Pitt-Greensburg’s Basketball Teams Shoot to Finish Strong

After playing in a tournament over the winter break, the men’s and women’s basketball teams have already started playing in the spring semester.

Last year the women’s basketball team ended strong with 7-11 in conference play, and they picked up strong again this year. Currently, the women’s team is 4-3 in conference and their goal is to peak right before the conference tournament.

“I think we’re right on track for that,” Hayley Schaetzle, head women’s basketball coach, said.

As for the out of conference games that the women’s team lost, Colleen Murphy, junior guard player, does not think they were a total loss.

“Most of the out of conference games we played were against much better teams, so even though we lost, we really gained a lot of experience out of it,” Murphy said.

During the winter break, the women’s team went to Southern California to play in a Christmas tournament, specifically the Chapman’s University Winter Classic. They played against two strong teams, one was the Chapman University and the other was the University of Redland. Coach Schaetzle saw the trip as a fantastic opportunity to grow.

“The trip was an awesome experience for our team in terms of growing on the court against some stronger competition, as well as team bonding and getting to experience some new experiences,” Schaetzle said.

Not only did the women’s basketball team compete in a Christmas tournament, but the men did too. In Ohio, the men’s basketball team attended the Oberlin College Holiday Classic where they won a game and lost a game.

Likewise, the men’s basketball team, which is currently 1-6 in conference, is continuing to work towards their goal of improving every day and getting to know one another.

“We still have a young team,” Head Men’s Basketball Coach Brody Jackson said. “We’re focusing on getting more comfortable with one another.”

Even though the men’s basketball team had a few losses, they strive to improve.

“Every game it came down to the last five or six minutes and we just need to get better at that part.” Jackson said.

Kyle Bondi, senior, wants to keep working hard and improving. When he was in high school, Bondi knew that he wanted to play college basketball. Once Bondi was given the opportunity to play for Pitt-Greensburg, he happily accepted.

“Hopefully we can turn things around a little bit and bring things together,” Bondi said. “The big thing we’re looking forward to is playoffs. Hopefully we’ll get there, but we have to win a few games in order to do it.”