Grove City High School girls basketball preview
GROVE CITY, Pa. (WKBN) – The Grove City girls basketball team took a jump in the right direction last season by improving by 6-wins (10 to 16) while finishing second in the region behind Wilmington.
Grove City must move on from Piper Como (13.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 33% 3PT), who has since graduate.
The Eagles will welcome back senior Izzie Gamble (12.0 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 2.1 apg) – a first-team all-region performer – as well as Lola Kolbe (4.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and Autumn Cook (2.0 ppg, 2.5 rpg). The team will be without the services of sophomore Maddie Osborn (13.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.9 apg), who also earned first-team honors a year ago, who is recovering from injury. Look for juniors Aisling Brank and Brianna Brown to play significantly throughout the season.
"I expect our team to compete nightly," says coach Dennis Ranker. "We're very much evolving as we are learning to play without Maddie [Osborn] and Piper [Como]. While there will be growing pains, I expect us to compete each night. Our first goal is always to win the region championship."
Some of the strengths that Ranker sees with his group is the chemistry within the team and the strong senior leader he has in Gamble.
The season gets underway in Mercer against Laurel on November 29.
Grove City Eagles Fast Facts Head Coach: Dennis Ranker, 4th season (41-28) Assistant Coaches: T.L. Eller, Mike Hostetler, Amber Osborn 2023-24 Record: 16-7 (10-2), 2nd in Region 4 2023-24 Post-Season Finish: Lost in District 10 4A First Round to Harbor Creek (55-33)
Team Stats Scoring Offense: 46.4 Scoring Defense: 43.0
Scoring: Piper Como, 13.5 Rebounding: Izzie Gamble, 8.1 Assists: Maddie Osborn, 2.9 Free Throw Percentage: Maddie Osborn, 84.2% Three-Point Percentage: Piper Como, 32.5%
Nov. 29 – vs. Laurel (at Mercer) Nov. 30 – vs. Mercer or Greenville (at Mercer) Dec. 2 – at Moniteau Dec. 6 – Clarion Dec. 12 – at Franklin Dec. 16 – Conneaut Dec. 19 – at Titusville Jan. 3 – at Fort LeBoeuf Jan. 6 – Oil City Jan. 9 – at Hickory Jan. 11 – vs. Mercer (Ron Galbreath Classic) Jan. 13 – Fairview Jan. 16 – Greenville Jan. 18 – at Meadville Jan. 20 – Maplewood Jan. 23 – at Slippery Rock Jan. 27 – Sharon Jan. 30 – Hickory Feb. 6 – at Greenville Feb. 7 – at Karns City Feb. 10 – Slippery Rock Feb. 12 – at Sharon
