Thomas Jefferson girls look to set new standard with revamped lineup
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Sunday, December 8, 2024 | 11:01 AM
Referee David Jaap gets ready for the opening tip off between Thomas Jefferson’s Allie Wilson and Penn Hills’ Egypt Moore-Coleman to start a WPIAL Class 5A preliminary round playoff game Feb. 16, 2023.
Thomas Jefferson’s girls basketball team has won nine games in each of the past two seasons.
The Jaguars intend to reach double figures in 2024-25.
“I expect everyone to work extremely hard and compete. We’re hoping to make the playoffs,” said TJ’s third-year coach Matt Gould, a Penn State graduate and former assistant in the Mt. Lebanon boys basketball program. “I expect everyone to shine on different nights.”
TJ qualified for the WPIAL Class 5A preliminary round last season and lost to Penn Hills, 59-44, to finish with a 9-13 overall record.
Four key returning players from that squad are junior point guard Riley McCabe, sophomore guard Emily Hritz, and a pair of 6-foot sophomore forwards, Allie Wilson and Emma Altavilla.
New faces in the game-day rotation include junior guard Maggie Spell, sophomore guard Kaylee DeAngelo and junior guard/forward Imani Martin.
Other top prospects include junior forward Leah Lockhart, sophomore guards Molly Pugh and Marissa DeSimone and freshman guard Giuliana Mendel.
There are no seniors on this year’s team at TJ. Gould and his staff have been working with four juniors, six sophomores and one freshman.
The Jaguars have switched from Section 3-5A to Section 4-5A this year. Their section opponents are Albert Gallatin, Baldwin, Bethel Park, Peters Township, Trinity and Uniontown.
TJ started out this year with an impressive performance in the Montour tournament, rolling past Quaker Valley, 66-23, and Knoch, 77-19.
DeAngelo (14 points), McCabe (13) and Spell (12) clicked for 39 points between them against QV.
DeAngelo tossed in six 3-pointers and scored 20 points against Knoch in Day 2 of the tournament. DeAngelo was complemented offensively by McCabe with 17 points and Spell with 14.
Laekyn Flinn was a 1,000-point career scorer for TJ last year. The two-time all-section selection now is a 5-10 freshman forward and nursing major at Frostburg State.
Tags: Thomas Jefferson
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