Westmoreland girls basketball notebook: Southmoreland remains perfect

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, January 29, 2020 | 8:46 PM

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There are three teams left in WPIAL girls basketball with perfect records.

Southmoreland (18-0) is one of them.

But don’t expect coach Brian Pritts to underscore that point when the Scotties take the floor for practice and games.

One of the more detail-oriented coaches in the game, Pritts truly is a game-to-game thinker.

He only prepares for the next opponent.

“We don’t really talk about it,” he said. “I’m not sure if the girls know we are one of three or not. They probably do … We continue to focus on us and what we need to do to continue to be our best and improve. The team’s focus is good. We are taking things one day at a time, one game at a time.”

The Scotties, ranked No. 2 in Class 4A behind North Catholic (17-1), have the second-best defensive scoring average in the WPIAL at 29.8 ppg.

The other unbeaten teams are Chartiers Valley (Class 5A) and West Greene (Class A). Both are 18-0.

Chartiers Valley has won 48 consecutive games.

Playoff picture

Five teams from Westmoreland have clinched WPIAL playoff spots with just more than a week left in the regular season.

They are: Norwin in Class 6A, Southmoreland in 4A, Derry in 3A and Greensburg Central Catholic and Monessen in A.

Liberatore gets 1,000

Hempfield senior guard Sarah Liberatore became the seventh player in program history to score 1,000 career points when she hit the milestone Sunday in a loss to Norwin in the Shootout at Seton Hill showcase.

Liberatore needed 22, and that’s how many she scored.

She is the first at Hempfield to score 1,000 since Monica Burns in 2014. Burns is Hempfield’s all-time leading scorer with 1,295 points.

The others to reach the milestone at Hempfield are Laurie Boban, Sarah Rockwell, Shannon Wanichko, Samantha Wanichko and Maria Montini.

Liberatore has 1,032 career points.

Gribble next?

Norwin senior guard Olivia Gribble could be the next local girl to get to 1,000 points. Gribble, a Marietta recruit, had 880 points heading into Tuesday night’s first-place showdown in Section 1-6A at North Allegheny.

Senior Jayla Wehner had 608 points in her career — and 289 assists.

Gribble’s sister, Alayna, is the all-time leading scorer at Norwin with 1,782 points. There aren’t many sister combos with more than 2,500 combined points.

Rankings

With Bethel Park losing to Mt. Lebanon, Norwin moved into the No. 1 spot this week in the Trib Class 6A rankings. The Knights might not stay for long since they lost 60-42 to North Allegheny on Tuesday.

Greensburg Central Catholic moved up a spot to No.4 in Class A.

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

Tags: Derry Area, Greensburg C.C., Hempfield, Norwin, Southmoreland