By Tom Robinson, NEPABasketball.com
With 1,000-point scorers Nya Johnson and Tatum Repshis leading the way, West Scranton developed into a team that peaked at the end, claiming a District 2 Class 5A championship and advancing to the second round of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament last season.
Johnson, Repshis and the rest of the starting lineup have graduated.
That leaves guard Jaela Johnson as the most experienced returning player and the only senior figuring prominently.
“That was just minutes,” West Scranton coach Leo Ciullo said of Johnson’s playing time over the past two seasons, “not even a full quarter or anything like that.”
The rest of the team’s top six players fit a similar description from last season. They saw some playing time on the varsity level, but on a limited basis.
Juniors Olivia Dougher, Gianna Tallo and Madison Maloney and sophomore Mia Butka are moving into the starting lineup.
Madison Maloney, another junior, will be the first player off the bench.
“They’re working hard,” Ciullo said. “They’re going to have to develop into a varsity team. They’re going to have to see what it’s like to be out on the court with that type of speed and everything else that goes along with it.”
The Lady Invaders went 8-5 for third place in Division 1 of the Lackawanna League last season and were just a .500 team before they put together an eight-game winning streak that included three rounds of the district tournament and a first-round state playoff win. They finished 17-10.
As of the opening week of league play, school rules call for West Scranton to play just its 13 Lackawanna League games.
