Trib HSSN basketball team of the week – Canon-McMillan Big Macs

Coaches – John Fontana (third season)

Record – 9-1 and champions of Section 2-6A, 21-4 overall

#Earned – For the seniors on the Canon-McMillan girls basketball team, including the three senior starters, it has been an incredible journey during their four years in blue and gold.

As freshmen in 2023, they finished in last place with one section win and a 5-15 overall record.

A year later, John Fontana was brought in as head coach.

While the Big Macs still struggled, they showed signs of improving with a sixth-place finish in the seven-team Section 2-6A with four section victories and a 12-10 final record.

Relying on a lot of juniors, Canon-McMillan became a contender in 2025.

The Big Macs finished in third place, won 16 games, played in the district semifinals, where they lost to eventual champion Upper St. Clair, qualified for the state playoffs with a consolation victory over Mt. Lebanon and beat Allderdice in the first round of the PIAA postseason before losing again to USC in the second round to finish 16-10.

With just about everybody back this winter, Canon-McMillan went from the hunter to the hunted in girls Class 6A.

They never blinked.

The Big Macs won the Section 2-6A crown outright, defeated Mt. Lebanon in the quarterfinals and Seneca Valley in the semifinals before making history Saturday at Pitt.

Acting like they’ve been there, done that before, Canon-McMillan raced out to a six-point lead after one quarter against a Norwin team that was in the finals for a third straight year.

The lead ballooned to 12 points at the half and was as many as 19 points in the third quarter before a furious comeback attempt by the Knights cut the lead to four.

With no panic, the Big Macs put the game away to win 50-38, claiming the school’s first WPIAL girls basketball championship.

Scoring Stars – All season long, Canon-McMillan has leaned on senior Madison Clair to lead the way on the scoresheet.

Averaging over 15 points per game and coming off a 15-point performance in the semifinal win over Seneca Valley, Clair showed she was a model of consistency with a game-high 15 points while adding eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks.

Senior Samantha Miller had a double-double in the championship game, scoring 12 points and adding 10 rebounds.

Big Macs senior Lauren Borella had an interesting title game.

She had four assists, four steals and one block but was 0 for 8 from the field.

However, the queen of the charity stripe still finished in double-digit points after going 10 for 14 from the free-throw line.

Sophomore Brooke Stanton added eight points as Canon-McMillan won its 10th in a row and improved to 21-4.

Now as District 7 champions, the Big Macs look to begin a long run in the PIAA postseason and avoid the WPIAL championship letdown when they host Governor Mifflin from District 3 at 6 p.m. Friday.

2026 Trib HSSN Basketball Teams of the Week

Week 6 – South Allegheny Gladiators

Week 5 – Fox Chapel Foxes girls

Week 4 – Quaker Valley Quakers boys

Week 3 – Belle Vernon Leopards girls

Week 2 – Beaver Falls Tigers girls

Week 1 – Knoch Knights boys