The hunt begins
Everybody is looking for something this girls basketball season.
Butler and Knoch are looking for scoring punch after graduating their most productive players.
Karns City and Moniteau are looking to make a statement in District 9 while returning veteran lineups.
Seneca Valley is looking to turn the corner in its section standings.
Slippery Rock is looking forward to a new coach and Grove City is looking forward to getting its coach back.
Here is a look at Butler County area girls basketball teams this season:
Coach: Dave Sherman, fourth yearLast Year: 7-14Making the District 9 Class A playoffs has been a rarity for A-C Valley over the last decade, but Sherman sees no reason why that should not remain a goal for the Falcons.“I always enter a season with that in mind,” he said. “Realistically, we can do it this year. It's just going to come down to how we develop as a team.”Graduating forwards Kelsey Boocks (5-foot-11) and Meredith Snyder (5-9), who combined to average 21 points and over 16 rebounds per game last season, will be tough to overcome.Taking their spots in the lineup will be junior Sadie Longo and sophomore Morgan Cratty, who stand 5-8 and 5-7, respectively.“We don't have as much size at forward as we did last year, but I think those girls will do fine,” said Sherman. “They both saw time last year, especially late in the season.”Sherman does have the advantage of three starters returning in his backcourt in senior Rachael Viertel and juniors Erin Logue and Danielle Kaufman. Logue will run the show at point guard.“She understands the game well and knows how to get us in and out of different situations,” Sherman said. “That's going to be helpful.”Sherman expects senior guard/forward Kayla Cratty to be the team's top player off the bench.“She's not tall (5-4), but is a tough and physical girl,” he said.
Coach: Dorothea Epps, 11th yearLast Year: 13-10, 9-3 in sectionThe Golden Tornado graduated plenty from last year's WPIAL playoff team, including leading scorer Mackenzie O'Donnell (La Roche), point guard Sam Marak (Pitt-Titusville) and the versatile Cait Baxter.“I remember when those girls were sophomores,” Epps said. “They worked hard and developed into solid players and leaders of the program.“Now we have to go through that process again.”Butler has only one senior in forward Lauren Bresnahan. Julia Baxter, a 6-foot junior, is being counted on to provide scoring punch inside.KaLynn Callihan is a returning shooting guard. Juniors Ronni Guiney, Danielle Hensel and sophomore Tiana Schaffner figure to see plenty of action in the backcourt.Alyssa DiPippa, a 5-4 junior, assumes the role of point guard.“We need to develop more ballhandlers, though,” Epps said. “Defenses are going to double team Alyssa and force her to give up the ball, otherwise.“Julia will assume Mackenzie's role this year. We're counting on her and Lauren to defend inside, too, because there's some talented forwards in our league.”Paige Lambermont, at 5-10, will also see action in the frontcourt.Epps is confident the Tornado will improve as the season goes on.“We have to be hungry to be good, not just talk about it,” she said. “This is a hard-working group of girls and I think they will grow into a good squad together.”
Coach: Paul Sylba, second yearLast Year: 8-13The Yellowjackets played five games without star forward Jessica Aulicino last season.This year, they will play the whole season without her.Aulicino graduated and took her 14.1 and 8.9 rebounds per game with her.No problem, says Sylba. Playing those games without Aulicino last season gave him and his players a glimpse of a very good future.That future is now.“We grew up and learned how to play without her,” Sylba said.Zoe Soilis, a 5-7 guard/forward, in particular looks to be the one to raise her game this season. As a freshman last year, Soilis averaged 6.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest. She scored a career-high 25 points in a win against Highlands in a game Freeport played without Aulicino.“Zoe is a basketball junkie,” Sylba said. “She played basketball year-round and she is definitely a hard-working girl. She had some exciting games last season.”Junior guard/forward Macy Smolic, junior guard Haley Connor and senior forward Michaela Bowser will also start alongside Soilis.The fifth spot is still up for grabs with as many as a half-dozen players in the mix.Sylba said Freeport's success or failure this season will come down to execution.“Really, the little things need to improve,” Sylba said. “We have to be mentally and physically strong and do the little things like boxing out. We have the strength and depth.”
