CONGRATULATIONS, WILLIAMSBURG!

Laney Prough and her peers grew up idolizing players like her mother. The former Mandi Holland was a player on the Williamsburg High School 1997 PIAA championship girls' basketball team.

Now, after a second run to the state semifinals in three years, Prough is finding out what it's like living in her mom's shoes.

"I'm a student aide with a first-grade class," Prough said. "My dad (Travis) was talking to some of the girls. He made the comment that one of them said I was the reason the team went so far. Now she's picking up the basketball and dribbling and practicing her shooting. That made me feel pretty great."

Prough and the Lady Pirates fell short of their goal to bring the program its second state title. However, a few days removed after falling to eventual champion Bishop Guilfoyle Catholic, 51-45, in the final four on Tuesday, March 19 at the Altoona Area High School Field House, the players were able to take stock of a remarkable run whose memories and high points in a 27-4 season far outweighed the disappointment of its ending.

"It was pretty incredible, even though we were sad that we lost," said Ayla Hileman, one of two senior starters on this year's Lady Pirates and three seniors on the roster with Prough and Claire Carper. "I learned just to have fun and not worry about what's going to happen if we win or lose. I think most of the girls can say that on our team."

"After the (last) game, it was pretty upsetting. We knew we were losing seniors that we liked," said Hileman's first cousin and fellow Lady Pirate starting guard LeeAnna Royer, the team's top point producer. "Now, we're past it. We know we just have to keep working hard."

The daughters and nieces of many of the same players that were part of the Williamsburg teams that reached six straight PIAA semifinals and played in the championship game twice in the 1990s have returned the program to a level as one of the state's small-school measuring sticks.

High expectations

After only advancing to interdistricts once between 2003 and 2021, the Lady Pirates are 8-3 in the PIAA tournament the last three years.

Williamsburg has been eliminated by the eventual state champion in each of the last four years – in 2021, because of COVID-19, only district champions advanced to states, and Williamsburg lost to Guilfoyle after sidelining 2020 state qualifier Blacklick Valley in the first round of the District 6 tournament.

The expectations were high heading into the season.

"We still had a lot of fun. We had our parents and grandparents and the whole community there supporting us," Royer said. "There was pressure, but it was still fun."

The past two seasons, the Lady Pirates have given the eventual PIAA champion its closest playoff test.

Williamsburg was a combined 80-17 over Hileman and Prough's four years.

"I'm always very thankful and feel blessed to live in such a small community and to see them come out in full force, supporting all of our sports teams. I wanted the girls to experience that," said Lady Pirate coach Amy Hileman, a great three-point shooter on Williamsburg's 1993 state semifinal team whose two sisters, Abby and Carrie, also were part of that era's run. "That was one of the great memories that I had."

Learning to be a team

Amy Hileman has been coaching the core of this team since preschool.

The program has produced a pair of all-state players already in that span – Ayla Hileman and since-graduated Jayla Woodruff – and Royer is poised to join that list this year with freshman post player Vada Gorsuch also knocking on the door for major honors in her career after topping the team in field goal percentage, rebounding and blocked shots this winter.

The run seems likely to continue after the junior high Lady Pirates won another Inter-County Conference championship in February.

"It was incredible to get this far. It was good teamwork, really. We learned how to be a team," Gorsuch said.

Gorsuch's mother, Jen, was on those great 1990s teams, as were her aunts, Jess and Joeylyn. Her grandfather, Mike Lilly, was a longtime coach of

the Williamsburg boys.

The family connections are uncanny, noted Coach Hileman. One of last year's top players, Kendel Norris, is the daughter of former Lady Pirate and Division I college basketball player Jill Tate and the niece of three other Williamsburg girls' standouts.

Meanwhile, Prough's younger sister, Regan, was a sophomore on this year's team and its sixth-leading scorer.

"Definitely, playing with my sister was special. That was great," Prough said.

For the Hilemans, it was a bonding experience, as both have gotten to achieve the same thing as players.

"She's definitely proud of me. Of course, we wish we could have gone farther, but our relationship has only grown stronger knowing we've both through the same thing," Ayla Hileman said.

The younger Hileman rushed back after missing the first 10 games of the season following a knee surgery in May.

"It was my senior year. I love basketball and I put so much work into it over the years," said the younger Hileman, admitting she returned to the court probably a little quicker than was advisable. "I felt confident on it, which was a big thing. But I wanted to play with the girls and have my senior season."

'A cool experience'

The Lady Pirates barely had to break a sweat in the regular season, where only two of their games came down to single digits.

The biggest wins almost certainly were in the second and third round of interdistricts. The Lady Pirates pounded District 9 champion Elk County Catholic, 54-30, to get a shot at Berlin Brothersvalley.

Williamsburg had won a tight regular season matchup only to fall to the Lady Mountaineers in the ICC championship game.

Royer scored 20 in the rubber match, while Gorsuch collected 13 points and seven