Monessen Cruises to District Gold in Boys 1-A

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, March 2, 2017 | 10:52 PM

As the clock hit 0:00, the Monessen Greyhounds won their second WPIAL championship in three years and seventh in program history with a 74 to 59 victory over Imani Christian. The Greyhounds started off strong in the first quarter dropping 17 points to the Saints 10.

Imani Christian struggled controlling the ball as they had 8 turnovers in the first period of play and 19 in the half. Part-way through the 1^st quarter, tempers rose and technical fouls were dealt. Imani Christian senior, and West Virginia University football commit, Kenny Robinson took a seat on the bench after reaching three early fouls. Robinson finished the first half of play with six points.

Robinson spoke on his early fouls, “Being in foul trouble, I couldn’t bring as much to my team”. He later fouled out in the fourth quarter but finished the day with 21 points, notching 15 in the second half.

The second quarter belonged to Greyhounds as they scored 25 points. Monessen Senior Justice Rice tallied 14 points in the first half and forced countless turnovers. Rice wasn’t the only Greyhound to have a productive first half, as Senior Jaden Altomore notched 13 points. Sam Fairly was the most prolific scorer for Imani Christian in the first half, as he scored 8. 

In the second half of play, the hot shooting continued for Monessen. Imani Christian kept up in the third quarter scoring 14 points to the Greyhounds 18. The Saints would rally in the fourth outscoring Monessen by six points. Despite the valent effort by the Saints, Monessen would hold on and win by 15 points.

Rice finished with 30 points for the Greyhounds and Altomore tallied 17 at the final buzzer.

Rice talked about the victory, “We wanted to do it for the fans”. He went on to mention how excited the school and community was for the championship game.

With the win, Monessen moves to 18-7 on the season. Both Monessen and Imani Christian will play this upcoming Friday in the PIAA Playoffs.    

Score by Quarter:

Monessen:            17   25   18   14 = 74

Imani Christian:   10   15   14   20 = 59

Tags: Imani Christian