work. Hubbard’s eight second-quarter points pushed the Saints’ lead to 18-8. A few minutes later, Jackson pushed the Saints’ advantage to 25-14 with a three-pointer in front of the Monessen cheerleaders.

Monessen worked its way back into the contest when a Taylor steal and subsequent layup cut the Imani Christian lead to 28-22, where the score would stay into halftime.

Imani Christian took a 36-28 lead late in the third quarter courtesy of a Josh Davis layup. Two minutes later, a Henderson three cut the Saints’ lead to 38-35, seemingly putting the Greyhounds in a position to make a run and steal the game in the fourth.

It almost happened.

After Fairley’s three-point play again pushed the Saints’ lead to eight at 43-35 to start the final quarter in regulation, Monessen went on an 11-0 run to take a 46-43 lead midway through the fourth, the final points of the push courtesy of a Henderson steal and layup.

From there, the contest became a free-throw shooting duel. Four consecutive Payne free throws gave the Greyhounds a 51-49 lead with 1:31 remaining. Fairley answered with two free throws to tie it at 51.

Asante Watkins played the role of hero for the Saints when he made a runner in the lane to give Imani Christian a 53-51 lead with 20 seconds left. But Henderson staved off the Saints with 11 seconds to go with a runner of his own to knot the game at 53 as it headed into the extra session.

“It’s a 32-minute game; you have to play the whole game,” Salvino said. “Once (Henderson) realizes that it’s not just an eight-minute game, he’ll become that guy.”

Taylor made one of two free throws to give the Greyhounds a 59-58 lead late in the overtime, but then he inexplicably fouled Hubbard to set up his heroics at the stripe that won the game for the Saints.

“There was never a need to foul there,” Salvino said. “I’m hoping we learned from this tonight for next year.”