By: Don Rebel 
Sunday, January 5, 2025 | 8:26 PM

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Trib HSSN girls basketball player of the week – Oumou “Mimi” Thiero

School – Quaker Valley

Class – Junior

Height – 6-foot-4

Position – Guard

What coach says – “Her all-around game was really solid against Riverside,” Quaker Valley coach Ken Johns said. “Along with the 23 points, she had 21 rebounds and six blocked shots. She handles the ball a good amount of the time for us, and she did a very nice job of that against Riverside as well. She had three assists, but she set us up with some good looks and facilitated the offense for us well.

“She is making shots a bit more consistently,” Johns said. “I have seen improvement in her post game and in her mid-range jump shot, which makes her even harder to guard. I think the biggest thing for me is her continued growth as a leader.”

“Mimi has always been a pretty good defender and a lot of that has come from her length in blocking shots, but this year she is guarding harder all the way around,” Johns said. “She’s communicating well, guarding the ball well and her help-side defense has really improved. Knowing she can guard inside and out on the perimeter allows us to do a lot of different things and she will go a rebound from wherever she is. Over the past four games she has averaged 20 points and 20 rebounds and she gets her share on both ends, but she’s been rebounding the ball well defensively.

“She has grown into a vocal leader, and I see it more and more every practice and game,” Johns said. “With such a young team, it is important for us to have that. Mimi and our other co-captain Lucy Roig are beginning to embrace that role. Mimi leads by action for sure with how hard she works and plays, but it’s great to hear and see her growing into a leadership role with all of the players. That is going to continue to be a big part of us being the best version of ourselves as a team.”

#Earned – Thiero has been a model of consistency coming off a sophomore season in which she scored 368 points and averaged 19.4 points per game. Through 10 games in her junior campaign, she is five points shy of 200 points for the season and is averaging 19.5 points per game. The 6-foot-4 guard eclipsed her average in the Quakers’ first game of 2025 on Thursday when she dropped 23 points in leading Quaker Valley over Riverside, 47-24. The victory improved the Quakers to 2-2 and into a tie for third place in Section 1-3A with an overall record of 4-6, one win shy of their victory total from a year ago.

Background – Theiro comes from a basketball family. Her parents came to the U.S. from West Africa, her father to play high school basketball and her mother to play college hoops. Her older brother Adou was a star at Quaker Valley where he averaged 23.3 points per game as a senior in 2022 in leading the Quakers to a WPIAL championship and a loss in the PIAA championship game. He played at Kentucky as a freshman and sophomore before transferring to Arkansas this season. Mimi has dozens of Division I offers and plans to make her choice sometime this summer. Once a year, Mimi and her family travel back to their parent’s hometown with basketball shoes, athletic equipment, food and clothing for those in need in Segou, Mali.

Podcast

A look back at the 2024 Trib HSSN Girls Basketball Players of the Week

Week 12 – Alena Fusetti, Blackhawk

Week 11 – Aubree Hupp, Blackhawk

Week 10 – Rachael Manfredo, McKeesport

Week 9 – Maggie Spell, Shady Side Academy

Week 8 – Emma Paul, Armstrong

Week 7 – Bailey Strnisa, South Side

Week 6 – Bella Antonacci, Indiana

Week 5 – Emma Larkin, Geibel Catholic

Week 4 – Shaye Bailey, Freedom

Week 3 – London Creach, Oakland Catholic

Week 2 – Mallory Daly, Seton LaSalle

Week 1 – Iyanna Wade, Clairton

By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, January 5, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Two girls basketball games on back-to-back nights. Two nail-biters, one home and one away. Excitement galore.

Yes, Quaker Valley’s second win this season indeed was a thriller.

The Quakers knuckled down at the end of the game Dec. 11 to nip host Winchester Thurston, 35-34, in a gripping nonsection matchup.

“It was an exciting end. We took the lead with less than a minute to go and hung on from there,” QV coach Ken Johns said.

The next night, the Quakers lost a tough 47-43 section decision in overtime to visiting Beaver Falls.

Going back to the Winchester Thurston contest, sophomore guard Rose Cline scored what proved to be the game-winner by handing QV a 35-32 lead after a basket by junior guard/forward Mimi Thiero had given the Quakers a one-point advantage.

