Changing of the Guard
Call it a changing of the guard.
Five new coaches will prowl the bench for Butler County boys basketball teams this season.
Kevin Trost takes over at Seneca Valley for Victor Giannotta, who spent 14 seasons with the Raiders.
Dave DeGregorio replaces Dave Long, one of the longest-tenured coaches in Butler County with two decades as coach.
There's also a new face at Freeport, where Wayne Greiser assumes the reins for Mike Beale.
Moniteau's Mike Jewart and Summit Academy's William Sharpe will also begin their first seasons as head coaches.
On the court, though, there is a slew of talent returning, beginning with Butler's Ethan Morton, who shared the Butler Eagle Boys Player of the Year Award last season with Mars graduate and Notre Dame freshman Robby Carmody.
Greiser also gets a big-time player to build around in Jalen Brown.
Other teams have talented players back as well: Chase Beighley at Karns City, Andrew Recchia at Mars, Marcus Might at Seneca Valley.
That should make for an intriguing year on the basketball court.
Here is a look at Butler County area basketball teams this season:
A-C ValleyCoach: Andrew Rapp, 6th seasonLast Year: 9-14The Falcons have already been affected by the injury bug.Starting guards Dalton Callander and Russ Carr, a senior and junior, respectively, have been lost to knee injuries.Carr, last year's top point guard, averaged 10.9 points and four assists per game.“We are still trying to figure things out at point guard,” Rapp said. “We are lacking leadership that we lost to the injuries.”More responsibility will fall to a pair of swingmen — junior Eddie Stevanus and sophomore Levi Orton. The former posted a team-leading 13.9 points and six rebounds per game as a sophomore.Orton started a handful of games in 2017-18 and has “a huge upside,” said Rapp. “He's a phenomenal player.”One thing the Falcons have going for them is versatility throughout their roster.“We work with our guards on their post moves and with our forwards on their ball-handling,” added Rapp. “We implemented this system two years ago. It's structured, but has a lot of flexibility.“We should be 10 deep,” said Rapp. “We have a lot of quick athletes and these kids don't back down. They believe in themselves and in the system.”The Falcons competed in the playoffs last season for the first time in Rapp's tenure.“We didn't actually qualify for the playoffs, but I entered us because we were young and it's all about getting experience,” said Rapp. “We can continue the upward trend, but need to find floor leadership to do that.”
<b>Butler</b>Coach: Matt Clement, 10th seasonLast Year: 18-5The Golden Tornado have only three seniors, yet plenty of players returning who saw ample varsity minutes last year.“We're young, yet experienced,” Clement said. “We'll have most of these guys back next year, too. This is a two-year deal.”Butler is led by junior point guard Ethan Morton, who continues to draw national attention as a Division I recruit. He averaged 24.7 points, nine rebounds and eight assists a year ago.While backcourt partner Luke Michalek and double-digit scoring forward Tarik Taoufik are graduated, Morton will have plenty of company in a deep rotation of players. Included in that mix are junior guard Luke Patten — a co-captain with Morton — and junior forward Mason Montag.Both saw plenty of varsity time last year.“Both have been working hard to improve their games,” Clement said. “I think Patten is one of the biggest secrets in the WPIAL. People don't know how good he is.”Seniors in the rotation are forward Colby Anderson, center Isaiah Scribner and guard Kevin King. Other juniors are guard Anthony Malloy, forward Dom McCowan, a transfer from Seneca Valley, and junior Zach Slomers.Sophomore Mattix Clement returns at guard and two freshmen — guard Devin Carney and 6-foot-4 forward Charles Kreinbucher — are in the mix.“We haven't had a post-up center here in quite a while and Charles gives us that option,” Clement said. “He can play with his back to the basket.”Clement said Butler's section “is as tough as always and we're playing a very challenging non-section schedule.”