Trib HSSN boys basketball player of the week: Serra Catholic’s Jimmy Moon

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, January 21, 2019 | 8:36 PM

Jimmy Moon

School: Serra Catholic

Class: Senior

This has turned out to be the year of the Moon in WPIAL boys basketball.

The Moon Tigers are the only undefeated boys team left in the WPIAL as they sit at 14-0 and in first place in Section 2-5A.

Then there is another moon rising.

Jimmy Moon has been putting up big numbers all season in leading Serra Catholic to a two-game cushion in Section 2-2A with an 11-2 record overall.

The senior is averaging 28.2 points, 11.3 rebounds and 4.0 blocks.

“He’s really built himself up in the weight room,” third-year Serra Catholic coach Justin Walther said. “He’s worked extremely hard in the offseason to get to this point. He’s drilled 26 threes for us this year and when he can hit from the perimeter constantly, it opens the middle of the paint for others to get layups.”

This past week started with a showdown at home against Jeannette, as the Eagles won 68-37 with Moon scoring 24 points. The win ended a 13-game drought against the Jayhawks.

“We started extremely slow versus Jeannette,” Walther said. “We haven’t beaten them in quite some time. He just took over in the third and fourth. He had three 3s in 24 seconds.”

Then in a runaway rout of Bentworth, Moon tallied 36 points as the Eagles improved to 7-0 in section play.

“The Bentworth game, he only played 14 minutes and had 36 points and 12 rebounds,” Walther said. “That’s a special talent.”

Walther credited Moon being more aggressive this season as to why he has been so dominating.

“I use to beg him to be aggressive and not so passive,” Walther said. “Last year, he would be reluctant. I feel he didn’t want to step on his teammates toes. This year, he’s a bull.”

Moon is only 62 points away from 1000 for his career, a feat that could come at some point this week as Serra Catholic has section games against Carmichaels and Chartiers-Houston and a nonsection battle against Penn Hills on Saturday at Seton Hill.

Serra Catholic has a two-game lead over second-place California with five section games remaining.

“I feel we have a great chance to a lot of things this season,” Walther said. “Our goals are to win section, get to The Pete and play in states.”

Honorable mention:

Khori Fusco, Mars

The Mars machine keeps on rolling thanks to some home cooking and a big week by Khori Fusco. The senior started the week by pouring in 33 in the Fightin’ Planets 27-point home victory over the Hampton Talbots. Then on Friday, Fusco matched teammate Andrew Recchia as they both scored 23 points as Mars doubled visiting Indiana, 88-44. The defending champion Fightin’ Planets are 8-0 atop Section 3-5A, one game ahead of Franklin Regional and two games on top of Shaler with games coming up this week against both.

Riley Comforti, Southmoreland

A 3-0 week has lifted Southmoreland’s winning streak to a season-high five as the Scotties have solidified themselves in the top four and are in the hunt for a title in Section 4-3A. Last week began with Riley Comforti scoring 33 points in a 71-65 home victory over Frazier. In a nonsection game 24 hours later, Comforti scored 29 in the Scotties’ 26-point rout of Geibel Catholic. The big week concluded with Comforti scoring 23 points in a 56-38 win at Elizabeth Forward as the Scotties improved to 9-6 overall and 4-2 in the section, a game and a half behind first-place Washington.

Colin McQuiston, Shenango

This past Tuesday, everybody was paying attention to the big Section 2-2A showdown between Sewickley Academy and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. However, there was another big game in the section that had playoff ramifications. Junior Colin McQuiston scored a game-high 28 points as Shenango beat Laurel, 76-52, to take over sole possession of fourth place. McQuiston then scored 32 points Friday, but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats fell on the road to front-running Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, 79-68.

Don Rebel is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Don at drebel@tribweb.com or via Twitter @TheDonRebel.

Tags: Mars, Shenango, Southmoreland