Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Player of the Week for Feb. 6, 2022

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, February 6, 2022 | 8:43 PM

Last year, Mallory Daly made a big splash to start her high school basketball career.

As a fabulous freshman, Daly averaged nearly 18 points per game in leading Brentwood to a Section 3-3A championship and a 12-2 overall record.

She turned her blue and white in for green and gold when she transferred from Brentwood to Seton LaSalle, but the points keep coming.

The sensational sophomore has scored the most points in WPIAL girls basketball heading into the final week of the regular season with 441 points for an average of 24.5 points per game.

“I think that Mallory has been playing extremely well for us,” Seton LaSalle coach Jordan Giles said. “To be honest, the sky is the limit for this girl. She is continuing to improve and develop each day. The best part is that she continues to want to learn and add new areas to her game. We aren’t even close to seeing her full potential.”

On Monday, Seton LaSalle improved to 6-1 in Section 2-2A with a 71-45 triumph over California as Daly led the way with another big performance.

“I know that points are typically what stand out the most when checking the box scores, but Mallory had a very strong overall game that day,” Giles said. “She was actually a steal shy of another triple-double this season with 36 points, 10 rebounds, nine steals and six assists. She brings a different energy to the table that gets everyone going.”

On Wednesday, Seton LaSalle hosted Class 3A No. 5 South Park in a nonsection battle of South Hills small school powers.

Daly once again led the way with 27 points, but the Rebels fell to the Eagles in a dandy, 61-58.

“Overall, our team had a very rough first half of the game,” Giles said. “But everyone bought in and started to look for each other and trust in each other. Ava Dursi was finding the lane, which then opened it more on the outside for Mallory to knock down her shot.”

Giles detailed some of the things that makes Daly so dominant so early in her scholastic career.

“Mallory is just a natural athlete, and I swear she never gets tired,” he said. “She just has that extinct to read people and plays and kind of know what is going to happen before it actually does. She also has a speed, even while dribbling, that is very hard to keep up with. With her athleticism, she is very difficult to guard because she can take you off the dribble, but she can also shoot so you have to respect both aspects.”

Even though she is only in 10th grade and playing with a new team, Daly has been a leader on the floor and in the locker room as well as the stat sheet.

“You can see the leadership tendencies coming out. You can tell she is born a natural leader and she is just trying to figure out all of the ways to go about it,’ Giles said. “I am excited to see how she continues to grow moving forward. One thing about this team is that they are honestly such a good group of girls. We are like a little family.”

The Rebels are 13-5 heading into the final week of the regular season. Seton LaSalle will visit Beth-Center on Monday and Carmichaels on Tuesday before closing out section play with a home showdown Thursday against first-place Serra Catholic.

“I think that game is a great one to end with going into the postseason,” Giles said. “It is going to be a tough battle where we can also try to fine-tune different areas and prepare for what is to come. Serra is a very good team that is very well-coached, and our girls will need to be ready to go and battle together.”

2022 Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Players of the Week

Week 6 – Olivia West, Seneca Valley

Week 5 – Graci Fairman, Thomas Jefferson

Week 4 – Corynne Hauser, Rochester

Week 3 – Aislin Malcolm, Chartiers Valley

Week 2 – Julia Ogrodowski, Beth-Center

Week 1 – Morgan Altavilla, Baldwin

Tags: Seton La Salle