Westmoreland basketball notebook: Playoff-hopeful Hempfield faces No. 1 Latrobe in must-win

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, February 7, 2019 | 8:03 PM

Heading into the final night of Section 3-6A play, the Hempfield boys basketball team’s season will follow the mantra of just about every game that came out of it: The Spartans still are hanging around.

In a season of ups and downs, Hempfield (10-11, 2-7) can clinch a playoff spot Friday night with an upset on the road against No. 1 Latrobe (17-2, 9-0).

The section has six teams and the top four qualify. Hempfield can tie Connellsville for fourth place and since those teams split their two-game series, both would advance.

Hempfield played Latrobe close in the teams’ initial meeting.

Latrobe needed two Alex Bisignani free throws — after a controversial whistle — with four-tenths of second left to edge the Spartans, 58-56, at Hempfield. That game had a floor-shaking collision between football stalwarts Fintan Brose of Hempfield and Latrobe’s Trent Holler, leading to their viral “block or charge” video.

The plot thickens for the rematch: Latrobe standout senior guard Reed Fenton is questionable with a minor knee injury. The Lehigh recruit and 20-point-per-game scorer bumped knees with an opposing player in a recent game.

Hempfield has been the poster child for close games, losing four games by three or fewer points.

But they are grateful for the chance to play for a WPIAL tournament spot against a rival that has been virtually unbeatable at home in recent years.

Latrobe is 7-0 at “The Den” this season and has won 51 of its past 59 home games.

“We always look forward to playing Latrobe,” Spartans junior forward Marcus McCarthy said. “They have a great team, and the chance at the playoffs makes the game even more exciting.”

Playoff picture

Hempfield sits alone on the playoff bubble among Westmoreland boys teams. Here are the area teams that have clinched spots in the WPIAL postseason:

Class 6A: Latrobe, Penn-Trafford; 5A: Franklin Regional; 4A: Derry, Belle Vernon; 3A: Southmoreland; 2A: Jeannette; A: Greensburg Central Catholic, Monessen.

On the girls side, Penn-Trafford will host Latrobe at 6 p.m. Friday for the final playoff spot in Section 3-5A.

Local girls qualifiers are: 6A: Norwin; 5A: Franklin Regional; 4A: Southmoreland, Belle Vernon; A: Greensburg Central Catholic.

Greensburg Salem clinched a spot in 4A with Thursday night’s victory at Apollo-Ridge.

Milestone for Bisignani

Greg Bisignani coached Greensburg Central Catholic for eight seasons but took a step back last year when he served as an assistant.

His return to the lead job wasn’t just to help out after the departure of Jim Nesser to Yough, it also meant he could add to his win total. Not that Bisignani, a local orthopedic surgeon, is in it for the accolades.

Bisignani picked up his 200th win at GCC when the Centurions held off Propel Andrew Street, 54-49, on Tuesday night in Carbon.

GCC is a game back of St. Joseph in Section 3-A, but the Centurions could gain a share of the section title with a win over Clairton on Friday and a St. Joseph loss to Leechburg.

Bisignani is 200-38 and has led the Centurions back to the WPIAL playoffs after their postseason streak was halted at 17 last year.

Bisignani also won his 100th section game. His teams have lost only seven of 107 section games in his tenure. He led the Centurions to two WPIAL finals trips and a PIAA runner-up finish.

“I am very proud of the GCC program and its players for achieving the number of wins in just nine seasons,” Bisignani said. “I did not score any points in those 200 wins — it only could be done by the players.”

Jeannette Hall of Fame

Some of Jeannette’s all-time greats will be honored Friday night as the school district rolls out its inaugural Jayhawk Athletic Hall of Fame class.

A ceremony will precede Jeannette’s boys basketball section finale against visiting Serra Catholic, immediately following the junior varsity game, around 7 p.m.

The plan initially was to have the ceremony at halftime, but was moved to pregame. The varsity game tips around 7:30 p.m..

There will be an induction banquet at 5 p.m. Saturday at Ferrante’s Lakeview to officially welcome what is a stacked group.

The class includes: Lisa (Marquis) Abreu (basketball, Class of 1987); Steve August (football, ’72); Adam Bostick (basketball, football, ’79); Sid Bostick (basketball, football, ’74); Gary Gregory (basketball, ’72); Dick Hoak (football, ‘57); Matt Lebe (wrestling, 2001); Joe Mucci (football coach, ’68-85); Lori Pecoraro (track, ’90); Terrelle Pryor (football, basketball, ’08); Dante Wiley (football, ’83); and the 1956 football team.

A “Legends” group of posthumous honorees includes: Bill Baughman (football, ’40); Buster Clarkson (baseball, ’33); Claire Cribbs (basketball, ’30); Mike Getto (football, ’48); Jack O’Brien (football, ’50); and Lou Seiler (trainer, ’47).

Konek misses start

Franklin Regional senior guard Cali Konek missed Wednesday’s home loss against Brentwood with a minor shoulder injury she suffered in Monday’s home win against Hampton. Coach Anthony Kobus said he rested the Charlotte recruit as a precaution.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Jeannette, Latrobe