With roster reshaped by graduation, Fox Chapel girls look forward to season of growth

By: Michael Love
Friday, November 26, 2021 | 4:44 PM

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Elsie Smith is ready for the bright lights in a central role for the Fox Chapel girls basketball team.

A starter and key contributor since her freshman year, Smith, a 6-foot junior forward, said the time is now to step up her game as six seniors, including Valley News Dispatch all-stars Ellie Schwartzman and Domenica Delaney, were lost to graduation.

“Coach (Marty Matvey) is really counting on me, but not too much to where I am not able to handle it,” said Smith, who averaged 8.8 points and 6.7 rebounds to help the Foxes go 12-9 overall, 8-4 in Section 2-5A and make the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs. Smith earned VND second-team laurels last season.

“I want to score more to help us win, and I know my leadership will be important as we have so many young players who will contribute.”

The Foxes lost 40 points per game to graduation out of a 52-point total.

The team has shifted younger as there are only two seniors — Olivia Hager and Amelia Herzer — on the roster.

Smith is the lone junior, while three sophomores will be joined by a sizeable group of nine freshman.

“Elsie has taken that natural progression from a wide-eyed freshman, but even then, she showed that she understood the standard,” Matvey said. “Last year, she became even more comfortable and had more success. She was assigned to the team’s best player quite a bit and also had to produce herself. She is just such a great leader with the younger kids. I think she is ready to have a really strong season.”

Matvey said freshman point guard Brooke Fenton is expected to take one of the starting varsity spots, while a number of others are expected figure prominently in the rotation.

“It has been pretty competitive in practice,” Matvey said. “We can go about 10 deep, and people are really pushing each other for opportunities. We saw a lot of that over the summer and into the fall leagues.

“We are playing at a much different speed this year, but there are still some same philosophies on the defensive end in terms of pressuring like crazy. I think we can even do that more now for longer periods of time. We might not be as tall or as long, but I think we are a lot faster and a little more athletic. We’re excited for what we can do this year with a lot of the young talent.”

Sophomore Skye Byrnes is back at Fox Chapel after a freshman year at Oakland Catholic. Matvey said she should make an impact in games immediately.

“She is a natural player in terms of getting to the rim. She’s strong and is able to finish through contact,” Matvey said. “She can see the court really well, she shoots the 3, and she can defend. She is one who can do it all for us.”

The Foxes will be without the on-court services of sophomore Sarah Slember, who suffered an ACL injury during a summer game and will miss the season. She averaged 3.7 points and 3.5 rebounds in her varsity debut last season.

“We will miss her talents and abilities, but she will be so important with helping a lot of the younger players who will be thrust into major roles right away at the varsity level in a really good section,” Matvey said.

Sophomore forward Isabella Barbour, who saw varsity action last year as a freshman, also is out with a high ankle sprain.

Section 2-5A again features Hampton, Armstrong, Mars, Plum, Indiana and Kiski Area. It was one of the few sections in the WPIAL last year to have every team play its full allotment of section games.

Hampton is the defending section champion at 10-2.

“The section is tough,” Matvey said. “Everyone has some great players coming back, for the most part. We’re just hoping we can put it together and compete and have that same fight as we did last year where no matter what the score was, we gave ourselves a chance.”

Fox Chapel will test its mettle with a home scrimmage Tuesday against Pine-Richland. A second scrimmage at Canon-McMillan on Dec. 6 will lead into the season-opening Freeport tournament Dec. 10-11.

The Foxes are slated to face Highlands on the first night of action. They then will take on the host Yellowjackets on day two.

Fox Chapel girls at a glance

Coach: Marty Matvey

Last year’s record: 12-9 (8-4 Section 2-5A)

Returning starters: Elsie Smith (Jr., F)

Top newcomers: Skye Byrnes (Soph., G), Brooke Fenton (Fr., G)

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

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