Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week for Feb. 18, 2024

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, February 18, 2024 | 9:25 PM

Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week: Bailey Strnisa

School: South Side

Class: Junior

Height: 5-foot-9

Position: Guard/forward

What coach says: “Her court awareness and how well she handled the ball,” South Side coach Brent Darroch said when asked about her performance last week. “She rebounded well, played great defense and made a big play every time we needed it.

“She is also a very cerebral player. We have so many different offensive and defensive sets, and she is really starting to recognize what we need to be in and when. Her biggest strength in my opinion is her defense. Her length and tenacity to stop the opponent leads to her offense.

“We game plan for our entire team not just one player. She scores her points out of our system without us running ‘specific stuff’ just for her. She’s a great teammate and a very talented player.”

#Earned: Quietly, Strnisa has had a strong season, finishing in the top 20 in scoring in the WPIAL with 416 points and an average of 18.9 points per game. On Monday, she finished the regular season by scoring 21 points as South Side knocked off Section 2 co-champion Fort Cherry, 49-44. The Rams were given the No. 12 seed in the Class 2A playoffs and visited Section 4 co-champion and No. 5 seed Chartiers-Houston in the opening round on Friday. In a close game throughout, Strnisa scored 20 of the Rams’ 43 points in an upset victory over the Buccaneers, 43-38.

Background: Strnisa and her South Side teammates advanced to the WPIAL Class 2A quarterfinals to play No. 4 seed Fort Cherry on Wednesday at Peters Township. The Rams will try to repeat their victory over the Rangers from this past Monday. Strnisa was an all-section volleyball player as a sophomore, but opted not to play this past fall. She is open to possibly playing for the Rams in her senior season. Bailey had two older siblings who played volleyball and graduated from South Side in 2023. Brother Jake is playing volleyball at St. Francis (Pa.) while sister Jaiden is playing volleyball at Penn State Beaver.

2024 Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Players of the Week

Week 6 – Bella Antonacci, Indiana

Week 5 – Emma Larkin, Geibel Catholic

Week 4 – Shaye Bailey, Freedom

Week 3 – London Creach, Oakland Catholic

Week 2 – Mallory Daly, Seton LaSalle

Week 1 – Iyanna Wade, Clairton

Tags: South Side