Jeannette catches fire, rallies past OLSH in Class 2A quarterfinals
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Thursday, February 20, 2025 | 10:42 PM
Jeannette’s Jayce Powell scores on OLSH’s Vann Kavals during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette’s Jayce Powell (2) and Kymon’e Brown defend on OLSH’s Tiernan McCullough during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette’s Jayce Powell is fouled by OLSH’s Lucca Grisafi during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette celebrates Lonnie Greene’s basket and one against OLSH during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette’s Lonnie Greene defends on OLSH’s Jake Johnson during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette’s Kymon’e Brown defends on OLSH’s Tiernan McCullough during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette’s Noah Sunder gets a loose ball from OLSH’s Vann Kavals during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette’s Xavier Odorisio-Farrow fights for a rebound with OLSH’s Vann Kavals during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette’s Noah Sunder scores past OLSH’s Vann Kavals during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette’s Stone Markham fights for a rebound with OLSH’s Jake Johnson and Lucca Grisafi during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette’s Markus McGowan scores over OLSH’s Tiernan McCullough during a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal Thursday at Fox Chapel.
Jeannette fell behind by double figures at halftime and faced a 16-point deficit late in the third quarter.
The Jayhawks’ WPIAL playoff run was fading fast, along with their hopes for a championship.
But then Jayce Powell and his teammates heard the noise.
“The fans fired us up,” Powell said. “We heard ‘Let’s go Hawks,’ and that fired us up. When you live in Jeannette, the town teaches you to have heart.”
The players responded with a heart-thumping comeback.
Third-seeded Jeannette ripped off a 16-point run — it began late in the third and stretched into the fourth — and rallied all the way back to beat No. 6 Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 55-50, in a WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinal boys basketball game Thursday night at Fox Chapel.
Seemingly down for the count, Jeannette (21-2) rumbled to life, picking up the defensive pressure and making tough plays down the stretch to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2021.
The Jayhawks will play No. 2 Sewickley Academy (20-4) on Monday at a time and site to be announced.
No. 1 seed Greensburg Central Catholic won’t be in the other semifinal and won’t get to meet rival Jeannette in the WPIAL final after falling to No. 8 Union, 44-42.
With 1 minute, 44 seconds left, Powell’s driving layup gave the Jayhawks a 51-50 lead as they outscored OLSH (19-6), 17-4, in the fourth quarter and 35-15 in the second half.
“I knew we had something left and that we could make a run,” Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said. “We knew we weren’t going to beat teams by 30 or 40 points. It’s going to be a grind. We trusted each other and found a way.”
The 16-0 run that started the comeback had many moving parts. It began with a corner 3-pointer by Stone Markham.
Powell, Lonnie Greene and Kymon’e Brown also contributed, with Greene completing a three-point play and scoring five points.
Brown made a layup, and Powell hit a floater in the lane. Jeannette cut the deficit to one three times — 46-45, 48-47 and 50-49 — before finally pulling ahead.
Powell led the Jayhawks with 18 points, 14 in the second half, Markus McGowan added 14 and Brown had 13.
McGowan had eight, including two 3s, in the second quarter.
OLSH was in control early as 6-5 forward Vann Kavals dominated in the paint, scoring 10 of his 18 points in the first quarter for a 19-9 lead.
Smooth-shooting guards Jake Johnson and Tiernan McCullough helped to extend the lead to 35-20 at halftime.
McCullough made a 3 just before the break.
“I thought that might sink us,” Batts said.
Johnson finished with 12 points for OLSH, a perennial power that won four straight WPIAL 2A titles from 2019-22 but played in 3A the last two years.
A jumper by Johnson made it 44-28 late in the third.
“In the second half, they had two guys on Vann, so that was the difference with our inside game,” OLSH coach Mike Rodriguez said. “They picked up their pressure. Jeannette is the No. 3 seed for a reason.”
Powell made another floater in the lane, and, after Kavals scored inside, Brown scored off a steal to get Jeannette to within 50-49 with 2:04 left.
“We started to play basketball the way we know how to play,” Powell said.
After it took the lead on Powell’s layup, Jeannette got into the bonus late, and Powell and Brown made two free throws each for the remaining points.
“We wanted to speed them up and make it a track meet,” Batts said. “You have to be able to win games like this in the playoffs.”
Rodriguez said he tried to call timeout three times during Jeannette’s run but was unsuccessful.
“We were unlucky,” he said. “They made a great comeback.”
Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.
Tags: Jeannette, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart
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