Burrell boys team in midst of impressive turnaround

By: George Guido
Thursday, February 10, 2022 | 7:10 PM

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With just one victory two seasons ago, the thought of Burrell finishing in second place and hosting a WPIAL playoff game anytime soon was a distant notion.

But here are the Bucs, on the verge of securing second place in Section 1-4A with an 8-3 record, 12-8 overall.

The current crop of seniors certainly took their lumps.

“They’ve come a long way,” third-year Mike Fantuzzo said of his program’s turnaround. “The experience they got as sophomores, it was everything to them. We took our beatings, that’s for sure. But I think it helped us learn how to win and how to play since they had no varsity experience at the time.”

Few good things have come from the coronavirus shutdown, unless you’re in the billionaire class. But in Burrell’s case, the players got to grow into a unit.

“When we got back together again after the covid shutdown, July (2020), when they were going to be juniors, we started our workouts,” Fantuzzo said. “We found out they were working out on their own. They came back bigger and stronger, and their game was much better. They were itching to get back at it.”

Burrell will conclude the regular season at home Friday against Keystone Oaks. The only section losses have been to North Catholic (twice) and once against Freeport on a buzzer-beater.

The Bucs defeated Deer Lakes twice.

A significant win came Dec. 28 against McDowell, a school with more than three times the amount of students Burrell has.

The Bucs won 56-49 in the Bethel Park tournament consolation game.

“For me, and I tried to explain it to them how it was a big win for us,” Fantuzzo said. “After that, we seemed to click. We beat Freeport, Deer Lakes and Keystone Oaks after the break.”

Burrell never has hosted a playoff game in the school’s 58 years of basketball, but it will happen if the Bucs defeat Keystone Oaks and earn one of the top eight seeds.

Leading the resurgence have been seniors Brandon Coury and Donovan Callahan.

“They deserve all the success that they’re seeing,” Fantuzzo said. “They put the time in more than just in the gym. They lift, they go to the ‘Y’ and play. The hard work is showing.”

Callahan never thought of giving up through the long 2019-20 season.

“There was never a time. My Dad always told me to stick with it,” Callahan said. “He said if you keep working day in and day out, it’ll show on the court.”

Callahan missed out about two weeks in January with a broken nose.

“It gone well, section-wise we’re 8-3, that pretty good,” said Coury, averaging 21,3 points. “The ups have outweighed the downs. A home playoff would be really nice, too. It would be really nice to see our families and friends there.”

Though the team is senior-laden with guard Travis Bitar and center Gavynn Thompson also starting, the Bucs might not go away anytime soon.

Sophomore Macky Bennis has had some outstanding games, and freshman Brady Stone and Tucker Bitar have contributed.

Coury and Callahan plan to continue their basketball careers in college.

The WPIAL will issue its playoff brackets early Monday evening on tribhssn.triblive.com.

Burrell will be in the playoffs for the 20th time.

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