By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, January 5, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Plan A for many high school basketball teams in late-December is to play in a holiday tournament.

Quaker Valley’s boys team chose Plan B.

The Quakers opted to instead spend their time in their gym at practice, preparing for the grind of their Section 2-4A schedule.

QV posted a 6-1 record in the first month of the season, including a 68-36 win Dec. 19 against Ambridge and a 66-52 win Dec. 28 against Farrell.

QV coach Mike Mastroianni assessed his team’s December performance.

“We continued to adapt to our roles and built our continuity as a team on both ends of the floor,” he said. “I’m proud of our team’s daily approach and work ethic.”

Against Ambridge, five QV players attained double figures paced by 16 points from sophomore guard Sam Chapman and 14 from freshman guard Nic Cohen.

Junior guard Zach Washington and senior forward Dana Kromah had 13 points apiece; senior forward Dom Cox-Giles pulled down 13 rebounds. 

Kolton Johnson, a sophomore forward, also chipped in with nine points.

The Quakers were led offensively against Farrell by Washington with 21 points, Cohen with 16 and Chapman, who added 11.

In early season action, QV swept through the Lake Ethel Classic held Dec. 6-7 at Derry, beating Class 5A Laurel Highlands, 65-29, and Class 4A Derry, 58-27, in the two-day event.

“We had good balance both games throughout our lineup and from our bench play,” Mastroianni said.

Chapman led QV against Laurel Highlands with a career-high 28 points. Washington was the team’s leading scorer against Derry with 18. Cox-Giles pulled down 25 rebounds in the two tournament games.

Mastroianni praised the performance of Cohen and Johnson.

“Nic and Kolton played well on both ends of the floor in both games,” Mastroianni said.

QV tipped off season with a 50-28 win over Class 3A Beaver Falls at the Geneva College/Lincoln Park tournament at Geneva College.

The Quakers lost a 49-48 decision in overtime to Class 5A Franklin Regional at the Mike Rettger Memorial tipoff tournament at Franklin Regional.

The round-robin tournament included top teams from Class 6A, 5A, 4A and A.

QV will participate in the PBC Hall of Fame Classic at Ambridge. The Quakers will play at 4:30 p.m. Jan. 25 against Lincoln Park.

Then, hopefully, it’s on to the WPIAL postseason tournament.

By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, December 15, 2024 | 11:01 AM

It was tournament time for the Quaker Valley’s boys basketball team in the first week of the season.

The Quakers swept through the Lake Ethel Classic held Dec. 6-7 at Derry, rolling past Class 5A Laurel Highlands, 65-29, and Class 4A Derry, 58-27, in the two-day event.

“We had good balance both games throughout our lineup and from our bench play,” QV’s veteran coach Mike Mastroianni said.

Sophomore guard Sam Chapman led QV against Laurel Highlands with a career-high 28-point total. Zach Washington, a junior guard, was the Quakers’ leading scorer against Derry with 18 points.

Chapman and freshman guard Nic Cohen chipped in with 10 points apiece in the championship game.

QV senior forward Dom Cox-Giles pulled down 25 rebounds in the two tournament games.

Mastroianni also praised the performance of two other underclassmen, Cohen and sophomore forward Kolton Johnson.

“Nic and Kolton played well on both ends of the floor in both games,” Mastroianni said.

QV’s coach has been utilizing an early season starting rotation of six players on any given night, consisting of Chapman, Washington, Cox-Giles, Johnson, Cohen and 6-foot-5 senior forward Dana Kromah.

Washington was the team leader in 3-point shooting last year and ranked second in scoring — averaging close to 16 points per game — as well as field-goal shooting and free-throw shooting.

Quaker Valley opened the season Nov. 30 with a 50-28 win over Class 3A Beaver Falls at the Geneva College/Lincoln Park tournament at Geneva College.

The Quakers then lost a nail-biting 49-48 decision in overtime to Class 5A Franklin Regional at the Mike Rettger Memorial tipoff tournament at Franklin Regional.

The round-robin tournament included top teams from Class 6A, 5A, 4A and A.

QV is scheduled to begin Section 2-4A play Dec. 19, hosting Ambridge at 7:30 p.m.

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, January 26, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Scoring stars

A tip of the cap to Quaker Valley hoopster Harrison Kerley for scoring 21 points Jan. 10 in a 63-49 section loss to Beaver.

Kerley, a 5-foot-8 freshman guard, was complemented offensively by Nic Cohen’s 13 points. Speaking of Cohen, the 5-10 freshman guard netted a career-high 26 to lead QV to a 91-38 nonsection win Jan. 18 against Eden Christian.

Six-foot-two sophomore forward Kolton Johnson (18 points), Kerley (15) and 6-5 senior forward Dana Kromah (10) also reached double figures for the Quakers.

by Steve RotsteinJanuary 28, 2025

Few outsiders would have given Quaker Valley much of a chance going into its rematch against Avonworth in enemy territory on Tuesday night.

