If Brad Wetzel wasn’t sure what to expect last season before his Latrobe boys basketball team challenged for a WPIAL section title and marched to the state playoffs, the longtime Wildcats coach finds himself really bewildered this time around.
This year’s club offers a noticeably different feel.
It is a team, Wetzel hopes, that will perform with a similar element of moxie.
“We’re bigger and longer than other teams I’ve coached,” Wetzel said. “For me, it’s really a unique situation.”
So, too, was the case a year ago during a unique season that saw Latrobe win 15 of its first 16 games and 16 of 18.
When it was over, the Wildcats had reached the second round of the PIAA Class 5A playoffs despite going 3-3 in postseason play.
A lopsided 67-41 loss to District 6 champion Johnstown capped an otherwise satisfying season with a 21-7 record.
“It was their attitude. We weren’t really deep, but the guys would find a whole new gear when it looked like we were sunk,” Wetzel said. “They would find a way. It was an intangible, and if I was being honest, I didn’t think we would win that many games. It was really fun.”
Now, Wetzel wonders if this year’s group is capable of a similar run.
“I don’t know that,” he said. “The key is, ‘Can this team find that same gear?’ If this team demonstrates that type of desire … we’ll see. There are guys who showed me this summer (in such settings as open gym sessions, team camps and summer leagues) that they’re ready to reassert themselves, ready to expand their roles.”
Two starters return, including 6-foot-5 guard/forward Ian DeCerb, from a team that tied Gateway for second place at 10-4 in Section 1-5A.
DeCerb is likely to be the only starter available when Latrobe begins play in its own Thanksgiving holiday tournament Nov. 28-29.
Wetzel was hoping the other returning starter, senior forward Andy Tatsch, would be recovered from a football injury in time to contribute in late December when Latrobe competes in a Christmas holiday tournament at Plum.
Among the others bringing experience back are seniors Sawyer Butina, Dom Scarton and Owen Teslevich.
Wetzel has been intrigued by the addition of Summit Academy transfer Robert Young, a 6-7 senior, who also played football this season for the first time at Latrobe.
“He didn’t get to play for us in the summer, but he’s been a great teammate,” Wetzel said.
Three other WPIAL schools — fellow Section 1-5A member Indiana, Class 3A Quaker Valley and Class 2A Jeannette — will join Latrobe in its own six-team tournament field, along with PIAA District 6-3A Richland and District 5-2A Windber.
Among other nonconference opponents on the schedule are Butler and Hempfield, both WPIAL Class 6A programs, and Wheeling Central Catholic, a Class 2A school in West Virginia.
A year ago, Latrobe remarkably squeezed into the PIAA playoff field despite a fifth-place consolation loss to section champion Uniontown in the WPIAL playoffs, the Wildcats’ third setback of the season to the Red Raiders.
But it didn’t derail Wetzel’s club, which responded with a first-round PIAA victory over District 3 runner-up Exeter Township.
“This year’s team is built differently than what I’m used to,” said Wetzel, who enters his 25th season with exactly 300 career victories at Latrobe.
There are questions to be answered. As early as late November, he’ll begin finding out some clues.
Latrobe boys at a glance
Coach: Brad Wetzel
Last year’s record: 21-7 (10-4 Section 1-5A)
Returning starters: Ian DeCerb (Sr., G/F), Andy Tatsch (Sr., F)
Others to watch: Sawyer Butina (Sr. G), Dom Scarton (Jr., G), Owen Teslevich (Sr., G/F), Robert Young (Sr., F)
Top newcomers: Conner Leach (Jr., G), Rylan Linhart (Jr., F), Robert Young (Sr., F)
SCHEDULE
11.28, TBA^, 7 p.m.
11.29, Indiana^, 1 p.m.
12.2, at Hempfield, 7:30 p.m.
12.9, Mars, 7:30 p.m.
12.11, Gateway*, 7:30 p.m.
12.16, at Uniontown*, 7 p.m.
12.19, at Laurel Highlands*, 7:30 p.m.
12.23, Penn-Trafford*, 7:30 p.m.
12.26, TBA#
12.27, TBA#
1.6, at Franklin Regional*, 7:30 p.m.
1.9, McKeesport*, 7:30 p.m.
1.13, at Albert Gallatin*, 7:30 p.m.
1.16, at Gateway*, 7:30 p.m.
1.20, Uniontown*, 7:30 p.m.
1.23, Laurel Highlands*, 7:30 p.m.
1.27, at Penn-Trafford*, 7:30 p.m.
1.30, Franklin Regional*, 7:30 p.m.
1.31, Bishop Guilfoyle%, 7:30 p.m.
2.3, at McKeesport*, 7 p.m.
2.6, Albert Gallatin*, 7:30 p.m.
*Section game
^Latrobe tipoff tournament
#Plum holiday tournament
%Saint Vincent Shootout