Calix Clark doesn’t want to visit any of the big-box pizza places for his reward for getting 10 rebounds. The Penn Hills 6-foot-2 guard/forward wants his pepperoni and mushroom pie to be as authentic as possible.
“I want it to be from a homestyle place,” Clark said. “I need a real Italian dude cooking my pizza.”
The Indians are a hungry group who have earned their rewards. If any Penn Hills player reaches double figures for rebounding, their reward is a pizza.
Clark has accomplished it three times this season. The Indians have leaned on their defense and rebounding to get off to a 4-1 start in Section 1-5A, 6-5 overall.
“I’m always moving toward the ball to get rebounds,” Clark said. “I’m not really counting them. I’m trying to work for all the rebounds I can get because that’s how we win games.”
Clark scored 16 points and grabbed three rebounds to help Penn Hills beat Plum 67-39 in section play. Because of how efficiently the Indians shot the ball — Penn Hills made 51.9% of its field goals against the Mustangs — they didn’t need to pound the glass too hard.
Darian Robinson led the team with five rebounds against Plum, and the Indians finished with a 34-21 edge.
“After coming off a tough game physically and mentally with Central Catholic, I’m proud of how my guys competed,” coach Chris Giles said. “I always tell them if you compete on the defensive end, you’ll get offense. As long as they compete defensively, box out and rebound, I think we have a chance to do something good.”
Penn Hills faced plenty of adversity during an 0-4 stretch to start the season. The Indians lost against two teams — Mohawk and Moon — that qualified for the state playoffs in their respective classifications last season.
“We had a really good schedule that had a lot of quality opponents,” Giles said. “We’ve just been competing. We’re going to keep playing these hard schedules because it makes our team better.”
Penn Hills has won six of its past seven games. The Indians’ turnaround started with a 31-26 win over Hampton on Dec. 12 at home.
Senior guard Amon Hawthorne, who scored a team-high 18 points against Plum, said the Indians always have defense on their mind after their win over Plum. The Indians held the Mustangs to 33% (13 of 39) shooting from the field.
“We’re a defensive-oriented team,” Hawthorne said. “Any team that we play, we’re going to be able to defend. It’s about pulling those games out when it matters.”
Penn Hills looked comfortable earning a section win on the road against Plum. Hawthorne expects the Indians to have a similar demeanor as the season goes on.
“That comes with trust,” Hawthorne said. “If we trust each other as a team and trust what the coaches are telling us, I feel like we could be successful in any environment.”