Tip-off time
Karns City wants to maintain success.
Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Mars, Moniteau and Seneca Valley hope to build on it.
The 2014-15 Butler County area girls basketball season will feature individual standouts in Butler's Julia Baxter, Slippery Rock's Marissa Siebka and Freeport's Zoe Soilis, among others.
Here is a look at local teams' prospects as the season gets under way Friday:
Coach: Dave Sherman, fifth yearLast Season: 6-16.The goal for A-C Valley is clear.“If you ask any of the girls, they want to make the playoffs,” said Sherman. “A .500 record will get us there and I think that is a reasonable goal for us.”That optimistic outlook following last year's 6-16 team was spurred by the fact that A-C Valley returns forwards Sadie Longo and Morgan Cratty and guards Erin Logue and Danielle Kaufman. The foursome combined for 31.6 points and 14.7 rebounds last season. Longo played in just four games due to a broken wrist, but her return should give the Falcons a crucial boost.“The older group that we are bringing back, coupled with a talented group of freshmen gives us a nice blend of talent,” Sherman said. “It will come down to how that all intermingles. We want to use as many girls as possible without compromising our chances to win.”Logue will again be the point guard and will play an important role in her team's aggressive defense.“We want to play full-court, end-to-end,” said Sherman.
Coach: Dorothea Epps, 12th yearLast year: 11-9 overall, 4-8 in section.The Golden Tornado graduated only forward Lauren Bresnahan, who now plays at Butler County Community College, and hope to reach the WPIAL playoffs this season.“We fell just short last year and these girls are hungry,” Epps said.Senior forward Julia Baxter (17 ppg., 9 rpg.) — Butler Eagle Co-Player of the Year in 2013-14 — and senior point guard Alyssa DiPippa anchor the lineup. Senior guard Kalynn Callihan and senior guard/forward Danielle Hensel are also returning starters.The fifth starter will be either junior guard Tiana Schaffner or freshman guard/forward Jenna Kunst.“We've got a good freshman class and they're pushing for playing time,” Epps said. “Our competition in camp has been good.“Julia will have to fight for her points because teams are going to try to take her away. I think Alyssa will have a banner year. She's finding her shot and she's doing a great job of setting the other girls up for theirs.”Butler's depth will come from senior Ronni Guiney, juniors Melea Barlow and Kelsee Callihan, freshmen Kailey Olenick and Mia Rader.“North Allegheny is loaded. The best two players in the section are on that team. They're the team to beat in our section,” Epps said. “Overall, the section is brutal. It's going to be a dogfight.”
Coach: Molly Rottman, 17th year.Last year: 16-8, 10-2 in second. Lost WPIAL quarterfinals.The Trojanettes only lost one senior from last year's team and want to challenge defending WPIAL and PIAA Class A champion Vincentian Academy for the section crown.For that to happen, North Catholic will have to develop weapons around 6-foot-1 sophomore center Sam Breen.Breen averaged 17 points and 10 rebounds per game as a freshman.North Catholic will also return an experienced guard in 5-7 junior Abby Goetz, who averaged 11 points and five rebounds per game.The key is who surrounds them.“We still need a surrounding cast and I think we have that,” Rottman said. “If you scout us, I wouldn't let Sam get the ball too much. Other girls are going to get opportunities and they have to step up.”With guards Evelyn Brazil and Nia Palmer, combined with Breen, who Rottman says moves well, the Trojanettes are hoping to play fast.“We have the speed to get up-and-down and we want to put the pressure on,” Rottman said.
Coach: Paul Sylba, third year.Last year: 10-12, 6-6 in section. Lost WPIAL preliminary round.The Yellowjackets dropping to Class AA won't make life any easier. Freeport was moved into a section that features traditional powerhouse Greensburg Central Catholic, as well as Burrell, which made the Class AA state semifinals last season.“I feel good about these girls,” Sylba said. “They are hard workers and like to get after it. We don't have a lot of size, but we have more depth than we did last year. Stepping down to AA, GCC is always tough and they reload and Burrell has its two best girls back from last year.”Freeport returns three starters — 5-foot-8 junior guard Zoe Soilis, 5-7 senior guard Macy Smolic and 5-6 senior guard Haley Conner — from last season's team.Soilis led the Yellowjackets with 15.5 points per game last season, while Smolic grabbed a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game.“(Soilis) brings a tremendous work ethic,” Sylba said. “It's unbelievable to watch her in the offseason. She does so much by example. She played on AAU teams and played in some preseason AAU tournaments.”
