Steady approach helps Penn Hills boys, girls basketball coaches hit 100-win mark

By: Josh Rizzo
Sunday, January 7, 2024 | 11:01 AM

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Robert Cash always wants his team to approach every task with the same intensity, and the Penn Hills girls varsity girls basketball coach attempts to hold himself to the same standard.

In his eighth season leading the varsity program, Cash hit the 100-win total.

Cash was the second Indians coach to reach the century mark in the span of a few weeks. Chris Giles, who coaches the Penn Hills boys, also hit 100 wins. Giles reaching the total includes 32 wins at Propel Andrew Street.

Giles said maintaining success requires a steady approach.

“You have to be consistent with effort and teaching the fundamentals,” Giles said. “Kids at Penn Hills want to put the work in. If you are teaching and re-teaching, kids will see you are doing it out of love, and they know it’s for the right reasons for them to be successful. It translates into wins.”

Cash, whose girls basketball team is off to a 3-5 start with a 2-1 record in Section 1-5A play, is proud of the program’s progress.

When Cash came on board as an assistant to John Tate, Penn Hills was coming off a 3-19 season. Following a successful four-year run under Tate, Cash took over the Indians’ program during the 2016-17 season.

During Cash’s first season, Penn Hills went 23-4 and reached the PIAA Class 6A quarterfinals before losing to eventual state runner-up North Allegheny. In seven of Cash’s eight seasons, the Indians have finished with double-digit wins.

“It’s been awesome to come into the program and to help support the kids,” Cash said. “I know that basketball hasn’t been as popular, but we want to show them that playing can help them be successful. We’ve had awesome kids who have returned to support the program.”

Giles took over the boys program during the 2021-22 season. The Indians won the WPIAL Class 5A title last season and have made consecutive trips to the PIAA quarterfinals.

The Penn Hills boys team is off to a 5-2 start this season.

“Robert and I are good friends outside of basketball,” Giles said. “It made it an easier transition for me to take the job at Penn Hills because of my relationship with him before I took over there. He does a fantastic job with the kids and knows his Xs and Os.”

Cash is proud of how the players in his program have responded to their academic standards. The Penn Hills girls basketball program expects middle and high school players to maintain a 3.0 grade-point average. Both the middle school and varsity programs are hitting that mark this season. If anyone falls below a B average, Cash wants to help them get back on track.

“I don’t care if it’s a 79; anytime someone is at a C level, we want to know why,” Cash said. “We want to help them and try to work with their teachers and set up a plan to get them back on track. We want our kids to get As and Bs.”

The Indians hope to avoid being caught up in a difficult battle for a playoff spot again this year. Last season, Penn Hills took it down to the wire to seal a bid. So far, the Indians have picked up double-digit wins over Gateway and Franklin Regional in section play.

Penn Hills opened the season with four straight losses, and Cash hopes for Penn Hills to see more consistency as the back half of the schedule approaches.

“It’s been a roller coaster so far; we’ve lost a few games early,” Cash said. “We’ve had a hard time doing the little things. We had the same issues last year. We had a better offseason and got better, but we need to do the little things better to get back to the playoffs.”

Giles said that he hopes both programs can continue their traditions of success.

“We always say, ‘One Tribe,’” Giles said. “We want each other to be successful. The girls want the guys to do well, and the girls want us to do well. It brings a different type of energy into the room.”

Tags: Penn Hills