By Chris Rossetti, D9Sports.com
Special to MaxPreps.com
ERIE, Pa. - Some of the best high school basketball talent in the country was on display this past weekend at the Hammermill Center, on the campus of Gannon University at the 25th McDonald's Classic.
Rice (Manhattan, N.Y.) won the tournament with a come-from-behind 60-57 win over St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) on Saturday, while St. Edward (Lakewood, Ohio) outlasted Erie Cathedral Prep, 60-52, in the consolation game.
Rice, 12-2 and ranked the 12th in the nation by MaxPreps, reached the title contest with a convincing 87-63 win over Cathedral Prep on Friday, while St. Patrick beat St. Edward, 69-61, in the opening round Friday as well.
In the title game, Rice trailed St. Patrick (13-2), ranked third in New Jersey, by 37-24 in the third quarter, but went on a 25-9 run to take the lead, 49-46, with 5:40 left in the contest.
"We had to make some adjustments at halftime," Rice coach Maurice Hicks told the Erie Times-News. "Once we got the lead, the ball was in our court."
Dorvell Carter led Rice with 15 points, including 12 in the second half, while University of Connecticut recruit Kemba Walker added 14 points and seven rebounds.
Quintrell Thomas led St. Patrick with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Dexter Strickland had 15 points, including 12 in the first half.
"They (Rice) are too good not to make a run at you," St. Patrick head coach Kevin Boyle said. "They are quick and have a lot of energy. It's a tough one to swallow."
In the consolation game, St. Edward grabbed an early lead and never gave it up on its way to the 60-52 win.
"Erie Prep has done a great job beating teams in the consolation," St. Edward coach Eric Flannery said. "We had to make sure we came out with intensity and kept our focus."
Tom Pritchard's double-double of 15 points and 15 rebounds led St. Edward, which is ranked eighth in Ohio by MaxPreps, while Rasean Thrower and Bob Spoden had 14 points each for Erie Cathedral Prep (12-5), which is ranked 23rd in Pennsylvania.
In opening-round games Friday night, Rice got a tournament record eight 3-pointers from Chris Fouch, who led all scorers with 26 points, to blow out Cathedral Prep, 87-63, while Durand Scott had 20 points and Walker recorded 18 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Thrower led Prep with 14 points.
Strickland, meanwhile, scored 18 points, while Thomas added 16 to lead St. Patrick to the 69-61 win over Lakewood in the other first-round game. Pritchard led St. Edward with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Erie Times-News reported that Ron Sertz, the director of the McDonald's Classic, announced before Saturday's championship game that he was hanging it up after 25 years of being involved with the tournament.
"Twenty-five years is a pretty good run," Sertz told the paper. "I'm really proud of the event."
District 10 Girls Basketball: Mercyhurst Prep tops Villa Maria
In a battle of two of MaxPreps top 11 girls basketball teams in Pennsylvania, Mercyhurst Prep senior Lindsay Moore scored 22 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, to hold off Villa Maria, 57-52, on Saturday.
Mercyhurst Prep, No. 11 by MaxPreps, had led by 25-8 at one point, only to see No. 8 Villa Maria rally to take a 42-38 lead.
But Moore hit two shots in the fourth quarter that gave the lead back to the Lakers and then hit four free throws in the final minute to seal the victory.
"That's a senior leader for you," Mercyhurst Prep coach Dan Perfetto told the Erie Times-News. "When the game was on the line, she came though."
Kirsten Olowinski added 14 points for Mercyhurst Prep, while Villa Maria got 18 points from Kayla McBride and 15 from Chelsea Lasky.
Elsewhere in District 10 girls basketball, Eisenhower, ranked ninth in Class A by the Harrisburg Patriot-News at game time, upset Girard, which was ranked fourth in Class AA, 36-22 behind 11 points from Taylor Williams. Kara Wilson paced Girard with 11 points.
Earlier in the week, Eisenhower's Heather Riel could have played to a tie with Iroquois all by herself, as she netted 25 points in a 64-25 Ike win over Iroquois.
District 9 Girls Basketball: A-C Valley snaps 62-game losing streak
The Allegheny-Clarion Valley girls' basketball team did something it hadn't done in nearly three years - win a basketball game.
The Lady Falcons got 17 point, eight steals and seven assists from sophomore Erika Rothen, who was in eighth grade the last time A-C Valley won a game, to get a 47-29 win over visiting Elderton, breaking a 62-game losing streak. A-C Valley had last won Feb. 11, 2005, vs. North Clarion.
"It was a good win for the girls," A-C Valley's first-year head coach Lane Larimore told the Oil City Derrick. "They needed it, and it will make the rest of their games easier."
Other District 9 girls' highlights from last week:
ú Two D9 players went over the 1,000-point mark on the same night. Venango Catholic's Sarah McNellie (1,007) and Coudersport's Jessica Wilson (1,005) each topped the milestone on Thursday. McNellie finished her game with 14 points in helping the Lady Vikings to a win over North Clarion, while Wilson had 15 in a 66-32 win over Otto-Eldred. McNellie is the third player at Venango Catholic to go over 1,000 career points this season, joining Alex Eckert and Eric Guth from the boys' team, while Wilson joined teammate Kristy Kamper making it two Lady Falcons over 1,000 points this season. Kamper, incidentally, had 13 points and six assists in the win over Otto-Eldred.
