By DEAN DELLAMALVA JR.
MVI Sports
The 2020 boys basketball season will look different for Monessen for reasons beyond the pandemic.
The Greyhounds are moving up to Section 4-2A along with former Section 2-A foe Jefferson-Morgan. Monessen has more traditional local rivals in the new section with Bentworth, California and Carmichaels staying in 2A and Frazier, which is moving down from 3A.
“Moving up to 2A will be a huge challenge,” Greyhounds coach Dan Bosnic said. “We look forward to getting into our section games and seeing how we compare to the other teams.”
Playing a difficult schedule last season should help ease the transition. The Hounds played nine games last season against teams in 3A and above.
“Last year we played a challenging schedule earlier in the season,” Bosnic said. “We were more competitive once we got in our section.”
Marquell Smith and Dawayne Howell are two of the four starters and seven total seniors Bosnic will need to replace. There are plenty of young Greyhounds looking to fill those positions.
“We need leadership from our older players and for our younger players to be able help us win basketball games immediately,” Bosnic said. “The expectations are always high at Monessen; that should never change. I hope we can improve throughout the season and be a quality basketball team at the end.”
Leadership will come mainly from the team’s only returning starter, senior Chas Mrlack. Other seniors looking to earn starting spots are Mechi Cook, Angelo Mauro and James Thomas.
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