How much tradition have the girls’ and boys’ basketball programs at Monessen built over the years?

Well, the WPIAL playoffs are basically a part of the regular season schedules for the Greyhounds and Lady Greyhounds.

While many schools hope to reach the playoffs, Monessen expects to every year — and it does.

This year is no different as both teams are once again taking part in their respective WPIAL tournaments.

The Greyhounds (16-4) get their quest for gold in Class AA started today when they meet Laurel (12-7) 5 p.m. at West Allegheny.

The Lady Greyhounds (16-4) won’t get under way in the Class A event until Wednesday when No. 4 seed Monessen takes on Cornell (10-12) at a site to be determined.

Both teams hope to accomplish a feat they pulled off 15 years ago when they each won WPIAL crowns.

In 1995, Monessen won the Class A title by beating Duquesne, 67-57, while the Lady Greyhounds won the girls’ A crown by beating Our Lady of Sacred Heart, 66-52.

Those teams featured a total of six players who would go on to crack the 1,000-point mark at some point in their careers.

The Lady Greyhounds were led by current coach Gina Naccarato, who eventually became the WPIAL’s all-time leading scorer with more than 3,300 points.

The boys were led by the three-headed monster of Patric Greene, Jeff Gagatko and Jimmy Arnold.

All three players — seniors at the time — went over 1,000 points during a season which saw Monessen go 29-3, losing to Juniata Valley, 70-54, in the PIAA Class A western finals.

Another starter on that team, Cam Madison, is an assistant coach on Joe Salvino’s current Greyhound staff.

Brett Kerns and Brad Jones were also key players on the ’95 team.

“That was a team that played so well together,” Salvino said. “When you have three kids score 1,000 points, that tells you that the ball is getting distributed well and often.”

Salvino said maybe the biggest unsung hero on that team was Madison, his point guard.

“I took Cam aside at the start of the season and said I needed a point guard to distribute the ball, and he took hold of that role,” Salvino said.

“The thing about Cam is he probably could have scored over 1,000 points for us, but that wasn’t his role.”

Salvino then noted Monessen’s title win over Duquesne.

“Against Duquesne, Cam simply took that game over,” Salvino recalled. “We just gave him the ball, spread the court and he was amazing.”

Madison led Monessen with a career-high 25 points in the championship game.

Arnold had 19 points and Greene 15 against the Dukes.

“The thing that was most disappointing to me about that team is that they didn’t win the state championship,” Salvino said. “They played so well together, and more than most teams, deserved a state championship.

“We got into foul trouble early against Juniata Valley and it hurt us. I was really disappointed for the players.”

But the WPIAL title was still special to Salvino because it was the first of three he has won as a coach in 25 seasons at Monessen.

On the girls’ end, Naccarato was joined in the lineup by fellow 1,000-point scorer Beth Planey, a future 1,000-point scorer in Nicole Naccarato, and Amber Williams, Brandy Mason and Jesse Byron.

The Lady Greyhounds (27-3) weren’t much on height, but they had to speed to burn, recalled their coach, Major Corley.

“All we did was press, press, press and run, run, run,” said Corley. “We had a lot of speed and we took advantage of it.”

That team won the first of Corley’s three WPIAL crowns and he remembers what he told the players before the game.

“The boys played their game on Friday night and we played on Saturday,” Corley said. “I remember telling the girls that the boys put the pressure on us because they won.

“We had to win.”

And win the Lady Greyhounds did.

Then-junior Gina Naccarato scored a game-high 31 points with Planey adding 16 and Nicola Naccarato 13.

The younger Naccarato, a freshman at the time, gave Corley two of his biggest memories from that game.

“I remember Nicole hitting a three-pointer from the corner that changed the game,” he said. “But I also remember her getting a technical in that game, too.”

Gina Naccarato averaged 30 points per game that season and scored a whopping 891 points in 1994-95.

“She and Beth were a great one-two punch,” Corley said. “I remember early in the season for a little while they were one-two in the WPIAL in scoring for the girls.”

Monessen’s impressive run that season ended in the PIAA quarterfinals when the Lady Greyhounds lost to the No. 1 team in the state, Williamsburg, 82-39.

Williamsburg was led at the time by 6-1 Jill Tate, who ironically would go on to be a teammate of Gina Naccarato’s at Duquesne.

“I knew we were in trouble against Williamsburg because of the big girl,” Corley said.

“But that didn’t diminish what we accomplished in the WPIAL. We had been close before (to winning a title). That team put us over the hump.”

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