‘Better than I thought’: Malvern boys basketball coach Dennis Tucci pleased with 9-1 start

Malvern’s Drake Delong (left) goes after a loose ball with Maysville’s Connor Larimer during the first half of Tuesday’s game at Malvern.

MALVERN — This loss won’t sting the Malvern Hornets for too long.

It didn’t cost them a league championship. It didn’t end their season. All Tuesday’s 58-50 loss to Maysville did was stop Malvern’s nine-game winning streak.

Perspective is called for when you are 9-1 like the Hornets are.

Head coach Dennis Tucci’s team is on track to another successful season. When you graduate six seniors, including a 1,000-point scorer, you still don’t rebuild at Malvern. “Rebuild” is practically a foreign word within this program.

A 9-1 start, though? Tucci admitted he did not see this coming.

“We’re better than I thought we were going to be,” Tucci said. “It’s because of the maturation of our juniors.”

Two juniors — point guard J’Allen Barrino and forward Mitch Minor — average more than 17 points a game. Barrino scored his team’s first seven points and finished with a game-high 23 against Maysville.

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“I’m just glad he’s wearing green,” Tucci said of Barrino. “He’s just as good on defense as he is on offense. His defense leads to our offense many times. His length and his instincts are just second to none.”

Malvern’s defense is also responsible for the team’s fast start. It gave the Hornets a chance against Maysville when things looked bleak.

Malvern’s pressure forced three straight Maysville turnovers at one point in the fourth quarter. The Hornets cut a 12-point second half deficit to 53-50 with two minutes left. It was as close as they would get.

“I was really proud of the pressure, and we rotated pretty well,” Tucci said. “We were doing it without fouling, which was big.

“You can’t predict what your team’s defense is going to look like. We thought we would be a good defensive team. We’re even better than I thought.”

Malvern head coach Dennis Tucci says the maturation of juniors like J’Allen Barrino and Mitch Minor is one reason for the team’s successful start this season.

Maysville is one of the best teams Malvern will face this season. Like the Hornets, the Panthers entered Tuesday’s showdown at 9-0. They are also a Division II team.

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“Down the road, I think it will benefit us well,” Barrino said. “We’ll learn from the loss, and I think we’re going to get better from it.”

Tucci likes to schedule up when he has a chance. Two years ago, the Hornets faced Hoban in Akron late in the regular season.

With Malvern moving up to Division III this season, games against teams such as Maysville can carry weight in March.

“We’ve been playing well and putting teams away early,” Tucci said. “We needed to see what we’re doing and if it’s good enough to beat the upper echelon. If it’s not, we’re going to have to adjust a little bit and take care of some things.”

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: J’Allen Borrino, Mitch Minor lead Malvern basketball to 9-1 start