Franklin Regional gets boys basketball coach, Hempfield hires girls skipper

Franklin Regional filled its boys basketball coaching vacancy Monday night, and Hempfield followed suit by naming a new girls basketball coach.

Franklin Regional hired standout alum Steve Scorpion, the associate director of the Basketball Stars of America AAU program who served as head coach at The Kiski School for two years before spending last season as an assistant at Penn Hills. Scorpion started his coaching career as an assistant at Franklin Regional 10 years ago.

Hempfield hired former assistant Lindsy Muchnock, a Latrobe and Seton Hill graduate. Muchnock, 27, served as the coach at Plum for one season last winter.

She replaces Aaron Epps, who resigned after five seasons, all of which included playoffs for Hempfield.

A former 3-point ace, Scorpion replaces Brad Midgley, who resigned in April after eight seasons, the last of which included a buzzer-beating upset of WPIAL champion Moon in the first round of the PIAA tournament.

“When Brad left, I had a lot of parents and kids reach out to me from the Murrysville area,” said Scorpion, 34, the third all-time leading scorer at Franklin Regional who also scored over 1,000 points at Pitt-Johnstown. “They wanted to know if I would be interested. I know a lot of the kids out there from working them out and from AAU.

“You never really think about coaching your high school team when you're growing up, but looking back now this really is a dream job for me,” Scorpion said. “I am excited to build off of what Brad has done.”

Despite a busy schedule that in essence is 24/7 basketball, Scorpion said his focus will be on coaching the Panthers.

“Franklin Regional is my top priority,” he said. “I want to continue the winning ways and take it a step farther.”

Scorpion also was an assistant coach at Notre Dame Prep in Massachusetts and Polk State (Fla.).

Muchnock who was a 6-foot forward, was one of the better post players in the area when she played at Latrobe, and she played four years at Seton Hill.

“I'm pretty excited,” said Muchnock, who works for Greater Latrobe Parks and Recreation but is seeking a teaching position. “Aaron was a mentor to me. When he left, he reached out to me and told me I should apply. It's a great opportunity for me. I coached one year as an assistant there, and I had a hard time leaving. I cried.”

Epps went 81-43 with five playoff trips, two that included the PIAA playoffs. Hempfield, 14-10 last season, reached the WPIAL Class 4A title game in Epps' second season, falling to county rival Penn-Trafford.

“It's going to be fun,” Muchnock said. “We had a family atmosphere at Hempfield. It's 6A basketball. I'm a go-getter.”

Muchnock is grateful to Plum, where she posted a 10-13 record last season (6-6 in Section 4-5A).

“Plum gave me a great opportunity,” she said. “The athletic director there, Bob Alpino, was awesome. He's the reason I got my first head coaching job. They were great to me.”

Bill Beckner Jr. is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at bbeckner@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BillBeckner.