Sunday, March 29, 2009

Players of the year, all-district basketball and final thoughts on hoops season

The Observer-Reporter ran its annual boys and girls all-district basketball teams in Sunday's edition with a slightly different look than years past.

To start, Peters Township senior Nick Wilcox is the O-R Boys Player of the Year, while classmate Emily Correal earned her third consecutive O-R Girls Player of the Year distinction. I feel very confident in both selections.

Wilcox performed at a consistently high level throughout the year, was the area's best offensive player in addition to being a strong rebounder and defender. His closest competition was Wash High senior Nick Bryant.

Correal is one of the most accomplished girls high school players this area has seen. Her offensive ability is what put Correal ahead of Wash High senior Jocelyn Floyd.

Here's a glance at the O-R All-District teams, which was broken into big school and small school for the first time in 12 years and without the honorable mention for the first time:

Big school boys
First team
Dave Bassi, Ringgold; Kiante Davis, Canon-McMillan; Steve Radke, Peters Township; Nick Wilcox, Peters Township; Craig Wolcott, Peters Township
Second team
Matt Czulewicz, McGuffey; Chad Hagan, Canon-McMillan; Phil Horensky, Peters Township; Sean McKnight, Trinity; Josh Valentic, Trinity

Small school boys
First team
Robert Anderson, Washington; Zach Bellhy, Fort Cherry; Nick Bryant, Washington; Mike Lamberti, South Fayette; Troy Wilson, Washington
Second team
Mike Burroughs, South Fayette; Ian McCombs, Carmichaels; Ryne Niemiec, Beth-Center; Eli Obade, Charleroi; Joe Silko, South Fayette

Big school girls
First team
Emily Correal, Peters Township; Danielle Gilmore, Trinity; Samantha Higgins, Peters Township; Emily Schartner, Ringgold; Elise Schober, McGuffey
Second team
Jennie Affinito, Ringgold; Emily Hansen, Canon-McMillan; Chelsea McWreath, Trinity; Ashley Morran, Trinity; Marissa Pattison, McGuffey

Small school girls
First team
Jordan Duke, Carmichaels; Jocelyn Floyd, Washington; Marissa Miles, Fort Cherry; Megan Sowers, Beth-Center; Joelle Yamber, Avella
Second team
Chelsea Evans, Washington; Kaitlyn Novak, Mapletown; Aly Lee, Charleroi; Paige Uram, South Fayette; Sidney Walter, Fort Cherry

  • My starting five for boys would be Wilcox, Bryant, Lamberti, Wilson and Wolcott.
  • My starting five girls would be Correal, Floyd, Schartner, Miles and Gilmore.
  • Selecting the girls teams was a difficult process this year. Season-ending injuries to Ringgold's Alina Selby and Peters Township's Lexi Kamphaus before the first game took away two talented players and two previous all-district selections.
  • Had Niemiec played in more than nine games, it would have been interesting to see where he landed on the all-district team and where Beth-Center would have been seeded in the WPIAL Class A playoffs.
  • With Correal, Floyd and Schartner (all Division I players) graduating, who will become the area's next crop of great girls players? If I had to pick a frontrunner for next year's Girls Player of the Year, it would be Selby if she comes back healthy.
  • When it comes to Boys Player of the Year in 2010, the early favorites have to be Wilson and Lamberti. Count Wolcott among that group is Peters Township remains competitive and Davis if Canon-McMillan improves.

69 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wilson??? You gotta be kidding nice kid but the young man has serious problems handling the ball and his shot really needs a ton of work....He needs to thank the kids that he had around him this year..anyway take your choice from S.F next year thats where the player of the year kid will come from..you need to add the big kid from Fort Cherry next year he was well over looked.

Anonymous said...

wilson wont have them kids around him next year so will see how good he is

Anonymous said...

Mark it down now, Wolcott will be Player of the Year. If he works as hard as Goga says he does then he will improve. If he improves as much as he did between his sophomore and junior seasons then no one will be able to touch him. Yeah, PT loses Radke and Wilcox, but they have a system that lets decent players play better. Lamberti can play, but he won't be able to touch Wolcott next year.

Anonymous said...

Selby will be back next year. She has been cleared for competition after having surgery last August. She's currently training and will be playing AAU Basketball on Hal Kestler's WPA Bruins this spring/summer.

