Districts 5, 6 and 9 to participate at Blair County Ballpark event; Western Pennsylvania players, coaches fare well in postseason awards; all-star basketball games held.
By Chris Rossetti, www.d9sports.com
Special to Maxpreps.com
ALTOONA, Pa. – The best high school baseball seniors in Districts 5, 6 and 9 will now have a place to display their skills at the end of the season after the Altoona Curve of the Eastern League and S&T Bank teamed up to create the S&T Bank/Altoona Curve High School All-Star Baseball Classic.
The first classic will be held June 22 at Blair County Ballpark at a time to be announced. The game will be part of a full day's worth of baseball, with the Class AA Curve hosting the Bowie Baysox at 6:05 p.m. The high school game will be played sometime in the afternoon.
“We’re thrilled to be able to team up with a first-class organization like the Curve and create a unique event that’s the first of its kind in the state,” Rob Jorgenson, Vice President of Marketing for S&T Bank, said.
“S&T Bank is proud to provide an opportunity for the area’s top talent to showcase itself, and having a chance to do it at Blair County Ballpark is something the participating players will remember the rest of their lives."
The format of the game will be a two-team exhibition, with a total of 30 players – 15 per team. The teams will be dived geographically across the region, with the rosters picked by a panel of high school athletic directors within the three districts. Senior players from all classifications within the three participating districts will be eligible for the event.
District 5 is located in the south-central part of the state south of Johnstown, while District 6 comprises the middle portion of the state, including Altoona, State College and most of Indiana County. District 9 is located mainly in the North-Central part of the state but stretches as far south of just north of Butler in Butler County, north to the New York-Pennsylvania state border and east to the western portion of Clearfield County.
According to the Altoona Curve, the all-star game will be one of many high school baseball games to be played at Blair County Ballpark this year. The annual Dean Patterson Curve Classic, an eight-team tournament, will be held April 25-27; the PIAA District 6 Championship games will be held May 28 and May 29; and for the fourth straight year, all four PIAA state championships games will be played at park, recognized as one of the top facilities in minor league baseball, on June 13.
Girls Basketball: Wilkinsburg’s Darche’ Jackson Earns POY Honors
After an unbelievable junior season that saw her average 33.8 points per game, including two 50-plus point games, Wilkinsburg’s Darche’ Jackson was named the Associated Press Class AA Player of the Year in Pennsylvania.
Jackson, who was also a first-team Class AA selection, had plenty of company from Western Pennsylvania on the all-state teams.
In Class AAAA girls’, Mount Lebanon’s Jackie Babe, Upper St. Clair’s Alex Gensler and Woodland Hills’ Jamie Smith were all second-team selections, while Peters Township’s Emily Correal was a third-team selection.
In Class AAA, Mercyhurst Prep's Kirsten Olowinski was the lone player from Western Pennsylvania on the first team, while Ambridge’s Kiki Brown and Westinghouse’s Shawnice Wilson were second-team selections. St. Marys' Kayla Hoohuli, a freshman, was a third-team choice.
Joining Jackson as a Class AA all-state selection choice were South Park’s Nicole Doria (second team), Our Lady of the Sacred Heart’s Devin McGrath (second team), Villa Maria’s Brittany Wilwohl (second team) and Kayla McBridge (third team), and Ford City’s Marisa Wolf (third team).
Mount Alvernia’s Renee Brown, North Catholic’s Amy Longo and Farrell’s Tiesha Stubbs were first-team Class A selections; Coudersport’s Kristy Kamper was a second-team selection and Farrell’s Chloe Stewart was a third-team choice.
Boys Basketball: Hardware Piling Up for State Champs
After leading their teams to PIAA state titles, Serra Catholic’s Bob Rozanski (Class A) and Jeannette’s Jim Nesser (Class AA) were named Associated Press Boys’ Coaches of the Year in Pennsylvania.
Jeannette’s Terrelle Pryor capped a tremendous high-school basketball career that saw him score over 2,000 career points and grab over 1,000 rebounds by being named the Class AA Player of the Year after averaging 21.9 points per game for the state champion Jayhawks.
Pryor was far from alone in representing Western Pennsylvania on the All-State teams.
In Class AAAA, Schenley’s Deandre Kane and Moon’s Brian Walsh were named to the first team, with McKeesport’s Quentin Harding and Erie McDowell’s Zach Spronatti chosen to the third team.
Blackhawk’s Antoine Childs and General McLane’s Shawn Walker were first-team Class AAA selections, with Hopewell’s Mark Javens being named to the second team. Chartiers Valley’s T.J. McConnell, the nephew of former Penn State great and WNBA player Suzie McConnell Serio, the women’s head coach at Duquesne University, was named to the third team despite missing the end of the WPIAL and all of the PIAA playoffs with an injury.
Aliquippa’s Jonathan Baldwin joined Pryor on the Class AA first team, with Pryor’s teammate Jordan Hall joining Beaver Falls’ Todd Thomas and North East’s Matt Triana on the second team.
