Today in VarsityXtra
The WPIAL hasn’t seen a scoring combo like OLSH’s Jake DiMichele and Dante Spadafora in at least 40 years.
When Shaler’s Mekhi Reynolds was a freshman, his English teacher had his classmates and him write down goals each hoped to achieve before they graduated.
Reynolds remembers exactly what he wrote: “Win a section championship and a WPIAL championship.”
Now a senior, Reynolds is closing in on the first of those goals and has a legitimate shot of attaining the second, too.
Reynolds is a 6-foot-3 guard who is playing at a high level for a Shaler team that is one of the best in Class 5A and is chasing its first section title since 2012. Entering Wednesday’s play, the Titans (10-3 in Section 3) trailed section leader Mars (10-2) by a half-game. The two split a pair of regularseason meetings.
One of the biggest things Shaler (13-8 overall) has going for itself is having one of the WPIAL’s best players on its side. That would be Reynolds, a three-year starter and all-section pick last season who has taken his game to another level this season. He’s averaging 24 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds and 2.5 steals a game.
“He really blossomed last year and especially this year,” Shaler coach Rob Niederberger said of Reynolds, who averaged 17 points a game last season. “He’s starting to turn people’s heads more than ever. I always say he’s one of the top five players in the WPIAL.”
Colleges have taken notice. Reynolds received his first offer a few weeks ago from Clarion. Several other PSAC schools are interested, as are a few Division I schools — Niederberger said an assistant from Ball State planned on stopping by practice Wednesday.
“That was really big,” Reynolds said of getting his first offer. “I’ve been waiting for a while. I knew if I stayed patient and kept working hard, something good would come of it.”
One area where Reynolds has improved a lot from last season is his range. He was already known as a good shooter who was excellent at handling the ball and getting to the basket. He’s now added “outstanding perimeter shooter” to the scouting report, too.
“The thing that’s really special about him is not only is he very good at going to the rim, but where he’s equally as good, is his range is incredible,” Plum coach Mark Marino said. “We were trying to explain to our guys in the scouting report and show them on film that he’s going to be able to pull up from 24 feet, but also be athletic enough that he can get to the rim and finish.”
Reynolds scored 31 points against Plum Jan. 14. About a month earlier, he had perhaps his best game of the season, knocking down seven 3pointers and scoring 32 points against Mars, the twotime defending WPIAL champion. Reynolds surpassed 1,000 career points Jan. 24 against Indiana.
Reynolds was born in 2002, the same year the movie “8 Mile” was released. One of the co-stars was Mekhi Phifer, the inspiration for Reynolds’ first name, according to this Mekhi.
Well, Reynolds has gone the extra mile to improve his game, like getting to Shaler’s gym at 5:30 each morning to get in a workout before school. He said he only gets three to four hours of sleep some nights.
“It’s a classic case of hard work paying off,” Niederberger said.
Niederberger knows all about hard work. In 2014, he took over a Shaler program that had fallen on hard times, going 11-32 the previous two seasons. Rebuilding took some time, but the Titans made huge strides last season when they went 16-9, reached the WPIAL quarterfinals and qualified for the PIAA playoffs.
Reynolds’ strong play gives Shaler even loftier aspirations this season.
Said Niederberger: “We’ll go as far as he takes us.”
Reynolds said those goals he set his freshman year in class are on his mind often.
“I’m constantly thinking about that,” he said. “The baseball team won a WPIAL championship last year and I remember how excited everyone was. I want to be a part of that.”