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Sunday, January 31, 2021 | 9:01 AM
Louis Raggiunti | For the Tribune-Review
South Fayette’s Brandon Jakiela (22) looks to pass against Mars last season.
Much like the fall high school sports season, the 2021 WPIAL basketball season has been a challenge.
Some schools have dealt with the obstacles and have been able to adhere to their updated schedules following the three-week shutdown from Dec. 12 through Jan. 4.
However, other boys and girls basketball programs must feel like they are driving in rush hour traffic with plenty of stops and starts.
Both the South Fayette boys and girls programs are a good example of trying to be prepared for anything while playing during a global pandemic.
Through the first three weeks of January, while other schools have played as many as 10 games, the South Fayette boys basketball team was 1-1 while the Lions girls squad was 4-0.
“My heart goes out to any high school athlete that is going through the roller coaster ride of this season,” South Fayette boys basketball coach Dave Mislan said. “They have done nothing to deserve this.”
As of Jan. 25, the Lions boys team had practiced five times since Dec. 9. During that stretch, they had two school shutdowns of three days each, a boys basketball shutdown of 10 days and the three-week state shutdown.
“I give credit to the WPIAL for doing everything possible to allow these athletes to have a season when so many others have taken the easy path and just canceled,” Mislan said. “That being said, within our team, we are taking the no excuses attitude. We are scheduling as many games as possible to give these guys a chance to compete and enjoy their abbreviated season. They only get one opportunity to enjoy this high school career.”
The South Fayette girls basketball team hasn’t had it as rough as the boys, but they did have to take a pass on a much-anticipated section matchup with Chartiers Valley on Jan. 18 as the Colts were trying to break the all-time PIAA girls basketball win streak record.
“We were expecting to play Chartiers Valley,” South Fayette girls coach Bryan Bennett said. “I received a call from my athletic director, Mark Keener at 1:30 notifying me the game was canceled and we had to shut down until (Jan. 22). The Allegheny Health Department shut down the high school due to rising covid cases.”
Bennett feels the tough part is stopping for things that are completely out of their control.
“I think the most difficult part about the entire situation is telling the kids that we have to shut down when they are going above and beyond to follow all of the protocols put in place for their safety,” he said. “I felt terrible having to give them the news that we were not going to be able to play Chartiers Valley. To the credit of the kids on the team, they did not let that discourage them and we had one of our best practices of the year when we returned.”
Despite the unorthodox season with all of the stoppages to this point, both Mislan and Bennett made a point to say these hurdles do not change the goals and expectations for their teams.
“We have high expectations for this group, and we are not changing that despite the obstacles and a few key injuries,” Mislan said. “We are going to use games as chances to get better and learn on the fly. Our conditioning is obviously nowhere near where we need it to be, but hopefully by the playoffs, we can get to midseason form or better.”
“The goals for the year did not change,” Bennett said. “We are looking to get better as a team every time we get together as a group.”
Many feel the young athletes aren’t getting the credit they deserve for transitioning, pivoting and adjusting to this unique school year, not for a paycheck, but for the love of sports.
Count Mislan among them.
“This is supposed to be the best time of their life and I feel like I have consistently been the bearer of bad news to them,” he said. “I’m really proud of the maturity these kids are showing. They are handling it better than myself.”
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