Nov 30, 2022 3 min read

Patience has been a virtue for Megan Zitner.

For the Burgettstown High School girls basketball coach, patience has seemed to be a prerequisite for the job.

“At first, just making the playoffs was an excitement,” said Zitner, who has coached the Blue Devils since 2013. “Once we started making (the playoffs), we wanted that first-round win.”

But Burgettstown had to wait.

And wait.

And, agonizingly, wait some more.

The Blue Devils made the playoffs for the first time in Zitner’s tenure in 2017. Then went back to the postseason three straight seasons starting in 2019. Each of those four appearances ended in first-round exits, including being bounced by lower seeds in the last two years of that stretch.

Last season, Burgettstown started the year with 11 consecutive wins, went 9-1 in Class 2A Section 3 and finally took care of business in the first round of the playoffs with a win over California. The Blue Devils bowed out in the following round in a heartbreaking one-point loss to Serra Catholic. They advanced to the PIAA tournament but lost in the opening round to District 6 champion Homer Center.

The Blue Devils finished the season with an 18-5 record.

“We kind of knew going into last year that this was the group we had been waiting for,” Zitner said. “They have had success as early as second and third grade. We were excited from watching their progression. It did sting to lose (in the quarterfinals). They believe they could have been in the semifinals. But it definitely fuels us.”

Fueling another potential trip back to the postseason and what they hope is a deeper run is the return of three starters. Observer-Reporter All-District selections Kaitlyn Nease and Jillian Frazier return, along with Addison Cairns. Nease, a second-team selection, averaged 11.8 points and nine rebounds per game. Frazier finished last year with 11.3 points, four assists and nearly four steals in the Blue Devils’ 23 games. Cairns averaged 7.5 points.

Burgettstown also has several players with experience that will round out the lineup, including Christany Bartley, Eden Rush, Rylee Havelka and Martina Whyte.

But with at least 15 wins in each of the last three regular seasons, Zitner believes the preparation to get the Blue Devils where they eventually want to end up – in a WPIAL championship game – will start with a stronger non-section schedule.

“We just need to play stronger teams so we are more comfortable in games (like the quarterfinals),” said Zitner. “Things we haven’t seen in past regular seasons. It’s going to be tough playing bigger schools, but the goal is to prepare us for the playoffs.”

That tougher schedule opens with McGuffey in the Avella Tip-Off Tournament and includes other Class 3A schools Laurel, Avonworth, Seton LaSalle and South Park. The Blue Devils also play Beaver from Class 4A.

“Last year still stings,” Zitner said. “We missed some opportunities, but that is basketball. They want it. The goals are set. They want to make it further.”