Top-seeded Monessen scores 77 first-half points, crushes Leechburg
Monessen’s head coach Joe Salvino talks to his player during a game against Leechburg at Charleroi High Schoool on Wednesday, Feb, 17, 2016.
Monessen’s Dwight Moore goes in for two during a game against Leechburg’s Wyatt Libitzer at Charleroi High Schoool on Wednesday. Moore scored 25 points in the Greyhounds’ 95-31 victory.
Monessens Lavalle Rush takes it in for two points during a game against Leechburg at Charleroi High Schoool on Wednesday, Feb, 17, 2016.
Monessen’s Jaden Altomore shoots over a Leechburg defender during the Greyhounds’ WPIAL Class A playoff game Wednesday at Charleroi High Schoool.
CHARLEROI – Monessen’s opening game in the WPIAL boys basketball playoffs Wednesday night looked a lot like any of the Greyhounds’ Section 3-A games.
In other words, it was all Greyhounds from start to finish.
Dwight Moore scored 25 points, Jaden Altomore had 23 and Monessen scored 77 first-half points en route to a 95-31 thumping of overmatched Leechburg in a Class A first-round game at Charleroi High School.
The 95 points is only three more than Monessen’s regular-season scoring average.
The win sends the top-seeded Greyhounds (20-3) into a quarterfinal matchup Friday against Union (12-10), which advanced by defeating California, 51-31. Monessen is 14-0 against Class A opponents.
Leechburg (8-11), the fourth-place team from Section 2-A, never threatened the Greyhounds. Monessen led 31-9 after one quarter, then scored 46 points over the next eight minutes to take a 77-17 lead at halftime.
Moore scored 23 of his 25 points in the first half and sparked the Greyhounds’ relentless full-court press that overwhelmed the Blue Devils, forcing many turnovers in the Leechburg backcourt that led to easy baskets for Monessen.
“It’s our defense that does a lot for us,” Monessen head coach Joe Salvino said. “We score a lot of points off our defense. That’s what we do.”
Against Leechburg, Monessen did almost everything it wanted to do. Altomore scored 19 points in the first half. Lavalle Rush scored all of his 14 points in the first half and Justice Rice finished with 14.
“We play pretty unselfish basketball,” Salvino said. “You do that and you get four players score at least 14 points. What I want to see every game is our guys playing unselfish on offense and good defense.”
Christian Hack scored 15 points and was the only Leechburg player to score in double figures. The Blue Devils trailed 89-21 after three quarters but outscored Monessen’s reserves 10-6 in the fourth quarter.