“In the moment, I didn’t think much of the basket. I just wanted help our team win and focus on getting back on defense,” the sprightly Cline said. “I think we worked well as a team and played with a lot of energy and ambition to win.

“Our intensity towards the last few minutes really ramped up and showed us how our team can play when we work together.”

Thiero added two blocked shots in the game’s waning seconds while QV junior guard Lucy Roig came up with a critical steal with 11 seconds to go. Roig, a lacrosse standout, finished with six rebounds, three steals and three assists.

“Anna Campbell made two 3-pointers early in the game to keep us in it,” Johns said. “Rose Cline scored eight second-half points to help spark a run in the third quarter then secured the game down the stretch.”

The 6-foot-5 Thiero wrapped up her night with 14 points, 18 rebounds, eight blocked shots, seven steals and four assists.

“We’ve had contributions from a number of players early on (this season),” Johns said. “Keira Watson has been asked to do a lot as a freshman, running as the point guard most of the time, and has emerged as our second-leading scorer. She scored 15 in our win against Eden Christian Academy.”

The Quakers’ Section 1-3A opener Dec. 12 against Beaver Falls became a tense, nip-and-tuck tussle in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers took a 34-28 lead into the fourth frame only to watch QV stage an impressive comeback.

Thiero and sophomore guard Anna Campbell rendered the theatrics starting with Campbell’s 3-pointer with 6:48 to go.

A three-point play by Thiero with 4:37 remaining cut the deficit to three, then a Campbell field goal at the 3:45 mark narrowed it to one.

Thiero gave the Quakers their first lead of the second half, making it 39-38. And she wasn’t finished.

After Beaver Falls regained the lead on a 3-pointer by junior guard Dreaven Haskin with 32 seconds left, Cline sank a free throw eight seconds later.

Junior guard Taylor Pullen connected on two foul shots with 10 seconds showing on the clock to boost the Tigers’ advantage to 43-40.

Thiero calmly hit a her second 3-pointer of the contest with just two seconds to go. The clutch shot only added to the game’s intrigue when the ball bounced around and high above the rim before going through the hoop.

However, the visitors cashed in for four unmatched points in OT.

Thiero racked up 17 second-half points, including 10 in the fourth quarter, en route to a game-high 23. Leasia Karto, a freshman forward, Campbell and Cline combined for 16.

Thiero was scouted at the QV gym by college coaches from Maryland, Penn State, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

The Tigers were sparked by the flashy backcourt tandem of Pullen and Haskins. Pullen clicked for 10 points in the first half and three in overtime to finish with 22. Haskins chipped in with 17.

QV rebounded Dec. 16 by blasting Sto-Rox, 61-16, as Thiero accounted for 28 points while Watson tacked on 13.

The Quakers then dropped back-to-back decisions Dec. 23 and Dec. 27 to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (52-44) and Shaler (54-24) to fall to 3-6 overall. Thiero poured in 30 points against OLSH.

At the start of the new year, the Section 1-3A standings were as follows: OLSH (3-0), Riverside (2-1), Beaver Falls (2-1), Mohawk (2-1), QV (1-2), Sto-Rox (1-2), Ellwood City (1-2), New Brighton (0-3).

 As recruiting heats up, Quaker Valley's Mimi Thiero stays level

Thiero, Adou Thiero's younger sister, is making a basketball name for herself. Mimi is the WPIAL's highest ranked recruit in a decade.

COLIN BEAZLEY

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

cbeazley@post-gazette.com

DEC 5, 2024

5:30 AM

JJ LaBella/For the Post-Gazette)

Mimi Thiero didn’t like basketball at first. But like any kid, she did like having things other people had.

It started with sneakers. When Thiero was in third grade, her older brother, Adou, got a new pair of shoes, orange and blue KDs from Nike. Mimi wanted them and told her parents, both basketball coaches, she wouldn’t play until she got the same shoes. They gave in.

“I started playing for a week,” Thiero said, “and then I stopped playing because I got bored again.”

Then one of her friends got a pink basketball. She saw it, she liked it, she wanted it, she got it. Then after a week, she quit again.

