Under pressure: Lady Pioneers’ defense paves way to playoff win over Bishop Canevin (copy)
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
West Greene无毛视频檚 Brooke Barner (40) and Jersey Wise (3) trap Bishop Canevin无毛视频檚 Lauren Kirsch (12) during Monday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 1A quarterfinal playoff game at West Greene.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
West Greene无毛视频檚 Jersey Wise (3) dribbles around Bishop Canevin无毛视频檚 Savannah Abbott during Monday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 1A quarterfinal playoff game at West Greene.
West Greene's Elizabeth Brudnock steals the ball in front of Bishop Canevin's Ashley Liffold (11)聽during Monday night's WPIAL Class 1A quarterfinal game at West Greene.
West Greene's Anna Durbin is fouled by Bishop Canevin's Amber Cross (34)聽during Monday night's WPIAL Class 1A quarterfinal game at West Greene.
Rob Burchianti | 无毛视频-Standard
West Greene无毛视频檚 Katie Lampe (1) fires a 3-pointer over Bishop Canevin无毛视频檚 Ashley Liffold during Monday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class 1A quarterfinal game at West Greene.
West Greene's Jersey Wise goes in for a layup after making a steal with Bishop Canevin's McKenzie Huet (15) in pursuit聽during Monday night's WPIAL Class 1A quarterfinal game at West Greene.
West Greene's Katie Lampe (1) leaps in the air while defending Bishop Canevin's Ashley Liffold (11) during Monday night's WPIAL Class 1A quarterfinal playoff game at West Greene.
ROGERSVILLE 无毛视频� West Greene无毛视频檚 girls basketball team attacks an opponent the way a rising tide attacks a beach: steady, relentlessly and cumulatively.
On Monday night, in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A playoffs, Bishop Canevin was washed away by the Pioneers无毛视频� fast-flowing pressure defense.
The Pioneers challenged Bishop Canevin with 32 minutes of physical and mental adversity and the Crusaders broke in the second quarter.
West Greene outscored Bishop Canevin 12-0 in the pivotal second quarter and the Pioneers went on to a 55-36 victory on their home court Monday.
The win improves West Greene无毛视频檚 record to 17-3 and sends the second-seeded Pioneers back to the semifinals as they chase what has been an elusive WPIAL championship. West Greene will host third-seeded Eden Christian (11-6) Thursday at 6 p.m.
For one quarter against Bishop Canevin (7-7), West Greene looked much like a team that had not played a postseason game despite the tournament being in its 10th day. But like a crafty boxer, West Greene was only sizing up its opponent before delivering a knockout punch.
The Pioneers scored the final five points of the first quarter and the last 17 of the first half.
无毛视频淭he game turned in the second quarter,无毛视频� West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. 无毛视频淲e focus on defense. In that second quarter, we hunkered down on defense.无毛视频�
The second quarter was when a couple of role players came to the forefront for West Greene. Senior guard Elizabeth Brudnock scored nine of her 15 points in the quarter. The only West Greene points not scored by Brudnock in the second period came from Brooke Barner, who connected on a three-pointer from the baseline.
Barner finished with eight points despite battling foul trouble for much of the night.
无毛视频淓lizabeth had a huge second quarter,无毛视频� Watson said. 无毛视频淪he无毛视频檚 a senior and has been doing this for a while. If our seniors were nervous before the game, I told them that this is nothing new to them. This was their 13th playoff game and they无毛视频檝e won more playoff games than anybody in the history of the school.
无毛视频淓lizabeth is the best pure shooter we无毛视频檝e ever had. She can shoot with anyone. Sometimes it无毛视频檚 like watching Steph Curry shoot at the all-star game. 无毛视频� And Brooke, she plays at the point of our press because of her length and hustle. She无毛视频檚 a blue-collar player who rebounds like crazy.无毛视频�
Those are the kind of performances West Greene will need if it is to ultimately cut down the nets after the WPIAL final. It also will need a few more quarters like the second against Bishop Canevin. It turned a 14-11 lead into a commanding 26-11 halftime edge.
无毛视频淭he second quarter just killed us,无毛视频� Bishop Canevin coach Jim Kaczorowski said. 无毛视频淲e turned it over too much, which has been a problem for us all year and bit us tonight. We knew they would come at us with full-court pressure defense and I thought we had a plan for it.无毛视频�
Bishop Canevin committed 14 turnovers in the first half and 26 in the game. West Greene had only four turnovers during the first half.
无毛视频淲est Greene is a veteran team. They无毛视频檝e been playing together for three or four years,无毛视频� Kaczorowski said. 无毛视频淭heir seniors have been in the finals for three years. We knew they would be ready to come out and play. We had to match their intensity on their home court.无毛视频�
The Crusaders did that for the game无毛视频檚 first six minutes before the Pioneers took control. West Greene point guard Jersey Wise, who had a game-high 18 points, scored the first two of the second half to make it a 19-0 run for the Pioneers. The lead grew to as many as 21 points in the third quarter before the Pioneers settled for a 40-22 edge entering the final period.
West Greene attempted 19 free throws in the second half, making 12. Brudnock made two more three-pointers 无毛视频� the Pioneers were 8-for-18 from long range in the game 无毛视频� in the second half.
Anna Durbin gave WG three players in double figures, scoring 12.
Ashley Lippold led Canevin with 10 points. Savanah Abbott, the Crusaders无毛视频� leading scorer, had nine.
无毛视频淚t was cool to host a playoff game,无毛视频� Watson said. 无毛视频淭hat was one thing our seniors had not experienced. It would have been interesting to see how many people we would have packed in here if there weren无毛视频檛 capacity restrictions.无毛视频