Local players contribute to WCCC success

Local players contribute to WCCC success - By JAMIE RANKIN

The Westmoreland County Community College women's basketball team earned second place in the Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference this season, and three local graduates helped the Wolfpack do it. Southmoreland graduate Hannah Porter is a sophomore member of the team, while fellow Scotties alumna Kaylee Cummins and Mt. Pleasant graduate Brooke Kalp played as freshmen.

Kalp was the Wolfpacks' second-leading scorer, averaging 15.2 points per game and pulling down an average of 10.9 rebounds. She boasted a 73.8 free-throw percentage. Kalp said WCCC seemed like a natural choice for her.

"I really wanted to continue playing basketball, so that was a factor. And tuition wasn't going to be outrageous," she said.

Both Cummins and Porter said the proximity of WCCC's campus helped them make the transition to college.

Kalp said she also was on the track team in high school, but basketball has always been her main sport.

"I've been playing since I've been in third grade," she said.

Neither Cummins nor Porter is quite as serious about her basketball career as Kalp. In fact, Cummins said she had never played the sport before this past season.

"I played soccer (in high school)," she said, noting that WCCC's women's soccer team was "very short-handed" in the fall. "So, I begged my best friend, Hannah (Porter), to play. She said, 'I'll only do it if you play basketball.'"

"I played (soccer) in my senior year only there because of kind of the same situation," she said. "In high school, I ran track and played basketball. I thought I was done playing because

I didn't think I was very good."

However, Porter said Scott Hillen, who coached the Wolfpack before first-year coach Gene Brisbane took over, encouraged her to join the team. And she is glad she did.

"I didn't realize how much I would've missed it," she said. "We got a new coach this year, so we weren't sure what was going to happen, but it turned out to be a very successful season."

Porter averaged 9.5 points per game for WCCC, pulling down an average of 5.3 rebounds.

All three players said playing for Brisbane has been fun.

"It was a great experience," Kalp said. "Coach Brisbane turned out to be an excellent coach."

Cummins agreed.

"It was definitely a great experience," she said. "I'm really glad I did it. Coach Brisbane is one of my favorite coaches I've had."

Kalp and Cummins each have the opportunity to play another season at the community college, but neither is sure whether she will be returning to the Wolfpacks' lineup.

"I'm planning on going to 3 C's next year, too," Cummins said. "They told me I have a spot on the team next year, and I'm welcome to come back. But I don't know yet."

Porter said she will transfer to Indiana University of Pennsylvania next year, and her school won't be the only thing that changes.

"I'm not going to play basketball, but I'm thinking about running track," she said. "That might be an option."