Doug Biega

Following their 63-54 win last night over Beaver, Vikings Sports Now had the opportunity to speak with Hopewell HC Doug Biega.

The win improved Hopewell’s record to 12-7 and put them in very favorable spot to qualify for the WPIAL playoffs. When that happens, it will be the 18th consecutive season in a row that Biega has led his team to the WPIAL playoffs.

As we like to say around here, ‘Coaching Matters’.

It’s been a long time since the Hopewell HS boys’ basketball team qualified for the WPIAL playoffs.

How long ago? Here are some things that were happening 16 years ago, the last time the Vikings participated in playoff basketball.

*Apple Released the First I-Pad

*Ariana Grande was just starting out on Nickelodeon.

*Meghan Markle was having a guest appearance on CSI: Miami

*Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick of the St. Louis Rams.

*Toy Story 3 was the No. 1 film in the box offices.

*Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launch the social media app Instagram.

*Auburn QB Cam Newton won the Heisman Trophy.

I could continue but you get the point, it’s been a while since we’ve talked boy’s playoff basketball in Hopewell.

That could all change tonight for Hopewell HC Doug Biega and his program. Despite the weather, the Vikings will return to the court tonight with a road contest at Beaver.

If Hopewell is able to come away with a win, they will clinch a spot in the 2026 WPIAL playoff field.

CLASS 4A/SECTION 2 STANDINGS
Quaker Valley: 6-0
Central Valley: 4-2
Hopewell: 3-3
Avonworth: 3-3
Beaver: 1-5
Ambridge: 1-5

*Note: Top 4 teams qualify for the playoff

Hopewell enters tonight’s game with an overall record of 11-7 and winners of 4 consecutive games and 7 of their last 8. However, it won’t be easy, road section games never are. Plus, when these two teams played earlier this season, Beaver defeated Hopewell, 59-51.

I’m sure Coach Biega and his staff would like to win tonight and turn their attention from qualifying to what place they’ll finish in within their section.

They’ll have that opportunity to do just that this evening. Tipoff from Beaver High School is set for 7:30 PM.

It’s been a long time since we’ve been able to say this, but the Hopewell HS Boys basketball team will be playing in a very important game in late January.

Tonight, the Vikings will host Avonworth in a contest that could have huge playoff implications for both programs.

Hopewell enters tonight with a section record of 2-3, while Avonworth sits at 3-2. Here’s a look at the updated standings in Class 4A/Section 2. Keep in mind that the top 4 teams in the section qualify for the playoffs.

SECTION 2/4A:
Quaker Valley: 5-0
Central Valley: 3-2
Avonworth: 3-2
Hopewell: 2-3
Beaver: 1-4
Ambridge: 1-4

Hopewell has 5 section games remaining with each of the teams so tonight’s game could both impact the Vikings chances of qualifying along with possibly improving their place in the section depending on where they finish as one game separates 2nd and 4th place.

Vikings Sports Now spoke with Hopewell HC Doug Biega to get his thoughts on tonight’s important game and how his team is different from when these two teams played earlier this season, a game in which Avonworth won 69-62.

“It’s definitely the biggest game for the program in recent memory, just based on the calendar and the standings,” said Biega.

“I feel the last time we played, Avonworth gave us on the job training as far as competitive nature. They mauled us for 2+ quarters before we rallied to cut it to 3. Hopefully, that’s the biggest difference, that we learned to compete at a high level no matter the opposition.”

Although he won’t admit to it, things are probably a bit ahead of schedule for Biega and this program. However, playing a meaningful game on January 23rd and fighting for a playoff spot this late in the season isn’t something that he’s complaining about.

“I’ve maintained from the beginning that I can’t predict numbers or outcomes,” said Biega. “But I can control the fact that we will try as hard as we can and let the chips fall where they may. And thus far, I’m very proud of my guys.”

Tipoff is set for 7:30 PM at Hopewell High School. No snow is in the forecast for tonight so if you’re schedule is open, head over to support this team in what should be a very entertaining game.

Sometimes what feels like the end is often the beginning, such as the case with the Hopewell HS Boys basketball program.

The reality of things is that this has been a program mired in losing and one without any optimism for the future.