<b>Freeport</b>Coach: Wayne Greiser, 1st seasonLast Year: 15-7Ben Beale, one of the top scorers in the section, graduated and is now playing at Penn State Behrend. Damon Shirey has also graduated and Isiah Bauman did not return to the team this year.But Greiser has plenty to work with.Point guard Jalen Brown is a third-year starter who averaged 12 points per game last year. Aiden Skradski is another returning starter and is a shooting guard.“We're looking for Jalen to drive to the basket more and Aiden will be counted on for more offense,” Greiser said.Other potential starters are junior guard Garrett Schaffhauser, senior forward Patrick Keeley and 6-5 freshman forward Matt Aulicino. Nolan Plocki is a 6-2 junior forward and young guards Christian Waronsky (sophomore) and Vinnie Clark (freshman) will be in the mix.“We have an athletic team and we expect to battle for a playoff spot,” Greiser said. “We're playing some tough non-section teams to get ready.“Highlands and Knoch are dropping down from 5A into our section and those are two battle-tested programs.”<b>Karns City</b>Coach: Chris Bellis, 10th seasonLast Year: 17-8The Gremlins are coming off a District 9 championship season, as Austin Fahlor's 3-pointer at the buzzer defeated Brookville, 34-31, in the title game.“We were able to play a lot of games in the 30's and 40's because of our excellent defense and strong rebounding,” Bellis said. “A lot of the guys who gave that to us are gone now.”Jacob Friel, Nolan Riley and Logan Pistorius are those graduation losses.“We're gonna have to play that same defensive style again to stay competitive,” Bellis said.Chase Beighley, a sophomore guard, was the Gremlins' leading scorer as a freshman a year ago, averaging 13.3 points per game. Fahlor, a senior guard, averaged 11.2.Nathan Waltman is a 6-3, 225-pound sophomore “who gives us a real presence inside,” Bellis said.Other potential starters are Ethan McElroy, Erik Pfeifer and Josh Wimer.Karns City dropped down to Class 2A this season. Bellis said one of the team's main goals is to win the KSAC title.“We made the KSAC championship game last year and lost to Clarion-Limestone. Now we want to win it,” he said. “And Class 2A in District 9 is stronger than 3A, so we face a challenge that way as well.”<b>Knoch</b>Coach: Ron McNabb, 7th seasonLast Year: 7-14After an admittedly rough season a year ago, McNabb has plenty of reasons to feel confident about this season.The Knights return four starters — losing only Ben Lucas to graduation — in senior point guard Jake Scheidt, senior guard Julian Sanks, junior guards Scott Fraser and Jared Schrecengost.None of those players are smaller than 6-2.“This team has plenty of size and even our smaller players are long,” McNabb said. “We may change the way we play defense, go to more of a zone to take advantage of that size.”Sanks averaged 16 points per game a year ago and Schrecengost struck for 12 points per game.The Knights' fifth starter will likely be 6-3 forward Brady McKee. Also looking for playing time in the frontcourt are 6-4 sophomore Rocky Kopac and 6-3 junior Cole Lassinger.The only players among Knoch's top 11 who are shorter than 6-2 are guards Adam Bajucik and Ryan Lang. Both are 5-11.“We have to make our size work for us,” McNabb said. “We need to be strong underneath and clear the boards.“If we work hard every day in the gym, play hard, the wins and the playoffs will take care of themselves. That's our philosophy.”<b>Mars</b>Coach: Rob Carmody, 21st seasonLast Year: 25-5, WPIAL Class 5A champion, PIAA runner-upThe Planets will look a lot different this season, especially after the graduation of star guard Robby Carmody, who is now playing at Notre Dame.But one important trait of recent Mars teams figures to remain the same.“We will be a team that throws four ball-handlers on the floor with a big guy,” Coach Carmody said. “That's the way we've been built for a while and we've had a lot of success with it.”Mars returns point guard Andrew Recchia, a senior who averaged 12.1 points and 4.2 assists per game last year.But as Carmody eluded to, other players will be able to handle the ball, Khori Fusco among them.The 6-foot-3 senior guard averaged 20 points per contest last year while playing at Clairton. He transferred to Mars last summer.“It was unexpected, but it adds to the talent we already had,” Carmody said. “He's only 13 points away from 1,000 for his career. There will be a transition period, though, as he gets used to playing 5A after playing 1A at Clairton. He is going to have to rebound and play defense and we expect him to be another good defensive player for us.”The “big guy” Carmody referred to is his son, Michael, a 6-6 junior forward who put up 8.