Determined Fox Chapel off to impressive start

 

One thing is certain when it comes to the Fox Chapel boys basketball team — it is going to fight and hustle for every inch of the court. It is that fight and hustle that have gotten the Foxes off to a surprising 7-0 start and 2-0 mark in Class 6A Section 3.

“There isn’t anything really flashy about us,” eighth-year coach Zach Skrinjar said. “Everyone executes and plays well on the defensive end. They execute the game plan and listen to their coaches and it has paid off so far.”

The Foxes were back in action in the Peter Sauer Memorial Tournament at Shady Side Academy this week, beating Seneca Valley, 46-42, Tuesday night. The Foxes took on host Shady Side at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the semifinals.

The Foxes have relied on their defense thus far, allowing 46 points per game through their first seven games.

“We have instilled into our guys that we can bring defense every night,” Skrinjar said. “They have embraced that. We have guys that come off the bench and can defend and guys who have the ability to score. We can control our defensive pressure. It is not perfect but we continue to work on all the small things.”

The Foxes wouldn’t have gotten to this point if it weren’t for the leadership of junior Carson Cohen and senior Jake Livingston. As soon as last year ended, those two made it a point of emphasis to work tirelessly to become the best players they can be.

Cohen is in his first year as a starter for the Foxes, but has a lot of experience including a couple of game-winners a year ago.

“He is very hard working and humble,” Skrinjar said. “He doesn’t really say anything else to officials or players. He just plays his game. He can adjust his game to be better. He is around 20 a game. He rebounds and defends. He does it all. He is an all-around basketball player.”

Livingston is in his third year as a starter and is anxious to return to the success he witnessed as a sophomore when the Foxes advanced to the WPIAL Class 4A semifinals.

“Last year was eye opening,” Livingston said. “We took my sophomore year for granted with that playoff run. We are going to keep grinding it out and the results will follow.”

The Foxes finished last year 11-11 and missed the playoffs, which makes the start of the season surprising to many, but not the Foxes.

“We have done little things better this year than we have done in the past,” Skrinjar said. “We have five scorers on the court at all time. They have taken to the coaching.They listen to us.”

Fox Chapel will be competing with the likes of Latrobe and Penn Hills for a Section 3 title, but from top to bottom, the section has teams that can make a run in the playoffs.

“Our section is tough,” Livingston said. “We are not going to have a night off. Looking down the road, it will be tough, but if we keep up our work the results will fall in.”