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The boys’ basketball teams’ 2019-2020 season had been successful enough to reach into the first round of playoffs. Unfortunately, they had also been taken out in the first round, leaving their record at 11-12. Overall, the season was filled with higher scoring games, including a few thrilling buzzer-beater wins.
The boys won 51-49 against Carlynton to start their season. Senior Adam McKinney had scored the most points, with 20 total, while Junior Andrew Gannon led with 13 rebounds.
Midseason, on January 4th, the Lopes earned another win against Keystone Oaks with a score of 69-45. Both Sophomore Jordan and Senior Deon being the top scorers, Jordan scoring 20 and Deon 11.
When speaking to a few of the boys many of them mentioned there were a few challenges, and they had wished that their season had gone better. However, they also spoke on some of the positives of their season.
Junior Mason Donovan- “The season went okay but could’ve been way better. We lost a lot of close games that we should’ve won, including the playoff game where our season was cut short. We had many things affect us this season including our coach leaving in the middle of the season. The challenge we faced was coming together and working together on trying to win that playoff game and we came up short.”
Junior Sam Garda- “Overall, I feel the season went pretty well. We were a .500 team on the year and made it to the first round of the WPIAL playoffs. We eventually lost a tough game by 2 points to South Allegheny. Even though our season didn’t end in a championship, it is something to build on for the next coming years. As a team, we had to work together every game. We were forced to adjust as a team because of the seniors who graduated the year prior. Towards the end of the year, our team suffered some coaching changes. However, we were able to persevere as a team and work together to make it to the WPIAL playoffs.”
Junior Andrew Gannon- “Our season was not what we expected it to be. As a whole, I am not very happy where we ended, as I know we were a better team then our place. Individually I feel pretty good averaging a little under 16 points and about 9 rebounds. I do not think that there was anything affecting the team, but I do feel that we had rough patches of our season. Challenges our team faced this year consisted of our section holding two of the best teams not only in 3A but in the entire WPIAL.”
A few of the guys mentioned how one of the challenges that they had faced was the changing of their coach midseason. The head coach had resigned, and this gave some of the boys a set back heading to playoffs.
Even though there had been bumps along the season, the boys had still made many memories along the way.
Junior Mason Donovan’s had been, “One memory I will remember is hitting the three to tie the game against New Brighton.”
Junior Sam Garda’s was, “One memorable event from this past season was when our athletic trainer was promoted to Asst. Coach.”
Junior Andrew Gannon’s, “The most memorable story that I will take into next year was losing to South Allegheny in the first round of playoffs. Next year we have big goals as a team, and we will remember how we felt losing so early.”
