Youthful Lady Mustangs battle way into playoffs
Submitted photo
Laurel Highlands lost one of the most talented group of players to ever play for its girls basketball team as it headed into the 2025-26 season.
Gone to graduation were 1,000-point scorers Miya Harris and Ayrianna Sumpter, and sixth-man extraordinaire Righteous Richardson with all three going on to play in college. Also gone was 1,000-point-scorer-to-be Aierra Jenkins who transferred to Uniontown to play under her father and first-year Lady Raiders coach Dierre Jenkins.
Even so, LH coach Rick Hill, who took over for the departed Stewart Davis, had a couple of Taylors he could count on as returning starters, senior Irwin and junior Schwertfeger. Then tragedy struck in October when Irwin tore her ACL playing for the girls soccer team.
Still, Hill insisted his now very youthful and inexperienced team could reach the postseason.
The Lady Mustangs did just that Thursday night, rallying in the second half to defeat Yough, 43-36, at Harold “Horse” Taylor Memorial Gymnasium to secure the fifth and final playoff spot out of Section 3-4A.
Laurel Highlands ends the regular season with a 6-8 section record and 8-14 overall.
“That was our goal from the beginning,” Hill said. “We lost pretty much everybody. Irwin was a big loss. She would’ve made a huge difference. She’s going to play in college at
Shenandoah College.”
“But I told everyone before the season that making the playoffs was still a realistic goal. People were questioning how we could do that with such an inexperienced roster – we have 14 freshmen – I said well we’re going to work hard and improve every game, and that’s what they’ve done.”
Hill’s starting lineup includes Schwertfeger, sophomore Chloe Price, senior Maddi Brooks and freshman Haven Harris. Junior Sammie Williams and freshman Abby Grady switch off as the fifth starter and other top players off the bench are junior Isabella Paschke and freshmen Gracie Cicci, Haylee Benko and Lillilan Hanan.
Schwertfeger led the way as usual with a game-high 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds, six steals and three blocked shots against the Lady Cougars (2-12, 8-14).
“Taylor is our leader. We ask her to do pretty much everything,” Hill said. “She’s our point guard, she’s one of our best defenders, our leading scorer, one of our top rebounders. She does it all. She plays hard. She’s got a motor that just doesn’t stop.”
Price followed with 14 points, 10 rebounds, five steals and two blocked shots.
Both teams agreed to trade uncontested baskets early in the game which allowed Irwin to take the court one final time to drop in a basket on senior night.
Yough jumped out to a 16-10 lead in the first quarter. The Lady Mustangs pulled within 25-22 at halftime, then turned the tide in their favor in the third quarter thanks to their defense.
“We came out and pressured them full court, kind of caught them off guard, and forced a lot of turnovers that we converted into points,” Hill said. “We caused some turnovers in the first half but we couldn’t make shots.”
Cicci was the key on defense, according to Hill.
“We put Gracie at the front of our press and she caused them a lot of problems, forced a lot of mistakes,” Hill said. “We ran a 1-3-1 extended. She’s very long for a freshman and very aggressive, a soccer kid who has a lot of wind who can run for days.”
Laurel Highlands out-scored Yough 15-5 in the third to take a 37-30 lead into the fourth and stayed in control the rest of the way.
The Lady Mustangs forced 26 turnovers and came up with 19 steals, including four by Brooks and two apiece by Harris and Cicci. Brooks also had seven rebounds and two blocked shots, and Grady and Paschke each had four boards as LH out-rebounded the Lady Cougars 43-25.
“We mix it up on defense,” Hill said. “The defense we play the most is probably 32, but we switched it up three or four times tonight just depending on situations.”
Hill commended his team’s resilience and feistiness.
“Do they make mistakes? Yes, but they’ve gotten better every game and our younger players, including some of those freshmen, have gotten significant playing time and are learning quickly,” Hill said.
“We’ve improved every game. Sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t show it when we’re playing some bigger, more experienced teams, but the one thing I love about them is they never stop fighting.
“They kept believing and they kept fighting, and tonight we’re in the playoffs.”