Shasteen ‘doubling’ his output for Mohawk

By Corey J. Corbin
New Castle News

Zach Shasteen isn’t wasting any time.

The 5-foot-9 junior point guard was inserted into the Mohawk High boys basketball team’s starting lineup two weeks ago and has responded with three straight double-digit scoring efforts.

He scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half to lead the Warriors to a 61-58 upset of WPIAL Section 2-AA rival Neshannock on Friday. He also tossed in 15 points in an 85-53 win over Riverside earlier in the week.

The performance earned him Lawrence County Athlete of the Week honors, an award sponsored by Washington Centre Physical Therapy and selected by the New Castle News sports staff.

“He moved into the starting lineup and he’s taken off running with it,” Mohawk coach Rob Fadden said. “He’s becoming more of a team player. He’s distributing the ball. It’s not just the offense, either. He’s also playing some good defensive basketball for us. He’s really rebounding the basketball, too.”

The twin 15-point efforts are about what Shasteen expects out of himself every time he steps on the court. He has reached double figures in seven games and is second on the team averaging 8.5 points per game.

“My expectations for myself are somewhere in the middle of that,” he said. “I always try to stay up during the game. I don’t want to get too low on myself.”

The wins over Riverside and Neshannock may have come as a surprise to some after Mohawk lost by 18 points in their first meeting with the Panthers. The Lancers also beat the Warriors by double digits in their initial clash.

“It was a very big week for us,” Shasteen said. “To get a 32-point win against a team we had lost to already and to knock off our rivals at home were two big wins for us. We were looking to get at least one win and hopefully that would get us back on track. Hopefully, we’ll get a spot in the playoffs.”

The postseason was a pipe dream for Mohawk prior to beating the Panthers and Lancers last week, but the wins have pushed the Warriors to within a game of the final playoff berth out of the section with four section games left.

Mohawk still has dates with Laurel, Beaver Falls, Aliquippa and Shenango remaining on its section slate.

“We’re just trying to find a way into the playoffs,” Shasteen said. “It all starts over from there. It’s very encouraging to see how our team is coming together. We started off bad, but we’re getting better.”

A lot of that has to do with Shasteen’s ability running the Warriors’ offense.

“I like running the whole offense and I want to help my teammates out the best I can,” he said. “Beating the pressure is my specialty. I accept the challenge and take it from there. I’ve noticed how much I can change the speed of the game. If we need a bucket, I can speed things up and if we need to slow things down, I can do that.”

Fadden said Shasteen is a very good rebounder.

“That’s the thing that’s gone unnoticed,” the Mohawk coach said. “Looking at him you wouldn’t believe it, but he’s one of our better rebounders. We watched film and he just goes after the ball each time it goes up. He’s a competitor and he battles.”

Shasteen has reached double figures in each of his past three games and attributes that to his playing time increasing since becoming a varsity starter.

“I just moved into the starting five about four games ago, so I’ve been getting more minutes,” he said. “My teammates are finding me and I’m finding them.

“I’d rather start, so I can get into the game quicker. We’ve been doing pretty good with me starting, so I’d like to stick with that.”

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THE ZACH SHASTEEN FILE

POSITION: Guard

TEAM: Mohawk

GRADE: Junior

PARENTS: Andy and Mary Shasteen

KNOWN FOR: Scoring 11 of his 15 points in the second half to help Mohawk upset WPIAL Section 2-AA rival Neshannock on Friday. He also scored 15 in a lopsided 85-53 win over Riverside.

FAVORITE PRO PLAYER AND WHY: Dwyane Wade. “Because of how much of a team player he is. He let LeBron (James) come in and take over from him.”

FAVORITE PRO TEAM AND WHY: Pittsburgh Steelers. “They’re the hometown team.”

FUTURE PLANS: “I’d like to be on the Pitt track team for pole vault.”