By: Michael Love, Wednesday, January 16, 2019, TRIB-LIVE
Megan Friday remembers her freshman year and the feeling she had experiencing the Fox Chapel girls basketball team’s most recent run to the WPIAL playoffs.
The senior forward hopes that this year’s group can continue to carve its own path to the postseason. Despite a couple of bumps in the journey over the past week, Friday’s confident the Foxes are on the right track.
“The feeling we have right now is to be here for each other and stay positive,” said Friday, in her third year as a starter.
“It’s been a goal of mine to make playoffs again, not only because I was on that team as a freshman, but because I know we can do it again. The pieces are in place. We have a young team that just wants to win. A lot of young players are really stepping up.”
Fox Chapel is looking to get back on track in Section 1-6A after a setback to No. 5-ranked Seneca Valley last Thursday and a loss to No. 4 Norwin on Tuesday.
“It’s a part of the process, a bump in the road, so to speak,” Foxes coach Jennifer O’Shea said. “We need to learn from our mistakes and move on. But we’ve made a lot of progress.”
The Foxes finished the first half of section play 4-3 and are tied for third place with Seneca Valley behind Norwin (6-1) and No. 1 North Allegheny (7-0).
Fox Chapel is in the playoff hunt after going 2-8 in section play the past two seasons.
“We just have to give our 100 percent best effort and play the way we know how,” said junior point guard Gabby Guerrieri, one of two returning starters, along with Friday, from last year.
“We’re more determined than ever to get that playoff spot, especially with the strong start to the season with some key wins.”
Fox Chapel kicks off the second half of section play Thursday at Butler. The Foxes came from behind to beat the Golden Tornadoe, 56-53, when the teams met Dec. 14.
Guerrieri tallied a team-best 17 points in that game, while junior guard Claire Fenton added 12.
Butler, at 2-5 in the section, is one of the teams, along with Shaler (3-4), which enters the second half of the section slate needing to string victories together to get back in playoff position.
“We’re definitely excited and still pretty positive about where we stand,” Fenton said.
“We know it’s not going to be easy over the next couple of weeks. We still have to win a lot of games. Butler is a team that’s fighting for a playoff spot, too, and they want to beat us.”
The win over Butler was the second in a stretch that saw the Foxes triumph in seven of eight and earn a spot in the Class 6A top-five rankings.
The Foxes were within a couple of possessions in the fourth quarter against Seneca Valley before falling by nine. Fenton and sophomore forward Ellie Schwartzman each scored 13 to lead Fox Chapel.
O’Shea said her team hurt its chances with 26 turnovers against the Raiders.
“We had been averaging 11 turnovers total,” she said. “And we still had a chance to win in the fourth. We weren’t that far out of it.”
Norwin established control early in Tuesday’s matchup and led 17-6 after the first quarter.
“I think it was a reminder of just how tough this section is,” Guerrieri said. “We have to work our butts off to come out on top. We just have to play our hardest with no breaks. We can’t take any plays off. I think we can take several steps forward from the games against Norwin and Seneca Valley. They were good learning experiences.”
Michael Love is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Michael at 412-388-5825, [email protected] or via Twitter @MLove_Trib.