Trib HSSN boys basketball team of the week for Feb. 3, 2025
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Monday, February 3, 2025 | 11:34 PM
Trib HSSN boys basketball teams of the week – Jeannette Jayhawks
Coach: Adrian Batts (16th season at Jeannette)
Record: 10-1 in Section 1-2A, 17-1 overall
#Earned: The Jayhawks have a big showdown for the section title Tuesday at rival Greensburg Central Catholic, but this past week, they proved their focus with four victories, three section wins and two of those coming against teams right behind them in the section standings. The week began with a rare Sunday game as Jeannette defeated Class 4A playoff team Derry in the Shootout at Seton Hill, 74-61. On Tuesday, the Jayhawks took care of business with a 25-8 first quarter advantage at Frazier and won easily, 68-35. The next day, in a makeup game at third-place Clairton, Jeannette again started strong with an eight-point lead after one quarter and beat the host Bears, 61-51. The week concluded with the Jayhawks’ fourth game in six days Friday at home against Springdale. Following a close opening quarter, the ‘Hawks outscored the Dynamos 16-6 in the second quarter and pulled away from a desperate Springdale team, 54-39.
Scoring stars: Jeannette showed off its balanced offensive attack that is averaging nearly 70 points per game with players scoring in double figures 12 times in the four wins. Against Derry, junior forward Xavier Odorisio-Farrow led with 21 points, junior guard Kymon’e Brown scored 18, sophomore swingman Markus McGowan had 16 and senior Stone Markham added 10 points. The Jayhawks once again had four players in double-digit scoring in the victory at Frazier on Tuesday with Odorisio-Farrow once again leading the way with 20 points, Brown with 15, McGowan with 13 and junior Noah Sunder with 10. The next night at Clairton, Brown led the Jeannette attack with 18 points and McGowan pumped in 16 points. Finally, at home against Springdale on Friday, McGowan finished a week in which he scored a total of 64 points with a game-high 19 points, and sophomore guard Jayce Powell, returning from injury, added 13 points as the Jayhawks moved their current winning streak to six in a row.
Last year: Jeannette was coming off a 13-8 season in 2023 in which it was ousted in the first round of the WPIAL Class 2A playoffs by Northgate. The Jayhawks began last year winning seven of their first nine games. However, that was followed by a stretch in which they went 5-5. The Class 2A district playoffs began with a five-point victory over Sewickley Academy, 52-47, but the Jayhawks were bounced in the WPIAL quarterfinals by Northgate again, 55-44. The team went 1-1 in the district consolation games to qualify for the state playoffs. Jeannette cruised past District 10 Iroquois in the first round, 58-32, then stunned Greensburg Central Catholic in the PIAA second round, 48-46 in overtime, this after losing twice to the Centurions in the regular season by a combined 49 points. The surprising run ended in the state quarterfinals with a loss to Fort Cherry, 70-60. Brown led the Jeannette offense with 315 points for an average of 15 points per game.
Remember when: While the program has enjoyed great success over the years with title game appearances in 2007 (loss to Aliquippa), 2009 (loss to North Catholic) and 2015 (loss to Monessen), the only WPIAL boys basketball title run came in 2008. In that season, the Jayhawks were a perfect 14-0 in winning the Section 1-2A title. As the No. 2 seed in the 2008 2A playoffs, the red and blue crushed Center in the first round by 23 points, edged South Fayette in the quarterfinals by one point in overtime, knocked off Bishop Canevin in the semifinals by eight points and rolled past top-seeded Beaver Falls in the WPIAL championship game, 82-68. In the PIAA playoffs, Jeannette crushed Kane by 42 points, cruised past Girard by 32 points, rumbled past North Catholic by 26 points and eliminated North East by six points before defeating Strawberry Mansion in an overtime thriller, 76-72. The great Terrelle Pryor led the way with a 21.9 points-per-game average, including a 39 points, 24 rebounds and 10 blocked shot performance in the WPIAL title game victory over Beaver Falls.
2025 Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Teams of the Week
Week 4 – Baldwin Highlanders
Week 3 – Elizabeth Forward Warriors
Week 2 – New Castle Red Hurricanes
Week 1 – Keystone Oaks Golden Eagles
Tags: Jeannette
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