Jan 18, 2024 5 min read

By Luke Campbell

For the Observer-Reporter

newsroom@observer-reporter.com

Ryan Bunting has developed an understanding of when to talk and when to simply listen.

For eight years as a young assistant, Bunting watched longtime Washington High School boys basketball coach Ron Faust conclude one of the most successful careers a coach has ever had in Pennsylvania. Faust, a recent selection to the WPIAL Hall of Fame, had two separate stints at Washington. He won 653 games, 22 section titles, four WPIAL titles and two state championships.

“I’m forever blessed that God put him and I together,” Bunting said graciously. “You are literally talking to a legend every single day. Somebody who has one accomplishment after the next. He has seen basically everything you can in high school basketball. It was a priceless experience that I cherish every single day.”

Every single day Bunting watched.

He listened.

He learned.

And as the Prexies faced one of their roughest stretches as Bunting began his second season in Faust’s old post, he dug into the wealth of information he learned during those eight years.

A buzzer-beating loss to Canon-McMillan to open the season led to another loss against rival Trinity. That was followed by a 57-point drubbing to powerful Uniontown. Then two more times where the Prexies found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard.

Five straight losses, albeit against teams from higher classifications. It was an almost unfathomable start to the season for a longtime dominant program.

“One thing (Faust) would say to me was, ‘Ryan, as much as you enjoy success, you also have to plan to prepare as a tough time is approaching. At some point, it’s going to be here and you don’t want to be caught too off guard when that time comes,'” Bunting remembers. “How are we going to approach these young men to not crumble and not give up on the season?”

The tumultuous start – not necessarily the losing – was to prepare a roster led by six seniors to continue section dominance and overcome past playoff heartbreaks. The Prexies have either won outright or a share of their section title the last seven years. But the last time they advanced to the WPIAL semifinals was in 2016-17, having first-round exits or quarterfinal losses in the district playoffs each of the last six years.

To continue the section dominance Bunting, now maybe more than ever in his young head coaching career, needed to become the teacher.

Keeping the practices ultra-competitive, Bunting and his staff continued to teach. Open dialogue with the seasoned roster preached that all hands on deck were needed to continue the tradition of success at Washington.

“We don’t necessarily have a person that’s going to be able to go out and drop 30,” Bunting said. “We had a rotational roster the first several games. That’s not an excuse. We made mistakes. We turned the ball over. We were getting destroyed on the glass. I don’t care who you are missing, that’s just heart. They heard it from me.”

But the rebounding has improved. The turnovers have been minimized. And the roster has gradually strengthened for those who make their way into the historic single-seat, theater-like atmosphere at the Was High gymnasium to once again say, “The High is ready to roll.”

The Prexies have rattled off eight straight wins to turn that once winless record into 8-5, including a 5-0 mark in Class 3A Section 4 entering a home game Saturday (2 p.m.) against McGuffey. The game was originally scheduled for tonight but was postponed and rescheduled.

Five of those eight victories were by double digits behind the scoring of seniors Ruben Gordon and De’Ondre Daugherty. Gordon averages 14.7 points and Daugherty has led the effort on the glass with a double-double average of 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Zxavian Willis, Braiden Wise, Travis Crutcher, Vince Johnson and Travis Crutcher have also added to the secondary scoring for the Prexies.

“I knew we could compete, but could we get the results we wanted? We have improved,” Bunting said. “When we have 12 turnovers or less, we are a dangerous team. But we can’t be passive with the ball. If we make a turnover, it needs to be an aggressive one. We have to be shot-ready. We continue to improve our offensive execution and are head and shoulders above where we were at this time last year with that.”

Maybe the biggest thing the Prexies and Bunting have learned is from what Duke women’s coach Kara Lawson has famously tried to instill in her teams of ‘handling hard better.’

“We learned how to do hard well,” Bunting said. “This is a fiery, very prideful group. You are going to have to do a whole lot for us to crumble mentally. I think we have definitely shown that.”

Whether that will result in a deeper postseason run than in previous years, Bunting answered with a chuckle.

“I guess time will tell.”