Sophomore making her mark
for playoff-bound Lady ’Canes


By JOHN D’ABRUZZO
j_dabruzzo@ncnewsonline.com

Although only a sophomore, LaShauna Brothers is becoming a force for the New Castle girls basketball team.

“The more mature I become, the better player I’ll be,” the 5-foot-10 forward said. “I think I’m becoming a pretty good player.”

After playing in a handful of games as a freshman, Brothers has made the transition to the Lady ’Canes’ starting lineup.

She has been a key component for New Castle (8-1 section, 17-2 overall). The Lady ’Canes clinched a playoff spot with WPIAL Section 2-AAA wins over Center and Blackhawk last week.

Brothers scored team-highs in both games, bucketing 16 in a 77-27 win over Center and following with 20 in a 48-40 decision over Blackhawk.

“I just kept my head in the game,” Brothers said. “I don’t know what it was about those games other than we played well and played together as a team.”

The Lady ’Canes, ranked second in the WPIAL by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, led just 22-18 at the break before outscoring Blackhawk 19-6 in the third period when Brothers got 12 of her 20. She also finished with eight rebounds.

For her performance, Brothers is Lawrence County’s Athlete of the Week, as selected by The New Castle News sports staff. The award is sponsored by Washington Centre Physical Therapy.

“She’s so well-rounded because she can do a little bit of everything,” New Castle coach Luann Grybowski said. “She can shoot, she can score, she can handle the ball and help us in a pressure situation, she rebounds very well and she can score inside at will.

“If I had to talk about a weakness, it would probably be her defense. She reaches a little bit. When you’re young and bigger, stronger and more athletic than everybody else, you seem to rely on your athletic ability. Now she has to work a little harder.”

Grybowski expected big things from the youngster.

“I thought last year she could have helped us,” Grybowski said. “But she was always afraid and didn’t want to be in the limelight, so she missed a lot of opportunities.”

“Before, I kept getting down on myself,” Brothers said. “I know that I can’t do that because the team needs me. We all need to be doing our part.”

Brothers is averaging 13.1 points through 19 games. She’s also averaging about eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.

“I’ve seen improvements; leaps and bounds in every thing she’s done,” Grybowski said. “From confidence to maturity, to wanting the ball to less moodiness.

“You could see it on her face that if she missed a layup or made a mistake, it used to be pouting and sulking, but it’s getting better.”