Schedule to test Peters Township girls
Lillian Young dribbled past defenders enough last season to average nine points per game for Peters Township. Peters Township tips off the season at 6:30 p.m. tonight at home against South Park.
Makenna Marissa is expected to be one of the players to watch this girls' basketball season. The heavily-recruited junior averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists for Peters Township last season.
To be the best, a team has to play the best.
The Peters Township girls basketball team buys into that philosophy.
It’s a philosophy that will be put to the test this year when the Indians play 16 playoff teams from from one season ago.
For head coach Bert Kendall, who plays a large part in putting the difficult schedule together, it’s all about buying in.
“We plan it that way,” Kendall said. “We used to be in the bottom third of the section but we’ve turned the program around by playing the best teams. That’s the only way to do it. When you play poor teams, you gain a false sense that you are good. So, I tell my athletic director to find the best teams he can for us to play.”
Peters Township athletic director Brian Geyer did exactly that.
In addition to playing in a difficult section, which features rivals Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park twice on the schedule, Peters Township plays defending WPIAL champions North Allegheny and Chartiers Valley.
The Indians also have an early matchup against Trinity, which reached the PIAA Class 5A championship game last year, along with Norwin and Hampton.
But the Indians are no longer bottom dwellers in Class 6A. They also return three key starters from last year’s 14-9 team that was 8-2 in section,which resulted in a second-place finish behind Mt. Lebanon.
The Indians were knocked out in the quarterfinal round of the PIAA tournament by Penn Hills, 58-55.
Returning in the starting lineup for Peters Township is junior Makenna Marisa, a 5-11 forward who earned first-team all-section honors with 17 points, six rebounds and two assists per game.
Marisa, who has started since her freshman season, has scholarship offers from Pitt, Duquesne, Ball State, St. Joseph’s and Cincinnati.
“Makenna is a complete player. We can put her anywhere on the court and she will excel,” Kendall said. “She makes everybody around her better. She leads because of her unselfishness. She’s just special.”
Isabella Mills and Lillian Young also are returning starters. Mills averaged nine points and four rebounds last season. Young, an Edinboro University recruit, averaged 10 points.
“We are returning a combined 40 points and 13 rebounds per game from last year’s squad,” said Kendall.
“That experience and team speed should be our strengths.”
Peters Township will have to adjust in the backcourt after losing Alyssa Konopka and Alexandra Zucarini to graduation.
Kendall is expecting senior Oliva Ziegler and freshman Jordan Bisignani to take over those duties. He is also expecting to have valuable minutes off the bench from Isabella Cuarture and Erin Gummersbach.
“Those players should really help us,” Kendall said.
Peters Township tips off the season at home tonight at 6:30 p.m. against South Park in the shared Peters Township/Baldwin tournament. The Indians host West Allegheny at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and visit Trinity Monday.