Top-seeded West Greene downs Vincentian Academy in Class A semifinals

By: Andrew John
Tuesday, February 26, 2019 | 10:34 PM

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The West Greene girls basketball team has been on a mission all season to return to the Petersen Events Center to avenge a loss in the WPIAL Class A championship last season.

The No. 1 Pioneers got their wish after making timely shots and creating turnovers in a 59-55 win over No. 5 Vincentian Academy (12-12) in the semifinals Tuesday at Peters Township.

Senior McKenna Lampe led West Greene (22-2) with 24 points, while her twin sister, Madison, finished with 18, including five 3-pointers.

“That was the goal. We didn’t shy from expectations. We talked about that Day 1. You can’t skip steps. It starts with playing a tough section,” West Greene coach Jordan Watson said.

“It starts with winning your section, which should give you a high seed. It’s nice to beat two private schools. It doesn’t happen too often.”

McKenna Lampe, who shot 11 for 13 from the foul line, scored 12 points in the first quarter to guide the Pioneers to a 19-9 lead. In the fourth quarter, McKenna Lampe scored 10 points and went 6 for 6 from the charity stripe.

Madison Lampe found her rhythm in the corner when she hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter to extend Pioneers leads. She hit a big 3 from the corner in the fourth quarter to extend the West Greene lead to 46-39 with just over six minutes remaining.

West Greene had seven players score as sophomore Jersey Wise and senior Kaitlyn Rizor each tallied six points.

The Pioneers move on to face No. 2 Rochester (18-6) in the WPIAL Class A championship at 3 p.m. Friday at the Petersen Events Center. A public school hasn’t won a WPIAL Class A championship since 2006.

Junior Alana Winkler led Vincentian Academy with 21 points. She scored 11 of Vincentian’s 14 points in the third quarter.

Senor Hannah Katz finished with 13 points, including eight in the fourth quarter.

“It was a tough loss, but I thought our girls played hard, though. We went through some adversity during the game. I was proud of our girls’ effort throughout the game,” Vincentian Academy coach Ron Moncrief said.

In the first quarter, Vincentian had an 8-5 lead, but the Pioneers finished the quarter on a 14-1 run.

After trailing 27-21 at halftime, Vincentian clawed to within three, thanks to Winkler, who scored on a layup after wrestling the ball away from the Pioneers under her basket.

“(Winkler) played a big role for us to keep us close in the game,” Moncrief said. “She was able to handle their pressure really well. She did a really good job scoring-wise and getting everyone else involved.”

Vincentian was down by 11 points late in the third but went on a 7-0 run into the fourth quarter. Katz’ jumper made the score 41-37.

With over three minutes remaining, Winkler cut the deficit to two after making a reverse layup to make it 50-48. A minute later, Winkler put back a missed free throw attempt by Katz to keep the deficit to two at 54-52.

However, West Greene turned up its full-court press and caused numerous turnovers in the final minutes.

“Our defense creates turnovers,” Watson said. “There hasn’t been many teams that could handle it over the years. It’s about playing with effort. We go 10 deep so we just throw fresh bodies at them.”

Tags: Vincentian Academy, West Greene