Westmoreland County basketball notebook: Jeannette relies on playoff experience

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, February 23, 2025 | 2:37 PM

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Kymon’e Brown served up a pointed answer in an interview after his Jeannette Jayhawks pulled off an improbable rally to squeeze past Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals.

It was aimed at doubters.

“Don’t count us out,” Brown said after Jeannette’s 55-50 win that saw it down by 16 late in the third quarter on Thursday night at Fox Chapel. “We weren’t getting downhill. We were down 15 (at halftime) and had to be better. Everybody picked it up for us.”

Jayce Powell led the comeback with 14 of his 18 points in the second half, and Markus McGowan added 14 points and Brown had 13.

Stone Markham and Lonnie Greene also helped fuel the rally as Jeannette (21-2) moved into the semifinals where it will face No. 2 Sewickley Academy (20-4) 7:30 Monday night at Fox Chapel.

The winner will play for a WPIAL title Friday at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.

“The moment wasn’t too big for us,” Brown said. “We were born to do this. We’re athletes.”

Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said he had faith that his team could make a late move.

“OLSH is really big, and they play physical and hard,” the 16th-year coach of the Jayhawks said. “Their zone is difficult. It was tough to get momentum on offense. We found a way.”

Batts said Jeannette could lean on its playoff run in football to pull past OLSH.

The No. 14 seed in football, the Jayhawks — with many of the current basketball players in pads and helmets — beat No. 4 Neshannock and No. 5 GCC to reach the WPIAL semifinals.

Jeannette also went two rounds in the PIAA basketball playoffs last year after losing in the WPIAL quarters to Northgate.

“A year of maturity is a lot,” Batts said. “The football guys are not afraid of the moment. They never let the moment get too big.”

Jeannette will face a formidable challenge against No. 2 Sewickley Academy. The Panthers feature two 6-foot-8 players in Mamadou Kane and Adam Ikamba.

No Jeannette-GCC final

If Greensburg Central Catholic and Jeannette are going to play for a third time this season, it won’t be in the WPIAL final.

GCC, the top seed in 2A, was upset by No. 8 Union, 44-42, in Thursday’s quarterfinals.

“We wanted to play GCC,” Powell said. “We wanted to get them back. It’s all right, we just want to get to the championship.”

Said Brown: “Maybe we’ll see them in states.”

Jeannette and GCC will compete in the PIAA tournament next month.

Consolation prize

Latrobe and Penn-Trafford lost in the WPIAL 5A boys quarterfinals, so they moved into the four-team consolation tournament where they will play back for PIAA playoff seeds.

Both teams play 7 p.m. Monday.

Latrobe (19-5) will head to Moon (18-6), and Penn-Trafford (14-10) visits Uniontown (20-4), a section opponent.

The winner moves on to the fifth-place game, while the losers will meet to play for seventh place.

In other boys consolation bracket action, Greensburg Central Catholic (22-3) will host Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (19-6) 7 p.m. Wednesday for fifth place in 2A.

In 3A, Southmoreland (18-6) will host Ellwood City (14-10) 7 p.m. Monday in the first round. The winner will play Wednesday for fifth. The loser will play Wednesday for seventh. The top seven teams advance.

The Penn-Trafford girls (24-1) will host Baldwin (16-9) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the 5A fifth-place game.

The Norwin girls (14-7) can clinch a state berth with a win Tuesday over Canon-McMillan (14-8) in the WPIAL 6A semifinals.

Semi-satisfied

Three local boys teams were looking to get back to the WPIAL semifinals after years away. They will have to wait until next year to take another shot.

Latrobe had not reached the semis since 2016, Penn-Trafford since 1993 and Southmoreland since 1987.

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