It wasn't so much your classic case of, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em," as it was -- at least partially -- one of "If it cuts back on the hours spent stuck in traffic, join 'em."

As head coach of the Franklin Regional High School girls' basketball team last season, Rob Greenleaf lost twice to Knoch. Greenleaf has been hired to coach the Knights.

Greenleaf, who has also coached boys' teams at Franklin Regional, North Allegheny and Northgate, lives in Hampton Township and teaches in the North Allegheny district.

"It's a lot better for me personally to get to Knoch [as opposed to Franklin Regional] after school and then come home," Greenleaf said. "I was spending a lot of time in my car. That's one of the main reasons [to take the new job]. One of them, at least."

It wasn't easy for Greenleaf to leave Franklin Regional, where he led the Panthers to consecutive WPIAL playoff appearances the two seasons previous to this past one.

"I was happy at Franklin Regional; I never thought that I'd look for another girls' job," Greenleaf said. "This [Knoch] is the only girls' job I put my name in for.

"A guy who teaches next to me went to Knoch and told me the job was open and to check it out. The AD [Josh Shoop] is a basketball guy. We hit it off pretty good. It happened pretty fast. It was just a real good feel for us, so I made the move."

Greenleaf was hired early last month, replacing Curt Vasas. He has had about three weeks to work with his new players, as many of the Knights have been working out and playing together, enrolling in AAU tournaments.

But this isn't Greenleaf's first exposure to his new team. This past season, Franklin Regional was moved into the same section as Knoch. The Knights beat the Panthers in both meetings. Knoch finished this past season 15-9, having won a WPIAL preliminary-round playoff game before losing in the first round.

Greenleaf stressed he hasn't been able to see everyone play yet. But from what he's seen so far, he likes the talent he'll have on hand.

"They've been a real good group to work with so far," Greenleaf said. "Enthusiastic. It seems like a pretty good group coming back.

"I really like them. They're working hard, and they're similar to Franklin Regional in that they have a large senior class coming back, so there are pretty high expectations, at least I think we should have high expectations with three starters back from a team that won 15 games.

"So, far, they've bought into what we're trying to do."

Some of the top returning players include guards Hannah Novotny and Haley Hutterer and guard/forwards Emily Protzman and Regina Robb. They were four of the eight players listed on last season's roster who would be seniors this coming year.

"I think he will be a great coach," Novotny said. "He's going through some new drills with us and there's kind of a new style of play for us, but I think it's going to work out.

"Last year we were in the offensive end, we were a little more patient with the ball; we're doing more driving with the new coach. And defensively we played zone [last year]. This year it's more [man to man]."

For various reasons during a busy month with graduation for the departing seniors, school winding down, advanced placement testing, etc., some of the players have not been able to play as often.

But from those he has seen early on, Greenleaf is most encouraged by the way the senior class is embracing the task of getting ready for the coming season.

"It's important to have the seniors on board because if they lead, everybody else will buy in as well," Greenleaf said. "And they seem to be.

"When there's a change, sometimes it requires you to get to know them quickly and also for them to buy into what we're doing quickly, and they have. It's been fun, and I'm confident it will continue to be."