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore.“He has bulked up since last year,” Coach Carmody said. “He was 250 pounds and now he's 290. Last year, if Michael got in foul trouble, we could put Robby in the post. With Michael's bigger size, he's liable to knock someone over if he just runs into him and could pick up a lot of fouls that way. He has to play a smarter game.”Senior guard Brandon Caruso is the team's third returning starter.The other two starters will come from a host of players who are eager to keep the Planets in the conversation for a district title.<b>Moniteau</b>Coach: Mike Jewart, 1st seasonLast Year: 7-15Jewart didn't expect the kind of turnout he got before the season started.He had a gym full of 24 players competing for a spot on the varsity team.“I had to have two days of tryouts,” Jewart said.Moniteau is flush with talent. Many of its burgeoning stars got ample playing time last season.That leaves the Warriors with a wealth of excitement heading into this season under first-year head coach Mike Jewart, who was an assistant under the previous coach, Jerry Day.“I think we got a lot of players experience last year and we really had a solid summer and fall.”The Warriors have a strong duo back in 6-2 senior forward Jared Lominski and 5-10 junior guard Ethan McDeavitt.Much of the offense will go through them.Senior forward Tyler McFadden and junior swingman Gage Neal will also start.“We have a nucleaus of four starters back,” Jewart said. “We're not changing a ton from last year.”The fifth starter is up for grabs with a slew of candidates led by senior Bobby Matthews.With 17 players on the varsity roster, Moniteau figures to have a deep bench.That should help the Warriors, who lack ideal size in the paint and figure to run more this season.“The last couple of years we haven't had much size,” Jewart said. “Our guys aren't huge, but they're pretty skilled. Lominski is athletic as heck and he's developed a little bit of an outside game.”<b>North Catholic</b>Coach: Dave DeGregorio, 1st seasonLast Year: 13-13It's not that the Trojans lack the talent to do big things this season. DeGregorio just wants his players to respect and focus on the process it takes to achieve them.“We want to play hard and compete every night,” he said. “Our goals are very short-term, day-to-day.”DeGregorio was previously a head coach at South Allegheny, Pine-Richland and North Allegheny. He spent the last two seasons as an assistant at Hampton. His son, Isaac, had a strong season as a starting sophomore point guard for the Talbots last season and will now wear the Trojans' red and gold.“He has great court vision and the ability to find the open man,” the coach said.Coach DeGregorio is confident his team can go 10 to 11 deep in any given game. That group includes junior guard Ryan Feczko, who dropped 21 points in a WPIAL playoff win over Ellwood City last February.Also looking to make an impact are guard Anthony Serventi and forwards Zack Rocco and Jackson Paschall, all juniors.DeGregorio sees enough athleticism on his team that he plans to use a full-court, man-to-man defense much of the time.“Our goal is to be a more up-tempo team,” he said. “Our depth is probably our strong suit.”<b>Seneca Valley</b>Coach: Kevin Trost, 1st seasonLast Year: 14-9Trost is getting defensive about his first season with the Raiders.“We expect to be faster and bring more pressure than in the past,” he said. “Marcus Might (senior center) is really experienced and Gabe Lawson (junior forward) saw a lot of time last season. Other than that, we don't have much experience, but all the guys bring a lot of work ethic.”Both Might and Lawson will be starters. Trost has high hopes specifically for the former, who averaged 8.5 points and 10.2 rebounds for last season's WPIAL playoff team.“He has a lot of size (6-foot-7) and skill, so we're going to try to go to him (offensively) quite a bit,” Trost said.Senior Zac Zajacs saw few varsity minutes last year as a junior, but is expected to take over as SV's top point guard.