The Carlynton girls basketball team took some lumps during coach Frank Deutsch’s first year at the helm in 2023-24.
Using a lineup consisting of all first-year starters, the Cougars posted a 2-8 record in WPIAL Class 2A Section 2 – good for fifth place in a six-team section — and went 6-14 overall.
But the news wasn’t all bad. Seven underclassmen saw plenty of playing time on that team, and all seven of them are returning.
“We’re hoping that with a year of experience to break them in a year ago, that will translate to more confidence and a better understanding of game situations so that the team overall will be more productive on the court,” said Deutsch, who previously coached both girls and boys teams at Cornell.
Deutsch said Carlynton traditionally has had a solid program, and he’s hoping to establish a similar program going forward.
“They’ve had a lot of good players here over the years, a ton of section titles in their history and a whole bunch of 1,000-point scorers,” he said. “It’s been a strong program, but the last couple years have been sort of like a start-over.”
This year’s team will be led by the top three scorers from last year’s squad – Carlee Hughes, Cydney McClendon and Jocelyn Griffin.
Hughes is a 5-foot-7 junior guard/forward, McClendon is a 5-6 junior guard forward and Griffin is a 5-8 senior forward.
Also back is Lucy Vetter, a 5-6 junior guard who was leading the team in scoring last year until she sustained a concussion in the seventh game and could not return.
Three other players who saw action last year are back this season in Emma Saks, a 5-4 sophomore guard, Ashley Milligan, a 5-5 sophomore and Alice Tech, a 5-6 junior.
In addition to the returning players, Carlynton is adding seven new players to give Deutsch a healthy roster.
One of those newcomers, 5-3 senior Shaunte Deluca-Turner, figures to contribute.
“It’ll help us,” Deutsch said of the depth. “Hopefully they’ll all stick with it, and we’re looking forward to having a junior varsity team, which will help immensely. We only had nine players last year and no JV team. And I didn’t get hired until mid-October last year.”
Deutsch said things have been a bit different this year, as he had open gym sessions two or three days a week starting at the beginning of May and running throughout the summer for girls interested in improving their skills. He said participation in those offseason workouts was “lean some days, and some days heavy” in part because so many girls play multiple sports.
Section 2 will look pretty much the same as last year, except for Sto-Rox’s departure and South Side’s arrival.
“Burgettstown and Fort Cherry are usually the cream of the crop,” Deutsch said. “And Brentwood is always good and competitive.”
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