Norwin girls basketball team must develop young players quickly to stay competitive

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, December 4, 2017 | 5:57 PM

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The Norwin girls basketball team will open the season with an unfamiliar feeling.

Recently, the Knights had become accustomed to being the team to beat not only in their section but also in the WPIAL. They won WPIAL titles in 2015 and '16.

But Norwin is coming off a second-place finish in Section 2-6A and, by its standards, a short run in the playoffs. The Knights advanced to the WPIAL quarterfinals, where they lost to Mt. Lebanon.

Graduation as been the toughest opponent for the Knights, with only one player remaining from those championship teams and only two with varsity experience.

“We lost a lot of senior leadership the last couple of years,” seventh-year coach Brian Brozeski said. “We have girls that are needing the experience in a varsity game.

“We have girls that will be seeing a varsity court for the first time at the beginning of the season, but it will be old habit at the end.”

The only returning players with varsity experience are senior Megan Polczynski and junior Jessica Kolesar.

The key players Norwin will need to replace are Abigail Gabauer, who is playing at West Virginia Wesleyan; two-time all-section player Danielle McMaster; Taylor Ingel; Maura and Brittany O'Donnell; and Kassidy Battiste.

With them gone, that opens up a handful of roster spots Brozeski is looking forward to filling with freshmen.

“You get a chance to see some younger talent that maybe isn't experienced, but when they hit their potential, it is nice to see,” he said. “There's a lot of growth potential there. If they keep working hard, it will be a nice battle for playing time. If you compete during practice, you will compete during games.”

Although his players might lack experience, Brozeski hopes mentally they will be prepared to compete at a high level after seeing what their predecessors accomplished.

“Even though they weren't on the varsity court, they watched those teams and they know where the bar set,” Brozeski said. “We just need to work on getting better every practice to get to that expectation level.”

The Knights won't have any time to ease into the season as they will be competing in North Allegheny's tip-off tournament Friday against Mt. Lebanon. That game will be followed by games against North Allegheny and Chartiers Valley.

“There is no easing into the year,” Brozeski said. “We are seeing teams that will be competing for WPIAL championships at the end of the year. We need to be ready and play like we want to at the end of the season right from the start.

“These teams will give you a thumbprint of what the playoffs will be like. It gives us a mindset of how to prepare for these quality opponents.”

Drew Karpen is a freelance writer.

Tags: Norwin