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Wash High presses, irons out wrinkles to get win

3 min read
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MONESSEN – Down 28-21 at the half Tuesday afternoon, Washington’s boys basketball team used an explosive third quarter against Linsly School to earn a 60-52 win in the Delvin Miller Memorial Christmas Tournament at Monessen High School.

“Our kids turned the second half into what we wanted to do in the first half, and it led to a win,” said head coach Ron Faust. “In the first half, we had a lot of turnovers, but we played much better after halftime.

“When we play like that, we are going to be in the contest.”

In the decisive third quarter, Washington (4-1) erased a 27-21 halftime deficit by outscoring Linsly (2-3) by a 24-10 margin to take a 45-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

“In the past, we have had some time times starting off slow in the third quarter, but we tightened down the defense and only had two turnovers (in the third),” Faust said. “It is just the effort translating into being efficient.

“It doesn’t always happen on both ends of the court, but it did in the second half today.”

The third quarter was much different from the second when the Prexies started playing on the perimeter.

Up 10-8 after the first quarter, Washington started settling for jump shots instead of taking advantage of their advantage in athleticism. It resulted in Linsly outscoring the Prexies 19-11 to gain its 27-21 lead at the half.

By turning up their defensive effort and pressure in the third quarter, the Prexies forced Linsly to play the tempo Washington has traditionally been known for – fast on both ends of the court.

Holding an eight-point lead heading into the fourth, the Prexies held off Linsly’s comeback attempt down the stretch. The Cadets got as close as three points, 51-48, with 2:30 to go, but the Prexies hit five of eight free-throw attempts down the stretch including Tayshawn Levymaking three of four in the final 31 seconds.

Levy finished with 15 points and was joined in double figures by Davoun Fuse, who finished with a game-high 20 points.

Carter Anderson paced Linsly with 16 points.

Faust said playing Linsly over the holiday break was good for his team.

“That is a very good basketball team, and I am glad that we don’t play them again,” he said while smiling. “It is always better to play over Christmas break instead of practicing, and hopefully we can get another win tomorrow to end 2021 with another win and get back into section play.”

In the second game, Monessen raced out to an 11-0 lead on Sewickley Academy at the end of the first quarter and won, 55-27.

It was the first game for Sewickley Academy (1-3) since Dec. 14.

“Tournament games like these get us ready for section play,” said Monessen coach Dan Bosnic. “We have a tough one tomorrow, and we have to keep working hard.”

Monessen’s Kody Kuhns led all scorers with 11 points.

Action picks back up today as Washington plays Sewickley Academy at 2 p.m. followed by Monessen (3-3), which has won three in a row, taking on Linsly at 4 p.m.

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