Mar 24, 2025 By Jerin Steele 3 min read

When asked about her teammate Lailah Wright’s style of play, Juliette Leroux gave a quick, descriptive response.

“She is a firecracker,” Leroux said.

Wright, a sophomore, took over at point guard for the South Fayette girls basketball team this season for Lainey Yater, who graduated, and has provided plenty of explosive plays.

That was certainly the case Saturday when she scored a game-high 14 points and helped the Lions avenge their WPIAL Class 5A championship loss to Peters Township with a 50-36 victory in the state semifinals at Canon-McMillan.

It’s the second time in three years that South Fayette has made it to the state championship, but it’s the first time that Wright will make the trip to Hershey.

“It’s a great feeling,” Wright said after Saturday’s win. “I know this team has been there before, but it’s a great feeling for me personally to be going there. We have great leadership on this team and I think we all deserve this.”

South Fayette will play four-time defending state champion Archbishop Wood, 6 p.m. Saturday in the state finals. It’s a rematch of the 2023 state final, which Archbishop Wood won, 61-54.

Wright was voted to the Class 5A Section 4 second team and was the only sophomore on the first or second team.

Wright learned behind Yater, who’s now playing at Saginaw Valley State in Michigan. South Fayette coach Bryan Bennett said Wright is already drawing college interest and expects that she will be the next Lions point guard to play at the next level.

“I really think Lailah is a big key to our team,” Bennett said. “Everyone is going to talk about Haylie (Lamonde), Ryan (Oldaker) and Juju (Leroux) and they should because they are very talented kids, but Lailah has done a great job. She kind of leads us on both ends of the floor. Defensively she starts our pressure against the other team’s point guard and then offensively she gets the ball and pushes it in transition. She works so hard and tries to absorb everything she can to become a better player. She’s having an outstanding season.”

Wright keyed an 8-0 run to end the third quarter, which gave the Lions a 40-30 lead going into the fourth quarter.

She caused a couple of steals and that led to baskets by Leroux and Ella Viera.

“My teammates were running, so I just wanted to pass it up to them,” Wright said. “I’m just really happy we won.”

Wright also helped settle the Lions into the game by scoring seven of her 14 points in the first quarter. A couple of her baskets were on drives to the rim.

“She is quick,” South Fayette guard Ryan Oldaker said. “I don’t know how anyone defends her. She’s a great teammate that has great passes and amazing finishes at the rim. She’s such a great kid.”

Another impressive attribute Wright has for a first-year starter is her leadership ability. It’s cliché to call a point guard a floor general, but it’s also accurate.

Wright stepped into a lineup that has multiple players that were established starters and has found her place.

“I know if I’m not having the best game, she’s always there to say something like ‘JuJu it’s OK. You got the next one.’,” Leroux said. “She’s constantly reminding me to stay in it.”