Shady Side Academy girls find success, but not satisfaction in Jonna Burke’s 1st season

By: George Guido
Sunday, February 27, 2022 | 11:01 AM

As one of the more accomplished coaches in WPIAL girls basketball history, Jonna Burke wasn’t used to seeing her season end as early as Feb. 18.

But after a slow start in her first year at Shady Side Academy, the Bulldogs finished the section season strong and made the Class 3A playoffs.

Though Shady Side lost in the opening playoff round to defending WPIAL champion Mohawk, there were a number of positives in Burke’s first season.

The Bulldogs were 6-6 in section play and 9-12 overall.

“Overall, I know it was a good experience for me,” Burke said. “I learned a lot from these kids, and I think that a lot of people say our season’s a success. We won nine games and made the playoffs. I would say it was successful in that regard. For me, I’m not anywhere near satisfied.”

Shady Side won just one game in an abbreviated 2020-21 season.

Burke left her alma mater, Bethel Park, after making the WPIAL playoffs all 14 seasons as Black Hawks coach, most seasons reaching at least the semifinals. She had sought a teaching position and found one in Shady Side’s physical education department.

“To me, this was a great foundation-building year,” Burke said. “I told the girls that a lot, especially the seniors. I told them they are going to be able to look back and say they worked hard at something that was a new beginning. We helped lay a new foundation for something we hope to be a very successful program over the years.”

Helping lay that foundation was senior forward Natalie Stevens, who averaged 12.4 points per game and added 6.4 rebounds per game.

“When I was a freshman, we won the section,” Stevens said. “Then we lost good players and then covid hit. This year Coach Burke has really helped build the program. I can see it getting a lot better.”

A three-game winning streak late in the season against South Allegheny, Brentwood and East Allegheny — schools the Bulldogs lost to in the first half of the season — enabled the team to finish a game ahead of South Allegheny and Steel Valley for the fourth and final playoff spot out of the section.

Shady Side opened the season with four losses in its first five games.

Said Burke: “I was very proud of how the kids met that challenge and didn’t back down and had success.”

When training camp began, Burke was searching for a point guard and after giving several players a shot, sophomore Sydney Burchard emerged, and Burke feels she developed her ball-handling skills as the season went on.

“She definitely filled that role for us and grew into that role as the season went along,” Burke said.

Stevens thought the win at East Allegheny was a memorable one.

“We needed that win and it was our first road win,” Stevens said. “To deliver that win was so good. We had a lot of energy in the gym that night.”

Cate Sauer scored 9.8 points per game and led the team with 12.4 rebounds per game.

Stevens and CeCe Messner will graduate, while Sauer and Burchard will be among the returnees.

Next year could be big for Burke, too. She needs eight wins to hit the coveted 500-career victory plateau.

Shady Side will remain a Class 3A school for the next two seasons. The Bulldogs should know their new section alignment in a few weeks.

Tags: Shady Side Academy