Lady Falcons hopeful of playoff berth despite Gates’ early departure
Skyler Gates is set to graduate early at Brownsville as she prepares for her collegiate career at the University of Virginia where she鈥檒l play on the women鈥檚 volleyball team.
Gates, a 1,000-point scorer for the Lady Falcons girls basketball team, will thus begin the season with Brownsville but won鈥檛 be there for the finish.
鈥淪kyler will be with our team until Brownsville鈥檚 second nine-week period ends, which is around the middle of January, because then she鈥檒l have her necessary credits and then she鈥檒l go,鈥� said Lady Falcons coach Patty Columbia, who wishes Gates nothing but the best.
That will leave Columbia, now in her 10th year at Brownsville, with some late-season shuffling to do with her lineup.
The Lady Falcons do have four-year starter Ava Clark back for her senior season and Ciara Horabik as well.
鈥淭hose are the main three players we have back, Skyler, Ava and Ciara,鈥� Columbia said. 鈥淭hose are our three returning starters.
They鈥檝e all three played a lot of varsity ball so they should be able to offer some leadership.鈥�
Clark is the Lady Falcons best all-around player, a versatile guard/forward who can shoot, rebound, pass, handle the ball and play strong defense.
鈥淎va is a four-year starter who will be approaching 1,000 points,鈥� Columbia pointed out. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be relying on Ava a lot. 鈥淐iara is our best 3-point shooter. We were used to her camping out at the 3-point line and when teams doubled down on Ava and Skyler we鈥檇 kick it out to her. Ciara is going to be handling the ball more this year though so this is new territory for her. We鈥檙e going to be asking Ciara to do some things that she hasn鈥檛 done in the past. Obviously, she鈥檚 going to need Ava鈥檚 help.
鈥淎va will be doing everything though. We count on her for so much. She鈥檚 going to be bringing the ball up the court. She鈥檚 going to play forward, play guard. She鈥檇 going to be doing it all for us. And she has really taken the leadership role this year, too.鈥�
Columbia has some options for the remaining two spots in the starting lineup.
鈥淎s of right now the other two starters likely will be the other two seniors, Ramielle Grayson and Ta鈥檝eona Harris,鈥� Columbia said. 鈥淩amielle is a big, strong girl. She鈥檚 not a scorer but she鈥檚 a rebounder. We have a new girl, MaKenna Burkhardt, a sophomore who moved here from Illinois. She鈥檚 a nice ballplayer and will see a lot of varsity time.
鈥淭here鈥檚 another girl, Kiara Brangard, a sophomore guard who has skills. Ellie Haddad, another freshman, should get some playing time also so I think we can go nine deep.鈥�
Clark鈥檚 versatility will be on display once Gates departs.
鈥淎va will have to adjust to being more inside and we鈥檒l probably slip a guard in there,鈥� Columbia said. 鈥淲e do have a freshman, Honour Jackson, who played some JV scrimmages and she鈥檚 not afraid to get in there and get some rebounds, but I think right now we鈥檒l probably just move Ava into Skyler鈥檚 spot.鈥�
Defensively, Columbia prefers playing a zone.
鈥淲e like to play zone. We find that Remielle and Skyler get a lot more rebounds when we鈥檙e in a zone,鈥� Columbia said. 鈥淥ur girls tend to be more comfortable with it. But my assistant coach CJ Gaddis likes to throw man in there sometimes so we might do that a little more than we have in the past.
鈥淚 also like to press. I hope we can. We have some young guards that know how to play so I think we can definitely do that and be successful. We just have to watch our foul trouble.鈥�
Brownsville had a 13-10 overall record last year and earned a WPIAL playoff spot by finishing alone in fourth place in Section 3-3A behind Keystone Oaks and Seton LaSalle, who tied for first place, and third-place McGuffey, one game ahead of Waynesburg Central and Washington.
Columbia sees the battle for the third and fourth playoff spots to include those same teams again.
鈥淓specially McGuffey who is always tough,鈥� Columbia said. 鈥淭hey always are well coached and always come up with a good team. I think Washington is still going to be tough. They have a good coach there who鈥檚 good at getting the most out of his girls.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping we can be right there and compete with them and pull down a playoff spot again. Losing Skyler is obviously going to hurt us big time but we鈥檙e going to be vying for one of those playoff spots no matter what.鈥