Tigers overlook visiting Cavaliers in preliminary round win

By JOSE NEGRON
jnegron@yourmvi.com

As head coach of a young McKeesport team that features six sophomores and eight freshmen on the roster, Eric Smith encouraged his girls not to overlook No. 26 Kiski Area as the two teams prepared to meet in the preliminary round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs.

Despite the fact that the Cavaliers won just three games and were in the midst of a 13-game losing streak, Smith saw them as a legitimate threat to put the Tigers on upset alert.

“I firmly believe they’re not the worst team in the 5A bracket,” Smith said. “They were mis-seeded and I knew that going in. They played their last three games extremely hard, almost beating Franklin Regional and playing Armstrong hard until the end.

“With a ton of young players, they look at the seeding and they just think, ‘Oh, this is gonna be a pushover,’ but this is not at all the worst team in 5A.”

The feisty Cavaliers were anything but a pushover as they gave all they had before ultimately falling at the hands of the seventh-seeded Tigers, 54-31, inside the Neenie Campbell Gymnasium Monday evening.

McKeesport (15-4) marched out to a 16-2 lead after one quarter before outscoring Kiski (3-17) by a 38-29 margin in the final three frames.

“We went up early and then we just couldn’t go anywhere,” Smith said. “I think we overlooked them.”

The Tigers’ first quarter effort was highlighted by their play on the defensive end of the court as they forced the Cavaliers into committing 12 turnovers. Kiski finished with 28 turnovers in the loss.

The stout defensive performance combined with a late 11-0 run in the final 3:30 allowed McKeesport to gain separation heading into the second.

“We pressured them into turnovers and we were finishing on the offensive end,” Smith said. “That really allowed us to swell the lead.”

Both teams struggled to develop any sort of fluidity in the second quarter as they combined to score 11 points.

The Tigers were limited to six points in the opening four minutes before going scoreless in the final 4:18.

“We stopped finishing there. For some reason we were rushing shots, we weren’t finishing and we were making bad decisions,” Smith said. “It kind of snowballed, but you’ll have those type of growing pains with a young team.”

Avionna Menifee got McKeesport going in the third quarter, scoring its first six points to help swell the lead to 28-11 with six minutes to go in the frame.

Menifee led the way for the Tigers with a game-high 16 points and eight rebounds. She found success in the post despite having to face 6-1 junior Dejah Burnett, who led Kiski with 11 points and eight blocks.

“If you can score against (Burnett) in the post, then you can score against anybody,” Smith said. “Avionna can do some great work from the high post area and we just want to work our offense, when we face a zone, through the high post and let her operate. When she attacks, she’s hard to stop.”

McKeesport’s lead grew to 32-15 with 2:21 to go in the third before Rachel Manfredo took over.

The 5-6 freshman guard scored all eight of her points during a 10-2 run that gave the Tigers a 42-17 edge after 24 minutes of play.

“We don’t play a ton of older players, but the rest of them have really been learning,” Smith said. “We saw a little bit of the nerves early on, but girls like Rachel, Brooke (Evans), Maddie (Hertzler) and (Maddie) Cherepko have really contributed in their own ways this year. We’re pleased that they now have this playoff game under their belt.”

Evans matched Manfredo with eight points, while serving as a dependable asset on the boards, finishing with 11 rebounds.

Burnett scored five of her points in the fourth quarter, while Sam Worthing netted five of her 11 points.

Despite the fact that Kiski was able to outscore McKeesport by a 14-12 margin in the frame, McKeesport held on to advance to the first round where it will host No. 10 Oakland Catholic 6 p.m. Thursday.

Oakland Catholic, which is coming off a 73-10 win over Laurel Highlands Monday, has quite a few big wins on its resume, including a 52-40 triumph over the defending WPIAL Class 5A champions from Chartiers Valley on Feb. 17.

“We can’t overlook them. They’re Oakland Catholic and they beat Char Valley, so you’re pretty arrogant if you overlook that,” Smith said. “We’re excited, but we need to correct a lot and clear some things up over the next two days.”