By Michael Boytim

mboytim@altoonamirror.com

HOLLIDAYSBURG — High school basketball season is still almost six months away, but local summer leagues like the ones hosted by the Blair Regional YMCA and Building II help teams prepare for the upcoming season.

“Just coming out to play gives them time with a basketball in their hands,” Central girls basketball coach Courteney Lingafelt said. “It gets them experience playing against some good teams like the alumni teams and just seeing different competition throughout the league.”

In addition to some tougher competition, it allows teams like Hollidaysburg, which has lost all-state players in each of the last two seasons, to rebuild on the fly.

“It helps to build camaraderie with a new set of kids,” Lady Tigers coach Deanna Jubeck said. “You can see some of the talent that you are going to have moving forward, and it allows the kids to start building chemistry.”

Hollidaysburg lost 2022 Altoona Mirror Female Athlete of the Year Marin Miller going into last season but actually improved on its regular-season mark and entered the PIAA playoffs as the No. 1 ranked team at Class 5A behind Ali Hatajik, who was voted the Mirror girls basketball player of the year, and Sydney Lear, who also made the first team.

Now, the Lady Tigers have to replace another group of talented seniors including Hatajik and Lear.

“It’s a matter of playing with a chip on your shoulder that you still have something to prove,” Jubeck said. “Although we have lost a lot of talent, we still have a lot of talent within our program. The kids work at their game and getting stronger multiple times a week. That’s the difference between being mediocre and taking another step in the right direction.”

Even when a team is returning a lot of players, like Altoona, summer leagues provide an opportunity to work freshmen and sophomores into the rotation for the upcoming season.

“It keeps the cohesiveness of the group playing together,” Altoona girls basketball coach Chris Fleegle said. “It also gives a chance for the younger kids and the newer kids coming into the program to get a chance to play with the older kids in a less stressful situation than the regular season.”

For other teams like Bellwood-Antis, it’s a chance to see how players can build versatility. It also has helped new coach Kyley Longo-McGarvey get her feet wet in her new position.

“This is huge, because you get kids opportunities and put them in positions they might not get chances in,” Longo-McGarvey said. “Summer leagues help kids stay in shape, builds team chemistry and helps the culture within teams. I think it’s a great thing for the kids to be able to continue to play year round with each other.”