Cali Konek scores 34 in return to WPIAL, leads Southmoreland to victory

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, December 8, 2017 | 10:09 PM

Cali Konek is back. And so is her high-scoring game.

After spending much of a basketball season in disarray while enrolled at an out-of-state school, the former Imani Christian Academy scoring sensation returned to the WPIAL on Friday night for Southmoreland, her third school in as many years.

She made her presence known early and often — even if she didn't score her first points until the final minute of the first quarter.

“I guess I was little bit nervous at first,” she said, “but I got over it.”

The 5-foot-7 Konek, rated the nation's No. 8 junior point guard by ESPN, shook off an early cold spell and scored 34 points, including six 3-pointers, to lead Class 4A Southmoreland to a season-opening 75-32 rout of Class 5A Albert Gallatin in a first-round game at the Southmoreland Tip-Off Tournament.

“She does have a presence about her,” Southmoreland coach Brian Pritts said. “I think there was a little bit of nerves. This is the first time since she's been back that she's played in front of people in a regular-season game.

“Once those jitters got worked out, everybody saw what kind of player she is.”

After averaging 45.4 points and scoring more than 1,000 points as a freshman at Class A Imani Christian, Konek enrolled at nationally renowned Upper Marlboro (Md.) Riverdale Baptist, where she averaged 11.0 points before leaving the team at midseason.

Riverdale Baptist fired coach Sam Caldwell for undisclosed reasons after the season despite a five-year record of 140-40.

Caldwell since has taken over as coach of Hyattsville (Md.) New Hope Academy, and Konek is back in Western Pennsylvania living with her father in East Huntingdon.

“I was really excited for the season, and I knew our team was going to be a lot better than I expected,” she said.

Southmoreland hasn't been to the WPIAL playoffs since 2007-08. The Scotties, despite a 13-9 record, missed qualifying last season when they lost to Mt. Pleasant in the final regular-season game.

The addition of Konek gives Southmoreland a proven scorer.

Her path back to the area has been a winding one. The native of North Huntingdon attended schools in the Norwin School District until enrolling at Imani Christian for her freshman year.

Then came the failed experiment at Riverdale Baptist before Konek settled on Southmoreland. But in between, she was enrolled at Norwin for a day before going back to Riverdale Baptist to finish out the year in the classroom.

“She has meshed really, really well with the team (at Southmoreland),” Pritts said. “There seems to be some good chemistry.”

Maggie Moore added 14 points, and Carissa Cyphert 10 for Southmoreland, which will play Frazier on Saturday in the tournament championship.

“Going out there tonight, I had a lot of fun and I was really excited with just all of us working together,” Konek said. “I just really enjoyed it.”

Konek made 13 of 25 shots after missing her first five attempts and finally scored on a 3-pointer in the final minute of the first quarter.

Albert Gallatin, coming off a 5-14 season, didn't offer much resistence. The Colonials scored three points each in the first and third quarters, trailed by 24 points at halftime and by 45 after three quarters.

Konek scored 17 points in each half, recording 14 in the second quarter and 12 in the third, when she beat the buzzer on a long 3-pointer.

“She's got range,” Pritts said. “Oh, she's got range. She distributes. She sees the floor well. She does the little things.”

And she scores.

Konek sat for intervals in the second, third and fourth quarters, but Pritts said there was no plan to keep her on the bench for long periods even with such a lopsided score.

“You want her to play,” he said. “We tried to mix some things up in the second half, bring bench players in with her, get some of the younger kids used to playing alongside her in a game and not in practice.”

It all added up to a successful start to another year in the WPIAL for Konek, who has said she has received upwards of 15 Division I scholarship offers, including Duquesne, Georgia Tech and Pepperdine.

“We're glad to have Cali with us, obviously,” Pritts said. “She will serve as a good leader. All the kids played well tonight, a lot of them getting on the board. It's not one person.”

But Konek's knack for scoring can't be denied.

“Having her here has helped create more excitement,” Pritts said. “There's a buzz about our team and our season.”

Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.

Tags: Albert Gallatin, Southmoreland