Greensburg Central Catholic dominates Jeannette behind Tyree Turner’s 25 points

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, January 5, 2024 | 11:01 PM

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Greensburg Central Catholic players and coaches were stranded after the game at Jeannette on Friday night because their bus arrived late.

About 30 minutes went by as the team waited in an empty gym.

Some players practiced a tip drill, and others played 1-on-1.

“Most of them just sat in the bleachers and waited,” GCC coach Christian Hyland said.

The Centurions didn’t have to sit around and dwell on a road loss, that’s for sure. Instead, they could rehash highlights from a runaway win.

Tyree Turner scored 25 points to lead four double-digit scorers, and the senior guard also grabbed eight rebounds, handed out six assists and grabbed four steals to lead No. 2 GCC to a 73-46 victory over the Jayhawks in a boys basketball game between Section 3-2A rivals.

GCC (11-2, 4-0), which blew open a close game by outscoring Jeannette, 40-23, in the second half, has won 10 of its last 11 with the setback being a five-point loss to 5A Penn Hills.

“Tyree is a beast, and he keeps getting better,” Hyland said. “We’re more organized as a team now (than the beginning of the season). Our guys understand how teams are going to play us now.

“We got contributions from everybody.”

Jeannette (7-4, 2-1) started out in a 2-3 zone, which bothered GCC slightly as evidenced by five straight misses from the 3-point arc.

But junior guard Liam Gallagher made a 3 early in the second, then Turner made one of his own before Gallagher connected again from deep to spark GCC after Jeannette crept to within 19-18.

“That got us going,” Hyland said. “We knew we might see some of that (zone), and it was on the table. If the first one doesn’t fall, we want to get our feet set and keep shooting.”

Gallagher made four 3s on the night and joined Turner, senior forward Franco Alvarez (12 points) and junior guard Brady O’Rourke (10) in double figures.

GCC threaded the needle early to Alvarez and O’Rourke, who scored inside.

“I said if (Gallagher) gets 12, we can’t beat them,” said Jeannette coach Adrian Batts, knowing about the uptick in play from GCC’s role players. “Tyree is who he is. Alvarez is who he is. We missed some of our assignments, and you can’t do that against a really good team like GCC.”

Sophomore guard Kymone Brown, who led Jeannette with 16 points, had four three-point play chances in the first half, the last he converted to close the gap to 31-23. But Alvarez made a turnaround jumper to give GCC a 33-23 lead at the half.

A close game for two-plus quarters, GCC finally gained separation in the third.

Junior guard Braden Riley made an early 3 in the quarter, and Gallagher sank two more 3s, including one from the corner off a feed from Turner in the post, to stretch the advantage to 48-32.

O’Rourke’s basket at the end of the quarter made it 53-34.

Turner scored 10 in the fourth as the Centurions pulled away, expanding the lead to 29.

“They threw a lot of bodies at me,” Turner said. “If I drive, we have guys going to the block. I try to score or find them. Our guys are more confident.

“We had to start knocking down 3s to get out of that zone.”

Senior guard Isaiah Mallich added nine points for Jeannette on three 3s. The Jayhawks had won four of five.

Jeannette honored former athletic trainer Lou Seiler before the game and officially dedicated “Lou Seiler Court.”

Seiler died in 2012 at age 84. He taped ankles, handled uniforms and rooted for the Jayhawks as a boys basketball volunteer for 50 years.

His grandson, Bill, accepted at midcourt a framed poster that was autographed by team members.

Seiler’s signature is written on the court in front of the visitors’ bench, gleaned by organizers from an old fishing license.

“Lou was a Jeannette guy,” Batts said. “He really cared about the players and was well-respected by the kids.”

Seiler was the trainer during the Terrelle Pryor years, including in 2008 when Jeannette won a PIAA championship.

That team is set to go into the Jayhawks Athletic Hall of Fame next weekend. Seiler was inducted in 2018 in the “Legends” category.

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., Jeannette