PA boys basketball storylines ’25-26: Butler’s high expectations, Freeport’s maturity, North Catholic’s star duo
There is budding excitement ahead of the 2025-26 PIAA basketball season — the joys of a preseason, when everyone is 0-0 and ready for a new year to begin.
For some teams, that excitement comes with aspirations of deep playoff runs, while others are looking to see how young players will grow and perhaps exceed expectations.
Storylines abound as the season rapidly approaches, with tipoffs set for Nov. 29.
Here’s what to expect from each team this year:
With games hanging in the balance last season, the Falcons had trouble with pulling out victories. They finished with a 5-17 record, but it didn’t tell the whole story.
“So many of the games came down to the final minute or two,” coach Jess Quinn said. “And we ended up on the short end. ... You can kinda chalk that up to a little bit of inexperience.”
The Falcons are aiming to reverse their fortunes this season. Doing so would help Joe Rapp, Noah Ithen and the rest of the team achieve their goal of a .500 record and a District 9 playoff appearance.
“We put situations on the clock and did all that,” Quinn said. “In practice, it all works. You get in a game, and it’s a little different of a situation.”
– Brendan Howe
With a talented 1-2 combo, there are growing expectations for a Butler team that started hot before grinding through a difficult section to finish 16-7.
The goal is not simply to win one WPIAL tournament game this year, but to be a contender and make states. That means cleaning up the little mistakes that troubled them.
“I want to come out fast and have the other team trying to dig out of a hole, rather than it’s always us,” said senior wing and recent Edinboro commit Gettinger.
Gettinger averaged 15.3 points, 3.8 assists and 2.6 blocks last year. And senior forward Forbes, when healthy, was an athletic force who could take over games.
The main hole to fill is point guard Tayt Lucas (Geneva). Butler will lean on a committee approach; Gettinger and some others already have playmaking experience.
“I honestly enjoy the challenge,” Forbes said. “It’s just you have so much potential that you have with the new people, and it’s honestly just a process — I enjoy the process.”
– Jake Merda Adams
The ’Jackets were one of the youngest teams in Butler County last year, and probably the WPIAL, going 6-16. Now, it’s time for the youth movement to grow up.
Freeport is still very young, with just Carson Kane — who shot 34.1% from 3-point land and averaged 12.2 points last season — a senior. Juniors Michael Graczyk (8.8 points, 3.0 rebounds), Max Zigo and Gavin Tola (3.9 points, 2.1 assists) should see significant minutes.
“We can do it,” said Zigo, who missed all but six games last year with a broken ankle. “We know we can. It's our time.”
As of now, Freeport doesn’t expect any one player to dominant the game.
“It’ll be interesting to see who steps up,” coach Rich Macura said.
Zigo said it’s important for the team to work together better on defense. The Yellowjackets will not be the tallest by any stretch in their section, but he thinks they’ll be athletic and Graczyk said they can make up for size with “muscle.”
– Merda Adams
Jalen Price is 25 and had never been a head coach before accepting the Gremlins’ job during the offseason.
The 2019 Armstrong graduate always knew he’d land a job, however.
“Our coach left during my senior year,” Price said. “I was a captain and felt like I had to fill part of that void. That experience made me want to get into the coaching field.
“I didn’t go play in college because I wanted to begin preparation to get into coaching right away. It paid off.”
Coaching AAU basketball, Price met some of the Karns City players, competing for the Karns City Reapers, at a tournament in Pittsburgh and chatted with them before he became their coach. The Gremlins went 9-13 (5-5 KSAC) last season.
Price became a big fan of one of his players during open gym.
“Cole Johnston is our point guard, but was busy as quarterback during the football team’s playoff run,” Price said. “He still popped in on open gym all the time, keeping up with the team and what was going on. I loved that.”
– John Enrietto
Point guard Jackson Bauman has moved on to Moon after his father, Alan, resigned as head coach. Senior guard Teegan Finucan and senior forward Derek Lang are working on moving up under new Knights coach Joe Lafko.
Finucan has scored 1,080 points in his career with the Knights (19-8, 10-2 WPIAL Section 1-4A) and is within range of Aaron Faulx’s program record of 1,475. Second all-time is Ryan Lang at 1,452.
“I’m about the team first, but, yeah, I want that record,” Finucan said.
Derek Lang, a fellow senior, is Ryan’s younger brother. He will head to Allegheny College next year like his older brother. Ryan Lang has scored more than 1,300 points at Allegheny heading into his senior year.
“All I want to do this year is help our team go as far as it can and prepare myself for college ball,” Derek said. “Ryan and I will miss each other by one year.”
– Enrietto
Last year, Mars had a new leader for the first time in 26 seasons. Not that its playoff success would’ve been any indication.
