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McIntire hopes to mold Waynesburg basketball in his style

3 min read
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Steve McIntire likes a good challenge. That’s good because he found one at his alma mater.

McIntire, a former standout point guard for Waynesburg Central High School in the late 1980s, was recently hired as the Raiders’ boys basketball coach. He replaces Kirk King, who resigned in April after five seasons.

McIntire spent the past two years as an assistant with the Waynesburg girls program. Prior to that, he spent one year, 2017-18, as Mapletown’s head girls coach and guided the Maples to the WPIAL Class A playoffs for the first time in 10 years. Before that stint, McIntire was an assistant boys coach at Waynesburg and coached for years at various levels of junior high and high school basketball.

“I would have applied for this job, no matter what,” said McIntire, who is a private skill-development and fundamentals coach. “I just love the game of basketball and love to compete.”

Waynesburg is coming off a 9-14 season that included a 2-8 record in Class 4A Section 3. McIntire will inherit a stiff rebuilding job as the Raiders lost all five starters to graduation, including Lucas Garber, who was an Observer-Reporter all-district first-team selection.

“There are only two players returning who have varsity experience,” McIntire pointed out. “But we do have some talent coming up.”

McIntire, however, is not discouraged by the Raiders’ lack of experience. He sees it as an opportunity to work with a clean slate and mold a team and program to his style, which is one built on uptempo basketball.

“I can build the program the way I want to, which is on a base of strong fundamentals, strong defense and being fully committed to doing things the right way. It’s going to be a fresh start with fresh players and a fresh outlook.

“In an ideal world, we would be a team that plays fast on offense, and on defense we would be tenacious – an in-your-face style where every shot is contested.”

Waynesburg will be dropping to Class 3A next season. That means no more league games against Class 4A powerhouses Uniontown, Belle Vernon and Ringgold, but McIntire says the competition in the Raiders’ new section will be strong. Waynesburg will play in Section 4 along with Beth-Center, Brentwood, Brownsville, Charleroi, McGuffey and Washington. Brentwood went 18-7 last season in Class 2A.

“I’m blessed, humbled and honored to have this job,” McIntire said. “I’m going to do the best I can to turn the program around and make Waynesburg basketball the way it was when I played, one that was competitive every game.

“It’s going to be totally different. We’re going to try to play with pace and with consistent tempo.”

McIntire has not yet hired any assistant coaches. The Raiders’ four assistants under King also resigned. McIntire said that his son, Darton McIntire, who was a recent high-scoring standout for the Raiders, might help in some coaching capacity.

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