One of the intangibles in basketball is leadership — which can come from a variety of sources.

Amelia McMichael of Butler, Chloe Fritch of Karns City, Naturelle Ewing and CeCe Kosecki of Knoch, Vita Vargo of Mars, Catherine Kelly of Moniteau and Alayna Rocco of North Catholic are standout players who may fill such a role for their respective teams.

Here is a look at Butler County area girls basketball, 2023-24:

Butler

Coach: Mark Maier

Coming off an 11-12 season that ended in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs, the Golden Tornado must overcome the loss of three starters. Guard--forward and top scorer Justine Forbes is now playing at Messiah College, guard Hannah Aldridge is graduated and Madison McGarrah did not return to the team this season.

A junior, McGarrah woud have been the second-most experienced player returning to Butler’s lineup.

“She’s an excellent cross cuntry and distance runner,” Maier said. “That will be her college sport and that’s what she wants to focus on.”

The Tornado return a pair of junior starters in point guard Sydney Patterson and guard Amelia McMichael. The latter averaged 14 points and eight rebounds per game last season.

“Amelia does a lot of things for us,” Maier said.

Butler’s other three starters will be senior forward Jessica Chwalik, junior guard-forward Avery Maier and junior guard Cameryn Booher, a former Karns City player. Her family moved into the Butler district this year.

Top players off the bench are sophomore guards Casey Clouse and Emily Cornish, and freshmen Malina McElroy, Eva Stutz and Ashton Huff.

“Our strength is in our shooting,” Coach Maier said. “We have a lot of girls who can shoot from outside. Jessica played as a freshmen and battled injuries the past two years. She could be a positive factor for us inside.”

Freeport

Coach: Mallory Ketterer

An assistant coach with the Yellowjackets for four years, Ketterer takes over the program this season following the resignation of Fred Soilis.

She must overcome the losses of graduated starters Melaina DeZort, Ava Soilis and Natalie Volek. Freeport must replace plenty of offense from last year’s 8-14 team.

Three senior starters return in point guard Jaden Gaillot, guard Morgan Croney and forward Brooke Kmetz. The other starters will come from senior guard Gicinta Pugliese, sophomore forward Tessa Fuller and sophomore guard Nia DiSanti.

Freshmen will be behind those players.

“We don’t have a lot of numbers, but these girls love basketball and have been working hard,” Ketterer said. “Jaden is a very good point guard who continues to improve.

“I don’t expect to have one or two big scorers. We’re counting on five or six girls averaging between 8 to 12 points per game.”

Ketterer described her team as being young “in terms of experience,” but expects things to come together as the season goes on.

Karns City

Coach: Steve Andreassi

The one player he lost is the type of player Andreassi is looking for now.

The Gremlins graduated one player from last year’s 15-10 team that was the top seed out of District 9 in the PIAA Tournament a year ago,. Emma Dailey is now playing soccer at Grove City College.

“Emma was a great leader, a player who knew how to bring the team together on the floor,” the coach said. “Another player will have to step into that role.”

There are plenty of candidates as four starters return. Savanna Prescott is a junior forward, Chloe Fritch a junior point guard, Brooklynn Taylor a junior guard. Naomi Venesky is a sophomore guard-forward. Fritch averaged 12 points per game last season.

“None of those girls are seniors, but they’ve all been starting for a while,” Andreassi said. “We have some experience there.”

The Gremlins’ fifth starter this year will be sophomore guard Hanna Dailey, a standout on the soccer team. Hannah Buchanon, the lone senior on the squad, will see action at forward and sophomore Trinity McFarland will see time at guard.

“This is an athletic group,.” Andreassi said. “They’ll play other sports at Karns City. I think that’s to our advantage because they are competitive and well-conditioned. We plan to press full-court on defense, run a little when we have the ball, then slow down and run our offense.

“We missed the league championship tournament by one game last year. We want to get into that and take a run at another district championship.”

