Popeck putting his own stamp on Prexies’ program
Photo Illustration by Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Washington High School junior Matt Popeck is the Observer-Reporter’s boys’ basketball player of the year.
Photo Illustration by Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Washington High School junior Matt Popeck is the Observer-Reporter’s boys’ basketball player of the year.
Washington High School junior Matt Popeck led the Prexies to the PIAA playoffs for the first time since 2010.
Matt Popeck has received many basketball history lessons while growing up in Washington. His father, Chris, has been sure to talk about helping Washington High School win a PIAA title in 1984, two WPIAL titles and the program’s 52-game winning streak, which is tied for the longest in WPIAL history.
Matt still often leafs through his father’s scrapbook, looking at the pictures and articles chronicling the most memorable championship run in Washington County basketball history.
“I want to live those memories,” Matt Popeck said in admiration.
His junior season with Wash High didn’t end with a championship trophy, but his Prexies created memories of their own in 2016, reaching the second round of the PIAA playoffs, where they had Lincoln Park on its heels in the final seconds.
It was the Prexies’ first PIAA playoff appearance since 2010, as Wash High (20-8) earned the WPIAL’s fifth seed in the state tournament with two wins in the consolation bracket.
The run ended at Peters Township High School, but Popeck put his own stamp on the program, averaging 16.8 points with three assists and two steals per game. Though he did not hoist a championship trophy, Popeck did earn one title he can share with his father: Observer-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year. Chris Popeck received the honor as a senior in 1985 after the Prexies won their second consecutive WPIAL title.
“Honestly, I worked really hard to improve, but my main mission was winning at all costs,” Matt Popeck said. “I got myself stronger and faster. I knew that would really, really help me, but it was about the other guys on the court with me.”
It wasn’t long ago that Popeck wasn’t “one of the guys on the floor.” He played sparingly as a 140-pound freshman, but caught everyone’s attention when he made two second-half three-pointers in Wash High’s season-ending loss to Summit Academy in the second round of the WPIAL playoffs.
One of those people who saw the skinny freshman provide a spark in that 10-point defeat was Ron Faust, the man who coached his father. Little did Popeck know that Faust would return to coach Wash High the next season.
Popeck averaged 15.1 points per game as a sophomore, helping the Prexies earn the fifth seed in the WPIAL Class AA playoffs, where they were upset on a last-second three-pointer by Neshannock.
With two of Wash High’s four leading scorers graduating, Popeck spent countless hours in the weight room, adding muscle to his frame to sustain another full season in Faust’s system, which is predicated on driving to the basket to create scoring opportunities.
“He’s the first guy there and the last one to leave,” Faust said. “He’s a given and that’s always good. On most nights, you don’t know about the performances of some of your players or the team as a whole. We knew what Matt was going to do every night. He’s the kind of kid anyone would love to have in their program.”
Wash High did too. Though he didn’t finish among the area’s top-ten scorers, Popeck’s impact was often immeasurable; helping lock down opposing guards and pairing with senior Markel Pulliam to form one of the WPIAL’s top guard tandems.
The quick lefthander with pin-point accuracy from three-point range was the talk of opposing coaches during the postseason. Seton-La Salle head coach Mark Walsh, who saw Popeck score 19 points against the Rebels in a consolation game, raved about the lefthander’s quickness off the dribble and ability to create shots.
That was by design. Popeck remembered those days watching from the sideline as a freshman and ensured that his memories would include more than a few shots in a playoff loss.
“I think the adversity helped me in the long run,” Popeck said. “I had to adjust. It hurt a little bit as a freshman because I knew I could be out there helping us win, but it really made me work that much harder. I knew I could make a big impact.”
He made that impact on and off the court. Along with possessing a strong work ethic like his father, Popeck also brought versatility to a team that did not have a true point guard. That meant taking the ball up the floor, cutting through opposing defenses before taking a shot from the wing and acting as a leader.
He didn’t have the coke-bottle glasses his dad wore in high school and he’s bigger than Chris was as a junior 32 years ago, but what they have in common was versatility – a willingness and the ability to play any position on the floor.
It was that selfless attitude that helped propel Wash High to another memorable run – one that will one day fill a scrapbook.
“All five of us who were on the court played hard every single minute we were out there,” Popeck said. “We were just playing for each other. That’s how this all happened.”