Mark “Knobby” Walsh had made a career of being a high school boys basketball head coach, which included a highly successful 13-year run at Seton LaSalle.
But Walsh, to the surprise of many, decided in June to become a girls coach for the first time when he accepted the head coaching position at Mt. Lebanon.
Talk about being thrown into the fire. Mt. Lebanon’s opponents in Walsh’s first two games? Defending PIAA champion Blackhawk and reigning WPIAL champion North Catholic.
And wouldn’t you know, the Blue Devils beat them both, defeating Blackhawk by 17 and North Catholic by six.
“The schedule that we have, we’ve had some very challenging opponents,” Walsh said. “We had some good preseason workouts and it was great to be able to grab two wins right away. The last few were tough ones, but we hope these games prepare us for section play and to try to be one of the teams that makes a run at a WPIAL title.”
Mt. Lebanon (12-11 a season ago) has gotten out to a 2-3 start in Walsh’s first season. The Blue Devils followed their two wins with losses to Altoona, Chartiers Valley and South Fayette. They will travel to Bethel Park on Saturday before hosting Hempfield in the Class 6A Section 2 opener on Dec. 19.
Walsh, 56, had been a boys coach since getting into coaching when he was 30. He collected 227 wins at his alma mater, Seton LaSalle, which he led to five 20-win seasons, a WPIAL title and two other WPIAL final appearances. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Bishop Canevin for six seasons. Walsh’s career win total stands at 285.
Walsh, who lives in Whitehall, said that while he was happy at Seton LaSalle, he was ready for a new challenge. He said that for the past four or five years he had picked the brains of peers who had coached both boys and girls, looking for feedback as the thought of transitioning to becoming a girls coach gained momentum. Ironically, he was in the stands for a Mt. Lebanon-Upper St. Clair girls game last season watching a friend’s daughter play when making the move really picked up steam.
“It was really good to watch from a basketball perspective,” said Walsh, who works as a health and physical education teacher at Fox Chapel. “So when the job opened, I decided to take it. I truly loved my 13 years at Seton LaSalle. The experience could not have been better.”
Leaving Seton LaSalle meant that Walsh would not coach his son for his senior season. Brady Walsh is a senior guard for the Rebels. But being that boys and girls often play on different nights, Knobby should be able to make it to watch his son play quite a bit. It will just be from the stands, not the bench.
Walsh is being helped by two young assistant coaches. Anna Betz is a Brentwood graduate who played at Saint Vincent, while Maura Castelucci is a South Fayette graduate who played at Wheeling.
This Mt. Lebanon team features three seniors — twins Payton and Riley Collins and Shea McCarthy. One of the WPIAL’s top perimeter shooters, Payton Collins is averaging a team-best 15.6 points per game and has knocked down 16 3-pointers.
Walsh spoke about what he sees as being the biggest differences coaching girls compared to boys.
“One is the execution of what we’re trying to do. With the boys, there’s a little more flexibility and a little more ad lib. But the girls that I’m coaching try to run exactly what we’re trying to run,” Walsh explained. “And the other thing is the game is played below the rim.
“I’m learning so much about how the girls game is played. The great thing is, and it’s very similar to my Seton LaSalle teams, this group of young people is one of the hardest working groups of young people I’ve ever been around. I feel like we’ve made a lot of progress in the five months we’ve been together.”
Walsh applauded Mt. Lebanon athletic director John Grogan and boys basketball coach Joe David for helping him make the transition. Walsh also praised his wife, Carrie, for her support over the years.
“The culture that has been created at Mt. Lebanon with how positive the girls are and the skills that they show is truly something that you have to experience to understand,” Walsh said. “The parents are tremendous and the support has been great.”
Let’s play two
Neshannock coach Luann Grybowski is in her 45th season. But just because she’s a coaching veteran doesn’t mean that she has seen it all.
Grybowski, who has 755 career wins, experienced a first this past Saturday when her team played two games in one day. Neshannock took on General McLane in the Lakeview tournament at 1:30 p.m. before facing Quaker Valley in the Clash at New Castle at New Castle High School at 7:30. The Lancers (4-0) won both games, beating General McLane, 53-46, and topping Quaker Valley, 66-40.
Playing twice in one day wasn’t supposed to be the plan. Grybowski said that when she committed to play in the Lakeview tournament, she thought it was being held the previous weekend. Neshannock had already committed to playing Quaker Valley at New Castle, so when Grybowski found out that the game at Lakeview would be the same day, she realized that the Lancers were in a bit of a pickle.
“So we just made it work,” Grybowski said.
It’s about a 45-minute drive from Lakeview to New Castle, so Neshannock was never in danger of missing the second game. Junior Jaidon Nogay scored a game-high 27 points against Quaker Valley after scoring 12 against General McLane.
Wade Watch
Clairton’s Iyanna Wade could make a run at 3,000 career points and perhaps even the WPIAL’s all-time scoring record this season.
The lightning-quick senior guard is off to a terrific start.
Wade, a two-time WPIAL scoring champion, already leads the district in scoring after pumping in 122 points in Clairton’s first three games. Wade scored 42 in a season-opening win against Gateway, added 43 a day later in a win against Obama Academy, and tallied 37 Monday against Allderdice.
The scoring binge brings Wade’s career total to 2,271 points. She averaged 40 points a game last season after averaging 33.3 a game her sophomore season. Wade scored a WPIAL single-game record 65 points in a win against Steel Valley last January. She’s hoping to become only the third player in WPIAL history to reach 3,000 points. Monessen’s Gina Naccarato holds the district scoring record with 3,364 points, which is also the top mark in state history.
Shining on mom’s old stomping ground
South Fayette junior Ryan Oldaker had one of the best games of her high school career Monday when she scored a game-high 22 points to help the Lions improve to 4-0 following a 51-28 non-section win at Mt. Lebanon.
What likely made the outing all the more special for Oldaker was that it came at the school that her mom built into one of the top programs in the state.
Dori Oldaker coached the Mt. Lebanon girls for 19 seasons before stepping down following the 2021-2022 season. While there, Oldaker turned the Blue Devils into a power. She won four WPIAL titles and three PIAA titles, including three consecutive state crowns from 2009-2011. Her 2010 team finished the season ranked No. 7 nationally by USA Today.
Brad is a sports writer at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike. Email him at beverett@unionprogress.com.