Fox Chapel boys basketball fell short of states but has bright future

By: Marty Stewart
Friday, March 6, 2020 | 5:15 PM

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For a week in late February, the Central Catholic boys basketball team picked up a new legion of fans. It consisted of the players, coaches and fans of the Fox Chapel boys basketball team.

Central Catholic defeated the Foxes in the quarterfinals of the WPIAL Class 6A playoffs. It was a stinging loss for the Foxes, but their hopes still flickered.

They needed the Vikings to win the WPIAL championship. Those hopes were dashed as Central Catholic fell to Mt. Lebanon in the semifinals.

The Foxes finished 21-2 with a perfect section record of 10-0. Coach Zach Skrinjar must replace four key starters who will graduate: Sam Brown, Arnold Vento, Will Livingston and Shane Susnak.

“They will be hard to replace,” Skrinjar said. “They have been a large part of our success in the past few years.”

The Foxes will return talented 6-foot sophomore guard Eli Yofan along with fellow sophomores Lorenzo Jenkins, a 6-0 guard, and Russell Fenton, a 6-1 guard.

Yofan has been a starter since his freshman year, and Jenkins and Fenton saw frequent playing time along with sophomores J.P. Dockey and Jake Demotte.

“This is probably the best sophomore core that I’ve coached so far, but we’ve known what these kids are capable of doing for a while,” Skrinjar said. “They have had to step up when our seniors were out for various reasons, and they got the job done. We didn’t miss a beat. When they were freshmen, we knew the talent was there. Their roles increased as the season went on, and their confidence grew with each game.”

Juniors returning next year will be 6-0 guard Kent Baldauf and 6-2 power forward Alex Blaylock.

“Despite having four senior starters, we were a young team as far as experience, and the underclassmen provided depth that we needed. We’ll have talented, experienced players coming back. We were not surprised by what they helped us accomplish. As a coaching staff, we knew we had a good group of younger guys who we could count on.

“Looking back on the season, we checked a lot of boxes off, winning two tournaments (Hampton and Shady Side Academy) and winning the section title. Our defense carried us all year, and only allowing 42 points a game is pretty impressive. In the end, I think to a man we all wanted to do more and go further. I would still consider it a successful season.”

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