West Greene ousts Quigley Catholic for first WPIAL finals berth
West Greene three-year starter McKenna Lampe is third in program history with 1,264 points. She is one of three starters returning for the Pioneers that averaged more than 10 points per game last season.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
West Greene High School girls’ basketball coach Jordan Watson reached 100 wins earlier this season. The Pioneers started the season 18-1.
West Greene’s Jersey Wise heads to the basket as Quigley’s Clara Stephenson, right, and Ashley Mineard converge during a WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game at Peters Township High School Tuesday.
West Greene’s Jersey Wise takes the ball down court as Quigley’s Ashley Mineard closes in during the WPIAL Class A semifinals playoff game at Peters Township High School Tuesday.
West Greene’s Madison Lampe beats Quigley’s Clara Stephenson, right, and Ashley Mineard to a loose ball during a WPIAL Class A semifinal playoff game at Peters Township High School Tuesday.
McMURRAY – With their first spot in the WPIAL basketball championship on the line, the West Greene Pioneers turned to junior McKenna Lampe.
Lampe, who scored 25 points in the quarterfinals against Rochester, was held to six points for much of Tuesday night’s semifinal game against Quigley Catholic at Peters Township High School.
With the score tied, 51-51, with 2:40 left in the game, Lampe took over and assured West Greene would make the trip to the Petersen Events Center Friday.
Coming out of a timeout, Lampe drove to the basket, making an acrobatic layup to give the Pioneers a 53-51 advantage, one they wouldn’t relinquish the rest of the game.
Lampe scored eight of her 14 points down the stretch and recorded three steals as West Greene defeated Quigley Catholic 66-59, earning the school’s first trip to the WPIAL finals.
“We wanted her to be aggressive there,” West Greene head coach Jordan Watson said. “We ran a pick-and-roll and if the jumper wasn’t there, we wanted her to get to the basket and she made a great play to give us the lead.”
The trip to the WPIAL finals isn’t just a first for West Greene. The Pioneers become the first Greene County school to reach the finals, which is something not lost on Watson.
“It’s a big deal for us,” Watson said. “We were happy last year to qualify for states, but all of our sophomores from that team are now juniors this year and we weren’t going to be satisfied with anything else this year. It means everything for us to make it. This group has won championships in softball. We really want one in basketball.”
To win that elusive championship, the Pioneers are going to have to get by Winchester Thurston, which defeated Sewickley Academy, 56-40.
WG is familiar with Winchester Thurston as the it handed the Pioneers one of the two losses on the season, 58-38 on Jan. 19.
“Winchester has been the big dogs in our class,” Watson said. “We’ve played them three times now, so we are familiar with them. We aren’t coming for second place. We will be ready to play on Friday.”
After Lampe gave the Pioneers the lead, the combination of her and Jersey Wise helped put the game from the free-throw line as WG made 20 of 26 attempts, including 14 of 17 in the fourth quarter.
West Greene got a huge lift from a pair of freshmen as Wise made five of six free throws down the stretch and Elizabeth Brudnock led the Pioneers in scoring with 16 points, including draining three shots from three-point range.
Not only did West Greene shoot the ball well from the free-throw line, but the Pioneers also made eight three pointers.
“Our freshman stepped up in a big way,” Watson said. “Overall, I thought we shot the ball pretty well and when we shoot good, we are very tough to beat.”
West Greene started out on fire at both ends of the floor as they built a quick 9-0 lead.
Lampe scored the Pioneers first six points and they connected on three shots from three-point range to take a 17-9 lead after one quarter.
“This is huge for us,” Lampe said. “To be the first team to make it this far is a big accomplishment. I got off to a good start and then my shots weren’t falling until late. I just had to be aggressive and try and get to the basket. I was able to get one to go and got to the foul line and made some shots.”
WG was getting it done defensively as well as their patent press defense rattled Quigley Catholic and forced 11 Spartans’ first-quarter turnovers.
West Greene’s Madison Lampe knocked down a jumper to start the second quarter, giving the Pioneers a 19-9 advantage.
After that, it was all Quigley Catholic.
The Spartans did a better job of handling the Pioneers press and got better looks at the basket.
Quigley Catholic closed the half on a 17-6 run to take a 26-25 halftime lead.
The Spartans cut the turnovers in half in the second quarter and made shots.
Taylor Kirschner scored six points in the run as a layup tied the game at 21. Kirschner lead all scorers with 26 points.
“We couldn’t stop her,” Watson said. “She is incredibly talented. But I thought we did a good job defensing the rest of their scorers.”
Kaitlyn Rizor, who finished with 13 points, made a couple of jumpers late in the half to give the Pioneers the lead back, but a three-point shot late in the half by Clara Stephenson gave the Spartans their first lead of the game at 26-25.
Stephenson finished with 15 points.
“We settled down after the first quarter,” Quigley Catholic head coach Bill Del Tondo said. “We knew they were going to press and we thought we could handle it. When we did, we were in good shape. We were in it. It just didn’t work out our way.”
The second half was back and forth as the third quarter saw both teams lead by as many as four points, only to be tied at 43 heading to the fourth.
Madison Lampe helped carry the Pioneers in the third, scoring eight of her 13 points, and Kirschner started to assert herself, scoring nine of her 26.
After taking care of the ball better in the second and third quarters, West Greene upped the defensive pressure on the Spartans in the fourth, forcing seven turnovers in the fourth quarter.
“We tried to show them a bunch of different press looks so they couldn’t get comfortable,” Watson said. “We were throwing everything at them and finally I think we wore them down late in the game.”