Norwin Boys Basketball stays alive in the playoff hunt as the season winds down. With high expectations coming off of last season’s rebuild and despite losing senior contributors Luke Denny, Alex Wiggins, Dylan McCullough, and Noah Wilson, the boys rely this season on a strong junior class. The Knights starting lineup starts four of those returning sophomores from last year.
The Knights continue to believe in a winning season after finishing last year 8-13 and in section-2-8. At this point in the season the Knights stand at 9-9 and 5-6 in their section, sitting just outside a top 4 finish and WPIAL Playoff birth.
The Knights are also thriving this season with a brand new coaching staff, led by former alumni including head Coach Cam Auld, assistant coaches Gage McCracken and Zach Waszyn, and Greensburg Salem alumnus Coach Jerry Cooley Jr.
Coach Cam Auld and the staff are all about effort, physicality, and belief. Coach Auld gives everything he has to the team and delivers pure energy every day at practice and the Knights feed off of it. The focus is to give everything you have at all times and ‘empty the tank’ every day. Physicality is another vital piece in Coach Auld’s coaching, and at practice the Knights are physical and gritty and look to bring that directly into games.
Another key to the Knights is their belief, every day all day the Knights believe and strive to believe more and more in themselves and the rest of their teammates and coaches. This year the Knights are fearless and will take on whoever wants to step on the court at all times.
One thing that is special with the Knights this year does not have to do with their size nor their maturity, but rather their bond. The guys on the Knights’ 24-25 roster care about one another like a family member.
The Knights constantly go out to eat with one another or the whole group almost every day or at least a couple of times a week. Whether it is fast food, restaurants, or just someone’s house the Knights are always bonding. Some of the team members such as Noah Carney and junior forward Nathan Kuch also have a chicken nugget review channel, where every time they go out to eat and get nuggets, they always make sure to make a review to post to TikTok-@norwinbasketballnuggz.
“We have trust in each other that we are going to do our job and we always play with togetherness and it shows how close we are not just as teammates but as friends as well,” Graney said.
Norwin relies on players from all grades, with a rotating starting roster including senior Jeffrey Lenart, and juniors Alex Graney, Christopher McKnight, Nathan Kuch, Mario Csukes, Stefano Giannikas, and freshman King Carver and carry in deep rotation with senior-Alex Tyner, Dom Kantz(11), Max Levendowsky(11), Potter Brozeski(10), and Colton Ustakutski(10).
“This is a big year for us as we all have experience under our belts now,” said team captain Mario Csukas(11).
The focus onward is to keep racking up every section win they can and more. Every game the Knights bring talent and energy whether it’s on the court or from the bench like never before.
Game by game
The team started their season Dec. 3 against Penn Trafford. Unfortunately, the Knights lost the game 68-51 as the Warriors pulled away in the third quarter. The Warriors got up 10-0 at the start and the Knights were able to battle back by the third. However, Penn Trafford was just able to pull away in the fourth and get the win.
Norwin then took vengeance to the Jeannette Tip-Off Classic Tournament on Dec. 6, where they took out Steel Valley by a blistering 34 points, winning 66-32. Knights returning forward, Nathan Kuch was able to score 15 points without missing a shot in this battle at Jeanette.
Following the first win of the season the Knights took out West Mifflin the following day-December 7, 63-41. Senior Captain Jeffrey Lenart was able to have a season-best game scoring 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists.
The Norwin Boys fell just short 3 days later of beating the 1 seed in the WPIAL, Upper Saint Clair. USC towered over Norwin with 3 kids over 6 foot 6, however, Norwin had heart and battled it out only losing 57-42. Norwin was just outrebounded slightly by USC but battled with family and heart guarding the large USC roster.
The Knights took on Connellsville on Dec. 13, looking to claim their first section win and ended up taking down Connellsville 64-47. The Knights were able to pull away starting in the third to lead to the team’s first section win. A key factor in this matchup was guard Stefano Giannikas who scored 18 points in this single game.
“I think and know that there is always room for improvement,” said Nathan Kuch.
The Knights then took their talents to CCAC to battle against Imani Christian. The Knights battled in the first, but were beaten on the boards and outscored. Leading to a tough 28-73 loss for the Knights.
On Dec. 20 the Knights kicked off their home games with a home opener against Peters Township. The Knights just came up short losing 49-62. Norwin guards Mario Csukas and Alex Graney had turning-point plays where they each got one surging the team’s energy. However, a couple quick stops led PTHS to just squeeze out the win.
