Jeannette’s plan was to curb high-scoring senior guard Isabel Chaparro as much as it could and shut down her Riverview teammates.
Jayhawks coach Jenna Lusby can call the strategy a success.
Jeannette disarmed Riverview with a 1-3-1 zone, getting a game-high 22 points from senior Navarah Smith in a 43-26 victory over visiting Riverview on Thursday night in Section 4-2A girls basketball.
Upstart Jeannette (11-4, 2-2) limited Riverview (6-5, 3-2) to three field goals in the second half — five points in the third — and pulled ahead by double figures in the fourth to post its third straight victory.
Chaparro finished with 17, but only five after halftime, and zero in the fourth.
“We knew how great of a player No. 1 (Chaparro) is,” Lusby said. “We knew we couldn’t stop her, but we had to limit her and get the ball out of her hands and make the other girls beat us. We pressured them, and that led to steals.”
Chaparro, who has committed to Division III Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., had 44, 35 and 34 points in games this season and is one of the WPIAL’s top scorers with a 28-point average. But she couldn’t get into a rhythm against Jeannette’s pressure.
“Our girls were really timid tonight for some reason,” Riverview coach Andre Carter said. “They played with fear. They usually don’t do that. We were uncharacteristic in a lot of ways.”
Carter said it was the first time his team saw a 1-3-1 look all season.
Jeannette is one of the most improved teams in the WPIAL this season. The Jayhawks were 4-15 last season and didn’t win a section game (0-10).
They haven’t won 11 games in a season since 2013-14 when they finished 11-12.
Jeannette led from the tip, but Riverview closed the gap to 20-16 at halftime. Chaparro hit a 3 to make it 23-19 early in the third, but the Raiders went the rest of the quarter without a field goal.
“We aren’t a team that is used to coming back so we need to start fast,” Lusby said.
Sophomore Leah DeFelice zipped a pass ahead to Smith for a fast-break basket to give Jeannette a 30-21 lead after three.
After senior Lana Lynch’s basket to start the fourth, junior Karmen Kistner made a 3-pointer from the wing and sophomore Aubriella Milliron put back a rebound to make it 35-23.
Lynch cut it to 10, but the Jayhawks finished the game with an 8-1 run. Smith scored off a miss, then hit a floater in the lane, before Milliron scored four straight to stretch the margin to 18.
“We tell the girls all the time, Navarah is the center of our offense, but everyone can bring something to the table. We need other girls to score. Keep shooting. We’re doing a nice job of sharing the ball. Tonight, we played all four quarters.”
DeFelice finished with seven points for Jeannette, all in the first half, and Milliron had all six of her points in the fourth.
Lynch had eight for the Raiders, who had won 3 of 4 coming in.
“If our chemistry is off, we’re not only playing against them but also ourselves,” Carter said. “We played into their hands. Our girls are tough, but we need to box out; don’t jump then try to get the ball.
“We play them again next Thursday. We’ll be ready.”
Lusby said her team is growing and becoming more comfortable in certain situations, but stopping to bask in their record may not be wise.
“We can’t get comfortable. We have to keep playing,” she said. “With our section, anybody can beat us or come back on us. We have to be ready every game.”