Anonymous said...

your all out of your minds Wolcott will definately not be the player of the year next season... pt is going to be terrible the player of the year will be from CM or SF.. From CM it will either be Davis or Hagan who should have been on the first team. From SF it would Lamberti who is a solid player and is a very good athlete

Anonymous said...

PT will not be terrible. They certainly will be better than CM. Hagan on the first team? Explain how he's gotten better? So you're saying that two players from a team that didn't even make the playoffs should be first team? If Davis and Hagan are that good how in the world did a bad BP team beat them out for a playoff spot? Now that is being out your mind. I can't wait for the typical CM catchphrase to start up again..."Next year is our year."

Anonymous said...

For who every left the comments about the wilson kid you better check espn.com under the insider on high school he is espn top 150 players in the class of 2010. And u better ask the big list of d1 and d2 coachs that all after him. Better yet go ask The DUCE about him and see wat he tells u.also is plays on the best aau team in the western part of the state and a top 15 team in the usa.and whoever u think is better than him he will shut down.

Anonymous said...

Yea I heard the wilson kid is gettin a lot of looks and every player on his aau team is gettin D1 looks from the droney kid to the 2 players from hampton to the 2 kids from lebo the kid from penn hills the kid from hempfield and thw wilson kid. I'm not sayin he's a mcdonald all american but I'm sayin he won't have to pay for his 4 yrs of college and with that said that's all that matters cause no player around this area is playin pro ball so take the free ride and get your piece of paper and go work.

Anonymous said...

Hey is it true the Lamberti kid should be in 12th next year but got held back in 8th cause he couldn't match up again the better players that summer during aau so parents held him back.so that makes him 17yrs old now and 18yrs as a 11th grader.and to make it so bad I heard he plays on a 16u aau team and should be playin 17u aau. Not taken anything away from the kid he can play just needs to change his behavior on the court.

Anonymous said...

If Niemiec would have played the whole season? How can you punish a kid for being injured? He had already signed his letter of intent but still went through a massive rehab and came back. I he created havoc in his return, and this was evident in your all-star game. Would you voted the same if Bryant or Anderson had been injured during the season? You need to stop favoring your favorite teams and coaches. Judge the kids by their talents not politics. This was the worst turn out for boy all-stars ever! Let me tell you why, last season how many "Wash High" MVP's? This year, how many "Wash High" participants? Next year just have a Wash High vs Peter Twp all-star game. And let the Carmichaels,Mapletown, Jeff-Morgan twins coach every year. I paid to see my last one.

Anonymous said...

First of all u are right the talent was the worst by far that I have seen in a very long time.But when u only have a handful of kids that can play then that's wat happens but don't hate on the Wash High kids or the Peters kids.u must be from greene co no basketball players at all from there.

Anonymous said...

The wilson kid ....show us the four year college offer.....can he get an offer maybe if he works on his game but after what I seen and many others have he needs to work on his game...he got the early attention because of his size ..good luck kid but you need to work harder than ever..especially next year..

Anonymous said...

Wolcott is a contender next year I agree.....

Anonymous said...

Well as far as the wilson kid he will show u the offer this week he is supposed to verbal so just keep your eyes open in the newspapers and u will see.and another thing I hope who ever is doin all this talkin is someone he will get a chance to play this spring or summer doin aau or next basketball season.

Anonymous said...

All Star Game - 20 kids showed up to tryout. What else could be done.
The Morecraft brother and Barry Neimic were the ones who stepped up and helped out, other coaches had prior commitments. The Observer had nothing to do with the all-star game, it is sponsored by the Rotary club. The Peters Twp
players played in the Chartiers Valley all-star game that took place the same night. Maybe get the facts before you start ripping on a charity event arranged by volunteers and kids who took the time to show up all week and workout.

Anonymous said...

The All star game at Wash Hi was very exciting...a lot of offense and my wife and kids got to see some players that they never seen before...The Fort Cherry and Beth Center kid, that I never seen play are impressive...the kid from Beth Center has the best shot that I have seen in sometime...great game and very exciting..good job

Anonymous said...

Wolcott will win it ..2010

Anonymous said...

