Westmoreland County high school basketball notebook: Jeannette not satisfied with 1st-round PIAA win

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, March 11, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Jeannette boys basketball coach Adrian Batts said he was concerned Saturday as his team prepared to open the PIAA playoffs.

It wasn’t that he thought Jeannette was going to lose. It was just the uniqueness of following a WPIAL title that made him unsure of what to expect.

“It was a weird day,” the veteran leader of the Jayhawks said. “It didn’t feel right. We were off for seven days. It’s tough to come down from that high. There was, like, no flow.”

WPIAL Class 2A champion Jeannette might have let visiting Mercyhurst Prep rally to trim a 15-point deficit to six with a big fourth quarter, but the Jayhawks (24-2) made free throws to hang on and win 61-54 to advance to the second round.

Style points are for gymnastics, not basketball, right coach?

“Survive and advance,” Batts said. “We made some plays when we had to. It was an ugly win. We’ll need to be better next game.”

Jeannette plays Northern Cambria (15-12) at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in the second round at Johnstown High School.

Sophomore guard Markus McGowan said the Jayhawks needed to narrow their focus after winning their first WPIAL title in 17 years — before he was born.

“I think we were overly confident,” said McGowan, who had 14 points in Saturday’s first-round win. “We slacked off a little bit as the game went on. We know we need to play better.”

McGowan said he and his teammates appreciated the spillover crowd of nearly 800 that showed up to spur on the Jayhawks.

“It was a great atmosphere to play in,” he said.

Junior Kymon’e Brown, who had 20 points in the win, including 11 of 17 free throws, agreed the team needed to pay greater mind to the PIAA bracket.

“You gotta win this one,” Brown said. “Win or go home.”

Jeannette watched Mercyhurst Prep get within 58-52 in the closing seconds.

“Like I told them, something Rick Pitino said, you’re going to deal with adversity,” Batts said. “We found a way to win. If you want to do this again and win another title, you have to do the little things.”

Spreading the offense

Greensburg Central Catholic scored 54 points in its PIAA Class 2A first-round win Saturday.

The Centurions (24-3) scored from all over the court. Consider: They had 11 2-point field goals for 22 points, seven 3-pointers for 21 points and 11 free throws.

The team leaned on its senior guards, Liam Gallagher and Brady O’Rourke, the latter delivering a thunderous slam dunk.

Gallagher had 20 points, including three 3s and 7 of 8 free throws, and O’Rourke had 14, also making three 3s.

GCC next will play WPIAL foe Neshannock (22-4), the fourth-place finisher from the district. They will meet 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday at North Allegheny.

Rubber match?

While their WPIAL finals matchup never came to pass, Jeannette and Greensburg Central Catholic still could meet one more time.

The teams are one win away from facing each other again in the PIAA quarterfinals.

If they both advance Wednesday, they will meet for a third time this season. GCC won both games.

Last year was a similar storyline when the Centurions beat the Jayhawks twice before Jeannette came to life and stunned GCC, 48-46, in the state second round.

The quarterfinals are set for Saturday at neutral sites.

The semifinals are March 22 at neutral sites, and the 2A final is 2 p.m. on March 28 in Hershey.

Naccarato record safe

Former Monessen star Gina Naccarato remains the WPIAL girls basketball scoring queen for now.

Clairton’s Iyanna Wade saw her amazing prep career come to a close Saturday. The senior guard finished with 3,119 career points. Though she passed another Monessen great, Charel Allen (3,110), for second place on the scoring list, she couldn’t catch Naccarato, who had 3,364.

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, Monessen