“It was on and off with basketball,” Thiero said. “Sometimes I’d go to a practice, sometimes I’d work out with my brother and my dad. I definitely wasn't consistent with it.”

A year later she joined a youth team with her friends, more as a social activity than anything. Then she scored 13 points against Beaver in her first game. Everything snowballed from there.

Seven years later, Thiero is a 6-foot-4 junior at Quaker Valley and one of the top college basketball recruits in the country. She’s racked up 46 offers (per her X page), including 23 from Power 5 schools, and is currently the No. 55 recruit in ESPN’s HoopGurlz 2026 rankings. It’s the highest ESPN recruiting ranking for a WPIAL player since 2014. Pitt, North Carolina, Maryland, and Arkansas are among the schools that want her.

It’s a new world for Thiero, who has had to use a calendar to keep up with recruiting calls and her hectic schedule. She’s learned to love basketball, but she’s still the same Mimi.

“She hasn't changed as far as caring about her team and teammates in the school and things like that,” Quaker Valley coach Ken Johns said. “I think sometimes, you hear people saying, ‘Okay, we're getting this much attention. It's all about me.’ That's not what I've experienced at all. She brings people along.”

JJ LaBella/For the Post-Gazette)

Hoops in the family

Before basketball was Mimi’s journey, it was Adou’s, now a junior playing at Arkansas. And before Adou it was their parents, Almamy and Mariam, who both emigrated from Mali to the U.S. for hoops. 6-foot-10 Almamy was a top recruit who played at Memphis, then took a post-grad year at Duquesne. Mariam, 6-foot-4 like her daughter, was the 33rd pick in the 2006 WNBA draft.

Yet there was no Ball brothers-esque scheme, with parents scheming to develop top basketball players. Almamy and Mariam both played extensively, and yes, they’d hoped Mimi would play, too. They bought the sneakers, after all. But they never pushed her into playing.

“If I didn't want to play, they're not going to like drag me to the gym,” Thiero said. “[It’s the] same with my brother. They're not going to force us to go to the gym. We have to ask them to take us, because they're not going to force us to do anything we don't like.”

But as Mimi continued to grow, both physically and in the game, she wanted to play more and more.

One of her favorite memories — and some of her favorite photos — are from a family trip to Florida the summer before sixth grade. Mimi spent the trip outside in the pool or at the beach. Adou spent the trip pouting in the hotel room.

Why? His younger sister had hit a growth spurt. For just a few weeks, Mimi was the taller sibling.

“He was so mad,” Mimi remembers. “... There’s still a few pictures where I was taller than him and he didn’t like it at all.”

To try for a little bit of extra height, Adou wore Nike VaporMaxes with in-sole padding — anything to be taller than his sister. (Adou, now 6-8, doesn’t have that problem anymore.)

Yet even with her height, the early success, and her basketball lineage, Mimi didn’t start regularly going to the gym to practice until sixth or seventh grade. Once ready, she’d alternate between parents, usually doing team drills with her mom, also her AAU coach, while saving individual work for her dad. Both parents were careful not to purely develop her as a center, instead having her practice ball handling and outside shooting.

She was in eighth grade as Adou’s recruitment blew up, watching as he returned stronger and taller from a junior year knee injury to become the WPIAL’s hottest prospect. Long Island was the only school to offer him before his senior year, yet after a 27-1 season and an appearance in the state title game, he had his pick of programs. Kentucky coach John Calipari offered two days after the season ended, and Adou committed to the same coach his father had played for 20 years earlier.

Mimi didn’t think the same process would waiting for her.

“I didn't expect I was going to play in college,” Mimi said. “Growing up, my parents, [while] they definitely support me, but they're also very [critical]. I feel like they'll definitely tell me the truth. Them being coaches, they'll tell me what's up.”

Recruiting frenzy

Sitting in a room next to Quaker Valley cafeteria, Mimi Thiero pulls out her phone and flips on her calendar app to June. June 1 is filled with appointments, 30-minute calls with college coaches who want to learn about her and to tell her about their programs. June 2 is similarly packed. June 3 is busier — 12 calls that day alone.

Even seeing Adou go through it couldn’t prepare her for the deluge of interest.

