Cleary wants Serra girls to improve on offense

By JOSE NEGRON
jnegron@yourmvi.com
When Rayna Andrews graduated from Serra Catholic, a significant amount of offensive production walked out the door with her.
Andrews, last year’s Mon Valley Independent-BeeGraphix Super 6 Girls Player of the Year, averaged a double-double as a senior, scoring 17 points and collecting 13 rebounds per game. She led the Eagles to a 17-5 record and an 11-1 mark in Section 2-2A play, along with trips to the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs.
With Andrews gone, Serra Catholic will aim to replace her offensive production, a point of emphasis for Bill Cleary as he enters his 34th season with the Eagles.
“One of the things I’d like to see this team do is improve offensively,” Cleary said. “We have to pick up the slack and find some offensive firepower.”
Serra will rely on a trio of returning starters in seniors Grace Navarro and Nicole Pawlowski and junior Chloe Pordash.
Pordash averaged eight points per game last season, while Navarro and Pawlowski each averaged six per contest.
“All three of these kids have started since they were freshmen,” Cleary said. “They have a lot of experience under their belt and they have certain expectations of how they want to play. I’m pretty comfortable with all three of those kids.”
The departure of Andrews and fellow 2020 graduate Rian Watson leaves two starting spots up for grabs. Cleary said those voids will be filled by a pair of upperclassmen in junior forward Chloe Honick and senior forward Rylee Campbell.
Both players received valuable playing time off the bench for Cleary the past few seasons.
“I’m very comfortable with them. They have played minutes in every game since they’ve been in high school,” Cleary said. “They logged a lot of minutes and they have the experience of kids who have started a ton.”

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