KARNS CITY — The possibility was too good for Mike Hegedus to pass up.

The coach of the Metro 11th-grade AAU girls basketball team already had Karns City star forward LeeAnn Gibson on his roster and he was trying to add Butler's Julia Baxter, another dominant inside player.

Gibson and Baxter shared the Butler Eagle Girls Basketball Player of the Year honors this winter.

“I was just thinking, 'The two co-players of the year on one team,'” Hegedus said. “It's fun to watch.”

Baxter agreed to play for Metro, as did her Golden Tornado teammate, Kalynn Callihan. That duo joined Gibson, Annie Hegedus, Emily Hegedus, Shanel Preston, Emily LoPresti and Alyssa Gibson of Karns City and Kittanning standout Tiffany Montgomery this spring.

The results have been as expected with a roster bulging with talent.

Metro won the School's Out Shootout in Avonworth this past weekend.

“It's awesome,” said Mike Hegedus, who is the assistant coach for the Karns City girls basketball team and was helped with Metro by Pat Preston, who is a former assistant boys basketball coach for the Gremlins. “You know you have some pretty talented players on that roster and we're playing some pretty good competition, the best-of-the-best in this area.”

Baxter said she didn't need much convincing to join Metro. Callihan also made a strong pitch for her to come aboard.

She also said she wasn't worried about fitting in with the slew of Karns City players on the roster.

“It's been a lot of fun getting to know them,” Baxter said. “They're a lot more physical than I thought they would be. And I was surprised just how close they all were on and off the court. They made me feel like I belonged.”

That's made life easy on point guard Annie Hegedus, who is getting an ample amount of assists.

“It's pretty cool,” she said. “We have so many good options and it's always nice to have options. They've all fit right in with us right away.”

Baxter has made a huge impact.

Mike Hegedus said Baxter's presence has made the entire team better and she's showing off skills she didn't utilize much at Butler.

“Julia is a beast on the boards,” the coach said. “She's also been shooting more and handling the ball more. I told her, 'Julia, if you get a rebound and want to bring the ball up, bring it up.'”

Baxter has enjoyed her new roles.

“I'm shooting outside more and driving to the hoop,” Baxter said. “I don't have to worry about foul trouble because I know someone will be there to pick me up.”

That has freed LeeAnn Gibson to do what she does best: slash to the hoop and finish.

“It's just real fun playing on this team,” she said. “It really meant a lot to us to win that tournament. We've been playing really well and we just all stepped it up. We lost to a team by a point (Pittsburgh Primetime) by a point and then we came back later and beat them by like 28.”

Shanel Preston said it was the first tournament where they were all on the same page.

“We worked very well together in our first tournament,” she said. “But we didn't play as well in a couple of others. It took us awhile to get to know each other and then this weekend, it all clicked.”

For the Karns City contingent, it's a priceless opportunity to play a lot more basketball together as they head into their senior seasons.

Last year, the Gremlins won the District 9 Class AA championship and went 23-2.

The only starter lost from that team was Emily Schumacher.

“Oh, it's huge. We went right from the season right into AAU,” Mike Hegedus said. “We'll go right from AAU into team camps. We're going to Cleveland State, IUP and SRU in July. We're playing a lot of basketball.”