Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Mt. Pleasant off to unbeaten start

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, January 13, 2021 | 6:30 PM

Mt. Pleasant coach Scott Giacobbi is not quite ready to schedule a parade up and down Route 31, but he has enjoyed his team’s quick start.

A long season awaits, but the Vikings are 3-0 and tied for first place in Section 3-4A with No. 1 Southmoreland, the team they’ll host Thursday night.

That will be their toughest challenge of the season so far — and by far.

Mt. Pleasant’s opponents have a combined record of 1-7. Still, the Vikings have not started a season with three straight wins since 2009-10 when they finished 18-4 and made the Class 3A quarterfinals.

That year, they started 6-0.

Tiffany Zelmore, a sophomore forward, has been a bright spot this season. She had 23 points in one of the wins.

GCC shuts down

Greensburg Central Catholic has paused girls basketball activities until Jan. 20 because of potential covid-19 exposure.

GCC played Saturday but had to close down practice this week and turn back to Zoom calls to maintain continuity.

Coach Sam Salih said he hopes to reschedule postponed games in February.

“Everyone is disappointed, obviously, but it’s just par for the course based on what a lot of teams and programs have and are currently going through in Pennsylvania and really, the USA as a whole,” Salih said.

The coach said the shutdown is not a setback for his team.

“They have already been through a lot mentally just getting the season going, virtual school and things like that,” Salih said. “They have shown and proved to me and the staff to be pretty resilient.”

Game postponed

Hempfield was supposed to host Baldwin on Thursday, but that game has been postponed over conflicting mask issues.

Baldwin reportedly wants its opponents to follow its protocols and wear masks in games. But Hempfield does not require masks for games.

Slow start for LV

It will be awhile before Ligonier Valley makes its debut in the WPIAL. Winter sports teams in the district did not begin official practice until Monday when its schools returned to hybrid learning.

Athletics were shut down Nov. 18, making for a 53-day delay for sports teams.

The Rams won’t play their first game until Jan. 23 at Yough.

Rocco scoring

Alayna Rocco decided to attend and play basketball and soccer at North Catholic instead of Penn-Trafford. North Catholic is glad she did.

Rocco, the freshman daughter of former Penn-Trafford boys basketball coach Jim Rocco, has scored in double figures in all four games for the Trojanettes (3-1), ranked No. 1 in Class 3A.

She had 17 points against Mt. Lebanon and 16 when North Catholic beat Baldwin.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant, North Catholic