Apollo-Ridge girls basketball making strides as it transitions to new coach Raevaan Mottley

By: Michael Love
Wednesday, July 17, 2024 | 8:06 PM

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Even before Raevaan Mottley arrived at Apollo-Ridge as the new varsity girls basketball head coach in late May, his players were taking part in open gyms.

A pair of games in the St. Joseph spring/summer league also were scheduled.

“Apollo-Ridge, they were doing things right,” said Mottley, a Greensburg Salem graduate who most recently served six years as a girls assistant with Andre Carter at Leechburg before taking over the Vikings program from Jeff Zelonka.

“My assistant coach, Hayley (Radebach), was leading the open gyms. The day I had an interview, they were having an open gym. It was a great feeling to be hired, be able to meet the girls and quickly get to work. The girls were ready.”

Mottley’s first impressions of the Vikings players?

“They work hard,” he said.

“We started with just the varsity and were getting at least eight regularly to open gyms. They’ve been committed to working and getting better. That is what stuck out to me the most.”

Now, with the summer half over and the 2024-25 academic year looming, Mottley said his players continue to make strides toward the start of the season in November.

After a Golden Lions athletic career in basketball, football and track and field, Mottley played two seasons of football at Allegheny College.

He then transferred to entertainment business school Full Sail University in Orlando.

Mottley returned to Western Pennsylvania and began coaching. He also serves an AAU coach in the spring and summer.

He said he is grateful for his time at Leechburg.

“Andre really helped me build a strong coaching foundation,” Mottley said.

“With Leechburg playing Apollo-Ridge each year, I did become familiar with the Apollo-Ridge program and the type of teams they would produce. I had met (longtime former Apollo-Ridge) coach (Ray) Bartha and Hayley, so I knew of the Apollo-Ridge basketball culture from the outside looking in. Seeing that first hand now, it is a welcoming and comfortable environment. Everybody works together to help make the athletic teams successful. I’m telling people things they might never have heard of before, and they are receiving it well and I appreciate it.”

Mottley said he saw some good things from his team at St. Joseph and also against some bigger schools such as Plum, North Allegheny, Seneca Valley and Shady Side Academy in games at Fox Chapel.

“The AD, John Skiba, and others were on top of things helping to keep the ball rolling,” Mottley said.

“I was able to get us in the Fox Chapel league at the last minute, but it worked out great. They were familiar with Shady Side, but we were able to see some new teams with different styles. There were some really skilled girls on some good teams. I told the girls that it wasn’t about wins and losses. It was more about getting that experience and learning to play well together as a team.”

While Radebach, a 2006 Apollo-Ridge graduate, will head up the JV team and help Mottley coach varsity, Mike Monstrolla, a Plum graduate, former Vikings girls head coach and a teacher in the Apollo-Ridge School District, will work with the junior high.

“They come to work every day and have that experience of knowing the girls well,” Mottley said. “They know what to see and what can make this program better. They are enthusiastic and vocal about it. I am OK with that.”

Varsity, junior varsity and middle school players have shared the court in several open-gym sessions this summer.

“It is a big benefit for the middle school girls to be on the court with the older girls and see how they work,” Mottley said.

“Some of the younger girls might still be a little shy, and we have a lot of vocal varsity players. I hope that will continue to rub off in these workouts. Communication is big for me. It’s good for the varsity girls to have that opportunity to build their leadership as they help the younger girls develop in the program.”

Returning starter Mya McClain, a rising junior forward from a team that went 8-14 overall, 4-6 in Section 3-3A and earned a spot in the WPIAL playoffs, said the returning players knew it might be a possibility that Zelonka was going to step away from his coaching duties.

“Coaching both football and basketball was a lot for him, and we didn’t know if he would stay with us or not,” she said.

McClain, the only returning starter, is expected to be a focal point this season. Three senior starters graduated, including all-star guard Sophie Yard. Junior Josalin McCauley is expected to miss an undetermined amount of games as she recovers from shoulder surgery.

But McClain sees progress through another change in head coaches.

“It’s been tough,” McClain said. “We’ve had three different coaches the past three years, having to learn from a new coach again. But we’ve been putting in the work and are optimistic about where this (varsity) team and where the program as a whole is going. We’re all excited to play and get back into it.”

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.

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