Trib HSSN 2022-23 WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball preseason breakdown

By: Bill Hartlep
Sunday, November 27, 2022 | 6:01 AM

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Mt. Lebanon captured the WPIAL Class 6A girls basketball championship last season to give coach Dori Oldaker a fourth WPIAL title in her 19 years with the Blue Devils.

After the team finished as the PIAA runners-up, Oldaker decided to resign to spend more time watching her daughters play basketball at South Fayette. A dean of WPIAL girls basketball coaches, Oldaker compiled a career record of 495-139, and her teams were a fixture atop the standings throughout her tenure.

Class 6A will certainly have a different look without Oldaker on the bench, and how Mt. Lebanon adjusts will be one of many storylines to watch in the highest classification this season.

Here is a rundown of players to watch, top 5 teams and other notables in WPIAL 6A girls basketball this season.

Preseason Player of the Year

Jasmine Timmerson, North Allegheny

5-7, senior, point guard

14.0 ppg last season

Players to watch

Mary Boff, Bethel Park

5-7, sr., G, 10 ppg

Mia Brown, Upper St. Clair

5-9, jr., G, 13.0 ppg

Lauren Palangio, Norwin

6-2, jr., F, 10 ppg

Kate Robbins, Upper St. Clair

6-1, sr., F, 13.0 ppg

Natalie Wetzel, Peters Township

6-2, so., F, 12.1 ppg

Preseason Top 5

1. Upper St. Clair (20-6 last season)

WPIAL finalists a year ago, the Panthers return an experienced lineup that should again contend for a district title. Senior guard Mia Brown (13.0 ppg) and senior forward Kate Robbins (13 ppg, 8 rpg) return after earning first-team all-section honors. Sophomore Rylee Kalocay averaged 13 points off the bench in her freshman campaign and was a second-team all-section selection. Senior guards Paige Dellicarri and Sam Prunzik were honorable mentions.

2. North Allegheny (21-4)

Pitt recruit Jasmine Timmerson, a first-team all-state selection last season, returns to lead the Tigers, who have won four WPIAL titles in the past six years. She averaged 14.0 points per game last year and will be relied on more this year after the graduation of forward Emma Fischer (Seton Hill). Also back are guards Lydia Betz and Cam Phillips, who each were honorable mention all-section picks.

3. Mt. Lebanon (27-2)

Mt. Lebanon graduated all-state guard Ashleigh Connor (Saint Louis), who averaged 21 points and 8 rebounds for the WPIAL champion and PIAA runner-up Blue Devils. It won’t be easy to replace a player who scored 1,742 points, but seniors Gina Smith and Anna Streiff were top defenders a year ago, and sophomore Payton Collins returns after averaging 7.2 points as a freshman.

4. Norwin (15-7)

Junior forward Lauren Palangio, who averaged 10 rebounds and 4 blocks per game, is the lone returning starter for the Knights, who reached the WPIAL quarterfinals last season. Kendall Berger, Kate Botti, Ava Kobus and Bailey Snowberger also were key contributors as underclassmen.

5. Bethel Park (13-11)

Samantha Loadman enters his second season on the bench and returns an experienced lineup. Senior guard Mary Boff is back after averaging 10 points and three steals last season, and senior Riley Miller contributed five points and three assists per game. Junior Logan Burke saw significant time, and sophomore Ella Sabatos also returns after a strong freshman campaign. Emma Dziezgowski (Wheeling) graduated after averaging 18.2 points and 7 rebounds.

Notable

• Class 6A will be a bit smaller for this cycle, dropping from 15 teams to 13. North Hills, Shaler and Penn-Trafford dropped to 5A. Chartiers Valley, the WPIAL 5A runner-up last year and WPIAL 5A champion in 2017, ’19, ’20 and ’21, moved up to 6A and will join Section 2. To balance the sections, Hempfield moved over to the six-team Section 1.

• Chartiers Valley (28-3) graduated two all-state players in Aislin Malcolm (Pitt) and Perri Page (Columbia) after finishing second in the state. Combined they averaged 32.3 ppg. Also gone are twins Helene and Hallie Cowan, who both play at Seton Hill, and Mariann Turnbull (Northeastern). The quartet helped CV to a 110-7 record with four section titles, three WPIAL titles and three trips to the PIAA finals in Class 5A. Also gone is coach Tim McConnell, who is now leading Bishop Canevin’s boys team. The Colts will rely on junior Ella Cupka and sophomore Lilah Turnbull more this season in their move to 6A.

• Hempfield (5-16 last season) has four starters back, led by leading scorer Brooke McCoy, one of the few seniors in the lineup.

• Peters Township (13-11 last season) will look to contend in Section 2 behind sophomore forward Natalie Wetzel. The 6-foot-2 forward, a second-team all-section selection, averaged 12.1 points and 7.3 rebounds as a freshman and will take on more of the workload after the graduation of Journey Thompson (Delaware).

• The top four teams in each Class 6A section will qualify for the WPIAL playoffs.

Alignment

Section 1: Butler, Hempfield, North Allegheny, Norwin, Pine-Richland, Seneca Valley

Section 2: Baldwin, Bethel Park, Canon-McMillan, Chartiers Valley, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, Upper St. Clair

Bill Hartlep is the TribLive sports editor. A Pittsburgh native and Point Park graduate, he joined the Trib in 2004, covering high school sports. He held various editing roles before assuming his current position in 2019. He can be reached at bhartlep@triblive.com.