With the cold weather beginning to work its way into the Pittsburgh area, winter sports are in full swing. The North Allegheny Boys Basketball Team, though they faced adversity through the beginning of the season, look to earn more victories as 6A section play begins. With a well rounded team of boys this year, and a collection of hardworking seniors, the Tigers are aiming to go for the gold in hopes of success in the WPIAL.
Senior guard Joseph Marquis has high hopes for his team this year.
“On the court, you put in the work, so you just have to trust yourself that you can do what you’ve been trained to do and what you work to do,” Marquis said. “Off the court, it’s all about time management, so we practice every day and find time to get school work done in between games and seeing friends.”
The Tigers put their skill into play on Wednesday night, successfully defeating a strong New Castle squad, 57-45.
“I feel like everyone on the team has a role to get our team into position so that we can execute the plays,” Marquis said.
The Tigers did just that on Wednesday night, holding a five-point lead at the end of three and outscoring New Castle 21-15 in the final quarter to take the victory against the Hurricanes. The Tigers now have the upper hand at 1-0 in their section.
Marquis is looking forward to the season ahead.
“We have the talent,” he said, ” so we just have to put in the effort. Boys’ Basketball has never won the WPIALs,so it would be cool if we could make it.”
Senior forward and guard Ty Iwanonkiw is similarly optimistic.
“There is a lot of potential to build off of, and we play really well together,” Iwanonkiw said.
Iwanonkiw finished Wednesday’s game with 13 points, assisting in the big win.
“Our team has really been preparing well for this season,” he said. “We’ve been watching film, working out, working on our team building, going hard in practice, and giving 100 percent every day.”
Senior guard Anthony Sciote is keeping his focus on improvement.
“We really want to focus on getting bigger, stronger, and faster as a team, and definitely limiting the amount of turnovers,” Sciote said.
The Tigers will play against the Pine-Richland Rams at the Pine-Richland High School tonight. The Tigers will face off against their rivals at 7:30pm.