That’s not me being negative or just my opinion, that’s reality, all you have to do is look at the numbers.

Over the last 11 years, the Hopewell HS boys’ basketball program had a combined record of: 52-202, which equates to an average yearly record of 5-17.

Here’s a year-by-year look at their overall record:
2024/25: 9-12
2023/24: 7-16
2022/23: 4-19
2021/22: 4-17
2020/21: 1-15
2019/20: 8-14
2018/19: 3-18
2017/18: 3-19
2016/17: 2-19
2015/16: 0-19
2014/15: 6-17
2013/24: 5-17

Records like that over a sustained period of time are unacceptable and the talent in this district was better than being 52-202.

The long-term impact is that losing like this for such a long period of time completely discourages kids from wanting to play the sport. Why put in all this time when the season continuously ended with these types of results.

Following last basketball season, the Hopewell High School board did something to try and change the culture and perception of boys’ basketball in Hopewell.

In a move that looked obvious from the outside, the school board made the easy and no-brainer of a decision to hire Hall of Fame head Doug Biega.

Like all coaching hirings at the high school level, nothing is ever smooth but, in the end, the school board made a move that will positively impact boys’ basketball for years to come.

What we are seeing is something we haven’t in many, many years- winning and competitive basketball being played. Following last night’s win over Sto-Rox, Hopewell improved their record to 9-7, which is their highest win total in 16 years.

Because of this, the Hopewell Vikings have an opportunity to make the WPIAL basketball playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons.

With six games left in the regular season, here’s a look at the current standings.

CLASS 4A/SECTION 2
(Top 4 teams make the playoffs)
QUAKER VALLEY: 5-0
CENTRAL VALLEY: 3-2
AVONWORTH: 3-2
HOPEWELL: 2-3
BEAVER: 1-4
AMBRIDGE: 1-4

The Vikings have 5 section games remaining, starting with a home game this Friday against Avonworth, followed by another home game against Beaver. These two will be very crucial to the Vikings chances of making the playoffs.

I can tell you that a packed gym this Friday against Avonworth would be appreciated by the program and would give them a true home court advantage.

Qualifying for the playoffs would be huge boost for this program and it’s future. The encouraging part of this growing program is that this is just year one of the rebuild and the core of this team will be returning.

Sophomores and freshman that are contributing this year: James Armstrong, Brody Rock, Justin Shegog, Jack Biega, Tre Cameron, Avery Bokor, Zack Sampson, Jayvion Lindsey and Aaden Gonzalez. That’s not to mention some 8th graders that will be entering the program next season and will have a year to learn and develop with the high school coaches.

It’s an exciting time in Hopewell High School boys’ and girls’ athletics as many of its teams and athletes are winning and succeeding at a high level.

Thanks to the move by the school board to bring in Biega and his talented coaching staff, the boys basketball program is finally a part of this winning culture.

“COACHING MATTERS”

The Hopewell HS Boys Basketball team earned one of the programs biggest wins in years on Friday night as they defeated 1st place Central Valley.

However the challenge for HC Doug Biega and his staff was to get his players physically and mentally ready for a game 24 hours later against Springdale.

Mission accomplished! Although it wasn’t easy, Hopewell found a way to win, 74-68 in overtime.

Vikings Sports Now was able to catch up with Coach Biega to get his thoughts on yesterday and the Vikings road ahead.

“When you’re dealing with a young team, you really never know what you’re going to get,” said Biega. “So after Friday night’s game, which has been the biggest win around here in a while one would think, I expected the kids to be a little bit flat. I even spoke to the staff Friday night, telling them to expect the kids to be flat and tasked them with providing the emotion and motivation necessary for a Saturday afternoon game after a Friday night match up.”

“We did come out expectedly sluggish. But we hung around and the game was never more than seven points either way. Springdale has a couple very good players and provided some difficult matchups. But, just like Friday, when we were down late, the kids did not fold. They fought back. Which I’m extremely proud of. We had a chance to lose, plenty of chances to lose, but we made some defensive stops, got some key rebounds, and Jack (Biega) and James (Armstrong) made some huge free throws down the stretch to get us a win we probably didn’t deserve. But our program is not a position to not appreciate any win we can get.”