Coach: T.L. Eller, seventh seasonLast Year: 13-10Eller returns to the bench after taking a season off to care for herself during her pregnancy.She returns to a team that is ready to take the next step after making the playoffs for three consecutive seasons.“We have a bunch of girls in this senior class who have been successful not just in basketball but in other sports,” Eller said. “A lot of them were part of that (region championship) volleyball team this year.Hailey Hall was a District 10 pole vaulting champion last year. They know what it's like to be winners. They are winners in every way.”Those seniors — Hall, Arianna Sprando, Corianne Hyduchak, Diamond Basham and Jenn Ferguson — desperately want to be even better winners on the basketball court.“We have a talented group of girls this year,” said Hyduchak, a guard who led the Eagles in scoring at 10.9 points per game last season. “So, I think this will be a great year for us. We're hoping for a number on the banner. We'll see.”The seniors also have seen significant playing time since they were freshmen.“I think I could throw them out on the court and they could play without me,” Eller said. “They know the system.”The Eagles should be pretty deep this season, too.The philosophy is to have everyone contribute eight-to-10 points per game.“There is no weak link in our practice,” Eller said. “We have three good teams going at each other every day. Even that third team is beating the first team at times. It's exciting in a way because the goal is for us to be practicing against a team that is better than the one we are going to be playing for most of the year,”The balanced approach may make playing against the Eagles a chore.Hyduchak is also poised to have a great season, Eller said.“She just gets it done,” Eller said. “I think she flies under the radar. What I do want to say about Corianne is she has to be one of the smartest players in our region. She's extremely overlooked in that way. She's found every way there is to score and she does a lot of thing girls basketball players have a hard time doing.”
Coach: Dave Kerschbaumer, ninth yearLast Year: 15-7The Gremlins were good last year. They anticipate being even better this year.Four starters return in senior forward Emily Schumacher, junior point guard Annie Hegedus, junior guard Emily LoPresti and sophomore forward LeeAnn Gibson. Schumacher, Hegedus and Gibson all averaged 10 points per game last season.“Now we're getting Shanel Preston back, too,” Kerschbaumer said. “She was off to a great start last year until going down with an injury in the fourth game.“She is somebody who will get to the basket and aggressively make plays for us offensively.”Preston is a 5-foot-7 junior guard.Kerschbaumer figures to go eight or nine players deep this season. Depth will come from freshman guard Alyssa Gibson, junior forward LeErin Jones and junior guard Saydie Moore.“We've got athletes and we'll press a lot,” the coach said. “We should be able to guard the floor and be opportunistic.“Our conference looks pretty balanced. I feel like we've got a good shot at it.”
Coach: Sean O'Donnell, fourth yearLast Year: 5-17The Knights struggled to score points last year and have graduated leading scorer Samantha Logan (10.1 ppg.), who is now running track at Robert Morris.“Offense is still our biggest problem,” O'Donnell said. “We need to play hard-nosed, scrappy defense, put the ball in the bucket a few times and win low-scoring games.”Four starters return in senior forwards Savannah Steffen and Sarah Brasili, senior guards Maddy Bricker and Angela Cress.Cress averaged six points per game a year ago, Steffen 5.2.“We have girls capable of putting the ball in the hoop for us,” O'Donnell said. “We have to continue working at it.”Junior forwards Erica Hunter and MacKenzie Rodgers, along with guard Abbie Thrower, are competing for playing time. Sophomores Maddie Canel and Allie Megahan saw varsity minutes last year as freshmen.
Coach: Tony Howard, seventh yearLast Year: 15-8 overall, 10-2 in sectionSome teams bid farewell to their best players.Howard welcomed his back for another season.Point guard Sara Getsy and swing players Ali Goetz and Jessica Bunner — all juniors — will be starting for the third straight year.During the Planets' 15-8 effort a year ago, the trio combined to average 32.1 points per game. Goetz added 8.5 rebounds per contest and Getsy sank 26 three-point goals.“The biggest thing they bring to the floor for us is the experience and the belief that we should challenge for a section title,” said Howard.Having Getsy at point guard is a good place to start.“She does a nice job of organizing the team, getting us in and out of sets,” Howard said. “And she also scores for us.”The rest of the starting lineup is up in the air, but senior Paige Castora, sophomore Ellysa Paras and freshman Nicole McCloud are candidates in the backcourt and senior Daniella Paras could crack the lineup in the frontcourt.The Planets placed second in the section last year with a 10-2 record, losing both games to champion Hampton.“After winning the section title (in 2011-12), we had a lot of expectations last season,” said Howard. “We felt it.”
Coach: Matt Stebbins, second yearLast Year: 13-10The Warriors graduated only one player — current Butler County Community College point guard Ashley Brehm — from last year.Four starters return, including senior guard-forward Fontaine Glenn and senior point guard Emily Rider. Both averaged 11.2 points per game. Junior guard Alycia Brehm and junior forward Stephanie McCall, a strong rebounder, are also back in the lineup.“We have a different team dynamic this year,” Stebbins said. “We've gotten stronger with team bonding, our overall numbers are up and we have some freshmen and sophomores who may step up and help us.“I think we can catch some teams off guard.”Sophomore forward Maura Kimmel, sophomore guard Alyssa Dailey, freshman forward Sara Hull and freshman guard Alazia Greaves are among the younger players who may impact Moniteau this season.“Our girls put in a lot of hard work during the offseason,” Stebbins said. “We're hoping to make a splash in the playoffs this year.”
