North Clarion She-Wolves
Head coach: Terry Dreihaup
2019-20 Record: 26-1
Playoffs: Beat Redbank Valley, 53-36, in the KSAC Title Game; Beat Elk County Catholic, 62-47, in District 9 Class 1A semifinals; Lost to Coudersport, 42-40, in District 9 Class 1A Championship Game; Beat Sewickley Academy, 47-36, in PIAA Class 1A First Round; Beat defending PIAA champion Berlin Brothersvalley, 62-43, in PIAA Class 2A Second Round; Was scheduled to play Rochester in PIAA Class 1A Quarterfinals when the season was canceled because of COVID-19.
Top returning players: Trinity Thompson (Sr., F, 4.8 ppg), Addison Shaftic (Sr., PG, 1.3 ppg), Gwen Siegel (Jr., C, 4.1 ppg), Amya Green (Jr., G, 3.4 ppg)
Top players lost: Abby Gatesman (14.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 5.1 apg, 3.1 spg, District 9 Player of the Year), Mackenzie Bauer (11.6 ppg, 4.0 spg, 2.9 apg, Third-team All-District 9), Gabby Schmader (8.5 ppg, 2.6 apg, 2.2 spg, 32 3-pointers); Haley Sherman (9.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 52.3 percent shooting from the floor). North Clarion must replace 73 percent of its scoring from a year ago
Key newcomers: Emma McFarland (So, G, Sharpshooter, Defense), Maddie McFarland (So, G, Sharpshooter, Defense), Lauren Lutz (So. C, Big inside presence, Player who has made huge improvement in the offseason), Olivia Siegel (So., G, Big improvements on outside shooting and defense), Maria Bauer (So, G, Big improvements in shooting and ballhandling), Maddie Homan (So, F, Defense and shooting improvements in the offseason). The McFarlands are twin sisters; Bauer is the younger sister of Mackenzie Bauer, the 2nd-leading scorer on the team last season.
Keys to the season: Losing four seniors with the experience that they had and the leadership that they had will be tough to replace. Having seven returning letter-winners will be a positive for our team right from the start. Our senior leaders will be a key to our total team basketball philosophy. Our Fundamentals are strong but we need to figure out how to produce offense as we lost 75% of our scoring to graduation, but we are getting there. Defense will be the key to our success this year. We are fast, we are tall, and we are deep. Getting in the reps we need before the season starts will be another hurdle for us since we have been away from the gym for over a month.
Things your team is doing during the COVID-19 pause of winter sports: We haven’t done anything remotely. We were lucky enough to get in enough practices before the Dec. 11 shutdown that we will be able to get back to playing after a normal week of practice.
