Southmoreland junior Carissa Cyphert spent her summer traveling to different states with her AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) Team, and she’s hoping this experience pays off this season at Southmoreland.

Her team, Triple Threat Institute (TTI), is made up of girls from all around the Pittsburgh area. They practiced at Penn State Fayette, where her coach Scott Hillen, is the head coach. Cyphert traveled to Kentucky, Maryland, and Ohio for basketball tournaments.

“It was a good experience playing with my best friend and teammate, Liv Porter, because I think we’re better for this high school season,” said Cyphert.

Cyphert’s team is a relatively new organization, and they traveled long distances to play over the summer. Traveling to play in different states gave Cyphert the opportunity to play in front of college coaches in every tournament, as well as allowing her to gain valuable experience playing against top-notch competition.

“High school doesn’t have (the same level) of competition,” said Cyphert, who thinks the experience with TTI is helping her because “I’m now used to playing against better competition, so I don’t feel as pressured.”

She also thinks that playing with Porter a lot over the summer created some chemistry that has helped during the current varsity season.