DLN ALL-AREA: Girls Basketball Teams and Coach of the Year

Other than Player of the Year Courtney Warley, here is the rest of the Daily Local News 2016-17 All-Area Girls Basketball team:

FIRST TEAM
Dee Dee Irwin, Coatesville
Senior guard, a first team All-Ches-Mont National Division selection, was an exciting all-around player (18 ppg, 3 spg, 3 apg, 5 rpg). Scored 30 points in the Ches-Mont championship semifinal, and finished her Red Raider career with 1,025 points.

Emma Bertrando, West Chester Henderson
A two-time first team All-Ches-Mont National Division selection, the senior guard was the Warriors’ Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row. Featured a wide range of talents (13 ppg, 8 rpg, 3 spg) in leading Henderson to an impressive regular-season campaign.

Katie Mayock, Conestoga
Junior 6-foot-4 center, a first team All-Central League selection (and runnerup in the league MVP voting), was a dominating presence inside for the Pioneers’ strong squad this winter, averaging 15 points and 11 rebounds per game for the season.

Maddie Shanahan, Unionville
A repeat first team All-Ches-Mont American Division pick (received the second-most votes of all American Divsion players), the 6-foot-1 senior point guard had a wide range of skills (10.5 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 1.8 spg, 1.3 bpg, made 61.6% of her free throws) and her versatility allowed her to play a variety of positions.

Miranda Porretta, Oxford
Sophomore guard averaged 14 ppg and is a repeat Daily Local News All-Area first team selection. Her all-around talents keyed the Hornets to another strong campaign, and she received first team All-Ches-Mont American Division honors for the second year in a row.

SECOND TEAM
Brianna White, senior forward, Coatesville
Bella Smuda, freshman center, Downingtown East
Andrea Prestianne, sophomore guard, Kennett
Abby Walheim, sophomore guard, Villa Maria Academy
Maddie DePrisco, junior guard, West Chester Henderson
Viki Kneis, senior forward, West Chester Henderson
Maggie O’Hare, junior forward, West Chester Rustin

HONORABLE MENTION
Avon Grove: Chandler Salley, senior forward/guard.
Bishop Shanahan: Kelly Basile, senior guard; Sammi McCarter, sophomore guard; Kathryn Greenhut, freshman forward; Jen Sendi, senior guard.
Coatesville: Sarah Huston, sophomore guard; Siana Brown, senior forward; Amaya Douglas, freshman.
Conestoga: Emma Powell, senior forward; Liz Scott, senior forward.
Downingtown East: Olivia Williams, junior guard; Erin Phelan, junior forward; Danielle Tyrell, junior guard.
Downingtown West: Halle Brown, sophomore; Kate Couser, senior; Gillian Nanni, senior.
Great Valley: Sadie Buzan, junior guard.
Kennett: Caroline Hertz, junior guard.
Oxford: Grace Hennessey, senior center; Madeline Williams, junior guard.
Unionville: Grace Schrof, junior guard; Sophia Detweiler, senior forward.
Villa Maria Academy: Marissa Picinich, senior forward; Paige Lauder, freshman forward.
West Chester East: Marissa McDonald, sophomore guard; Caroline Lewis, senior; Kaitlyn Boyle, senior.
West Chester Henderson: Abbey Shea, junior forward.
West Chester Rustin: Lexi Zavitsky, senior guard; Erin Gallagher, junior forward; Dikaya Daniels, sophomore guard.
Westtown School: Eunice Jiminez, senior point guard.

Coach of the Year
Fran Burbidge, Bishop Shanahan
It was a memorable season for Bishop Shanahan, winning its third consecutive Ches-Mont championship, finishing third at districts, advancing to the second round of states (where it almost knocked off eventual state champion Archbishop Wood). Directing the action on the sidelines was the 2016-17 Daily Local News All-Area Girls Basketball Coach of the Year, Fran Burbidge.
The 1971 Cardinal O’Hara grad has coached players on many different levels. He coached Elena Delle Donne at Ursuline Academy and Breanna Stewart with the AAU Philadelphia Belles. He also served as an assistant coach to Bobbi Morgan for the Cabrini University women’s basketball team, and he has been the Shanahan head coach for four years.
But what made this Shanahan team, and its players, particularly memorable to Burbidge was its adaptability and willingness to change.
“We didn’t get off to the greatest start this season, and our [coaching] approach, which was to play in a certain way, was not playing to [our players’] strengths,” said Burbidge. “We were able to sit around as a team and talk about how we could better play to our strengths. To be able to turn it around, and to have every player embrace the changes we were trying to make in our style of play, really made it special.
“The Shanahan community is a great community, the support from the Sisters [at the school] has been fantastic. And I want to emphasize this — without [assistant coaches] Katie Holzer Taraborelli and Pat Lyons, none of [our success] over the past four years would be possible. They’ve done a great job, a fantastic job.”