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Thursday, January 23, 2025, TRIB-LIVE
Fox Chapel boys basketball coach Zach Skrinjar is proud of his team for doing two things well this season.
The first is watching his players come together as one.
“This group has really grown together, built a camaraderie,” Skrinjar said. “We have had a good mix when it comes to veteran players and those who are in their first year of varsity experience.
“I enjoy coming to practice and seeing these guys work hard.”
As the team has jelled, their roles have come into focus. There were still some undefined roles four games into the season.
Skrinjar admitted that roles can change from time to time because of injuries or performance, but, for the most part, “the roles have been well defined, and the guys have settled nicely into those roles.”
An important part of any role on the Fox Chapel team, and the second aspect Skrinjar is proud of, is how the Foxes lock down opponents on defense.
“That’s always been something our coaching staff and our guys take a lot of pride in,” Skrinjar said. “Our rotation has been pretty strong. We’ve been very good at holding teams to only one shot a possession, and that’s something our guys have embraced and are really good at.”
The Foxes (12-4, 7-2) are allowing 48.3 points per game, which places them at the top of Section 1-6A and third in Class 6A behind Upper St. Clair (37 ppg) and Central Catholic (47.2).
What’s special about the Fox Chapel defense is there is no true big man underneath. The program typically hasn’t had a big man to work with, so it’s not a hindrance for what they want to do, specifically on defense.
“It’s nothing that’s really bothered us,” Skrinjar said. “It becomes a situation where all five guys have to be connected. All five of our guys can guard anyone one through five on the court. We work with our guards on how to guard the big men down low.
“The concept we have is to defend as a team and have the confidence in the guy next to you to do his job and everyone is going to do their job in their rotations. It comes down to individual accountability, and that’s something our players pride themselves on. Regardless of who’s in front of them, they have that discipline in the philosophy to guard them regardless of height, weight or skill set.”
In 16 games, the Foxes have allowed only half their opponents to eclipse 50 points. One of those games took overtime for the opposition to post 50, and Fox Chapel has lost three of those contests.
Before beating Pine-Richland, 66-60, in overtime Tuesday night, the last team to score more than 50 and beat the Foxes was New Castle, which rolled to a 72-41 win on Jan. 10.
Both the aforementioned games have come in the midst of a five-game stretch where the Foxes alternated wins and losses. The key to breaking out of that oscillation is consistency.
“We have to keep up our consistency on the defensive end and find more of it on offense,” Skrinjar said. “We need to find ways to play with the same amount of energy on offense as we do on defense and have better rotation, ball movement and overall possessions.”
Seniors Caden Kaiser (16.5) and Asher White (11.5) have been leading the Foxes in points per game with junior John Rehak (7.4) the next-best scorer. All three have been solid on the boards, with Kaiser averaging eight rebounds a game and White and Rehak averaging four.
“Those three guys can all get into double digits. That’s when we’re at our best,” Skrinjar said. “Then, if we’re getting some secondary scoring, like five to eight points from two or three other guys, that’s when our guys are functioning the best on offense.”
The numbers reflect what Skrinjar is hinting at: The Foxes haven’t played their best game yet.
“That’s a good thing,” he said. “Hopefully, we’ll be building towards that in the next couple of weeks in section play and the end of the regular season. Play with more speed, take good shots and knock those shots down.”
The win against Pine-Richland moved Fox Chapel into second place in the section behind Seneca Valley. The teams split the two games they played this year.
Behind Fox Chapel is New Castle, and if both those teams continue to win, they will alternate taking over that two spot until they face each other Feb. 2. If Seneca Valley slips up, the top spot could also be up for grabs.
“I don’t think anything is decided yet,” said Skrinjar. “I think this section is still wide open. Anyone can beat anyone on a given night, and that goes back to the North Hills-New Castle game on the 17th where North Hills beat them. I think there’s going to be some surprises left.”
But despite those possibilities, Skrinjar is keeping his team singularly focused.
“We’re going to go one game at a time because we can only control what we can control,” he said.