During a film session earlier this week, Jeannette coach Adrian Batts didn’t show his team tape of an upcoming opponent, but rather video of the 2008 Jayhawks’ team that had won the program’s only WPIAL title.
Watching highlights of Terrelle Pryor and his pals drew some oohh’s and aahh’s from the teens, and also might have provided some inspiration as they tried to complete their drive toward a second title.
“They played hard the whole game,” junior Kymon’e Brown said. “They didn’t take any plays off, so that’s what we try to do every game.”
“Definitely seeing that, we picked up the hustle that we had and how hard we really played,” sophomore Jayce Powell added.
This current group of Jayhawks played hard and hustled throughout in Friday’s WPIAL Class 2A championship, and it resulted in the group joining Pryor’s bunch as the only Jeannette teams to win titles.
Jeannette used another excellent defensive performance to throttle Union, 63-39, in the final at Petersen Events Center.
It was the 12th win in the last 13 games for No. 3 Jeannette (23-2), which knocked off No. 2 Sewickley Academy in the semifinals. No. 8 Union (19-7), which stunned No. 1 Greensburg Central Catholic in the quarterfinals, was trying to capture its second title and first since 2003.
A school known most athletically for its football success — Jeannette has 10 district titles in that sport — now has a second WPIAL championship in basketball, and for its players, that’s a big deal.
“We just wanted to come out and show that we’re good at every sport. We’re athletes. We’re a great group of guys that are able to win,” Brown said.
Just like it did in the semifinals when it limited Sewickley Academy to just 25 points, Jeannette used its defense to derail a Union squad that was the Cinderella team of these playoffs. Union converted only 13-of-49 field-goal attempts (26%), including just 4 of 22 from 3-point range (18%). Lucas Stanley, Union’s top scorer on the season, finished with a team-best 17 points, but was just 6-of-20 shooting. No other Union player scored more than 8 points.
“On film, watching them, I thought this could be the best team we played all-around defensively and offensively, and I think they showed that tonight,” Union coach Mark Stanley said. “Credit to them. That’s a good basketball team. They came out. They guarded. It’s hard to score on them. It’s hard to get looks, And then they transition that defense into offense.”
Union had an especially difficult time scoring in the first half. The Scotties were 5 of 24 from the field, including 1 of 9 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, Jeannette was busy turning defense into offense, and used runs of 9-0 and 7-0 to go up, 25-12, at the half.
“We stressed defense. That’s how you win a championship,” said Jeannette coach Adrian Batts, who was an assistant coach on the 2008 championship team.
After Union scored the first two points of the third quarter to cut its deficit to 11 points, Jeannette began to put the game out of reach by going on a 10-0 run ignited by two Markus McGowan 3-pointers to extend its advantage to 35-14 with 4:27 left in the quarter. The Jayhawks then took their largest lead, 40-16, on Noah Sunder’s bucket less than a minute later.
Unlike the 2008 final when the all-world Pryor put up a triple-double of 34 points, 21 rebounds and 10 blocked shots, this Jeannette championship performance didn’t feature a big point producer. The team has shown balance throughout the season, something it displayed again Friday with Powell leading the way with 14 points, McGowan adding 12 and Xavier Odorisio-Farrow chipping in 11. Odorisio-Farrow also added 10 rebounds, while Brown tacked on 8 assists and 6 steals to go along with 6 points.
“I know at the end we had more points than them. That’s my concern,” Batts said.
The Jayhawks hope to have a long PIAA run ahead of them, but looking ahead to next season, it’s not hard to imagine a team that starts three juniors and two sophomores reaching the WPIAL peak again next season.
“We’re going to work harder next year,” Brown said. “I feel like we’ll win every game by 40. That’s the confidence I have. Not being cocky, just the confidence I have in these guys, and me, and the coaching staff.”
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.