Coming into the season, the Shaler Area girls basketball team was hoping to build off of last year’s playoff run. Unfortunately for them, their season was marred by narrow defeats. Nine of their games ended with a loss by six points or fewer. While the Titans’ were competitive in each game they played, they were not able to win enough close games this season to reach the WPIAL Playoffs.
Although the year ended in disappointment, there were still positives to take from it. Despite the Titans finishing with a losing record of 8-14, they were 5-7 in the section and only one game back of making the playoffs. Also, they ended the season with a positive point differential (+26). In the end, the team did not make the most of its opportunities in section games to reach the postseason.
One of the highlights of the season for the team came in December. The Titans began section play with their biggest victory of the season, a 48-39 triumph at then #2 ranked Armstrong, who also was the WPIAL runner up, which gave the team confidence early in the year.
“My favorite moment was definitely at the beginning of the season when we beat Armstrong. They are the section champions this season and it felt good to beat them,” senior forward May Engel said.
While the first section win had the Titans anticipating more success, they faltered in their next six games of section play, going 1-5 in that stretch. The slow start put the team into a deficit that it could not overcome even with a strong push late in the season.
Despite the losing streak in the middle of the year, the team did not give up. The Titans closed out the season with key victories to keep them in playoff contention until the final game.
“The game at Fox Chapel was my favorite game of the season. I was the leading scorer that day and I was really happy that we ended the season with a win,” senior guard Hilary Quinn said.
On senior night, the team enjoyed sending off its seniors (Hanna Dejidas, May Engel, and Hilary Quinn) with a dominant 50-14 win over New Castle.
“I really enjoyed the senior night game. Everyone played so freely and it was so fun to play an unstressful game like that on senior night,” Engel said. “I love playing with the team. We bonded over everything, and it’s been great playing with the other two seniors. I’ve played with them since third grade and ending it like that was nice.”
