The Central York girls' basketball team isn't the only YAIAA squad that lost its top players to graduation last year. They just might be the only one which starts no seniors and has a starting lineup that includes two sophomores and a freshman.
The Panthers finished 15-10 last season behind the play of first-team YAIAA All-Star guard Adrianna Gillespie (12.3 points per game, five steals per game) and second-team YAIAA All-Star center Aurielle Mosley (12.5 points per game, 12.5 rebounds per game), but was unable to do well enough in the District 3 Class AAAA tournament to qualify for PIAA competition. Both Mosley and Gillespie have graduated and first-year coach Andrew Stiffler must rebuild with a group of young players.
"My goal right now is to take it one day at a time and stay positive and try to improve every single day," Stiffler said following Tuesday's 62-36 loss to Northeastern. "If we do that, then we'll get to a good point. I have to remember that because we do have a young team and I have to stay positive and just try and improve every day."
The biggest weapon Central brings back from last year is junior forward Dee Dee Mosley (above), who gives the Panthers size in the paint at a height of 6-feet and scored eight points in Tuesday's loss. Fellow junior Katie Garvin showed she can score from the perimeter, racking up 13 points against the Bobcats and freshman Hayley Harrold looked promising in her home debut, chipping in six points in the losing effort.
The Panthers still have a reasonable shot to reach .500 and qualify for the District 3 Class AAAA tournament and Stiffler said winning remains a major priority. The coach said the Panthers played poorly in their opener last week, but rebounded to win the consolation game of the tip-off tournament and have been working hard enough to show promise as league play begins.
One area in which the Panthers will almost certainly need to improve is turnovers. Central gave the ball away 27 times against Northeastern.
"When you have such a young team -- and I can say that 100 times to you -- you just have to take it one day at a time and try to stay positive," Stiffler said. "I want to win, but I have to remember that I have a very young team and they are going to make mistakes when they are that young. We want to try and improve so we can cut down on those mistakes as the season goes on.
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