Skinner leads Homer-Center's quest for Heritage Conference title

Last season, the Homer-Center girls' basketball team achieved the improbable in reaching the Class A state semifinals. Now, the Wildcats look to achieve what some might say is the impossible -- to do it all over again, and possibly more.

With four of their top six players returning from last year, including all-state senior guard Katelyn Skinner, it looks like anything is possible for the Wildcats.

"We would sure like to get back there and maybe one step further," said fourth-year Homer-Center head coach Tom Lasher. "We've definitely thought about it, and we sat down at the first practice and talked about that and how hard it is to get back. We want to be focused on trying to make that happen. We're trying to keep that in everybody's mind that for us to get back, we're going to have to work hard."

Goals this lofty are new for a program that lost in the District 6 quarterfinals in Lasher's first two seasons. Because of the Wildcats' lack of playoff history, they were able to revel in the underdog role against many of their opponents. But this season, Skinner said the Wildcats know they will have a target on their backs.

"It was tough last year, and there's no doubt in my mind it's going to be even tougher this year," said Skinner, who recently signed a letter of intent to play Division I hoops at Hartford. "Throughout the playoffs we had some luck in some of the games, but this year, it's just going to be about everyone focusing on the goal at hand and taking it game by game.

"You don't want to get a big head or anything because we had a good season last year. It's a new season with all new teams."

The Wildcats intend to focus on one goal at a time, with the first one being a Heritage Conference title -- something they have been close to achieving the past three years. With last year's champion, Marion Center, losing all of its top players, Homer-Center has a good chance to finally break though in the Heritage, although Blairsville and Ligonier Valley should be in the mix as well.

"Blairsville and Ligonier, they're going to be tough teams because they're always aggressive," Skinner said. "I know some of the teams might be in some rebuilding years, but every team in the Heritage, they seem to be improving each year. I don't think there's going to be an extremely weak team, so every night we have to come out with the same intensity we should have every night."

While winning the Heritage is the Wildcats' first goal, they'll likely still have Bishop Guilfoyle on their minds after the Marauders handed them both of their postseason losses last year, 47-35 in the district championship and 52-41 in the state semifinals.

With most of their starters also returning from a state runner-up squad, the Marauders will likely be the team to beat yet again in District 6 as they go for their sixth straight Class A title.

"I wouldn't say I'm not thinking about them," Lasher said. "They've got another big girl and a guard who will help them, so they're going to be tough.• We felt we could play with them, and for the most part we did. We just came up short both times."

During the offseason, Skinner got to know the Bishop Guilfoyle players well when she played on the PA Pride AAU team with four of them, and they all became friends.

"We know if we play each other, it's going to be a fun and competitive game like it was last year," Skinner said. "Being able to play Guilfoyle any time is a great challenge, and it makes you work harder because you want to be the team to beat Guilfoyle. They have a great reputation and a great basketball program."

For the record

After losing to Bishop Guilfoyle in last year's district title, the Wildcats went on to win three games in the state playoffs, including impressive victories against District 10 champion Kennedy Catholic and WPIAL champion North Catholic -- two perennial powers. That playoff experience will be valuable moving forward, Skinner said.

"I feel like we're all more confident on the court, more sure of each other," she said, "because playing with each other for that extensive time in the playoffs, it really made us understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. I think we're going to complement each other really well this year."

The offense begins with Skinner, who led Homer-Center with 18.4 points per game last season and has been the team's top scorer since her freshman year. She has already reached the 1,000-point mark and has improved her scoring average each year. Lasher is expecting a tremendous senior season from his star guard.

"Watching her in summer league this year, it's just like she took a step up," Lasher said. "I'm expecting that to continue, and she should do very well. I think her shot has improved significantly. She sees the floor well, and I think with the experience, she's less prone to make a mistake. She just has a better overall grasp of the game and what we need to do."

In addition to Skinner, the Wildcats return starting guard Maggie McLoughlin, a junior, and starting forward Breanna Rossi, a senior. Also back is sophomore center Sydney Horel, the team's top reserve player last season.

Horel will take over in the starting lineup for the graduated Lauren Valyo while McLoughlin will shift over to the point guard spot to fill the hole created by the graduation of Danielle Rura. McLoughlin is the team's second-leading returning scorer at 10.1 points per game.

"Maggie is a little bit like Katelyn -- she works on her game year round and puts a lot of effort into it, and you can see the improvement from year to year," Lasher said. "I think her shot's improved, and I think her ability to dribble, penetrate and dish is getting better, and she's making a nice job of going after rebounds, so those are all good things."

Rossi averaged 6.1 points per game for the season, but she stepped up as a scorer during the playoffs to complement her strong rebounding.

"Last year she was a little streaky on her shooting -- when she was on she was great, and when she wasn't, she struggled, and she's another one who's shooting has improved tremendously," Lasher said. "Our perimeter shooting's going to be good, and the other thing is the ability of all three girls -- Skinner, Rossi and McLoughlin -- they've all started taking the ball to the hoop better."

Lasher said the fifth starting spot is currently "up in the air." One candidate is a starter from two years ago, senior forward Halie Townley, who missed most of last season with an injury. Other seniors in the mix for playing time will be Jessica Galasso, Taylor Bernat and Kelsey Vilcek.

Junior Jamie Rura is expected to see some playing time at guard while a group of four freshmen -- Katelyn Smith, Heather Paynter, Christina Albright and Eden Pohley -- are also looking to get into the action. Lasher said a fifth freshman, Julia Buggey, is injured but may see time toward the end of the season.

"We have a really strong freshman class," Skinner said. "They understand the game well, and we have a starting spot open, and they're all fighting for it, and it's really good to see them pushing everyone. They have a really good court sense and basketball IQ. It's really good to have them on the team coming up."

As for the coaching staff, Lasher will once again be joined by assistants Kelli Zerfoss and Jerry Rossi.

Homer-Center begins it season Dec. 9 when the Wildcats host their annual tip-off tournament. They will attempt to successfully defend their tournament title against Central Cambria, Cambria Heights and Meyersdale.