Fox Chapel boys stay undefeated, stifle Penn-Trafford

By: George Guido
Friday, January 10, 2020 | 11:09 PM

Fox Chapel continued to show its defensive prowess Friday night against Penn-Trafford.

The Foxes, atop the TribHSSN Class 6A rankings, held the Warriors to a lone basket for an 11-minute, 17-second stretch en route to a 53-38 home floor victory.

Fox Chapel is 12-0, 4-0 in Section 3-6A.

“Defense has been our calling card all season,” Foxes coach Zach Skrinjar said. “We’ve really embraced it. We can teach all we want, but getting high school kids to play defense is not easy, but these guys love it.”

Noah Wright hit a shot with 1:12 left to bring the Warriors to within 26-19, the score at halftime. Penn-Trafford mustered just one basket until the 5:55 mark of the fourth period, when Josh Kapcin ended the field-goal drought.

It was the fourth time this season the Foxes held a team under 40 points.

“They’re a very good team,” Warriors coach Jim Rocco said. “They’re one of the better teams in the WPIAL. Every kid can pass, dribble or shoot it. They do a great job communicating on defense.”

Fox Chapel also showed efficiency on the offensive boards. When the Foxes missed their first five shots of the third period, they kept the ball on their end with five offensive rebounds.

Fox Chapel sophomore Eli Yofan had a career-high 26 points and collected eight rebounds and three steals. Midway through the first period, Yofan stole the ball near midcourt and slammed the ball through the hoop for a 12-2 Foxes lead.

He repeated that feat in the third period to put Fox Chapel ahead 30-19 with 3:42 showing on the clock.

Ordinarily, the Foxes showed some patience on offense after being set up so often by their defense.

Said Skrinjar: “It’s kind of funny. We work so hard on defense that we can rest on offense a little bit. It’s something I think we have to do.”

Penn-Trafford is 2-2 in the section, 8-4 overall.

Zach Rocco, coming off his career-high 34 points Tuesday night, led the way for Penn-Trafford, scoring 20 of his team’s 39 points.

Promising sophomore Ben Myers garnered 13 rebounds and blocked eight shots.

“Ben did a nice job, defensively,” Rocco said. “He’s getting better and better. He’s still a young kid getting his first varsity experience. This is the first varsity experience for everyone but Zach. Our guys do a good job. They come to practice and learn every day.”

The Foxes continue to thrive despite two of their top players nursing ankle injuries.

Arnold Vento, second leading scorer on the team, and Sam Brown are on the sidelines.

Still, Skrinjar’s deep bench allowed him to make frequent substitutions.

“You’re into section play, and we have some younger guys in there,” the 11th-year coach said. “You try mixing-and-matching, shuffling people around. We’ll never rush injured players back. No one wants to be back more than those two. When they’re ready, they’ll be ready.”

Fox Chapel will try to remain unbeaten Tuesday at Connellsville, and Penn-Trafford returns home to play Norwin.

Tags: Fox Chapel, Penn-Trafford