2002-03 SCHEDULE

Nov. 29-30 -- at Fort LeBoeuf tourney Dec. 3 -- Venango Catholic Dec. 6 -- at Hickory Dec. 7 -- Neshannock Dec. 13 -- West Middlesex Dec. 14 -- Meadville Dec. 17 -- Slippery Rock Dec. 20 -- at Commodore Perry Dec. 27-28 -- at Northwestern tourney Jan. 4 -- Commodore Perry Jan. 7 -- at Wilmington* Jan. 10 -- at Mercer* Jan. 14 -- at Kennedy Catholic Jan. 17 -- Greenville* Jan. 21 -- at West Middlesex Jan. 24 -- Reynolds* Jan. 28 -- Wilmington* Jan. 31 -- at Greenville* Feb. 5 -- Mercer* Feb. 8 -- Conneaut Lake Feb. 11 -- Kennedy Catholic Feb. 14 -- at Reynolds* [* = MCAC-AA contest]

By The Herald Sports Staff

If experience makes a difference in high school basketball, the Sharpsville High boys' basketball team has a wealth of it in terms of its coaching staff.

First-year coach Rob Spon has been involved in coaching basketball for 21 years. He spent three years coaching the Magic City Snowbears of Minot, N.D. in the International Basketball League (IBL), leading them to back-to-back championships as head coach and general manager. Spon also has been as assistant at Thiel College, as well as scholastically at West Middlesex, Greenville and Sharon.

One of his assistants is Tom Roskos, who played on Sharpsville's 1996 team that made it to the District 10 finals, the last Blue Devils' team to accomplish that feat. The other assistant is Rick Mancino, who played for Kennedy Christian's 1986 state title team, and was was head coach at Slippery Rock High, and is now the ninth-grade basketball coach for Sharpsville. This is the first time in three years that there's been a ninth-grade Sharpsville program.

Seniors returning from last year are 6-foot guard Adam Dye, 6-0 guard/forward Matt Supel, 6-0 center Kyle Myers, 5-9 guard Matt Killa and 5-10 forward Mike Burt.

"Dye and Supel started for us off and on last year," according to Spon. "Matt Killa is a District 10 golf champion, so his leadership will definitely help our team. He's a big asset and has lots of leadership qualities. Another senior that's going to play is 6-2 center Scott Reffner. He hasn't played since he was in eighth grade and he'll bang around inside and help us out with his height. Mark Anglin is back as a 6-1 junior. He started as a sophomore last year and will play forward/guard for us. He handles the ball well, is very athletic and he can really stroke it. Chris Anglin is a 5-9 junior and he'll play a lot for us at point guard."

Spon believes that several underclassmen could make an impact for the Blue Devils this season.

"R.J. Golub is a freshman and he is very talented. He can jump and is strong. He just needs to get experience on the court."

Spon also mentioned three sophomores that could see some time on the hardwood this year.

"Shawn Valenly is 6-1, Shayne Stiger is 5-11 and Steve Killa is 5-8, so we have a little size there."

Spon believes this year's squad needs to run to win.

"We have to run. We need to play an up-tempo game. We have to pressure the other team. Really, we need to dictate the tempo of the game. If we get stuck in a half-court game, we're gonna be in trouble. Basically, as a coach, I'll have to make adjustments, but I really like doing that. It's just like when I coached in the IBL. I have to try different things to win. Lots of different defenses and things like that. I'll do whatever I can to give us the best chance to win. We have to shoot very well and get every rebound, box out, and we can't turn the ball over. We aren't doing a good job of taking care of the ball. We are not very big -- we're very small and the numbers are down -- but overall, I've been pretty happy with our practices and our scrimmages, except our last one with Cranberry. We did not do a good job. We turned the ball over too much."

To help prepare for this year's rugged schedule, the Blue Devils took part in the Grove City team summer camp and a team camp in Slippery Rock.

"I'm real happy with what we did at Grove City because the competition was strong," admitted Spon. "You had Franklin, George Junior, New Castle, Grove City, West Middlesex and Slippery Rock. The kids did very well there. Then we went to the Slippery Rock camp and played kids from North East, Harbor Creek and Center from the Pittsburgh area."

The Blue Devils also had a chance to jell as a team as the result of a recent tornado disaster. The team helped classmate Harold Zook of Clark, who is a sophomore on the junior varsity team, after his house was destroyed.

"I really think that helped bring the team together and showed team unity," said Spon. "These are great kids. Matt Killa made the suggestion to me about helping Harold and his family, so I went out and met his family and we all rallied around it and accomplished a lot."

Spon is trying to improve a team that won one league game last year and finished the season 3-21. "They just need to believe in my system. Once we get a win, it will get the ball rolling. Our goal is to win the league crown. I tell them that this school is good in football, good in baseball, good in golf and they can win in basketball too! It won't be easy though, because this league is strong and the other teams have great coaches. Mike Williams at Mercer does a heck of a job. He has lots of players back. He has done a good job playing younger kids in the past, so it seems like those kids are there forever. Nick Cannone at Wilmington is a super coach. They have lots of talent."

Spon admitted that, "It's kind of strange," going from pro league players to those in high school. "I'm used to very high-caliber, above-the-rim players with awesome speed, like in the IBA. But this is fun. It takes more time to teach the kids, but it really is fun. Everytime I challenge them, they rise up to it. I'm just happy that the school board gave me the opportunity to come to my hometown and be a coach. I want to thank them for that."

Notes: Spon said, "Jay Goncz is our sixth-grade coach in the elementary school and does a great job. He helped us out tremendously over the summer at the two camps. We put in a lot of hours together, starting an open gym in May. He was with us all summer. I'd also like to thank the Gentile family of the Keystone Adolescent Center. I'm a case manager there and they switched my schedule around so I could take this job. I told them that I wanted to be a coach at Sharpsville and they were behind me all the way. I thank them because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be able to coach here." -- by Rob Malsom, Herald writer