New coach working overtime to get Derry girls program back on track
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Monday, November 24, 2025 | 1:25 PM
Derry coach Ron Moore speaks to the girls basketball team during practice Tuesday.
Trinity Miller, a junior guard from Derry, practices with her teammates Tuesday.
Lucie Loucks, in red, a sophomore forward from Derry, practices with her teammates Tuesday.
The Derry girls basketball team practices at the school’s gym Tuesday.
Derry coach Ron Moore speaks to the team during a practice Tuesday.
Lucie Loucks, in red, a sophomore forward from Derry, practices with her teammates Tuesday.
Trinity Miller, right, a junior guard from Derry, practices with her teammates Tuesday.
The Derry girls basketball team practices Tuesday.
Derry coach Ron Moore speaks to the team during a practice Tuesday.
Derry coach Ron Moore speaks during a practice at the school’s gym Tuesday.
Kylee Metcalf, a junior guard from Derry, practices with her teammates Tuesday.
The Derry girls basketball team practices at the school’s gym Tuesday.
Kylee Metcalf, a junior guard from Derry, practices with her teammates Tuesday.
Derry coach Ron Moore speaks to the team during a practice Tuesday.
It’s hard to imagine when Ron Moore found time to sleep. And that was before he agreed to become the next Derry girls basketball coach.
His alarm clock might be set for 9 p.m. His lunch break might hit before the sun comes up.
Moore is on the overnight shift as a forensic officer at Torrance State Hospital in Derry Township.
He’s been playing the part for 18 years while working alongside fellow officer Tom Kelly, who also happens to be Derry’s baseball coach.
“We’re pretty much jack of all trades, masters of none,” Moore said. “We’re kind of like state troopers with the same type of uniforms. We’re also escorts and probably janitors sometimes.”
The village of Torrance, south of the Conemaugh River, near the Indiana-Westmoreland county border, is home to one of only two hospitals in Pennsylvania designed to care for mentally ill patients who have committed major crimes.
“Jails stay in contact with us,” Moore said. “This is a much-needed job right now, and it’s going to expand even more.”
The 55-year-old Moore, on Kelly’s prodding, recently responded to another post in need when he agreed to succeed Nathan Keller as the third coach in as many seasons of Derry’s struggling girls program.
“He loves the game of basketball, and he loves coaching,” Kelly said. “When I told him Derry had an opening, I said he should go and apply for the job. I kept mentioning it and one day he said, ‘You know, maybe I will.’ ”
Moore inherits a team that played with no returning starters and finished 4-17 (1-13 in Section 1-4A) in Keller’s only season as coach.
“I got thrown to the wolves,” Moore joked.
Derry hasn’t posted a winning record since a 14-8 mark in 2019-20, the last time the Trojans made a WPIAL playoff appearance.
Here’s where it gets interesting for Moore, a former Washington High School and Waynesburg University basketball star who previously coached the Washington girls team and also has served as a girls assistant at crosstown Trinity.
For roughly three hours a day — about 90 minutes one way — Moore sits behind a steering wheel and drives to and from his job.
Raised in Pittsburgh’s Hill District, Moore attended high school for a time in Alabama before finishing out at Washington, where he currently lives.
After a short professional playing career for a minor-league basketball team in New Jersey, Moore went on to become a high school coach.
When his second head coaching stint began at Derry with the start of official practices earlier this month, Moore’s days suddenly got longer and his sleep time shrunk.
“It’s nothing new to him. He’s obviously used to it,” Derry athletics director Nick Raymond said. “He has the right mindset and attitude to come into this job.”
A job on top of his regular job. One that will add mileage to his already-marathon daily drive.
Said Moore: “I’m up for the challenge.”
Junior guards Kylee Metcalf and Trinity Miller and sophomore forwards Lucie Loucks and Peyton Thomas represent Derry’s four returning starters from a team that averaged just 29.8 points.
Moore said a plan to work extensively on fundamentals is a starting point for the team’s chances of improving.
“It’s going to be challenging, but the kids are nice kids,” he said. “They’re not fearful. They want to get better. They’re very positive and open, and they know what I expect of them and they with me.”
Raymond expressed excitement for Moore’s decision to coach the girls team, saying his presence and experience should establish some stability with the position.
“Hopefully, he sticks around for years to come,” Raymond said.
Moore doesn’t promise anything beyond getting the season underway.
The Trojans open their schedule Friday against Class 2A Jeannette at the two-day Springdale tipoff tournament.
“I feel comfortable, and I’ll deal with it,” Moore said of his new venture. “I’ll leave it in God’s hands and see where we go.”
Derry girls at a glance
Coach: Ron Moore
Last year’s record: 4-17 (1-13 Section 1-4A)
Returning starters: Lucie Loucks (So., F), Kylee Metcalf (Jr., G), Trinity Miller (Jr., G), Peyton Thomas (Soph., G/F)
Others to watch: Giavonna Buchko (So., G), Lydia Harter (So., G), Marie Razpotnik (So., G)
Others to watch: Giavonna Buchko (So., G), Lydia Harter (So., G), Marie Razpotnik (So., G)
Top newcomers: Ashlyn Corbett (Fr., G), Julia Mucci (Sr., G), Eliana Murawski (Fr., Cl. G), Kathryn Thomas (Jr., F)
SCHEDULE
11.28, Jeannette^, 5 p.m.
11.29, TBA^
12.2, at Southmoreland, 7 p.m.
12.5, Charleroi+, 5:30 p.m.
12.6, TBA+
12.8, Geibel Catholic, 7:15 p.m.
12.11, Freeport*, 7:15 p.m.
12.15, Valley*, 6 p.m.
12.18, at Burrell*, 7:30 p.m.
12.22, Highlands*, 7:15 p.m.
1.5, at Knoch*, 7:30 p.m.
1.7, Yough, 7:15 p.m.
1.8, at Oakland Catholic*, 7:30 p.m.
1.12, North Catholic*, 7:15 p.m.
1.15, at Freeport*, 7:30 p.m.
1.22, Burrell*, 7:15 p.m.
1.23, at Valley*, 5:30 p.m.
1.26, at Highlands*, 7:30 p.m.
1.27, Ligonier Valley, 7 p.m.
1.29, Knoch*, 7:15 p.m.
2.2, Oakland Catholic*, 7:15 p.m.
2.5, at North Catholic*, 7:30 p.m.
*Section game
^Springdale tournament
+Monessen tournament
Tags: Derry Area
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