Girls basketball Player of the Year: Maddie Webber, South Fayette
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Maddie Webber’s stellar play took the South Fayette girls basketball program to new heights. Webber averaged 17.3 points per game as the Lions won section and WPIAL championships and advanced to the state title game.
Eleanor Bailey/ The Almanac
Maddie Webber (34) was the driving force behind South Fayette’s stellar season. Webber, a Villanova recruit, helped the Lions to the most successful year in school history.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
South Fayette girls basketball coach Bryan Bennett knew three years ago that his lanky freshman point guard had a bright future.
What he didn’t know at the time was Maddie Webber’s future was going to be as a generational talent, one that would lead the Lions to new heights on the court and eventually become a Division I recruit for a national powerhouse program.
“She was extremely talented as a freshman,” Bennett recalled. “She played point guard that year. I knew she was going to be good. I just didn’t know how good she would get. Through hard work, she made huge strides. She’s worked on all parts of her game.”
After a position change to a wing player as sophomore, Webber’s production began to surge as the Lions went 14-6 and advanced two rounds deep into the WPIAL playoffs. The good times were just starting at South Fayette.
Over the last two seasons, Webber led South Fayette to a 51-8 record, two WPIAL Class 5A championships and a state runner-up finish last month.
Webber averaged 17.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals per game this season, despite exiting many games early because the Lions had forged commanding leads. She ended her career with 1,387 points.
For her accomplishments, Webber has been selected as the Observer-Reporter Girls Basketball Player of the Year.
“Maddie can do it all,” Bennett said. “She has the ability to hit the perimeter jump shot. She has the ability to attack you off the dribble and get to the basket or get off a pull-up jumper. Against smaller defenders, she can post up and score on them.”
With Webber’s ability to put the ball in the basket it was no surprise that she made the biggest shot of the season and etched her name into legend at South Fayette. With the Lions tied with District 10 champion Erie Cathedral Prep in the PIAA quarterfinals at Sharon High School and the final seconds bleeding off the clock, South Fayette turned to Webber. She delivered with a step-back three-pointer from near the top of the key as time expired, giving the Lions a 40-37 come-from-behind victory. South Fayette overcame a 12-point deficit in that game.
“I was happy with the way I played this year,” Webber said. “I thought I definitely improved defensively, improved my rebounding and my ability to score in different ways. In the past, I was just a shooter.”
In the PIAA title game at the Giant Center in Hershey, South Fayette ran into District 12 power Archbishop Wood. Vikings coach Mike McDonald knew his team couldn’t let Webber take over the game, so he ran two, and sometimes three, players at Webber to stop her drives to the basket and force her to pass the ball.
“I didn’t want her to score 30 points on us. That’s what she would have done it we didn’t play that way defensively,” McDonald explained. “We wanted to get the ball out of her hands.”
Archbishop Wood held Webber to 11 points and beat the Lions 61-54 for its eighth state championship in 14 years.
Webber said the turning point in South Fayette’s program was a 57-48 victory over Chartiers Valley in the 2022 WPIAL finals. The Colts had been the measuring stick for girls basketball programs in the WPIAL, having been dominant for more than a decade. But all that win did was add more incentive for Webber and the Lions.
“We wanted to prove that we just didn’t get lucky and win that first WPIAL championship,” Webber explained. “We wanted to prove that we were a great program and win a second WPIAL championship. I am grateful for the season I had and grateful to do it with this group of players.”
Webber is the second South Fayette player to be named O-R Girls Basketball Player of the Year, following Emily Anderson in 2016. Like Anderson, who went to play in the Ivy League for Penn, Webber will be off to Philadelphia for her college ball. Webber is a Villanova recruit. The Wildcats, who had a 30-7 record this season, began recruiting Webber last summer after seeing her at an AAU event.
“I love Villanova’s style of play. It’s a lot like how we play at South Fayette. They run a lot of set plays,” Webber said.
Webber is joined on the all-district first team by South Fayette teammate Ava Leroux, a senior forward who was a dominant force inside at both ends of the court. Leroux also is a Division I recruit as she’s headed to Elon.
Rounding out the first team are two players from Peters Township, junior guard Gemma Walker and sophomore forward Natalie Wetzel, along with Trinity senior forward Eden Williamson. Walker (20.1 ppg) was the leading scorer in the area during the regular season and the lone player to top 20 points per game. Wetzel averaged 19.2 points while helping the Indians advance to the WPIAL Class 6A quarterfinals. Williamson, who battled through nagging injuries, sparked the Hillers to a second-place finish behind South Fayette in Class 5A Section 4, a fifth-place finish in the WPIAL tournament and a spot in the PIAA playoffs.
Player of the Year — Maddie Webber, South Fayette
Coach of the Year — Bryan Bennett, South Fayette
First Team
Ava Leroux, South Fayette, Sr., F
Gemma Walker, Peters Township, Jr., G
Maddie Webber, South Fayette, Sr., G
Natlie Wetzel, Peters Township, So., F
Eden Williamson, Trinity, Sr., F
Second Team
Jenna Dawson, Belle Vernon, Sr., G
McKenna DeUnger, Charleroi, Jr., G
Jillian Frazier, Burgettstown, Sr., G
Kaitlyn Nease, Burgettstown, Jr., F
Kaley Rohanna, Waynesburg, Jr., G
Third Team
Kaydan Buckingham, Chartiers-Houston, Sr., F
Katie Dyer, Avella, Sr., F
Erica Hall, South Fayette, Jr., F
Kaprice Johnson, Washington, Jr., F
Raney Staub, Fort Cherry, Jr., G
Sophia Zalar, Carmichaels, Sr., F