Westmoreland County high school basketball notebook: Jeannette senior thrives with vote of confidence

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Tuesday, February 24, 2026 | 11:01 AM

Jeannette senior Noah Sunder received a text message before the WPIAL Class 2A boys basketball semifinal against Clairton.

It was from coach Adrian Batts.

“I want you to smile today,” it read. “I believe in you. … You should believe in yourself.”

The message resonated with Sunder, who made several key plays in the second half for the top-seeded Jayhawks (22-1), who downed No. 5 Clairton, 44-29, to advance to the championship for the second year in a row.

Defending champion Jeannette will play No. 2 Sewickley Academy (24-1) for the title at 5 p.m. Friday at Petersen Events Center.

The 6-foot-3 Sunder took a charge late in the third quarter, then scored off a no-look pass from Kymon’e Brown to give Jeannette momentum going to the fourth.

His driving layup out off a timeout put Jeannette up by nine. Sunder, a Waynesburg football commit, was named to the PSFCA East-West all-star football game Monday afternoon. Then he went out and helped Jeannette beat its football nemesis.

“I sent him a note to believe in himself,” Batts said. “He was thinking too much. No matter what, he’s still a high school kid. I wanted him to go out and play. (On Monday), he was right where we needed him to be.”

Sunder was inspired by the mention, which he re-read before the game.

“I’ve been struggling a little and that helped me,” Sunder said.

Sunder and Brown were impressed with the turnout of Jeannette fans Monday at Norwin. It was a standing-room-only semifinal.

“That’s how it is,” Sunder said. “The whole town supports us.”

Said Brown: “At least 400 people were on our side.”

Medal round

Jeannette junior guard Jayce Powell was on the phone Saturday night, talking with a relative who was 4,000 miles and in a time zone six hours ahead.

His aunt is Jasmine Jones, the Olympic bronze medalist who made Western Pennsylvania proud with her performance in the two-woman bobsled Friday and Saturday in Cortina d’Ampezzo.

Powell was thrilled to talk with Jones as he and the Jayhawks go for their second straight gold. Jones is a Jeannette native and Hempfield graduate.

“She called me Saturday night, but it was early in the morning there,” Powell said. “We chopped it up. She showed me her medal. She said she’s going to get me some Olympic gear. I’m going to steal her medal. Maybe we can trade.”

Local matchup

Two local teams will play each other for a PIAA playoff spot.

Ligonier Valley (13-12) will play at Southmoreland (15-10) at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the WPIAL seventh-place game.

The top seven teams from the WPIAL qualify for the state tournament, so the loser’s season will end.

The teams both play in Section 4-3A. Southmoreland won both matchups, 60-47 and 61-45.

Back to the Pete

With Jeannette and the Greensburg Central Catholic girls winning semifinal games, this is the third straight year both boys and girls teams from Westmoreland County made the WPIAL finals.

Last year, Jeannette and Belle Vernon reached — and won — boys title games, while the GCC and Norwin girls played for championships.

GCC will try to become the first Westmoreland basketball team, girls or boys, to win three straight titles.

Jeannette’s boys could become the first county team to repeat since Monessen in 2001-02.

Shrum’s gum

Winning is a tradition at Jeannette. But so is chewing gum.

Scorekeeper Jay Shrum gives players a stick of gum before each game in the playoffs.

Wrigley’s Peppermint Cobalt, hand-delivered by Shrum, who helps Batts and the coahing staff keep things in order.

“It started last year,” Shrum said. “I gave Markus (McGowan) a piece of gum and we won, so he said we should do that all the time.

“The only game I didn’t go to this year, we lost,” Shrum said. “They didn’t have the gum against that team from Kentucky.”

‘Civil’ war

Greensburg Central Catholic star guard Erica Gribble will try to lead the Centurions to a three-peat Thursday night at Petersen Events Center.

Standing in the way is Shady Side Academy and another high-level talent in Karis Thomas.

Like Gribble, the senior who received a scholarship offer from Duquesne when she was in fourth grade is a career 2,000-point scorer.

The pair played youth basketball against each other.

“Back when we were in fourth grade,” Gribble said. “I mean, we’re not close friends, but I am civil with her when we talk. She is super quick and can get to the hole. She’s a good shooter, too.”

Power 5,000

The Gribble family hit the 5,000-point mark.

The standout sister trio — Alayna, Olivia and Erica — combined for that many points when Erica scored 27 against Beaver Falls.

Erica now has 2,283 points, while Alayna and Olivia, both of whom played at Norwin, had 1,782 and 973 in their prep careers.

Erica Gribble also passed Ciara Gregory of Jeannette (2,130) for fourth on the Westmoreland girls all-time scoring list.

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, Ligonier Valley, Norwin, Southmoreland