Jan 6, 2015 4 min read

Three minutes on the court and two minutes off. It was a rotation that McGuffey senior Damian McCloskey, who missed two years of basketball after being diagnosed with Marfan syndrome, had to grow accustomed to.

Marfan syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects the body’s connective tissue. It impacts the growth process.

McCloskey’s junior season was difficult, as he tried to work his way back into the game he enjoys.

The Highlanders did not win a Section 5-AAA game and finished with a 2-20 overall record last season. Their two wins came against Avella and Yough – two teams with a combined record of 7-36.

The adjustments made and lessons learned during last year are paying off for McGuffey. With three starters back – McCloskey, junior Shaun Sanders and senior Zach Maxwell – the Highlanders (2-1, 6-4) have already tripled their win total from last season and won their first section game since the 2013 regular season finale.

“One of the biggest reasons we started winning some games is our guys have bought into what we are saying. They trust their teammates and they continue to work day in and day out, even when we were struggling last year,” McGuffey head coach Mike Fatigante said. “We are starting to see that pay off.”

The growth of McGuffey’s core has been complemented by the addition of three key players – seniors Nate Whipkey and Adam Narigon, and junior Nick Haynes. The trio has provided depth for a team that badly needed more bodies last season.

The Highlanders struggled in the fourth quarter in the 2013-14 season with a two-to-three guard rotation. McGuffey lost six games by 10 or fewer points and averaged just 42.3 points per game – the fourth fewest in WPIAL Class AAA.

Sitting in a tie for second place in Section 5-AAA this season, the Highlanders are averaging 54.6 points behind a balanced scoring effort. Sanders is the leading scorer, and the entire roster is contributing to McGuffey’s offense.

“I think we’re still trying to get the feel because we have so many guards that are good this year. Last year, we had two or three who could play,” McCloskey said. “Now we have four or five. We are still trying to figure out our rotation. We’re a lot more comfortable with each other than we were last year. That’s the biggest difference.”

Arguably no player feels more comfortable this season than McCloskey, who is now able to play four minutes at a time before resting for two. After not playing organized basketball and dealing with the limitations of his diagnosis, he was inconsistent as a junior.

Now, he’s the team’s leader. McCloskey encouraged Whipkey to join the basketball team after two years away from the sport. With Maxwell and Sanders, they worked tirelessly during the offseason. After doctors informed him he could play basketball as a junior, McCloskey had just two months to prepare for the season.

He felt the physical impact with his endurance being unpredictable from game-to-game. Now, Fatigante has noticed the improvement.

“He’s a great leader and works really hard,” Fatigante said. “I think last year with him coming back after not playing for a couple of years, he felt pressure to perform and I think he put a lot on himself to score all the time. Now, he feels more comfortable in that role and he has a year under his belt. He is leading our team this year.”

Arguably the biggest victory in recent memory for McGuffey’s boys basketball program happened Dec. 16. The Highlanders defeated section rival Montour, 59-58, as Sanders had a game-high 22 points, McCloskey added 13 and Haynes finished with 12.

It was the first win over Montour in program history and alerted the opposition that this year’s McGuffey team is much different than a year ago.

“(Getting) a win over a program like Montour, which is always good and makes the playoffs every year, and the fashion we won and came together, it was big,” McCloskey said. “No one thought we’d be able to do anything this year after winning two games last year, but that showed we can compete with teams.”

Though the victory made the Highlanders optimistic, Fatigante is not going to settle for just a big victory in December. A non-section loss to Jefferson-Morgan two days later tempered that optimism. With a plethora of athleticism on the roster, McGuffey is aiming higher than two section wins.

“We aren’t going to celebrate mediocrity,” Fatigante said. “We’re not going to celebrate because we have six wins or that we’ve won a couple of conference games. Our goal is to play meaningful basketball come February.”