Lady Pioneers press flattens Eden Christian, 59-29
ROGERSVILLE â West Greeneâs girls basketball team made sure Eden Christian will see women in white in their collective nightmares Monday night.
Those white uniforms belonged to the Lady Pioneers and their smothering defensive play exacted quite a price from Eden Christian. West Greene forced Eden Christian into numerous turnovers on the way to a 59-29 blowout Monday in the first round of the WPIAL Class A playoffs at the West Greene gym.
The seventh-seeded Lady Pioneers advanced to Thursday quarterfinals where they were scheduled to play at No. 2 seed and section rival Geibel Catholic.
The 10th-seeded Lady Warriors had more than 30 turnovers, many of them leading to fast-break points for the Lady Pioneers.
The Lady Pioneersâ defense was responsible for holding Eden Christian to four points in the second quarter and seven in the third, turning the final eight minutes into a Mercy Rule format.
âThatâs what got us here,â said West Greene head coach Ben Brudnock. âWe have a motto here, âNothing for free,â whether itâs an inbounds pass, a dribble up the court or whether itâs a half-court set. ⌠We just wanted to wear those girls out and thatâs what we did.â
A playoff victory is nothing new to the Lady Pioneers who extended their streak of consecutive years with at least one postseason win to nine, although the hosts got off to a slow start.
West Greene didnât score a basket until mid-first quarter. Then the flood gates opened.
âEven though we came out a little flat in the first quarter, our defense opened up our offense and thatâs where it all starts for us,â Brudnock said.
The Lady Pioneers trailed 15-12 after the first quarter, then out-scored the visitors 25-4 in the second to take a commanding 37-19 halftime lead and extended their advantage to 57-26 after three.
West Greene forward Kendra Tharp led all scorers with 19 points.
âDefense is one of the strongest parts of our game,â said Tharp. âWe get a lot of steals and thatâs where a lot of our points come from, fast-break points.â
Tharp and the rest of the Lady Pioneers (16-7) were aware they would need another strong effort to defeat Geibel. The Lady Gators already owned two wins against West Greene going into Thursday night.
The Lady Pioneersâ strong defensive effort forced numerous turnovers and never allowed Eden Christian (5-16) to settle into an offensive rhythm.
West Greene ended the half on a 14-0 run. Tharp started slow but scored 10 of the last 14 points in the half.
Madelyn Roberts rang up 17 points, including four 3-pointers, for the Lady Pioneers and Kylee Davis tossed in nine with a pair of 3-pointers. Marissa Tharp also made two 3-pointers for six points.
âWeâre a young team and we got a lot of growth going on,â said Eden Christian head coach Clare Johncour. âTonight the game didnât go our way, the way we wanted.â
Hannah Wallace led the Lady Warriors with nine points.