By Chris Rossetti, www.d9sports.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
SPRING CHURCH, Pa. – A pair of Western Pennsylvania basketball coaches reached milestone wins this past week, with Apollo-Ridge girls’ basketball coach Ray Bartha winning his 500th career game, when the Vikings beat West Shamokin, 57-21, on Thursday night. There was also Bradford boys’ coach Dave Fuhrman picking up win No. 300 in an 83-46 win at St. Mary's Tuesday.
“I think of all the kids who contributed to this,” Bartha told the Tribune-Review. “A lot of schools have winning teams, but I like to think we have a program. I’ve been here 30-plus years, and we’ve been in the playoffs 20-some times. We’ve had some good kids.”
Fuhrman, meanwhile, has vaulted the Bradford boys’ program into a District 9 power in his 18 years at the helm, going 300-156, including 10-3 in District 9 title games. His Owls have won the last two District 9 Class AAA titles and seven of the last eight.
“I’ve been fortunate to have coached a lot of very good players over the years, including some on this team,” Fuhrman said. “The most important ingredient of a successful program is good players. You can lose with good players, but you can’t win without them. My staff, my family and our school administration and community have been very supportive of our efforts. I’m very proud of the basketball program we’ve built here at Bradford.”
Football: Pryor Still Unsure
National letter of intent day for college football is Wednesday, but one of the top prospects in the nation isn’t sure if he will make a choice that day. Jeannette quarterback Terrelle Pryor, ranked as the No. 1 quarterback prospect in the country by many sources, told the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette last week that he is thinking about delaying his choice so that he can visit Oregon.
“I’d say it’s about 50-50 that I’ll push things back,” Pryor told the newspaper.
The front-runners to get Pryor appear to be Ohio State and Michigan, with Penn State still in the picture, although Pryor isn’t sure the town of State College is right for him.
“I just don’t know about the area up there,” Pryor said.. “I don’t know if I’d like being in that kind of area.”
District 10 Girls Basketball: Mercyhurst Prep Tops General McLane
Kirsten Olowinski, the leading scorer in District 10 at 18.5 points per game, scored 27 points to lead Mercyhurst to a key 54-38 win over visiting General McLane Thursday in District 10 Region 4 girls’ basketball.
The victory avenged the Lakers' lone loss of the season, 58-50, to General McLane and improved Mercyhurst Prep, the third ranked Class AAA team in Pennsylvania by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, to 20-1 on the season. General McLane, ranked seventh in the state, fell to 17-4.
Mercyhurst Prep used a 24-9 second half to break open a one-point game.
“We made adjustments at halftime,” Mercyhurst Prep coach Dan Perfetto told the Erie Times-News. “The kids responded on defense, which was the key.
“We needed to be patient and work for the shots we were looking for (in the second half), not the ones they were going to give us.
Sarah Hansen, who is averaging 18.4 ppg, led General McClane with 16 points.
“Nights like these happen,” General McLane coach Meghan Meabon said. “We just have to finish off the region strong and continue to have the good season we’re having.”
In other District 10 girls’ basketball action during the week, Girard, ranked seven in the state in Class AA by the Harrisburg Patriot-News, improved to 20-2 overall with 58-36 win over visiting Fairview Friday, while also receiving good news on the health front, when Reagan Moore played eight minutes and scored eight points, including a couple of triples. Moore had missed over a month with a knee injury until returning Monday. Kara Wilson led Girard with 14 points.
On Thursday, Villa Maria got 18 points from Kayla McBride to defeat Eisenhower, 41-23, and clinch the District 10 Region 2 championship.
Also on Thursday, Aisha Miller recorded a double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds as Erie East held off Erie Strong Vincent by 47-46. Strong Vincent, which got 19 points from Jamera Wayne, had a chance to win the game with 17 seconds left, but Dontaja Bender missed two free throws.
Wednesday saw Cochranton’s Leann Bortner-Yasay continue her solid season with 25 points and 12 rebounds in a 50-33 win at Linesville.
District 9 Boys Basketball: Kane’s Bizzak Nets 46
It was quite a week for Kane senior John Bizzak as the 6-foot-4 center scored 71 points in two games during the week, including a career-high 46 in the Wolves' 91-26 win over Tidioute Charter Tuesday. Bizzak then recorded 25 more Wednesday in a 92-39 win over Sheffield, giving Kane 90-plus points in the three-game stretch.
Bizzak, who has 935 career points, is trying to become the first Wolves player to top 1,000 career points since Nels McLaughlin did it in 2001. Kane is the alma mater of former NBA head coach Chuck Daly.
