West Greene presses hard, flattens Eden Christian
By Joe Tuscano
for the Observer-Reporter,
newsroom@observer-reporter.com
ROGERSVILLE – West Greene’s girls basketball team made sure Eden Christian will see women in white in their collective nightmares Monday night.
Those white uniforms belonged to the Pioneers and their smothering defensive play exacted quite a price from Eden Christian. West Greene forced Eden Christian into numerous turnovers on the way to a 59-29 blowout Monday in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs at the West Greene gym.
The Pioneers advance to Thursday quarterfinals at No. 2 seed and section rival Geibel Catholic.
The Warriors had more than 30 turnovers, many of them leading to fast-break points for the Pioneers.
The Pioneers’ defense was responsible for holding Eden Christian to four total points in the second and third quarters combined and turning the final eight minutes into a Mercy Rule format.
“That’s what got us here,” said West Greene head coach Ben Brudnock. “We have a motto here, ‘Nothing for free,’ whether it’s an inbounds pass, a dribble up the court or whether it’s a half-court set. … We just wanted to wear those girls out and that’s what we did.”
West Greene didn’t score a basket until mid-first quarter. Then the flood gates opened.
“Even though we came out a little flat in the first quarter, our defense opened up our offense and that’s where it all starts for us,” Brudnock said.
West Greene forward Kendra Tharp led all scorers with 19 points.
“Defense is one of the strongest parts of our game,” said Tharp. “We get a lot of steals and that’s where a lot of our points come from, fast-break points.”
Tharp and the rest of the Pioneers (16-7) know they will need another strong effort to defeat Geibel. The Gators already own two wins against West Greene.
A strong defensive effort gave West Greene a 37-19 lead at halftime. West Greene held Eden Christian (4-11) to four second-quarter points. More important, West Greene’s defense forced numerous turnovers by Eden Christian, never letting the Warriors to settle into an offensive rhythm.
West Greene ended the half on a 14-0 run. Tharp started slow but scored 10 of the last 14 points in the half.
Madelyn Roberts had 14 points for the Pioneers and Kylee Davis tossed in 12.
“We’re a young team and we got a lot of growth going on,” said Eden Christian head coach Clare Johncour. “Tonight the game didn’t go our way, the way we wanted.”