Moon lifting itself up to top of standings
Tri-State Sports & News Service
After each game or practice, Moon coach Jody Powell goes around to each player and asks what they did to lift their teammates. What began as an exercise aimed at success on the court has spread far and wide.
When there is a break in the action, the girls race to fill up each other’s water bottles. If a player is running behind to practice, she is greeted at the door and rushed onto the court while her teammates hang up her coat. There are not enough brooms to go around because everyone volunteers to sweep the court.
All that camaraderie is paying off. The Tigers have lifted themselves up in the WPIAL Class 5A Section 1 standings.
Through Wednesday, Moon had won 10 of its past 12 games, including a revenge victory Jan. 16 against Thomas Jefferson. The Tigers got off to a 2-2 start to the season that included a 67-53 loss to the Jaguars Dec. 12. The next time around, the Tigers edged Thomas Jefferson, 55-52.
That triumph showed how well the team has come together as well as its grit. Moon had a comfortable double-digit lead in the third quarter before dropping behind by five points. A late rally sealed it.
“That was huge because there was so many lead changes,” said Powell. “To come out on top at an away gym against a team like Thomas Jefferson, who is so good. That is putting us in a position to be more confident.”
Class 5A, especially Section 1, is loaded with talent. The top team is Chartiers Valley, which has not lost a game in two seasons. Trinity is 12-2 behind Fordham recruit Riley DeRubbo. The Jaguars played for the WPIAL championship last season. Lincoln Park is a program on the rise.
“It’s just such a challenge every night,” said Powell.
An excellent one-two punch of sophomores Reilly Sunday and Emma Theodorsson is a big reason why the Tigers remain in the playoff hunt. Sunday had a scholarship offer from Duquesne when she was in middle school. Theodorrson was a starter for WPIAL Class 2A semifinalist Bishop Canevin last season before transferring back to Moon, where she attended until eighth grade. Sunday, a point guard, leads the team in scoring at 21 points per game. Theordorsson averages about 14 per game and the 6-foot-2 forward is a force near the basket where she collects rebounds and blocks shots.
Powell has paired Theodorsson with center Sarah Santicola, who also stands 6-2. In a section and classification filled with talented guards, that kind of size and presence in the post gives Moon a unique advantage.
Monessen
Qitarah Hardison is never the tallest player on the court. She’s neither the fastest, nor the one with the best shot. Yet she has a knack for filling up the box score.
Hardison extended a streak of double-doubles to nine a row when she scored 12 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in a 53-37 loss to unbeaten West Greene Jan. 16.
“She just wants the ball,” said Monessen coach Janine Vertacnik. “She just goes and gets it. When she misses, she gets her own rebound and puts it back in. I joke with her and tell her, ‘Now you’re just padding your own stats.’”
For the season, Hardison, who stands 5-8, is averaging 13.3 points and 11.8 rebounds per game. She plays pretty much 32 minutes a game and is nearing 1,000 career rebounds.
Her grind-it-out style is the personification of the Greyhounds’ program during her career. As a freshman, the team was winless at 0-22. The next year they went 3-18 and then improved to 7-15 last year. This season, the Greyhounds are 11-5 with their eye on the playoffs.
“They’ve been working real hard and seeing her success,” said Vertacnik. “They knew coming in this year we could possibly do something. I’ve been telling these seniors they’ve laid the groundwork.”