Goals still in sight for reloaded Fox Chapel boys roster as playoffs approach
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Thursday, February 6, 2025 | 2:23 PM
Fox Chapel’s Caden Kaiser drives past Shaler’s Trey Kostoric and Jordan Epps during their game on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, at Fox Chapel. The Foxes won, 58-50.
Fox Chapel head coach Zach Skrinjar watches from the bench during a game against Shaler on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, at Fox Chapel.
Fox Chapel’s Caden Kaiser drives to the basket against Shaler on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, at Fox Chapel.
Fox Chapel’s Asher White smiles as time expires in the Foxes 58-50 comeback win over Shaler on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, at Fox Chapel.
Fox Chapel’s John Rehak works against New Castle’s Jayden Shaffer on Jan. 10.
Fox Chapel’s John Rehak works against Shaler’s Zach London during their game on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, at Fox Chapel.
Fox Chapel’s Ike Moser grabs a loose ball on the floor against Shaler on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024, at Fox Chapel.
Fox Chapel’s Caden Kaiser averages 16 points and almost six rebounds.
Fox Chapel coach Zach Skrinjar isn’t worried about the classification the Foxes fall under when the PIAA realigns their boys basketball divisions every two years. The Foxes plan to adjust and contend.
When Fox Chapel returned to Class 6A this season, the Foxes stuck to the plan. Fox Chapel has lost three section games, two to first-place New Castle, but still had a chance to win the section crown with some luck as the regular season schedule wound down.
“Since I’ve been at Fox Chapel, the word rebuild has never been in my vocabulary,” Skrinjar said. “It’s been reloading. It’s a testament to our players, our system and our program in general. We expected to produce regardless.”
Fox Chapel is 15-5 overall and 10-3 in Section 1-6A play heading into its final section game against Butler on Friday.
The Foxes dropped both games to New Castle, which is also 10-3 in section. Fox Chapel needs to beat the Golden Tornado and get a New Castle loss to win the section.
Caden Kaiser has grown into a diverse player for Fox Chapel. Kaiser averages 16.0 points and pulls down nearly six rebounds per contest.
Skrinjar said Kaiser’s primary strength is inside the paint, but he can do a lot of different things well.
“Since we’ve never had a center, per se, we want all of our guys to be strong overall basketball players,” Skrinjar said. “We want to ensure that anyone on the court has a basic skill set. We want people to be comfortable handling the ball or finishing around the hoop.”
Asher White averages 11 points to give the Foxes a strong second scoring option. Skrinjar said he is happy with how his team defends as well.
Skrinjar expects the WPIAL playoffs will be a tough battle.
“We need to be able to defend as a collective unit,” Skrinjar said. “That’s been our strength in the majority of our games. We do a good job of holding our opponents to low scores. We need our defense to help generate more offense for us.”
Tags: Fox Chapel
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