Norwin High School boys' basketball coach Lynn Washowich noticed a disturbing trend in the eighth game of the Knights' season.

"It was halftime, and it looked like we weren't having fun," he said of the game, which the Knights lost by 26 points to North Allegheny. "So I said to the guys: 'Forget X's and O's and let's just go out there and score. We're a basketball team.'"

His players heeded the lesson.

Although Norwin didn't win on that mostly forgettable night last month, the Knights have been having a lot of fun lately.

Despite a loss at Kiski Area Monday, Norwin has won seven of its past nine games and is in fourth place in the WPIAL's Section 1-AAAA with a record of 6-3 and an overall mark of 10-7. The Knights have clinched a berth in the WPIAL playoffs.

The only blemishes in the Knights' current streak was a 75-59 home-court loss to the Cavaliers (14-5, 7-3) on Jan. 13 and again to Kiski on Monday, 60-51. Washowich said balance and versatility have helped the Knights turn the tide.

"I think one of our pluses is that we have similar kids," he said. "All of our starters are between 6-2 and 6-5, and only one of our players, Ben Baird, is a post player. The rest of them can play any position on the floor. What we say about Ben is that he's OK from 15 feet on in."

The balance comes into play as the Knights have four players in double figures with 6-foot-3 junior Andy Carter leading with a 16.2 points per game average. Jay Kober, a 6-4 senior, is next at 13 ppg, and 6-4 senior Tyler Thomas and Matt Palo, a 6-5 junior, average about 11 points per game. Baird is averaging 8 points per game.

None of the players has a position assigned to his name, and that's by design.

"We don't categorize one player as a forward and another as a guard," said Washowich, who has coached at Norwin for 12 years, the past eight as its head coach.

"We've stressed to them that they are basketball players. We'd like to think that if you're playing us, you have to guard everyone. We want [our players] to dribble, shoot, knock down shots and play defense."

Scoring hasn't been a problem for the Knights, who lead all WPIAL Class AAAA teams in scoring, averaging 67.0 points per game.

"That's our biggest plus," he said. "We're a team that scores. We scored 95 [on Jan. 26] at Hempfield [in a 95-83 Knights victory]. That helped our average. In that game, all five of our starters were in double figures. We want our guys to shoot, but we want to make sure they are good shots."

Among all WPIAL schools in any class, the Knights trail nine other teams in scoring average. Chartiers Valley, a Class AAA school, is the top-scoring team in the WPIAL, averaging 84.1 points per game.

The Knights, however, are surrendering 62.9 points per game. Washowich said his team's versatility also prevails on defense.

"We'll see what works best and give an opponent a lot of things to prepare for," the coach said. "I think that works best for us."

The Knights have used man-to-man, a 1-3-1 zone and a press before settling on the defense that suits them best for their opponent. It's never the same with each game.

Washowich used a football analogy to describe his team's season start.

"In those first eight games, we thought we had played a BCS schedule," he said.

"We played Upper St. Clair, [nationally ranked] Mount Lebanon, Gateway, North Allegheny and Hempfield. All of those teams have been ranked in the top five. But we took those losses, and it's made us better."

The Knights have split their season series with Hempfield and have defeated section leader Greater Latrobe (12-6, 8-1) with the rematch scheduled for Tuesday at Latrobe.

"The win at Hempfield was huge, but I've stressed to our guys that everyone has an opportunity [to advance to the WPIAL playoffs], and we hold our fate in our own hands," Washowich said.

For four of the past five postseasons, the Knights have participated in the WPIAL playoffs. Two years ago, the Knights lost in the semifinals. But last year, their streak was broken as Norwin failed to qualify for the postseason.

Thanks to his team's strong stretch run, Washowich won't see that negative repeated. The worst Norwin can do is tie for fourth place with Connellsville in their seven-team section.

"Last year we lost some games we should have won," he said, "and it left a bitter taste. We told our guys to never take anything for granted. We just have to keep progressing."

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