Sweep has Yellow Jackets buzzing
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Waynesburg's bench celebrates after the Yellow Jackets regained possession of the ball with six seconds remaining against W&J Saturday. Waynesburg held on to win the game, 77-76.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter W&J's Amirah Moore battles for a loose ball with Waynesburg's Addy Knetzer (30) and Waynesburg's Kate Gehlmann during the second half Sunday.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Waynesburg's Maura Bobby drives past W&J's Jaimie Tedesco for a second-half layup Saturday.
Katie Roupe / Observer-Reporter Waynesburg's Rachel Lovely blocks the shot of W&J's Taylor Cortazzo during the first half Saturday.
WAYNESBURG – The Waynesburg University men’s and women’s basketball teams swept a Presidents’ Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday against Washington & Jefferson in two vastly different fashions.
Both wins, however, could go a long way in keeping the Yellow Jackets on their home court in the opening round of the PAC tournaments later this month.
The Waynesburg women had to sweat out a down-to-the-last-shot nail-biter. The Yellow Jackets got an 18-point, 12-rebound performance off the bench from freshman post player Addy Knetzer and pulled out a 77-76 upset of the Presidents.
The Waynesburg men didn’t need as much sweat and the Yellow Jackets drained the drama from the game in the first 20 minutes.
Jacob Fleegle scored 17 points and Waynesburg raced to a 32-point halftime lead en route to an 83-38 victory.
Both outcomes boosted Waynesburg’s positioning in the conference standings and sets up an important stretch of road games for the Yellow Jackets. The Waynesburg men (9-4, 13-9) moved into third place in the PAC, a half-game ahead of Bethany and 1½ games in front of fifth-place Thiel. Waynesburg plays Wednesday at Thiel and at Bethany, which has won seven in a row, Saturday. The top four teams host quarterfinal games in the conference tournament that begins Feb. 23.
“It’s going to be very interesting how the year ends,” Waynesburg coach Mark Christner said. “We’ve played lights-out at home lately. If we can play (the first two rounds) of the tournament at home, then it’s a big advantage for us.”
Though Waynesburg has won four in a row and eight straight at home, Christner says his team’s level of play is more important than where it plays.
“I’ve challenged the guys to be at their best,” he said. “What does that look like on offense, defense and in transition? We’ll find out. We only worry about what we can control and play as well as we can.”
Against W&J (0-12, 1-20), Waynesburg looked very impressive. Fleegle, one of six seniors who play more than a casual role for the Yellow Jackets, scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half. He made two three-pointers as the Yellow Jackets built a 32-9 lead.
“It was important that we got off to a good start,” Christner said. “After beating (first-place) Saint Vincent Wednesday, you don’t want to let a team stick around during the next game. The longer a team sticks around, the more dangerous it becomes.”
Any chance of an upset by W&J disappeared early as the Presidents made only five of 25 shots and committed nine turnovers in the first half.
Waynesburg had only two players score in double figures, but 13 Yellow Jackets tallied at least two points. Tyler Miller came off the bench to score 10 points, Jason Propst had nine points, and Kenny Klase and B.J. Durham each made two three-pointers during Waynesburg’s big first half.
Power forward Mike Resnik was the only W&J player in double figures with 12 points. He became the 23rd player in Presidents history to score 1,000 career points.
“When people talk about a Pittsburgh mentality or a Pittsburgh guy, what they are talking about is a blue-collar work ethic, a nose-to-the-grindstone, bring-your-lunch-pail-and-punch-the-time-clock guy who works hard. That’s Mike,” W&J coach Glenn Gutierrez said. “Everything he has gotten, he has earned.”
Waynesburg 77, W&J 76: Knetzer, a freshman from Chartiers-Houston, had one of her best games on the collegiate level, and Heather Davis made a go-ahead jump shot from 10 feet with 4:14 remaining, sending Waynesburg to a sweep of the season series.
Waynesburg (7-6, 10-10) upset W&J on the Presidents’ home court last month by making 15 three-pointers. This time, Waynesburg made nine threes but got 18 hard-earned points inside from Knetzer, who played only a bit part in the win at W&J.
The Yellow Jackets did use long-range shooting to forge a 28-13 lead before W&J (10-3, 16-4) stormed back and closed the first half on a 14-5 run that trimmed Waynesburg’s lead to a single point.
W&J twice built a six-point lead in the second half, but Knetzer and reserve guard Katie Gehlmann sparked a Waynesburg comeback. Gehlmann’s second basket of the half off an offensive rebound and Davis’ short jumper gave Waynesburg a 73-72 lead.
After an exchange of field goals, Knetzer made a runner from the lane to put Waynesburg up 77-74 with 1:08 left. Beka Bellhy, who scored a game-high 24 points, calmly sank two free throws to make it 77-76 with 47 seconds to play. Waynesburg then misfired on a three-pointer, but W&J missed one shot and committed a turnover in the final eight seconds.
Waynesburg remains in fourth place, one game ahead of Bethany. The top four teams earn home-court advantage in the quarterfinals. The two wins over W&J have helped Waynesburg’s confidence and spot in the standings. But they have coach Sam Jones wondering why the Yellow Jackets play at a different level against the Presidents than some teams at the bottom of the standings.
“It’s a big matchup. The girls here weren’t part of them, but they’ve heard stories about how W&J won 28 straight games in this series,” Jones said. “The last three years, we’ve been fighting with W&J for third and fourth place in the conference.”
Gehlmann finished with 15 points and Hayden Giuliani had 13 for Waynesburg. Point guard Lauren Blair had 10 assists and six points, including a key basket on a drive with 3:09 left. The Jackets’ reserves outscored W&J’s 43-11.
“We’ve worked hard to build some depth,” Jones said. “We needed it because we had six kids on the bench with two fouls in the first half. I was still confident with who we had on the floor.”
Valerie Dunlap had 19 points and 17 rebounds for W&J, and Danni Medovich contributed 11 points. The Presidents committed only nine turnovers but were outrebounded 56-41.