After earning 600th career win, Cleary hopes to guide Serra Catholic girls to section title

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, January 24, 2018 | 6:27 PM

Serra Catholic's girls basketball team has cleared three major hurdles in its quest for a section title this season.

A fourth looms Saturday with a road game against Greensburg Central Catholic.

Serra Catholic (10-4) enjoys a slight lead atop Section 3-2A with a 7-1 record, in front of California (7-2) and GCC (6-2). The Eagles are riding a four-game winning streak and are 9-2 in their past 11 games.

“So far the season has gone very well,” coach Bill Cleary said. “We have become comfortable with each other, and the team is really starting to jell.

“This team actually started slowly, but as time passed the girls gained confidence not only themselves but with each other. We are becoming a more mature team. And I think we are a deep team. I can bring in players off the bench and have confidence in them.”

Cleary, who is in his 31st year of coaching at Serra Catholic, won his 600th career game last week at home against Mapletown. Overall, he is 600-179.

“It's an incredible feeling to win 600 games,” said Cleary, who also serves as the school's athletic director. “A flood of memories rush into your mind — all the kids you've coached, the people you've coached with, big wins, tough losses, funny stories, players developing, etc.”

The Eagles captured both WPIAL and PIAA championships in 2004-05, racking up a 29-1 overall record.

“Yes, the 2004-05 season was the best,” Cleary said, “but there were a couple of close ones when we didn't get to Hershey.”

During Cleary's long coaching tenure, Serra Catholic has not had a losing record in any year and has missed the playoffs only once (in 2016-17).

Four starters returned from last year's squad, bolstering the Eagles' hopes of vaulting back into the playoffs in 2017-18.

Junior guard Gigi Mele-Madigan, senior guard Rylan German, sophomore guard Rayna Andrews and senior forward Shannon Sullivan have been joined in the lineup this season by freshman guard Grace Navarro.

Mele-Madigan is a third-year starter and the team's “quarterback” at her point guard position.

“I feel my role is to make good decisions and to help run good sets,” she said. “I think it is very important also to encourage my teammates throughout the game to use their individual strengths to better our team.

“Our goals are to work hard and grow as a team, to support each other, and through supporting each other to draw strengths from each other. When we hit the court, our goal is to be the best we can be, and use our skills and God-given talents.”

Andrews leads the squad in scoring, averaging 11 points, and is complemented offensively by Mele-Madigan (10 ppg; 4 assists) and German (9 ppg). The 5-foot-11 Sullivan is the team's top rebounder, averaging 8 per contest.

German and Sullivan were freshmen on the Eagles' last section-winning team in 2014-15.

“Starting out this season, I think everyone can agree that we had no idea how it was going to go,” German said. “We only lost one senior starter from last year, so we knew we had a chance to be good. However, I don't think anyone thought we would have only lost one section game (at this point), let alone be in first place.

“Our greatest strength as a team is our unselfishness. Before every game, in the huddle, we say, ‘It doesn't matter how many points you score individually, it matters if we win,' and we play this out while on the court. We all play hard the entire game no matter how it is going. Our ability to come back from tough starts or scoring droughts has helped us significantly so far.”

Senior guard Izzy Caruso, junior forwards Elizabeth Quattrone and Emma Nilson, and sophomore forward Rian Watson are leading reserves for the Eagles, who will have four section games remaining following Saturday's important matchup in Greensburg.

“Our first goal was to get back in the playoffs this year,” Mele-Madigan said. “We would love to win the section and go as far as we can (in the playoffs), but there are many games yet to play.

“I believe every team's goal is to win the section. I'd like to say what sets up apart is we use each game as a stepping stone to learn from our mistakes and accomplishments to play better as a team. As a team player, I feel our section is very competitive and every team in our section has amazing players with potential.”

German says the Eagles' potential has skyrocketed since the start of this season.

“We've realized how good we can continue to be,” she said. “Due to this, our expectations (now) are to win our section and make a run in the playoffs. This season has had a lot of positives, and for that we have our coaches, and all the hard work we put into practice, to thank.”

Mele-Madigan and Andrews sparked the Eagles with 14 and 10 points, respectively, in their 47-44 win against Greensburg Central Catholic in December.

“It was a great game. We would grab a lead and GCC would charge back,” Cleary said.

Serra Catholic's next home game is slated for Jan. 29 against Jeannette, followed by road tests at Beth-Center (Feb. 1) and Frazier (Feb. 5).

The Eagles will be looking to avenge a 12-point loss to Beth-Center that took place in early January.

“In this section, you have to be on top of your game every night because any team can win on any given night,” Cleary said. “You have to come ready to play.”

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.