Coach: T.L. Eller, eighth yearLast Year: 12-11There is a buzz around the Eagles this season.Eller and her team can hear it.They are also guarding against it.“It's cautious optimism right now,” Eller said. “It's a tough region, a tough district and a tough schedule this year for us, which we are doing because we want to raise our level of play.”The level of play was elevated in Grove City's own gym in November. The Eagles have a deep team and competition in practice has been fierce.“It's a very intense atmosphere,” Eller said. “We have 18 girls, and they can all go after each other every night. That's maybe what's different than in any year I've had so far.”Eller has a lot of weapons returning, starting with 5-foot-11 senior forward Jordyn Wyllie.Also back are 5-foot-11 junior twins Alexis Deyarmin and Brenna Deyarmin.“What I saw this summer (from Alexis and Brenna Deyarmin) was a physical maturity in them where they are finally growing into their bodies,” Eller said. “They are stronger and a lot more powerful than they have ever been. They just play a ton of basketball. They play on club basketball teams and they just don't miss an open gym.”Eller is hoping they all become clutch scorers this season for a team that has excelled on defense and fought their way into the District 10 playoffs, but have been bounced in the first round over the last three seasons.“We've really been missing those one or two big scorers who we just know at crunch time are going to able to take over a game,” Eller said. “I think we've been in a little identity crisis there the last couple of years.”
Coach: Dave Kerschbaumer, 10th year.Last Year: 25-2, District 9 champion.The lone starter lost from last season is Emily Schumacher, who's now running track and field for Pitt.Included among the returnees is 2013-14 Butler Eagle Co-Player of the Year LeeAnn Gibson, who is only a junior this season. The 5-foot-9 forward averaged 17 points per game.Other returning starters are seniors Shanel Preston (11 ppg.) at forward, Emily LoPresti (11 ppg.) and Annie Hegedus (7 ppg.) at guard.The fifth starter will be sophomore guard Alyssa Gibson, the Gremlins' sixth player last season.“Quickness and defense were our keys to success last year and those should be assets this year as well,” Kerschbaumer said. “We used our defense to set up our offense.“We score plenty of points in transition.”Senior forwards Clara Stoughton and LeErin Jones, senior guard Sadie Moore and sophomore forward MacKenzie Craig will provide the Gremlins with depth off the bench.“We don't have tall girls playing defense, they're just long,” Kerschbaumer said. “They know how to disrupt plays.”
Coach: Dave Peters, first year.Last Year: 2-20.The Knights return no starters and 11 of their 18 players are freshmen or sophomores.“Obviously, inexperience is our biggest concern,” Peters said. “We might be starting a couple of freshmen.”The team's lone two seniors are 6-foot-0 forward Erica Hunter and guard Laura Neff. Hunter will start at one of the forward spots.Alyssa Logan, a junior, will likely be the point guard with freshman Casey Kretzer seeing time. Junior Allie Megahan is another guard.“Our competition for spots is wide open,” Peters said. “With inexperience at the point guard, turnovers are going to happen. That's just something we'll have to deal with.“Shooting concerns me a little bit, too. The positive is that we will have a strong bench. There's not much of a drop-off among our top nine.”
Coach: Tony Howard, eighth year.Last year: 15-7 overall, 11-1 in section.Mars has long been a perennial playoff team, but Howard is looking to raise the bar this year.The Planets' run of consecutive postseason appearances reaches back well into the last century. An extended stay, however, has eluded the Planets of late as they have dropped their first playoff game each of the last four years.“Getting to that 24th game (second playoff game), that's what the team is focused on,” said Howard. “It's been a while for that here and it all starts with getting a good seed in the postseason.”Howard returns four starters from last season's 15-7 team, including forward Ali Goetz (12.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg), guards Sara Getsy (12.6 ppg, 28 3-pointers) and Nicole McCloud and swing player Jessica Bunner.Goetz and Getsy both were named to the Butler Eagle's Girls Basketball Honor Roll as juniors last season.With Goetz standing 5-foot-11, Elise Sheehy 6-0 and freshman standout guard/forward Lauren Wasylsun 5-10, the Planets have a luxury this season that they have not worked with in a while.“We have been a team that runs one offense and one defense,” said Howard, “but we never had the size factor that we do this year. That's going to be a transition for us.”
