Greensburg Salem to honor 2009 boys basketball state finalist

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Wednesday, December 27, 2023 | 4:34 PM

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Greensburg Salem is set to honor the team that felt invincible for a couple of weeks in March.

The 2009 Golden Lions, who went 23-6 and made a surprising run to the PIAA Class AAA championship game, will be recognized before Thursday night’s finale of the eight-game Coach Paul Sapotichne Holiday Classic at Greensburg Salem.

The pregame ceremony will begin around 5:45 p.m. Hempfield will take on the Golden Lions at 6.

The ‘09 team lost in the WPIAL quarterfinals before it strung together wins over Clearfield, Chartiers Valley, Farrell and WPIAL champion Hampton in the state tournament.

Archbishop Carroll beat the Golden Lions in the title game 75-54 at Penn State.

“I think about how close we were as a team,” said Chris Klimchock, a standout senior guard on that team, as he peered in at the runner-up trophy in the Greensburg Salem gym lobby. “We felt invincible and played with confidence. We felt like we could beat anybody. I remember us playing 60, 70, 80 games over the summer to build some good chemistry.”

Coach Paul Sapotichne and an estimated 10 players are expected to attend the ceremony. One is another key guard, Jake Matthews.

“We beat Chartiers Valley, who was the No. 1 team in the state,” said Klimchock, the men’s basketball coach at Pitt-Greensburg. “Once we did that, we flipped a switch.”

Thursday’s other Classic games include Jeannette vs. Yough at noon, Mt. Pleasant vs. Connellsville at 2 p.m. and Greensburg Central Catholic vs. Penn Hillls at 4.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.