How about this comment. What has happened in this world to people that we would have to make such negative comments about children. People that know nothing about certain individuals or situations at hand need not say anthing. As my parents taught me when I was growing up that if you have nothing good to say then say nothing at all. These are all children that have worked hard one way or another and need to be praised for whatever accomplishments they acchieve not be torn down. No one knows how or why the wilson kid had gotten early looks or why he may be getting offers right now. But it is quite sickening in the hate that the attention of his making the all district team has gotten. This kis contributed greatly to his team and no he didn't have perfect games ever game and no one should expect him to. I haven't seen any high school athlete or heard of one that had perfect games or played perfect every game. You don't even see college athletes or pros that play perfect. So take the advice if you have nothing nice to say; say nothing!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous I think by reading the comments posted there talking about next years player of the year for 2010......not anything to do with his making the district team....is that mentioned somewhere?? Or has someone made public comments on this? I personaly dont see any hate comments but if you feel hurt then refrain from reading any blogs. By the way Lamberti is my player of the year for 2010

mike_kovak said...

"Would you voted the same if Bryant or Anderson had been injured during the season?"

If either Bryant or Anderson only played nine games, their places on the all-district team would most certainly be different.

Niemiec wasn't punished. He's got talent but he also missed more than half the season

Anonymous said...

anyone see wise's windmill dunk

Anonymous said...

Gilmore! It's about time that kid got some credit two ACL surgeries
and she still has heart

Anonymous said...

Gilmore..want an excellent choice
she has excellent defense and can see the court very well in such a hard section

Anonymous said...

Saw a lot of Hiller games, think Kayla Hatfield should have been given more consideration.

mike_kovak said...

BTW, went on ESPN.com today. Found Troy Wilson's name in the boys basketball recruiting database for 2010 but no mention of a Top 150 for the class.

Did I miss one? Anyone else find one for a year other than 2009?

Troy Wilson said...

I don't even get on these blogs cause i think its stupid how people get on here and fight about stuff not having to do anything with them! But i had to after kids from my school were telling me i was the talk of the new blog and that people are hating on me! So why are yall on here gossiping about if im going to do good next year, if im getting an offer, that i can't dribble, that i can't shoot, im only as good as my surrounding cast, im committing,im on espn.com, and that i only got my attetion from my size? And what size do i got? I'm 6'3-6'4 guard them are all over the world! I'm not going to play a big man, so im not understanding where that is coming from? So obviously the scouts and coaches see something else! Maybe its how hard i work, my hustle, my defesne, maybe they think i can shoot and dribble, who know yall are not them! But i appreciate the attention and criticism whether its negative or positive! All thats doing is giving me more motivation to work harder in the gym, in the weight room, and in the classrom, just to prove all my doubters and haters wrong! If you got the nerve to get on here and criticize other people's opinions and kids, then atleast have the heart to man up and put your name! Because all the kids i played with from my teammates to Lomberti and the other south fayette kids, Hagan and the other canon mac kids, Wolcott and the other peter kids, i know we all worked hard from the time we started playing basketball! So atleast give us the respect by leaving a name with your post! But i just wanted to see what these blogs were all about, so i'm out!!!

Anonymous said...

next years first five .
Bieliecki( Burgettstown)
Wolcott ( Peters Twp)
Hagan (Can Mac)
Bellhy (Fort Cherry)
Lambertti ( SF)

This is a solid five.

Anonymous said...

Davis over Hagan

Anonymous said...

Hagans better

Chad Hagan said...

Wilson should be on that first five for next year

Anonymous said...

Bassi is so much better than anyone on the first team

Anonymous said...

sounds like the wilson kid is upset...you haven't proved anything yet....hard work will pay off...I didn't see anyone cracking on the other kids that you mentioned. From the blogs it looks like people feel that YOU need to work...so do it.

Anonymous said...

Chad You the man but I would disagree...dont let me dunk on you...

Anonymous said...

Kionte' Davis is how you spell it.

Mark Wise said...

I feel you troy. Mike are you doing anything about baseball this year??

Anonymous said...

When does the Bronson House league start? Should be a good one this summer with PT, Wash High, SF, and CM all in it. I think USC plays in that league too.

Anonymous said...

I pick davis over hagan cause hagan ain't I team player at all...

PrexieFan said...

You go TW! Everyone wants to hate on Wash High along with the refs that took your chance away to bring the STATE TITLE home AGAIN!

