Apr 8, 2017 5 min read

Matt Popeck was the basketball equivalent of a marked man.

After averaging 16.8 points as a junior for a Washington High School team that won 20 games and advanced to the second round of the PIAA playoffs in 2015-16, there was no hiding Popeck’s importance to the Little Prexies. The cat-quick guard with those rare basketball instincts that seemingly have him always a step ahead of the opponents was the driving force behind Wash High’s success.

“If anyone had a target on his back this year, it was Matt,” Washington coach Ron Faust said.

As a senior this season, Popeck knew he would be the focal point of every opponent. They would be aware of his every move on the court. Defenses would be designed specifically to stop him.

Nobody ever did.

Modern defensive strategies, be it the pack line, help and recover or matchup zones, have not caught up with Popeck. He’s a one-man scoring machine and it didn’t matter if opponents knew his game. The results were always the same.

Popeck was the leading scorer in the area, averaging 25.3 points per contest that included a 42-point performance against Brownsville. He helped Washington to 22 wins, the Section 3-AAA championship, WPIAL semifinals and PIAA quarterfinals. At one point, the Little Prexies won 15 consecutive games. No public school in Class AAA advanced deeper into the state playoffs than Washington, and Popeck was a major reason for its success.

For his stellar performance, Popeck is the Observer-Reporter Boys Basketball Player of the Year.

Again.

Popeck also received the honor following his junior season. Since the O-R began naming a player of the year in 1980, Popeck is the first to win the award two times.

“Nobody did more for his team than what Matt did for us. So it’s no surprise that he ends up as the Player of the Year,” Faust said. “I kept waiting for the shoe to drop and it never did. He was able to overcome all circumstances. He was able to pull it off. Kudos to him.”

Popeck, who committed last week to play next season at Waynesburg University, is one of six Washington players to be selected Player of the Year. The first was his father, Chris, in 1985.

Knowing that defenses would be designed to stop him because Washington did not have another proven perimeter scoring option, Popeck revamped his game last offeseason. He put on about 15 pounds of muscle and committed himself to being a better rebounder and defensive player.

“I expanded my game,” Popeck said. “I increased the range on my jump shot and got stronger. That helped me go to the basket.

“I also knew I had to step up and be a verbal leader. I had to say and score more than I did last year.”

What was most impressive about Popeck’s performance is how efficient he was on the offensive end of the court despite having more responsibility in the Prexies’ system. He was called upon to handle the basketball more often as a senior and generate scoring opportunities for his teammates when opponents were able to double team him.

“He was a big scorer, but he did it without piling up a lot of shots,” Faust is quick to point out.

Popeck shot 63 percent from two-point range and made exactly 50 percent (53 of 106) of his three-point attempts. At the free-throw line, Popeck was almost automatic, shooting 80.3 percent.

“It’s phenomenal what he did. You look at how few shots he took and his production is remarkable,” Faust said. “To get that kind of efficiency, and at the same time he made other people better, that’s rare.”

The only thing that stopped Popeck was an injury. And even that didn’t keep him down nearly as long as doctors expected and opponents wanted.

Popeck sprained an ankle in the regular-season finale against Trinity. The original diagnosis was that he would miss the remainder of the season, no matter how deep into the postseason the Prexies advanced.

“I saw multiple doctors and at first they told me I was done. Another doctor told me I had a chance to come back. That’s all I needed to hear,” Popeck said.

Popeck’s ankle underwent “electronic stimulation, weather therapy, all kinds of stuff.”

He missed only two games. He returned for the Prexies’ WPIAL semifinal game against eventual champion Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

After taking a quarter to regain his feel for the game, Popeck scored 18 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter when Washington erased a 12-point deficit before eventually losing, 49-44.

“North Catholic, in its first game against Lincoln Park, had been able to shut down (Bowling Greene recruit) Nelly Cummings,” Faust pointed out. “When we played North Catholic, Matt had only one practice before coming back. When he got the feel for it, North Catholic couldn’t stop him. They threw everything they had defensively at him. People were hanging on him but they had no answer for Matt.

“We knew he was determined to make it back. He kept saying that he would and he did. He showed the fortitude.”

Popeck said he was only “about 80 percent” during the state playoffs, but that didn’t stop him from scoring 27 points against Lincoln Park, the state runner-up, in the quarterfinals. He said that game, or his 35-point performance at WPIAL Class A champion Monessen in January, were his best of the season.

“I like to play against best competition,” he said. “Lincoln Park and Monessen are two of the best teams in the WPIAL.”

Popeck finished his stellar career as the all-time leading scorer in Washington’s rich basketball history. His final tally is 1,488 points.

“The biggest compliment that could have been paid to him came from Dave Long, the North Catholic coach, who said Matt is the real deal,” Faust said.