Knoch

Coach: Shane McGraw

The Knights have enjoyed some of the best seasons in program history in recent years. First-year head coach Shane McGraw wants to keep it that way.

McGraw takes the reins of the program from Chris Andreassi, who stepped down after last season. McGraw had been an assistant under Andreassi. Knoch finished 18-10 last year, reaching the second round of the state tournament.

Point guard Nina Shaw (California (Pa.) University), Hattie McGraw (Robert Morris) and Megan Vasas are starters graduated from that team. Returning starters are senior guards Naturelle Ewing (9 ppg.) and CeCe Kosecki.

Other starters are expected to be senior forward Adah Fuller, junior point guard Karlee Buterbaugh and sophomore guard Neah Ewing. Buterbaugh saw time at center last year and is replacing Shaw as point guard this year.

Buterbaugh stands 6-foot-0.

“That’s how athletic she is,” McGraw said. “Karlee could provide some matchup problems for the opposition and she can produce inside, too.”

Guards Lauren Bowser, Abby Hawk and Jada Burgard are top players off the bench for the Knights.

“Our biggest strength is our defense,” McGraw said. “Our girls love to play it and they work hard at it.

“We want to continue the success that’s been going on here. The talent is there. These girls have played in big games. We’re excited to get going.”

Mars

Coach: Zach Stitt

In his first year on the job, Stitt has received valuable assistance from junior guard Vita Vargo.

“I was named head coach in late June and Vita was one of the first players to reach out to me,” said Stitt. “She’s taken on a leadership role and has become a calming presence on offense and defense.”

With the graduation of Olivia Donnelly and Lauren Atwell, who combined to score 20 points per game last season for a team that reached the second round of the state playoffs, Stitt said Vargo will be counted on to improve on her 10.9 ppg.

Vargo will run the point and will be spelled by Cecilia Christy and Carmella McDole.

Ava Day, Alexis Cashdollar, Mya Moore, Gianna DeLisio and Grace Zatezalo will also see the floor.

“In an idea world, we’d love to play fast, but we’ll be more patient at the start,” said Stitt. “As we get into the season, we will look to push the pace and press on defense, but it won’t be about taking chances. We will be smart with what we do.

“We want to have several defenses we can switch to. We’ll play a lot of man-to-man, but will switch to a number of zones when we have to.”

Moniteau

Coach: Dee Arblaster

Aside from senior forward Davina Pry, who was injured at the beginning of November, the Warriors bring back each of their starters from last season’s run to the District 9 title game.

Pry, who was good for 7.3 points and 6.8 boards per game a year ago, is out for the season. Seniors Catherine Kelly, Kendall Sankey, Allie Pry, and Abbey Jewart fill their starting roles from last year. Junior Sophia Fleeger, who has ample experience, will also be in that five.

“The other girls are going to have to step it up,” Arblaster said. “Losing a big body inside wasn’t anything I was planning for.”

The team gets a chance to show what it’s made of early on.

“We open up with three really good teams, so it’ll be a test for us early,” Arblaster said.

Kelly put up 15.0 points per outing in the 2022 campaign. She’ll lead the quartet of her classmates.

“They’re all seniors,” Arblaster said. “They’ve been playing for four years for me. I think there could be a little bit of nerves to them, too. But, they’re a pretty upbeat group.”

Even with an impactful injury before the team gets on the floor, the objective remains the same.

“Our goal is to win the KSAC,” Arblaster said. “Of course, we would always like to win the district title, but there’s some good competition for that.”

North Catholic

Coach: Molly Rottmann

The Trojanettes may take some lumps early in the season.

“Our early schedule includes games against Upper St. Clair, Mt. Lebanon, Seneca Valley, Lebanon Catholic and Biship Guilfoyle,” said Rottmann. “It could be a rough December for us, but that’s okay,” said Rottmann. “As long as it makes us better in February.

