Tharp, Brudnock top GCM All-County Girls Basketball Team
West Green鈥檚 girls basketball team came into the 2024-25 season having won at least one playoff game for an impressive eight consecutive seasons.
Six of those were under Jordan Watson and the last two came under Austin Crouse.
Ben Brudnock made sure that streak was stretched to nine in his first season as head coach with a lot of help from star junior Kendra Tharp.
Tharp led the Lady Pioneers and the county in scoring at 15.5 points per game during the regular season as Brudnock guided West Greene to a 16-9 overall record and an 8-6 mark in Section 2-A. The Lady Pioneers then did what they do in the opening round of the postseason, defeating visiting Eden Christian, 59-29, before falling to Geibel Catholic in the WPIAL quarterfinals and St. Joseph in a consolation game.
Tharp is the GCM All-County Girls Basketball Team Player of the Year and Brudnock is the Coach of the Year.
Tharp, a 5-foot-7 guard, not only scored for West Greene but also averaged 9.5 rebounds and 3.2 steals per game while also leading the team with 54 assists.
Joining Tharp on the First Team are teammates Madelyn Roberts and Marissa Tharp.
Roberts, a 5-7 sophomore, averaged 13.2 points per game, including an eye-opening, 41-point performance with seven 3-pointers in an overtime loss to Clairton. Marissa Tharp, a 5-3 senior guard who averaged 5 points and 2.9 steals per game, is the Defensive Player of the Year.
Also on the first team are a pair of Waynesburg Central players: Peyton Cowell and Mya Smith.
Cowell, a 5-9 junior, averaged 10.3 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists per game for the Lady Raiders while Smith, a 5-8 senior forward, was a steady overall player for Waynesburg.
Four Honorable Mention players are Jefferson-Morgan 5-6 junior guard Ava Wood who averaged 7.2 points per game; Carmichaels 5-7 sophomore guard Avery Voithofer who led her team in scoring and 5-7 senior Duski Staggers and topped the Lady Mikes in assists, rebounds, steals and blocked shots; and Mapletown 5-6 junior Nicole Barrera who was the Lady Maples鈥� beat all-around player.
The complete GCM All-County Girls Basketball Team follows:
Player of the Year: Kendra Tharp, West Greene
Coach of the Year: Ben Brudnock West Greene
First Team
Kendra Tharp, West Greene
Madelyn Roberts, West Greene
Marissa Tharp, West Greene
Peyton Cowell, Waynesburg Central
Mya Smith, Waynesburtg Central
Honorable Mention
Ava Wood, Jefferson-Morgan; Avery Voithofer, Duski Staggers, Carmichaels; Nicole Barrera, Mapletown.