Impressive Jeannette rolls past Springdale in WPIAL Class 2A opener

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Friday, February 15, 2019 | 1:30 AM

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With the offense flowing like a fountain and the defense locked in and smothering Springdale, Jeannette boys basketball coach Adrian Batts grew more impressed with his team.

By day’s end, he was comfortable calling the Jayhawks’ playoff opener their most complete game of the season.

Senior forward Marcus Barnes had a game-high 17 points, junior guard Jackson Pruitt scored 10 of his 16 in the fourth quarter and freshman guard Anton Good chipped in 10 as sixth-seeded Jeannette sailed past No. 11 Springdale, 70-47, in a WPIAL Class 2A first-round game Saturday at Gateway’s Henry J. Furrie Sports Complex.

Bookend 20-plus-point quarters allowed the Jayhawks (13-10) to start fast and then put a stamp on another playoff win that propelled them into the quarterfinals, where they will face a familiar foe: No. 3 Sewickley Academy (12-8).

The teams won’t play until Friday at a time and site to be determined. They will meet for the fourth straight year in the postseason.

The Jayhawks reached the WPIAL semifinals last year and lost to OLSH before losing to Sewickley Academy in the PIAA quarterfinals.

Batts said the Jayhawks need the energy they shelled out early in the first-round win to continue for them to have a chance next week.

“In the second quarter, we fell asleep offensively and stood around,” Batts said of Saturday’s opener. “But we came out in the second half and started executing better and running our motion offense. I really liked the effort, and I loved how our defense played.”

Howard agreed with Batts’ assessment that this was one of Jeannette’s top performances.

“It’s playoff time,” Howard said. “We come to play.”

Pruitt, who fouled out, said pressure was the key to Jeannette getting run-outs, padding its lead and keeping the Dynamos (12-9) at bay.

“Our gameplan was to come in and press the whole game,” Pruitt said. “That really helped us seal the deal in the fourth quarter.”

Springdale played much better in the second half behind sophomore 6-foot-2 guard Demetri Fritch, who scored 12 during the Dynamos’ 22-point fourth quarter and finished with 24, all in three quarters.

Fritch, who averages 17 points and 10 rebounds, scored 20 after halftime.

“He’s a special talent,” Springdale first-year coach Aaron Epps said.

But the guard could not go it alone.

Senior Michael Zolnierczyk, the Dynamos’ 20-a-game scorer, was limited to 12 points, and Springdale shot 13 of 29 from the free-throw line.

“I thought we did well at times against their 1-2-2 trap,” Epps said. “We were getting some great looks. We needed to do a better job trapping them on defense. They were just more physical than us. And we have to make free throws. That has hurt us all year.”

Springdale was going nowhere fast early, falling behind 21-5 after one quarter and 29-9 late into the second before the Jayhawks took a 29-13 advantage into the break.

With an expanded lead, Batts expected full-court pressure from the Dynamos, and they applied a trap in the second half to try to trigger a comeback.

The plan had its moments but was fleeting. A 26-point deficit that took shape in the third quarter was shaved to 16 midway through the fourth. A 10-4 spurt by Springdale, though, was quelled quickly by the Jayhawks and Pruitt, who had eight straight points in the fourth to help Jeannette build its advantage back to 22 (63-41).

“We kept going side to side, but if we throw over the top, we got layups,” Batts said of the Dynamos’ press. “We were trying to dribble through it. If we passed over the top of it … once we did that, we got easy layups. We were able to extend the lead that way.”

Jeannette made 9 of 10 free throws, with Pruitt going 6 for 6.

Good had five points in the tone-setting first quarter.

“We had a lot of young guys step up, they’ve been working hard in practice,” Pruitt said. “It’s good to see that in a playoff game.”

Howard added eight points, while senior AJ Sharp and junior Zack Crutchman each had seven for Jeannette.

Epps said he appreciated his team’s exertion and resiliance as the Dynamos made a late push to snag a playoff spot for the second straight season.

“We lost two starters earlier in the season and that hurt us,” Epps said. “But our guys never folded. They kept playing. I am proud of their effort.”

Tags: Jeannette, Springdale