A-K Valley girls basketball notebook: Injuries pose another challenge for Fox Chapel

By: Michael Love
Thursday, December 21, 2023 | 12:22 AM

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Fox Chapel coach Marty Matvey said his team had a strong offseason and had designs on claiming a section championship after just missing the playoffs a year ago.

But after injuries to a pair of seniors – Sarah Slember and Skye Byrnes – Matvey has retooled the Foxes lineup as they finish up their December slate and look towards the meat of their section schedule in January.

Slember suffered another ACL injury one minute into a 68-48 victory over Woodland Hills on Dec. 5. She also missed her sophomore season because of an ACL injury.

Against the Wolverines, Byrnes had a monster game with a career-high 28 points. It was a redemption game of sorts as she broke her ankle in an early season matchup with Woodland Hills last year and missed the rest of the season.

But a week after Slember went down, Byrnes suffered an injury to the other ankle nine minutes into a close 58-54 loss to Plum. The results of an MRI will tell the extent of the injury.

Matvey said the team is trying to stay optimistic.

“Both are starters and big-time players for us,” Matvey said. “They are our strongest kids and best post defenders. Everyone is stepping up and doing their part to help the team. We expected that. The last three years, it’s hard to believe the injuries we’ve had to go through. The margin for error now is a lot slimmer, but our expectations remain the same.”

Sophomore Lyla Jablon and juniors Natalia Schaffer and Bella Urso are among those who are tasked with carrying the scoring load.

The Foxes, 3-4 overall after a 64-33 victory over New Castle on Monday, return to action Thursday with a stiff challenge at undefeated Peters Township.

Mustangs start strong

Optimism was high at Plum in the preseason, and the team has done a lot to ramp up the excitement over the first two-plus weeks of the season.

The Mustangs suffered their first loss of the season in a 58-44 nonsection setback against West Allegheny on Wednesday night.

Before that, they won their first six games of the season, including a 2-0 mark in Section 1-5A after a 58-42 win over rival Franklin Regional on Monday. The Alle-Kiski Valley’s leading scorer, senior Megan Marston, continued a torrid early pace with a game-best 24 points. Sophomore Riley Stephans added 16.

Seniors Pascale Olczak and Rayla Smith are among those also contributing strong efforts.

A main focus entering the season was on the goal of winning a section title, something a girls basketball team at Plum has never done.

A competitive win in the early going came against a senior-laden Highlands team that made the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals last year. Freshman Tamia West scored 14 in that game and tallied 12 against Freeport in her varsity debut one day earlier.

Plum averaged 59.3 points through its first six wins.

Title preview?

Two of the top teams in Class A – St. Joseph and Aquinas Academy – met Monday in what could be a preview of the WPIAL title game in March at the Petersen Events Center.

There are a lot of games to be played before that matchup could happen, but the teams played like title contenders in a game that went to overtime.

St. Joseph (5-2) trailed by nine at the end of the first quarter and by five at halftime. The Spartans took the lead by two points at the end of three, but Aquinas (7-1) edged St. Joseph in a high-scoring fourth quarter to send the game to overtime.

Aquinas made the plays in the extra session to finish off a 66-62 win.

Senior guard/forward Julie Spinelli led all scorers with a career-high 36 points with five 3-pointers. Fellow senior Emma Swierczewski added 10.

Sophomore guard Ellie Junker, an all-section selection last year, led Aquinas with 17 points, and 12 of the 17 came on four 3-pointers.

The Spartans host their holiday tournament Dec. 29-30. They will take on Freeport in the first round.

Bouncing back

Highlands coach Shawn Bennis said it would have been ideal for his Golden Rams to play defending WPIAL Class 4A champion North Catholic with several Section 1 games already under their belts.

But instead, they got the Trojanettes last Thursday at home in the section opener, and Bennis said they played the cards that were dealt.

Highlands trailed North Catholic by just two midway through the third quarter after senior Kate Myers sank a 3-pointer. The Trojanettes, however, were the stronger team the rest of the way and pulled away for a 44-24 win.

The Golden Rams quickly righted the ship against section rival Knoch on Monday as three players finished in double figures in a 38-24 victory.

It was the second time this season Highlands held an opponent under 25 points. The Golden Rams topped Fox Chapel, 37-21, at the season-opening Freeport Tip-Off.

Senior Kalleigh Nerone led the way with 13 points, Myers scored 11, and senior Jocelyn Bielak also tallied 11 in the win which put Highlands at 4-2 on the season heading into a game Wednesday at Armstrong.

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.