Marty Stewart | Sunday, March 12, 2017, TRIB-LIVE
When Woodland Hills lost to Butler in the semifinals of the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs March 1, the PIAA playoff hopes of the Fox Chapel boys basketball team disappeared. The Foxes needed Woodland Hills to go all the way or the season would end for coach Zach Skrinjar’s squad.
Despite the disappointment, Skrinjar felt it was a memorable season.
“We finished 19-4, won the Shady Side Academy tournament, won at Latrobe in a great atmosphere, beat Penn Hills on our senior night, and we sent the game at Plum into overtime on a buzzer-beater and won in overtime to win the section.
“There are also many great memories along the way just in every day interactions and preseason with this group. They had a goal to make the playoffs, and it was fulfilling to work with them every day to achieve that goal and even more. Winning the first section title in 6A is something I think we will look back at. We were able to show future teams that if you play together and defend, you can be competitive in WPIAL basketball.”
The Foxes will lose seniors Jake Livingston, Michael Snowball and Dimitri Spina but will return starters Carson Cohen and Ben Kelly, along with Micah Morris and Sam Brown. Skrinjar will be looking for contributions from underclassmen Arnold Vento, Ryan Kerr, Noah Marks and Kenyon Weiss.