Seton LaSalle boys basketball again chasing section championship

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, December 18, 2018 | 5:06 PM

Seton LaSalle’s boys basketball team opened its section title defense in convincing fashion.

The Rebels ran past visiting Avonworth, 78-36, on Dec. 14 to improve to 4-0 overall and go to 1-0 in Section 2-3A.

Seton LaSalle has won 12 section championships since 1982, including last year when the Rebels went 10-0 in league play and 20-7 overall.

Seton finished as the WPIAL Class 3A runner-up in 2017-18, and advanced to the second round of the PIAA playoffs.

The Rebels received a “big-time” performance from junior guard Michael Bigley against Avonworth (3-1, 0-1), which suffered its first defeat of the young season.

A 5-foot-10 point guard, Bigley racked up a game-high 19 points in three quarters of action. He also dished out five assists and picked up five steals.

“Michael did a great job running our offense,” coach Mark Walsh said. “He also played very well defensively.”

Walsh and his staff maintain identical goals annually for the boys basketball program.

“Our expectations are always the same, to compete for a section and WPIAL title, and to qualify and compete in the chase for a state title,” said Walsh, affably known as “Knobby” around the Western Pennsylvania hoops scene. “We graduated a number of players and the faces may change, but the expectations stay the same.

“We are very excited for the season; our practices are extremely competitive.”

Seton LaSalle’s starting lineup a year ago consisted of seniors Matt Banbury and Nick Deanes in the backcourt, swingman Jakob Richardson, and George Mike IV and Kaleb Krebs in the frontcourt.

Deanes and Richardson are continuing their careers this year as freshmen at Mount Union and Penn State New Kensington, respectively.

The starters on the 2018-19 squad at Seton are Trevor O’Donnell, a 6-3 senior forward and the Rebels’ tallest player; and junior guards Dylan Preston, Jake Verner, Cole Walsh, the coach’s son, and Bigley.

“Just like every year, our goals are to win a section and WPIAL title,” said Bigley, who owns a 4.2 GPA and also plays baseball for the Rebels. “We’ve worked so hard together in the offseason and during the season, too. We set our goals high.

“I’m happy and proud of my teammates on our (4-0) start. We have a lot of good competition in our upcoming games, and are looking forward to the challenges.”

O’Donnell, Bigley and Preston are returning lettermen. Key reserves this season include senior Jim Weldon, Daniel Boehme and sophomore Luke Banbury, all frontcourt players.

“We are very pleased with how we have started the season,” coach Walsh said. “We have seen some real positive signs for this group.”

Bigley was complemented against Avonworth by Verner’s 16 points, Boehme’s 13, Walsh’s 10 and O’Donnell’s 7. Verner connected for four treys, as the Rebels netted 10 triples in the game.

“It was a total team effort,” coach Walsh said. “We had good balance.”

Seton LaSalle’s closest margin of victory in its first four games was 15 points. The Rebels coasted by Rochester, 81-43, and South Side, 71-54, in a tip-off tournament, then defeated Bishop Canevin, 64-49, in Game 3.

“The bond that we share off the court makes our chemistry on the court way stronger,” said Bigley, who peppered in 21 points against Bishop Canevin, a long-time rival for the Rebels.

“This year’s starting five is a new group considering we started five seniors last year,” coach Walsh said. “We are pleased with our performance so far, but we know we have a lot of potential and areas to improve on.”

Following a section game Tuesday at Freedom, the Rebels will be idle until Dec. 28 when they host another section opponent and long-time rival, North Catholic.

Ray Fisher is a freelance writer.