How Zach Braucht is growing on and off the court to lead Penns Valley boys’ basketball

A leadership change was always expected when Penns Valley’s 2019-20 boys’ basketball season came to a close. Former head coach Terry Glunt was calling it a career on the sidelines, and departing along with him were two of the program’s best leaders in Logan Snyder and Aaron Tobias.

It would be easy to expect a down year — or even a change in culture — with that kind of turnover.

Instead, junior guard Zach Braucht has helped lead the team on the court while developing into a leader off it in the first season after Glunt retired.

“You see every game there’s a little bit more leadership,” Penns Valley head coach Rob Irwin said. “During timeouts he’ll chime in and I think it’s just a comfort thing. He’s growing and understanding his role. ... That’s great because when he talks, guys will listen. I think sometimes when there is an individual who is a leader on the floor and they’re not a very vocal person, when they do speak it has more of an impact.”

No moment epitomizes the junior’s on-court growth than the final seconds of the team’s 40-37 win over Mifflin County just six games into the season. The Huskies committed foul after foul to ensure the Rams would have as little time as possible to get off a clean shot — a shot everyone in the gym knew would be going to the talented junior guard.

Once they were out of fouls to commit without sending Penns Valley to the free throw line, they applied extra pressure to Braucht to try to force him away from the final play of regulation.

But the junior would not be denied.

He caught the inbound from senior teammate Caleb Narber on the left wing and — without a moment of hesitation — calmly turned while lifting himself off the court to shoot. The junior got the shot off before the buzzer and watched it fall through the net to win the game.

Braucht, seemingly unfazed, was mobbed by his teammates in celebration. They were the final three points of a five-point performance — 26 points fewer than he had two days prior when he lit up Mount Union for 31 — but that didn’t stop his teammates from trusting him.

Building that trust has been a large part of the process for Braucht as he continues to grow as a leader. It’s easy to say a player should get the final shot when things are going well, but on night’s like that one — when the open looks aren’t falling — it takes trust and leadership for a coach to look at his team and say a struggling player is going to decide the game.

“Coach Irwin always talks to me about body language,” Braucht said. “We have a lot. of inexperienced guys, some guys who haven’t played a lot of varsity basketball before. So when things go wrong, I have to be that guy that can’t get down; I can’t show too much frustration. I have to pick guys up. And in the locker room I have to be positive. I have to give them encouragement and give them tips on staying under control and keep things going the way we need them to go.”

The task is far from over for Braucht, just because he’s a better leader than he was before. He knows filling the shoes of Snyder and Tobias won’t be an easy task, but he plans to do his best to get there in due time.

He’s already come a long way.

“The absence of them helped me grow,” Braucht said. “Just them not being there, I’ve had to pick up some of the slack they’ve left behind. That work they had on their shoulders is now on mine.”

Part of filling those shoes will be taking the team to the same heights Snyder and Tobias were able to. The team made an appearance in the PIAA state tournament last season.

This year, that goal becomes much harder. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, only district winners will be participating in the state tournament. That means the only way Penns Valley can repeat last year’s feat will be by taking the District 6 crown.

The talent is there for the Rams — led by Braucht — to make a run. Making that run is still Irwin’s goal.

“I feel like we can contend for a district title,” Irwin said. “We’re just starting to get our basketball legs under us. There’s always that transition from fall sports to winter sports. ... There’s a little hesitation early on in the beginning of the year and now we’re starting to gel a little bit. This final stretch could be a good stretch for us, but it’s still one game at a time.”

Winning the district title will not be easy. It will, in all likelihood, take multiple upsets in multiple road games just to get to the district final. But if it doesn’t happen this year, it doesn’t make the season a failure.

Every segment of growth is important for Braucht and the Rams. Whether or not that growth manifests in a PIAA berth this season may not matter.

It could just be setting the stage for what’s to come as Braucht continues to come into his own on — and off — the court.

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This story was originally published February 27, 2021 at 12:08 PM.

Jon Sauber

Centre Daily Times

(814) 231-6461

Jon Sauber covers Penn State football and men’s basketball for the Centre Daily Times. He earned his B.A. in digital and print journalism from Penn State and his M.A. in sports journalism from IUPUI. His previous stops include jobs at The Indianapolis Star, the NCAA, and Rivals.