Serra Catholic’s Pat Grubbs, Kennedy Catholic’s Kyle Randall and Sewickley Academy’s super sophomore Tom Droney were named Class A first-team players. Serra Catholic’s T.J. Heatherington and Bentworth’s Jon Kennedy were second-team selections; Coudersport’s Blair Heimel a third-team choice.
District 9 Holds Basketball All-Star Games
District 9 held its ninth-annual Alice R. Kozel Foundation District 9 All-Star basketball games Saturday in conjunction with D9Sports.com at Penn State-DuBois.
In the girls’ game, Jackie Lutz of West Forest won MVP honors after scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to help the Blue Team beat the White Team, 80-65.
Clarion’s Emily Fillman also had a double-double for the Blue squad with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while East Forest’s Alicia Ponegalek had 13 points and Smethport’s Diana Phalon 10 points.
DuBois’ Rachel Hicks led White with 16 points and eight rebounds; Northern Potter’s Brittany Rounds added 11 points, including three 3-pointers. Venango Catholic’s Megan Lutz chipped in with 12 rebounds.
In the boys’ game, Corey Snyder of East Forest took home MVP honors after scoring a team-high 17 points, including five 3-pointers. He hit three 3-pointers in a little under three minutes in the second half to give the White Team a lead it won’t relinquish in a 102-98 victory over the Blue Team.
Snyder was one of six White Team members to reach double figures. Rocky Grove’s Ethan Gravatt had 14 points and three assists; Coudersport’s Blair Heimel had 12 points; Moniteau’s Josh Loos added 10 points; Bradford’s Ryan LaBrozzi had 10 points and nine rebounds and Clarion’s Drew Vandermeer had 10 points and three blocked shots.
Rocky Grove’s Cruz Mietus led all scorers with 22 points and hit a game-record six 3-pointers – Snyder had actually tied the previous record of five earlier in the game before Mietus hit two long bombs later in the contest. Clearfield’s Todd Hryn added 18 points and six rebounds; Cranberry’s Nick Persing had 14 points; Union’s A.J. Ethriedge added 12 points and nine rebounds and Elk County Catholic’s Kiel Nissel added 12 points.
DuBois Central Catholic’s Christian Spilman had a game-record 12 assists for the Blue Team.
The 3-point shooting contests were won by Phalon on the girls’ side and Persing on the boys’ side.
District 9 Players, Rookies and Coaches of the Year Named
Also on Saturday, in conjunction with the All-Star game banquet, which was held in Brookville, D9Sports.com announced the All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com All-District teams and Players, Rookies and Coaches of the Year.
On the girls’ side, Coudersport’s Kristy Kamper was named Player of the Year; St. Marys’ Kayla Hoohuli was the Rookie of the Year and West Forest’s Bob Wachob was the Coach of the Year.
On the boys’ side, Coudersport’s Blair Heimel was Player of the Year, A-C Valley’s Allan Eaton was the Rookie of the Year and Bradford’s Dave Fuhrman was the Coach of the Year.
Kamper was the second-leading scorer in District 9 at 19.7 points per game while adding 5.9 rebounds, 5.6 steals and 3.0 assists per game for the District 9 Class A Champion Lady Falcons.
Hoohuli led District 9 in scoring as a freshman averaging 21.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.2 steals, 5.0 assists and 3.8 blocks per game. Her 549 points are believed to be the second most in District 9 history for a freshman, behind the district’s all-time leading scorer Sheana Mosch of DuBois Central Catholic (3,066 points), who went on to play for Duke and is now playing professionally in France.
Hoohuli actually outscored Mosch per game as a freshman by a couple hundredths of a point, and her scoring average was just behind Kim Tingley, the second-leading all-time scorer in D9 history (2,905 points). She is the first freshman to be named first-team All-District.
Wachob led a very young West Forest team that started three sophomores and four underclassmen to a 22-7 record and a second-place finish in Class A in District 9. The Lady Indians also qualified for the PIAA playoffs for the first time since 1982. Wachob, who recently completed his 29th season at the school, has a career record of 435-225.
Heimel led Coudersport to a 29-1 overall record, the PIAA quarterfinals and the District 9 Class A title by averaging 19.1 points per game (third in D9) and 10.2 rebounds per game while adding 2.5 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.4 steals per contest. He shot 63.5 percent from the field.
Eaton, a freshman, averaged 8.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game while scoring a high of 24. Over his final 11 games, he averaged 12.7 ppg.
Fuhrman guided Bradford to a 20-9 overall record, the District 9 Class AAA title and the PIAA quarterfinals. The Owls beat a pair of state-ranked WPIAL teams – Chartiers Valley and Hopewell – on its way to the quarterfinals, where it lost to eventual state champion Steelton-Highspire. In fact, Bradford lost to three state championship teams this year – Steel-High in PA and Maple Grove and Olean from New York.
In his 18th year at Bradford, Fuhrman won his 300th game this season and is 306-157 at the school. It was his second Coach of the Year award, having also won it in 2004.
Chris Rossetti covers Western Pennsylvania for MaxPreps.com.
