By Ed Farrell
Herald Assistant Sports Editor
Even in rural western Pennsylvania, where athletics are the lifeblood of small, blue-collar towns from Stoneboro to Imperial, it’s a small world.
When Hickory High boys basketball team commences the Class AAA PIAA playoffs today, 7:30 p.m. at Fox Chapel High against West Allegheny, there will be an added Mercer County connection — Indians’ head coach Josh Bears.
The Lakeview High product (’93) played for Sailors’ skipper Doug Mays, then matriculated at Clarion University. There, Bears switched majors (from communications to education) and gained 2 years coaching experience at Allegheny-Clarion Valley as a volunteer under former Mercer mentor (and current West Middlesex teacher/AD) Mike Williams.
“This is the only (coaching) job I’ve ever applied for,” related Bears, an American history teacher at West Allegheny. During his 6-year stint with the Indians (which includes 3 WPIAL Tourney semifinals appearances, the only in the program’s annals) Bears boasts a 10-2 career coaching mark in the WPIAL Tourney). This year’s Tribe (15-9) advanced to the semis before bowing to eventual titlist Char Valley.
Bears’ family ties to the Shenango Valley include his step-mother Patty Bears, a Sharon High teacher; his kid brother Bobby, who played football at Sharon, graduating last year and now an Ohio State University student, and his grandfather Dick Wilds, who resides in Sharon (his grandmother, Peg Wilds, passed away).
Recently, Bears vividly recalled his high school days, which coincided with former Hickory standout Geoff Evans. Coicidentally, that was the last time Hornets’ hoops appeared in the PIAA playoffs.
“This is a unique perspective,” Bears related. “To be honest, this is a different brand of basketball, a whole different culture as a player and a coach. And it’s something that’s cool for me as a player in District 10 and a coach in the WPIAL. But it’s a different perspective, the approach for the state playoffs. I’ve tried to give the (West Allegheny) kids that understanding, from when I was a player in District 10.
“It’s funny,” Bears continued. “The focus down here is always on the WPIAL playoffs. We won the WPIAL championship in 2007 — we had a heckava team that year — but it was so hard to get (the West Allegheny players) re-focused to make a new goal, the state championship, and get ready for the state playoffs.
“And,” he continued, “Warren, the third-place team (from D-10) that year laid it on us. They went up on us by nineteen at the end of the third quarter before we woke up and cut it to six. But it’s such a year-long battle; it’s hard to keep the kids’ attention that long.”
Bears has benefitted from his relationship with West Allegheny head football coach Bob Palko’s proud program.
“He’s had so much success, but to be honest with you he’s kind’ve been a mentor to me since I got the,” Bears related. “He gives me great insight, and we work real well together. Hey, kids are kids, whether they’re football players or basketball players, and we both understand that they’re young men, and whatever sport they’re playing they have to have a certain level of toughness. But we work great together.”
Actually, a pair of Bears’ cagers — 6-foot-4 senior Ben Simmen and 6-5 junior Greg Kaulius — also played football for Palko, whose Indians advanced to the state semifinals.
“That did so much for their experience, learning how to fight through all those battles, fighting through adversity to become leaders,” Bears said. “And it’s helped us down the stretch. We took some losses early in the year while those guys were still getting their basketball legs — Blackhawk came to our place and beat us by 17 back in December; but then we beat them on a neutral floor in the (WPIAL) playoffs. It’s all part of developing the chemistry of a team and fighting through adversity when you’re being beaten.”
Bears’ background has become part of his coaching philosophy for the Indians in Imperial.
“The kids have really bought into working hard, having that blue-collar mentality,” he explained. “I don’t know if I brought that from District 10 or what, but I wanted us to be one of the tougher teams ... and we pride ourselves on maintaining our composure, but playing with intensity.”
Those are two traits he sees in Hickory (16-9), which advanced to last week’s D-10 title tilt before bowing to East in overtime.
“(Matt) Durisko is a great player ... he’s the mainstay and he’ll get his,” Bears praised, “but the other kids around him play their roles and understand them. And every one of them has the capability of making big shots. Having watched them on film, they’ve all taken turns.
“Coach (Nick Cannone) does a great job. You can just see how structured they are when they run their stuff, and they run it well. To be honest, I’ve told my players about the District 10 playoffs since I’ve been here, and now to be playing Hickory, which is a great example of a District 10 team. They play hard, they’re trying to get every loose ball because they think it’s their’s, they rebound, particularly on the weak side, they always hold their screens — every little thing. I’ve told my kids, ‘This is what District 10 basketball teams do,’ and we’ll have to play very well.
“Watching Hickory, we are kind’ve like them,” Bears continued. “Every guy on the floor (led by leading scorer John O’Donnell, who is averaging 19.8 points per game) has the ability to score in streaks, in stretches. And we want to be able to — not necessarily control the tempo — but adjust to it. We can play fast or we can play slow. My guys have bought into taking good shots at the right time. And they’re so unselfish, they don’t care who’s scoring or who’s doing the dirty work, as long as we find a way to get the job done.
“And they’ve bought in defensively,” Bears continued. “With matchups, we rarely have a problem with one guy guarding another (team’s top scorers). ... Typically, we’ve prided ourselves on our man-to-man the last couple years, but that doesn’t mean we won’t use a couple different things to speed up the tempo or slow down the tempo. We do try to keep teams guessing, but that’s more for our benefit, just to control the tempo.
“The key for us?” Bears rhetorically asked. “We have to match Hickory’s intensity. Being in the state playoffs twice after the WPIAL championships, there’s a letdown in that first round. That’s something about WPIAL teams. ... We’re going to have to master our intensity early; we can’t get caught coming out slow, because we haven’t played since last Tuesday.
“But once that happens, I trust my seniors (O’Donnell, Simmen, Nick Herman, Mike Karas) to adapt to the tempo and do the little things — rebound, getting the loose balls. That’s where the game’s gonna be won.”
