Greensburg Central Catholic runs past Clairton in section play
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Friday, January 12, 2024 | 10:59 PM
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Tyree Turner is guarded by Clairton’s Bryant Blair on Friday.
Clairton’s Bryant Blair puts up shot over Greensburg Central Catholic’s Anthony Semelka on Friday.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Sean Walker hits a layup against Clairton’s Mike Ruffin on Friday.
Clairton’s Taris Wooding drives past Greensburg Central Catholic’s Franco Alvarez on Friday.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Braden Riley hits a layup despite the defense of Clairton’s Mike Ruffin on Friday.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Franco Alvarez (right) rips down rebound against Clairton’s Quajon Miller on Friday.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Braden Riley looks to pass on Friday.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Tyree Turner puts up shot against Clairton’s Bryant Blair on Friday.
Greensburg Central Catholic senior Franco Alvarez is defended by Clairton’s Mike Ruffin on Friday.
Local fire departments descended on Greensburg Central Catholic after Friday’s basketball game.
They weren’t there to cool off the Centurions, whose fast pace style scorched Clairton, 73-49, in a Section 3-2A first-place battle.
They were there because of a reported electrical fire.
Before the fire departments arrived, the Centurions used mini runs to open up a 22-14 lead after one quarter. They used a 6-0 run to grab a 14-8 lead they never relinquished.
Senior forward Franco Alvarez, who finished with a game-high 21 points, scored 15 in the first half that helped the Centurions (5-0, 12-2) extend their lead to 41-27 at halftime.
“It’s hard to keep up with them they way the like to push the ball,” Clairton coach Rashawd Hatten said. “It’s hard to replicate that at practice.
“I thought we did a good job against (Tyree) Turner in the first half, but Alvarez killed us. We had too many defensive lapses, and we didn’t shoot well.”
Turner finished with 18 including six points off steals. The Centurions had a balanced attack as Sean Walker and Braden Riley each scored nine points.
“Franco and Tyree are our main guys, but we have a nice supporting cast,” Greensburg Central Catholic coach Christian Hyland said. “I thought we looked like we were running in mud the first half, but we played a lot better in the second half.”
Clairton (4-2, 7-8) had a couple of runs to keep the game somewhat close in the second half, but each time it got within 12, the Centurions pulled away.
Greensburg Central Catholic led 53-40 after three quarters but opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run to push the lead to 61-40.
Mike Wright led Clairton with 16 points, and Bryant Blair and Taris Wooding each had nine.
Clairton suffered two tough losses this week. It fell to Jeannette on Tuesday at home.
“We’re in a good position,” Hyland said. “We have four more section games at home. There are a lot of good players in the section, so we can’t look past anyone.”
Hatten said he felt despite the final score, his team showed promise.
“You need to play 32 minutes against them,” Hatten said. “We only played 25. We have to get better.”
Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.
Tags: Clairton, Greensburg C.C.
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