Pictured above: Kalia Saunders (Tony Callaio Photo)
By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
WILKES-BARRE – The Wyoming Valley West girls basketball team has lofty aspirations this season and for good reason.
“We believe this is our deepest roster since our 2017 team which won two state playoff games,” Lady Spartans coach Gary Ferenchik said.
After the team finished 11-12 in 2021-22, Ferenchik said the “first goal is to improve on last season’s wins.”
It does not end there, however.
“Our main goal is to bring Wyoming Valley West it’s first 6A district title,” Ferenchik said.
A veteran lineup, including four returning starters, has the Lady Spartans considered as a contender in Wyoming Valley Conference Division 1 and perhaps on the district level despite a move up from Class 5A to 6A for this two-year cycle of district and state play.
Wyoming Valley West opened the season by winning its own Mike Duda Tournament and reached Christmas as one of four 1-0 teams in the division, along with a 5-1 overall record. The only loss came to unbeaten Lackawanna League Division 1 defending champion and favorite Scranton Prep.
Mackenzie Perluke not only was a second-team division all-star last season, but she may be one of the division’s most improved players even with starting from that base.
Perluke, a 5-foot-7 forward, earned those honors while ranking second on the team in scoring as a sophomore behind four-year, all-star Trinity Johnson, the team’s only significant graduation loss.
Wyoming Valley West has two players who fit that description.
Kalia Saunders was second to Johnson in scoring two years ago as a sophomore before spending most of the 2021-22 school year at a prep school in New Jersey.
Saunders, a 6-foot-1 senior center, helps fill for the loss of Johnson, who now plays at the University of Rochester.
Perluke, the Duda Tournament Most Valuable Player, has developed into the team’s main offensive weapon.
Plenty of support is available as new players have emerged along with the veterans.
Senior guard/forward Haylie Oliphant, senior guard Claudia Siegfried and junior guard Gabby Marsola are the returning starters. Junior forward/center Kiersten Rinehimer is another player who picked up plenty of experience last season.
Freshman guard/forward Thalia Irizarry debuted by joining Perluke and Oliphant on the Duda all-tournament team.
Sophomore forward/center Anya Richet has become another option while two more newcomers freshman forward/center Gabby Novitski and sophomore forward/center Alyvia McLaughlin add to the depth.