ú Andrea Moyer scored 28 points Friday to lead DuBois Central Catholic to a 70-65 overtime win over Johnsonburg, which got 21 points from Abby Grumley.
ú West Forest got a balanced effort (14 points each from Geena Sneeringer and Jackie Lutz and 12 from Erica Blum) to get a key 48-40 win at Union Thursday night. The Lady Indians missed their first 13 shots, but were still able to get the win. Torri Smith had a double-double for Union (16 points, 10 rebounds).
ú Ericka Keck had 15 points, 15 rebounds and eight steals in a 47-31 Clarion-Limestone win over A-C Valley Thursday.
District 9 Boys Basketball: Bishop Canevin snaps DuBois Central Catholic's win streak
In a rare inter-district boys' basketball regular-season matchup, the WPIAL's Bishop Canevin, a Class AA school, routed District 9's DuBois Central Catholic, a Class A school, 70-40, breaking DCC's 13-game win streak.
Steve Mackin (25) and Bryan Billigen (22) combined to outscore DCC themselves, as the Crusaders (8-11) used a 17-1 second-quarter advantage to blow the game wide open.
DCC (15-2), the PIAA Class A runner-up last season, was led by Dom Varacallo's 12 points, while Christian Spilman added 11. Varacallo was coming off a career-high 31 points in an 84-57 Cardinal win over Johnsonburg Friday night.
Other District 9 highlights from the week:
ú Cameron County's Jordan Crane scored his 1,000th career point in a 70-34 Red Raider win over Smethport. Crane had 21 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
ú Three D9 players scored more than 30 points Friday night, including two in one game. Venango Catholic's Eric Guth had 31 points and 17 rebounds in a 72-54 Viking win over East Forest. The Bears got 32 points from Corey Snyder, including 28 in the final three quarters. DCC's Varacallo also reached the mark with 31 in the win over Johnsonburg.
ú Mark Shannon had a monster game for Brockway in a 53-43 loss to Kane, scoring 26 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, blocking three shots and coming up with two steals.
ú Bradford rebounded from a one-point loss at Elk County Catholic earlier in the week to record a pair of victories Friday and Saturday. The Owls knocked off D9 League rival Brookville, 71-43, Friday night behind 22 points, 10 rebounds from Ryan LaBrozzi, and 18 points and 12 boards from Ben Lanich before toppling Hollidaysburg, 68-42, Saturday behind 18 points and 13 rebounds from Lanich and 16 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists and five steals from LaBrozzi.
District 7 Boys Basketball: Highlands tops Indiana in battle of top teams
In a battle of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Top 5 WPIAL Class AAA teams Friday night, Highlands (14-4), ranked No. 2 by the PG, beat Indiana (13-5), ranked fifth, 71-68, at IUP's Memorial Field House.
Damon Porter led Highlands with 24 points, while Reece Mayberry added 20, while Kevin Stapleton led Indiana with 18.
Other WPIAL highlights from Friday night:
ú Riverside got 29 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots from Jason Kolesar to beat Rochester 62-46.
ú Canon-McMillan overcame a nine-point first-half deficit to beat Mt. Lebanon, 41-33.
ú Jeannette got 22 points from Terrelle Pryor, 19 from Jordan Hall and 17 from Shaw Sunder to beat East Allegheny 73-59.
ú Harrison Smith scored 31 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead Fox Chapel to a 68-60 overtime win against Woodland Hills.
ú Serra Catholic topped the 100-point mark in blasting two-win Frazier, 101-53, behind 21 points and 10 rebounds from Pat Grubbs.
District 7 Girls Basketball: Goeller's lay-up lifts Fox Chapel past Woodland Hills
Fox Chapel's Heidi Goeller scored a driving lay-up with just under seven seconds to play to lift the Foxes to a 37-36 win over homestanding Woodland Hills Thursday night.
Nakia DeBlanc led Woodland Hills with 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Lauren Kolod led Fox Chapel with 13 points. The Wolverines played without the No. 3 scorer in the WPIAL, Jamie Smith, who missed the game with a knee injury, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Other WPIAL highlights last week:
ú Wilkinsburg's Darche' Jackson, who earlier in the week scored 50 points in the game that saw her go over 1,000 career points, added 39 more in a 60-51 win over Springdale.
ú Monessen stayed undefeated (18-0) with a 64-25 win over Clairton, which entered the game averaging 59.8 ppg.
ú Kayla Gilliand (Butler) and Alexa DelGreco (Seton-LaSalle) each had buzzer-beating, game-winning shots for the their respective teams Thursday, while Latrobe's Emily Fenton and Bethel Park's Candace Martino each hit game-winning free throws in the final minute for their teams.
ú Jamie Henry had 20 rebounds in a 50-45 Southmoreland win over Derry, and Jacki Cotese registered 37 points and 20 rebounds in an 89-74 Vincentian win over St. Joseph.
