Tom Ash Sports Reporter email

Print

Share

• Email to a friend
• Add This

Feeds

• Local Sports

Article Rating

Current Rating: (

0

/5)

Low High

(Rated

0

times)

By Tom Ash, Sentinel Reporter, Dec. 4, 2008

Last updated: Thursday, December 4, 2008 10:34 AM EST

Be sure to take in Trinity’s game at York Catholic this Saturday.

Savor the moment — it’s not going to happen again anytime soon.

The Shamrocks are one of three area teams changing PIAA classes this season. One of those teams — Camp Hill — should ultimately benefit from the shift. The others, well...

“I think it’s definitely going to be tougher, more of a challenge,” Trinity head coach Kristi Britten said. “We’re at the very bottom of AAA as far as numbers ... true AAA schools have such a bigger pool, we’ll meet more strength and size.”

Strength isn’t exactly a problem for the Shamrocks. Despite a relative lack of size compared to other Mid-Penn Commonwealth teams, Trinity has shown a lot of grit, especially from hard-driving guards Laura Murray (5-foot-10) and Alexa Barbush (5-8), who combined for 294 2-point baskets last season.

However, size is simply not something you can teach. Just ask Mechanicsburg head coach Clay McAllister.

The Wildcats are arguably in a tougher spot than the Shamrocks this season, making the leap to Class AAAA after falling in back-to-back District 3-AAA first rounds the last two seasons.

“I hope it doesn’t change our expectations moving up (a class),” McAllister said. “We made some strides the last couple years. Give the kids credit, they’ve worked on it, playing this summer and getting better.”

Mechanicsburg, too, will likely face taller, stronger opponents this season than they’re accustomed — this after losing two of its tallest players from last season in 6-foot forward Emily Rainey and 5-foot-10 forward Jasmine Bailey.

However, the Wildcats received a boost this offseason, all the way from Hungaria.

Mechanicsburg adds 6-foot-2 senior center Dori Gyori, a Hungarian foreign exchange student that according to McAllister, will also help provide some veteran support as the only senior on the varsity roster.

“She has size and she’s our only senior,” McAllister said. “She’s a good kid, she’s working hard, fitting in well with the other kids. She’s got a lot of ability, we’ll see. She’s learning a new (system).

“I think she leads by her effort and how she prepares and how she works. She’s a leader in a number of different ways.”

Gyori will bring an inside presence to a team bursting with young talent ready to prove itself in the wake of four departing starters.

A situation not unlike the one Trinity faces Saturday, but for different reasons.

The Shamrocks return four starters this year, as well as sophomore Ashley Betz-White who quite frankly, spent so much time off the bench last year she may as well be a fifth returning starter.

Trinity will need a big effort from some of its more inexperienced players to start this season. Betz-White is still recovering from a stress fracture in her foot that has held her out of preseason practices. She could end up missing the first couple weeks of the season.

To make matters worse, the Shamrocks will also be without defense-minded forward Caroline Lauer, who severed her ACL days before the opening of winter practice.

Trinity limps into its season opener with York Catholic — a team that has defeated them in three straight District 3-AA finals and two straight PIAA semifinals — minus two starters.

And, the Shamrocks must face Commonwealth defending champ Central Dauphin — as well as division foes Central Dauphin East, Carlisle and Cumberland Valley — all in the first two weeks of the season.

“We can’t panic,” Britten said. “The reality is, we’re out two starters. For any coach that’s out two starters in the (preseason), it leaves a lot in question as to how things will pan out.”

A bad situation for the Shamrocks, yet one Britten can put a positive spin on. Playing without two starters will allow the coach to test some of her younger, more inexperienced talent, as well as a freshman pool that brings size to the undersized varsity roster.

“We have a nice freshman class that came in with some height and strength,” Britten said.

Junior Katie Earley will enter the season as a starter in place of Betz-White, while Britten could end up taking a committee approach to the second opening.

In light of the struggles awaiting Mechanicsburg and Trinity, Camp Hill slides into the more-manageable Class A. In 2005-06, the last time the Lions were Class A, Camp Hill reached the district quarterfinals. Since then, the Lions haven’t advanced past the district first round.

This season will be the first time Trinity is in Class AAA since the 2003-04 season, when it fell in the District 3-AAA quarterfinals to eventual district champ Susquenita 51-50. The previous season, Trinity brought home a District 3-AAA title with a 76-30 victory over Lancaster Catholic.

