SPRING MILLS — There are some major milestones in the works for the Penns Valley boys’ basketball team and head coach Terry Glunt, but Glunt would rather talk about the here and now and his new team.
“The most important thing is that these players have a good experience,” he said about the 2016-17 Rams players, “and that’s really the only thing that matters.
“We lost four starters from last year’s team, and it’s a work in progress trying to figure out roles and players’ strengths and weaknesses and put them in places where they can be most successful; to see what works best for them and what works best for our team.
“They still have our typical great attitude, and they believe in team basketball. That’s how we’ve been successful.”
The Rams are coming off an impressive 21-7 season in which they advanced to the PIAA State Tournament for the fifth time under Glunt.
PV moved into the second round of the tournament after beating Kane, 56-36, in the opening round. The Rams finally lost to West Middlesex in a squeaker, 55-52, in the second round.
But four senior starters are gone from that team — Ben Alexander, Chase Collison, Logan Pearce and 6-foot-7 center Zach Engle. All were long-time contributors. Although not depleted, the Rams will still have to reset in ’16-’17 with a new set of seniors and a new group of contributors.
“We have some seniors — Luke Snyder, Andrew Tobias and Keith Butts — who are starting, and also Braden Stoddard and Garrett Fleck are seniors, along with Marcus Woodford, who is a first-year senior. They are a nice group, but not a lot of them with playing time.
“Andrew (Tobias) started last year, and Luke (Snyder) was the first big off the bench, and Keith (Butts) was the first guard off the bench.
“When you have a veteran group, you just reteach things, add and tweak, but with (this group) we are just going to throw a lot of stuff against the wall and see what sticks and will work for us.”
What will not change is the Rams’ style of play. PV is known for its relentless defense, patient offenses and team-based play.
“That won’t change,” Glunt said. “That’s our comfort level. I would expect us to play that same brand of basketball.”
Lack of extensive playing experience or not, PV got off to a solid start to begin the new year. The Rams traveled to Mifflinburg and came away with a 35-30 victory in their opener Dec. 9. Then, on Dec. 12, PV showed off its defensive abilities in a 51-18 win over St. Joseph’s Academy at the Ram Dome. All 14 players on the Rams’ roster scored in the game, and the Wolves did not break into double figures in scoring until the fourth quarter.
As far as milestones are concerned, Penns Valley is working on its 21st season in a row with a winning record. This streak goes back to before Glunt took over the Rams 10 years ago, and it is still going strong.
In addition, the Rams’ third win this season will be Glunt’s 200th coaching victory. In his 14 years as a head coach, Glunt has averaged just under 15 wins per season — all coaching at the smallest school in the Mountain League.
“I’ve been back for the last nine of those seasons,” Glunt said. “We have a nice tradition going, and those last nine years, we’ve won two out of every three games.
“It’s a lot of basketball games and a lot of great kids and talented athletes. We’ve had some really special basketball players come through here, like Darrin Hazel, who was remarkable, and Kevin Montminy, who made his mark at Penn State in many ways.
“We won the district title in 2010, runner-up in 2012 and made it to the state tournament six times in that span, including five out or the last nine years. So it’s been fun.”
The Rams are off to what could be another fun year in Penns Valley and, if all goes as planned, their 21st consecutive winning season.
“It’s going to be tough as it always is for us,” Glunt said. “We don’t have the easiest of schedules, but it’s the cards we were dealt. We’ll play that hand and see what happens.”
