Trib HSSN girls basketball team of the week for Jan. 12, 2025

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, January 12, 2025 | 6:39 PM

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Trib HSSN girls basketball team of the week – Shady Side Academy Bulldogs

Coach – Jonna Burke (fourth season at SSA, 30th year overall)

Record – 13-0 overall, 6-0 in Section 2-3A

#Earned – While the defending WPIAL Class 3A champions returned a lot of talent from their run a year ago, there were questions about how good they would be when junior scoring star Maggie Spell transferred to Thomas Jefferson. The hurdles of team roles and effectiveness have quickly been answered though with the team off to a perfect 13-0 start in which the Bulldogs have outscored opponents by an average of 28 points per game. This past week they were challenged by two of the top teams in their section and responded with wins by 28 and 29 points. On Monday, they defeated Deer Lakes, 54-26. Thursday was a battle of 2024 champions as the Bulldogs hosted last year’s Class 2A winner Greensburg Central Catholic. Following a tight opening quarter, SSA broke the game open in the second quarter, thanks to eight minutes of defensive dominance in which the Centurions were held to only two field goals as the Bulldogs led 28-13 at halftime. The strong overall play continued in the second half, and Shady Side Academy cruised to a 62-33 victory.

Scoring stars – On a snowy, cold Monday, the weather had no effect on Shady Side Academy as it came out flying, leading 19-9 after one quarter and 30-12 by halftime against host Deer Lakes in what would be a 28-point victory. Junior guard Karis Thomas had a game-high 24 points for the Bulldogs. Thomas, who went over 1,000 points for her career before the holidays, is averaging 21 points per game. In the showdown triumph over Greensburg Central Catholic on Thursday, Thomas led the way again with 24 points. Junior Cassie Sauer, daughter of the late, great Shady Side Academy basketball player Pete Sauer, scored 20 points and added 10 rebounds, while sophomore Leah Buford chipped in 10 points in the 29-point SSA victory.

Last year – What a roller coaster season it was a year ago for Shady Side Academy. After a turnaround season in which the Bulldogs finished 25-4 and lost in the WPIAL semifinals and PIAA quarterfinals with a young team, there was a question as to who would be coaching after Jonna Burke was accused of online recruiting. While the WPIAL suspended her for a year and the PIAA upheld the decision, a judge issued a preliminary injunction, that later became a permanent injunction to allow Burke to coach her 29th season and third year at Shady Side Academy. The Bulldogs at one point won 20 consecutive games as they finished 26-3 while capturing a WPIAL championship with a 52-45 victory over defending champion Avonworth in the finals. The Bulldogs then reached the third round of the state playoffs before a season-ending loss to Westmont-Hilltop, 47-41.

Remember when – The championship last season was the first district girls basketball crown in school history with playoff wins over Mohawk in the opening round (53-42), Our Lady of the Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals (37-35), Beaver Falls in the semifinals (41-26) and an Avonworth team in the finals that had eliminated SSA in the 2023 WPIAL semifinals. In the PIAA playoffs, the Bulldogs knocked off River Valley in the first round (55-50) and Northwestern in the second round (62-45) before falling to Westmont-Hilltop from District 6 in the state quarterfinals. The season before Burke was hired, Shady Side Academy finished the season with only one win. The two other basketball championships for Shady Side Academy were won by the boys’ program in 1999 and in 2022.

2025 Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Teams of the Week

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Tags: Shady Side Academy