The Planets, who were seeded 10th in last season’s WPIAL Class 5A tournament, made a run to the semifinals in coach Kobe Phillippi’s first year in charge. They also earned a ticket to the state playoffs but exited in the first round.
Mars finished 14-13.
“I think we exceeded expectations with what we had last year,” senior guard Austen Wroblewski said. “We have me and Ben (Detisch) and Nick (Santoro) and Chase (Thimons) coming back, but (it’s) a whole new group of guys.”
There’s a key to Phillippi’s success, Wroblewski said.
“Just relating to us. He’s a younger coach, so he kinda gets us,” Wroblewski said.
– Howe
Mike Jewart is out as Moniteau’s head coach. His son, Jake, is in.
Jake, a 2018 Moniteau graduate, served as his father’s varsity assistant last year as the team went 6-15 before taking the head coaching reins for this season.
“The timeline just worked out,” the younger Jewart said. “I never figured on following my dad in this job. The experience of learning basketball from him as a kid, then getting the chance to coach alongside him, has meant a lot.
“I feel fortunate to have worked with my dad. Now I have a chance to use some of his philosophies and strategies and incorporate a few of my own. We only lost our point guard, Connor Ealy, so these kids are familiar with each other.”
Part of the core includes senior Brendin Sankey (forward) and junior Braden Beachem (forward), who recently led the football team to its first three wins in two years.
“We have some big kids who are athletic and can run the floor. We’re gonna use that. We’ll definitely be strong down low.”
– Enrietto
Head coach Jim Rocco believes he has one of the better guard combos in the state with the return of seniors Jude Rottmann and Jason Fredericks.
Rottmann averaged 16 points per game last year and enters his third season as a starter. Fredericks, a point guard, averaged 20 as a junior and was named all-state.
But the duo will be counted on for more than production on the court.
“Jason and Jude, with their experience, will have the great opportunity to mentor a very young core,” Rocco said. “They provide good leadership and they have been through high-level battles.”
That includes last year’s 22-7 campaign, when North reached the WPIAL Class 4A title game and the state semifinals.
Among the players making up the Trojans’ youth movement is freshman guard Brandon Pickett.
“He has the potential to be special,” Rocco said. “He’s got the edge that high-level players have, he just needs time. He has a mature skill set that we’ve not seen at North Catholic at this stage in a career.”
– Derek Pyda
Kevin Trost’s Raiders ripped off 10 consecutive wins last season, but a six-game season-ending skid followed. There were lessons to be learned from the drop-off near the end of the 11-12 campaign, ones that will show on the floor with a veteran-laden squad this time around.
“We definitely have a mindset of that we wanna make sure that we finish this year,” Trost said. “Just basically being able to deal with adversity. If we have a bad play or a bad game, being able to snap out of it a lot sooner than we did last year.”
Trost believes another year of experience will help his bunch be more mature in that aspect. Seniors Andrew Omasits, Jaxon Householder and Owen Congdon are among the returning impact-makers.
“In totality, I still think our program took another step last year,” Trost said. “As bad as it was going through what we did at the end of the year, I think it’s only gonna make us stronger this year.”
– Howe
It was a luxury for the Rockets having a player like Josh Book the last two seasons. The forward put up 21.5 points and 11 rebounds over his junior and senior campaigns, earning Butler Eagle Player of the Year both times.
After leading the Rockets to a District 10 playoff appearance and a record of 13-12 last year, Book graduated. The Rockets must find multiple players capable of big moments in big games.
The team’s top returning player is senior guard/forward Doug Popovec, who is coming off a 6.8-point and two-rebound average last year.
Guards Casey Darr and Sawyer Allen and forward Doug Senge also figure to play key roles.
“They’re all seniors, and have been witness to the best qualities of the groups of players that were ahead of them,” coach A.J. Motta said. “A number of guys have made a case for themselves as starters or for playing time. The work ethic has been great. These guys don’t quit. We feel we have a mix of players that can lead us to success.”
– Pyda
The Knights are going from, as coach Logan Pistorius put it, “a run-and-gun style to slowing it down a bit. It’s going to take some time to implement that style.
“Guard play will be a focal point for us.”
That group will be led by senior point guard Trent Fleming, who averaged 14.2 points per game a year ago. Senior forward Jorge Reyes is the other returning starter.
“They both play football. A lot of our players play football and they’re still playing (as of Nov. 7), so knowing who is going to be where for us still needs to be determined. Our starting lineup will be a mix depending on matchups.”
Union started 2-6 last year and ended up missing the playoffs with a 10-12 record.
“We were notorious for playing three good quarters and one bad quarter. That came back to haunt us, though we played better down the stretch (6-3 in last nine games),” Pistorius said. “The top priority for us is to be a playoff team again.”
– Pyda
