Yough aims to rebuild struggling girls basketball program

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, December 2, 2018 | 7:24 PM

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Fed up with the lack of success over a long stretch, the Yough girls basketball team is taking steps toward winning more games.

Second-year coach Mike Gerdich, who suffered through an 0-21 record last season, said the focus has begun to shift to development at an earlier age.

“Coming in, I saw there needed to be a culture change,” Gerdich said. “The youth program was just resurrected, and I was very impressed with the number of ladies from grades K-6 that are coming out to play basketball.

While the victories this season might not come as fast as Gerdich would like, he’s hoping the program will quickly turn a corner.

“I’m not big on moral victories. I want to get some W’s on the board,” he said. “I know it’s possible because of the type of students we have here: hard-nosed kids that want to play the game.”

The winless season in Gerdich’s first year was a continuation of the Cougars’ struggles.

Yough has not produced a winning record since going 11-8 in 2009-10, the last season the Cougars qualified for the WPIAL playoffs.

Since then, Yough has won 23 games over eight seasons. The Cougars’ combined record over the past five years is 5-97.

Yough struggled last season while playing with an inexperienced lineup that was missing injured starting guards Jordan Pater and Kaylyn Odelli for most of the season.

Gerdich said his young players were unable to handle defensive pressure.

“When the opposition would press, we’d begin to fall apart,” he said. “If we stay healthy and have experienced players like Pater and Odelli handle the ball up the court, we’ll be more than competitive this year. Games will be a lot closer than they were in the past.”

Gerdich, who was an assistant with the Yough boys team from 2001-06, said his current girls team also will rely on the three seniors — Corrin Parquette, Jordan Pater and Cara Rossetti — for leadership and production.

“I wholeheartedly expect to win games this year,” Gerdich said.

Yough, a Class 4A program that competes in Section 3, will open the season Friday against Class 5A Albert Gallatin at the Southmoreland Tip Off Tournament.

When Gerdich took over as coach at Yough, he said he noticed that not enough was being done with the youth pipeline to expose and teach the game to elementary-aged kids. It didn’t go beyond teaching the basics, he said.

But with the help of elementary coordinator Scott Smith and first-year boys coach Jim Nesser, the youth program is being revamped.

“Coming in after my first year and finding out our girls didn’t start playing basketball until seventh grade, I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me,” Gerdich said. “It’s a nice step that this got resurrected.”

The hope is the youth organization will offer more than just learning how to dribble, shoot, pass and pivot.

“The aspect of learning how to play the game has been implemented,” Gerdich said. “Establishing enthusiasm for basketball in the elementary-aged kids is going to strengthen Yough’s varsity levels for the future.”

Nolen Ferree is a freelance writer.

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