Dec 18, 2023 By Kevin Harrison 2 min read

Southmoreland boys basketball coach Frank Muccino is looking for the Scotties to extend their season this year by making the WPIAL playoffs after the Scotties finished 13-9 overall last season and just missed out on the playoffs.

“We didn’t take care of business when we had the chance last season and came up a little short,” Muccino said. “We have a lot of experience returning. I think we had a good offseason.

“Now, the goal is to extend the season.”

Muccino will rely on what he calls his “‘Covid Kids,” a group of seven seniors that took their lumps as freshmen during the covid pandemic when several upperclassmen decided not to play at that time.

The returning seniors include Ronnie Collins, Wyatt Richter, Ty Keffer, Kayden Keefer, Ty Campbell, Skylar Pierce and Cody Bateman.

“These guys have been through some tough games when they were younger,” said Muccino. “Now, they’re seniors. I’m looking for them to benefit from that experience. I think we have enough talent on this team where I can play 9-10 guys any night and not have much of a drop-off on the court.”

Muccino said the strongest part of the Scotties game this season will be experience and depth, getting contributions from any combination he puts on the floor.

Muccino thinks the Scotties compete in the best classification in the WPIAL: Class AAAA. Muccino believes from top to bottom the classification has the most talent of any in District 7 with traditional basketball schools like Lincoln Park, North Catholic and Uniontown.

Muccino says the Scotties have benefitted from competing against these schools, even though there are things his team can improve upon this year.

“The kids know what the competition is like in 4A and it’s going to be a little more physical every night,” said Muccino. “We need to improve our overall defense and mental toughness because there will be a lot of bumping during the games and not everything is going to get called. If we can do that, we have a chance to have a very good year.”