Jeannette holds on to beat Brentwood, run winning streak to 8

By: Paul Schofield
Friday, January 17, 2020 | 10:06 PM

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Two streaks continued Friday night at Jeannette.

Thanks to two late layups by senior Imani Sanders, Jeannette won its eighth straight game while handing Brentwood its fourth straight loss with a thrilling 43-40 victory in a Section 2-2A battle for first place.

Sanders did his damage off the bench for the Jayhawks (9-6, 6-1), who began the season 1-6.

The win also avenges a 50-48 loss at Brentwood on Dec. 13.

Jeannette came out hot in the first quarter and grabbed an 18-14 lead. The Jayhawks stretched the lead to 28-16 in the second quarter as Jackson Pruitt, Toby Kline, Anton Good and Keith Rockmore nailed 3-pointers.

Things started to go awry for the Jayhawks in the third quarter after Zach Crutchman fouled out early on. Jeannette coach Adrian Batts didn’t realize that Crutchman had picked up his third foul in the first half.

But senior Phil Mickens came in and helped settle things down. He recorded a couple of blocked shots, pulled down five rebounds and finished with five points.

“I thought Phil played well and Imani did a good job,” Batts said. “That’s what you expect from your seniors. They helped their team win. Phil rebounded well and hit a couple big baskets both halves. I’m happy for them.”

Pruitt scored six points in the third quarter to help Jeannette maintain a 36-26 lead into the final quarter.

“This was a huge win for us,” Pruitt said. “We started the season real slow and people were counting us out. Now we’re in first place. Brentwood is a scrappy team and it has a lot of seniors. We knew they weren’t going to quit.”

Batts actually tried to slow his team down in the fourth quarter, but turnovers and missed free throws allowed Brentwood to claw back into the game.

“We started standing around on offense in the second half and quit moving,” Batts said. “We handled their punch and came up with the victory.”

The Spartans actually took a 38-37 lead with 3:52 left on a 3-pointer by C.J. Ziegler, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half.

But Keith Rockmore nailed a pair of free throws to give Jeannette the lead, 39-38, with 3:33 left.

Brentwood tied the score, 39-39, with a free throw by Chase Rosing, who finished with 11, with 3:26 left.

That’s when Sanders got loose for a layup on a fast break with 2:33 to go.

“We had our opportunities,” Brentwood coach Dan Thayer said. “We missed some free throws and a couple easy shots wouldn’t fall. In a game like this, you have to hit your shots from under the basket.”

With 41 seconds left, Sanders got free again for a layup to make it 43-39. Rosing hit a free throw to make it 43-40, but Brentwood couldn’t convert twice on 3-point attempts to tie the score in the final 20 seconds.

Jeannette was 3 for 8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter and Brentwood was 2 for 5.

“We had a rough first half,” Thayer said. “C.J. and Zach (Kieb) each were off and we got stuck on 16 points for a long time. Even though we didn’t win and have lost four straight, I think the way we came back will help us snap our funk.”

Now that Jeannette is on a roll, Batts hopes the team continues to get better and continues to work the rest of the season.

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: Brentwood, Jeannette