Ready to Launch
This is one in a series of previews of area high school basketball programs starting play this monthSLIPPERY ROCK — Amber Osborn was wondering if this day would ever come.“I keep thinking, 'Is this real?'” the Slippery Rock High girls basketball coach said.For months, the Rockets have wondered if there would be a basketball season.And with a roster like the one Slippery Rock has — loaded with experience, depth and talent — the question of whether or not a season would be held was a particularly important one.The Rockets return one of the most talented rosters in District 10 with seniors Anna Kadlubek, Hallie Raabe, Kelly Benson and Maryann Ackerman leading the way.Ackerman missed all of her junior campaign with a torn ACL after leading the team in scoring as a sophomore.“The whole thing with having her back is it brings up the discussion, 'Who are you going to start?'” Osborn said. “If you go off the starters from last year and add her, you have six or seven. It's a great problem.”Raabe also missed a chunk of games last season with an ankle injury, which allowed players like Benson to step up and flourish.Benson averaged nine points per game, but scored 13.2 points per game while Raabe was out.Kadlubek led the team at 12.7 points per game. Slippery Rock had five players average 7.4 or more points per game during its 18-8 season.All of them are back.Osborn is thankful for that, especially since the Rockets' first game won't be until Jan. 15 at Meadville.Slippery Rock has 17 games on its schedule, only seven at home.“Basically, all my varsity kids are back,” Osborn said. “I didn't lose anybody. No one is really new, so they know my system and they know what to expect. If I lost like four seniors, that would be much harder and much more stressful.”Osborn said after this latest shutdown, she feels teams will be on more equal footing in the district and the state.Slippery Rock was one of four Butler County area schools that hadn't started before Gov. Tom Wolf put a three-week pause on the season in mid-Decemeber.“The only good thing about the shutdown is I felt like as the coach of Slippery Rock or any school that wasn't able to play yet, it brought everyone back to an even playing field,” Osborn said.
A.J. Motta is hoping the strong finish he saw from his team at the end of last season carries over into this one.Slippery Rock may not have won many games — three last season — but the Rockets were highly competitive in the final six weeks of the 2019-20 campaign, including in a 14-point playoff loss to General McLane.“My expectations are high,” Motta said. “We were very resilient and fought back and kept a lot of game close.”Slippery Rock will be very athletic this season.Ethan Plesakov, Shane Thompson and Brady Prementine are the returning letterwinners.“Down the stretch (Plesakov) came up big for us,” Motta said. “Shane Thompson just has a motor like very few people do. He can just keep going. He battles and battles in practice and in games. Brady Prementine, he may be short, but for how small he is, he has the bulldog mentality. He's going to play hard and scrap every possession, every single night.”Motta also has other athletic players to draw from on his roster like John Sabo and Alex Duffalo.All of those names have something in common. They are all multi-sport stars.“We're very athletic,” Motta said. “We may not be the biggest team, but our lack of size, we make up for it with guys who can scrap a little bit.“I'm just happy we're having a season at this point,” Motta added.
<b>Girls</b><i>Seniors:</i> Maryann Ackerman 5-6 G-F-C, Kelly Benson 5-4 G-PG, Anna Kadlubek 5-8 PG-SG, Hallie Raabe 5-10 F,<i>Juniors:</i> Katie Book 5-9 G, Audrey Kura 5-8 G, Bronwyn McCoy 5-8 C, Ella McDermott 5-8 G,<i>Sophomores:</i> Julia Coffaro 5-11 F, Hannah Holfman 5-11 F<i>Freshmen:</i> Brooke Balint 5-1 G, Libby Campbell 6-1 C, Leah Double 5-3 G<i>Note: The Slippery Rock boys roster was unavailable and will appear at a later date in the Butler Eagle.</i>
