FIRST TIME IN 10 YEARS BASKETBALL TEAM NAMED SECTION CHAMP
FIRST TIME IN 10 YEARS BASKETBALL TEAM NAMED SECTION CHAMP
Outside of the Fox Chapel Area High School boys ’ basketball locker room is a sign that sums up the new WPIAL 6A Section 3 co-champions ’ way of thinking this season : “ Play Present , Know Your Role , Do Your Job .” Before coming out on the court for every game , each of the players touches the sign as if the gesture will remind them of what their mindset has to be that night in order to win .
It ’ s a mantra that kept the team going all the way to their dramatic come-from-behind overtime win against Plum High School , which enabled them to tie for the section championship with Penn Hills and Greater Latrobe . This was the first time in 10 years that the boys ’ basketball team was named a section champion .
Throughout the season , the team was consistently ranked as one of the top-four teams in the WPIAL . They had two separate nine-game winning streaks , concluded the regular season with a 19-3 record , and had the number one scoring defense in 6A . Going into the playoffs , the Foxes were ranked third among the 12 WPIAL 6A playoff teams . Three out of the four top-rated teams are section rivals , demonstrating the strength of the division .
Senior Jake Livingston and junior Carson Cohen , two of the team ’ s four captains this year , were at the heart of a metamorphosis that began shortly after the team failed to make the playoffs last year . Ironically , while Carson was one of the WPIAL ’ s top scorers this season ( as was Jake ) he wasn ’ t even a starter until this year .
The two decided to partner in their quest to get to the playoffs in 2017 , and stopped playing with their respective football and soccer teams to focus solely on basketball . They started intense training while most of the other boys were staying in condition by playing other sports . The two lifted weights – for Jake it was to get leaner after accumulating some excess bulk for football , and Carson ’ s goal was to gain strength and put on some weight . Jake says they really pushed themselves to develop more endurance and speed , and their workouts took them to a new level of athleticism .
“ Whenever Jake and Carson got focused on just basketball , I knew we could
Photo Courtesy Hill ’ s Studio be very good ,” says senior captain Dimitri Spina . Then , once the entire team finally came together , it quickly became a total group effort where everyone shared the same goal and every player was equally valued for what he brought to the game .
“ Dimitri hit some key shots a number of times when we needed them and was a valuable player on defense ,” says Coach Zach Skrinjar , who earned his 100 th career victory this season and was voted by his peers as section coach of the year . “ Dimitri did a lot of work that didn ’ t show up on in the stats , but brought great physicality and leadership to the game . I always assigned senior Michael Snowball , our fourth team captain , to the number one opposing offensive player because he is such an elite defender , but he ’ s also been very consistent on offense . Few players can carry the weight of watching the other teams ’ best player and also still produce on offense like he has .”
Additionally , Coach Skrinjar says the other major contributors to the team this year were junior Micah Morris , sophomore Ben Kelly , and freshman Sam Brown . “ All of these young men played a crucial role in the team ’ s success at varying points throughout the season ,” the coach says .
Most of all , however , it was the combination of efforts , their positive attitudes , and strong sense of unity that brought them success .
“ This team is completely unselfish . Everybody plays a role and does what they ’ re asked to do ,” adds Michael O ’ Brien , the school district ’ s director of athletics . “ They just really gelled as a group and a lot of the credit for that goes to Coach Skrinjar and his staff . They have put in a lot of time and effort to develop their players and to make certain they are well-prepared for every game .”
Even after the season ends , and long after the final whistle is blown , what Coach Skrinjar will probably remember most about this team is that they had a dream . It was a vision they pursued relentlessly and collectively while maintaining great respect for each other .
That ’ s only part of what Dimitri says he ’ ll remember . “ I ’ ll never forget some of the big wins we had and the guys on the team , especially this group of guys , the friendships we ’ ve made , and how we played together . We ’ ve come so far ,” he says .
Photo Courtesy Gordon Snyder Photography ox Chapel Area FOX CHAPEL AREA SCHOOL NEWS
Fox Chapel Area | Spring 2017 | icmags . com 25