TITANS REBOUND

By Charles Grove | February 13, 2017 at 12:05a.m.

Mahoning Valley players are helping Westminster surge back into the PAC chase

It’s been quite a while since Westminster students, alumni and fans have cheered for a winning men’s basketball team.

That has changed this year.

Ten years ago, the Titans racked up an 18-9 record and finished 10-2 in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference. Over the next nine seasons, Westminster stumbled to a 64-173 overall record and a 38-94 record in league play.

This year, Mahoning Valley players are helping to right the ship.

East alumnus Deontay Scott (13.6 points per game), Canfield alumnus Jarret Vrabel (12.4) and Niles alumnus Cameron Kane-Johnson (11.4) are the top three scorers for this year’s Titans (14-9, 10-6), who have guaranteed themselves a winning record.

“It gives me goosebumps,” Westminster head coach Kevin Siroki said. “When I played back in the day, we won a lot of games and it’s great to get back to those days. Those guys have put in a lot of work and hopefully there’s a lot more games to go.”

While Scott, Vrabel and Kane-Johnson are Westminster’s version of the “Big Three,” the roster has a slew of Youngstown-area talent.

Preston Stitt (South Range), Cameron Pozsgai (Windham), African Grant II (Warren JFK), Avery Andric (Lisbon), Marco Delorenzo (Canfield) and Brandon Domenick (New Castle) also are on the roster.

Leading the team is Scott. Along with his 13.6 points per game, he is grabbing 9.6 rebounds per game, best in the league.

Siroki said Scott lost 30 pounds last offseason to get in better shape. The results speak for themselves.

“In the offseason I was overweight and I had to lose weight,” Scott said. “I also put in a lot of work with my left hand so that I could finish with both hands. I’ve also been getting better with my footwork to learn how to box out better.”

Vrabel isn’t far behind Scott, grabbing eight boards per game. What’s more is Vrabel isn’t afraid to step outside either. He’s hitting 33 percent of his 3-pointers this season.

“Jarret is our motor guy,” Siroki said. “He’s probably the hardest worker on the team.”

And then there’s the freshman Kane-Johnson who has only started two games this year, but has adjusted well to the next level of competition. The former Red Dragon said it’s been quite a change this year as the team mentally has gone from thinking of themselves as underdogs to one of the three top teams in the conference.

“It’s really shifted throughout this season,” Kane-Johnson said. “It went from us not knowing how good we would be and looking at ourselves as underdogs but now we go in thinking we will win as long as we play our game.”

A look through the conference statistical rankings doesn’t make you think the Titans are fighting for a top seed in their conference tournament. Westminster is just about middle of the pack in most team categories. But Vrabel said that in itself is one of the strengths of his team.

“That’s what makes us good,” Vrabel said. “One guy has a bad night on offense or rebounding or defense and we can make up for it in other areas. We’re able to weather the storm that way. We’re not that dominant in that area.”

What’s been the biggest obvious change for the Titans this year has been their local support. Westminster is leading the PAC in attendance as fans who have been waiting for a winning team for a decade are coming back to campus.

“Other guys on the team were telling me if you lose the first few games you can start to lose the fan base by about Christmas,” Kane-Johnson said. “But this year our fans have been great. There’s even been people who came back over Christmas break to come watch us play, which really motivates us.”