Hempfield girls basketball team searching for its voice
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Sunday, November 26, 2017 | 8:21 PM
New Hempfield girls basketball coach Lindsy Muchnock is looking for leadership, a quality that can't always be taught. It just sort of happens.
“We have some experienced girls, but we need someone to help bring the younger girls along,” said Muchnock, who replaced Aaron Epps, the coach of the Spartans for the past five seasons who never missed the playoffs. “We need that vocal leadership. There is no Michelle Burns here anymore. It's kind of scary we don't have that vocal leader by now. I am kind of waiting for them to do that on their own.”
Hempfield, which has made the WPIAL playoffs 16 consecutive times, finished 14-10 last season and reached the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals and PIAA first round.
Returning starters include senior 5-foot-8 guard Allison Podkul and 5-7 sophomore guard Sarah Liberatore.
Junior guard Sarah Golden was a part-time starter, and senior guard/forward Kayla Barientos-Collins is another key returnee.
Muchnock has been learning about her team since practice began Nov. 17.
“It's nice to have everyone here finally to see what we full have,” said Muchnock, a Latrobe and Seton Hill grad who coached at Plum last season but is a former Hempfield assistant. “Our top seven were involved with volleyball or soccer. I think we'll be all right defensively — we work on that for the first 45 minutes of practice — but we have a long way to go with our offense.”
The plan is to add new wrinkles to a base offense with which returning players already were familiar.
Podkul likely will be the go-to scorer after averaging 14 points as a junior.
“We're hoping AP gets hers,” Muchnock said. “We'll need her to step up. Sarah Liberatore had a good freshman season, and we're hoping she can carry that over.”
Hempfield ran into troubling scoring droughts late last season, perhaps related to Burns' issues with a foot injury. Burns was a program all-timer. A four-year starter who led the team in scoring last season (15 ppg) before moving on to Point Park, where she is a starting point guard.
The offensive issues hurt the Spartans in the playoffs.
“Hopefully, our defense will be strong again, and we can get some offensive flow from that.”
The Spartans allowed more points (46.2 ppg) than they scored (45.8).
Other contributors to watch include Riley Sullenberger, a transfer from Norwin, and freshmen Emma Hoffer and Bella Gera.
Hempfield opens the season at the Bethel Park Tournament with Thomas Jefferson, Bishop Canevin and the host school.
Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.
Tags: Hempfield Area
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