It has been 14 years since Peters Township won its only WPIAL title in boys basketball, and the Indians haven’t exactly been on the cusp of winning another one in recent years — or so it seemed.
After two so-so years under coach Joe Urmann resulting in a combined record of 14-23, expectations weren’t exactly through the roof for Peters entering year three. And yet would you look at the Indians now?
Sitting at 17-3 overall and 8-1 in section play through 20 games, Peters has a chance to secure the Class 5A Section 1 crown outright with a win against Bethel Park on Friday night. And judging by the team’s performance during its current 10-game winning streak, this might only be the beginning.
“I was on the losing end of the 2009 Peters championship. I was an assistant with Mt. Lebanon,” Urmann said. “I remember that well. That was a heck of a team. It would be great to be able to put another one up in the rafters in our new gym.”
For players such as Jack Dunbar, a 6-2 junior forward averaging more than 18 points per game, this is a moment the Indians have been waiting several years for.
“I think it’s going to be sweet,” Dunbar said. “I think it might be the first time in this new gym that we’re the reason all these seats are filled.”
Peters has received plenty of rave reviews for its new state-of-the-art indoor athletic facility, and the school is expecting a packed house for the must-see matchup against Bethel on Friday night. But while that game has plenty of significance riding on it, the Indians are making sure this is already a season to remember, no matter what happens on Friday.
After starting out 1-1 after a lopsided home loss to Chartiers Valley, Peters bounced back to win five games in a row, including an impressive 62-53 victory against Hampton, one of the top teams in Class 4A. That helped open some eyes around the WPIAL, but the Indians then lost two of their next three games at home to Upper St. Clair and Thomas Jefferson. The TJ loss came in a triple-overtime thriller by a score of 105-100, but still, Urmann wondered why his team was struggling to win games at home.
Urmann and his assistants then decided to change up a few things for the team’s game day routine, and ever since, Peters has won 10 games in a row while scoring at least 75 points in nine of those 10 wins. The Indians’ season scoring average of 73.7 ppg is tops in Class 5A by a wide margin, and Urmann said it is a direct result of the turnovers and transition points generated by the team’s aggressive full-court press defense.
So while some teams prefer to slow the tempo down and try to win low-scoring contests, Peters believes in playing full-throttle the entire 32 minutes. The way the Indians see it, the more possessions they get in a game, the better their chances of winning. And it doesn’t hurt having a group of kids with the desire to play that brand of basketball — as long as they realize how much of a challenge it is, both mentally and physically.
“We’re trying to play fast,” Urmann said. “We’re still getting better at it on both ends, but that’s definitely our identity on both sides of the ball. It can be fun playing that way. I think a lot of kids say they want to play that way, but I don’t think they really understand how hard you have to play to play that way, and all the sacrifices you have to make along the way.”
Dunbar leads the team with an average of 18.1 ppg while operating from both inside and outside the paint. Urmann credited him with being a steady, reliable presence, someone the rest of his players can rely on to go get a bucket whenever the team needs one.
“Jack has that ‘it’ factor, there’s no doubt,” Urmann said. “He has the pedigree. He is absolutely fearless out there. I think the way we play on offense and defense really highlights what he’s able to do. He’s really embraced that role.”
Dunbar can’t do it alone, though, and senior guard Brendan McCullough has come on strong lately as the team’s No. 2 scorer with an average of 14.9 ppg. A standout receiver for Peters in football this fall, McCullough put up 25 points in a 90-42 win against Connellsville on Jan. 31 before tallying 21 in an 89-39 win against Ringgold on Friday. Junior guard Nate Miller and 6-4 forward Jake Ziegler are also playing key supporting roles, and Miller leads the team with 4 assists per game.
McCullough said he has decided to play football in college, meaning his final season of playing basketball will be coming to a close before he knows it. But with him and Ziegler representing the only two seniors graduating from this year’s team, McCullough is confident they will be leaving the Indians’ program in a far better place than they found it — and maybe even with a little bit of hardware to show for it.
“I think we’re getting a good amount of recognition,” McCullough said. “I’m just trying to enjoy it. I think having fun is the most important thing. … I think when you’re having fun and enjoying every minute of it, that’s when you play your best.”
Steve is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at srotstein@unionprogress.com.
