Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Team of the Week: Peters Township

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, February 3, 2019 | 6:27 PM

Our team of the week is one of only two remaining WPIAL unbeatens: Section 2-6A leading Peters Township.

While many teams struggled to get two games in because of the frigid temperatures and school closings, Peters Township played three and played them perfectly.

Bert Kendall, a former assistant under Jonna Burke at Bethel Park, is in his sixth year as coach at Peters Township.

The week began for the Indians with a rematch against the Black Hawks, whose only loss was by eight points in overtime to Peters Township earlier in the season.

“Bethel Park always gives us a good game,” Kendall said. “They are well coached and always prepared. We learned a few things about ourselves, and Bethel Park in our first match-up. We were primarily focused on capitalizing on what we learned and having fun.”

Makenna Marisa, a Penn State recruit, scored a game-high 26 points as the Indians jumped out to an 18-4 lead before winning, 61-46.

“Rivalry games are fun to play,” Kendall said. “The turnout for the game was incredible. It was a playoff atmosphere, which is certainly good for both teams going forward. When we took the floor, it would be hard not to notice the size of the crowd and acknowledge that this was a big game.”

On Thursday, Peters Township traveled to Hempfield and took care of business in a 33-point win.

“Hempfield has improved as the season progressed,” Kendall said. “We did not take them lightly in our preparation. Our girls know the importance of road section wins and stayed focused. I was proud of their focus.”

Then with the deep freeze gone, the Indians prepared for a nonsection showdown Saturday with the top-ranked Class 4A team and a trip to North Catholic, a game Kendall and his players were eager to play.

“North Catholic has an unrivaled basketball tradition. It’s always a test to go into their gym and come away with a win,” Kendall said. “We were looking forward to playing them because their personnel matched up well with us, and it was going to require 32 minutes of focus to win.”

Again, Marisa led the way with 25 points as the Indians remained perfect with a 64-53 triumph.

“North Catholic exposed some things that we need to clean up,” Kendall said, “but all in all that was a well-played high school game with plenty of talent on the floor for sure.

Peters Township is far from a one-man band. While Marisa averages 22 points, the supporting cast is a strong one.

“Makenna is obviously a special player. We have strong players around her,” Kendall said. “We can usually find a mismatch to take advantage of because we have strong players in all positions.”

The other Peters Township starters include:

• Isabella Mills, 14 points and 6 assists per game

• Journey Thompson, 13 points and 8 rebounds per game

• Mackenzie Lehman, 9 points and 7 rebounds per game

• Jordan Bisignani, 5 points per game

Last year, the Indians reached the WPIAL finals, where they lost to North Allegheny.

Following the Tigers first loss of the season to Norwin this past week, every team in Class 6A is looking up to Peters Township. But Kendall and his staff are only concerned about his team.

“We have been focusing on team goals and statistics this season that we have branded ‘the standard’. We are playing to achieve the standard every game, knowing that the score will take care of itself if we achieve the standard.

“We don’t really talk about being undefeated, instead we review our statistics after every game, talk about what it will take to improve and then put the time on the tasks required to achieve ‘the standard’ in our next match up.”

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