Two Centre County basketball teams kick off state tournament runs this weekend

Basketball in March has a different intensity — even at the high school level.

The PIAA Class A Basketball Championships start this weekend, and two Centre County teams have earned spots in the bracket — both from Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy. The boys will play at Serra Catholic High School at 7 p.m. Friday at and the girls take on Clairton at 1 p.m. Saturday on the road.

Here’s a look at the path each team took to the postseason.

SJCA boys: First-year coach, youthful roster

The typical starting lineup is a freshman, two sophomores and two juniors for Saint Joseph’s boys basketball team.

“We’ve had a lot of guys who are kind of figuring it out on the fly,” said first-year head coach Ethan Khoza, who graduated from Saint Joseph’s in 2018. After coaching at Central Mountain High School in Lock Haven for five seasons, he had the opportunity to return to his alma mater.

The Wolfpack (14-11) play Serra Catholic (21-4) in the first round of the PIAA playoffs Friday night, but this won’t be their first taste at postseason basketball.

For the second time in program history, Saint Joseph’s made it to the District VI Championship game — the last time that happened was Khoza’s senior year.

The Wolfpack fell 12 points short in what would’ve been the first district title in program history, but gained valuable experience from playing in a high-pressure environment.

“[Playing for a trophy] is another layer of pressure that you don’t feel until you’re actually on the court for that game,” Khoza said.

Saint Joseph’s will be on the road for the first round of the playoffs and Khoza has encouraged his team to treat it like another learning experience.

“We were leading for a lot of [the district championship] and so now having that understanding that a win like that is very much within reach ... now it’s another experience that’s new where you earned yourself a chance to play March basketball,” he said.

With only two seniors on the team, the team has relied on younger players to make impacts. Freshman Chase Luckovich has stepped up — Khoza called him the “engine” of the program.

“Despite being a freshman and undersized, he’s been so impressive because there’s not a lot of freshmen out there who can handle the amount of weight that he’s been asked to carry this year,” Khoza said.

Luckovich earned TYAA All-Conference Honorable Mention and Saint Joseph’s finished third in the conference with a 9-4 record — its best since joining the TYAA in the 2022-2023 season.

Junior Jayden Stamm also earned an honorable mention and finished second in the conference in scoring, averaging about 20 points per game and has recorded games in the 30s and pushed 40 a couple times, according to Khoza.

The Wolfpack has relied on Ethan Bowen from three. The junior leads the state in 3-pointers made this year, averaging 4.5 per game. Saint Joseph’s isn’t short on shooters, and it’s been a competitive team all season.

Some injuries throughout the season put freshmen in some big moments right away, but Stamm said “they all came prepared at a young age.”

Understanding and learning the mental side of basketball has been critical to the approach of the Wolfpack.

“My coaches have helped create this team to know when we’re down in situations that we can come back and be strong and not let all that stuff get to our head and keep playing,” Luckovich said.

While the goal at the start of the season was to make the state playoffs, Khoza wasn’t sure it would happen immediately in his first year coaching the program. But the team has bought into his system.

“The positive thing about having a young group is that they’re very moldable,” Khoza said. “They figured things out really quickly and that’s the exciting thing about having a group like this.”

SJCA girls: Continuously growing in confidence

Three seasons ago, when Bethany Irwin took over as head coach, the Wolfpack was winless. Now, they’re gearing up for the state playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Saint Joseph’s (24-2) won back-to-back TVAA Championships and finished third in District VI. On Saturday, they’ll face Clairton in the first round of the PIAA playoffs.

“If that [0-17 group] didn’t start the program back up, we never would have had what we have right now,” Irwin said.

Winning kick-started a growth in confidence and a desire to get better. Irwin said the team is very goal oriented and everyone has improved.

“The whole team in general has improved on communicating on the floor and that just stems from their knowledge and their experience,” Irwin said. “They trust each other and they’re understanding of what everybody does, and the more you communicate and talk on the floor, the better you’re going to be.”

The Saint Joseph’s team that made it to the first round of states last season returns, except for one senior that graduated last year.

“Last year we weren’t as used to each other but this year we have better chemistry in general,” junior Naomi Crispin said.

The team of 10 girls are very close and all get along, which makes this team unique, Irwin said.

“I’ve coached for over 29 years and there were seasons where some of these girls didn’t get along,” Irwin said. “[But at Saint Joseph’s] they just love each other and they’re just such a fun group and I think that’s such a great bond to have.”

The team doesn’t play selfishly because they have the same goal: winning.

“We really just want to strive for something better this year,” Crispin said. “We’re all just excited and ready to go play and hopefully get a win.

Crispin set the program record with 49 points during the District VI third place game against Williamsburg. Her father is one of the assistant coaches for the Penn State men’s basketball team and she grew up with the game.

“You’re born into this, and you either love it or you hate it and she absolutely really does love the game of basketball,” Irwin said.

Crispin and the team have confidence they can go farther than last season. After experiencing what a state playoff game feels like and learning from it, the team has matured.

“It’s always in the back of your mind, if we lose, we’re done,” Crispin said. “But we’re gonna have fun, we’re gonna play with freedom, we’re just gonna go out there and we’re gonna play.”

If the teams survive the first round of playoffs, the second round is March 12.

This story was originally published March 6, 2025 at 9:28 AM.