Southmoreland boys basketball embarks on major rebuild

By: HSSN Staff
Sunday, December 3, 2017 | 6:51 PM

It was as if the team's hard drive crashed before the season even started.

And the Southmoreland boys basketball team lost everything.

One minute, coach Frank Muccino knew what he had coming back. The next, he had to start putting names to fresh faces.

“I don't even know some of these kids yet,” Muccino said before the team's third practice. “When you look at it, we lost 12 or 13 of the top 24 or 25 on the roster. I don't know if there is anyone in the WPIAL who can say they lost that much.”

Former 6-foot-11 standout Brandon Stone already was gone, now a prep-school product at The Christ School in North Carolina. And eight seniors long since had flipped their tassels.

But three more would-be players also transferred out: John Leighty to The Kiski School for football, Nick Sirianni to Carmichaels and Jharad Lester to West Virginia.

“What has happened is brutal,” Muccino said. “But we worked to build (the program), so our expectations don't change. We still want to be able to compete.”

Southmoreland had a season to remember last winter, reaching the WPIAL quarterfinals for the first time since 1987 and averaging 71.3 points.

Stone, looking like a big-time recruit, averaged 25.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 2.5 blocks as Southmoreland finished 19-5.

Senior guard Tommy Pisula was a backcourt leader who put up 18.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists and was a 1,000-point scorer.

With that pair gone, along with other role-playing seniors and their potential replacements, practice has felt more like freshmen orientation.

“We have some young talent,” Muccino said. “But we're very inexperienced as far as varsity basketball. We have a lot of guys who were JV or practice players. Now they're thrust into the role of being contributors. We like our junior class.”

Junior guards Ronnie Robinson and Dalton Anderson saw minimal fourth-quarter time last season in some blowouts.

Muccino also mentioned sophomore Riley Comforti as a potential impact player. Senior Brooke Peterson brings size at 6-4.

The schedule won't show any mercy. The Scotties have Connellsville, Laurel Highlands, Highlands and Canon-McMillan on the nonsection slate.

“We have to find a way to compete and try to make the playoffs,” Muccino said. “My second and third years here, we made the playoffs. Then we went 0-21 and 2-19, when Pisula and those guys were freshmen. It was a steady build from there.

“We're going to put in the work. We're a work in progress.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Southmoreland