Feb 27, 2015 4 min read

PITTSBURGH – The Monessen boys basketball team made it all the way to the WPIAL championship game last season, only to fall short.

The Greyhounds were back in the same spot Friday night, and this time they experienced a different result.

With the WPIAL Class A title on the line, every time the Greyhounds needed a play in the second half of a tight game against Jeannette, the ball was in the hands of Monessen point guard Justice Rice.

And Rice delivered.

The Monessen sophomore made plays every way possible down the stretch, leading the Greyhounds to a 73-57 victory over Jeannette at Petersen Events Center.

“It was very important that it was two public schools against each other,” said Monessen (20-6) head coach Joe Salvino. “It is very satisfying. The way we got here, beating some private schools, just shows that I can put my players up against anybody. It’s a big win for us as well as the community.”

Monessen saw a double-digit lead trimmed to four points late in the third quarter, but that is when Rice took over.

The sophomore scored 15 of his game-high 22 points in the second half, none bigger than a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter that put the Greyhounds up 52-46 and stopped the momentum that Jeannette built.

“Coach always tells me that I need to shoot the ball more,” Rice said. “When I got the chance to take it, I just saw that I had some mismatches and tried to do what I do best.”

It didn’t matter if Rice was driving to the lane for a layup, creating contact to get to the free-throw line or setting up his teammates for baskets, every time Jeannette (16-8) got close, Rice did something to make a play.

“I have the utmost confidence in all of my players and Justice is certainly one of them,” said Salvino. “He’s does a great job for us. He’s a sophomore but he has the head of a senior.”

Monessen led 34-24 at the half, but quickly saw that lead trimmed as Jeannette’s Julian Batts scored six of his 15 points during a run that trimmed the Greyhounds’ lead. Later, Batts made a three-pointer to cut the Monessen lead to 38-35.

Other than the brief spurt by Batts, Lavelle Rush did an outstanding job defending the Jeannette senior.

“We wanted to make Batts fight to get the basketball,” Salvino said. “It’s not easy. I thought Lavalle did a very good job on him, especially early. I was a little worried when he got a couple quick buckets early in the third, but we adjusted and did a good job.”

Monessen countered as Rice made a layup and then found Noah Yartin for a big three-pointer to extend the lead to six. Brandon Lenhart followed with a three-point play that put Monessen up 46-37.

Jeannette made one more charge and pulled within four in the third quarter, but Rice scored the final six Monessen points of the quarter as the Greyhounds built a 52-46 lead.

Rush, who had 18 points, scored the first four points of the fourth.

“It was amazing,” said Rush. “I didn’t get to play in the (championship) game last year, so that hurt me a lot. It was amazing just to come out here today and get a win for my teammates.”

The biggest key to the Greyhounds’ success was their defense.

“Jeannette is a good team,” Salvino said. “I knew they had some runs in them, but we had to limit how far they could go with their runs. We are a team that is based on defense. We stepped up and got the job done.”

Monessen broke open a tight back-and-forth first quarter by exploding in the second quarter, putting together a 13-5 run for a 26-19 lead.

Jeannette’s Anthony Schmidt had a big game with 15 points and double-digit rebounds, but the Jayhawks were only 8-for-18 at the free-throw line.

“Give Monessen a ton of credit,” said Jeannette head coach Adrian Batts. “They forced us to turn the ball over. We didn’t make many shots. We had a ton of open looks and just missed them. The free-throw shooting also killed us. But when shots aren’t falling you have to defend and we didn’t defend them very well.”