By Andrew Koob
New Castle News

Angelina Sibeto officially is in a class of her very own.

Sibeto’s seven assists in Shenango’s victory over Beth-Center in the preliminary round of the WPIAL Class AA playoffs put her as the school’s record holder for assists in a single-season with 132.

That mark surpassed the former record of 131 assists in a season, set by Toni Wimer in 1989.

“It’s a good feeling,” Sibeto said. “But I wouldn’t have been able to do that without my teammates. I never really thought about (the record). It’s just the way I played and it just happened.”

Despite the record-breaking season, Sibeto, who also is averaging 11.5 points this season, had to adjust to a new, fast-paced style of offense under first-year coach Jason Rankin.

Rankin admitted that Sibeto had to go through a transition period early in the season but, as the year progressed, she has grown comfortable and is thriving in the new offensive scheme.

“I knew that the change of style and playing uptempo would give her a chance to create and get the ball to players,” Rankin said. “The fact that Jacqui (Baker) has played well and Carolyn (Peterson) and Sam (Seaburn) have been strong forces offensively, it makes her job that much easier. She can score too, which makes her so much more of a threat and she had five steals (against Beth-Center). So she is really the full package.”

What has stuck out the most about Sibeto, according to Rankin, isn’t her ability to create opportunities for her teammates. Instead it’s the multi-faceted skills on the court, while also juggling the role of being a coach on the floor.

“The big thing there is that, as a coach, it’s easier when you have a player at the point guard position that understands what you’re trying to do,” Rankin said. “She’s the connecting point between the coaching staff and the players. When she understands what we’re trying to do, that makes our job that much easier because she’s essentially a coach on the floor.

“The fact that she can score and isn’t one of those players that is one-dimensional, it makes her that much tougher to defend. We’ve had some games where teams have made it a point to try and take her away and still played pretty well. But even then, if you want to take away her scoring, she can still pass the ball and can penetrate.”

That ability to lead, along with the rest of the senior class in Peterson, Seaburn and Emma Rich, has the Lady Wildcats hoping a foundation has been established.

“The seniors have been great, you can’t ask for a better group with a 1,000-point scorer, the school’s assist leader and the all-time three-point leader. Then you have Emma, who is as tough as anyone on this team. You have leadership, ability and a commitment from all of the players. That trickles down, especially with five freshmen who need that sort of leadership for them to understand what it will take to duplicate or go further than that.”

(Email: AKoob@ncnewsonline.com)