Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Mt. Pleasant’s Giacobbi gets 200th win

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, January 22, 2020 | 4:32 PM

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Scott Giacobbi has been through peaks and valleys while coaching the Mt. Pleasant girls basketball team.

He hes seen playoff streaks, postseason wins and bumpy, rebuilding seasons such as this one.

In his 15 years in charge of the Vikings, though, the modest coach never has made it about himself.

But a milestone leaves him no choice this time.

Giacobbi on Monday night picked up the 200th win of his career when the Vikings defeated visiting Yough, 34-10. That moved his career record to 200-157.

Giacobbi said the win total “offers a reflection of our teams’ and our girls’ hard work, sacrifice and commitment to the program through the years in times of both success and struggle.”

Shootout at Seton Hill

The annual Shootout at Seton Hill showcase is Sunday at Seton Hill. The day-long event will feature six games. The schedule is: Serra Catholic vs. Greensburg Central Catholic (girls), 12:30 p.m.; Norwin vs. Hempfield (girls), 2 p.m.; Saltsburg vs. Geibel (boys), 3:30 p.m.; Derry vs. Greensburg Central Catholic (boys), 5 p.m.; Valley vs. Penn Hills (boys), 6:30 p.m.; and Jeannette vs. Penn-Trafford (boys), 8 p.m.

Long nears 1,000

Penn-Trafford senior guard Bella Long is closing in on 1,000 career points. Long, a Slippery Rock commit, has 984 points heading into Thursday’s game at Uniontown. The Warriors host Oakland Catholic on Friday.

Long would become the sixth player in the program to reach the milestone. The others are Summer Himes, Maria Palarino, Autumn Himes, Kristen Kudrick and Jeanie Alcorn.

Norwin streaks

Norwin is ranked No. 2 in WPIAL Class 6A and No. 3 in the state, which means the Knights probably have been able to string together wins.

The Knights (12-2, 9-0) have two impressive streaks going as they get set to host Seneca Valley (10-5, 5-4) on Friday night at 6 in the first game of a girls-boys doubleheader.

Norwin has 19 consecutive section wins and 15 straight victories at home.

The team leads WPIAL Class 6A in scoring at 63.8 points per game.

Defense first

Several Westmoreland teams are doing their jobs on defense. Eight county teams are holding opponents to 45 or fewer points. They are Southmoreland (30.8), Monessen (37.8), Greensburg Central Catholic (40.0), Norwin (40.0), Belle Vernon (40.1), Penn-Trafford (43.0), Derry (43.4), and Franklin Regional (44.7).

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

Tags: Belle Vernon, Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Jeannette, Monessen, Mt. Pleasant, Norwin, Penn-Trafford