When the rising Wyoming Area girls basketball team needed a basket or a rebound over much of the last four seasons, the Lady Warriors knew where to turn.
Sarah Holweg scored 1,560 points and Addison Orzel grabbed 796 rebounds, setting various school records along the way while trying lifting Wyoming Area to within one win of the first state tournament appearance in school history.
The leaders of that resurgence are gone, but several players who made significant contributions remain as Wyoming Area tries to maintain or improve on the level of success it has found in four seasons under head coach Chad Lojewski.
“Every year, the personality of the team changes,” Lojewski said. “Now, without having some of the athletes that have been a mainstay there for the last four years – not just Addison and Sarah – but … there are personalities that we are going to miss.
“Without them around, new leaders are going to have to emerge and they are already in the short time of practice.”
The fall sports season proved there are still plenty of talented female athletes at the school.
Wyoming Area got to the state playoffs for the first time simultaneously in field hockey and girls soccer. The players from those teams have a short turnaround after long fall seasons, but they also have momentum from unprecedented accomplishments.
“The confidence level, I think a lot of it has to do with the fall sports and transitioning the way they did,” Lojewski said. “I think that the sophomores are going to be very important to us down the stretch.”
Even the athletes who were not active on the field in the fall came in prepared.
“The interesting thing is, we’ve really been trying to get the girls to commit to an offseason strength and cardio program,” Lojewski said. “This offseason, both Maria (Amato) and Nicole (Silinskie) really committed to that, so they’re coming in in very good shape, along with some of the other girls who worked out in the offseason or had a really good fall sports season.”
Soccer scoring champion Aleah Kranson is back for her third season as starter and will likely run the offense from the point guard position.
Junior Cassidy Orzel, a field hockey starter, averaged in double figures in scoring last season, even though she was only a part-time starter. Orzel, a guard/forward, used her aggressive style to lead the team in steals, finish second to Holweg in scoring and rank a distant second behind her graduated older sister in rebounds.
Silinskie, a junior guard, joined Kranson in averaging more than five points last season. She could be on one of the wings along with senior Lauren Kelly, the soccer team’s goalie, junior Mackenzie Nocchi or Cassidy Orzel.
Amato, the only freshman getting varsity playing time last season, and senior Jess Davis are possible starters at forward.
Lojewski said there are a handful of sophomores who all played on the freshman team last year capable of helping out.
That group includes cross country runner Erika Holweg, field hockey player Alana Aufiere, soccer player Nicole Donvito and Kaitlyn Slusser.
Wyoming Area started last season with a school-record, 11-game winning streak, but finished 16-9 overall, including 10-7 in the Wyoming Valley Conference.
The Lady Warriors open the season Dec. 7 at Susquehanna. They begin WVC play Dec. 19 at home against Crestwood.
