Kiski Area girls basketball team putting in work to improve

By: Michael Love
Monday, November 18, 2024 | 9:13 PM

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Kiski Area girls basketball coach Dave Williamson saw the potential of this year’s team in the work put in during the offseason.

“We didn’t have the greatest offseason as a unit going into last season,” said Williamson, who saw last year’s Cavaliers team go 6-16 overall and finish 2-10 in Section 1-5A.

“Our offseason this year was better. Was it ideal? Probably not. But we played summer league games, and we had girls in the gym in the summer and fall. Even the girls who weren’t in the gym in the fall were competing in volleyball or soccer. All these girls are competitors. They’re all champing at the bit to get going and compete some more.”

Before regrouping to get ready for this season, the program had to say goodbye to three senior starters from last year in Abbie Johns, Cora Coleman and Zoe Holm.

Johns, now a freshman on the women’s team at Shippensburg, earned Valley News Dispatch and Section 1-5A first-team honors after averaging 18.5 points over 22 games. She shot 77 percent from the free-throw line and sank 53 3-pointers.

Coleman led the team in assists at 3.1 a contest.

“They all played, basically, four years,” Williamson said. “We lost a lot of experience. You just can’t replace a player like Abbie Johns every year with her scoring, her leadership and just her basketball IQ. Coleman’s defense was often overlooked, and she was a talented distributor of the basketball. Zoe was like a coach on the floor. She did a lot of things that didn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet.”

But there is a good bit of talent still in the fold, and Williamson said it starts with junior 5-foot-11 forward Gianna DeVito.

“We have a nice mix of returning players and new girls coming up that should help us,” DeVito said. “I was once in the younger players’ shoes, and I know they are going to gain their confidence. There is just a lot to be excited bout with this team.”

Williamson said DeVito will have a lot on her shoulders.

The second-team VND all-star who also earned second-team honors from the section coaches was the leading scorer among the returnees at 8.4 points a game. She also averaged 6.5 rebounds.

“She is a captain for a reason,” Williamson said. “She’s going to be our engine. She is that type of player who can do anything on the floor. She’s going to be a nuisance on defense and a pest on offense for the opposing team to deal with. We’re going to rely on her to bring energy and leadership to the court.”

A knee injury last year limited junior guard Rikaya Garcia-Broaden to nine games. In those games, however, she was strong at 5.8 points and 4.1 rebounds a contest.

“She is fully cleared now and is healthy and getting back into basketball shape,” Williamson said. “The game is still there. She’s going to stretch the floor for us. She’s another one we’re going to really rely on to keep us stable on the floor and keep up calm.”

Williamson said this year’s team most likely will be deeper than last year.

“You’ll see a different brand of basketball from us,” Williamson said. “You won’t see some of the same defensive strategies that worked on us last year working on us this year.

“We have some young talent that came up and also others who got playing time last year who are back. We also had a couple of people who came back to the team.”

Senior guard Maddie Joyce, who didn’t play the past two years while concentrating on volleyball, returns to the fold.

“She gives us that leadership, ball handling and experience,” Williamson said. “She just didn’t want to leave this place with any regrets and wants to make one final run.”

Fellow senior guard Bella Horcicak returned to Kiski after playing at St. Joseph.

“They both instantly make us better with their presence,” Williamson said.

Williamson also is counting on the returning talents of junior forward Ali Pencak and sophomore forward Jada Blanciak.

WPIAL realignment brought about a great deal of change for the Cavaliers.

Kiski Area will play in Section 2-5A against Latrobe, Greensburg Salem, Indiana, McKeesport, Penn-Trafford, and West Mifflin.

The Cavaliers were the only team in the section to not make the playoffs last year.

Indiana remains a section foe. The Little Indians captured the Section 1-5A title last year and advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals.

Greensburg Salem moves up from Class 4A where it also was a quarterfinalist.

McKeesport had the most postseason success as it reached the Class 5A semifinals and qualified for states.

“Top to bottom, the section will be a challenge, but we’re game for it,” Williamson said.

“The last two years, our schedule was really tough, and that’s what we wanted. We’re not afraid of any section foe, but we’re definitely going to have to compete night in and night out with some of these blue bloods.”

Kiski Area scrimmages at 1 p.m. on Saturday at North Hills and will host Burrell at 6 p.m. on Monday before opening the season at home against Serra Catholic on Dec. 2.

Kiski Area girls at a glance

Coach: Dave Williamson

Last year’s record: 6-16 (2-10 Section 1-5A)

Returning starter: Gianna DeVito (Jr., F)

Top newcomers: Maddie Joyce (Sr., G), Bella Horcicak (Sr., G), Jada Blanciak (So., F)

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Kiski Area