Defense has West Greene girls off to 4-0 start
By Jerin Steele
Staff Writer
jsteele@oberver-reporter.com
West Greene girls basketball coach Ben Brudnock called it an unofficial team slogan.
“Nothing for free.”
If the Pioneers keep playing like they have in the early going, the phrase might be printed on T-shirts by season’s end.
It refers to West Greene’s relentless approach to defense. The Pioneers have yielded only 33 points per game, which has helped them race out to a 4-0 start.
They’ll look to carry that momentum into Class A Section 2 play which starts tonight with a trip to Geibel Catholic.
“It’s a mentality of not letting an opponent just walk the ball up the court on us,” Brudnock said. “If you don’t pay in the form of a turnover, then you’re going to pay with energy. If we get a couple girls winded, we can go to the bench and get some fresh legs in there. So far that’s been our strategy, and it’s worked to our advantage.”
Brudnock is in his first season as the Pioneers’ varsity coach. He spent the last two years coaching junior varsity and has previously coached in the youth ranks.
West Greene has wins over Beth-Center, Jefferson-Morgan, Waynesburg and McGuffey. All four of those opponents are in higher classifications. No opponent has scored more than 40 points against them. Brudnock said the team doesn’t have a lot of size, but plenty of depth and took that into consideration when crafting their defensive approach.
He said he can mix and match his lineup based on matchups.
Kendra Tharp, Madelyn Roberts, Marissa Tharp and Kylee Davis are regular starters, while Samantha Zimmerman, Chloe Harris, and Ava Shipman have also featured as a starter. Brudnock said he has played nine or 10 girls on a given night.
Marissa Tharp is the lone senior, so it’s a youthful team, which has Brudnock excited.
“It’s been a joy to be around these girls and help them play to their potential,” Brudnock said. “As far as potential goes, I think the sky is the limit for this group. They’re young, but they hustle. They give you everything they have. There’s going to be bumps along the way, but I have high hopes. If we haven’t opened some eyes yet, I think we will not just this year, but in the coming years as well.”
Kendra Tharp and Roberts have paced the Pioneers on offense. Kendra Tharp averages more than 15 points per game.
“Madelyn can catch fire and light it up from outside,” Brudnock said. “She does a good job of stretching the defense. Kendra is the type of girl that plays four to five inches taller than she actually is. She’s an aggressive rebounder, especially on the offensive boards and like the rest of our team, she can really get out and run on the break. Between the two of them they have a nice inside passing game. It’s been fun to watch them distribute the ball to each other.”
The trip to play the Gators on Thursday begins the start of what should be a challenging section slate.
Avella, Bishop Canevin, Clairton, Mapletown Monessen and Serra Catholic are in the section. Serra Catholic was the Class 2A runner-up last year.
Brudnock is excited for the challenge, which starts with Geibel.
“When you talk about Geibel, Emma Larkin is the first name that comes to mind,” Brudnock said. “She’s a fantastic player and she’s so much more than a scorer. I’m so impressed with her court vision, ball-handling and her decision-making. Last year she could drop 35 points a game and they might have won by single digits. This year she’s scoring in the 20s and so far, they’ve blown every opponent away, so that tells me they are much improved and they’re very well-coached.”