While Rec Basketball is a tradition in Upper St. Clair, for some people it’s a religion. Undoubtedly, Upper St Clair Rec Basketball brings out the competitive edge and excitement in all high schoolers who participate. The rec basketball season started in early December and concluded at the beginning of March. The season consisted of one game a week; then, every team made the playoffs and were seeded by their regular season record.
The 2014-2015 rec basketball season concluded on March 5th at Eisenhower Elementary with the semi final and championship matchups. For some, the ending of the season was not taken lightly. Everybody who was in the playoffs believed his team would win. Take it from Team Red captain Brad Colditz.
“…Yeah, I think my team is going to win,” said Colditz before his team was defeated by Team Maroon.
The night started with the final four teams playing to see who would get a chance to win the Finley Cup later that night. Team Black beat Team Green and Team Maroon beat Team Red. The captains of each of the winning teams had arguably the two best rec seasons by any players in the league, Danny Trocano (Maroon) and Garrett O’Grady (Black), so it was only fitting that they play each other in the championship.
The game concluded with a win for Maroon, as Trocano scored in the upwards of 20 points, with a plethora of rebounds, steals, and assists to push his team over the edge. After the game captain Danny Trocano said, “I’m going’ to Disney world!”
But anyone who knows anything about recreational sports knows that the star player is not what matters. It’s the rest of the team that separates the good from the great. Hayden Bernhardt, J.P. Schrott, Andrew Bartusiak, Robbie Mertz, Connor Keefe, Jeff Howard, Evan Mamacos, and Kenny Rapko made this team extremely hard to beat.
The Maroon squad was known for their tenacious defense, which was present throughout play-offs. They played an unconventional high octane 1-3-1 trapping zone. With unmatched conditioning and speed from several varsity soccer and football players, this team forced Team Black to play a high tempo game. This style of play did not work in favor of the three-point specializing black squad.
Junior shooting guard Ben Tobias recalled, “They were just way too fast; we hard a really tough time getting open looks.”
Nobody like to see the Rec Basketball season come to an end. Except maybe some USCAA commissioners. But that is beside the point. The point is Rec Basketball provided a lot of fun for a lot of kids, who most likely would be sitting at home doing nothing on Thursday nights if it weren’t for this program.
There were a lot of people who stuck up for the program, like Mr. Dudas and Mr. Fink, and made this season happen. The players were grateful to them for keeping Rec Basketball alive and healthy in Upper St. Clair.