Senior players on the 2023-2024 boys basketball team would tell you that this season was four years in the making. Over a decade ago was the last time Shaler Area had seen its boys basketball team have this successful of a season. To give some perspective on the accomplishments of the team, this year was the program’s best since 2011-2012 campaign when this team’s seniors were only in kindergarten.
“I asked each player to tell me his ultimate goal of the year, whether it be something individually or as a team,” Head Coach Rob Niederberger said at the beginning of the season. “Every senior’s goal revolved around winning.”
Speaking of seniors, the team was led by eight of them, who contributed all of Shaler Area’s points during the season, barring garbage time. The achievement of the Titan boys basketball class of 2024 can be linked to the camaraderie they had built from a young age.
“It’s really great to play with the same guys because they are my best friends. We have been playing with each other since 3rd grade, and year after year our chemistry just gets even stronger,” senior guard Keegan Smetanka said.
The Titans started off the year hot in December with significant wins over Bethel Park and former section rival Highlands to win the Shaler Tip-off Classic. Later, they defeated South Fayette 55-53 in overtime with a dramatic buzzer beater to ignite their most dominant stretch of the season.
“Going into the South Fayette game, we knew it was a big early season test. They knocked us out of the playoffs the year prior, so we wanted to make a statement that we were not the same team,” senior guard Kaden Orga said. “Hitting a buzzer beater in overtime in front of a packed crowd was probably one of the coolest things in my basketball career, but I wouldn’t have even been in that position without Sam Himrod quickly getting the ball to me and giving us a chance to win the game.”
That stretch lasted into 2024 as Shaler Area won its first 11 games of the season. However, the team’s first loss of the season was quite surprising: a 52-46 section loss to Woodland Hills, who finished with a 9-14 record on the campaign.
“Time will tell how the loss to Woodland Hills impacted us,” Coach Niederberger said at the time. “To me, it is a reminder that if you don’t respect every opponent, and you don’t come prepared to play each and every night, you can lose.”
The Titans would indeed respond by winning their next three section games before their first matchup against Franklin Regional, which featured two of the top teams in the WPIAL and resulted in a 72-62 defeat to the Panthers in double overtime.
In the back half of section play, the Titans returned to their early season form with emphatic victories left and right. Defeating Armstrong soundly on senior night secured Shaler Area’s first section title since 2012. Three days later, the Titans knocked off Fox Chapel 57-44 to clinch the WPIAL 5A Section 2 title outright.
“Winning a section title was awesome. It’s a great feeling knowing that we are one of the best boys basketball teams in Shaler Area history,” Orga said. “And, to be able to do it with the same group of guys that I’ve been hooping with for so long makes it that much more special.”
However, as Coach Niederberger and the players would reiterate, the job was not finished. The Titans faced a resurgent Chartiers Valley team in the first round of the WPIAL 5A Playoffs. When it mattered most, senior guard Sam Himrod stepped up with a career performance of 20 points to lead Shaler Area to a 73-71 victory.
“That game was just one of those nights where everything was going right and I just kept it rolling. All the work I put in in the offseason paid off for that moment. It was an awesome feeling,” Himrod said.
After Shaler Area prevailed in a 35-26 slugfest over Bethel Park once again, the Titans battled Franklin Regional in a rematch that would send the winner to the Petersen Events Center. Shaler Area could not get much going offensively, losing 68-40.
“The team approached playoff games with the mentality that we deserved to be in every game because of all the work we’ve put in throughout all the years of playing,” senior guard Joe DeSabato said.
As was the case with losses earlier in the season, the Titans showed resilience and responded. In the third-place consolation game, Shaler Area prevailed over Thomas Jefferson to earn the program’s first ever home state playoff game.
Many of the players reflected on their last home game fondly. As several of the seniors had played since their freshman year, ending with one final victory in Gym A over Greencastle-Antrim came, along with the win, a sense of completion and an undefeated record at home.
Following a win over District 3 Champions Mechanicsburg in Altoona, Shaler Area once again saw Franklin Regional standing in its path. Despite a fierce comeback, the Titans fell 57-50, coming as close as four points and ending their season. Senior forward Brandon London was nearly unstoppable in his final game: a 26 point double-double, one of his many games with at least 10 points and at least 10 rebounds.
“There was definitely some animosity between the two teams and it was nice to go out on maybe my best high school game. My plan going into games was never to get double-doubles, but my play style allowed me to get them,” London said. “I hustled and I knew where a lot of my friends’ misses were going to land, so the points just came with the hustle.”
While the season failed to end the way the team wanted it to end, Shaler Area reached and set multiple milestones. The team finished with 25 wins and reached the WPIAL Semifinals and the PIAA Quarterfinals, both matching the 2011-2012 team.
Along with their success as a team, five seniors were honored with individual accolades. Brandon London as a forward, Keegan Smetanka as a guard, and Joe DeSabato as a guard, were all named 1st Team All-Section by the Big 56 Athletic Conference. Joey Miller and Kaden Orga received Honorable Mentions as guards. Also, Coach Niederberger was awarded Coach of the Year of WPIAL 5A Section 2.
However, maybe what these senior players will remember most is not winning the section title, big playoff games, or individual awards. Maybe they will remember the competitive practices they had and the brotherhood they created along the way.
“I’m going to remember all the locker room celebrations after our big wins and all the good times we had at practice,” Himrod said.
Regardless of how these seniors decide to reflect on this season, they will go down as members of one of the greatest boys basketball teams in Shaler Area history.
“On good teams, coaches lead. On great teams, players lead, and on this team, the players led,” Niederberger said.
