Highlands boys aim to maintain standard

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, November 27, 2017 | 7:39 PM

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Highlands' one-point loss to Laurel Highlands in the first round of the WPIAL Class 5A playoffs not only marked an unflattering end to last season but also closed the book on an era of Golden Rams basketball that set a new standard around the program.

“There only gets to be one champion and only one team gets to win it at the end of the year, and because of that, basketball can be cruel,” said Tyler Stoczynski, who has guided Highlands to a 58-65 record through his five seasons as coach. “Those guys last year put in tons of time, and for whatever reason, (there would be) one thing here, one thing there and it just didn't work out.

“We ended up with that one-point loss, and it was kind of indicative of what we went through all year and (us) not quite getting over that hill and riding that wave.”

The great thing about waves is there are always more to follow, and Highlands has plenty of reinforcements who as middle-schoolers watched the resurgence and saw the standard grow with each season.

“This organization expects a lot from us,” sophomore Luke Cochran said. “It really helps because it shows us where we can be with things, and it really makes us set our goals high. I think this year is really going to be something special.”

The Rams bid adieu to the last of the starters that helped Highlands finish second in WPIAL Class 3A in 2016.

Just one player remains from that run: 6-foot-1 senior Romello Freeman, who joined the team as a sophomore and didn't see much playing time until the Rams moved into the PIAA playoffs.

“As a senior, I recognize that I need to be a leader and keep the team rolling,” Freeman said. “My sophomore year, Jamison (Nee) did a good job and that's what I like. I kind of looked up to (Nee). He was a good leader.”

Practice officially started a few weeks ago but it was during the summer when, much like the 2015-16 team, the Rams came out of nowhere to win the Pittsburgh Basketball Club's summer league against some of the area's top teams, such as Allderdice, Fox Chapel and Central Catholic.

The summer league title didn't come with a trophy — just a T-shirt.

But the biggest prize was something that can't be seen: confidence. It proved to the Rams, who will trot out four new starters this season, that they were further along than they anticipated.

“It was good to come (together) early, and we got something to take into the season,” sophomore Johnny Crise said. “We know what we can do now, and we got that chip on our shoulders.”

Stoczynski looked at the championship win over Allderdice as only a coach would.

“We took it as a starting block and a lot of people take championships as the end product,” Stoczynski said.

“I think that resonated with a lot of our guys because our seniors didn't get to play a ton as juniors. This is their shot.”

In addition to Freeman, seniors Christian Tanilli, Cameron Foster, Ryan Signorella and Shawn Erceg will lead the Golden Rams.

Highlands' starting five will have plenty of size when the season begins against Butler on Dec. 8 at the Pine-Richland tournament.

The 6-foot-6 Erceg will start at center with Tanilli (6-2), Signorella (6-0) and Cochran (6-1) at guards. The 6-7 Crise will fill in on the wing for Freeman, who is recovering from a broken left arm he suffered playing wide receiver.

Freeman is expected to have his cast removed Dec. 7, but Stoczynski isn't sure when he'll be available.

“I think that our height and our size is one of our assets,” Stoczynski said.

Juniors Daniel Thimons (6-3) and Korry Meyers (6-0) and freshman Dom Pesci are expected to see time off the bench.

“This team has a whole lot of potential. There is no ceiling for this group,” Stoczynski said. “This group really works hard, and I'm really enjoying them.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.

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