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WEIRTON -- For the second season of his second stint as Madonna boys basketball coach, George Vargo has a roster that is very similar to last year -- only this time he has two seniors rather than three.
For the 2019-20 campaign, Vargo had Brennan Secrist, Evan Boniti and Josh Gasvoda as seniors, a couple of juniors and 12 sophomores
"We just couldn't gel last year for some reason," Vargo said. "Boniti was injured in one of our first practices and didn't return until midway through the season, and that hurt us because he is a very good outside shooter.
"I think this year will be a little different because of maturity. All of those sophomores got experience at the varsity level, and they have matured. Most of them now have their driver's licenses, and that added responsibility just seems to bring out the maturity in teenage boys."
Vargo will build his team around his two seniors in Lucky Pulice and Thomas Sessi. Both have been in the program for four years, and this will be Pulice's fourth season in the starting lineup. He was the leading scorer for the Blue Dons the past two years and now has a chance to join Madonna's exclusive 1,000-point club.
"We're looking for Lucky to have a great season," said Vargo, who will be in his 23rd year as Madonna coach overall. "He's been the key player the last couple of years, and he definitely has enough games under his belt to make him a good ballplayer."
Vargo said he has nine juniors, a sophomore and a freshman to go along with the two seniors. He has a couple of other capable juniors that may be added to the varsity roster if there is a need.
The juniors include Matt Amaismeier, Santino Arlia, Evan Bone, Lennon Dietrich, Seth Humberson, Evan Quering and Peyton Moore. Luke Amaismeier, Matt's brother, is the sophomore, and Anthony Mascio has caught Vargo's eye as a freshman.
"Those juniors played a lot of quality minutes last year," he said. "We got our butts beat, and hopefully these kids will feel the pain of losing. They are a year older, stronger and more mature. With that group of underclassmen, the next two years look to be pretty good for Madonna basketball."
Amaismeier and Arlia look to be the outside shooters this year, according to Vargo.
"We're not real tall, but we have across-the-board guys that are around 6-feet to 6-feet, 2-inches and they are quick," he said. "The exception is Evan Bone, who is about 6-5 with a big frame.
"Bone is a big boy. He'll be our big guy in the lane. He has a wide body and has been playing a lot of basketball since last March. I'm looking forward to having him on the boards for us."
Vargo said his other big man is Michael Burdine, who would have shared time with Bone, but he was injured playing football for the Blue Dons and is slated to be lost for the season.
Vargo said the players who weren't on the football team got to play games in a new fall league in Wheeling. He said they held their own in one game against Wheeling Park and got blown out the other, but they were competitive against the other teams and thinks that success will help the underclassmen.
"For the first time, we didn't have the summer basketball league, but the state gave us a three-week window," Vargo said. "We were able to work Monday through Thursday each week. It was the first time we've ever done that for all sports. That was in addition to our flex days, so we got an opportunity to work on a lot of basic stuff and implement our new offense. I think that actual practice during the summer will pay off for us.
"We're going to be more aggressive on offense. I want to go back to my old style and we're going to press more on defense. We're going to be a better defensive man team. We're going to spend a lot more time when we begin practice on our defensive man-to-man."
Vargo has the same staff returning including Michael Battista, Phil Rujak and Nick Higgins.
"Another thing for us is the new classification. The state has added a fourth division, and Madonna didn't move up," Vargo said. "The larger Class A teams that dominated at tournament time like Wheeling Central and Magnolia have moved up, so we'll be playing tournament games against schools our own size."
With the talent on this team and now the new classification, Vargo feels his Blue Dons will have a much better chance to advance to the state tournament in Charleston.
"I think this group has a mission. I can feel it this year," he said. "We have a large group of football players that have been to the playoffs the last two years. Matt Amaismeier has been a star baseball player since his freshman year. We have some guys that played other sports and got to the big dance, and I feel we can get there this year and next with this junior class."