The Montour Spartans will host a post-Thanksgiving get-together this weekend, kicking off the 2025-26 girls basketball season bright and early.
Montour, under second-year coach Jordan Giles, will take on Knoch at 7:30 p.m. Friday after Thomas Jefferson and Quaker Valley square off at 6 p.m. at the Montour Athletic Center.
The Spartans will match up with Quaker Valley at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, and after a day off Sunday, they’ll return to the court Monday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. at home against West Mifflin.
One other West Hills area girls basketball team will be in action this weekend, as Sto-Rox takes part in the Deer Lakes Tip Off Tournament with games Friday and Saturday.
The Vikings will debut at 5 p.m. Friday against Yough.
Montour returns a half-dozen players who saw action last year, including three returning starters in Tiffany Miller, Zoe Woessner and Sofia Brandy.
Miller is a 5-foot-8 senior guard, Woessner is a 5-8 senior forward and Brandy is a 5-6 senior guard.
Also returning are Sienna Palmer, a 5-7 senior guard; Claire Bannon, a 5-6 junior guard; and Brooklyn Young, a 5-7 sophomore guard.
Giles welcomes two newcomers who are expected to contribute in Reese Vojtecky and Abby Garrison, a pair of 5-6 freshman guards.
The Spartans lost two performers from last year’s team in Abby Cleary, who graduated and is now at RIT; and Macey Rathway, who is injured.
Montour posted an overall record of 8-14 in Giles’ maiden voyage, and the team went 3-9 to finish sixth in Class 5A Section 3 play.
“We compete in a very tough section with great competition,” she said, referring to the likes of South Fayette, Chartiers Valley, Moon Area and Mars.
South Fayette won the section crown a year ago with a 12-0 record and went on to win the PIAA title in Class 5A, defeating Archbishop Wood in the championship game. It was South Fayette’s first state championship and the Lions snapped Archbishop Wood’s four-year title streak in the process.
“I expect our team to consistently play hard in every game we play.” Giles said of the Spartans. “We do have several goals set for ourselves this season that we feel we can also achieve, like making our way back to the playoffs.”
Sto-Rox, meanwhile, is coming off a 7-14 season that included a 2-12 mark in Class 3A Section 1. The Vikings finished seventh among eight teams in the section.
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