New coach Johnson set to guide Derry girls basketball
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Wednesday, November 22, 2017 | 5:00 PM
His inner circle refers to him by his middle name of Tyler. The rest of us should address him as William.
Whichever name you use for William Tyler Johnson, the first-year Derry girls basketball coach is all about returning a section championship to the Trojans.
For Johnson, the sooner done, the better.
“There's a lot of potential here,” he said. “The girls really have meshed well, and they want to be coached.”
Following the school's first outright section title in 2015-16 and just the second winning record since 2007-08, Derry slumped last season to a 2-12 mark in Section 3-4A (7-15 overall) in former coach Richard Zemba's final year.
Johnson, who was part of the men's staff at Pitt-Greensburg when the Bobcats qualified for their only NCAA Division III playoff berth in 2016, was hired late at Derry to succeed Zemba, who resigned in September for job-related reasons after compiling a 38-68 record in five seasons as coach.
“I knew I wanted my own program. I've known that for some time now,” Johnson said. “I'm grateful for this opportunity, and I'm here to try to make these girls better.”
Johnson left Scotland Campus of the Global Vision Christian School in Franklin County, where he had agreed to fill a volunteer boys assistant's position.
He's in familiar territory now, having graduated from Mt. Pleasant. In addition to a five-year stay at UPG, he previously had served on the men's staff at Division II Cal (Pa.).
Johnson also has spent time with AAU boys and girls teams in Westmoreland and Beaver counties, primarily as assistant director for Monaca-based Strick Hoops AAU, a position he said he'll continue to fill while at Derry.
He's been scrambling to put together a lineup that suits his system and was hoping to have established a sense of order for the Trojans in time for a season-opening appearance in a four-team tournament Dec. 8-9 at Jeannette.
“This is year zero to get better. We're all in this together,” Johnson said.
Senior guard Renee Rectenwald is the Trojans' lone returning starter, but a familiar name recently was added to the roster when 6-foot-1 Destiny Roberts, who started a majority of games at Derry as a freshman in 2014-15, transferred back to the school after one season at Oakland Catholic.
She played in only a handful of games for the Class 5A Eagles as a sophomore.
“She's athletic and versatile,” Johnson said. “She's someone who really knows well how to come off a pick-and-roll. She's been very receptive.”
Derry is young, with just two seniors (Rectenwald and another 5-6 guard, Abbigail Stipcack) and one junior (Roberts) on its roster. In addition, four sophomores — 5-7 Hanna Wedow, 5-6 Danielle Mullen, 5-9 Kamryn Kelly and 5-6 Sarah Aukerman — also have been top contenders for playing time.
“These girls all are listening, and I've seen improvement in a short time,” Johnson said. “I believe we're going to surprise some people in the section.”
Keystone Oaks last season won the title of the eight-team Section 3-4A with a 14-0 record, finishing three games ahead of second-place South Park.
Derry, after two consecutive WPIAL playoff appearances, stumbled to seventh place.
Dave Mackall is a freelance writer.
Tags: Derry Area
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