“We are trying to get John a shot at 1,000 points,” said Kane coach Jeff Labesky, whose Wolves are 14-7 on the year and the defending District 9 Class AA champions.
Bizzak’s 46 points are the most in District 9 this season and the most by a District 9 player since Calvin Grumley, the all-time leading career scorer in D9 history, scored 52 on Dec. 29, 2006. Bizzak, for good measure, added 15 rebounds against the undermanned Tidioute Charter squad.
WPIAL Girls Basketball: Jackson hits 50 – Again
Wilkinsburg junior Darche’ Jackson went over the 50-point mark in a game for the second time this season when she posted 56 in an 83-45 win over Ellis School on Thursday.
Jackson, who also had 54 points in the game she topped 1,000 career points in a few weeks ago, scored 101 combined points in back-to-back games this week after also scoring 47 in a 64-59 loss to two-win South Allegheny Monday. Jackson is the leading scorer in the WPIAL at 33.5 ppg.
District 9 Boys Basketball: Snyder, Hau Reach 1,000 points
District 9 boys’ basketball saw two players hit 1,000 career points last week in East Forest’s Corey Snyder and Coudersport’s John Hau.
Snyder became the 11th member of the 1,000-point club at tiny East Forest (average graduating class is around 20) Monday night when he scored 24 points, including going 6-of-10 from 3-point range in a loss at Brockway. Snyder then added 25 more points in a loss to Karns City Tuesday, giving him 1,047 career points.
He joins his brother, Bobby, in the 1,000-point club at East Forest. Bobby Snyder scored 1,284 career points and is the third all-time leading scorer in East Forest history. He led District 9 in scoring (25.6 ppg) in 2005. Corey Snyder is leading District 9 in scoring this season at 20.9 ppg and is averaging 25.6 ppg over his last nine contests.
Hau, meanwhile, became the eighth 1,000-point scorer in Coudersport history while helping the Falcons, the No. 1 ranked team in the RRR Roadhouse/D9Sports.com District 9 rankings, remain unbeaten at 21-0 with a 79-48 win over visiting Oswayo Valley Wednesday night. Hau has 1,004 career points. The status for the rest of the season for the Coudersport senior, however, is in doubt after he tore an ACL the game before going over 1,000.
In other District 9 boys’ news from the week, Rocky Grove took complete control of the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference’s Western Division with a 68-53 win at Keystone Wednesday night.
Ethan Gravatt led Rocky Grove (19-1), which avenged its only loss of the season, with 20 points. It was a rare home loss for Keystone and an even rarer home loss in a big game for the Panthers, who were paced by 13 points apiece from Kyle Rhoads and Cristian Summerville.
For Rocky Grove, it was its second straight “big win of the week”. The Orioles also knocked of KSAC-East leading Union, 69-62, Monday behind 21 points from Gravatt.
WPIAL Boys Basketball: Lindsay’s Trey Wins Section Title For Chartiers Valley
The Chartiers Valley boys’ basketball team is use to winning section titles; after all, the Colts had won seven since 1997 going into this season.
But here’s betting that No. 8 in that span was won in a way none of the other seven were.
That’s because No. 8 came on a horn-beating, 26-foot three-pointer by Teagan Lindsay that lifted the Colts (22-2, 10-0 WPIAL Class AAA Section 4) to a 62-59 win over Keystone Oakes (13-10, 8-2), which would have won a share of the title with a victory.
“I just knew I had to shoot it right then,” Lindsay, who scored 16 points, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I looked up and I knew I had to do something. The clock was running out and I just let it go.”
Chartiers Valley, which came into this season having graduated the WPIAL Class AAA Player of the Year (Mike Sherry who now plays at Clarion University), had to overcome injuries Friday night to win the crown. The Colts, who were already without point guard Eli Maravich, lost leading scorer T.J. McConnell to an injury early in the second half. But Lindsay and freshman Mike Noszka, who had a game-high 17 points, stepped up to lead CV to the win.
In other Pittsburgh-area action Friday night, Norwin got two free throws from Tyler Urban with no time left on the clock in overtime to avoid an upset to arch-rival Penn-Trafford, 61-60. Norwin is 18-5 overall and 12-2 in the WPIAL Class AAAA Section 1, while Penn-Trafford is just 6-16, 3-11. Urban led Norwin with 15 points, while Mike Brown had 23 for Penn-Trafford.
Meanwhile, in the Pittsburgh City League (District 8) Friday, Schenley beat Langley, 65-48, behind 30 points from Deandre Kane, and Perry held off Oliver 42-39, thanks to a triple-double by Vaughn Morgan, who record 13 points, 14 rebounds and 11 blocked shots. That was on the heels of a 15-point, 15-rebound, 10-block game from Morgan Wednesday vs. Peabody.
