Rochester wins WPIAL title as West Greene goes cold
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
West Greene’s Madison Lampe, center, holds the second place trophy with Kaitlyn Rizor, left, and McKenna Lampe after they lost to Rochester in the WPIAL Class A Championship game at the Petersen Events Center Friday.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
West Greene’s Kaitlyn Rizor goes against Rochester’s Jasmine Mack in the WPIAL Class A Championship game at the Petersen Events Center Friday.
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West Greene’s Madison Lampe against Rochester’s Bethany Barto, left, and Victoria Schinke in the WPIAL Championship game at the Peters Events Center on Friday, March 1, 2019.
West Greene’s McKenna Lampe against Rochester’s Corynne Hauser in the WPIAL Championship game at the Peters Events Center on Friday, March 1, 2019.
West Greene’s McKenna Lampe against Rochester’s Corynne Hauser in the WPIAL Championship game at the Peters Events Center on Friday, March 1, 2019.
PITTSBURGH – West Greene started off hot but Rochester rallied for a 62-56 victory Friday and avenged two previous playoff exits to the Pioneers to earn its first WPIAL championship in girls basketball at the Petersen Events Center in the Class A finals.
The Pioneers (22-3) used a 15-0 run in the first quarter to take a 17-5 lead. Rochester (19-6) led 5-2 when Alexis Robison hit a jump shot for two of her 18 points before West Greene found its scoring touch.
McKenna Lampe scored inside for two of her 10 points, Madison Lampe nailed a jumper for two of her 13 and Kaitlyn Rizor followed that with another jump shot for an 8-5 advantage for the Pioneers. Rizor, who along with the Lampes, is one of three West Greene seniors to score 1,000-career points, had six.
Madison Lampe scored on a transition basket and Jersey Wise made a thee-pointer for a 13-5 lead, and Rochester was forced to take a timeout with 3:50 left in the first quarter.
Wise, a sophomore, came off the bench but led the Pioneers in scoring with 15 points on five field goals, including two three-pointers, and was 3-for-4 at the foul line.
“Jersey (Wise) was really good today,” West Greene coach Jordan Watson said. “She played with a lot of energy and passion. I thought she was flying around and really played hard.”
West Greene’s Anna Durbin added back-to-back baskets for four of her six points before the Rams cut the deficit to 17-7 on a basket by Jasmine Mack.
Mack, who did most of her damage inside, scored a game-high 19 points on seven field goals and was 5-for-6 at the line. Rochester was 10 of 18 at the line.
The Pioneers outscored Rochester, 6-4, the remainder of the period for a 23-11 advantage heading into the second quarter.
“We started really well,” Watson said. “In the second quarter, they flipped that on us. They got the momentum back. It was basically anybody’s game at halftime. They just came out on top in the second half. It was a really good start. We just couldn’t quite finish it.”
The Rams started their comeback in the second quarter after outscoring West Greene, 22-13, to cut the halftime deficit to 36-33. Robison scored 14 points in the period and freshman Corynne Hauser had four of her 16 in the second.
“You have to give credit to Rochester,” Watson said. “They are section champs in probably the hardest section. They did a good job of keeping their composure when it was 23-11. Those three girls (Mack, Robison, Hauser) are really good. I think we did a decent job on (Hauser), but we had trouble stopping Robison with the three ball and Mack was tough inside. We played them the last two years, so we knew Mack was going to be tough inside.
“The difference in today’s game from the last two years was the Hauser girl. She definitely changes things. Before they had two dominate players, and now they have three, so that definitely changes things as far as matchups go. Overall, we just came up short, but a good effort by us.”
Hauser and Robison scored on back-to-back layups to give Rochester a 37-36 lead with 7:10 remaining in the third quarter and Watson took a timeout. The Rams had their first advantage since 5-4.
McKenna Lampe, who is one of five Pioneer seniors, made a three-pointer for a 39-37 lead before Mack grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and made both free throws.
Rochester led 43-40 heading into the fourth.
A McKenna Lampe free throw – West Greene was 11-for-21 at the line – tied the game before Mack scored on her third shot of the next possession for a 45-43 Rochester lead. McKenna Lampe tied it again but Victoria Schinke scored for a 47-45 advantage. Schinke scored all four of her points in the final quarter.
Schinke made a layup and Hauser added a free throw to give the Rams a 56-51 advantage with 1:42 left. Rochester had a steal on West Greene’s next possession and a Robison free throws made it a six-point lead with 1:25 remaining.
The Pioneers’ season is not over as they will participate in the state tournament beginning March 9. They will face the winner off a play-in game between the fourth-place teams from districts 9 and 10.
“We are going to take the weekend off and come back Monday ready to work,” Watson said. “We know we are playing next Saturday and it is going to be in our district. We just have to regroup for states.
“We kind of look at Trinity in 2017. They lost in the (WPIAL) semifinals and made a nice run to get to the state finals. Everybody is 0-0 at states. It is an elimination game from states on.”
West Greene has five seniors in the Lampes, Rizor, Brianna Goodwin and Savannah Pettit, who have enjoyed more success than any team in the history of the program.
“All of the hard work and the time we put in and the support from the community really helps a lot,” McKenna Lampe said. “It is really special when you think about what we have done.”
“This is the eighth medal for these seniors, whether it be gold or silver, and that’s almost impossible,” Watson said. “Most people who say they have had a great career get one or two medals. Nobody really gets eight, and I’m counting states and all that. These five have been unbelievable and they have 79 wins. We get one more and we have 80. That’s 20 wins a season. You can’t replace them with one person or two people.”
Fourteen of the 17 Pioneers are members of the softball team at West Greene that is coached by Bill Simms. The Pioneers have won two state and three WPIAL titles in a row.
“It is special because pretty much all of these girls have parents who went to West Greene,” Watson said. “We are usually friends with their dads or brothers and sisters. It has been unreal the success this team has had, especially the senior class.”