“I was getting texts from my AAU coach, like him telling me, ‘You’ve got to call this coach at this time, call this coach [at that time],” Thiero said. “That was honestly going on for like two weeks. … I'm just like, ‘Oh my gosh. How will I have enough time for this?’ ”

Mimi took the calls solo, then went downstairs to her parents, told them who she’d talked to, then went upstairs and dialed another number. The frenzy slowed down after a few days, but she still has multiple calls each week with coaches checking in and recruiting her.

Her parents kept her humble early, making sure she developed skill instead of just being tall. Yet their criticism also meant the recruiting interest has surprised her.

“When I started getting recruited, I was like, ‘Oh wow, I actually didn't think I was gonna play,’” Thiero said. “When I started getting bigger schools, that's when I realized, like, wow, I actually am good.”

Some of the recruiting interest has come from AAU play, where Thiero plays with South Fayette’s Juliette Leroux, Moon’s Jaedin Griggs, Thomas Jefferson’s Riley McCabe, and other top local juniors.

But some has also come from Quaker Valley, where Thiero has been the Quakers’ do-everything star. Despite being the center of opponents’ gameplans, she led the team with 19.2 points, 14.1 rebounds, 4.7 blocks, and 1.6 steals per game last season. Some college coaches have chosen to attend Quaker Valley games instead of AAU events because they want to see how Thiero responds when opponents have scouted her and know what she’ll do.

Quaker Valley struggled last year, going 5-16 and losing in the first round of the playoffs. The Quakers are young this year, with Thiero the veteran leader even as a junior. Johns knows she’s up for it.

“Growing up in a family that understands the game, she [helps] us on the floor, helps other kids who don't play a lot of basketball understand what we're trying to do and get better,” Johns said. “I've seen [her voice] grow a lot.”

It’s a different experience than many. Thiero knows growth this season will lead to more success next season, which is why her goals for the next two years include a PIAA run… next year. But this is a choice — Thiero could play anywhere. In an era with more and more flexibility in where players play, it’s remarkable that Thiero has stayed home and chosen to represent Quaker Valley.

“The kids respect her, but there’s healthy camaraderieship there that goes beyond basketball,” Johns said. “They're high school friends. They understand who she is as a player, but they also understand who she is as a person.”

Thiero has embraced being a local star, an impact she saw firsthand when she went to a Quaker Valley middle school game.

“It's cool to see how much those girls idolize me, like how much they want to talk to me,” Thiero said. “… I don't realize it, but it's cool to see how they like to come watch me play.”

Playing for more

The Thieros haven’t stopped buying and giving out shoes. Almamy and Mariam founded Gear Up Ségou in 2015, a charity dedicated to providing children in Ségou, Almamy’s hometown and one of Mali’s largest cities, with athletic equipment. In 2022, the charity began building wells in Mali as well.

Mimi's father Al Thiero, center, and his family have donated shoes and other athletic equipment to children in Mali, West Africa, since 2015.(Courtesy of Al Thiero)

Mimi’s grown up taking yearly trips to Mali to help give out equipment. It’s shaped her, and Johns sees it.

“She has a wonderful perspective for someone that age,” Johns said. “I don't even know how to describe it, she understands [what’s] important. She also has a really good perspective.”

It’s why Thiero has been able to stay level throughout the recruiting process, even as she gains more and more collegiate attention. That attention will only grow over the next two years, especially given the real possibility Thiero, at some point, becomes the first girls basketball player in Pennsylvania to dunk in a game.

PA #1 recruits @mimi_thiero is the first athlete in western PA to Dunk the Basketball. pic.twitter.com/AgrCPeje36

— Almamy Thiero (@ThieroAlmamy) September 12, 2024

Regardless of whether she dunks, Thiero realizes she has a bright future ahead. And as she watches Adou play at Arkansas, she knows she’ll be under a similar spotlight soon.

Her journey started with her brother’s sneakers. Who knows where Mimi Thiero will go next?

First Published: December 5, 2024, 5:30 a.m.

With colleges in hot pursuit, 6-5 guard Mimi Thiero leads Quaker Valley girls into season

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, December 8, 2024 | 11:01 AM

Christopher Horner | TribLive 

Mimi Thiero’s basketball credentials are well grounded.

Thiero is an awe-inspiring 6-foot-5 junior guard/forward on the Quaker Valley girls basketball team and a third-year starter.

