West Greene can’t stop Farrell’s Oatis in PIAA first-round loss
West Greene’s Madison Lampe drives past Farrell’s Malaysia Gregory for a layup Saturday during a PIAA Class A first-round playoff game. For more on this game and all of Saturday’s local high school basketball state playoff action, see Pages C4 and C6.
Holly Tonini/ Observer-Reporter
Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter
Madison Lampe, right, consols teammate Jersey Wise during Saturday’s PIAA Class A playoff loss to Farrell.
West Greene’s players walk back to the locker room after a loss to Farrell in the first round of the PIAA
West Greene’s Savannah Pettit scores two against Farrell’s
Some of West Greene’s youngest fans cheer after the team ties the game with Farrell
McMURRAY – The reason a group of undersized girls at West Greene High School are good at basketball is because of how tenacious they play.
A full-court, non-stop press defense that forces 39 turnovers a game, paired with a fast-paced offense, led the Pioneers to a 20-2 regular season record, Greene County’s first WPIAL title game appearance and a second-straight PIAA playoff berth.
West Greene’s dogged play wasn’t enough Saturday evening against Farrell, though. The Pioneers’ press defense couldn’t stop Mar’Nae Oatis, who scored 25 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked five shots to lead the Steelers to a 67-63 PIAA Class A first-round win.
“Mar’Nae is an incredible talent,” said Farrell head coach Edward Turosky. “She did a hell of a job attacking their press and getting to the rim. She’s so strong, and I can’t say enough about how she did everything today.”
While the Pioneers still forced 30 turnovers in the game at Peters Township High School, Oatis, the Steelers’ main ball handler, didn’t succumb to the pressure West Greene puts on opposing teams. Oatis was able to dribble through her legs and behind her back to avoid being trapped by West Greene defenders and eventually finish at the rim.
West Greene head coach Jordan Watson said Farrell’s three best players – Oatis being one of them – were all left handed, which threw a wrench into his typical “force left” defensive philosophy.
“We preach all year for them to force left to their weaker hand. The past few days we had to work on forcing right, which is opposite to how we do all year,” Watson said. “But give (Oatis) credit, she’s a great player and we had trouble stopping her.”
After West Greene (22-4) led 19-18 after the first quarter, Farrell (13-11), which is representing District 10 as its runner-up, started the second quarter on an 8-0 run to take a seven-point lead. The Steelers then held West Greene to seven points in the second quarter to take a nine-point lead at halftime.
West Greene’s offense woke up in the third, as the Pioneers scored 21 points and didn’t allow Farrell to pull away.
The Pioneers found themselves in foul trouble with about three minutes left in the third quarter.
McKenna Lampe, one of West Greene’s two best players, recorded her fourth foul with three minutes left in the third and sat out the rest of the quarter. Jersey Wise, a freshman guard, fouled out early in the fourth quarter, and Lampe was forced to play conservatively in the fourth before eventually fouling out with less than a minute left in the game.
“(Wise and McKenna Lampe) play really aggressive on defense. Being in foul trouble probably takes some of that aggressiveness away,” Watson said. “It definitely got (McKenna Lampe) a little out of sync with foul trouble there.”
Farrell went up eight points with about two minutes left in the game, but an Elizabeth Brudnock three-pointer, a McKenna Lampe layup and a Savannah Pettit layup pulled the Pioneers within three points with a minute remaining.
With West Greene forced to foul Farrell in the final minute, the Steelers made four of six free throws to seal the win. Conversely, the Pioneers struggled all game from the free-throw line, going 11-for-24.
“We always say that tight games are won or lost at the foul line” Watson said. “We missed 13 of them. Make half of those, we win the game.”
The Pioneers played the game without starting guard Kaitlyn Rizor, who injured her hand in the WPIAL semifinals.
“Not having her, we’re not as deep,” Watson said. “Obviously, we missed Kaitlyn tonight. Maybe if she plays, it’s a different result. But we don’t talk about maybes.”
Madison Lampe led the Pioneers with 16 points. Farrell’s Kyra Crosby and Marissa Hopson followed Oatis’ scoring with 17 and 13 points, respectively.
Watson said while it’s never easy to take silver linings out of season-ending losses, the fact the Pioneers don’t lose a single player to graduation is a sign of good things to come for the West Greene.
“I don’t know if it ever makes it easier, but tonight was nobody’s last game,” Watson said. “These girls have a lot of playoff experience. They’ve played in eight playoff games in basketball and even more in softball. We have a lot of experience coming back next year.”