Fox Chapel girls basketball makes most of summer league

By: Josh Rizzo
Thursday, July 3, 2025 | 10:28 PM

Marty Matvey didn’t need to work his contact list to help fill out the Fox Chapel girls basketball summer league. By the end of February, Matvey already had a full list of teams who wanted to get extra work in.

The only team Matvey had to find a way to work in was Seneca Valley, which is led by Matvey’s friend, Dorothea Epps.

Fox Chapel concluded its league last week, which featured 13 varsity teams and six junior varsity squads. The league doesn’t crown a champion but wants to help all of the athletes who participate branch out.

“It’s like a social networking event,” Matvey said. “This gives girls a chance to meet other players and support each other. There is still competition in the game, but we did a lot of things this year, like having all the teams take pictures together and intermingle the teams and coaches.”

The Foxes, especially, were anxious to see their players work on their chemistry. Fox Chapel is only bringing back one starter from last season.

The Foxes returned to the WPIAL playoffs after a three-year absence, but were turned away in the first round by eventual WPIAL Class 5A champion Peters Township. Fox Chapel will return guard Lyla Jablon, who has drawn interest from a bevy of Division III schools, while Emily McKee will also be a key contributor.

“This is a great opportunity to experiment with different lineups and try to figure out what we are going to do to reload, not rebuild,” Matvey said.

Fox Chapel didn’t have a whole team available, as Bailey Sacco broke her leg playing AAU and is on the mend. Matvey is encouraged by her progress working through the injury.

Fox Chapel sophomore guards Nina Kulikowski and Nakaya Kulikowski showed progress for what will be a Foxes’ lineup that will need plenty of energetic guards.

“We want to be fast and feisty,” Matvey said. “We’re going to be like annoying little gnats and try to beat you off the court. I think we finished above .500 during the summer league. Our JV and middle school teams played well.”

Tags: Fox Chapel