Seniors have guided Leechburg girls basketball program through steady rise

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, November 29, 2017 | 8:03 PM

There haven't been many days in the last eight years when Cameron Davies, Brittany Robilio, Mikayla Lovelace, Makenzie Fello, Daesha Knight and Hannah Berry weren't together on the Leechburg basketball court.

They've been playing on the same team since fourth grade, and over their high school careers they've taken the Blue Devils from the doldrums of the WPIAL to a team that made history by winning a WPIAL and PIAA playoff game for the first time last season.

Now it's time for the final act.

The five starters — Robilio, Davies, Lovelace, Fello and Knight — and Berry, a reserve forward who missed last season with an injury, are seniors and will look to add to their already strong resume.

“It's kind of surreal that this is the last year,” Lovelace said. “It's bittersweet because after this season we won't be playing together on the same floor anymore.”

Said Davies: “It's become our lifestyle. Every single day of the year we've been playing together, and after this year we have to go our separate ways.”

The group arrived at a program that had won a dozen games over eight years, and each year it has improved. As freshmen, they fell one game short of a playoff berth, losing by a point to St. Joseph in the final game of the season. As sophomores, they made the playoffs but fell in double overtime to Ellis School. Last season, they broke through by beating Burgettstown in the first round of the WPIAL playoffs and bested Coudersport in the opening round of the PIAA playoffs.

The results of the last three years have been positive steps, but coach Joel Ceraso doesn't want his players to get caught looking in the rearview mirror at what they've accomplished.

He doesn't want them looking ahead, either. It's all about the present.

That starts with the first goal on their list: winning their annual tip-off tournament, which eluded them last year. Down the road, they want to compete for a section title, win in the WPIAL playoffs and advance to states again, but those are far away. For now the focus is winning their first game, which is against Propel Braddock Street in the tip-off tournament Dec. 8.

“This is a good team. We have good players, but I don't want to put the cart before the horse,” Ceraso said. “It's a process. I always say this to them — and everyone, really — that the two biggest obstacles an athlete needs to overcome is anticipation and reflection. I don't want anybody anticipating what we can do or reflecting on what we've done. I want to concentrate on what we are doing. That's what I've been preaching to them since the day I met them.

“We've set goals that will take us one step further than we did last year and then go from there. We want to win out tip-off tournament. We didn't do that last year. Every year we go to Apollo-Ridge's Christmas tournament. It's a wonderful tournament, and I'd like to compete and try to win that. We want to compete for a section title, but we're still in it with great teams like Brentwood and Vincentian (Academy). Vincentian is one of the best teams in the WPIAL. We've never competed against them, and this year I want to do that. We want to get back to the PIAA playoffs and go further. Those are all goals, but the most important thing is we have to take them one at a time and not get ahead of ourselves.”

Lovelace, an IUP recruit and the reigning Valley News Dispatch Player of the Year, is the team's leading scorer. She already has surpassed 1,000 points for her career. Davies, Fello and Robilio play guard, and Knight is a forward.

Outside of their sophomore year when Fello was out with an injury, the five have been on the floor together their entire careers. They've established a chemistry that allows them to trust each other on the court.

“We've played together for so long that we know each other so well,” Lovelace said. “Cameron and Brittany are our shooters, Daesha and Hannah are our stronger players that get rebounds, Makenzie does a little bit of everything. We all know each other's strengths and weaknesses and when to get them the ball. We all work as a group together.”

Outside of the starting five, Leechburg lacks depth. That has been the case all four years. Berry and sophomore guard Maddie Ancosky, whom Ceraso said brings a lot of enthusiasm with the way she plays, will be the key reserves.

“That's our biggest challenge is we are not very deep,” Ceraso said. “We'll be playing six or seven, max.”

Leechburg finished third in Section 2-2A behind Vincentian Academy and Brentwood. Sto-Rox also made the playoffs. Ellis School, Northgate and Riverview are also in Section 2.

The Blue Devils expect a tough slate in section play similar to a year ago.

“Since last year we played Sto-Rox and Brentwood for the first time ever last year, they'll be even better because they know how we play now,” Lovelace said. “We've become more mature, and we know how they play too, so it will be another strong section.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Leechburg