Rams pull off upset for first crown
Mack has 19 points, 14 rebounds in defeat of top seed Pioneers
For the first time in school history, the Rochester’s girls basketball team is a WPIAL champion.
The Rams (19-6) climbed out of an early 12-point hole thanks to key performances from junior Jasmine Mack, sophomore Alexis Robison and freshman Corryne Hauser to claim the WPIAL Class 1A championship with a 62-56 win against No. 1 seed West Greene (22-3) at Petersen Events Center.
“It’s surreal,” Rochester coach C.J. Iannini said. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in with all of us yet. It’s something we’ve strived for since the beginning of the season, and being the first in school history means a ton to us, the players and especially to the community.”
Mack led the way with 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Robison had 18 points and Hauser chipped in 16.
“It’s just wild,” Robison said. “I never could imagine [this].”
The Pioneers quickly took control of the game and looked every bit like the No. 1 seed early on. Twin senior guards Madison and McKenna Lampe gave West Greene a needed boost after it fell behind 5-2, sparking an 11-0 run to take a 13-5 lead midway through the first quarter.
Madison Lampe finished the first quarter with nine points, and McKenna tallied four points and six assists to help the Pioneers build a 23-11 lead.
Sensing the urgency of the situation, Rochester came out for the second quarter on fire. Robison attacked the hoop aggressively on fast breaks, leading the Rams on a 10-3 run to start the quarter.
West Greene sophomore guard Jersey Wise made two free throws followed by a layup in transition to stretch the Pioneers’ lead to 34-25, but Rochester closed the half on an 8-2 run to trim West Greene’s lead to 36-33 at the break.
Robison led all scorers with 13 points at the half, and Madison Lampe had 11 to lead the Pioneers. Meanwhile, Hauser had nine points in the first half and quickly added to her total coming out of the break.
Hauser banked in a layup to trim West Greene’s lead to one, then Robison followed with a steal and a layup in transition to give Rochester its first lead since early in the first quarter. Another driving layup by Hauser, this time while falling to the floor, gave the Rams a 41-39 lead midway through the quarter, and they led 4340 heading into the fourth.
“We felt that we needed to come out with all we had because we were the underdog,” Hauser said. “From the beginning of the season, West Greene was the top pick to win, and we just really wanted to come out and show what we had.”
The Pioneers shot just 1 for 14 from the field in the third quarter, and Rochester didn’t commit a single turnover to turn a three-point deficit into a threepoint lead.
West Greene cut Rochester’s lead to 5351 with a little more than two minutes left, but the Pioneers couldn’t get any closer.
With 40 seconds left, Mack powered home one more layup off the glass to stretch the Rams’ lead to six.
“She’s a force in the paint,” Iannini said. “They were trying to trap out front and put pressure on Corynne and Alexis, so the option was to go inside with Jasmine, and she came through for us when we needed it most.”
After Robison and Hauser started Rochester’s comeback, Mack scored nine of her 19 points in the final quarter to secure the championship victory.
“It feels amazing, honestly. We’ve been putting in a lot of work throughout the season,” Mack said. “I’ve dreamed of this for a very long time.”