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By SETH STASKEY
SHADYSIDE -- Saying the Shadyside girls' basketball team was on a roller coaster ride in 2015-16 wouldn't be an exaggeration.
A lot of young players with a mid-season coaching change left a lot of what if question surrounding the Tigers.
Serge Gentile -- a Shadyside grad -- was hired in March as the Tigers head coach, replacing Laken Gibson, who wore the interim tag once Jim Miller was terminated.
"We've not talked at all about last year," Gentile said. "There's no need to look into the past other than the on-court experience that these girls gained."
Gentile, who spent seven seasons working under Justin Clifford as an assistant at Harrison Central, takes over a squad which returns basically every key contributor from a squad that finished 10-14 last winter.
"These girls got a lot of minutes last year," Gentile said. "They got thrown into the (varsity) fire and that's going to benefit us this year."
Though many of the Tigers' players garnered that experience, there's still a transition since, in essence, Gentile is the third head coach these players have had in the last 12 months.
"Everything is still kind of new to them," Gentile pointed out. "They're catching up to speed and they're putting in the work that's necessary. We had a good summer and we're trying to build off of that. We're excited about the season."
Unlike many first-year coaches, Gentile not only inherits a team that boasts varsity experience, but he takes over a program that's been established as one of the area's best. After all, it does boast three state tournament appearances in the last 15 years.
With those factors, however, comes increased expectations. Though he admits he tries not to pay attention to "the noise," Gentile is well aware of what many think of his team.
"As much as we try to tune it out, it's good to have high expectations, especially when you're in a program with such a rich history and tradition," Gentile said. "If we didn't have high expectations, I'd find that troubling. We know what we're capable of, but we have to stay the course and not let anything outside affect how we practice or approach the games."
Should the Tigers have the kind of success many believe they're capable of, Gentile believes it's going to boil down to the defensive end of the floor. Thus, he's bringing a new mentality with him from Harrison Central.
"We're going to play fast and pressure the ball," Gentile said. "We've been stressing to the girls that they need to show up and bring intensity every day. They played a lot of zone last year and we want to be a man-to-man team and really dictate the pace and kind of establish our will."
On the offensive end, Gentile expects his team to shoot plenty of 3-pointers, but he also believes they'll be able to score more in the paint and not become so reliant on the arc.
The biggest thing that Gentile has stressed about offense is not allowing a rough shooting day to affect his team's approach on the defensive end.
"It's not going to be everyone's night all the time, so we've stressed that we'll find someone to score as long as they don't let the ball not going in the hoop affect them on the other end," Gentile said. "We have to play defense. We can't let an off-night affect our other parts of the game. Focusing and really buckling down on the defensive end will be important."
One legitimate strength for the Tigers is depth. Gentile believes he'll be able to go as many eight, nine and maybe 10 deep without much dropoff.
"We have a lot of interchangeable parts," Gentile said. "A lot of our girls can play multiple roles, too. I think we can be extremely balanced both in terms of scoring and minutes."
One of the more versatile players for Shadyside will be senior Jonna Eniex (5-7), who had a solid junior campaign. She'll see time both on the perimeter and inside.
"Jonna is a skilled, athletic player," Gentile said. "She has size and length, but she's also able to put the ball down and slash to the bucket. She's a good shooter, too."
Senior Layne Hendershot (5-5) had some big games shooting the ball last season, too. She'll see quality minutes.
"Layne is one of the better shooters on the team," Gentile said.
Senior Hayley Shook (5-7) will anchor the interior. She's Shadyside's top post defender.
"Hayley really battles in there," Gentile said. "She can rebound, guard the other team's center and hopefully get us some easy buckets."
Julee Schuetz (5-5) is out for the team for the first time since eighth grade. Gentile believes she can contribute, but is still shaking off the rust from being away from the sport for three years.
Gentile is extremely high on junior Jess Cicogna (5-9), who showed flashes of brilliance last season. She's an adept 3-point shooter and can also play on the interior.
"Jess has good length and can really both people on defense," Gentile said. "She's a good shooter, too."
Junior Haylee Gregan (5-6) is another athletic, long player for the Lady Tigers.
"Haylee's length allows her to get her hands on a lot of passes," Gentile said. "She's a great defender."
Sophomore Sydnie Destifanes (5-0) had an impressive freshman season, especially from behind the arc. She knocked in 45 bonus goals a season ago.
"Syd can really shoot it and she's getting better defensively," Gentile said.
Sophomore Jaycee Mayers (5-5) is another who will see varsity minutes after making a solid contribution last season.
Two more quality sophomores in the rotation are Macy Coffland (5-6) and Haleigh Osman (5-0). Both are versatile and can play inside or outside, according to their head coach.
After the first half of the season, sophomore Jacie Wells (5-7) becomes eligible and will supply additional depth. She's sitting out the first 11 games after transferring from Martins Ferry.
Ticketed primarily for jayvee duty are a class of seven freshmen, including Brooke Selmon (5-3), Kaylee Savage (5-4), Maddie Meadows (5-5), Sarah Teasdale (5-8), Julie Hendershot (5-8), Mattie Reiman (5-3) and Madisyn Stewart (5-4).
Gentile is excited about the coaching staff he has in place. Working with him at the varsity level are B.A. Holloway and Brandon Parr.
At the junior high level, Curt Wach and Lacey Parr will guide the eighth and seventh grades, respectively.
Nov. 26: Martins Ferry 7:30 p.m.
Nov. 28: Frontier 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 3: Caldwell 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 5: at Monroe Central 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 8: at Cameron 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 12: Bishop Donahue 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 17: at Martins Ferry 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 19: at Bridgeport 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 22: at Bishop Donahue 7:30 p.m.
Dec. 29: Monroe Central 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 2: Cameron 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 5: at Bellaire 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 7: at Wheeling Central 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 12: at Caldwell 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 16: River 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 18: Wheeling Central 4 p.m.
Jan. 23: at River 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 26: Bridgeport 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 28: at Frontier 7:30 p.m.
Jan. 30: Bellaire 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 6: OVAC Tournament TBA