Trib HSSN boys basketball team of the week for March 10, 2024

By: Don Rebel
Sunday, March 10, 2024 | 9:30 PM

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Trib HSSN boys basketball team of the week: Fox Chapel Foxes

Coach: Zach Skrinjar (15th season)

Record: 7-3 in Section 2-5A, 16-11 overall

#Earned: After losing to eventual champion Moon in the WPIAL quarterfinals, Fox Chapel earned the No. 5 seed with back-to-back consolation game victories over Kiski Area and Bethel Park. Not many folks were optimistic that Fox Chapel would get past the opening round when it drew District 10 champion and perennial power Cathedral Prep in the state playoffs. The Foxes’ defense came to play, holding the Ramblers to only seven points in the first quarter. However, the visitors watched an eight-point halftime lead disintegrate as Cathedral Prep stormed back in the third quarter to take a two-point lead into the fourth. Fox Chapel took control in the fourth quarter, outscoring Prep, 20-13 to pull of the surprise in Erie, 57-52.

Scoring stars: While defense was the key to the opening round win for Fox Chapel over Cathedral Prep, the Foxes had a couple of offensive stars that led the scoring. Junior Asher White led the Foxes with 23 points while senior Jefferson Moorefield-Brown added 19 points. Earlier in the postseason, Moorefield-Brown scored 27 points in a wild WPIAL first round victory over North Hills, 94-89 in double overtime.

Last year: Following a Class 6A championship run in 2022, the Foxes dropped to Class 5A last season with mixed results. Fox Chapel finished in third place behind eventual district champion Penn Hills and Shaler, and after beating Thomas Jefferson in the opener, the Foxes fell to North Hills in the 5A quarterfinals. The Foxes earned a PIAA berth with a consolation victory over McKeesport, but lost in the state opener to Exeter Township, 62-57.

Remember when: Friday’s win was Fox Chapel’s first PIAA victory since a run to the state 6A semifinals in 2022. That year, the Foxes defeated Cumberland Valley by five points, Allderdice by nine points and Northampton by two points before falling to Archbishop Wood, 46-44, in the PIAA final four. The WPIAL Class 6A championship run, which included with an upset of top-seeded North Hills in the title game, was the second district boys hoops crown in school history. In the 1977 WPIAL Class 3A finals, Fox Chapel knocked off Beaver Falls for gold, 50-46.

2024 Trib HSSN Boys Basketball Teams of the Week

Week 8 – Baldwin Highlanders

Week 7 – Woodland Hills Wolverines

Week 6 – Beaver Bobcats

Week 5 – Mt. Lebanon Blue Devils

Week 4 – South Allegheny Gladiators

Week 3 – Central Catholic Vikings

Week 2 – Gateway Gators

Week 1 – Greensburg Central Catholic Centurions

Tags: Fox Chapel