Keystone Lady Panthers
Head coach: Josh Almes
2019-20 Record: 17-10
Playoffs: Beat Cranberry, 50-43, in D9 2A quarterfinals; Beat Ridgway, 43-41, in D9 2A semifinals; Lost to Redbank Valley, 48-37, in D9 2A finals; Beat Cambridge Springs, 69-44, in PIAA 2A first round; Lost to Bishop McCort, 73-34, in PIAA 2A second round
Top returning players: Emily Lauer (Sr., G, 15.4 ppg, 3.4 spg, 800 career points), Jozee Weaver (Jr. G/F, 8.2 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Danae Hurrelbrink (Sr. G, 4.6 ppg, Shot 30 percent from 3-point range, Maddie Dunlap (Sr., G, 5.3 pg, 4.6 rpg), Natalie Bowser (So. F, 7.0 ppg, 7.4 rpg)
Top players lost: Alyssa Dunlap (4.0 ppg)
Key newcomers: Our key newcomers have yet to be determined. We have a hungry group of sophomores and freshmen who are excited to get up to varsity speed and show they should be considered with the rest of the young talent in the district.
Keys to the season: We want to add more creativity and dynamism to our offense by allowing the girls to thrive in their identities. The past two seasons we’ve been focused on team basketball with good decision-making and now it’s time to add more layers to that process. With a team of five seniors, we should be cerebral in big games.
Things your team is doing during the COVID-19 pause of winter sports: We started zoom practices one week into lockdown in the spring – just to give kids something to do. We didn’t all have equal access to hoops and basketballs, but we made it work with lots of pushups and burpees. Our freshmen attended almost every session and proved that they have a desire to compete. We believe that our school has provided us with the opportunity to compete safely as long as we take care of ourselves and focus on staying safe so that we can have what should be a competitive season.
