Derry boys basketball team looking for big season with key players coming back

By: Paul Schofield
Tuesday, November 12, 2024 | 5:26 PM

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Derry Area boys at a glance

Coach: Tom Esposito

Last year’s record: 15-9 (7-5 Section 3-3A)

Returning starters: Stanley Rajkovich (So., F); John Wasnick (Sr., G); Brayden Robinson (Jr., G).

Top newcomers: Izak Lenhart (Jr., G); Liam McMahen (So., G); Parker Petroskey (So., G); Logan Irvin (Fr., G); Cason Long (Jr., G); William Stockett-Harter (Jr., F); Caden Marsh (Jr., F).

Tom Esposito has been coaching boys basketball for 28 years, including 17 in two stints at Derry.

With three starters returning from the school’s first trip to the PIAA playoffs and an exciting group of athletic underclassmen, Esposito is optimistic about the upcoming season.

“We’ve set high expectations,” said Esposito, who also coached at Homer-Center and Blairsville (River Valley). “We qualified for the PIAA tournament, and we played in a lot of tight playoff games.”

The Trojans (15-9, 7-5) dropped close contests to Neshannock, Shady Side Academy and Girard.

“After reviewing those games, we were three minutes from winning,” Esposito said. “We also did an excellent job in wins against Our Lady of the Sacred Heart and Ellwood City. We insert a 1-3-1 zone — something we never used — against Ellwood City and held its top scorer to 12 points.”

Four players graduated: guard Brady Angus, guard Roman Fridley, guard Justin Papuga and forward Colin Bush.

Returning starters are 6-foot-7 sophomore forward Stanley Rajkovich, junior guard Brayden Robinson and senior guard John Wasnick.

“We’re going to miss Brady’s and Nate’s leadership and mental toughness,” Esposito said. “Hopefully, the young guys learned from two of the best leaders I’ve coached in 28 years.”

Rajkovich had a good freshman season. He was a TribHSSN Westmoreland County third-team All-Star after averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds.

“Stanley had a great summer playing against some of the top players in the country,” Esposito said. “We are expecting bigger things from him and all the players. With the athletes we have, we can go 10 deep.

“We’re going to an up-tempo, baseline-to-baseline and sideline-to-sideline style. We had a good summer and a better fall once we got the football players on board. I’m excited to get started.”

The other players likely to be in that 10-deep rotation are junior guard Izak Lenhart, sophomore guard Liam McMahen, sophomore guard Parker Petroskey, freshman guard Logan Irvin, junior guard Cason Long, junior forward William Stockett-Harter and junior forward Caden Marsh.

Esposito said Robinson is a good defender. Wasnick, a three-year starter, does a lot of things well and is the glue. Stock-Harter and Marsh are good post players, Lenhart is a scorer, McMahen is a clone of Angus, Irvin plays the game with a high IQ and Petroskey is a solid player.

Derry also faces a new challenge as the team moved up a class from Class 3A to Class 4A.

The Trojans are playing in Section 3-4A with Belle Vernon, East Allegheny, Elizabeth Forward, Greensburg Salem, West Mifflin and Yough.

“Belle Vernon is probably the favorite, and Elizabeth Forward has good shooters,” Esposito said. “Greensburg Salem and Yough have some players returning, but I don’t know much about East Allegheny and West Mifflin.”

East Allegheny was 3-18 and winless in Section 4-4A, and West Mifflin was 10-11 and 3-7 in the same section. That section included Montour, Avonworth, South Allegheny and Quaker Valley.

“If we do the things we expect to do well and we jell, it could be a good season,” Esposito said. “The three things we have to do is play defense, play fast and upbeat and be mentally tough.”

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

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