No one knows your character, your heart and how hard you work, they just label us as a trashy city school and that's how we're treated everywhere we go! It's time to put that aside, it is 2009 not 1958! These are children bloggers! Set an example and don't be so hard on them.

You boys worked hard and you deserve the attention & the respect!

We are VERY PROUD of all of you!!
JOB WELL DONE!!!

mike_kovak said...

If anyone has seen Troy Wilson play, there is no way there can be questions about hard work.

Every player has things to work on, even the guys in the pros.

Mark,

As for baseball, we'll get in the swing as the section season heats up. I've talked to the Wash High coach a little. Expecting big things.

Anonymous said...

Oh, who ever keeps saying there is no talent after this year at the High will be eating their words next year at this time, we have alot of talent and athleticism plus 2 who have been on the varsity team since their freshman year, 1 was in the starting line-up this year Zack Barnes...

Troy Wilson said...

To the anonymous blogger that feels like im upset if u think i need work! Then everyone else in the wpial needs it too! So, what are you trying to get at? That everyone is better then me? And people on here are hating on chad saying he hasn't got better, that PT wont be good next year, and about Lomberti not matching up with his grade so he dropped to a lower grade, so wat are u talking bout no one else has been cracking on any other kids? And put your name on your blogs! What you so worried about? I see me, mark, and chad put our names to our opinions! So man up and do the same!!!

Anonymous said...

Wash Hi ...next year 3rd place...Monesson,Burgettstown....

charlie murphy said...

Yo troy and chad, dont let this blog effect you. These people on here are just jealous of your abilities and of the opportunities that you two will have in the future. The people that actually know the game know that you two can play, so next year just go out and just do you.

Basketball fan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Hey mike how come mark wise didnt make either of the all districts teams? i thought he played pretty good this year. some games i didnt see the fire in him but for the most part he played good. i thought he would at least he would make 2nd.

charlie murphy said...

Once again another person who doesnt know what they are talking about. Why cant you give a name basketball fan.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Chad Hagan said...

How is Charles Murphy "the worst of them all" i'm pretty sure he won player of the year a year ago, so why cant\'t you state your name anonymous obviously you don't know what you're talking about

Basketball fan said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
mike_kovak said...

Stop the flame baiting.

mike_kovak said...

As for the all-district team, there are always a few worthy players left off.

This year was particularly difficult at the Class AA-A level because of the success of Washington and South Fayette. Both talented teams and, in all honesty, each starter could have had some place on the all-district team. Yet, there were other quality players deserving.

An inexact science and some may feel it can be unfair. Trust me, it's a difficult procedure selecting the players.

For the Wash High players, I'm sure there memories will be all about the amazing run they made in the playoffs and not about who made what postseason team.

Anonymous said...

Troy, success breeds envy. If I were you, I would parental block this site so you can never visit it again. Don't let it distract you and let your play talk. Most of these people are other jealous players from the area and others are probably grown man that hate black people and/or Wash High. Keep doing your thing on the court, obviously it's getting a lot of attention. I would post my name but I'm pretty well known ;)

Anonymous said...

Here is a little TRUTH.....To call Charles Murphy the worst simply exposes your stupidity. Chad Hagan played this season with a fractured bone in his leg suffered in the Shaler football loss, that is why he did not have a great season.....he has nothing to be ashamed of. Davis earned first team honors. If you don't know what you're talking about the SHUT UP!

Mark Wise said...

ok thanks mike i think were going to be really good this year

Anonymous said...

ive seen the kid from sf play. he goes in weak and is out of control with the ball. he got held back to get more mature however it doesnt seem like it worked out. wilson and the kid from fc look real good

Mark Wise said...

Mike, Robert Anderson and mysefl are playing in this all star game at gateway on sunday at 7 pm also Jocelyn Floyd is playing in the girls game before that. I wasnt sure if you knew or not or if you were planning on coming and writing about the games

Anonymous said...

What is the word on the next bb coach at Wash Hi? Coach Nic or Maltony or someone from the outside?

Anonymous said...

I hope not Maltony.

Anonymous said...

How does the all section team candidates get selected; is it by opinion or stat's?

mike_kovak said...

All-section teams are selected by section coaches.

All-district teams are selected by me. Stats are nice but not the only judging factor.

Anonymous said...

