HS roundup: State College girls’ basketball punches its ticket to PIAA championships
Here’s what happened in Centre County high school sports from Feb. 24-March 1:
Girls’ basketball
State College punches its ticket to states
The Lady Little Lions stayed focused on their goal after losing in the District 6 Class 6A finals last week to Altoona as they beat Taylor Allderdice 58-42 Saturday.
With the win, State College punches its ticket to states for the third straight year.
Their first-round game will be played against Upper St. Clair at 7 p.m. Friday at Bald Eagle Area High School.
St. Joe’s finishes District 6 playoffs as runner-up
St. Joe’s fell short in its first-ever District 6 Class A championship appearance Wednesday at Mount Aloysious, falling 51-27 to Bishop Carroll.
While the Wolfpack jumped out to an early 5-4 lead in the first quarter, they were doomed by a 19-0 run by the Huskies they weren’t able to recover from.
Sophomore guard Kate Youngmark led St. Joe’s in scoring with eight points.
The Wolfpack will continue on to the PIAA Class A girls’ basketball championships with a first-round game Saturday against District 5 consolation winner Berlin at Altoona High School.
State College’s Bokunewicz, Leazier named Mid Penn All-Stars
State College senior Maya Bokunewicz added another honor to her long list of high school basketball accomplishments as she was named a first-team Mid Penn Conference All-Star for the second consecutive year. Bokunewicz was a second-team All-Star as a sophomore.
The Rice signee helped lead her team to to its third straight appearance in the PIAA Class 6A championships.
Fellow senior Isabelle Leazier was named to the second team.
Penns Valley’s Montminy named a 1st team ML All-Star
Penns Valley senior Hannah Montminy was named a first-team Mountain League All-Star after she reached the 1,000 point mark in her final season and led her team to the PIAA District 6 Class 3A quarterfinals.
The senior guard led the Rams in points, assists and steals on a per game basis, according to MaxPreps, averaging 16.8, 3.3 and 2.8 respectively.
Bald Eagle Area guard Lacee Barnhart and Bellefonte’s Sara DeHaas were second-team selections. DeHaas was one of two juniors to make an All-Star team.
Boys’ basketball
Penns Valley finishes 3rd in District 6 playoffs
The No. 5 Rams bounced back from a 60-46 loss to top-seeded Ligonier Valley Tuesday to beat No. 2 Westmont Hilltop 49-40 Friday in the District 6 consolation final.
Sophomore guard Zach Braucht led Penns Valley in scoring with a game-high 24 points. Against Ligonier Valley, Caleb Narber was the Rams’ high scorer with 13, while Logan Snyder added 11.
The Rams’ punched their ticket to states last week with their second-round District 6 win over West Shamokin. They’re set to play District 7 runner-up Lincoln Park Saturday in the first round of the 2020 Class 3A PIAA boys’ basketball championships.
State College’s season comes to an end
While the Little Lions kept their season alive by beating Erie 51-45 Monday, their season ultimately came to an end Wednesday with a 56-41 loss to McDowell.
With seven made 3-pointers, the Trojans were able to jump out to a 20-point halftime lead that the Little Lions were unable to erase.
Isaiah Edwards led State College in scoring with 12 points, followed by Johnny Friberg with eight and Jack Hurley with six. Nathan Lusk led State College Monday night against Erie with 16 points, while Friberg had 14 and Edwards added eight.
The Little Lions finished the season 7-17.
McCartney, Snyder named 1st-team ML All-Stars
Bellefonte senior Ben McCartney and Penns Valley senior Logan Snyder were both named first-team Mountain League All-Stars.
McCartney finished his career with 1,098 points and reached the 1,000-point milestone in a Feb. 5 game against East Juniata, becoming the sixth player in Bellefonte boys’ basketball history to reach the mark.
Snyder, who also broke the 1,000 point milestone this year, has helped lead his team to an appearance in the PIAA Class 3A championships.
Bald Eagle Area’s Jaden Jones and Philipsburg-Osceola’s Ryan Whitehead were second-team selections. Jones, who led the Eagles in scoring, assists and steals this season, also hit the 1,000-point milestone. Whitehead was one of two juniors, along with Bellefonte’s Sara DeHaas, to make an All-Star team.
Wrestling
Bellefonte wins NW Regional team title with 4 champs
The Red Raiders were the story of the PIAA Northwest Regional this weekend as they won the team title for the first time since 2000, with four champs and eight placewinners.
Lane Aikey (120), Jude Swisher (126), Ethan Richner (160) and Ethan Rossman (182) won individual titles for the Red Raiders. Aidan O’Shea (113) and Tyler Benner (195) finished as runners-up and also punched their tickets to Hershey next weekend.
While they didn’t qualify for states, Alex Coppolo and Max Barrier helped the Red Raiders to their 184.5 team points by finishing fourth at 132 and 220, respectively. Stephen Ivicic also picked up some points wrestling in consolations.
“Every one of the guys we brought here scored points and that’s what it takes to win team titles,” Bellefonte coach Mike Maney said.
State College qualifies 4 for PIAAs
State College had four wrestlers qualify for states Saturday by placing in the top three in the PIAA Northwest Regional.
Junior Lance Urbas finished as the runner-up at 170 pounds, while freshman Hayden Cunningham, junior Owen Woolcott and senior Clayton Leidy placed third at 106, 132 and 138 pounds, respectively.
