Highlands turning some heads
He’s only 34 years old, but Tyler Stoczynski has already accomplished more than most high school coaches ever dream of.
Since taking over as Highlands’ boys basketball coach prior to the 2012-13 season, Stoczynski has led the Rams to six playoff appearances, reaching the WPIAL semifinals in four of the past five seasons. Highlands has also played in two championship games, including a 72-54 win vs. Belle Vernon in last year’s Class 4A title game — its first WPIAL title in 25 years.
But while his resume is already impressive, it’s starting to look like Stoczynski may have been saving his finest work for the 2021 season.
After waiting until Jan. 15 to begin their season, the Rams kicked things off with a 52-51 comeback win on the road against then-No. 2 Mars, announcing their arrival as a possible title contender in Class 5A. Highlands has since added three more wins in a span of five days, all coming by at least 30 points.
“Our guys have really bought into the idea of playing hard, playing together and continuing to make each other better in that process,” Stoczynski said. “This group really digs in on the defensive end. That’s kind of what they made the DNA of the team be this year. We’re thrilled by it. We’re just trying to continue to clean up things game by game and go from there.”
Of course, getting off to a hot start a year after winning a WPIAL title is nothing new, but not many WPIAL champions have lost as much talent as the Rams did last year while moving up in classification.
The trio of Luke Cochran, Johnny Crise and Korry Myers served as the driving force behind Highlands’ title run last year, but all three have since graduated.
Cochran was the trusted point guard and vocal leader, Crise the high-flying dunk artist and shot blocker and Myers the clutch jump shooter. Together, they combined to score more than 45 points per game.
“Obviously, there’s no way you can replace three guys like that, who have been such a fabric of our program for the last four years,” Stoczynski said. “That being said, they kind of showed everybody else in the grades below them, ‘This is how you do it. This is the work it requires. This is the unselfishness it requires.’
“I think our guys have taken that and tried to make this team even more about that.”
With Stoczynski turning to new faces to fill those crucial roles, most observers expected the Rams to struggle through a down year as they adapted to life in Class 5A. On top of that, the team didn’t have its first practice until Jan. 4 because of a school board mandate that was eventually reversed.
But instead of struggling as expected under such adverse conditions, Highlands is thriving.
Stoczynski, a former standout forward and threeyear captain at Gannon University, gives much of the credit for the Rams’ success to his old college teammate, Corey Dotchin, who has been with him as his top assistant for the duration of his tenure.
“He’s such a tremendous part of our program. He probably doesn’t get the amount of credit he deserves, but he does so much for us,” Stoczynski said. “We’re always looking to better our program, one step at a time. He’s definitely someone who helps me continue to look forward from where the vision of our program is.”
After beginning the season unranked, Highlands has since entered the Post-Gazette’s Class 5A rankings at the No. 4 spot. Although Stoczynski and the Rams were using the perceived slight as fuel before the season, they’ll soon have to look elsewhere for motivation if they keep up their winning ways.
“Any time that we can enhance our motivation by using some outside factors, we’re going to do that,” Stoczynski said. “I think that’s what a lot of good teams do, and we’re no different. When we saw that people were not talking about us at all, that was the first thing we said to our guys. ‘Nobody thinks you’re going to be any good. What are you going to do about it?’”
Through the first four games, sophomore guard Jimmy Kunst has emerged as the team’s go-to scorer while also serving as team captain. Kunst, who started as a freshman on last year’s championship team, is averaging a team-high 17 points per game going into the week.
“Jimmy is a special player. He’s just so mature beyond his years,” Stoczynski said. “He’s the guy our guys look up to, even at that young age, and they follow him, for a variety of reasons. He does everything right off the court. He cares about his teammates. He works so hard.”
Two other players are averaging double figures — senior guard Antoine McDaniel (12 ppg) and junior guard Carter Leri (10.3 ppg). Overall, though, the team’s success has been a collective effort, with everyone on the floor fighting for loose balls, playing shutdown defense and always making the extra pass.
“We’re winning loose balls in every game. We’re getting a ton of offensive rebounds. We’re just playing really hard,” Stoczynski said. “My old college coach used to say something that’s really true — ‘It’s really hard to beat a determined man.’ And we have a lot of really determined individuals on our team right now.
“I just think it’s a testament to our kids. They continue to listen and stick together and understand that we’re taking it one game at a time, one practice at a time.”