Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week: Quigley Catholic’s Taylor Kirschner

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, January 13, 2019 | 10:45 PM

Taylor Kirschner

School: Quigley Catholic

Class: Senior

When you are the son or daughter of a basketball coach, you sometimes earn the nickname gym rat because of the amount of time you spend in the gymnasium.

Joe Kirschner has been the boys basketball coach at New Brighton and Quigley Catholic and currently is an assistant coach under Sean Keaton at New Brighton.

Joe’s daughter, Taylor, is one of the top scorers in the WPIAL and has Quigley Catholic thinking section title and possibly district gold with her play this season.

“Her strengths are shooting abilities and her knowledge of the game,” seventh-year Quigley coach Bill DelTondo said. “She understands what is happening in the game and tries to make adjustments as the game goes on.”

Kirschner had a big week in a pair of Section 1-A wins. She first scored 33 points in a 34-point victory over Eden Christian. She then followed that with 32 points as the Spartans upended defending WPIAL 2A champion Vincentian Academy, 55-49.

“It does not surprise me for Taylor to score those type of numbers at all,” DelTondo said. “She has the ability to take over the game at any time. She is a very good player who continues to work on her game.”

Kirschner is one of only two seniors on the team and has been a great leader for her younger teammates, according to Coach DelTondo.

“With a young team, Taylor helps her teammates during the game to understand what adjustments we need to make to help us be successful.”

Those two wins have the Spartans riding a five-game winning streak after the team lost five of their first seven games.

Quigley is tied for second with Sewickley Academy with a 4-1 section record, one game behind first-place Rochester. The Spartans (7-5) host Rochester on Monday.

“We always set our expectations high and try to reach them,” DelTondo said. “We generally set up a tough out-of-section schedule so that we hopefully will be prepared for a playoff run. That sometimes doesn’t always make our record overall look impressive, but we believe it helps us in the long run.”

Honorable mention

Courtney Tomas, Montour

Section wins have been tough to come by for Montour. The Spartans are 1-5 in Section 1-5A despite an overall record of 5-6. However, points have not been tough to come by for Courtney Tomas. The senior scored 23 points in Montour’s tough 42-40 loss at Lincoln Park on Monday. She then pumped in 22 points as the Spartans stunned then first-place Thomas Jefferson, 49-46, on Thursday for the team’s first section victory.

Carley Allen, Washington

After winning their first nine games, the Little Prexies have hit some tough times, dropping three of four. While Washington looks to get its swagger back, there is nothing wrong with the scoring touch of Carley Allen. She scored 20 points in a section rout of Waynesburg on Monday, chipped in 12 points in a Tuesday nonsection loss to Class A top-ranked West Greene, then led all scorers with 26 points in a tough four-point loss to Seton LaSalle that dropped the Little Prexies into a three-way tie for first place with the Rebels and South Park in Section 2-3A.

Shamyjha Price, Bishop Canevin

Whether they are playing in the Keystone state or the Empire state, for Bishop Canevin, the Price is right. It was a busy week for the Crusaders as they began with a 48-point rout of Chartiers-Houston on Monday and continued with a 65-point beating of Fort Cherry on Thursday. Shamyjha Price scored 28 and 16 points in those wins. Then it was off to New York, where Friday they stunned NY power Bishop Kearney, 49-47, on a Price buzzer-beating layup. Then on Saturday, Price scored a game-high 20 points in the Crusaders’ 58-32 triumph of Rush Henrietta for the team’s fifth straight win.

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

Tags: Quigley Catholic