Leechburg boys adopt road-warriors mentality

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, January 14, 2019 | 8:06 PM

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Borrowing from a tactic he heard a college coach uses, Corey Smith makes his Leechburg starters practice every day wearing their blue road jerseys.

He is making a statement, but not one for fashion.

On the road, the Blue Devils’ third-year coach believes, plenty can go against a team: the crowd or the officiating, for starters. He wants his team to be ready for those scenarios whether they happen in their own gym or elsewhere.

“We look at it as a mental thing, that we’re away,” Smith said. “We practice in the blue jerseys so the guys are ready to go. That mentality is already set for them that we’re away. It’s going to be harder. You’re not in your environment.”

The 2018-19 season is proving Smith has a method to his madness.

Although Leechburg (8-5, 4-1) nears the end of the first half of Section 3-A play in second place, a game behind section leader St. Joseph, the Blue Devils’ ride so far resembles more of a roller coaster than a merry-go round.

Leechburg won six of its first eight games, lost its next three, then won its next two heading into Tuesday’s marquee home game against St. Joseph (11-2, 5-0). The Blue Devils hope the second half of the season contains more ups than downs.

“The last two games, we’ve just been jelling,” Smith said. “Confidence is a must. The effort is back. The excitement is back, and the kids know what’s at stake coming up Tuesday.”

Senior John Miskinis missed two of the three games during the losing streak with a nagging hand injury, giving Leechburg a reason — not necessarily an excuse — for the defeats. Smith considers the three-year starter an on-court leader, the Blue Devils’ “glue guy,” and his presence was missed during losses to West Shamokin and Greensburg Central Catholic.

Miskinis returned for last week’s wins over Propel Andrew Street and Clairton.

“We just have a lot of chemistry when we all play together,” Miskinis said. “The Propel game, it was a good game that we won. We went into the Clairton game with momentum, and that was a big win for us, just a good team win.”

Observers would classify most Leechburg victories as team wins, as the Blue Devils’ success thus far comes from an all-in effort.

The Blue Devils lost standout Christian Hack, a career 1,000-point scorer, to graduation after last season, but they are replacing his production with a collective effort.

Leechburg’s top six players have defined roles: sophomore point guard Dylan Cook the floor general, junior Connor McDermott the knockdown shooter from outside and Miskinis the glue guy. Senior Nico Venanzio, sophomore Jake Blumer and freshman reserve Eli Rich team up to give the Blue Devils a strong scoring and rebounding presence on the interior.

On any given night, any one of those players can take the starring role with the others filling in as best supporting actors. Blumer led the team with 19 points against Clairton after Rich had a team-high 13 against Propel. McDermott hit six 3s in a win over Riverview, and Cook scored 24 points in a win over Burrell and dished out 12 assists against Propel.

“You just never know who’s going to get up, and I think the guys have been feeding off that, too,” Smith said. “They’re starting to see that all nights are not going to be the same. … It’s a collective agreement. Everybody’s doing their one of five, playing their role.”

The last Alle-Kiski Valley basketball team to win a WPIAL championship, in 2007, Leechburg won a WPIAL playoff game for the first time since ‘11 last season and advanced to the PIAA tournament for the first time since ‘07.

The Blue Devils are seeking their fifth consecutive postseason appearance and believe they can make a run.

“Everybody knows the system. We all know Coach Corey, and we know what’s expected,” Miskinis said.

Smith believes practice intensity — not just practice jerseys — will help Leechburg down the stretch.

“I want to see growth,” Smith said. “I want to see from where we started to where we’re at now, what we have to do to finish games. Coming into the game every night and taking it seriously, not having any off nights. I want to continue to have the same great practices we have every night, battling each other, going hard and getting everybody ready for battle night, which are Tuesdays and Fridays.”

Doug Gulasy is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Doug at dgulasy@tribweb.com or via Twitter @dgulasy_Trib.

Tags: Leechburg