Starting 5s: Previewing high school boys basketball season in the A-K Valley

By: Michael Love
Thursday, November 28, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Starting 5s

A preview of the high school boys basketball season in the A-K Valley:

5 storylines to follow

• Nearly half of the boys teams in the A-K Valley begin the season under new management: Bill Flow at Highlands, Dave Pucka at Plum, Dre Corbin at Riverview, Scott Ruppert at Springdale, Matt DeHart at St. Joseph and Brice Flenory at Valley.

Pucka and Flenory both take over at the place where they enjoyed much success as high school players. DeHart served as a Spartans assistant last year under Logan Acri, and Corbin was an assistant for five years at Aquinas and got the opportunity to watch Vinnie Cugini, the WPIAL’s all-time leading scorer, work his magic.

Flow takes over a Golden Rams program that enjoyed success the past three years under Corey Dotchin (55-22 combined record). Scott Rupert will make his head coaching debut with the Dynamos after being hired in late October for Kobi Phillipi, who left Springdale to fill the Mars vacancy.

• Highlands finished third behind Hampton and Knoch last year in Section 1-4A. The Golden Rams then suffered a tough WPIAL first-round loss to Avonworth. But the Golden Rams’ maintained their playoff consistency. It was their area-leading 10th straight trip to the postseason.

Deer Lakes and Fox Chapel are second to Highlands with eight straight appearances in the WPIAL playoffs, while Kiski Area, Freeport and Burrell hope to make it six in a row this year.

• What will the talented Knoch Knights be able to do in and out of section play this year?

That question is on the minds of many as Knoch returns all five starters from a team that finished second (7-3) to Hampton in Section 1-4A, made it to the WPIAL quarterfinals and finished one win away from a trip to states.

Knoch won 15 games last year, up from eight in the 2022-23 season.

Senior guard Kaden Spencer will miss the first part of the season while recovering from an injury suffered in the early part of the football season.

But the other four returning starters – juniors Jackson Bauman, Teegan Finucan, Derek Lang and Zane Pacek – are ready to produce.

Bauman, the team’s point guard averaged 16 points a game last year. Finucan who tallied 14 points a game a year ago, joins Bauman in the backcourt. Lang (6-foot-7) and Pacek (7-foot) bring the height inside.

The Knights are back in Section 1-4A again with Highlands and Freeport. The Knights also will also have to deal with 4A holdover North Catholic and 4A newcomers Deer Lakes, Burrell and Valley.

• Deer Lakes, Burrell and Valley moving up gives Section 1-4A a great deal of local flair with six area teams.

The Lancers won’t be able to defend the WPIAL Class 3A titles won the past two seasons, but they hope to make their mark among a whole new set of challenges the new classification brings.

Deer Lakes lost Wayne Love, Aiden Fletcher and last year’s Valley News Dispatch Player of the Year, Billy Schaeffer, to graduation. But forward Nathaniel Moore, point guard Collin Rodgers and shooting guard JT McCue are back in starting roles.

Burrell, seeded 11th for the 3A playoffs last year, made a run to the Petersen Events Center before falling to Deer Lakes in the final. The Bucs return just one starter, senior guard Tucker Bitar, and they will rely on newcomers in junior guard Sam Conte and junior forward Gavyn Orr to spark the team back to the playoffs.

Valley hopes the move to 4A comes with a turnaround after the team went 5-15 overall last year and was 3-9 in the conference. Returning starters in seniors Mickael Allen and Omarion Jackson and junior Tayshaun Hawkins will help lead the way.

Six players with starting experience return for Fox Chapel, which bumps up to Class 6A. The Foxes know what it’s like to have success in the WPIAL’s highest classification as they won a WPIAL title there in 2021.

• Highlands, Burrell, Kiski Area and Deer Lakes will look to replace the offense lost when 1,000-point scorers left all four teams by way of graduation.

Schaeffer tallied his 1,000th point in the final minute of a second-round state playoff game against Forest Hills, Burrell’s Macky Bennis surpassed 1,000 points against Apollo-Ridge in mid January, and Highlands’ Bradyn Foster reached 1,000 points against Shady Side in December and built on it from there.

Isaiah Gonzalez made his mark with the Cavaliers and finished his varsity career with 1,259 points.

5 teams to watch

• Plum hopes to find the right formula to reach the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs for the first time since 2016. The Mustangs, who won just one section game last season, will look to returning starters in seniors Max Grice (forward) and Will Beckner (guard) and a couple of top newcomers in sophomore guard Trey McMurray and junior guard Mekhi Daniel.

• Burrell enters the season with sights set on making another run to the WPIAL championship game. The Bucs fell to rival Deer Lakes in the Class 3A final but were able to continue on in the state playoffs. It could be a challenge as only one starter — Bitar — returns to a team that won 16 games last year and finished 8-4 in Section 3-3A.

• Freeport hopes to continue the momentum created in the fall by their football counterparts. Many of those players from the gridiron have transitioned to basketball and hope to help the team improve on last year’s 7-15 record. Talent abounds in the form of senior guard Dempsey Cowan, senior forward Sean Selinger, junior guard Carson Kane, sophomore forward Danny King, sophomore guard Bryson Pega and sophomore forward Mike Graczyk.

• Kiski Area has new goals and expectations with a roster of returning varsity talent and others hoping to step up into prominent roles. The Cavaliers were WPIAL quarterfinalists a year ago, suffered a heartbreaking 53-51 loss to section rival Gateway in the WPIAL Class 5A seventh-place game and were denied a spot in the state tournament. Senior guards Carson Heinle and Colin Keller return.

• A lot of Highlands basketball fans in and around Natrona Heights are interested in seeing what will become of a team that said goodbye to four starters, including 6-foot-8 Penn freshman Bradyn Foster. Highlands went 14-8 last year and was ousted in the first round of the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs. The Golden Rams will go with the Flow this season as first-year head coach Bill Flow will count on the lone returning starter — senior point guard Ali Shareef — and others such as 6-3 junior guard Troy Bielak to keep up a recent string of success.

5 players to watch

• Tucker Bitar, Sr., PG, Burrell: The athletic Bucs senior averaged 15 points a game in a run to the WPIAL Class 3A championship game. He also was a distributor with five assists a contest.

• Nathaniel Moore, Sr., F, Deer Lakes: The 6-4 senior forward will be a main cog in the Lancers’ drive for a WPIAL three-peat. Moore averaged a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds last season. He scored 23 points in a WPIAL semifinal win over Neshannock.

• Jackson Bauman, Jr. G, Knoch: The junior point guard returns after averaging a team-best 16 points per game last season. Bauman was an all-section pick and a Valley News Dispatch second-team honoree.

• Colin Keller, Sr., G, Kiski Area: The senior guard was a leading force who brought the Cavaliers to the brink of the PIAA playoffs. Coach Corey Smith said an offseason of on-court dedication will serve him well in section battles.

• Will Beckner, Sr., G, Plum: The senior guard showed his talents on numerous occasions last year, including in the season finale against Burrell when he hit for 23 points on five 3-point field goals. He averaged 12.2 point per game.

Michael Love is a TribLive reporter covering sports in the Alle-Kiski Valley and the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh. A Clearfield native and a graduate of Westminster (Pa.), he joined the Trib in 2002 after spending five years at the Clearfield Progress. He can be reached at mlove@triblive.com.

Tags: Apollo-Ridge, Burrell, Cheswick Christian, Deer Lakes, Fox Chapel, Freeport, Highlands, Kiski Area, Knoch, Leechburg, Plum, Riverview, Springdale, St. Joseph, Valley