No team in the WPIAL has been stingier defensively this season than Sewickley Academy, which gives up only 37.9 points per game.
Jeannette faced the tall and talented Panthers in Monday’s WPIAL Class 2A semifinals, and not only did the Jayhawks exceed that point total, but they also gave their opponent a dose of their own medicine.
No. 3 Jeannette got defensive against No. 2 Sewickley Academy, locking down the Panthers throughout on its way to a 45-25 win at Fox Chapel.
The win puts the Jayhawks (22-2) into the final for the first time since 2015 and has them a win away from their first title since 2008, Terrelle Pryor’s senior season. Sewickley Academy (19-5) was trying to reach its first final since winning back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018.
Jeannette owns the No. 1 scoring offense in Class 2A at 67.4 points per game and was actually held to a season low in points Monday, but it didn’t matter as the Jayhawks used some stifling defense to turn back the Panthers. Jeannette limited Sewickley to single-digit points in each quarter, holding them to point totals of 4, 5, 9 and 7. The Jayhawks led, 21-9, at the half.
“We wanted to set the tone with our defensive pressure,” Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said. “I know we score a ton of points, but we’ve also been very good defensively. We wanted to get up and pressure their guards before it became a halfcourt game, which would be tough for us. It was tough going from the start, but we stepped up our pressure, and we kept it up. The kids were relentless.”
Jeannette also overcame a big size disadvantage in the game. The Jayhawks don’t have a starter taller than 6 feet 3, while Sewickley Academy starts 6-8 Mamadou Kane and brings 6-8 Adam Ikamba off the bench. But neither was a factor Monday (Ikamba scored a team-high 7 points), with the biggest highlight involving the pair being a big dunk thrown down by Jeannette’s 6-2 Xavier Odorisio-Farrow over Kane late in the third quarter that brought the crowd to its feet.
Batts said that Odorisio-Farrow might have been inspired by a film session a day earlier in which the team watched highlights of Pryor and the 2008 team.
“There were a couple of highlight dunks from Terrelle, and [associate head coach Julian Batts] told Xavier, ‘You need to try to get a Pryor highlight dunk,’” Adrian Batts explained.
Odorisio-Farrow scored a game-high 15 points and Lonnie Greene added 12 off the bench for Jeannette, which has won 11 of its last 12 games.
Other Class 2A semifinal
• Lucas Stanley’s 24 points helped No. 8 Union (19-6) continue its surprising playoff run as the Scotties held off No. 4 Neshannock (20-3), 60-56, in an all-Lawrence County semifinal at Ellwood City. Union, which stunned No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals, will now look to win its second title overall and first since 2003. The Scotties finished as the Class 1A runner-up in 2022 and 2023. Neshannock, which beat Union by margins of 11 and 7 points in the regular season, jumped to a 17-11 first-quarter lead. Union, though, then surged ahead and took control, and held a 44-34 lead after three quarters before Neshannock closed the gap in the fourth. The Scotties also got 13 points from Maddox Thompson. Tony Perrotta scored 17 points and David Kwiat tacked on 14 for Neshannock, which fell in the semifinals for the fourth time in five seasons. The Lancers had won nine in a row, including a four-overtime decision against Northgate in the quarterfinals. They were trying to advance to their first final since 1987.
Class 6A semifinals
• No. 1 and defending champion Upper St. Clair (22-2) led by 15 points at the half and went on to grab a 59-39 win against No. 5 Central Catholic (14-10) at Peters Township. Upper St. Clair will try to become the first team since Pine-Richland (2016-2017) to repeat as champions in the largest classification. Jake Foster scored 12 points and Tyler Robbins and Nico Gidas added 10 apiece for the Panthers, who won for the 16th time in their past 17 games. The Panthers eliminated Central Catholic in the semifinals for the second year in a row and topped the Vikings for the third time this season after beating them by 15 and 14 points in the regular season. Christian Williams scored a team-high 10 points for Central Catholic, which was appearing in the semifinals for the fourth year in a row.
• Ralphie Blundo poured in 25 points and No. 2 New Castle (21-3) picked up its ninth win in a row courtesy of a 67-56 victory against No. 6 Mt. Lebanon (17-8) at North Allegheny. New Castle, which has won 14 titles (tied with Aliquippa for most all time), will now try to add to that gold medal collection by winning its first since 2021. Freshman Kai Cox chipped in 17 points for New Castle, with 13 of those coming in the second half. Cox was whistled for his third foul and sent to the bench with two minutes left in the first quarter. While out, it was Blundo who did the heavy lifting, scoring 13 of his points in the first two quarters to help give New Castle a 26-20 halftime lead. Damien Harrison added 14 points and did an excellent job on the boards. Liam Sheely scored 13 of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter for Mt. Lebanon, which lost in the semifinals for the fourth year in a row. Carter Gould added 13 points and knocked down 4 of Mt. Lebanon’s 9 3-pointers.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.