Leechburg boys basketball returns plenty for Corey Smith’s 2nd season

By: HSSN Staff
Wednesday, November 29, 2017 | 8:29 PM

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Corey Smith spent last season putting his stamp on the Leechburg boys basketball program, and as the team grew together it ended on a late-season surge that culminated with a playoff berth.

Entering his second season as the Blue Devils coach, Smith established that his expectation is to compete for a playoff spot on a yearly basis.

With leading scorer Christian Hack returning along with starters Jake Blumer and John Miskinis, the Blue Devils believe they will be a factor.

“With it being my first year last year, it kind of set the standard,” Smith said. “It was a new tradition, new philosophy and really a new everything with a new coach coming in. Going into this Year 2, there's nothing we want to change.

“We were in the summer leagues, the fall leagues and we only had like two or three kids who played on the football team, so I've had most of these guys since the summer. We're in shape, and I think we look pretty good right now. I'm really excited to get the season going.”

Leechburg won three of its final four regular-season games a season ago, including wins over Jeannette and Serra Catholic that secured fourth place in Section 1-2A. The Blue Devils lost a hard-fought first round game 60-52 to Chartiers-Houston.

Hack scored a game-high 20 points in the win over Serra Catholic. The four-year starter has averaged more than 14 points per game and is 150 shy of scoring 1,000 points for his career.

“Christian is our guy. He does it all,” Smith said. “I'm trying to get him to play defense a little more. If he gave the same effort on defense that he does on offense, he would be the complete player that everyone would like to see as he gets recruited this year.”

J.B. Burtick and Cory Nulph graduated from last year's team, but several players return with varsity experience to fill the void. Corey Kerecz, a senior, was the sixth man last season and should slot in at point guard. Tyler Leech, Tony Yurjevich and Matt McCorkle are the other seniors.

“We were young last year, so we're getting a lot of people back,” Hack said. “Our team has been working hard this year getting ready to play. I think we're going to be good this year. I can see it.”

Hack looks forward to sharing the starting backcourt duties with Kerecz, whom he's been playing with since fourth grade.

“We've played together since elementary basketball, so we know each other well,” Hack said. “We're used to each other. We know what's going on when we're out there together.”

Freshman guard Dylan Cook and Nico Venanzio, a 6-foot-4 junior forward, are additions who will see playing time. Venanzio, who plays football and is on the Kiski Valley rugby team, gives the Blue Devils an option in the paint. Smith likes his options, which allow his team to be versatile.

“We have a lot of different combinations that we can use,” Smith said. “We have bigger guards this year with Hack, Miskinis and Kerecz. We can still run. Losing J.B. and Cory hurts with that, but with Jake Blumer coming along after football, he's a guy that can stretch the floor for us. We can run up-tempo, and we can also slow it down and go big. The way we go this year will depend on game circumstances.”

Leechburg begins the season by hosting its annual tip-off tournament. The Blue Devils play Saltsburg on Dec. 8. Winchester Thurston and Apollo-Ridge are the other two schools in the tournament.

Greensburg Central Catholic, Jeannette and Summit Academy joined Leechburg as playoff teams last year in Section 2. Riverview, Serra Catholic and Springdale are also in the section. The Centurions graduated all five starters from a team that made the PIAA quarterfinals. Serra Catholic returns all but one player from last season.

“I think Serra and Jeannette will probably be the teams to beat this year, but don't count out Leechburg,” Smith said. “I'll tell you that right now.”

Jerin Steele is a freelance writer.

Tags: Leechburg