43
Sefcik, unbeaten Falcons soaring to new heights
AUSTINTOWN
While most of the Austintown Fitch student body was thrilled about the two days off from school earlier in the week, senior Megan Sefcik was facing a disappointing realization.
“I wasn’t able to find a gym so I did some extra workout exercises at home to make sure I stayed in shape,” Sefcik said. “Two days off was a killer.”
Such is the life of a self-proclaimed “basketball junkie.” Committed to play college basketball at the University of Akron, Sefcik has the Falcons flying high at 10-0 to begin her senior season.
The success at Fitch has been a work in progress ever since head coach Stacie Cepin was hired five years ago. By way of Alaska, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Indiana, Cepin was given the opportunity to return home. It was one she said she couldn’t pass up.
“I’ve been all over the place so to be able to come back to where my roots are and with the way Fitch makes me feel at home, I know this is definitely the place,” Cepin said. “Our program has just gotten better every year since these kids have been in it.
“I can honestly say I’m having fun every single day.”
A graduate of Campbell High School, Cepin played two years of college basketball at Youngstown State University before transferring to the University of Alaska-Anchorage. It was there she got her coaching start.
Now, 16 years later, Cepin has coached everywhere from Division I programs (Clemson and Ohio University) to the high school level. It’s a job she feels is more rewarding than anything else.
“It doesn’t matter what level, whether it’s college or now high school, I just really enjoy the interaction and building relationships with the kids and just seeing them grow,” Cepin said. “What’s really cool about this situation is I’ve seen these kids grow from their eighth grade year to now their senior year and I’m going to see them graduate.
“I think overall, that’s why I enjoy doing it.”
The Falcons’ undefeated record doesn’t even rank as the proudest accomplishment for Cepin this season. That spot’s reserved for the 3.7 cumulative grade-point average the team’s five seniors (Sarah Melfe, Cassie Custer, Carlie Chepke, Maura Bianco and Sefcik) have earned. Sefcik has a 3.8 GPA to go along with her 18 points per game.
“She’s an amazing kid,” Cepin said. “Since the first day that I met her and talked to her I realized we had a lot in common in the sense of loving the game so much. I could coach kids that like it and enjoy doing it, but she loves it as much as I do, so we have that connection.”
Cepin says Sefcik is the first one in the gym and the last one out every day. It’s that type of work ethic, along with her production, that has earned her a nomination for this year’s McDonald’s All-American Game — a yearly high school all-star game reserved for the best players around the country.
“It’s definitely a huge accomplishment for me,” Sefcik said. “My teammates are the biggest part of that, but I remember watching it on TV a couple years ago and thinking that could be me and now it actually can be.”
While Fitch is still unbeaten, you wouldn’t know that from talking to anyone on the team. In fact, the word undefeated, or any variation of it, isn’t to be spoken.
“At the end of the season we can talk about it,” Sefcik said. “This is a huge accomplishment, but it’s not how you start the season, it’s how you finish.”
And don’t ask them what their record is either.
“We’ve played 10 games — how about that?” Cepin asked. “We still have a long way to go.”