As a freshman, the athletic hoopster was QV’s leading scorer (13.2 points per game) and rebounder (10.4 per game). 

She also led the team in field-goal percentage (47%) and blocks (3.5 per game) and ranked second in steals (50).

She was an all-section selection.

Thiero was named by Trib HSSN back then as a Class 4A player to watch “who has perhaps the highest ceiling of any player in WPIAL girls basketball.”

In her sophomore season, Thiero again paced QV in almost every statistical category including points (19.2 ppg), field goal percentage (40%), rebounds (14.1 rpg), blocked shots (4.7 avg), steals (1.6 avg), free throws (70%), 3-point field goals and 3-point field goal percentage.

Thiero racked up 14 double-doubles along with a triple-double Jan. 3 in a 63-37 section win against Ambridge. The dynamic athlete scored a career-high 41 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked 11 shots.

Thiero averaged 19.4 points and 14.9 rebounds last year and earned all-section, all-WPIAL and third team all-state honors in Class 4A.

This season, Thiero has been lauded as the Class 3A Preseason Player of the Year by Trib HSSN.

“It is hard to just pick one thing that Mimi does well. There are so many,” QV coach Ken Johns said. “I would start with her competitiveness and her general understanding of the game. If you layer in her work ethic and how hard she plays, I think that captures the foundation. However, there’s a lot more.

“She makes the players around her better, not just with her presence on the floor but her understanding of the game and how to set them up for success. I’ve said this from her freshmen year: She is an excellent passer and she sees the floor very well. My expectations for her are the same as everyone else: Show up every day and work to make the team and yourself better. She definitely embraces that.”

Thiero is one of three returning starters at QV this season along with backcourt players Lucy Roig, a 5-5 junior, and Anna Campbell, a 5-7 sophomore.

“My expectation for this year is a section championship,” Thiero said. “We definitely have some (tough) opponents, but I feel like if we focus and continue to progress, it’s definitely within reach.

“Our chemistry and being able to make that second pass are our team’s strengths. That will definitely help us in a lot of games.”

Roig agreed with her teammate; the Quakers are aiming to wear section crowns in 2024-25.

“We are expecting a successful season and are reaching for a section title,” Roig said. “We work hard each day during practice to get better. Our ability to work together and help each other get better every day are our team’s strengths.

“We are very lucky to have Mimi as our team leader. We all look up to her and are able to learn from her. She is a great teammate and definitely a huge strength that we have on our team.”

Thiero’s combination of height, talent, production, education and bloodlines is exceptional.

Despite being the tallest player on the floor, Thiero is one of QV’s primary ball-handlers. It’s a task she handles smoothly and confidently.

She can also shoot from long range and normally impacts a game with her defense thanks to her length and wingspan.

“Mimi has worked on all aspects of her game,” Johns said. “Her shooting has improved; her ballhandling has continued to get better. She’s worked on her strength and conditioning, and you can see that early in the season.”

The svelte high school hoopster is a coveted commodity for college coaches on the recruiting trail.

Theiro, a 4.0 student, has received nearly 50 NCAA Division I college offers, including from North Carolina, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Purdue, Penn State, Texas A&M, Northwestern, Clemson, Miami, Boston College, Providence and Kent State, along with Pitt, Duquesne, Robert Morris and many more.

She also has garnered interest from Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Penn.

“It is a who’s who of big-time programs,” Johns said. “It might be easier to list the schools that have not been recruiting Mimi.

“One thing that is arguably most impressive about her is that she cares. She cares about her team and teammates, she cares about improving herself and making her team better, and she cares about helping us be the best version of ourselves. That approach and attitude has not changed since she walked into the gym with us three years ago.

“I tell her that her attitude and her work ethic will take her far no matter where she goes and what she does. Those are things that make an impact and lead to success.”

Mimi Thiero’s given name is Oumou. She is the daughter of Almamy and Mariam, both Mali natives. Al, who is 6-10, played Division I college basketball at Memphis and Duquesne, while the 6-2 Mariam was an NAIA All-American at Oklahoma City and was selected in the 2006 WNBA draft.

