Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Team of the Week for week ending Feb. 20, 2022

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, February 20, 2022 | 8:43 PM

Purchase Photo Options

While most of last season’s WPIAL basketball champions continued to enjoy great success this winter, that wasn’t the case for the Mohawk girls basketball program.

They had nearly an entire new starting lineup this season along with a new coach. Former Vincentian Academy coach Ronald Moncrief took over for Mike O’Lare, who moved over to coach the Warriors boys.

It makes it tough to defend anything when starting over from scratch.

“Coming into this season, we only had one returning starter from the championship team, but her role is completely different than it was in the past because she was expected to do more this season,” Moncrief said. “Other players had their playing time increased this season as they took on additional roles and responsibilities. I have had prior experience coaching teams with the pressure of trying to repeat as champions or competing for championships. From a coaching standpoint, dealing with and understanding the situation was nothing new to me.”

What was new to Moncrief was adjusting to his new team and vice versa, a process that led to a slow start.

The Warriors began the season winning two of their first 10 games.

However, the second half showed the improvement as Mohawk is 7-5 in its past 12 games.

“As a coach, my job is not to add additional pressure to our team, so we didn’t talk about the past much. We respect what the past teams and players did before us, but our focus was trying to be the best versions of ourselves this season, and as the season went on, I thought we improved.”

Mohawk finished in third place in Section 1-3A and was awarded the No. 7 seed in the 3A postseason tournament, drawing Section 3-3A third-place finisher Shady Side Academy.

“We knew getting off to a good start was important because Shady Side Academy had been playing some good basketball,” Moncrief said. “Coach Burke has done a great job with her team this year, and any time you play against one of her teams, you must have your team ready and prepared. I thought our girls executed our gameplan well in the first quarter and continued to play well through the whole game.”

The Warriors jumped to a 17-4 lead after one quarter and expanded the lead to 26-6 by halftime before coasting to a 52-20 win.

Sophomore Erynne Capalbo led the Warriors with 21 points.

“Erynne had a great game for us against Shady Side Academy,” Moncrief said. “Her height (6-foot-2) and skill set allows her to play any position on the court for our team. She does a great job utilizing her guard skills and post skills to create matchup problems for opposing teams.”

Moncrief mentioned other players who have contributed to the Warriors’ success this season, including senior Jordan Radzyminski, juniors Alexa Kadilak and Madisyn Cole, as well as sophomores Aricka Young, Natalie Lape, Deyani Revis and Kiera Julian.

“I knew coming in that our team was a young and inexperienced team,” Moncrief said. “This season we have 19 girls, and 15 of the girls are underclassmen. Early on we had some growing pains, but as the season went on, we continued to get better and our chemistry improved as well. Learning a new system while adjusting to new roles and playing a tough schedule, we had our ups and downs throughout the regular season, but I am very proud of the girls’ dedication and commitment to improving each day. As the season went on, we started to play better as a team.”

The win improves the Warriors’ WPIAL playoff winning streak to five as they prepare to travel to Avonworth on Wednesday to battle the No. 2-seeded Antelopes in the quarterfinals.

“Avonworth is a very good and well-coached team,” Moncrief said. “We know that we will have to play a good game to win, especially at their place. We will have to play well in every aspect of the game. One of the benefits of scheduling and playing a tough regular-season schedule is to help prepare our team for situations like these.”

2022 Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Teams of the Week:

Week 8 – Mars Fightin’ Planets

Week 7 – Albert Gallatin Colonials

Week 6 – Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Chargers

Week 5 – Waynesburg Central Raiders

Week 4 – Montour Spartans

Week 3 – Trinity Hillers

Week 2 – Union Scotties

Week 1 – Blackhawk Cougars

Tags: Mohawk