Feb 17, 2019 3 min read

Peters Township enters the WPIAL Class 6A girls’ basketball tournament as the team to beat. The Indians earned the No. 1 spot when playoff pairings were announced on Feb. 12.

That however does not alter the Indians’ approach to the playoffs.

“The seeding is always a much anticipated event,” PT head coach Bert Kendall said. “At the end of the day though, you have to play the best somewhere along the line. So regardless of our seed, we have to prepare with focus.”

During the regular season, the Indians (22-0) focused on the Section 2 competition and proved perfect in their preparation. In securing their third section banner in four seasons, they compiled a 14-0 record.

When the beaten teams considered are Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon, not to mention Quad-A power, North Catholic (19-3), the fact Peters Township enters the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, slightly ahead of defending district champion North Allegheny (20-1), adds little pressure upon the Indians.

“We play basketball because we have skill and it’s fun,” Kendall said emphatically. “We are enjoying the season. Frankly, we have remained loose as the victories accumulated so I don’t feel like there will be  added pressure to win in the playoffs any more than the other teams in the playoffs.”

While the Indians acknowledge the field of eight is competitive, not just with North Allegheny, Bethel Park and Mt. Lebanon, but also with Norwin, which knocked off the Tigers, Fox Chapel, Seneca Valley and Upper St. Clair, they are concentrating on their first-round opponent. Peters Township plays Fox Chapel (15-7) on Friday at a site and time to be determined.

“Any team that gets in (the playoffs) is capable of winning. We respect them all,” Kendall said. “To us, the team to beat is our next opponent.”

Few teams, however, wanted to draw Peters Township as its opponent. The Indians have been virtually unstoppable this winter because they dominate all facets of the game. Plus, they play well together as a team.

Penn State recruit Makenna Marisa leads the attack with a scoring average of 22.1 points per game. She also manages 6.0 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 3.0 steals an outing.

Case-Western recruit Isabela Mills is the team’s playmaker with 5.4 assists per game. She is second on the team in scoring with a 14.3 average and third in rebounding with 6.2 a game.

Freshman Journey Thompson and senior Mackenzie Lehman provide 8.1 and 7.4 rebounds a game. Thompson averages 13.2 points and Lehman provides nine points a game not to mention two assists and 2.5 steals.

Opponents also should not discount Jordan Bisignani. She is one of the team’s top defenders and provides a dependable 4.7 points per game as well as 2.2 rebounds.

“Our desire to play as a team has been our strength,” Kendall said. “We celebrate the assists equally to scoring. Our defense and rebounding has been solid as well, so I guess in order to advance, we need to continue to focus on those three things.”

Not only are the Indians focused, Kendall said they have been “committed” to each other and to the team’s objectives.

“It has been a fun season,” he said. “They girls have improved a great deal since our team camp in June. I believe in putting time on the tasks to improve every day and so do our girls. I am so proud of their work ethic and care for our team. The commitment to our team has been fantastic this season.”