Westmoreland County baskeball notebook: Rivals Jeannette, GCC ready for another rematch

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, March 12, 2024 | 3:30 PM

After Jeannette played at Greensburg Central Catholic late in the boys basketball regular season, Jayhawks coach Adrian Batts leaned in to the handshake line for a respectful exchange with GCC senior forward Franco Alvarez.

“He said, ‘I’m not going to get to play you anymore,’ ” Batts said. “I told him, ‘Well, I’m glad we don’t have to see you anymore.’ ”

Never imagining the rivals would meet again in the playoffs, they went their separate ways.

The WPIAL bracket makers almost got a Jeannette-GCC matchup in the Class 2A tournament, but No. 6 Jeannette lost to No. 3 Northgate, the team No. 2 GCC beat in the semifinals.

Now, though, the Westmoreland County teams really will get reacquainted in the PIAA playoffs.

After both won opening games Saturday, Jeannette (18-9) and GCC (24-3) will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the second round at Norwin.

This will be their first clash in the state playoffs since 2012, when GCC won 85-65 in the second round at Hempfield. That was GCC coach Christian Hyland’s sophomore season.

“Every game (in the state tournament) is a battle,” GCC senior guard Tyree Turner said. “It’s personal for both sides. It’s going to be a good game. It will come down to who wants it more.”

GCC, the WPIAL runner-up to Aliquippa, mercy-ruled the Jayhawks twice, by scores of 73-46 and 73-51. Still, the coaches expect the third meeting to be closer.

“I’m not surprised,” Hyland said of seeing Jeannette again. “They have some great athletes and great coaching. They played well against Northgate. You can see they’ve gotten better. It’s always fun when we play them. It’s always intense.”

While many expected GCC to make a push in the state bracket, Jeannette reaching the second round is a head-turner.

Jeannette has a young rotation whose best days could lie ahead. Batts is as surprised as anyone.

Jeannette thumped District 10 champion Iroquois, 58-32, and it wasn’t that close.

“We had two starters coming back, and there were a few kids I knew about but had never coached,” Batts said. “Looking back to where we were in November, I never thought we’d be this far. Our kids are learning a lot.

“Central is Central. They have experience and size. It’s like a pick-up game: Let’s run it back.”

Gardner second

Monessen lost in the first round of the PIAA Class A playoffs, bringing the end to the career of standout guard Lorenzo Gardner. The senior finished with 1,689 points, which ranks second all-time at Monessen behind A.J. Jackson (1,757). Jaden Altemore (1,593), Justice Rice (1,530) and Brandon Jackson (1,510) round out the top five.

On the boards

Monessen senior Hailey Johnson pulled down her 1,000th career rebound in Friday’s first-round loss at Elk County Catholic.

Roundball change

The annual Roundball Classic all-star basketball games now will be played May 22-26 at North Allegheny High School in McCandless. That is a slight change from the earlier announcement of May 9-12. The event always was held at Geneva College’s Metheny Field House. Rosters are in the process of being filled, organizer Allen Deep said.

Moving on up

GCC’s Turner is up to 1,424 points for his career, which puts him in a tie for third place on the Centurions’ scoring list with Donny Constantine, who played in a state final with the Centurions in 1980.

Some players’ points came with other programs but are counted as part of their total on the list. One example is Jesse Reed, who was a star guard in Carbon years before he became the coach at Franklin Regional. Reed is second with 1,599 points. Reed scored the majority of his points at Saltsburg.

Franco Sebastiani is No. 1 with 1,751.

With 25 points in the state opener against Windber, Turner passed Brian Graytok (1,408) for fourth place.

Road trip

Comfort with the environment could have been a key reason why Jeannette played so well in the first round.

The team traveled to Erie on Friday and stayed overnight. The Jayhawks had a light practice Saturday morning at Mercyhurst.

“You go two-and-a-half hours to play a game, you want the guys to be comfortable,” Batts said. “Our school board was very supportive in allowing us to stay overnight.

“Mercyhurst plays at Seton Hill, so when they came down, they practiced at our gym. It was nice for our guys to play on a big college floor.”

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