However, the Knights came storming back the following day beating the Valley Vikings on Dec. 21 64-42. The Knights utilized ball movement to find open shots on the arc. Where Knights guard, Stefano Giannikas rained in six 3-pointers to help the Knights take the win.
Norwin strived to take this momentum into Dec. 27 where they matched up against Elizabeth Forward, but Norwin lost the game 61-71. Alex Tyner was essential to giving the Knights a huge momentum swing drawing a technical foul and collecting several rebounds, steals, and assists. This game was one game of momentum, as each team had their runs, but EF’s just beat out the Knights.
Although the EF loss hurt the Knights took it to South Fayette the following day winning 61-49. Where a crucial part of the game was the bench. The Knights bench was louder than ever and kept the energy in this matchup at a high leading to a huge turning point win. Mario Csukas led the Knights with an astounding 31 points, which is a season high for any Knight this year and a career high for himself.
The Knights came in energized Jan. 3 to take on the prestigious Mt. Lebanon. The Knights battled Mt. Lebanon to the end of regulation and after. The game went to one overtime and almost two. The Knights unfortunately gave up several offensive rebounds and runs to Lebanon, but did not give up finding their teammates open and leading to a 51-49 point victory. Chris McKnight led a swing for the Knights overtime where he sunk a corner three for his 21st point, which was followed by a game-winning block by Nathan Kuch.
Norwin hoped to carry the winning run into Jan. 7 when the Knights took on the Pittsburgh Central Catholic Vikings where they came up short, 62-45. The Knights battled and were only down 5 going into the second quarter. However, the Knights were outscored 19-2 in the second quarter which pulled the Vikings away into a 32-10 point lead. Although the Knights weren’t going to roll over as with their new staff’s energy and emphasis on relentlessness the Knights brought the game back to a 13-point game by the end of the 3rd quarter, but the Knights unfortunately were not able to keep cutting away at the lead of PCC resulting in a 62-45 point loss, placing them 6th in their section. If the Knights had won, they would have ranked 3rd in 6A-Section 2.
Norwin then took their talents back to their home arena to battle Canon-McMillan on January 10th. The Knights battled them out taking them over with a 68-56 victory. Norwin came into the game with the lead and suppressed the Big Macs for 32 minutes leading to a great section win for the Knights.
Norwin on Jan. 17 then was able to disrupt Connellsville at home for a section straight section win. The Knights turned on the engine and didn’t turn it off the entire game taking the win 63-39.
The Knights took on Upper Saint Clair for another huge section rematch on Jan. 24. The Knights kept the game tight but got put in a large deficit form a huge USC run. However. Norwin in relation to their whole season battled back and cut the lead to 13 points. Unfortunately, USC was just able to pull away and win out 81-59 against the Knights.
One day later on January 25th, the Knights took on Imani Christian Academy. The Knights had Imani on the ropes and battled the entire game having Mario Csukas put up 19 points. Coming into the fourth the Knights had a couple-point lead and strong finishes from forward Nathan Kuch put the Knights up. However, a controversial blocking call on the Knights led Imani to have 2 foul shots to win the game. The first one rimmed out and the second one just happened to fall, although the Knights never roll over and did what they could with three seconds left on the clock. Unfortunately missing the shot, the Knights left with a 59-58 loss.
The Knights then took their talents to Mt. Lebanon on Jan. 28. The Knights fell short of the Blue Devils losing 60-84.
Norwin coming off of a three-game losing streak didn’t show any care about it as they beat out the Hempfield Spartans 61-56 on Jan. 30. Graney after a slow first half for the Knights brought the heat coming into the second finishing with 14 points. Rallying with Graney was Mario Csukas dropping a cool nine points and Chris McKnight putting up 12 points for the blue and gold.
“It’s been God’s gift and blessing to be playing with the group that I am,” said senior contributor and leader Alex Tyner. “The work, the sacrifices that it took for us to get here today are beyond any words. This is the closest-knit locker room that I have ever been a part of. We’re all pushing each other to where we want to be not only in ideally but as a team also. We have spent more time these past 4 months with each other than our own families. We aren’t a Christian school but most definitely we are all lead and play in the faith of God. It’s truly a special camaraderie and brotherhood we have in this group. I never will take a day for granted with these guys.”