The Wildcats last reached the District 3-AAAA playoffs in 2001, when they fell to Cumberland Valley in the fifth-place game.

PATS WELCOME IN A VETERAN

John Smith has seen his share of basketball games over the years.

A 29-year veteran, Smith last served as head coach of the Cumberland Valley Eagles, guiding them to a Mid-Penn Commonwealth title, District 3-AAAA title and PIAA title in 2002. His career record is a solid 434-293 (59.7 win percentage), marred by a 1-14 start to an Eagles’ 2006-07 season in which he resigned his position as coach on Jan. 19, 2007.

Since then, Smith has wanted to get back into the game. His opportunity ultimately came from a Red Land program that’s reeling after key offseason losses and in need of a steady hand to guide them.

“I missed working with kids, it’s good to be back into it,” Smith said. “Working in the gym with kids, we’re excited about getting the season started and seeing what happens.

“It’s a team that’s more or less inexperienced ... a lot of kids played some last year, then there’s some that played very little. I think we’re very inexperienced and the league’s tough. It’s pretty balanced from what I understand. It’ll certainly be a challenge.”

Red Land returns one starter — 5-foot-10 Hannah McCardle — and two seniors in Nikkie Zangari and Lacey McDonough, along with a host of fresh faces Smith is eager to test this season.

“Probably eight of (our players) haven’t played any varsity experience last year,” Smith said. “Hopefully by the second time through the league, we’ve improved enough and we’ll see what happens.”

NEW FACE OF BOBCATS

Jen Cornetto will serve as the Bible Baptist head varsity coach this season. The team’s previous coach, Andy Bell, will miss the 2008-09 season due to health reasons.

Cornetto brings with her some remarkable varsity coaching experience. As head coach of Maryland’s Capitol Christian Academy from 1998-2002, her Warriors were the dominant presence in the Maryland Association of Christian Schools Athletic Conference (MACSAC).

In 2003, Cornetto stepped down to coach CCA’s middle school team in hopes of developing the rising talent more than it had been.

“I switched to middle school while I was there. In a Christian school, there tends to be a lack of fundamentals at the middle school there,” Cornetto said. “I decided I wanted to drop down and work on those fundamentals there.”

Afterward, she did the same for Bible Baptist, where she was previously the middle school girls’ basketball coach.

That experience will play well for her this season — many of this year’s varsity players already have playing experience under Cornetto, making the transition to the interim coach a much smoother one.

“I coached a lot of these girls as middle schoolers, it’s neat to come back and coach them at a varsity level,” Cornetto said. “We’re trying to keep a lot of things in place. We changed up some things, but minimal things. We’re trying to build on what (coach Bell) has built and had in place.”

Bell coached the varsity squad the previous two seasons, improving on his team’s 8-14 finish in 2006-07 with an 18-9 finish and a District 3-A playoff victory in 2007-08.

AN EARLY GLIMPSE

The Philadelphia Catholic League’s transition into PIAA District 12 will likely have the largest impact on our area teams in the postseason. Cardinal O’Hara, the defending PCL champion, will be a forced to be reckoned with in Class AAAA, while a deep Class AAA pool that can possibly seize all three PIAA playoff seeds out of District 12 will cause problems for area teams. Especially for the unfortunate squad to claim the No. 5 seed out of District 3 — a position that would land them a date with the District 12 champion.

But the playoffs are months away, and some local teams couldn’t wait to test the new additions to the PIAA.

Red Land, for one, faced Class AAA Neumann & Coretti in a scrimmage this summer and, according to coach John Smith, could very well end up facing the Saints again in their holiday tournament. Red Land opens the Wrightsville Rotary Tournament against host Eastern York but may end up facing the PCL school on Day 2.

“We played them this summer in our league ... we went to team camp and they were there,” Smith said. “They’re a good program. I hope we get a good chance to play them.”

CARLISLE’S GROWTH PATTERN

Two-year slumps are nothing new for the Thundering Herd. Neither is a third-year rebirth.

Carlisle fell into a combined 14-34 hole in 1997-98 and ‘98-99 before posting a winning record in ‘99-2000 (13-11). Then, after winning just nine games between 2000-01 and ‘01-02, the Herd rattled off four consecutive trips to the District 3-AAAA postseason.

Since then, Carlisle has struggled the past two seasons, falling below .500 both years with a combined 16-32 mark. However, the team returns the majority of its starting roster this season and looks to be on the verge of a breakout year.