Muccino, Scotties rebuilding program, again
Southmoreland boys basketball coach Frank Muccino might want to add rebuilding contractor to his resume.
Entering his 12th season as the Scotties head coach, Muccino has already rebuilt the program three times after graduation created drop-offs in victory totals. That has resulted in seven trips to the WPIAL playoffs.
A fourth rebuild is taking place after the Scotties won two games last year, while playing mostly freshmen and sophomores.
鈥淟ast year was a different year for everybody,鈥� Muccino said. 鈥淲e lost a lot of kids due to Covid who didn鈥檛 come out (for the team) and it left us with mostly sophomores and freshmen, two seniors and one junior.
鈥淲e played a lot of underclassmen, but it should pay dividends down the road.鈥�
Southmoreland returns six letterman, including 5-9 senior Isaac Trout, 6-2 junior Nick Dzambo, 5-10 junior Kelvin Linn, and three sophomores, Ty Keffer (6-2), Ronnie Collins (5-10), and Wyatt Richter (5-11).
Muccino said he has a mix of about 10 players who should provide depth. In addition to the returning lettermen, 6-6 senior transfer Luke Brandner is in that mix, along with, junior transfer Elijah Myers (6-0), and sophomores Kadin Keefer (6-1) and Ty Campbell (5-10).
Freshmen include Aiden Luft (6-1), Dakota Coffman (5-11), Elliot Premus (6-0), Jacob Seese (5-10), Selby Bell (5-11), and Luke DeWitt (5-10).
Muccino said the early practices and scrimmages will determine the starting five and role players.
鈥淲hoever performs will be on the floor,鈥� said Muccino.
Trout is in his fourth year and has played in a number of games, and will likely be the point guard. Keffer was also the leading scorer.
鈥淎 lot of underclassmen got valuable experience last year and with practices not as restricted as they were by Covid last year, we鈥檙e a little bit ahead of where we normally would be at this time,鈥� explained Muccino.
He said the team will be 鈥渕uch more competitive,鈥� this season.
鈥淲e lost a lot of section games by a lot of points. A lot of that was because of our youth. But it蘑菇视频 not acceptable and we have to be better,鈥� said Muccino.
Graduating were Tyler Dunn and Zach Cernuto. Cernuto started, but his floor time was limited by painful shin splints, and he gave all he could during the season.
Muccino said Belle Vernon and Elizabeth Forward appear to be the section front runners with Uniontown, South Park, Mount Pleasant, Yough and Southmoreland all battling for the next two playoff positions.