Coach: Matt Stebbins, third year.Last year: 14-9.Two big players were lost to graduation, but a slew of other key contributors are back.The Warriors aren't looking to replace Fontaine Glenn and Emily Rider, who combined for 20.2 points per game last season. Instead, Moniteau is looking to adapt to a new style without them.“They are hard to replace,” Stebbins said. “We're still trying to find out who fits where. It's like trying to put together a puzzle.”There's no mystery about Stephanie McCall, who will play several different positions this season, from the post to a guard, to try to take advantage of mismatches the 5-foot-10 senior can create.Last year, McCall averaged 14.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game.The only question about sophomore guard Alazia Greaves is how you score against her.“She shut down some elite scorers last season,” Stebbins said.Senior guard Alycia Brehm is showing leadership, Stebbins said, and twins Kennedy and Kristina DeMatteis are looking to build on strong freshman campaigns.Moniteau beefed up its schedule as well, including a game with Quad-A Seneca Valley.“We did that so we can make a push in the playoffs,” Stebbins said.
Coach: Rob Lombardo, sixth year.Last year: 10-13 overall, 7-5 in section.Seneca Valley took a huge step forward for the program when it qualified for the WPIAL Class AAAA playoffs last year for the first time in six seasons. Lombardo is hoping this year's team can build off of that momentum.“The next step is for us to compete for a section title and I think we are very capable of doing that,” he said.Frontcourt star Abbie Trzeciak graduated and took her 10.1 points and four rebounds per game with her, but the Raiders return a wealth of talent, beginning with senior point guard Meghan Hess.“Every coach wants that coach on the floor and Meghan has the highest basketball IQ of any of our players,” Lombardo said of Hess, a three-year starter. “She's our best shooter and has all the intangibles, including the most experience.”Shooting guard Lexus Lambert and forwards Melissa Carter and Sarah Jones each enter their second season in the starting lineup.Sophomore Erin Danik started seven games last season and could see time at guard. At 6-foot-1, she is a matchup problem waiting to happen for opposing teams.The Raiders used rebounding and defense to reach the playoffs last year, but will try to set a different tempo this season.
Coach: John Tabisz, second yearLast year: 17-6Tabisz feels young again.That's a good thing. The average age of his team skews toward too-young-to-drive.“They're so young,” Tabisz said. “They're still like little kids. They still come to practice and tell me what they did in school that day. It's so much fun.”The Rockets have no seniors and only two juniors on the roster.That puts a considerable onus on junior Marissa Siebka, who could play anywhere from point guard to center this season after averaging 10.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and three steals per game last year.Siebka is the only returning starter. Sophomore center Sedona Campbell, who started games last season, suffered a knee injury and could miss the entire season.Siebka, though, has made strides in the offseason to channel her considerable athleticism on the court.“She is so much athletically smarter than she was last year,” Tabisz said. “She's just such a great kid.”Tabisz also has some flexibility on his roster. He can go with a small lineup or a big lineup, depending upon the match-up.He has several players who can handle the ball in sophomores Jenna Whitmer and Steph Croll.With its youth, Tabisz said his team may take some lumps early.
Coach: Lacey Magaginotti, first year.Last year:1-21.The Damsels are looking to bounce back from one of the toughest's seasons in school history.Magaginotti spent a lot of time in the offseason focusing on building confidence.“This offseason, we worked the girls hard,” Magaginotti said. “We were in the weight rooms and in three different summer leagues.“We played a lot of basketball and wanted them to know that we're not going to places to avoid losing. We are going places to win.”Magaginotti was impressed with sophomore point guard Lexey Shick's growth. She expects Shick's vision will help her run the offense. Shick averaged 2.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game as a freshman.“I'm excited to see how she does as a sophomore,” Magaginotti said. “She's very quick and can see the floor. If another team plays us in zone, she knows how to play.”Shaley Shick, Kloe Remmick, Eiley McGregor and Tabby Deitz will also be expected to contribute. Deitz, who averaged 2.5 points per game last season, is the Damsels' leading returning scorer.