“He has a good basketball IQ,” Trost said. “He's got good size, so he can see over guys and we may even move him into the post at times.”The rest of the starting lineup and the top reserves have yet to be determined.“The soccer and football guys played so long this fall, they all sat for a week after their season was over. We're still figuring some things out, but we hope to be able to consistently play eight guys.“The number one goal is for everybody to play with sustained effort,” said Trost. “After that, we want to win the section and go from there.”<b>Slippery Rock</b>Coach: Randy Armagost, 4th seasonLast Year: 4-19As the close losses piled up last season for the Rockets, there was one underlying thread.Slippery Rock was getting worn out in a physical and deep region that featured Sharon, which advanced to the PIAA 4A championship game, at the top.“That's a lot of what this region is about; These teams want to run you out of the gym,” Armagost said. “This is the first year we'll have a nice rotation.”Slippery Rock is deeper than it has been and Armagost is hoping that will prevent the Rockets from tailing off under that constant trapping pressure in second half of games.“I think we'll be able to handle the press better,” Armagost said. “We played Erie East in a scrimmage and their press didn't bother us.”The Rockets have a wealth of players who got significant minutes a season ago.Seniors Logan Croll, a 6-2 guard, Mitchell Houston, a 6-1 center, will anchor the starting five.Juniors Judah Roth, a 6-foot guard, and Jack Allen, a 6-2 forward, will also start.The fifth spot will come down to juniors Zack Thompson and Duncan McCoy and an intriguing senior in Ryan Davis, who hasn't play basketball in three years.But Davis was persuaded to join the team by Croll.“He's very athletic,” Armagost said. “I think he's going to give us a lot of things we haven't had the last few years.”The Rockets season will still come down to one thing: being able to hang with the region elite late.“We lost six or seven games last year in the fourth quarter,” Armagost said. “We have a solid 17 kids coming back from last year and they worked hard in the offseason. We have a junior high program that is doing well, so I think we're heading in the right direction.”<b>Summit Academy</b>Coach: William Sharpe, 1st seasonLast year: 4-15Sharpe takes over a program that is in constant flux because of the nature of the school.Every year, the roster is new and Sharpe's role this season is to getting that divergent talent to mesh.He has a pretty good building block in point guard Jaleel Christian.“He's going to run our program,” Sharpe said.Christian has special quickness and Sharpe hopes he is able to facilitate the offense.His supporting cast is still a work in progress, but the talent is there.“We have a floor general and that counts for a lot,” Sharpe said. “It's high school basketball. Anything can happen.“We're going to look for (Christian) to get into the gaps and create,” Sharpe added.The key for Summit Academy will be how quickly the assembled talent will mesh.And how quickly the players will learn the finer points of the game.“Just teaching them the game of basketball,” Sharpe said. “A lot of these guys don't know how to play under a whistle. They played outside in pick-up games. We have to teach them how to truly play the game of basketball.”<b>Union</b>Coach: Eric Mortimer, 3rd seasonLast Year: 6-16The Golden Knights probably won't dress a player who can contribute what the graduated Lucas Bowser did.The forward averaged 18.5 points per game as a senior and finished his career with well over 1,000 points.But Mortimer said this year's group has the potential to be a better overall team than last year, which saw Union fade from the District 9 playoff picture with nine losses in its last 10 games.“We are even across the board talent-wise and expect to be able to play nine or 10 guys,” he said. “We have a lot of younger kids who had a pretty good summer.”Senior swingman Nolan Cumberland is a player Mortimer believes can take on a leadership role after starting as a junior.Guard Luke Bowser and forward Layton Stewart, both juniors, received some starts last season and their roles should expand.Forwards Quintin Weaver and Truman Vereb and guard Karter Vogel are also pushing for playing time.“The bench will contribute,” said Mortimer. “We should be a quicker team and better on defense. That will lead to more opportunities offensively.“This team feels we can win a lot more games and so do I.”
