Union pulls away late in 70-59 win over Greyhounds
McMURRAY 无毛视频� Monessen boys basketball coach Dan Bosnic knew Union was bringing plenty of big-game experience into Wednesday night无毛视频檚 WPIAL Class A quarterfinals.
Unfortunately for fourth-seeded Greyhounds, the fifth-seeded Scotties made enough plays to advance with a 70-59 win at Peters Township High School无毛视频檚 AHN Arena.
无毛视频淭hat无毛视频檚 a battle-tested team, and there is a reason they have played for three straight WPIAL championships,无毛视频� Bosnic said. 无毛视频淭he final score wasn无毛视频檛 indicative of the kind of game it was. It was a close game and every possession mattered.无毛视频�
The loss drops Monessen (18-5) into the consolation round.
Union (14-10) will play top-seeded Imani Christian (12-10), a 60-26 winner over No. 8 West Greene (16-8), in the semifinals 2 p.m. Saturday at Montour.
The Scotties无毛视频� defense held the Greyhounds无毛视频� Lorenzo Gardner to 15 points. Gardner had been on fire in his previous three games, scoring 64, 24 and 44, but Union limited the senior to just 15 shots.
Monessen无毛视频檚 defense was the story early as it limited Union to two points over the first 6:55, but a technical foul on Monessen无毛视频檚 Devontae Robinson gave Union the momentum.
Lucas Stanley drained both free throws, and that started an 8-2 run to close the first quarter as Union took its first lead, 11-10.
The teams exchanged baskets for most of the half, but Monessen used a 7-0 run to take a 27-24 lead into halftime.
There were six lead changes and two ties in the third quarter, but when Union无毛视频檚 Rocco Galmarini drained a three-pointer to give Union a 36-34 lead, the Scotties would not trail again.
The Galmarini three started an 11-0 Union run, but Monessen trimmed its deficit to 46-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Greyhounds trimmed the lead to three twice but could get no closer.
Lorenzo Gardner hit a 3-pointer to make it 48-45 with 5:03 left but the Scotties answered with a wide open layup by Dayne Johnke.
Robinson drove in for a basket to get Monessen within 50-47 with 4:30 left and the Greyhounds had a chance to cut the lead further but Robinson missed on another drive and Union无毛视频檚 Braylon Thomas made two free throws with 3:50 remaining to put his team up 52-47.
Stanley came up with two big plays that all but sealed it for the Scotties, blocking a shot at one end then converting a three-point play at the other for a 55-47 lead with 2:23 on the clock.
Union put the game away from the foul line from there. The Scotties made 16 of 21 free throws in the fourth quarter.
无毛视频淥ur kids competed, they were focused and played hard from the start,无毛视频� Bosnic said. 无毛视频淚 think there was a part of the third quarter where they kind of got away from us, and there were several short runs.
无毛视频淲e didn无毛视频檛 do a great job of sprinting back and they got some second chances that hurt us. Their ability to make shots is something we were struggling with.无毛视频�
Stanley (35) and Thomas (17) combined for 52 points for Union. They were the only Scotties to score in the first half.
Rodney Johnson led Monessen with 19 points while Gardner (15) and Robinson (13) also hit double figures.
Monessen无毛视频檚 season continues Friday as it hosts section rival West Greene in the consolation round at 7 p.m. The two split two meetings in the regular season.
无毛视频淭he main message is we want to prepare ourselves and we want to play good basketball Friday,无毛视频� Bosnic said. 无毛视频淲e still want to play in the state tourney and want to seize the opportunity.无毛视频