Trending
By SETH STASKEY
SHADYSIDE -- During the course of his 20 years as the Shadyside basketball coach, Ed Andes has usually had a pretty good handle on his team during the month of November.
As he prepares to tip off his 21st season at his alma mater, Andes still find himself in a quandry.
What lies ahead for the Tigers during the course of the season, who is going to start and the depth of the rotation have all been among the questions that Andes and company have been trying to answer during the preseason.
"It's just hard to tell," Andes said. "I can say we're working hard every day to get better, but I am just not sure what our identity will be and we're still trying to figure out what our strengths will be."
The change in identity comes after graduation claimed all of the Tigers' size, including Chase Wade, Colby Sherwood and Austin Carroll. All of those guys played key roles in last season's 13-11 season, that saw the Tigers advance to the OVAC Class 2A final and theybowed out of the Division IV sectional in the title game at Strasburg.
"The kids worked hard and improved as the season moved along, which is always a good thing. I thought it was a good season. Advancing to the OVAC final was something we didn't expect."
Unfortunately, the Tigers find themselves now trying to fill the void left by those departures.
While the cupboard isn't bare by any means, Andes has always preached about his teams playing like a team and being balanced in the scoring column. Thus far, like in so many other aspects, he's just not sure where the secondary scoring will come from.
Shadyside features a talented backcourt scorer. Senior Josh Zandron (6-1) showed some flashes and is coming off averaging just less than 14 ppg.
Kelly Hendershot (6-1) is set to have a greatly expanded role.
Junior Anthony Coggins (5-11) is slated to take over a starting role.
Alex Krupa (6-2) provides size and strength on the interior. Andes has also been pleased with th e progress of Collin Holmes (5-11).
Seniors Bryce Tiger (6-1) and Shane McDonough (5-10) are also vying for minutes.
The junior class is deep with seven players including Quinn Berletch (5-10), Shane Gust (5-8), Timmy Kosek (5-9), Frank Ripoly (5-10) and Jacob Wharry (5-11).
Other sophomores looking to battle into the mix are Robbie McFarland (6-0), Nicholas Murphy (6-0) and Douglas Renshaw (5-8).
The freshman class consists of Eric Allen (5-11), Parker Gibson (5-6), Jordan Joseph (5-9), Nate Milhoan (5-6), Alec Shepherd (6-1) and Jacob Visnic (5-10).
Andes' staff is the same as his oldest son, Jared, is the varsity assistant and jayvee coach, while Mike Schlanz is also a varsity assistant.