Wyoming Area’s Anthony DeLucca goes to the basket for 2 points against Hanover in the second quarter of a Feb. 10, 2024 game.
Fred Adams File Photo | For Times Leader
Wyoming Area built around a strong Class of 2024 to arrive at the .500 mark in league play in 2022-23 and become both a winning team and one that finished tied for first in the final Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 standings last season.
The new task for the Warriors and coach Anthony Macario is trying to stay put in the upper half of the standings after becoming a winning team for the first time in his tenure. They will need to do so without the division’s top player, Dane Schutter, and other key players.
“With our team this year, when you lose the MVP of the division and you lose the production we lost from the senior class, it’s certainly not easy to replace all of that,” said Macario, who is in his seventh season leading the Warriors. “But, with that being said, we have guys that are ready. We have a lot of talented guys who are working their butts off to maintain that same standard that we worked really hard to try to build over last few years.”
Wyoming Area forced a division championship game, which it lost to perennial power Holy Redeemer last season.
The Warriors will use a variety of different talents as they try to produce an encore performance.
“While we lose a lot,” Macario said, “we have guys who are skilled and they are ready and eager to take on bigger roles within our team to hopefully help us maintain our position as one of the better teams in the league.”
Leading that list is a pair of guards who are with the team for their fourth seasons.
Anthony DeLucca was the third-leading scorer and the team’s top 3-point threat last year when the Warriors went 11-1 in the division and 16-8 overall.
Lukas Burakiewicz, a point guard and the team’s top 3-point threat two years ago, missed a big chunk of last season with anterior cruciate ligament injury.
“We’re certainly a little smaller, which will bring a different element to the team,” Macario said. “Our success will be predicated on our guard play.”
That includes sophomore Luke Kopetchny, last year’s sixth man, who is coming off a championship football season in which he showed his athleticism as one of the best wide receivers in District 2.
“He’s ready to step into a larger role as a full-time starter and major contributor for us.
Junior Shane Prep and sophomore Mitchell Rusinchak are the next most experienced returnees from last year’s team.
Drew Keating, one of the leaders of the junior varsity team who saw some varsity time as a freshman last year, could be a bigger factor.
Seniors Jacob Morgan and John Turner are two more players from the football team. They both saw a little varsity time as sophomores before taking a year away from the sport.
“They’re going to impact guys for us as they get up to speed,” Macario said.
Macario points out senior Michael Janosky and junior Bruno Pizzano as players who developed through their summer commitment.
Pizzano joins Keating as players the Warriors can turn on the inside.
“We can certainly use guys in a variety of different spots on the floor, but those two guys primarily are true, post-presence type guys,” Macario said.
The combination gives Macario a lot of different possibilities as the team gets set top open the season Friday and Saturday in the North Pocono Tip-Off Tournament.
“Certainly our goal is to continue to climb,” Macario said. “ … We have guys that are fast, guys that are athletic and guys that can do a lot of different things.”
