Jeannette: WPIAL Class 2A champions. It has a nice ring to it.
The label was earned almost nine months ago, but it still sounds amazing to Jeannette boys basketball players and coaches who cherished every second of a long-awaited title run.
The Jayhawks were awarded their diamond-crusted championship rings Wednesday night during a special ceremony on their home floor that featured season highlights on a big-screen television, many retold stories and another round of warm applause from fans who saw it all happen last winter.
After receiving their rings, one by one as they walked through an arc created by the cheerleaders on Lou Seiler Court, the team gathered at midcourt and raised their hands up to touch and uphold a basketball. It was an impromptu move that took teamwork and concentration like last season’s run.
“Now we want to go back-to-back,” junior guard Markus McGowan said. “Maybe a three-peat. If we play like we can, why couldn’t we?”
Jeannette was supposed to play a game against Steel Valley on Wednesday and planned to have the ceremony before tip-off. But Steel Valley, citing a shortage of healthy players, contacted Jeannette earlier in the day and asked for a cancellation.
In lieu of a game, the Jayhawks played an intrasquad scrimmage in full uniforms.
“I wish we had a game, that would have made it better,” junior guard Jayce Powell said. “It means a lot to us, all these people coming out for this, even though there is no game.
“We want to do this again next year. If we do the little things, we can. It comes down to rebounding, layups and free throws.”
Jeannette enjoyed reminiscing about its first district title since 2008, looking up at a championship banner with a fresh “2025” stamped on it. The Jayhawks cruised past Union, 63-39, to take the title at Pitt’s Petersen Events Center.
“I regret we didn’t win a state championship, too,” Jayhawks senior point guard Kymon’e Brown said. “This was great to think about all that went into that run. A lot of years of hard work.”
Jeannette went 25-3 — all three losses were to the same team, rival Greensburg Central Catholic — and reached the PIAA quarterfinals.
McGowan said he remembers most the 15-point comeback against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals, and, of course, Xavier Odorisio-Farrow’s slam dunk in a semifinal win over Sewickley Academy in the semifinals at Fox Chapel.
“Oh, man. That dunk is part of history,” McGowan said.
The coach also was whisked back to a magical postseason.
“We talked about doing (the ceremony) before the season, but it just didn’t line up,” Jeannette coach Adrian Batts said. “We said, let’s do it at a home game. If the game was played, we would have had more people, but this was really nice. It’s good to reflect and go back to that. March seems like so long ago. I got goose bumps tonight. It’s good to get back to playing and chase another one.”
The rings, paid for through fundraising, say “WPIAL champions” on the front with a Jayhawks logo in the center. The players’ and coaches’ names are chiseled into the side.
Batts was an assistant on the ’08 team. Those Jayhawks had a banquet-style ring ceremony at Ferranti’s Lakeview.
Jeannette, with all five starters back and ranked No. 2 behind Sewickley Academy, is 2-0 after wins against Indiana and Windber.
The Jayhawks resume play at 3:15 p.m. Saturday at the Pittsburgh Grassroots Showcase against Woodford County, Ky., at CCAC-Allegheny.