Thiero is the younger sister of former QV hoops star Adou Thiero, a starting guard at Kentucky who transferred to Arkansas in May to play for his old coach with the Wildcats, John Calipari. Mimi Thiero landed an offer from Arkansas this summer.

“You asked if she is or will be the best female basketball player in Quaker Valley history,” Johns said. “I have seen a lot of girls basketball at QV over the years. We have had a number of really good players dating back to when the program started in the late ’70s.

“I’ll let other people debate who is the best. I know that she’s in the discussion; I’m just glad she’s here now.”

By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, December 15, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The number of college offers received by Quaker Valley basketball standout Mimi Thiero seemingly increases from week to week.

“My recruiting process has been going really well,” Thiero said. “I enjoy talking to all of the college coaches and hearing about their programs.”

An updated list of offers the 6-foot-5 junior has landed consists of: Duquesne, Robert Morris, Boston College, Kent State, Monmouth, East Carolina, Manhattan, Rhode Island, Providence, Delaware, Purdue, Harvard, Radford, Penn, Michigan, Buffalo, Iona, Temple, Cleveland State, Arkansas, Rider, Lafayette, Florida, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Marquette, Pitt, Princeton, Sacred Heart, DePaul, Fairfield, Memphis, Rutgers, Cal Berkeley, Columbia, Syracuse, Kansas State, Miami, Clemson, Northwestern, Texas A&M, Penn State, Illinois, Wisconsin and North Carolina.

Thiero does not have a set timetable for making her college decision.

“I’m not 100% sure right now,” she said, “but I’m thinking of committing during the summer.”

When discussing her college ambitions, the 17-year-old hoopster has two great confidants in her mom and dad, Mariam and Almamy.

“My parents have been the biggest influence on my basketball career,” Thiero said. “My mom has coached me since I was in fourth grade, and my dad would go to the gym to work out with me whenever I asked. They have a lot of basketball knowledge that they transfer to me and my siblings.”

Girls teams win

The Sewickley Academy and Quaker Valley girls basketball teams both registered their first win of the season Dec. 4 in nonsection games.

The Panthers defeated Moniteau, 35-27, at home behind sophomore point guard Emma Eannarino’s 23-point total.

The Quakers ran past Eden Christian Academy, 48-14, as Thiero and freshman guard Keira Watson led QV with 20 and 15 points.

The 5-6 Watson is one of two freshmen on this year’s QV squad along with Leasia Karto, a 5-10 forward.

by Steve RotsteinJanuary 13, 2025

When Ellwood City took a 14-point lead into halftime of a pivotal Class 3A Section 1 clash against Quaker Valley on Monday night, the Wolverines had to feel pretty good about their chances of victory — with only one major issue.

The Quakers still had Mimi Thiero on their side.

After scoring just six points in the first half, Thiero took matters into her own hands after the break, scoring 28 of her game-high 34 points in the second half of a dramatic 53-45 comeback victory. The towering 6-4 junior also registered 19 rebounds in yet another double-double while shooting 12 of 18 from the field — including 2 of 3 from 3-point range. She also added three steals and three blocked shots for good measure.

“We forced it [to her] a little bit, but it’s hard not to at times,” Johns said. “That was the plan coming in, and we got away from it — just get the ball in to her. But I thought she did a good job of keeping everybody involved. Anna Campbell hit a big shot in the paint, Leasia [Karto] a hit a couple layups and Lucy [Roig] hit a couple big free throws down the stretch.

“She’s tough to stop if she gets going, but we’re tough to stop if she involves other people, and she did that and did it the right way.”

A terrific guard-forward ranked as one of the top-60 recruits in the 2026 class by ESPN HoopGurlz, Thiero already holds more than 20 Division I scholarship offers. After averaging 19.5 points, 13.9 rebounds and 4.7 blocks per game as a sophomore, Thiero continues to take her game to new heights for Quaker Valley — and Monday may have been her finest performance to date.

“She’s a good ball-handler, she’s a pretty good shooter, and obviously the size makes a pretty big difference,” Johns said. “Her all-around game has gotten a little bit better. She’s gotten a little bit stronger. She absorbs contact really well. … It’s fun to see her play and keep everybody involved. That’s what we need her do to for us to win.”

