Greensburg Central Catholic uses second-half surge to run past St. Joseph
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Friday, December 13, 2019 | 10:55 PM
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Dylan Sebek pushes toward the net as St. Joseph’s Paul Shadle defends on Friday, Nov. 2019, at St. Joseph High School.
Greensburg Central Catholic’s Nate Ward searches for an opening at the net against St. Joseph on Friday, Nov. 2019, at St. Joseph High School.
Greensburg Central Catholic player Ben LaCarte shakes hands with St. Joseph players while wearing a shirt in support of St. Joseph senior and basketball player Eli Swierczewski on Friday, Nov. 2019, at St. Joseph High School.
St. Joseph’s Dominic Followes drives toward the net while Greensburg Central Catholic’s Christian McGowen (background) and Ben LaCarte, defend, on Friday, Nov. 2019, at St. Joseph High School.
St. Joseph’s Tyler Wood battles Greensburg Central Catholic’s Brevan Williams on Friday, Nov. 2019, at St. Joseph High School.
St. Joseph’s Andrew Sullivan drives toward the net against Greensburg Central Catholic on Friday, Nov. 2019, at St. Joseph High School.
Greensburg Central Catholic players line up for the nation anthem while wearing shirts that support St. Joseph basketball player Eli Swierczewski, a senior who is undergoing treatment for cancer, on Friday, Nov. 2019, at St. Joseph High School before playing WPIAL basketball.
Greensburg Central Catholic player Ben LaCarte shakes hands with St. Joseph players while wearing a shirt in support of St. Joseph senior and basketball player Eli Swierczewski on Friday, Nov. 2019, at St. Joseph High School.
St. Joseph head coach Hart Coleman speaks to his players while playing against Greensburg Central Catholic on Friday, Nov. 2019, at St. Joseph High School.
Greensburg Central Catholic coach Christian Hyland thought his team wasn’t playing hard enough in the first half.
Up by just four at the intermission, the Centurions responded with a huge run to start the second half and rolled to a 71-46 victory Friday night over St. Joseph at Walter Dlubak Athletic Center.
Greensburg Central started the third quarter with an 11-1 surge, helped out by Brevin Williams, who collected four rebounds in the first 1 minute, 12 seconds of the second half.
The Centurions (3-1, 1-0) built a 22-9 bulge in the decisive third quarter to win the Section 3-A opener for both teams.
St. Joseph led by five twice in the first half and outrebounded Greensburg Central, 16-11.
“We made some adjustments and got into them a little bit at the half,” Hyland said with a smile. “We thought coming in we had an advantage on the boards, and that turned around in the second half.”
Christian McGowan had 20 points and pulled down nine rebounds. Williams added 15 points and eight rebounds.
Nate Ward chipped in with 12, all in the second half, including a pair of 3-point field goals to propel the big third period.
Said Hyland: “We have a really unselfish team. They’re tight and they get along. They don’t care who gets the glory and the acclaim. It’s been like that three out of four games, and I think that’s going to continue.”
Anthony Kuhns sneaked in a basket just before the first-quarter buzzer to put the Spartans in front, 19-14.
Trailing 12-4 early, Spartans coach Hart Coleman called a time out.
“In the pregame, we talked about a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm, a lot of effort,” Coleman said. “Again, we came out flat. After the time out, we came back with a lot of energy. But we turned around and didn’t sustain it.”
St. Joseph got a bit careless with the ball, committing eight turnovers in the second period.
A steal, a basket and a foul shot by Williams gave Greensburg Central the lead for good, 24-23, midway through the second quarter.
“It’s a tough loss,” Coleman said. “We were feeling good at halftime down just four points and we just came out flat. That’s been something we’re trying to address the past couple of games. We’re just not accomplishing the necessary adjustments to get us back in the game.”
The Centurions didn’t commit a third-quarter turnover until the 1:36 mark, just after McGowan had given his team a 49-29 lead.
The Greensburg Central defense held Andrew Sullivan, the Spartans top scorer, without a field goal in the second half.
Sullivan got a pair of free throws in the fourth quarter to finish with 10 points.
Rylan Zale led St. Joseph with 12 and Anthony Kuhns had 11 points and eight rebounds.
Greensburg Central doesn’t have much time to savor the win. The Centurions play in the Westmoreland County Coaches Association showcase at Hempfield against Belle Vernon at 5:15 p.m. Saturday.
St. Joseph will be at Clairton at 5:30 p.m. Monday in a section encounter.
Tags: Greensburg C.C., St. Joseph
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