Penn State York women's hoops loaded with local talent

I covered a Penn State York basketball doubleheader against Mont Alto over the weekend and saw a lot of familiar faces in both the women's and men's games.

In fact, the local Lions women's roster of 12 players features eight from the area, including the entire starting lineup.

Even the York women's coach, Bob Heiser is a YAIAA alum, having coached at Eastern York for many years. Plus, one of his assistants, Tierney Hiltz, was a 1,000-point scorer while playing for Heiser with the Golden Knights.

Heiser took over this season after serving as an assistant with the Lions in 2012-13. He is enjoying the gig, saying "This is a great bunch of kids."

Delone Catholic grad Courtney Riggs started her collegiate career at Kutztown before transferring to Penn State York. The co-captain, who posted a game-high 20 points on Saturday, has seen the growth at York over her three seasons.

"It's been different, especially my first year here having six girls. Last year we moved from six to eight or nine. This year we have a full team and can scrimmage against each other," she said. "It's different from high school, it's a lot faster."

Riggs is joined by starters Katie McNamara (York Catholic), Brittany Kint (York Suburban), plus the York sisters, Hannah and Molly from Christian School of York. All five starters scored in double figures on Saturday.

"I love it here. I like the atmosphere and playing for a team that is close knit," said Hannah York, who scored 10 straight points, 17 total, in the win over Mont Alto. "Being on a campus that is small and I can be close to my family, that's really important to me."

Red Lion alums Marissa Ness and Bradania Harrington, plus Ashley Wells of Northeastern, round out the YAIAA players on the roster.