Westmoreland boys basketball notebook: Shootout at Seton Hill returns

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, January 27, 2022 | 11:23 PM

Basketball showcase events went by the wayside last season as the covid pandemic stretched its long reach over high school and college sports.

But a local event returns this weekend, and it features five games at Seton Hill’s McKenna Center.

The Shootout at Seton Hill will be played Sunday, beginning at 1 p.m. with the Greensburg Central Catholic and Franklin Regional girls.

At 2:30, the Homer-Center and Franklin Regional boys take the floor, followed by the Indiana and Southmoreland girls at 4; the Latrobe and Greensburg Central Catholic boys at 6; and the Geibel and Jeannette boys at 7:30.

The event is organized by Allen Deep, who also runs the Roundball Classic.

All-day tickets at Seton Hill are $7 for adults and $5 for students.

Proceeds benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Batts one away

Jeannette coach Adrian Batts needs one win for 200 in his career. The Jayhawks hoped to give their coach the milestone win Tuesday at home, but Seton LaSalle canceled over covid concerns.

Jeannette visits Propel Braddock Hills on Friday night. The Jayhawks beat Propel, 75-45, in the teams’ first Section 3-2A game of the season.

Monessen rolling

Monessen has not lost a game in January. The Greyhounds (11-4, 5-0) have put together an eight-game winning streak as they look for a season sweep at Jefferson-Morgan on Friday night.

It’s been a year of streaks for the Greyhounds, who started the year 0-3, won three in a row, lost, then began their current run.

Sophomore Lorenzo Gardner has been a bright spot for Monessen, averaging 19 points a game.

Monessen has made the WPIAL playoffs 40 straight years.

Tight race

The walls are beginning to close around teams in Section 3-5A.

After Tuesday’s action, Gateway was leading at 4-1 and Penn Hills was second at 5-2.

But the logjam is forming for third and fourth place — the top four make the WPIAL playoffs.

Woodland Hills is 4-3, Franklin Regional 4-4, Kiski Area 3-4, McKeesport 3-5 and Latrobe 2-6.

Woodland Hills and Franklin Regional split their two-game series, as did Kiski Area and Franklin Regional.

“This reminds of me when I played in a college conference (at American University),” Franklin Regional coach Jesse Reed said. “It was a grind every night. You had to be ready to play, and you had to go hard for four quarters. This section is going to make you work to get into the playoffs.”

Thousand island

Players strive to score 1,000 points in their high school career. Ligonier Valley is celebrating 1,000 wins.

The Rams defeated East Allegheny, 69-56, on Tuesday night for the 1,000th win in Ligonier program history. The total counts Ligonier High School’s wins before it merged with Laurel Valley.

Schedule change

Penn-Trafford was scheduled to play Woodland Hills on Feb. 7 but that game is moved to Feb. 14.

As a result, there will be a girls-boys doubleheader Feb. 14 at Penn-Trafford. The Warriors girls will play Latrobe at 6 p.m., followed by the boys’ game at 7:30.

This also means the Penn-Trafford at Latrobe boys game slated for Feb. 14 is cancelled.

Pete hosts hoops finals

The WPIAL recently finalized a contract to return to Petersen Event Center this winter for the boys and girls basketball finals.

The league, which used high school gyms for the basketball finals last season because of covid restrictions, decided to return its championships to traditional pro and college venues this school year. That started in the fall with the football championships at Heinz Field and soccer finals at Highmark Stadium.

The basketball finals are March 3-5.

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

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Jeannette, Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Monessen, Penn-Trafford