Coach: Rob Lombardo, fifth yearLast Year: 8-14In an attempt to make the WPIAL playoffs for the first time in six seasons, Lombardo went outside the box.“I opened up every starting position,” said the fifth-year coach. “I wanted to make the girls earn it.”The result is a projected starting lineup with one senior (forward Abbie Trzeciak), one junior (guard Meghan Hess) and three sophomores (point guard Christina Dunning, forward Lexus Lambert and center Melissa Carter).Trzeciak and Carter are both 6-foot-0.“Abbie was our top scorer and rebounder last year with 11 points and nine rebounds (per game),” said Lombardo. “This year, we have the size and athleticism that is going to allow us to do more than in the past. This group also has a lot of basketball sense. It's the highest of any team I've had.”But if the Raiders are to earn a trip to the postseason, their bench also has to respond. That group includes guards Hannah Parey and Shaley Bream and forwards Katie Brown (5-11) and Erin Danik (6-1).“I'm very excited about this team's depth,” said Lombardo. “With our size, I don't expect many teams to beat us on the glass this year. Those two things are our strengths, size and depth.”SV's section foes include defending section champ North Allegheny. Oakland Catholic, Butler and Shaler also made the WPIAL playoffs from the section last year.“Our section lost a lot of quality seniors and a lot of the teams lost their best player to graduation,” said Lombardo. “Shaler is the one exception. I believe they bring everybody back. I look for North Allegheny and Shaler to be at the top. After that, I think it will be us battling with Butler and Oakland Catholic for the last two playoff spots.”
Coach: John Tabisz, first year (third stint)Last Year: 15-8Tabisz, who coached the Rockets' girls basketball team in 1981 and from 1989 to 2003 has returned to the bench.He has 205 career wins with the Rockets and is looking for more with a talented team that has made the playoffs three of the last four seasons and nine of the last 10.“It's all going to be about how well we mesh together with a new system,” Tabisz said. “We won't do as much penetrating and dishing. We'll try to play more of a post-up game.”That makes senior forward Nicole Papley a very important player this season.Papley, a 6-0 senior, was dominant at times last season, both inside and outside. She averaged 11.9 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and also hit 20 3-points.This year, she will be asked to post-up more.“She's one of the kids we are counting on,” Tabisz said. “She's been working hard on her post-up game. She's going to be a major cog in our offense.”Freshman Sadona Campbell, at 5-11, may also be a key weapon in the Rockets' attack.Marissa Siebka, a 5-10 guard/forward definitely will be an impact player.Last season, Siebka averaged 6.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and led the team with 60 steals.“She's one of the few players I've coached who can play one-through-five,” Tabisz said. “We're going to use her a little bit inside and a little bit outside. She has some quickness and great anticipation. Sometimes I have to remind myself she's only a sophomore.”Tabisz is also blessed with an experienced senior point guard in Riley McGonigle.“She's every coach's dream,” Tabisz said. “I told her she's never coming out of the game. She needs to score a little more for us. Really, all of our kids do. They are so unselfish, they want to pass the ball so much. I told them I need them to be a little more selfish.”Slippery Rock received a blow when senior Haley Urben, who was set to be one of the five starters, was lost for 8-to-12 weeks with a broken wrist.That leaves a trio of freshmen — Jenna Whitmer, Haley Boyd and Stephanie Croll — competing for significant playing time along with junior Alicia Bertozzi and seniors Lauren Dietz and Becca Novak.
Coach: Ken Mortimer, second yearLast Year: 4-19It was a dismal season for the Damsels.Mortimer's mission: change the culture quickly.“We need to keep our confidence up,” Mortimer said. “I think it helps that this is my second year. They know a little bit more of what I want.”There is some talent on the roster, starting with a quintet of senior guards in Kara Flick, Danara Hawk, Kassie McGarrity and Sydney Varner.The trick is going to be getting the Damsels to play smart and fast as a unit.“I think team-wise we are going to be better,” Mortimer said. “Whether that translates into wins, we'll have to see.”Union will go eight-to-10 players deep. That kind of depth should help the pedal-to-the-metal philosophy.“We're planning to getting the ball and running,” Mortimer said. “We've been doing a lot of running at practice. We've looked pretty good in practice.”Mortimer is worried that his team is not in a tip-off tournament.Union's first game isn't until Dec. 11 against Redbank Valley.
