Westmoreland high school notebook: Monessen girls basketball to finish game with Fort Cherry

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, January 30, 2022 | 4:19 PM

Monessen had an unusual time Wednesday when it hosted Fort Cherry for a girls basketball game.

The power went out just before tip-off, and the teams played with generator lights and no scoreboard.

But then the back-up lights also conked out with just 2 minutes, 7 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.

Fort Cherry was up 50-47 when the game was called. Monessen officials initially said the game might be a “no-contest,” but now have decided to continue the game Feb. 12.

That will be a unique night.

The Greyhounds will host Washington at 6 p.m. as part of a girls-boys doubleheader. After the girls finish with Washington, they will finish the final 2:07 with Fort Cherry, which doesn’t mind making the 46-mile trip to Monessen to play 127 seconds of basketball.

The Monessen girls have won seven games in a row.

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Signing day

The regular signing period for college football begins with the traditional national signing day Wednesday.

The signing period for Division I players runs through April 1, and Division II recruits can sign up to Aug. 1.

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Whitlock a finalist

Belle Vernon senior quarterback Devin Whitlock is one of five finalists for the second annual Willie Thrower Award, presented to the top WPIAL or City League quarterback from this season.

The others are Brad Birch of Gateway (the former Jeannette standout), Jared Brickner of Beaver Falls, Joey Daniels of Mt. Lebanon nd Cadin Olsen of Armstrong.

The finalists will take part in a luncheon April 9 at the New Kensington Quality Inn, where the winner will be announced.

Thrower, a former New Kensington High School star, was the first Black quarterback to play in the NFL.

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200 for Swan

It came and went with no fanfare, but boys basketball coach Bill Swan won his 200th game at Hempfield on Jan. 4 when the Spartans outraced Norwin, 77-72.

Swan, in his 20th season overall — 15 at Hempfield — improved to 201-61 over two stints with Spartans after an 82-72 win over Greensburg Salem. He was 252-210 overall.

He also coached at Portage and Connellsville.

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Mt. Pleasant AD opening

It’s been a group effort so far to replace athletic director Chris Brunson at Mt. Pleasant. Brunson resigned about two weeks ago after nearly three years at the post because of an uneven balance between the part-time work (24 hours a week) and the workload.

Now former AD Allan Bilinsky is the contact person until the school decides what to do next.

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Hempfield track winners

Hempfield had two individual winners at a recent indoor track & field meet held on campus.

Liz Tapper threw the shot put 46 feet, 5 inches — the No. 2 throw in the state so far this season — to take victory. Bekah Ostrosky (31-11 1/2) and Brook Bomer (30-0), also of Hempfield, were second and third.

Meanwhile, Peyton Murray added a win on the boys shot put with a toss of 52-8 1/2, 3 feet past teammate JP Gera’s runner-up mark.

Greensburg Central Catholic standout Corrine Brewer won the girls pole vault with a mark of 11 feet, 4 inches.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Belle Vernon, Hempfield, Monessen, Mt. Pleasant