Frazier girls preview: Bass takes over coaching reigns with Frazier girls
Things will be a little different for the Frazier girls basketball team this season as changes are afoot. At least that is the hope of the Lady Commodores new coach.
Frazier went 6-14 overall and 3-9 in Section 2-A last year.
The district hired Jonathan Bass in the fall to lead the program. Bass, the former Jeannette girls’ basketball coach, has worked as a boys freshman coach at Serra Catholic and a girls varsity assistant at Albert Gallatin.
Bass will be assisted by Emily Marshall.
“I am putting a whole new system in so it’s hard to say,” Bass said.. “But, I would say scoring the basketball on a consistent basis is something that we are working on. These girls play their hearts out and that’s a strength.”
Frazier’s top returning players are starters are sophomore guard Chloe Harger (5-5), sophomore forward Malana Burton (5-8), junior forward-guard Tayrn Batemen (5-9), senior forward Gabby McGavitt (5-7), and sophomore guard Allie Yauch (5-4).
Other team members include juniors Addison Day (5-9), Abby Sinal (5-1) and Emma Kortina (5-4), and freshmen Lola Marsh (5-4), Vivian Paroda (5-6), Mackenzie Baumiller (5-4), Margo Snyder (5-7), Liara Snyder (5-7), and Madison Phillburn (5-7).
“I am also looking for contributions off the bench from juniors Addison Day and Emma Kortina, and also from freshman Vivian Paroda, who we plan to incorporate slowly,” said Bass.
Bass said he wants to see maximum effort out of his team this year.
“(I) just want them to be coachable and play as hard as possible and see what happens,” added Bass.
Frazier competes in Section 4-AA with Bentworth, Beth-Center, California, Carmichaels, Chartiers-Houston and Washington.
“I think we should finish third behind Washington and Chartiers-Houston,” Bass said. “But, I’m not limiting us. Any lower than that will be underachieving.”
Bass will put much of the load on the shoulders of his starters.
“I am counting on Harger, who has the potential to be a great scorer,” Bass said. “I am counting on Yauch to be a pest defensively and to help us in transition. I’m counting on Burton to be a force down low as she is much improved and I am counting on Batemen defensively and as a slasher to the basket, she is very long. And, we’re counting on McGavitt, who has a great motor and can get to the basket very well.”
Bass played basketball at Penn State Fayette before getting into coaching.
“I started coaching my daughter in the Jeannette Knee Hi Youth league and it went from there. I had a lot of success and here we are today,” said Bass.
Frazier’s non-section schedule includes Southmoreland, Sto-Rox, Brownsville, Waynesburg, Winchester-Thurston, Jefferson-Morgan, Mt. Pleasant, Jeannette and Monessen.
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