Last year, the Quakers qualified for the postseason despite finishing 5-15 overall during the regular season — and they were promptly bounced from the playoffs in a first-round drubbing against Laurel Highlands. This time, though, with an added year of experience and a deeper supporting cast surrounding the crown jewel that is Thiero, not many teams will be lining up to face Quaker Valley come playoff time.

“The confidence has been growing and building. We’ve been seeing it in practice,” Johns said. “I think the biggest thing is, we now have 13 games together with this group. We start two freshmen, and we have a sophomore starting a lot. … I can also sort of feel them starting to believe and trust each other a little bit more.”

Still, Johns knows plenty of work remains before the postseason comes around, and Monday’s win moved the Quakers into a tie with Beaver Falls for second place in the section. The Tigers prevailed in overtime, 47-43, in the first meeting on Dec. 12 — and Quaker Valley has eagerly awaited its chance for payback ever since.

That wait will finally come to an end later this week, when the Quakers travel to Beaver Falls for a highly anticipated rematch on Thursday night.

“What we have not done is waver from taking it one day at a time,” Johns said. “We have a big game against Beaver Falls on Thursday. They got us in overtime last time. I feel like we’re a different team than we were then.

“It’s good to have these kinds of games, and even better to win them. … We’re just trying to focus on getting better every day.”

By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, December 1, 2024 | 11:01 AM

She’s an attention-getter, for sure.

Mimi Thiero is a 6-foot-4 junior guard/forward and third-year starter on the Quaker Valley girls basketball team.

“When you have a dynamic player like Mimi, you know that she will get a lot of attention every night,” QV coach Ken Johns said. “I really like how we’ve been working as a team, and finding balance is going to be key for us.”

Thiero led QV in almost every statistical category in 2023-24, including points (19.2 ppg), field-goal percentage (40%), rebounds (14.1 rpg), blocked shots (4.7 avg), steals (1.6 avg), free throws (70%), 3-point field goals and 3-point field-goal percentage.

The dynamic QV hoopster racked up 14 double-doubles last year and had a triple-double Jan. 3 in a 63-37 section win against Ambridge when she scored a career-high 41 points, grabbed 20 rebounds and blocked 11 shots.

Thiero is recognized as one of the top players in the WPIAL. She averaged 12.8 points and 10.4 rebounds as a freshman and was named all-section.

She was named third team all-state in Class 4A last season and has received NCAA Division I college offers from the likes of Duquesne, Robert Morris, Kent State, Boston College and Providence.

The QV girls have advanced to the postseason for six consecutive years, including 2023-24.

“Qualifying for the playoffs was a goal of ours,” Johns said. “It’s great to achieve one of your goals.” 

The Quakers finished 5-5 in Section 2-4A last year and earned the No. 12 seed for the WPIAL playoffs but lost to No. 5 Laurel Highlands in the first round to end up 5-16 overall.

“We had a good summer and what I thought was a very good fall in terms of getting in the gym and getting ready for the season,” Johns said. “We are a young team with only one senior, (forward) Lily Tarkin, and we have a number of new players that will be contributing this season.

“Getting in the gym with everyone has been really helpful in terms of getting the new players integrated and having a chance to play together. Each season and each team are unique, but when you have four or five players that are new to the team, it takes a little while to have everyone get used to their roles.”

Along with Thiero, QV’s returning starters are junior guard Lucy Roig and sophomore guard Anna Campbell.

“We have two other players that saw substantial minutes and occasionally started last year in junior forwards Lily Millet and Mia Floro,” Johns said. “And there are several new players that will be in the rotation for us.”

Those new players include a trio of sophomores — Rose Cline, Annabel Miko and Maggie Watson — plus freshmen Keira Watson and Leasia Karto.

QV has moved into Section 1-3A and will vie for a playoff berth with Beaver Falls, Ellwood City, Mohawk, New Brighton, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Riverside and Sto-Rox.

“We are in a new section, so the familiarity with players and systems from our old section is gone,” Johns said. “For now though, we are completely focused on us and getting better every day.

“I like what I’ve seen so far with this team, but it’s very early and we have a lot of work to do to get the most out of ourselves. I see our balance getting better every day and think if that continues to improve, we’ll get close to being as good as we can be. That’s really the goal, getting to be the best that we can be.”