1st-year Jeannette girls basketball coach welcomes bigger roster

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Sunday, November 17, 2024 | 4:47 PM

Jenna Lusby didn’t have to look far to find an assistant coach as she embarks on her first season as girls basketball coach at Jeannette.

Her husband, Arnold, will serve as her assistant.

Love and basketball was never truer than this arrangement. The couple met playing pick-up hoops at an LA Fitness and tied the knot last fall.

“He coached our middle school team,” said Jenna Lusby, who was a standout forward at Norwin, Pitt-Greensburg and La Roche when she was Jenna Cole. “We coached together (in AAU) with Erudite. This will be our second season coming up.”

Arnold Lusby is a former Seton Hill sprinter. His wife won two WPIAL titles.

The Lusbys will have something previous coaches struggled with at Jeannette: numbers.

A team that was lucky to have six girls last year now has a dozen.

“The girls talk about (the past), but I look at it as a clean slate,” Jenna Lusby said. “I think that is why more girls came out. They are more optimistic.”

Jenna Lusby replaced Anna Leonard, who resigned after two seasons. She navigated the low numbers — Jeannette finished a game with three players because of foul-outs and injuries — and guided the team to the WPIAL Class A playoffs.

The Jayhawks fell to West Greene, 55-33, to finish 8-10 overall.

Leonard was later named coach at McKeesport.

“I look at it as a rebuild,” Jenna Lusby said. “I think we stand a good chance in our conference if the girls buy in. We’re working on fundamentals; the skills and footwork. I want to make the players better.”

Post player Mary Jones is the team’s only senior. She is a 5-foot-11 center.

Junior guard Navarah Smith and sophomore Karmen Kistner also are returning starters.

The coaches will look to complement the starters while also developing something Jeannette hasn’t had in awhile: a bench.

“I want us to try and play fast,” Jenna Lusby said. “I want to push the pace. We may play a 1-3-1 or 2-3 zone; zones are easier to teach and grasp.”

Junior Abby Shaw, a good softball player, also should contribute, along with freshmen newcomers Leah Defelice, Jayden Goodson and Aubriella Milliron.

Jenna Lusby said some of the girls knew about her decorated career as a 1,000-point scorer in the WPIAL and in college.

“I told them, that can be you,” she said. “With the right teaching and mindset, you can do it, too. I worked hard to be good.”

Jeannette girls at a glance

Coach: Jenna Lusby

Last year’s record: 8-10, 3-5 Section 3-A

Returning starters: Mary Jones (Sr., C), Karmen Kistner (So., G), Navarah Smith (Jr., G)

Top newcomers: Leah Defelice (Fr., G), Jayden Goodson (Fr., F), Aubriella Milliron (Fr., G), Abby Shaw (Jr., G)

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Jeannette