Boys Basketball Player of the Year: Jack Dunbar, Peters Township
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Jack Dunbar (45) of Peters Township splits the South Fayette defenders Gavin Ororz (left) and Elijah Hill (15) on his way to a basket. Dunbar sparked the Indians to a section title, WPIAL runner-up finish and two PIAA playoff wins.
Eleanor Bailey/The Almanac
Peters Township’s Jack Dunbar flips in a basket against South Fayette. Dunbar, a 6-2 junior, averaged 20 points per game during the regular season and sparked the Indians to a 24-win season.
Jack Dunbar’s development has mirrored that of the Peters Township High School boys basketball program.
As a sophomore in the 2021-22 season, Dunbar was an inexperienced player but one with an abundance of potential. He had some good moments that hinted that his future was indeed bright, but there were just as many times Dunbar’s lack of varsity experience led to growing pains.
Dunbar averaged seven points per game that season as PT finished with only eight wins while playing at the Class 6A level.
Fast forward to the 2022-23 season and both Dunbar and the Indians began tapping into their enormous potential with impressive results. A 6-2 junior forward, Dunbar had a breakout season that led to Peters Township enjoying its best season in more than two decades.
Dunbar became the Indians’ leading scorer, averaging 20 points per game during the regular season. He was Peters Township’s most consistent player and the most physical force in a fast-paced style of play that emphasizes speed and aggressiveness. Like Dunbar’s production, the numbers in the wins column for PT skyrocketed.
The Indians surpassed expectations by winning the Class 5A Section 1 title, then reached the WPIAL championship game before a loss to Penn Hills snapped PT’s 15-game winning streak. Dunbar suffered a leg injury early in the title game that limited his playing time. Without Dunbar on the court for long stretches of the game, the Indians’ attack slowed against a taller Penn Hills team.
In the PIAA playoffs, Peters Township defeated Milton Hershey in the first round and then slipped past Lampeter-Strasburg, 58-56, a game in which Dunbar scored a team-high 14 points.
An overtime loss to Exeter in the state quarterfinals ended PT’s season with a 24-5 record.
It was a memorable season for both the Indians and Dunbar. And for his steady season-long performance, Dunbar has been selected the Observer-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year.
Dunbar is the seventh Peters Township product to be the O-R Boys Basketball Player of the Year since the all-district team was first chosen in 1980. The Indians’ other Players of the Year were Gabe Pritz (2012), Nick Wilcox (2009), Tom Lulich (2001), Eric Lang (2000), Henry Klinar (1997) and Adam Sarson (1994).
“Jack’s maturity has really developed in the last eight months. That has allowed him to access some of his talents,” said PT head coach Joe Urmann. “He’s learned how to be a leader and a competitor.
“He still has a lot of potential to get better. That’s the scary thing. He wants to be a better shooter. He wants to improve his ball-handling. And he could improve his defense.”
If Dunbar improves his shooting, then Baldwin might not want to play PT next season. That’s because Dunbar scored 41 points, including seven three-point field goals, in the Indians’ 87-79 win over the Highlanders in the regular-season finale.
“That was one of those nights when a player is, as they say, in a zone,” Urmann said. “I asked Jack at halftime what it was like because it seemed as if the hoop was really big for him.”
Dunbar wasn’t even the leading scorer in that game. Baldwin’s James Wesling scored 42 points.
“Those two put on a show that night,” Urmann recalled.
Dunbar’s play stood out to anybody who played against him or had to find a way to stop him.
“He’s outstanding. He’s a big, strong kid who can score from anywhere. He’s a four-level scorer,” Exeter coach Matt Ashcroft said. “Three-level guys can score from three-point range, mid-range and at the rim. He can also post up and score, which makes him a four-level scorer. He can do all of those things.”
The athletically gifted Dunbar has good genes. Both of his parents were collegiate athletes at Washington & Jefferson, and he is the grandson of former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman and W&J head football coach John Banaszak. Of course, it also helps that Dunbar has a winning work ethic.
“This year, I was able to improve my shooting,” Dunbar said. “My defense, I’m working on improving that. It all starts with defense, right? I evolved my game to score from a multitude of areas, and this year my teammates were great at moving the ball.”
Added Urmann, “He can do it all. He won’t have a small role next year.”
Joining Dunbar on the all-district first team is his teammate Brendan McCullough, the Indians’ spark plug of a point guard who gave Peters Township a solid 1-2 punch on the offensive end.
Rounding out the first team are Fort Cherry senior guard Owen Norman, who was the area’s second-leading scorer in the regular season at 24.3 points per game, Monessen junior swingman Lorenzo Gardner and Belle Vernon sophomore swingman Zion Moore.
Gardner (21.8 ppg) made multiple last-second game-winning shots for the Greyhounds, who went 21-4 and won six games by three points or less. Moore, a transfer from Ringgold, averaged 23.4 points playing in rugged Class 4A Section 3 along with WPIAL semifinalist Laurel Highlands and state semifinalist Uniontown.
Player of the Year — Jack Dunbar, Peters Township
Coach of the Year — Joe Urmann, Peters Township
First Team
Jack Dunbar, Peters Township, Jr. F
Lorenzo Gardner, Monessen, Jr., F
Brendan McCullough, Peters Township, Sr. G
Zion Moore, Belle Vernon, So., G
Owen Norman, Fort Cherry, Sr., G
Second Team
Ruben Gordon, Washington, Jr., G
Elijah Hill, South Fayette, Sr., F
Quinton Martin, Belle Vernon, Jr., F
Zack Schrockman, Burgettstown, Jr., G
Landon Urcho, Bentworth, Sr. G
Third Team
Lane Allison, West Greene, So., G
Drew Collins, Trinity, Sr., G
Eamon O’Donoghue, Canon-McMillan, Jr., F
Grayson Wallace, McGuffey, Jr., G
Jake Ziegler, Peters Township, Sr., F