Monessen’s pressure forces Imani Christian into defeat
Monessen’s Justice Rice splits the defense and puts up a shot against Imani Christian Academy during the WPIAL Class A boys’ championship game. Monessen won 74-59.
Jaden Altomore (No. 3) of Monessen rises up to the basket after beating his defender, Ray Jackson (No.5) from Imani Academy during the WPIAL Class A boys’ championship game.
PITTSBURGH – It was evident early on which team was more experienced.
As the Monessen High School boys’ basketball team stepped onto the court for the WPIAL Class A championship game, the court at the Petersen Events Center seemed like a home away from home.
The Greyhounds used their patented full-court press defense to force an Imani Christian team unfamiliar with the pressure of such an important game into 25 turnovers that paved the way to a 74-59 victory that provided the Class A title Thursday night.
Monessen looked comfortable from the start, connecting on three consecutive three-point field goals to forge ahead 9-2 and never look back.
“That’s just our pressure that we usually put on,” Monessen head coach Joe Salvino said about the Greyhounds stifling defense from baseline to baseline.
“We do a lot of different things off it. It’s worked. We knew that we had to create turnovers and get transition points. We didn’t want (Imani) to get any kind of momentum and those threes early helped. In the second quarter, we made that run with our defense. I think they realized at that particular time that they weren’t going to be able to control the tempo.”
Imani Christian committed 11 turnovers in the second quarter that led to a 13-3 run for Monessen. A straightaway three-pointer from Justice Rice started it and it ended with another basket from Rice to put the Greyhounds ahead, 35-18, with 3:42 left in the second quarter.
Imani Christian failed to cut into the 17-point deficit before the break and trailed 42-25.
“They did a pretty good job of hitting shots early,” Imani Christian head coach Anwan Wesley said. “We cut the lead and then turned the ball over a few times. This was all on us. Those were unforced errors. I feel that if we cut those out, then we win this game. If we cut it out, their lead doesn’t grow. We wanted to rush a little bit too much. I really believe that was the difference.”
The Saints could stop turning the ball over and also were hurt by fouls. Imani Christian star and West Virginia University football commit Kenny Robinson found himself on the bench with his third foul after a double technical was called on him and Jaden Altomore with 50 seconds left in the first quarter.
“I hate to say it like this but I didn’t think it was called fairly,” Wesley said about the officiating that led to 51 foul shots. “We did have some composure issues early on, but at the same time the whistle could have been blown better both ways. It’s tough when you have your star player on the bench. It’s tough to really get a handle on the game and it really affected us.”
The physical play continued throughout the second half as Monessen dominated inside with Justice Rice slicing to the basket for many of his game-high 30 points.
Three other Greyhounds – Altomore, Lyndon Henderson and Vaughn Taylor – also finished in double figures with 17, 13 and 10 points, respectively.
“Anytime you have balance with having four people in double figures, it makes it harder for any team to key on any one player,” Salvino said. “You just have to be smart. You don’t want to be out of it in the first half because you can’t control your temper. I thought for the most part we did that.”
The balanced scoring for Monessen (18-7) kept Imani Christian at a distance throughout the final 16 minutes, with its slimmest lead still equaling 14 points.
Rice, the catalyst on offense for Monessen while guiding cooler heads to prevail, said his success simply came down to a few words his father, who has a seat on the Monessen bench, told him before the game.
“Coming into the game I knew they were an athletic team and liked to play up on you,” Rice said. “I knew that I would be able to get around them. My dad told me to just stop and shoot that floater. It’s been an up-and-down experience having him on the bench but I wouldn’t be anywhere without him. He’s been through it all with me. I love him.”
Imani (15-7) was led by Robinson’s limited night that still featured 21 points before fouling out in the final minutes with his second technical. Sam Fairly also had a double-double for the Saints with 18 points and 10 rebounds before exiting the game after picking up his fifth foul with 3:24 left in the final quarter.
After capturing yet another championship, Salvino’s Greyhounds will play the fourth-place team out of District 9 – either Otto-Eldred or North Clarion – next Friday at a site and time to be determined.
However, Salvino is savoring a championship that never gets old.
“No,” Salvino replied with a laugh. “That’s why I’m still here. If it got old I probably wouldn’t be here right now.”