Thomas Jefferson boys planning encore after successful season

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, December 8, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The Thomas Jefferson boys basketball team has a tough act to follow in 2024-25.

Last year’s team enjoyed one of the best seasons in school history as the Jaguars advanced to the WPIAL Class 5A semifinal round and racked up a 21-6 record.

“Our kids did everything I asked,” coach Dom DeCicco said following the season. “We came up short in the WPIAL semis, but with an undefeated section title and 21 wins, I was proud of our kids.”

After winning nine in a row and 17 of 18, including two playoff games, the Jaguars lost a 77-75 decision to Moon at a standing-room-only gym at Peters Township.

TJ then fell to Shaler, 75-71, in the third-place consolation game and to York Suburban, 52-48, in the PIAA first round.

“I thought after we lost to Moon, we changed as a team,” DeCicco said. “When you are fighting all year for one goal and you lose like we did, I think it takes something out of you.”

The reigning Section 1-5A champion Jaguars are now members of Section 3-5A along with Baldwin, Bethel Park, Peters Township, Ringgold, South Fayette and Trinity.

Baldwin, a WPIAL finalist, Bethel Park, Peters Township, South Fayette and Trinity all were playoff qualifiers last winter.

“We want to compete for the section title and make a run in the WPIAL playoffs,” DeCicco said.

The Jaguars this season are without four-year starter Evan Berger, a 6-foot-4 guard and the all-time leading scorer in TJ basketball history with 1,610 career points.

Berger, guards Noah Prosser and Sean Sullivan and forward Brody Evans were starters in both 2022-23 and 2023-24. Eight seniors graduated from last year’s squad.

“I’m not going to say the (2023-24) team was my best ever,” DeCicco said. “They were a really good team, but I don’t think it’s fair to the other teams that have gotten to the WPIAL semis and won state games.

“I was very proud of our senior class, and I’m very excited about our young kids. We have a great nucleus, and they want to finish the job.”

Berger, Prosser, Sullivan and Evans were joined in last year’s starting lineup by Nick Trklja, then a sharpshooting 6-4 sophomore guard.

Trklja also averaged double figures at 11.7 ppg and led the team in blocked shots.

Two key reserves from last season, senior guard Noah Kaszer and sophomore guard Kane Eggerton, have joined Trklja in the lineup.

Others in TJ’s game-day rotation include junior guards Josh Gardiner and Brady Kraus, sophomore guard/forward Justin Fry and junior forward Jeff Raibel. The 6-3 Fry is a leading sophomore prospect for the Jaguars.

“Our starting lineup is fluid right now because of football just finishing,” DeCicco said in early December. “But all of those guys are in the mix.”

TJ tipped off the season with a 1-1 showing in the MVI Shootout Classic at South Allegheny. Trklja (28.5 ppg) and Kaszer (19.5 ppg) combined to average 48 ppg in the two-day event.

The Jaguars defeated Belle Vernon, 76-58, behind Trklja’s 26 points and Kaszer’s 21. Fry added 12 points and Kraus chipped in with 10.

In the second game, TJ lost a 77-69 decision in overtime to Elizabeth Forward despite Trklja’s 31 points and Kaszer’s 18.

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