Dec 11, 2020 4 min read

CLAYSVILLE – After one day, one game and one victory, McGuffey boys basketball coach Mike Fatigante tried to analyze the situation.

“If somebody would have told me a couple of days ago that we’d have a perfect record for three weeks, into January, then I would have said, We’ll take it,” Fatigante said after the hot-shooting Highlanders defeated Avella 77-43 in a season opener like no other Friday night.

McGuffey will be undefeated for the next three weeks and maybe longer. That’s because Gov. Tom Wolf, in response to the growing coronavirus pandemic, on Thursday ordered a shutdown of high school sports in Pennsylvania beginning today and running through at least Jan. 4. That means no games, no practices, no open gyms and no idea when, or if, the season will resume.

“I feel badly for our guys,” Fatigante said. “They have done everything asked of them. We set rules and they followed them. They changed the rules on us and they followed the new rules. But one thing we’re not going to do is feel sorry for ourselves. We’re not going to play the victim. Every team is in the same situation as us and we’re determined to make the most of it.”

And that meant playing Avella – the regular season was scheduled to begin Friday for basketball, wrestling and swimming teams – even with the shutdown looming.

The Highlanders will have plenty of time during the layoff to feel good about their performance against Avella. McGuffey made 11 three-point field goals, had six different players score from behind the arc and scored at least 20 points in each of the first three quarters.

The Highlanders led 20-14 after one quarter, then scored 45 points over the next two quarters to forge a commanding 65-33 lead.

“They shot really well,” said Avella coach Mike Macik, who was filling in for head coach Mike Maltony. “If they shoot like that, they’re going to be a tough out. We’re not bad when we get out in transition, but we couldn’t do that because (McGuffey) kept making shots.”

Nate Witowsky and Ethan Janovich led a balanced McGuffey attack with 18 and 16 points, respectively. Janovich made four three-pointers in the game and Witowsky connected from long range three times during the first quarter.

Philip McCuen had 11 points and Christian Cipoletti contributed nine. Garyson Wallace, a freshman, came off the bench to add eight points.

“We have a lot of young, inexperienced guys,” Fatigante said. “At times, we were playing three sophomores and a freshman. We shot well but have to get better defensively. Defense is the last thing that comes around.”

Gabe Lis led Avella with 18 points but the Eagles were hurt by 25 turnovers.

The game was unique for many reasons. Players for one team wore facemasks, as did the three officials, while one team went maskless. Large bottles of hand sanitizer sat on the scorer’s table for players and officials to use, the benches were socially distant with seats far apart and Avella used a classroom for a locker room.

There were about 50 fans in the gym, so it was so quiet that you could hear the squeaks from the sneakers when players would stop and cut.

It all seemed normal for high school sports in 2020.

What is not normal is the long layoff that starts today. It will be even tougher for Avella, which is saddled with an 0-1 record for three weeks despite having some stretches against McGuffey in which the Eagles played well.

“We have a lot of experience back but we’re not jelling right now,” Macik said. “It’s a letdown that we’re playing only one game. We’ll have a lot of things to work on Jan. 4 when we’re back at it.

“The good thing is our guys want to be here. They want to play. But we can’t come back with the Christmas 10 pounds. We’ll have to come back ready to play.”

Fatigante said it will be strange not having holiday tournaments to play and practices to run. And it will be challenging for the Highlanders’ players, who will have to be creative if they want to stay sharp.

“I’m hoping for a lot of nice-weather days,” Fatigante said. “We can’t get in the gym, so if you don’t have access to a hoop then you’ll have to do ball-handling drills in the basement. We’ll do virtual meetings. We’ll find a way to get things done.

“This will be strange for me. It’s the first time since I was 5 years old that I haven’t been playing or coaching basketball around Christmas.”