Feb 23, 2017 2 min read

CANONSBURG – The wait was worth it.

The Monessen boys basketball went 10 days from its final regular season until its first playoff game Thursday night at Canon-McMillan High School.

The time in between games sure didn’t effect Greyhounds’ guard Jaden Altomore.

Altomore showed scored 21 of his game-high 29 points in the first half as top-seeded Monessen cruised to an 79-61 victory in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class A playoffs against Eden Christian.

With the win, Monessen advances to the semifinals on Monday to face Union, a 60-54 winner over Clairton. The Greyhounds also clinched a spot in the PIAA playoffs.

Monessen point guard Justice Rice also had a big game with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

“It’s nice to have two guys like that that can take over a game and complement each other,” Monessen head coach Joe Salvino said. “Not only that, but they have been there before, winning a WPIAL championship, so they know what it takes.”

While Altomore and Rice were solid, the Greyhounds were sloppy as a team for much of the game.

The Warriors hung in with the more athletic Greyhounds and trailed only 17-15 after one quarter as turnovers piled up for Monessen.

“The sloppiness likely had to do with the long break,” Salvino said. “You can only do so much in practice. When you are off almost two weeks, it takes its toll. You can’t really simulate a playoff game in practice.”

The Greyhounds shook off the rust to begin the second quarter as they put together a 14-0 run to take a 33-17 lead.

Monessen kept continual pressure on Eden Christan, forcing turnovers and getting buckets in transition. That led to the Greyhounds taking a 46-25 lead into the locker room at halftime.

“We had to start playing defense,” Salvino said. “We didn’t do that early on, but we started to turn up the intensity defensively and then we started to click. That and rebounding. We started crashing the offensive glass in the second quarter.”

Cory Fleming (12 points) and Lyndon Henderson (11) also finished in double figures for Monessen.

Eden Christian was led in scoring by Drew Aiken with 20. Chase Haring also chipped in 19 points for the Warriors.