Jeannette shocks rival Greensburg Central Catholic in PIAA 2nd round

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, March 13, 2024 | 11:06 PM

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The anatomy of this victory started with a game plan and a belief that anything was possible.

Through exacting execution and a willful buy-in by a young group as unfazed by the pressure as it is naive to it, Jeannette did the unthinkable.

The upstart Jayhawks pulled off a monumental upset in the PIAA Class 2A boys basketball bracket, winning 48-46 in overtime over WPIAL runner-up and longtime rival Greensburg Central Catholic in a second-round game Wednesday night at Norwin.

Yes, that just happened.

Jeannette, which starts one senior, three sophomores and a freshman, hadn’t beaten GCC since 2021, a span of seven games. To do it on this stage, as a decided underdog, makes this stunner suitable for framing.

“We had nothing to lose,” Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said. “Nobody believed we had a chance, except maybe the fans from Jeannette, our staff and our guys. Our kids are resilient, and they never quit.”

Jeannette (19-9), the sixth-place team from the WPIAL, advances to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2018 to face Fort Cherry (22-6) on Saturday at a time and place to be announced.

“It’s about the little things, the rebounds and layups,” said Batts, whose team committed only four turnovers. “This isn’t shocking to me. It’s about their effort and execution. This is March Madness.”

GCC (24-4), which hadn’t been to the PIAA quarters since 2017, had to rally all night. The Centurions knew they were in for a game from the start despite dominating Jeannette earlier in the season.

Drives were contested. Transition was limited. Nothing was easy — especially the reality that their season was over.

“This is what can happen when the other team plays harder and they want it more,” GCC coach Christian Hyland said. “We played like we didn’t want to lose. We were a little stagnant and weren’t aggressive enough. Hats off to them.”

Jeannette, confident after a blowout win over District 10 champion Iroquois on Saturday, led 13-8 after the first quarter and 23-21 at halftime before GCC took a 33-32 edge to the fourth.

GCC mercy-ruled Jeannette twice during the section season but never led by more than five this time.

GCC went ahead 37-32 on a fast-break layup by junior Liam Gallagher with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left in the fourth. But Jeannette went on a 7-0 run, with freshman Markus McGowan hitting a 3-pointer, sophomore Kymone Brown scoring off a steal, and freshman Jayce Powell converting off an inbounds play to give the Jayhawks a 39-37 lead.

McGowan had 13 points, including three 3s, to lead Jeannette.

Brown, playing with flu-like symptoms — he watched practice from a computer screen this week — finished with 10.

“We feel like when we play like this, we can beat anybody,” Brown said. “It’s an effort thing. The last two times we played them, I was the only one in double figures. We played more together.

“I was sick tonight, but I had to keep playing. I’m never going to quit. I won’t quit until I’m dead.”

Senior Franco Alvarez hit a long jumper from above the foul line to tie it 39-39 and, after neither team scored in the final 2:45, overtime commenced.

After two ties and four lead changes in the extra four minutes, Jeannette went ahead to stay on a clutch 3-pointer from the corner by senior Isaiah Mallich to make it 47-44 with 30.2 seconds left.

“I came down the court, and it was like they forgot I was there,” Mallich said. “Nobody guarded me. This win means so much to the team and the city.”

Alvarez hit a jumper to make it 47-46 with 16.1 seconds left.

GCC missed a 3 and a putback with 6 seconds left before Powell made a late free throw to seal it.

Jeannette’s game plan was to play a box-and-1 defense, not on GCC senior star Tyree Turner, but on Gallagher.

Offensively, Jeannette ran patient halfcourt sets against GCC’s zone, working more than a minute on their first possession off the opening tip.

“Gallagher hurt us last time, and Alvarez is tough to guard,” Batts said. “Turner is going to give all he has. We wanted to neutralize those three the best we could. We rebounded well. I thought (sophomore Noah) Sunder had an excellent game. Kymone didn’t quit. We rebounded well. We found a way.”

Sunder had nine points, including six in the third and three in overtime.

Turner led GCC with 21 points and Alvarez scored 11.

Gallagher was held to two.

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