Trib HSSN girls basketball team of the week: Neshannock

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, January 20, 2019 | 11:06 PM

For years, TribLive has honored a Player of the Week in girls’ basketball and that tradition continues this winter.

However, basketball is a team sport. So this winter, we are saluting a WPIAL team of the week.

This week’s team is tied for first place in Section 1-3A: the Neshannock Lancers.

Neshannock entered this past week having won six straight but facing a couple of tough section challenges with Mohawk at home Monday and a trip to Beaver on Thursday.

The showdown with the Bobcats was significant since Neshannock, Beaver and Avonworth entered the week tied for first place in Section 1-3A.

The Lancers rolled past Mohawk, 61-36, before avenging one of their two losses with a three-point triumph at Beaver.

“Any road win in a tough section like ours is a big win,” Lancers coach Luann Grybowski said. “The Beaver win was big, but there are a lot of big ones left for us and a lot of basketball left.”

Back in December, Beaver came to Neshannock and left with a 47-46 victory.

“Beaver has a really good young team,” said Grybowski. “(Emma) Pavelek is one of the best players we have faced this year, and she is definitely a challenge to guard. She makes that team go for sure.”

Since losing to Class 4A power Central Valley, Neshannock has won eight straight games.

“The key to our success in the last eight games have been continuity,” Grybowski said. “The kids are playing very well together and have a better understanding of one another’s strengths and weaknesses. It has been a great combination of good defense and running our sets to our strengths.”

Grybowski, who won three WPIAL championships while coaching at New Castle, is in her 10th season at Neshannock. She realizes the Lancers are in a tough section, which should help come postseason time.

“The race to the top has been challenging to say the least,” Grybowski said. “I said from the day of re-alignment that our section was the toughest from top to bottom and that Beaver, Avonworth, Mohawk or Neshannock could very easily end up first.

“Anyone can beat anyone on any given day for sure in this section, so we take no one lightly.”

Class 3A appears to be wide open as the regular season winds down. In the latest WPIAL girls’ basketball rankings, Neshannock is at the top of the list. But to stay No. 1, Grybowski knows what it takes to win championships.

“If we can continue to play fundamentally sound defense and not turn it over we will continue to be successful. We certainly have not played our best basketball to this point, nor have we reached our full potential. We are working every day to get there. Hopefully by late February and on into March, we will be.”

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

Tags: Neshannock