Burrell boys ride wave of confidence into section schedule

By: Jerin Steele
Thursday, December 14, 2023 | 5:39 PM

For the current, senior-laden group of Burrell boys basketball players, this is the last ride.

And they hope it’s a long one.

The Bucs (4-0) are loaded with experience. Even the one junior in the lineup, Tucker Bitar, has started since he was a freshman.

They made their presence known with a 43-40 road win at OLSH, which has reached five consecutive WPIAL finals.

Now they’ll embark on Section 3-3A play starting Friday, when they host Shady Side Academy with confidence and momentum.

“We’ve been discussing this since the summer with them that we have such a great opportunity,” Bucs coach Mike Fantuzzo said. “We’ve got some size. We’ve got some shooters. We have a lot of experience and playoff experience. It’s a great opportunity, but it’s going to take some work. Our section in my opinion is by far the best one in 3A. It’s pretty brutal, but we’ve been through this, so we know what to expect and how to handle things.”

The Bucs are led by senior guard Macky Bennis and Bitar and have three other seniors in the starting lineup: Joey Discello, Dylan McKalip and Esau King-Buchak. They also have seniors to turn to off the bench like Maliq Buchak, Ryan Croushore and Colter Christie.

Bennis was a first-team Valley News Dispatch All-Star last year and averaged nearly 22 points. He’s the main focus of opponents on a nightly basis and has made adjustments to his game to counteract that.

“His role has changed every year,” Fantuzzo said. “We looked to him a lot last year to score. This year he’s going to draw a lot of attention, so we’ve been preaching that he might not have that opportunity for a layup or an open 3-pointer, but you can make that extra pass to someone wide open and we have guys that can hit that shot this year. That’s just another part of his game that has grown. He can score. He can be our best defender, and now he’s putting up assists. Last year I felt like opponents could key on two guys (Bennis and Bitar), and now I don’t think they can do that anymore.”

King-Buchak is someone the coaching staff saw show improvement over the summer, and that’s translated into games. He’s been in double-digits on multiple occasions.

“He’s understanding his role a little bit more,” Fantuzzo said. “He wanted to be that guy on the outside, but now he’s taking it to the hoop strong. We’ve been working with him down in the post, but he also has that ability to hit a 3-pointer, which he’s done for us the last couple games.”

Discello has provided a spark to the team after missing a good amount of last year because of injury. He had a couple of key buckets in the win over OLSH.

Burrell had a 10-point lead against OLSH in the fourth quarter but saw the Chargers claw back to cut it to a one-possession game. But the Bucs made the necessary plays down the stretch to complete the victory.

“The kids were very excited,” Fantuzzo said. “They were up for that game and knew the challenge that was ahead of them. They showed up for that game. We held them to 40 points. Our defense was very good. Macky came up big in that game not only scoring but handling the ball as well. Tucker was also fantastic. He’s been our leader handling the ball. We put forth a good team effort. Everyone did their part to come away with a win.”

The Bucs have victories over Jeannette, East Allegheny and St. Joseph to go along with the OLSH win.

They have a section game with Ligonier Valley next week before they head south to Daytona Beach, Fla., for a holiday tournament Dec. 27-30.

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer

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