Westmoreland high school basketball notebook: Brozeski subs fast and furious

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, January 17, 2019 | 6:18 PM

Norwin girls basketball coach Brian Brozeski joked he has a timing mechanism in his pocket during games that alerts him when to substitute players.

Watch a Knights game, and it’s like hockey line changes: three in, three out; four down, four up.

While a number of teams like to whittle their rotation as the season progresses and only play multiple reserves in blowouts, Class 6A No. 4 Norwin (12-1) runs reserves in at a rapid rate. The subbing has become a staple for Brozeski, who has been known to play 10 to 12 girls even in the toughest games.

Brozeski admits there is method to his madness. And while much of the bench movement is based on feel and situations, the coach calculates potential lineups, too.

Whatever the case, the Knights almost always have a fresh five on the floor.

“Sometimes I map it out,” Brozeski said. “Other times, it’s something I just feel out. It can be based on matchups or to help energize them. It’s a mental chess match.”

With so many players getting so many minutes, Brozeski said the Knights’ on-court chemistry always is a work in progress.

“We’re still trying to figure out what roles to put the girls in,” he said. “We’re still developing our weaknesses.”

Woodland Hills showcase

Woodland Hills will host a unique basketball showcase this weekend. Thirty-five teams will gather for the MLK Weekend Stand Against Violence Showcase. The three-day event runs Saturday through Monday.

Latrobe is the lone Westmoreland team. The Wildcats play Abington at 2 p.m. Saturday.

“We have a tough schedule this season, one of the toughest we’ve had,” Latrobe coach Brad Wetzel said. “Abington will be a test for us.”

Teams will travel from Maryland, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New Jersey, Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.

A portion of the proceeds go to Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE), an advocate for youth safety and nonviolence.

Charge to remember

It was a collision that seemed to shake the building. Hempfield junior Fintan Brose (6-foot-3, 280 pounds) plowed into Latrobe senior Trent Holler (6-3, 290) during Tuesday night’s contentious Section 3-6A game at Hempfield.

Brose caught the ball at the foul line, turned, dribbled once and barreled into Holler, who drew a charge.

Holler hit the floor with a thud and let out a grunt. But he got up smiling.

“I put my body on the line for the team,” Holler said. “He hit me pretty hard, but I was good. I enjoy taking charges. Sure, it might hurt, but we get the ball back.”

Latrobe won 58-56 as senior Alex Bisignani made a pair of free throws with four-tenths of a second remaining.

Defense doesn’t rest

The Franklin Regional and Southmoreland girls and Hempfield boys have something in common: They lead their respective classifications in scoring defense.

Franklin Regional allows 43.1 points, tops in Class 5A, and Southmoreland’s 34.2 mark leads 4A. Hempfield gives up 50.2, the best in Class 6A.

Other boys teams with stingy defensive averages include Greensburg Salem (53.0), Jeannette (53.2) and Monessen (51.6), all of whom rank second in their sections in that category.

Norwin’s girls have the second-best average in Section 1-6A, at 39.5.

Layups

Jeannette senior guard Dymond Crawford needs 55 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Olivia Sirnic was the last Jayhawks player to reach the milestone, in 2017. … Greensburg Salem senior guard Megan Kallock leads the WPIAL in scoring at more than 25 points per game. … The Latrobe boys won’t play another home game until Jan. 25 (vs. Penn-Trafford), but the Wildcats will seek their 50th win in 58 home games.

Bill Beckner is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bill at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Greensburg C.C., Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Jeannette, Latrobe, Norwin, Southmoreland