<b>A-C Valley</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Dalton Callander 5-10 G Sr.Brady Cullen 5-9 F Sr.Caleb Penny 6-1 F Sr.Russ Carr 5-10 G Jr.Austin Cratty 5-9 G Jr.Cole Dehart 5-8 G Jr.Carson Snyder 5-9 G Jr.Eddie Stevanus 6-1 G/F Jr.Jude Burkett 5-10 F So.Tanner Merwin 5-8 G So.Levi Orton 5-10 G/F So.Eli Penny 5-8 G So.Broc Weigle 6-3 F So.<b>Butler</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Colby Anderson 6-3 F Sr.Kevin King 5-10 G Sr.Isaiah Scribner 6-2 C Sr.Alec Andrews 6-1 F Jr.Anthony Malloy 6-0 G Jr.Dom McGowan 6-3 F Jr.Mason Montag 6-3 F Jr.Ethan Morton 6-6 G Jr.Luke Patten 6-4 G Jr.Dylan Piroch 5-11 G Jr.Bryan Presco 6-1 F Jr.Austin Rodgers 6-1 C Jr.Zach Slomers 6-0 G Jr.Mattix Clement 6-0 G So.Devin Carney 6-0 G Fr.Charles Kreinbucher 6-4 F Fr.<b>Freeport</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Jalen Brown 6-0 PG Sr.Cole Furer 5-10 F Jr.Patrick Keeley 6-1 F Jr.Daniel Lynch 5-8 G Jr.Nolan Plocki 6-2 C Jr.Garrett Schaffhauser 5-11 G Jr.Aiden Skradski 6-0 G Jr.Colin Gaspersic 6-0 F So.Christian Waronsky 5-10 G So.Matt Aulicino 6-5 F Fr.Vinnie Clark 5-8 G Fr.Jason Kijowski 6-1 F Fr.<b>Karns City</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Trevor Callihan 6-2 G Sr.Austin Fahlor 5-11 G Sr.Erik Pfeifer 5-11 G Sr.Josh Wimer 5-9 G Sr.Caiden Corbett 5-9 G Jr.Ethan McElroy 6-0 G/F Jr.Daunte Young 5-9 G Jr.Logan Fleeger 5-9 G Jr.Chase Beighley 5-8 G So.Nathan Waltman 6-3 F So.Ty Belles 5-10 G Fr.Luke Garing 6-0 F Fr.<b>Knoch</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Julian Sanks 6-2 G Sr.Adam Bajucik 5-11 G Jr.Jake Scheidt 6-3 G Jr.Scott Fraser 6-3 G Jr.Cole Lassinger 6-3 F Jr.Brady McKee 6-3 F Jr,.Jared Schrecengost 6-2 G Jr.Cole Green 6-4 C So.Rocky Kopac 6-4 C So.Zach McMillan 6-3 F So.Ryan Lang 5-11 G Fr.<b>Mars</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Nolan Carr 6-3 F Sr.Brandon Caruso 5-11 G Sr.Kevin Ceh 6-6 C Sr.Rowen Fletcher 5-10 G Sr.Khori Fusco 6-3 G Sr.Jack Kepreos 6-0 G Sr.Andrew Recchia 5-11 G Sr.Caleb Schmidt 5-11 G Sr.Michael Carmody 6-6 F Jr.Joe Craska 5-11 G Jr.Jared Kozora 5-10 G Jr.Ryan Peaco 6-0 G Jr.Will Johnson 6-2 G So.Caleb Raydo 6-0 G So.Nate Roush 6-4 C So.Anthony Savona 5-11 F So.Eric Schaffner 5-11 F So.Mihali Sfanos 5-11 G So.Andrew Steiner 5-8 G So.Bryce Cunningham 6-1 G Fr.Zac Schlegel 5-9 G Fr.<b>Moniteau</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Jared Lominski 6-2 F Sr.Bobby Matthews 6-2 F Sr.Tyler McFadden 6-1 F Sr.Noah McLean 6-2 F Sr.Zachary Smith 6-1 F Sr.Nate Jack 5-9 G Jr.Ethan McDeavitt 5-10 G Jr.Gage Neal 6-0 G/F Jr.Tyler Steele 5-7 G Jr.Elizac Taylor 6-1 F Jr.Dean Hershey 5-10 G/F So.Mason Mershimer 5-10 G/F So.Tommy Petite 6-0 F So.Brady Thompson 5-10 G/F So.Tanner Williams 5-10 G So.Chance Diaz 5-10 G/F Fr.Kyle Pry 5-9 G Fr.<b>North Catholic</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Luke Garbin 6-0 F Sr.Nick Koscinski 5-10 G Sr.Vince Morreale 5-10 G Sr.Daniel Roethlein 6-2 F Sr.Isaac DeGregorio 5-11 G Jr.Ryan Feczko 6-2 G Jr.Nikhai Hill-Green 6-3 F Jr.Ryan Jackson 6-2 G Jr.Tyler Marmo 6-3 F Jr.Jackson Paschall 6-1 F Jr.Zack Rocco 6-3 F Jr.Hans Rottmann 5-11 G Jr.Anthony Serventi 6-0 G Jr.Jake Tomer 6-4 F Jr.Isaiah Jackson 5-10 G So.<b>Seneca Valley</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Trey Berringer 5-10 G Sr.Angelo Giannotta 5-10 G Sr.Tre Rosell 5-10 G Sr.Brendan Koken 6-2 F Sr.Marcus Might 6-7 C Sr.Zac Zajacs 6-4 G Sr.Mason Bush 6-2 G Jr.Todd Hangliter 6-0 G Jr.Gabe Lawson 6-2 F Jr.Luke Rupert 5-10 G Jr.<b>Slippery Rock</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Logan Croll 6-2 G Sr.Ryan Davis 6-1 F Sr.Mitchell Houston 6-1 C Sr.Tyler Semelbauer 5-10 G Sr.Jack Allen 6-2 F Jr.Mike Busa 6-2 C Jr.Duncan McCoy 6-2 F Jr.Judah Roth 6-0 G Jr.Zack Thompson 5-11 G Jr.Alex Duffalo 5-10 G So.Stephen Fedokovitz 5-10 G So.Colin McCune 5-8 G So.Ethan Plesakov 6-2 F So.Gavin Riefer 5-11 F So.Jon Whitmer 5-8 G So.Logan Wolak 6-1 F So.Brady Prementine 5-4 G Fr.<b>Union</b>Name Ht. Pos. Yr.Corey Barger 6-2 F Sr.Nolan Cumberland 6-0 G/F Sr.Chase Kline 5-4 G Sr.Tye Sapien 6-0 G Sr.Quintin Weaver 6-2 F Sr.Luke Bowser 5-11 G Jr.Layton Stewart 6-1 F Jr.Truman Vereb 6-2 F Jr.Brock Jordan 6-3 F So.Karter Vogel 5-8 G So.Caden Rainey 5-6 G Fr.