Alayna Rocco, a senior guard, returns after scoring 17.6 points and pulling down 4.5 rebounds per game as a junior. Ava Walker, another senior guard, averaged 9.7 points and 3.2 rebounds.

Junior guard Sarah Loughry is also back after logging valuable varsity minutes a year ago.

Senior guard Lauren Mihm, junior forward Emma Shoemaker and freshmen Brady Wehner (guard) and Lauren Reitz (forward) also hope to positively affect the varsity squad.

“We will strive to do the things we always do — play good defense, rebound, communicate and run in transition,” said Rottmann. “We hope to be a deep team with a lot of girls contributing. The rest of the starting lineup is still in the mix. We’re still figuring things out.”

Seneca Valley

Coach: Dorothea Epps

Having a capable point guard is half the battle when it comes to building a winning team. The Raiders already have that in place with sophomore Natalie Hambly and Gracie Cato.

Epps was impressed with the manner in which Hambly handled the position as a freshman last year.

“It’s a hard position to walk into and I thought she did well with it,” she said of Hambly, who scored nine points per game last year.

Senior forward Emerson Peffer is also back after posting six points and nine rebounds as a junior.

Epps also expects senior forward Allison Sevin, senior guard Kaydence Kilhof and sophomore swing player Makayla Canty, who she described as an “aggressive player”, to play prominent roles this season.

“The girls have grown a lot over the spring and summer,” she said. “The skill and knowledge they have gained will help them.

“Defense wasn’t our problem last year, scoring was,” Epps said. “We graduated Liv West (1,000 point scorer) and Jess (Bickart) from the 2022 team and it’s tough to bounce back from that.”

Slippery Rock

Coach: Steph Croll

Between implementing a new system and getting used to her personnel as a young coach, last year was full of lessons for Croll.

“It was a great learning experience for me and the team,” she said. “We were able to pick out a lot of key moments that we learned from. ... We’ve installed some new offenses and we’re going to try and be a little bit more aggressive on defense than we were last year.”

Croll also wants to improve her ability to manage the game on the fly.

“The game moved a lot faster than I thought it would from the sidelines,” Croll said. “Being more prepared for that in-game experience, the pace of the game, and how it’s going ... I think that’s the biggest thing.”

Senior Libby Campbell and junior guard C.J. Sabo. The latter will be counted on to be the Rockets’ go-to scorer this time around.

“She’s our primary post player,” Croll said of the former. “She plays center the majority of the time. We can usually get her the ball inside and have an opportunity to get some easy layup points there.”

Sophomore Madison Romanovich will be the team’s point guard. She saw a good deal of playing time as a reserve last year. The other two starting spots are vacant for the time being. Among the candidates for those positions are freshman guard Brielle Jordan, sophomore forward Ryleigh Cornelius, and junior forward Belle Miller.

Union/A-C Valley

Coach: Josh Meeker

Limited numbers have brought a pair of rivals together. The melding has gone well for Union and A-C Valley, which are co-oping this year.

“With the girls and the team, it’s been a smooth transition,” said Meeker, who coached the Knights last season. “The hard part is more the extra stuff — the gym times, the bus schedule, and who’s going where.”

Senior forward and returning starter Ava Strauser will be in the lineup. As will junior guard Kya Wetzel, who was one of Meeker’s top understudies last time around. A-C Valley’s Madalyn Dehart — who would’ve been the Falcons’ top returning scorer — is back as sophomore

“After that, the waters get a little muddy,” Meeker said. “It could be a number of girls.”

That group includes senior forward Brianna Schmidt and classmate Gina Rhoades, who took sabbaticals as juniors at A-C Valley.

Junior forward Nevaeh Smith and sophomore guard Emma Raschiatore are also vying for time.

“They’re learning what I’m teaching — and they’re doing a really good job of it,” Meeker said. “I expected a lot more hiccups and a lot more mistakes and misunderstandings. ... I would say it’s just kind of teaching how to play the game of basketball.”