After late-season surge, Fox Chapel boys ready to tackle future challenges

By: Josh Rizzo
Saturday, February 28, 2026 | 11:01 AM

The Fox Chapel boys basketball team typically sits on the line between Class 5A and 6A. The Foxes know that next season, they will have to navigate the WPIAL’s largest classification.

When Fox Chapel coach Zach Skrinjar had his end-of-season meetings with his players, the message was a simple one.

“Bigger, faster and more skilled,” Skrinjar said. “We have a good group coming back that will include some seniors who played a lot of minutes this season. We will also have some emerging juniors and sophomores and some freshmen we think highly of.”

The Foxes’ season came to an end Feb. 19 at Upper St. Clair when Fox Chapel lost 56-41 to the top-seeded Panthers. Fox Chapel (14-10, 7-7) closed the regular season by winning five of its final six games to grab a playoff spot in a cutthroat Section 1.

The Foxes finished tied for fourth place with Pine-Richland and a game behind North Hills and Seneca Valley.

The Foxes had a hard time slowing down Upper St. Clair big man Ryan Robbins, who finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds.

Grant Fenton led the Foxes with 13 points.

“I thought we played a good first half of basketball against them,” Skrinjar said. “In the second half, it got away a little bit. I was proud of how the guys competed. I wish we had made more shots. I told the kids after the game they had nothing to hang their heads about.”

Fox Chapel will lose several key seniors from this year’s lineup, including John Rehak, Anderson Dockey, Jackson Helgert and Max Melocchi.

SkrinJar was proud of how the Foxes improved as the season went along.

“As a coach, the main thing we look for is for us to get better,” Skrinjar said. “I think we did improve later in the season. The last eight to 10 games were the best basketball we played. I think they understood what was at stake. They competed their butts off.”

Fox Chapel will return a pair of guards — Joe McGivney and Fenton — who made important contributions down the stretch.

McGivney made several key plays to help the Foxes beat Norwin in the first round, while Fenton also contributed 18 points.

“I think they got more comfortable with the pace of varsity basketball,” Skrinjar said.

Tags: Fox Chapel