Westmoreland PIAA boys basketball playoffs preview capsule: Jeannette vs. Sewickley Academy

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 16, 2018 | 4:33 PM

Saturday's game

PIAA Class 2A boys basketball quarterfinals

Jeannette (21-4) vs. Sewickley Academy (23-4)

1 p.m. Saturday at North Hills

Coaches: Adrian Batts, Jeannette; Win Palmer, Sewickley Academy

Starters:Jeannette — 4-Marcus Barnes (6-4, Jr., F), 3-Tre Cunningham (6-4, Sr., G-F), 5-Anthony Johnson (6-5, Jr. G), 1-Robert Kennedy (6-0, Sr., G), 11-AJ Sharp (5-9. Jr., G).

Sewickley Academy — 2-David Groetsch (6-1, Sr., G), 23-Nate Ridgeway (6-6, Jr., F), 24-Jett Roesing (6-1, So., G), 5-Isaiah Smith (6-0, So., G), 3-Isiah Warfield (6-3, So., G-F).

Winner plays: Winner of OLSH (24-3)/West Middlesex (24-7) on Tuesday in semifinals

Layup lines: Jeannette advanced to the third round of the state bracket for the first time in 10 years with a tight, 62-60 victory over Cambridge Springs Wednesday at Farrell. The Jayhawks made 20 of 28 free throws, a far better percentage than their 13-of-29 effort against Purchase Line in the first round. … Cunningham (18 ppg) led the Jayhawks with 16 points and Kennedy had 13. Johnson returned to the lineup and, despite battling foul trouble, made some key free throws late in the win. … Junior Seth Howard and sophomore Jackson Pruitt played well off the bench again for the Jayhawks, who have longed for a rematch with Sewickley Academy, a team that has ended their WPIAL seasons in two of the last three years. … Batts has 145 wins in nine seasons. He was an assistant under Jim Nesser when Jeannette won the PIAA title in 2008 when Terrelle Pryor was a senior and the Jayhawks' leading scorer. … Defending PIAA champion Sewickley Academy, fresh off back-to-back WPIAL titles, has won 14 consecutive games in the postseason, a streak that began last season with an 80-51 win over Jeannette in the WPIAL quarterfinals. … The Panthers have reached the state semifinals the last two years, losing to powerhouse Kennedy Catholic, 75-61, two years ago. … The Panthers are outscoring teams in the playoffs by an average of 65.7 to 42.3. … Warfield made three free throws in the final 47 seconds Wednesday as Sewickley Academy survived a scare from Ridgway, 44-41, at Armstrong. Sophomore Isaiah Smith scored a team-high 14 points and Groetsch added 10 for the Panthers. … Warfield has a scholarship offer from Duquesne. … Ridgway is a tough matchup but Jeannette has the size advantage this time after facing a pair of 6-8 players Wednesday against Cambridge Springs. … Palmer, the coach of the Panthers for 17 years, is one of the deans of WPIAL coaching with more than 600 wins at several schools, including St. Stephen's and Flint Hill, both in Virginia.

Tags: Jeannette, Sewickley Academy