Here’s a look at the Vikings Boxscore: James Armstrong (25 points), Brody Rock (15 points), Justin Shegog (13 points), Jack Biega (8 points), Zack Sampson (5 points), Jeremy Benninghoff (4 points), Tre Cameron (2 points) and Nick Adams (2 points).

With the win, Hopewell improved to 6-6 and 1-3 in the section. Coach Biega is hoping these last 2 wins can be a springboard towards a strong second half of the season.

Next up is an important road section game on Tuesday at Ambridge.

“Now we stand at .500 leading to the back end of the season,” said Biega. “We have no idea how we’re going to end up, but I would like to think we have learned how to compete at a higher level over the past few weeks. And it’s also nice to finally be healthy. I think we’re nearing the end of whatever flu we had for the last month.”

Due to the weather, the Hopewell Vikings HS Boys basketball 2025-26 season opener against Shady Side Academy on Tuesday was cancelled.

Really though, that game being cancelled is only fitting considering Hopewell’s next opponent.

After retiring 8 years ago as head coach at Beaver Falls, Doug Biega returns to the sidelines tomorrow night in his new role as head coach of the Vikings program.

While at Beaver Falls, Biega compiled a career record of 385-118, winning 11 section titles, 4 WPIAL Championships and 2 PIAA Championships.

It’s only fitting that in his return to coaching, his first game will come against his old team, Beaver Falls.

Vikings Sports Now as able to catch up with Biega and got his take on a number of topics related to this 2025-26 Hopewell team.

Here’s a look at the roster and the composition of it. It’s a 15-man roster with 2 seniors, 1 junior, 11 sophomores and 1 freshman.

Starting Lineup:
1 Tre Cameron
0 Jack Biega
3 Nick Adams
23 Brody Rock
21 James Armstrong

22 Jeremy Benninghoff
31 Justin Shegog
15 Riley Biggins
2 Avery Bokor
4 Zack Sampson
14 Jayvion Lindsey
33 Aaden Gonzalez
30 Manny Gomez
10 Jackson Yurcina
13 Kaleb Corso

INEXPERIENCED ROSTER-
“It has been my experience that coaching a team is young as the one we currently have is like riding a roller coaster.  Literally gigantic ups and downs,” Biega told VSN. “We have 15 people on our varsity roster. Two seniors, one junior, 11 sophomores, and one freshman. That is the least experienced roster I’ve ever coached. With that comes several challenges as well as rewards.”

“Their growth has been dramatic and a little quicker than anticipated. And when you talk about a young group that does not insinuate that they are not talented. They will make tons of mistakes that just baffle you. But they continue to show flashes of what they will be sooner or later. What I have had to guard against is demanding “experienced player results” from this group just because they happen to be the team we have.  They have to be allowed growing pains without losing their confidence. James Armstrong is the only player returning with what I would call “legitimate experience”. The rest of the guys took their turns getting a little bit of playing time or being banished to the bench for games at a time. So even though they have some game experience, they are a very inexperienced group.”

THOUGHTS ON THE STARTING FIVE-
“Our starting five is very athletic and very strong. That will hopefully go a long way.

“Brody Rock was very limited last season. He is now a focus for us this year. He has come in after football ended and worked extremely hard both physically and mentally as well as growing his leadership skill set. All of those have improved night and day from what I saw last year.  After one week in the gym, I named him a captain based upon what I just mentioned.”

Hopewell’s Brody Rock

“James Armstrong is a man among boys. This is not his main thing, but he is good at it. He is a difference maker for us. He is working himself back into shape after having an ankle injury for the last couple months of football.  My favorite part about coaching him is he takes practice and getting in shape seriously. Sometimes your better players cruise on their talent. He is in the top two or three every drill, every sprint, every physical test. That makes coaching a group easy when the alphas are also the hardest workers.”

Hopewell’s James Armstrong

“After those two, we have a lot of pieces. Jack (Biega) has really gotten stronger due to his time in the weight room and has developed into a very good defender at the guard position. Coach Mike Sims specifically, and the rest of our staff have really worked hard on upgrading the skill set of all of our guards and Jack is no exception. He has shown a lot of growth shooting, especially.

