Portersville Christian basketball.3/13/24

PORTERSVILLE — Winning national championships is nothing new to the Portersville Christian girls basketball program.

The Warriors have won five such National Christian Schools Athletic Association (NCSAA) titles in the past six years — two at the Division 2 level, one at Division 3 and one at Division 4 in the eight-team formats. This year’s title was a little different.

“There were 36 to 40 Christian schools at this tournament (at Mount Vernon Nazaerene Univeristy in Ohio),” PCS coach Mike McDonald said. “All of the teams get seeded into eight-team divisions based on skill level.

“We were among the top eight teams and won our first game, putting us in the final four teams in Division 1. We had never won the Division 1 nationals before.

“This is very special to us. It’s as high as we can go,” McDonald added.

PCS finished the season at 26-6, winning its final 12 games. Its three NCSAA wins were 47-30 over Carroll Christian from Maryland, 48-22 over Parkview Christian from Illinois and Veritas Christian Academy from New Jersey, 57-41.

The team also won its seventh consecutive SWCAC league title. Senior point guard Isabel Green of Slippery Rock was named league MVP for a second straight year, averaging 18 points, six steals and five assists per game.

During the NCSAA tourney, Green averaged 15 points, five assists and five steals per game.

“Just an amazing player,” said McDonald, also a Slippery Rock resident. “She’s the type of point guard who makes every player on the court better. We played a number of public schools this year and we had the best player on the court every time.”

Green is looking to continue her basketball career in college. She is considering Thiel, Houghton and Waynesburg right now.

“It’s been my dream to play at the next level,” Green said of college basketball. “I’m looking forward to faster play, playing wth some new girls, it will be fun.”

McDonald and Green agreed that a regular season win over Slippery Rock helped turn the Warriors’ season around.

“One of our starters was out for that game, so two freshmen (Zada Morley of Valencia and Tabitha Hunt of Prospect) got a lot more playing time that night,” McDonald said. “Both played really well and we got a big win. We just seemed to take off after that.”

The Warriors were 14-6 through 20 games.

“We had a players-only meeting around that Slippery Rock game,” Green said. “We talked about turning our season around and what we needed to do to get there. The entire team responded, we played better together and started winning.

“We began pushing each other harder, even in practice.”

Elise Rhoden of Sarver averaged 11 points per game in the tournament while Mia Steele from New Castle averaged nine points, six rebounds and five steals. Leah Van Gent from New Wilmington averaged six points and eight rebounds per game.

Cada Steele from New Castle, Hunt, Morley and Jade Schuffert from Leechburg were other key PCS players in the tourney.

“I’ve been going to this school since kindergarten,” Green said. “These girls are like my family. I’m proud of the fact we were able to bond together and do this. I’m grateful for all of them.”

McDonald emphasized the Christian aspect of his team.

“We take our faith seriously,” he said. “The girls demonstrate that the way they play. Their character is super high and the sportsmanship they show is amazing.

“Half of this team is going on a mission trip with me next week. This is truly a special group.”