Greyhounds’ upset bid falls short in loss to Pioneers
By Jose Negron
jnegron@yourmvi.com
Monessen had one goal in mind Thursday night: Upset the mighty Pioneers.
But while the Greyhounds controlled the game and held the lead through two and a half quarters, they learned that dethroning a team of West Greene’s caliber is easier said than done.
The Pioneers used a big third-quarter effort to rally past upset-minded Monessen and claim a 53-37 Section 2-A victory, extending their section winning streak to 40 games.
West Greene (14-0, 7-0) outscored Monessen 19-6 in the final 3:27 of the third quarter, taking the lead for good with less than a minute remaining. During the late spurt, the Pioneers’ shooters got hot from beyond the arc, hitting four crucial treys to help sink the Greyhounds (10-5, 4-3).
“They just hit. When you have a team like that with three or four different 3-point shooters, somebody is going to get hot,” Monessen head coach Janine Vertacnik said. “I thought we did a great job pressuring them and containing them, and we contested every shot in the first half. I credit them because they hit those big shots when they needed to.”
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