Girls basketball, week in review

Team of the Week - Monessen
The undefeated Greyhounds rolled past an overmatched Winchester-Thurston on Monday to set up a game against Serra Catholic for first place in Section 4-A.
Monessen moved to 10-0 overall and 5-0 in section with Thursday's 54-53 victory, one that wasn't sealed until Monessen sophomore Mariah Ward stole the basketball with two seconds remaining.
Chelsea Szakal and Geena Shrader both put together strong weeks for Monessen, the No. 3 team in the Observer-Reporter Class A rankings.

Runner-up - Washington
The Prexies moved into sole possession of first place in Section 4-AA with a 46-38 victory over previously unbeaten Charleroi last Monday.

Starting five
Carolena Gasbarra, Fort Cherry
Aujuwa Moore, Washington
Geena Shrader, Monessen
Chelsea Szakal, Monessen
Amanda Temple, Avella
Off the bench
Jessie Merckle, Fort Cherry

Temple of scoring - Following Washington's win over Charleroi Monday, Prexies senior Aujuwa Moore said one reason Wash High hasn't lost since Christmas Break is that her teammates are no longer waiting for her to make things happen.
Avella coach Jim Matalik, a long-time head coach who always has the Eagles in playoff contention, said the same thing later in the week concerning his team and the play of senior guard Amanda Temple, the WPIAL's leading scorer at 23.0 ppg.
The Eagles, who are 7-6 overall and 3-2 in Section 3-A, experienced a surprising 17-point loss to four-win Cornell last Monday before beating Jefferson-Morgan by 10 points Thursday. After that game, Matalik said he'd like to see his team play more aggressively.

Big game for Big Macs - Canon-McMillan struggled the past two seasons as a youthful roster tried to compete with some of the state's best teams in Section 4-AAAA. The Big Macs are a more veteran bunch these days and leading scorer Emily Hansen is being complemented nicely. The much-improved Big Macs are 1-2 in section play heading into tonight's home game against Peters Township. The Indians are 2-3 in section play. With Baldwin, Mt. Lebanon and Bethel Park likely locks for postseason play, the winner of tonight's game at Canon-McMillan could find itself in good position for fourth place.