Pioneers beat Rochester, move on to semifinals
West Greene’s McKenna Lampe and Kylie Simms celebrating after their win over Rochester Friday night.
West Greene’s Kaitlyn Rizor gets a shot over Rochester’s Jasmine Mack during a WPIAL Class A girls playoff game at West Allegheny High School Friday.
West Greene’s Madison Lampe takes the ball down court against Rochester’s Julia Sabbio during a WPIAL Class A playoff game at West Allegheny High School Friday.
West Greene’s McKenna Lampe tries to get around Rochester’s Olivia Whiteleather during a WPIAL Class A playoff game at West Allegheny High School Friday.
IMPERIAL – The West Greene High School girls basketball team compiled an impressive list of goals for this season that went like this:
• Win the section championship.
• Go undefeated in section play.
• Win a playoff game.
• Make the state tournament.
Check, check, check and check.
The final two checkmarks were put in the boxes Friday night when West Greene, the No. 4 seed, defeated Rochester, 51-37, in the WPIAL Class A quarterfinals at West Allegheny High School.
West Greene (19-4), which tied the school record for victories in a season, is in the semifinals for the first time in school history and has clinched a spot in the PIAA playoffs, also a first.
“We accomplished our goals and made it this far,” West Greene head coach Jordan Watson said, “so we might as well win the thing.”
West Greene will play top-seeded Winchester Thurston (19-1) in the semifinals Tuesday night at a site and time to be determined. How the Pioneers reached the Final Four was vintage West Greene, with a few twists in the fourth quarter against fifth-seeded Rochester (14-8).
The Pioneers used their “Press Greene” defense to slow Rochester and hold the Rams to 20 points through the first three quarters.
Meanwhile, sisters McKenna and Madison Lampe had their usual big games on offense for West Greene. Mckenna Lampe scored a game-high 18 points and Madison was right behind with 17.
West Greene came out a bit sluggish on offense. The Pioneers had an 11-day layoff – the longest for any local playoff team – between the regular season and this, it’s postseason opener.
“I thought we handled that layoff well,” Watson said. “As we got closer to game day, you could see our focus was getting better. We have only nine girls so that layoff allowed us to get our bodies healthy. People have asked me if I’d rather have a bye in the first round or play. I’ll take a bye every time.”
The Pioneers led 12-8 after one quarter before getting the offense going in the second eight-minute period, when the Lampe sisters each scored five points including a three-pointer. West Greene led 25-18 at halftime.
The Pioneers’ lead ballooned to 35-20 after Kaitlyn Rizor, who played a strong all-around game, made a 19-foot two-pointer at the buzzer ending the third quarter. Madison Lampe had made a shot at the buzzer ending the second quarter.
“Kaitlyn did that five or six times during the regular season,” Watson said. “She has a knack for knowing when to pull up and hit it at the buzzer.”
Rochester, however, mounted a charge in the fourth quarter. After being held to only two points in the third quarter, Rochester opened the fourth with a 13-4 run to close to within 39-33 and seize the momentum. Rochester forward Jasmine Mack, who scored 17 points, suddenly starting making shots from the middle of the West Greene defense.
“Because of our style, we haven’t played in many close games,” Watson said. “If you look at the points scored and points allowed, we’re an average of a plus-32. Our closest section game was 21 points. We played a lot of lopsided games. I think we grew up tonight.”
The Pioneers shifted gears on the offense and attempted to slow the pace with a delay game. It led the Lampe sisters getting to the free-throw line. They combined to make eight of 10 foul shots in the fourth quarter.
“We did a good job of keeping our composure,” Watson said.
Though the Lampe sisters had the big scoring performances, it was three consecutive baskets by forward Marissa Rode – the lone senior on the roster – that finally shook the pesky Rams. Rode scored off a pass from the left wing from McKenna Lampe for a basket, then took a pass off the other wing from Rizor and laid it in to give West Greene a 47-35 lead with 1:21 remaining.
After a Rochester basket, Rode went to the offensive boards for another two points that finally had West Greene making plans for the semifinals and a rematch with Winchester Thurstown, which beat the Pioneers 58-42 in a non-section game in Rogersville back in January.
“That was only a seven-point game late in the third quarter,” Watson pointed out. “After the game I told the girls that if Winchester Thurston is No. 1 in the state, which it was at the time, then we can play with anybody. We’ll be ready to play Tuesday.”