Third quarter dooms Pioneers in playoff loss to Spartans
West Greene coach Jim Romanus and junior Austin Crouse watch the final seconds tick off the clock during a WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game loss to St. Joseph at Mount Lebanon High School last season. It was the Pioneers' school-record fourth consecutive playoff appearance, and they'll look to make it five straight this season.
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West Greene鈥檚 Austin Crouse makes a reverse layup against St. Joseph during Friday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Mount Lebanon High School.
West Greene's Drew Wise (21) scores on a drive to the basket against St. Joseph聽during Friday night's WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Mount Lebanon High School. Wise came off the bench to score 11 points, but the Pioneers lost, 78-45.
West Greene鈥檚 Ben Jackson (34) is fouled as he powers up a shot against St. Joseph during a WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Mount Lebanon High School last season.
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West Greene鈥檚 Nathan Brudnock (12) keeps his toes barely outside the line as he swishes a 3-point shot against St. Joseph during Friday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Mount Lebanon High School. Brudnock, who went over the 1,000-point mark in his career earlier this season, scored nine points in his final game as the Pioneers lost, 78-45.
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West Greene鈥檚 Drew Wise (21) sinks a 3-point shot against St. Joseph during Friday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Mount Lebanon High School. Wise came off the bench to score 11 points, but the Pioneers lost, 78-45.
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West Greene鈥檚 Ben Jackson (34) surveys the defense as Austin Crouse (14) cuts behind him during Friday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game against St. Joseph at Mount Lebanon High School.
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West Greene coach Jim Romanus makes a point to his team during a timeout in Friday night鈥檚 WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game against St. Josephy at Mount Lebanon High School.
West Greene's Ben Jackson (34) tosses a pass up court to Nathan Brudnock as St. Joseph's Dominic Ferrante (13) gives chase聽during Friday night's WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Mount Lebanon High School.
West Greene's (from left) Corey Wise, Nathan Brudnock and Joey Reed set up their man-to-man defense against St. Joseph聽during Friday night's WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Mount Lebanon High School.
West Greene's Joey Reed (4) dribbles to ball up court against St. Joseph as the Pioneers cheerleaders urge their team on in the background聽during Friday night's WPIAL Class A first-round playoff game at Mount Lebanon High School.
MT. LEBANON 鈥� The West Greene boys basketball team was doing everything right in the first half.
The Pioneers withstood the early onslaught by St. Joseph, they found their rhythm on offense and they were able to cut the deficit down with some critical transition points.
But then the third quarter happened.
The fifth-seeded Spartans started the second half with 25 straight points and controlled the rest of the game, as the Pioneers fell, 78-45, Friday night in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs at Mount Lebanon High School.
鈥淭urnovers and not boxing out was the difference maker in the third quarter,鈥� WG coach Jim Romanus said. 鈥淲e were right with them in the first half, we just struggled in those two areas. For the season, sometimes we play 5-on-4 defensively, and you can鈥檛 do that in the playoffs against a good-shooting team like St. Joes. That has to change for us in the future.鈥�
The Spartans (18-5) held a 31-5 scoring advantage in the decisive third quarter and had four players reach double-figures in the game.
Matthew Arvay and Grant Bendis led the quartet with 16 points apiece, as Andrew Sullivan (15) and Daniel Fabregas (14) rounded out the Spartans鈥� top scorers.
St. Joseph will now play No. 4 seed Monessen on Thursday in the quarterfinals.
Ben Jackson tossed in a team-high 14 points for the Pioneers (7-15).
Andrew Wise compiled 11 points off the bench, while 1,000-point scorer Nathan Brudnock ended his stellar career with nine.
鈥淲e just couldn鈥檛 get anything going on in the second half,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have enough guys that will drive to the basket. We have a couple that can attack, but sometimes we get a little intimidated.鈥�
With both teams going to their benches midway through the fourth quarter, the Spartans held a 15-14 scoring edge in the final eight minutes of play.
After West Greene took a 4-3 lead with back-to-back hoops by Jackson, St. Joseph stormed back with 15 unanswered points. Arvay scored nine points in the quarter.
The Pioneers countered that spree with a 6-0 run to close out the opening frame and trailed 18-12.
After consecutive treys by Fabregas stretched the Spartans鈥� lead to 24-14 in the early stages of the second stanza, West Greene battled back with another rally and trimmed the deficit down to 24-21 after an inside hoop by Brudnock.
鈥淲e came back really good and I really liked the way we ran with the ball in transition,鈥� Romanus said. 鈥淥ur transition game was really good. We got a hand in their face and tracked down the rebounds. But overall, I was really disappointed we didn鈥檛 run our sets on offense. For whatever reason, we just didn鈥檛 get into our offense.鈥�
St. Joseph ended the quarter on an 8-5 spurt and carried a 32-26 lead into intermission.
West Greene, which qualified for the postseason for a school-record fourth straight season, will lose six seniors to graduation in Brudnock, Wise, Joey Reed, Jeremiah Miller, Alex Hughes and Zach Barnhart.