Earlier in the week, McKeesport clinched its 28th section title with a 51-47 win over Pittsburgh Central Catholic on Tuesday at home.
Quentin Harding led McKeesport with 20 points, including the Tigers' final six. Zeke Marshall added eight points and 14 rebounds for McKeesport, while Matt McKenna led PCC with 14 points and Brandon Sams chipped in with 12.
Also on Tuesday, Serra Catholic’s Pat Grubbs had a monster game with 31 points and 13 rebounds in the Eagles' 79-44 win over Cornell, while Seneca Valley got a school-record 15th win, 56-40, over Shaler.
Tuesday also saw Mars’ Steve Cress score 42 points in a 73-71 loss to Indiana. Kevin Stapleton led Indiana with 19 points and Dom Lombardi, the son of IUP head men’s basketball coach Joe Lombardi, added 17.
WPIAL Girls Basketball: Chartiers Valley Claims First Section Title Since 1979
It was a good night to be a Chartiers Valley basketball fan as the Colts girls’ team won a share of its first section title since Jimmy Carter was president when it beat Keystone Oakes, 63-37, Friday night.
Chartiers Valley (17-6, 9-1 Class AAA Section 4) shares the title with Ringgold; it is the first girls’ section title for the Colts since 1979.
In other Pittsburgh-area girls’ action Friday, Monessen completed a perfect regular season with a 62-27 win over Wilkinsburg. Jessica Beveridge had 21 points to lead the 23-0 Greyhounds, who completed the first unbeaten regular season in school history.
On Thursday, Norwin stayed perfect as well, getting 18 points from Lindsay Loutsenhizer in a 44-26 win over rival Penn-Trafford to move to 23-0 on the year.
District 10 Boys Basketball: Erie CP Earns Share of Section Title
Erie Cathedral Prep won a share of its fourth straight District 10 Region 7 title Saturday with a 69-57 win over Erie Strong Vincent behind 18 points from RaSean Thrower and 15 from Mark Blazek. This is the fourth year of the current Region setup in District 10.
Cathedral Prep improved to 16-5 overall and 8-0 in the region with the win and needs just one victory in its final two games to take the title outright.
“This is a good feeling,” Blazek, who needs 10 more points for 1,000, told the Erie Times-News. “The region games are the ones that count and they are the ones you want to play your best in.”
Paris Pennamon paced Strong Vincent with 20 points, including three triples.
In other District 10 boys’ basketball action during the week, Andy Boughner scored 31 points and Adam Roche had 13 points, 10 blocked shots, seven rebounds and six steals to lead Cochranton to a 71-50 win over visiting Linesville Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, Maplewood’s Rob Cierniakoski scored his 1,000th career point while netting 21 in the Tigers' 72-53 win over visiting Youngsville. Cierniakoski finished the night with 1,012 career points, the 10th most in school history.
Two nights later, Mercyhurst Prep’s Sam Hvezda joined Cierniakoski in the 1,000-point club when he netted 20 in the Lakers' 62-28 win over Fairview. Hvezda, a 6-foot-5 senior, finished the night with 1,006 career points in just three years as a varsity player. Hvezda shot 10 of 15 shots from the field.
Also on Friday, Girard claimed a piece of the District 10 Region 3 championship with a 53-27 win over Saegertown. The YellowJackets, who got 14 points from Andrew Rickard, hold a two-game lead over Fairview and Mercyhurst Prep.
District 10 Baseball: Travers Named Erie Strong Vincent Coach
According to the Erie Times-News, Erie Strong Vincent has named Jim Travers as its new baseball coach. He is the fourth coach in the last four seasons for the school. Travers was the freshman coach for the Colonels last year while also helping coach the varsity team for three seasons.
WPIAL Basketball: 1,000-point scorers
Scoring 1,000 career points seemed to be the thing to do in the WPIAL last week, with at least 10 WPIAL players reaching the mark. Here is a list of this week’s 1,000-point scorers:
· Latrobe’s Jeff Yunetz (Friday with 17 points)
· Serra Catholic’s Bria Gwosden (Thursday 20 points)
· Monaca Alyse Scarsella (Thursday 18 points, 11 rebounds)
· Greensburg Salem’s Aaron Allen (Tuesday 15 points)
· Keystone Oaks’ Corey Bellovich (Tuesday 14 points)
· West Shamokin’s Dylan Henderson (Tuesday 27 points)
· South Allegheny’s Liz Piekut (Monday 23 points)
· Hampton’s Jodie Luther (Monday 30 points)
· Ford City’s Marisa Wolfe (Monday 28 points)
· Washington’s Marguerite Sargent (Monday 12 points)
