(Butler, PA) The Butler County Community College men’s basketball team “has a few guys who can put the ball in the basket,” coach Dick Hartung said as the Pioneers look to contend for their second Western Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference crown since 2019 and seventh overall.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that we can score.”
BC3’s roster includes one sophomore – Noah McLean – and eight freshmen, among them, Mattix Clement, a three-year starter at guard at Butler Area Senior High School, and Troy Loughry, who started at guard in his senior season at Grove City High.
Clement “has good range,” Hartung said. “He has a quick release and he is just flat-out dangerous. … and Loughry can play.”
Clement, a 6-foot-2 BC3 guard, averaged 13 points in his senior season at Butler and Loughry, a 6-3 Pioneers guard, averaged 8 in his final year at Grove City.
“I can shoot the ball pretty well,” Clement said. “I can shoot a little bit deeper than most. And we have people who can shoot and pass.”
Among them, Loughry.
“He’s really consistent in shooting the 3-ball,” Clement said. “And he can shoot off the dribble well.”
Said Loughry: “We will get the majority of our scoring from the outside. Mattix can knock it down. I can shoot it well. We got a couple of other guys who can really fire it up.”
“We’re just not super big. We are going to have to send five guys to the boards. They are going to have to work really hard."
In addition to McLean, a 6-3 sophomore forward and Moniteau High graduate, BC3’s roster includes Butler High graduates Derek Butterworth, a 6-1 guard; Austin Rodgers, a 6-3 guard-forward; Chandler Miller, a 6-1 guard; and Luke Sherwin, a 5-8 forward.
BC3’s roster also includes Ben Drake, a 6-4 forward and First Baptist graduate; and Titus Fuller, a 6-1 guard and Knoch graduate.
“Rodgers is a good athlete,” Hartung said. “Drake and McLean can really scrap inside.”
Rebounding, Hartung said, will determine the success of the Pioneers, who have won WPCC titles in 2019, 1994, 1991, 1985, 1984 and 1980.
“We’re just not super big,” he said. “We are going to have to send five guys to the boards. They are going to have to work really hard.
“But we can shoot the ball. We can put the ball in the basket. That covers a multitude of sins. The question is whether we can defend and take care of the ball. I know we can put enough points up to win.
BC3 did not play in 2020-2021 as a result of a National Junior College Athletic Association decision to postpone athletics with regard to COVID-19.
The Pioneers team topped Westmoreland County Community College 97-85 in the 2020 WPCC quarterfinal, then fell 123-90 in the semifinals to the Community College of Allegheny County.
To win the 2022 WPCC championship, Clement said, “We have to play defense, execute our game plan, and rebound.”
And put in, Loughry added, “A lot of hard work.”
