Two left standing
Rockets, Lady Leopards in second round of PIAA tournament
Mark Marietta
When the smoke had cleared after the PIAA basketball tournament’s first round was completed on Saturday, there were two area teams still standing.
The Jefferson-Morgan boys and Belle Vernon girls both snapped long state droughts with first-round victories and both will be in action again Wednesday night as the PIAA playoffs move into the second round.
The Rockets were dominant in securing their first state win since 2000 in impressive fashion against District 9 champion Redbank Valley in the Class 2A bracket. Their 50-26 road victory set up a meeting with fellow WPIAL opponent Jeannette which was a 72-34 winner over visiting Northern Cambria.
Jefferson-Morgan, the No. 6 seed out of the WPIAL, and the WPIAL runner-up Jayhawks will meet at Peters Township High School’s AHN Arena in the second game of a doubleheader scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
In the girls Class 4A bracket, the Lady Leopards played with composure beyond their years in pulling away from District 9 champion Clearfield for an eye-opening 58-46 win on the road.
Belle Vernon, the fifth seed out of the WPIAL, will also meet a fellow District 7 school in perennial power Blackhawk, also a WPIAL runner-up. That game will be played at North Allegheny High School, also with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
Belle Vernon’s state win was its first since 1998.
The Rockets (24-3) and Lady Leopards (23-4) have more in common than being local teams who recorded surprising first-round victories after long road trips over a district champion. Both have also set program records for wins in a season.
The makeup of each team is where there is a glaring difference.
Jefferson-Morgan has a senior-laden starting lineup that includes Jeremiah Robertson, Dayten Marion, John Woodward, Brayden Ellsworth and Jaymison Robinson, while Belle Vernon has no senior starter. The Lady Leopards’ starting five is made up of two juniors (Abby Russell and Saylor Lee), one sophomore (Aubrey Brown) and two freshmen (Isis Almyty and Lyla McConnell).
This will be the Rockets’ sixth postseason game, another single-season school record. They are 3-2, including 1-1 in consolation contests.
J-M coach Brandon Lawless gave his team a bit of time to enjoy its PIAA win before setting their sights on a talented Jeannette squad.
“I told them to enjoy today,” Lawless said after Saturday’s game. “Our staff is going to go home and watch some film tonight and tomorrow, and when we come back Monday we’ll have our scouting report.
“I know they’re a tough team, a winning program, they’re really well coached and a senior-oriented team who got everybody back. But, as I tell my guys, I believe in them.”
Lawless pointed out he had a connection with the coach he defeated on Saturday.
“Redbank’s coach Jake Dougherty was actually one of my very good friends in college and we had a mutual friend come to the game also,” Lawless said. “He played quarterback at Waynesburg University. He was there when I was there. I texted him a couple weeks ago after I looked at the PIAA brackets and told him there’s a chance we could play each other and that’s the way it worked out. We got a picture together after the game.”
The winner of Wednesday’s game will advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals against either Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, which defeated J-M in the WPIAL quarterfinals, or Mercyhurst Prep.
Belle Vernon coach Cornelious Nesbit senses his team is well aware of the special season it’s having, especially that it’s the first time in 28 years the Lady Leopards have advanced in the PIAA tournament.
“I think right now they’re in the midst of it,” Nesbit said. “They know because we’ve got two girls on the team who are cousins whose mothers were on that 1998 team. Abby Russell’s mom and (sophomore) Morgan Hamed’s mom were on that team. They know about it.”
Nesbit had already been sizing up Blackhawk during the WPIAL playoffs.
“We had to start looking at them a little bit already because if we would’ve won that quarterfinal game (Belle Vernon fell to Elizabeth Forward in the WPIAL playoffs) we would’ve played them in the semis of the WPIALs.
“All the respect in the world to Blackhawk, the program, who they are and what they’ve done for girls basketball. But also, as much as we respect them, we’re going to come and play, it’s just not, we’re happy to be here. It’s another opportunity for us to be great as well.”
The winner between Belle Vernon and Blackhawk will take on either North Catholic or Harbor Creek in Saturday’s quarterfinals.