JOHNSTOWN — Jeannette coach Adrian Batts felt his basketball team did not put out great effort in its first two PIAA playoff games.
If the Jayhawks have hopes of winning their second PIAA title, things must change.
It took Jeannette (25-3) more than a quarter to find a groove Wednesday at Johnstown against District 6 runner-up Northern Cambria (15-13) in the Class 2A second round. And it was the Jayhawks’ defensive pressure that got them started.
Once they sped up the Colts, their transition game helped them pull away for a 70-54 victory and a berth Saturday in the PIAA quarterfinals against rival Greensburg Central Catholic (25-2), which defeated Neshannock, 66-50. GCC has won both meetings this season against the WPIAL champions.
Juniors Markus McGowan and Noah Sunder were too much for the Colts to handle. McGowan scored 21 points, and Sunder added 19.
“Our big guy (Caleb Dolney) got in foul trouble, and I knew we were in trouble,” Northern Cambria coach Clinton Gochnour said. “The two things we needed to control were rebounding and their transition game. Their press caused us some problems.”
Jeannette led 14-13 after a quarter, but Northern Cambria went up 18-14 early in the second quarter. Jeannette then started to press the Colts, and the Jayhawks steadily pulled away by going on a 19-5 run.
The Jayhawks led 33-25 at halftime despite missing at least eight layups in the first half.
“I don’t know what the reason is why we’ve been having these bad starts,” Batts said. “That is just uncharacteristic of our team. I do not know if they’re looking at these opponents not thinking they’re very good. But I tell them they want to win, too.
“It is survive and advance. So we’re not getting maximum effort, and that’s not a good sign. Give Northern Cambria a lot of credit, they muddied the game.”
Batts said the team started to pick up its effort and eventually took control of the game.
“It was nice to help out the team,” Sunder said. “Our game plan was to go down low. It was our defense that turned things around.”
Jeannette started to pull away in the third quarter as Sunder scored 10 points.
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“They were going a good job putting pressure on our guards, which opened up things for Noah,” said McGowan, who scored 11 points in the fourth quarter. “We played better defense and started getting some easy buckets.”
Northern Cambria was able to hang around because of its 3-point shooting. Malix Fox had four 3-pointers and finished with 12. Parker Shutty had three 3-pointers and finished with 11.
Jeannette lengthened its lead with a 19-12 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter as Northern Cambria took desperation shots, leading to easy layups for the Jayhawks.
Batts said his team should not have any problem getting up for Greensburg Central Catholic.
“They know what we do, and we know what they do,” Batts said. “Hopefully they put the game at Norwin.”
McGowan said he is looking forward to the rematch with the Centurions.