After all, the Antelopes already steamrolled the Quakers in a mercy-rule victory at Quaker Valley’s home gym in the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 4 — and with one of its top scorers on the sideline with a hamstring injury in junior guard Zach Washington, the Quakers certainly had the odds stacked against them.

Fortunately for Quaker Valley, there’s a reason the games are played on the court, not on paper.

Fueled by a relentless defensive effort focused on hounding Avonworth star Rowan Carmichael, the Quakers shook up the Class 4A Section 2 title chase while extending their winning streak to five games in a row with a heart-pounding 59-56 road win. Dana Kromah scored a game-high 22 points for Quaker Valley while freshman Nic Cohen finished with 13 — including two crucial free throws while clinging to a one-point lead with under 30 seconds to play.

“Those were two huge foul shots,” said Quakers coach Mike Mastroianni. “[Cohen] has been playing well the last month or so. He’s having a really high-level season.”

A sniper from 3-point range averaging more than 33 points per game, Carmichael had not one, but two chances to tie the game in the final seconds — but both of his shots fell off the mark as Quaker Valley held on to secure the victory. Carmichael finished with 20 points in the defeat while Carson Bellinger and Noah Goetz each added 15 for the Lopes (14-3, 6-1).

“Oh man, you expect him to make it,” Mastroianni said about Carmichael. “Our defense has come through for us lately. Just trying to win it on the defensive end, that’s what we said — let’s go do this thing. We always talk about getting a stop to go win a big game, and we were able to do that.”

Playing in such a loaded section with teams like Avonworth, Beaver and Central Valley, the Quakers (13-4, 4-3) still find themselves in fourth place in the section standings. Still, Tuesday night’s win will surely stick in the minds of the WPIAL steering committee when it comes time to hand out playoff seedings — and more importantly, it provides Quaker Valley’s younger players with a much-needed boost of confidence heading into the final stretch of the season.

“We were young compared to the other teams, and our section is so good and so well-coached,” Mastroianni said. “All three of those teams are really high-level teams with great senior leadership. … We just talked about how basketball seasons are always up and down. Trying to find your best stride in the last week of January is always a good thing. We’re concentrating more on that and taking care of business.”

By: Ray Fisher
Sunday, January 12, 2025 | 11:01 AM

Sophomore guard Sam Chapman pumped in 25 points to lead the Quaker Valley boys basketball team to a 65-38 win Jan. 4 against Weir (W.Va.) in the Chuckie Mahoney Classic at Burgettstown.

Freshman guard Nic Cohen and sophomore forward Kolton Johnson chipped in with 15 and 10 points for the Quakers.

Three days later, QV defeated Hopewell, 61-40, in Section 2-4A behind Johnson’s 20 points and Chapman’s 12. Dana Kromah, a senior forward, also scored 14 for the Quakers, who improved to 8-2 overall and 2-1 in section play.

By: Ray Fisher 
Sunday, December 1, 2024 | 11:01 AM

The recipe for success for the Quaker Valley boys basketball team in 2024-25 appears to be a substantial blend of youth and experience.

The Quakers’ master chef is veteran floor boss Mike Mastroianni.

“We have a unique mix as we are still a very young team but have a good core of experienced players returning that received valuable playing time last year,” Mastroianni said.

Mastroianni welcomed a talented group of players back from last year’s WPIAL playoff team including senior forwards Dana Kromah, Dom Cox-Giles and El Folabit, junior guard Zach Washington and sophomore prospects Sam Chapman and Kolton Johnson.

“Kolton started over half our games last year as a freshman forward,” Mastroianni said.

Washington was the team leader in 3-point shooting last year and ranked second in scoring — averaging close to 16 points per game — as well as field-goal shooting and free-throw shooting.

And watch for three of the top freshman players — Nic Cohen, Harrison Kerley and Connor Dwyer — to provide depth in the program.

“Nic Cohen, El Folabit, Connor Dwyer and Harrison Kerley will be in the mix to help us in our rotations,” said Mastroianni, who is in his 26th year as QV’s floor boss and 33rd overall as a high school head coach.

The Quakers are hoping to improve on their fourth-place finish in Section 4-4A last year.

QV posted a 5-5 record in section play to end up behind Montour (9-1), Avonworth (7-3) and South Allegheny (6-4) in the final standings

The Quakers advanced to the postseason where they lost in the WPIAL first round to Uniontown, 64-45.

QV had two players graduate from last year’s squad in guard Joe Coyle and forward Zach Djedid. The sharp-shooting Coyle averaged close to 18 ppg to lead the team in scoring.

Coyle also ranked first in assists and free-throw shooting, second in steals per game and third in field-goal percentage and rebounding.

Chosen to play on the Class 4A boys team at the annual Roundball Classic, Coyle was a two-year varsity starter who saw playing time on the Quakers’ WPIAL championship team as a sophomore in 2021-22. 

QV opens the season in tournament action and will play Class 3A Beaver Falls (Nov. 30) at Geneva College, against Class 5A Franklin Regional (Dec. 3) at Franklin Regional and Class 5A Laurel Highlands (Dec. 6) at Derry.