WPIAL finals loss was ‘a good learning experience’ for Quaker Valley boys

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, March 8, 2026 | 11:01 AM

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Quaker Valley’s boys basketball team took an impressive 11-game winning streak into the WPIAL playoffs then extended it with two postseason victories.

After a first-round bye, the Class 4A top-seed Quakers routed No. 8 Belle Vernon, 72-41, and edged No. 13 Deer Lakes, 44-42, in a nail-biter.

But the No. 3 Knoch Knights (22-4) knocked the QV express off track with a 48-35 win Feb. 26 in a late-night championship game at Petersen Events Center.

“We played well against a well-coached Knoch team,” QV coach Mike Mastroianni said. “We did a tremendous job of meeting the challenges that they create with their size and experience.”

Next up for QV (20-4) was a home game scheduled for March 6 against Hickory (20-6) in the first round of the PIAA playoffs. Hickory is the third-place team from District 10.

“The PIAA tournament is exciting and challenging as you get to see how you match up across the state,” Mastroianni said. “A level of readiness late in the season is always a key factor.”

QV’s 5-foot-8 sophomore guard Harrison Kerley hit four 3-pointers in the first half against Knoch in the district finals and finished with a team-high 12 points.

“Our expectations are to keep playing as long as we can in states,” Kerley said. “We know to play games in the month of March, we have to do all the little things to be able to keep playing, and we know we are capable of beating any team.

“We are playing for each other this late into the season because we aren’t ready for our season to end yet, and we’re not finished winning games.”

Johnson is looking for the Quakers to rebound from its playoff defeat with a strong showing in the PIAA tournament.

“My expectations are high for our team,” Johnson said. “I don’t think the WPIAL (championship) game demonstrated the quality of our team. It was a tough loss, but we’re ready to bounce back for the state playoffs.”

The Quakers’ leading frontcourt player against Knoch was 6-2 junior forward Kolton Johnson, who pulled down 12 rebounds.

“My expectations for the PIAA playoffs are no different than they were for the WPIAL playoffs: to continue to play as a team, work hard and support one another,” Johnson said. “We will take it one game at a time.

“The championship game obviously didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but we will learn from our mistakes and look ahead to our next game. I’m very proud of this team and how far we’ve come.”

QV limited Knoch’s leading scorer, 6-2 senior guard Teegan Finucan, to five points on 2-of-7 shooting. Finucan was joined in his team’s tall starting lineup by 6-3 guard Vinny DeFelice, 6-1 guard Roman DeFelice, 6-5 forward Liam Avon and 6-7 guard/forward Derek Lang.

The Knights had only 19 points at halftime but pulled away with an 11-0 run that spanned between the third and fourth quarters.

It was the first WPIAL title in boys basketball for Knoch and second for the team’s first-year coach, Joe Lafko, who guided Hampton to a WPIAL championship in 2009 and has coached in the district finals eight times.

“Mike Mastroianni and I have coached against each other for three decades,” Lafko said. “He’s an excellent coach and runs an excellent program.”

QV backcourt players Zach Washington, a 6-2 senior, Nic Cohen, a 5-10 sophomore, and Sam Chapman, a 6-3 junior, led the Quakers in scoring this season.

“The championship game was a good learning experience for us,” Cohen said. “My expectations for the team in the state playoffs are honestly just to compete at the highest level and play together. If we can do that, I think we can go pretty far.”

Prior to the WPIAL championship game, Washington averaged 17.5 ppg, Cohen contributed 16.5 ppg and Chapman added 14.5 ppg.

“One of the trademarks of this team is that they play for their teammates,” Mastroianni said. “We only have two seniors on the roster. We’re a young team, but we’re a young team that has experience.”

QV was seeking its third district title; the Quakers won in 1997 and 2022.

Two of the Quakers’ losses this season came against out-of-state teams during the KSA holiday tournament in Orlando, Fla.

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