Peters Twp. girls aim to repeat as section champions
Starting from scratch was a simple decision when Bert Kendall took over the Peters Township High School girls basketball head coaching job in 2013, mainly because a ‘Plan B’ wasn’t an option.
Taking over a team that won only three games the previous year, losing 13 games by 15 or more points, Kendall approached the uphill challenge with a roster that had seven sophomores and six freshmen.
No juniors.
No seniors.
“We started with the youth movement,” Kendall said about the 2013-14 season. “To have a varsity team that doesn’t have any upperclassmen had us taking lumps but understanding the game.”
As the lumps got smaller, the Indians got better.
Those lopsided differences on the scoreboard flipped to the favor of the Indians.
Led last season by three-time first team all-district guard Madison Kerr – now at IUP – who averaged 15.3 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game, PT won its first section title in 16 years, finishing in a tie for the top spot with Canon-McMillan in 4-AAAA.
The long-awaited championship turned into another lump two weeks later when the Indians lost its WPIAL first-round playoff game against Hempfield, 62-56.
“Last year was a good run to get that first section championship in quite some time,” Kendall said. “When we got to the playoffs there wasn’t a single player that played in a playoff game. For example, we were 70 percent from the free-throw line as a team throughout the regular season last year and only shot 45 percent that night. I think our inexperience showed but it was another learning experience.”
Some things haven’t changed for Kendall as he will once again rely on youth as the Indians are still young. They do have do-everything 5-10 sophomore guard Makenna Marisa, who already has offers from Pitt, Duquesne and St. Joseph’s.
Marisa was used more during the later portion of the season, averaging 10 points per game.
“We relied on Madison early but Makenna was able to come on in the second half of the year,” Kendall said. “We know we have something special there. What she brings is the fact that she is a point guard at that height. In girls’ basketball, having length, especially on defense, causes serious problems for other teams.”
Marisa will be joined with a pair of seniors, Alyssa Konopka and Ally Zuccarini, both of whom were part of the youth movement started by Kendall during their ninth-grade year.
While the starting lineup remains impressive, with the return of 6-0 senior Emily Konwick’s return from a broken foot suffered early last season, the bench might be as important to the Indians as they try to play a full-court press and push tempo.
“I think we have the deepest bench we’ve ever had,” Kendall said. “We have different kids who can play a lot of positions. We like to play up-tempo but had some defensive lapses and took some plays off last year. We can’t have those lapses.”
Despite most sections being latered by WPIAL realignment, the Indians are looking at many of the same opponents – Mt. Lebanon, Bethel Park, Upper St. Clair and Canon-McMillan, Baldwin – in Class 6-A’s Section 3. Only Moon and West Allegheny are gone.
That tough section, combined with Kendall’s creation of a difficult non-conference schedule that includes games aaginst South Fayette, Chartiers Valley, North Allegheny, Trinity, Seton-LaSalle and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, will challenge the Indians.
“There are no off nights,” Kendall said. “Every team can beat anybody. I like it that way. That non-conference schedule was by design. To say that we’re a really good team that can’t beat sub-.500 teams isn’t a true measure. We relish the thought of playing those teams in our section twice. We love the competition.”