Mike when are the section teams comin out? Also does the wpial do all a aa aaa aaaa teams in a first second thrid teams like the state does?

JP Dunigan said...

Is Chad Hagan leaning towards playing football or basketball in college? I'm sure he could do both, but just curious where he stands right now. This is a similar situation to another former Canon-Mac player in Charles Murphy who could've easily played baseball beyond high school, but ultimately chose basketball. Either choice would have been a good one for Murphy, just as it will be for Chad. Best of luck to both men.

Anonymous said...

JP Dunigan

Do you find it at all strange that CM has such studs and yet they cannot win a championship in basketball or football? According to you, Hagan can play football or basketball in college, how about the Hull kid, top 10 LB nationally, already committed to PSU?

CM and Trinity keep sending all of these kids to top D1 programs but cannot win anything? It just doesn't add up.

Anonymous said...

Anon,
Did you forget that Canon-Mac just won a state title in baseball? I believe Charles Murphy (also a star basketball player) played a large role in the baseball title, as did Chris Douglas, Chris Dittmar, Andre Hayden, Mike Spartz, and Mike Toward (all basketball players) and let's not forget Mike Hull (a star football player).

Given that the baseball team won a title and the other major sports haven't, I think it comes down to one thing: Coaching. The baseball staff in 2008 took a lot of the same kids that football and basketball had and won a title. Basketball had a great year too (state quarterfinals), but football has lagged. Therefore, I think it can be stated that football has the weakest of the coaching staffs (and trust me, football has a pretty good staff).

Anonymous said...

Funny, the best and most consistent program in the district is the wrestling program. There is no question the best coach in the district is the wrestling coach, he consistently produces outstanding wrestlers and young men.

Football, not so much. You call them a good staff, maybe 15 years ago, today, not so much.

Anonymous said...

Anon,
Wrestling is a lot like boxing, very few people actually participate in it so the overall talent pool is skewed. No offense to any Wpial wrestlers, but the sport lags behind the big 3 in participation. As for Canon-Mac the program being good has nothing to do with the coach... it has everything to do with the fact that they get more participation at C-M in wrestling than most other districts. If 5 out of the 10 best athletes at Upper St. Clair wrestled, they'd beat Canon-Mac every time. But the reality is USC is lucky to get 1 of the 10 best, whereas C-M usually has 3 or 4 of the top 10 athletes in the school on the squad. It's like Canon-Mac is shooting fish in a barrel, while most of the other schools are trying to catch fish with air.

Anonymous said...

A consistent theme that keeps cropping up on this blog is winning championships and having individual stars. Individual stars do not guarantee winning teams....complete teams with role players as well as stars win. The level of competition those teams go against has alot ot do with the number of championships also.

Canon-McMillan has communities that value wrestling and teach wrestling to their boys at a very young age. The coach there is very good but he also benefits from a steady stream of top athletes who have dedicated themselves to wrestling.
Football teams benefit greatly from having big lines ...check out the size of CM's line compared to some of the competition they go against.
Basketball is in a very strong section despite what the naysayers on this blog want to think.
Most, if not all of the programs at CM have solid coaching and turn out some strong individual talent and competitive teams.
If all you are willing to base sucess on is numbers of championships, then most high school programs are failures.
Also comparing A and AAAA competition is like comparing apples and oranges.

Anonymous said...

Last state title for Wrestling was 1992. They've been heavily favored at least 7 or 8 times to win a state title since and haven't gotten the job done. In fact, the CM team always seems to lose to someone they are expected to beat. I do not consider that to be great "in-match" coaching. I'm sure the coaches are good with the technicals, but in-match strategy is how you win and they have proven that they just cannot get it done.

Also, I'm not sure about them producing "fine young men." I look at the 2007 team that resorted to a cheap-shot headbutt by one of their wrestlers in order to try and win a playoff match.

Anonymous said...

Heavily favored to win state team title 7 or 8 times since 1992?
Are you sure you're not talking WPIAL?
Are you sure that you have your facts straight about the head butt vs. Connellsville in last year's wpial playoff? Wasn't the CM kid winning when the head butt occurred? Didn't that cost him and the team the win?
Are you throwing out facts or conjecture? If facts than you can name the times CM wrestling "always lost" to teams that they were favored over in the past 10 years.