As Moniteau chases 2nd District 9 boys basketball title, Warriors welcome back 2024 champion Andrew Zepeda
It was like riding a bike.
After spending a year away from Moniteau’s boys basketball team, Andrew Zepeda surprisingly returned this past fall. It took only a few practices to settle back in, and now he’s become a key contributor for a Warriors team that earned the No. 2 seed ahead of this week’s District 9 Class 2A tournament with a 15-7 record.
“It was an unexpected addition,” Warriors first-year coach Jake Jewart said. “I think it was five games into the year, and then we had kind of realized he was in the district and things then worked (themselves) out.”
Zepeda, a twitchy senior guard, moved to the Kiski Area School District after starring for Moniteau during a march to its first District 9 title his sophomore year.
Zepeda lived with his older sister in the Leechburg area last season and served as the sixth man for the Cavaliers, who won WPIAL Section 2-5A. He moved back into the Moniteau school district but wasn’t planning on playing as a senior.
“Going down there kinda was different, especially with a bigger school and things like that — bigger than Moniteau,” Zepeda said. “I’m just happy to be back.”
His former teammates coaxed him with texts telling him he should pull a Warriors jersey back on, Ian Ross chief among them.
It didn’t take Zepeda long to regain his chemistry with them, having played with the Warriors’ group of seniors from eighth grade through his sophomore year. It wasn’t long, Zepeda said, before “it was almost like my sophomore year again.”
“It was funny,” Zepeda said. “When they were sophomores that year, playing together — and even as freshmen — the way they connected and talked and communicated and everything, and then to watch him step back in and those guys completely not miss a beat like nothing ever changed.
“They’re running plays like (Andrew) never left.”
Still, Zepeda wasn’t returning with the intention of stepping on any toes. Jewart wanted to ease him into action.
“We were up front with him and said, obviously, we were gonna have to work our way up with practices and stuff,” Jewart said. “He had to build that trust and earn all that playing time that he got. Now that we’re full speed ahead, he has playoff approval and all that stuff, we told him that he could start playing starter-level minutes, of like 28 minutes a game.”
“I also said something about (that), too, when I was texting him,” Zepeda said. “I said, ‘I know if I come back, I’m gonna have to earn minutes,’ and stuff like that. ... I knew it was something that I was gonna have to do, and I just took it on as a challenge.”
Zepeda was automatically ruled ineligible for the postseason as a transfer student. Jewart had to apply for an appeal, a similar process Zepeda went through at Kiski. The familiarity with how it worked erased any nerves, though.
Alongside Jewart and his parents, he answered questions in front of a District 9 committee, which granted him the opportunity to participate in the playoffs.
“I grew up playing with these guys, and a lot of them are really my close friends,” Zepeda said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity, and I’m just glad I get to be on the court with them.”
The second-seeded Warriors face No. 7 Kane at home in the District 9 Class 2A quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
