Washington drops Mt. Pleasant boys basketball team in playoff primer

By: Dave Mackall
Friday, February 9, 2024 | 11:07 PM

Don’t expect Washington coach David Bunting to embrace the idea of the Little Prexies playing Mt. Pleasant in another boys basketball game anytime soon.

He’s seen quite enough of the Vikings and their first-year coach, Annie Malkowiak, the first woman to lead a Westmoreland County boys team.

Even though Washington escaped with a pair of closely contested victories in back-to-back Section 4-3A games against Malkowiak and the Vikings — the latest a 47-40 decision Friday night at Mt. Pleasant — Bunting isn’t interested in keeping the series going right away.

He’d rather wait a while.

But Bunting still had nothing but praise for his coaching counterpart.

“Credit to their game plan and the way in which they conducted their business,” Bunting said. “I love to compete, and I love competition and playing against somebody who schemes as well as she does because it makes me better. Hopefully, it makes our players better at executing.”

De’ondre Daugherty, a Cal (Pa.) football recruit, scored 17 points, and Braiden Wise added 13 to lead Washington (14-7, 11-1), whose only section loss was to No. 5 Yough, Mt. Pleasant’s opponent in its regular-season finale Saturday night at home.

The game originally was scheduled for Feb. 2 but was postponed after a referee, Michael Roebuck, 45, of New Stanton, collapsed and died during halftime of the preliminary junior varsity game between the schools.

Washington won its third straight game and beat Mt. Pleasant for the second time in six days. The Little Prexies held on at home for a 37-36 overtime victory over the Vikings on Feb. 3.

“They had an excellent game plan in both games,” Bunting said. “It certainly helped to sharpen our focus. I give kudos to their staff. We did things on our end that we could’ve done better, which means we have to conduct our business a lot better.”

Washington will get one final shot to accomplish that before the start of the WPIAL playoffs with a trip to Class A No. 5 Monessen for a nonconference game Saturday afternoon.

Both teams came in already having qualified for the playoffs but were hoping to improve their seeding heading into the WPIAL’s annual postseason tournament.

Washington led for nearly the entire game but allowed Mt. Pleasant to come almost back from an 11-point, second-quarter deficit.

The Vikings (8-12, 7-4) came within 28-26 to close out the third quarter on a basket by Dante Giallonardo, whose 20 points led Mt. Pleasant.

But Washington opened the fourth quarter on a 5-0 spurt and pushed the lead to nine points on several occasions. Daugherty scored nine of his team-high 17 in the final period.

“We had a chance to take the lead, but we became too careless with the ball,” Malkowiak said. “Our No. 1 goal tonight was to take care of the basketball, protect the basketball, value the basketball and we didn’t do it.”

She said the Vikings made mistakes at inopportune times.

“We lose by seven, we miss seven free throws tonight,” she said. “We turn the ball over when we can’t turn the ball over. A couple of times, we were too timid and we didn’t need to be. I thought we’d shoot better at home, and we didn’t.

“But it’s super encouraging to see our fight. These guys don’t quit. They’ve come really far and made so much progress. Maybe not in the stats line, but I see it, my assistants see it and the players know it.”

Count Bunting among the impressed, too.

“They gave us a battle in both games,” he said. “It helps to sharpen our focus, and it’s a nice reference point for me to use for our practices.

“We always try to find a teachable moment, and we’ve had many of them. This is another one.”

What was it like in a rare opportunity to coach against a boys team led by District 7’s fourth woman coach?

“I don’t see it as a gender thing,” he said. “Much credit to her, and I hope she sticks around. I look forward to competing against her next year.”

Tags: Mt. Pleasant, Washington