Tre Cameron gives us that wiggle we need at the guard position. He had a great football season and that confidence has definitely carried over. Once he gets the conditioning down and can go for big stretches at a time, he is what every team needs at the guard spot. He can go get his own basket when the offense breaks down. And again, once he gets into elite physical conditioning, he can be a defensive stopper as well.

Nick Adams adds that senior leadership. But even with Nick, although he is a senior, he is not very experienced. I don’t know what his minutes number was last year but it was not what one would think. So he is learning and getting better every single day as well. He’s probably our best guard at attacking the basket and finishing around the rim.

Hopewell’s Nick Adams

That will be our starting five to open the season. But anything can happen. As we have a stable of people that will push not only people in front of them, but they will pull people from behind them up into working for minutes.”

NEXT MEN UP-
“Jeremy Benninghoff has been an amazing surprise for us. He works super hard every day and is a big, strong, really athletic kid. He is a very valuable piece. He has a little bit of guard skill to go with a big man’s body and strength. He’s going to have a great season in our system. I’m very excited to have him.

Justin Shegog is also figuring out his new role. He came to us from Freedom. He played every minute and scored a lot of points because the games ended up not being very competitive. But what I see in him is an absolute dog on defense. And he is a very tough kid finishing in the paint. He has, to his credit, changed his mind set to being a defensive guy and letting the points come. That is not easy for a kid to do so he deserves a tremendous amount of credit for that.

Riley Biggins will also be a key contributor off the bench. He started last year the first game and then left the team soon after. Riley has a really good offensive skill set and is learning the demands of the staff on the defensive side of the ball. But he is accepting that coaching not running away from it. Riley is probably our best shooter and is very crafty around the rim. He will be able to come into the games and spark us, and I look forward to him getting the senior year he deserves,” said Biega.

Hopewell’s Riley Biggins

“Avery Bokor, Jayvion Lindsey, Aaden Gonzalez, and Zack Sampson all have something they can bring to the table. Avery is intriguing in that he is as skilled as anybody. He will be super valuable once he gets the speed of the game and matches it. He has a super high ceiling.
Jayvion and Aaden are very aggressive, smart kids. In a team that focuses on defense and effort, their contributions will be invaluable. Zack Sampson is a super talented freshman. He will benefit from the JV atmosphere and spot varsity minutes. He can really score the ball and once he, like every freshman, is used to the physical demands of varsity basketball, he’ll be another one that has a super high ceiling.

Jackson Yurcina and Kaleb Corso show up every day and work as hard as anybody. They are incredible teammates and will develop tremendously through the JV portion of the game and the work they have put in since April. Very proud of both of them.”

VALUE OF HIS ASSISTANT COACHES-

“I know these kids have worked extremely hard since we got hired so late in the game. To my staff’s credit, guys like Dwight Hines, with head coaching experience and college player experience have worked tirelessly every single day to get this group where they need to be. I can’t put into words what his value has been,” said Biega.

“Same with Javon Turner, EJ Coleman, Kaden Vandevert, and as I already mentioned Mike Sims.  They have been there every single day since April and made huge strides in areas we needed to improve the roster. These guys deserve a tremendous amount of gratitude not just from me, but from the entire community for the time they have put in voluntarily since April. I can’t even add up the hours they have committed to us. And I am so appreciative of all of them. And once Donovan Jeter ended his commitment coaching football, he has come in and definitely made an impact every day with the big men and the overall toughness of the roster. Donovan is one of those guys that understands his role perfectly.”

EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS SEASON-
“I can’t possibly predict a number on the way the season will go, anyone who thinks they can is foolish. We will surprise some teams, and we will stub our toes at times,” said Biega. “That’s just part of being inexperienced and so youthful. But I can guarantee that we will get better every day and the product on the court will be something the community can be very proud of. These kids deserve everyone’s support as they have worked as hard as any team in the area since getting together so late in April. We made up for lost time by the hours we have logged in the gym. Hopefully the community will be proud starting tomorrow night. I really look forward to coaching these guys and giving them the experience they deserve. We will get the best out of them, whatever that may be, it will be, but it will be their best.”

OPENINIG NIGHT: Beaver Falls vs. Hopewell, 7:30 PM Tipoff from Hopewell High School.