Jeannette boys race past Greensburg Central Catholic, earn payback from last season

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, January 9, 2026 | 10:47 PM

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Jeannette won a WPIAL championship last season with, among other things, skill and size.

The Jayhawks ended a drought against their biggest rivals with flat-out speed.

Jumping passing lanes and finishing fast breaks at a turbo pace, No. 2 Jeannette raced past rebuilding Greensburg Central Catholic, 65-21, in a mercy-ruled Section 1-2A boys basketball game Friday night before a packed gym in Carbon.

Jeannette (11-1, 6-0) ended a nine-game regular-season losing streak against GCC (2-10, 2-3) that began in 2020. The Jayhawks had not won at GCC since 2018.

The Jayhawks left no doubt in a payback game. This was one of the most one-sided games the rivalry has seen, a product of Jeannette having everyone back and GCC starting over with a young rotation.

Last season, Jeannette finished 25-3 with all three losses coming against the Centurions, who saw substantial turnover in the offseason, from players to coaches, to scheme.

“They beat us three times, so this means a lot,” said Jeannette junior guard Jayce Powell, who scored a game-high 17 points and got the visiting crowd amped up with a breakaway dunk early in the fourth quarter. “We owed them this from last year.”

Junior McAlister Steele and senior Noah Sunder each added 12 points for Jeannette, which forced 20 turnovers while posting its ninth straight win.

“We missed some shots early; we should have had a 25- or 30-point (first quarter),” Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said. “We have to make those shots. We pressure them and gave them some fits. Relentless pressure, and we rebounded well.”

Jeannette senior point guard Kymon’e Brown only scored six points but made plays all over the court with steals and assists, anticipating takeaways and turning them into transition points.

His block off the backboard came to junior Markus McGowan, who passed ahead to 5-foot-10 Powell for the dunk.

“We have the best point guard in the conference,” Batts said. “He did so much for us tonight.”

Jeannette led 17-8 after the first quarter and saw GCC cut the deficit to eight early in the second. But the Jayhawks shifted gears, breaking out of a GCC’s 2-3 zone and reeling off 19 straight points to take a 40-11 lead into the break.

“The whole game plan was to speed them up,” Powell said.

Jeannette outscored GCC, 23-3, in the second quarter and 21-6 in the third.

Powell had nine in the second quarter.

“First thing’s first,” GCC first-year coach Tim O’Rourke said. “We respect our opponents. That is a very good team. One of our assistants asked our guys (at halftime), how many of you have played in an environment like that? Two raised their hands. (Jeannette’s) entire roster has done it 20 times last year and 20 times the year before that.

“Jeannette sped us up. That is hard to simulate.”

GCC, which has not had a losing season since 2018, has dropped six of seven.

Steele scored seven straight in the third, including a 3-pointer. Powell’s 3 with 5:02 to play in the quarter spurred the running clock.

“(Jeannette) did a lot of work on ‘D,’” O’Rourke said. “That created offense.

“I like to say you either win or you learn. The only way you learn how to handle pressure is to handle pressure.”

McGowan, who finished with nine points, scored late in the third to push the advantage to 61-15.

Jeannette pulled its starters with 6:42 remaining.

Junior Luke Semelka led GCC with six points.

Jeannette will host Clairton on Tuesday in what could be its toughest section game yet.

The Bears (7-0, 5-0) were undefeated coming into Friday night.

“It feels good to win any game, no matter who you play,” Batts said. “This will help us get ready for the Clairton Bears.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Jeannette