While he didn’t qualify for states, Ty Price bounced back from his first-round loss to win three matches and make the consolation finals, where he ultimately fell. But his fourth-place finish at 195 pounds helped contribute to the Little Lions’ 95.5 team points and seventh-place finish.
Eric Weaver (1-2, 120), Carter Weaverling (2-2, 126), Kyle Martin (0-2, 145) and Harrison Schoen (0-2, 285) also competed for the Little Lions.
“Our guys fought and clawed their way for it. They deserved it,” State College coach Ryan Cummins told the CDT. “Coming back for third, is not easy. Three of those guys really dug deep, got after it and won it. Ty came back hard and just came up short in the end. He was right there.”
State College places 4 on conference All-Star team
State College’s impressive season continued this past week as four wrestlers were named Mid Penn All-Stars, compared to just one last season.
Freshman Hayden Cunningham (106 pounds), junior Owen Woolcott (132), senior Clayton Leidy (138) and junior Lance Urbas (170) were all named to the second team in the Commonwealth Division.
All four wrestlers will continue their seasons next week at the PIAA championships.
Swimming
State College wins 37th straight District 6 Class 3A title
Another year, another dominating victory at the District 6 Swimming & Diving Championships for State College.
The Little Lions won their 37th straight district title Saturday, and broke several records along the way.
Senior Matt Brownstead broke records with his first-place finishes in both the 50- and 100-yard frees. His time of 19.84 seconds in the 50 freestyle is one of the best marks in the nation.
Brownstead, however, wasn’t alone in his record breaking. Colleen Adams also broke a meet and school record when she won gold in the 500 freestyle on Saturday.
“I knew immediately once I saw the board that I got the record,” she told the Centre Daily Times. “It was just amazing.”
Freshman Jade Castro broke the meet record when took home the gold in the 100-yard backstroke.
The team of Castro, Adams, Abbey Whipple and Megan Doucette brought home gold in the 400-freestyle relay, also breaking a meet record.
The 200-medley relay team of Castro, Pagett, Whipple and Koehle won gold in 1:47.35 — beating out the previous district record by less than a half-second.
Mackenzie Pagett also broke the meet record in the 100 backstroke, winning yet another gold for the Little Lions.
Other gold-medal performances came from Whipple in the 100-yard freestyle and 50 free, Tyler Uhlig in the 500-yard freestyle, John Brownstead in the 100-yard backstroke and 200 freestyle, Foster Heasley in the 100-yard breaststroke and 200 IM, Castro in the 200-yard IM, Pagett in the 100 butterfly and 100 breaststroke, Collin Leve in the 100 butterfly, the 200-yard medley team of Zachary Lambert, Heasley, Garrick Zheng and Matt Brownstead, the 200-yard relay team of Koehle, Adams, Lily Bang and Doucette, the 200-yard relay team of Heasley, Matt Brownstead, Will Ulmer and John Brownstead and the 400-yard freestyle relay team of Zheng, Ulmer, Uhlig and John Brownstead.
The girls finished with 438.5 team points and the boys with 458.
Penns Valley girls’ places 2nd in Class 2A
Despite being just a six-person team, the Penns Valley girls swam to a second-place finish at the District 6 Class 2A swimming and diving championships.
Together, Anna Butler, Margaret Delaney, Sophia Gerhart, Audrey Duck, Abigali Gerhart and Madison Roberts earned 181 team points for the Rams. The winner, Somerset, had 187.
“It’s also been amazing because we are only a six-person team and to be on top, beating all of these other teams that have a lot more kids than us, is amazing and we have a good team,” Sophia Gerhart said.
Sophia Gerhart broke two meet records on the weekend. The first was Friday, when she finished with a personal-best time of 56.70 seconds in the 100 butterfly, which broke the meet record first set in 2017. However, Juniata’s Sydney Houtz also broke the record Friday, in 56.14 seconds. Gerhart earned silver.
On Saturday, she set a record in the 500-yard freestyle, finishing in 5:07.53, which was 14 seconds better than her seed time. This time, she won gold.
Freshman Delaney also broke a meet record for Penns Valley, finishing the 100-yard breaststroke in 1:05.79.
Butler, who entered the 50 freestyle with the fifth-best seed time, swam to a first-place finish in 25.17 seconds, a new personal and season best.
The 200-yard medley relay team of Butler, Delaney, Sophia Gerhart and Duck also won gold.
The boys’ team finished in last place with 13 points.
Bellefonte’s Musser, Horner win gold
Bellefonte swimmers won a couple of gold medals at the District 6 swimming and diving championships.
Finley Musser edged out teammate Natasha Hoffman for first place in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:18.93. Hoffman finished in 2:21.24.
“My goal by the end of the season was a 2:13, but I still have states now,” Musser said.
Harrison Horner gold in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:58.05, beating his seed time by 25 seconds. Both Musser and Horner will advance to states.
The Bellefonte girls finished third in the team race with 145 points, while the boys were eighth with 57 points.
BEA has its first district champ, PIAA qualifier
Alaina Cane made history Saturday when she became the Eagles’ first-ever District 6 swimming champ and first swimmer to qualify for the PIAA championships.
Cane, BEA’s lone representative at districts, was trailing by a half a second before she came back to win the 100-yard freestyle by a mere 0.06 seconds.
“It really does make me feel like I can accomplish way more than I ever thought I could,” Cane said. “And with a bunch of other championships coming up, not just for high school but for YMCA and stuff, I realize that I can really do a lot more than I realized.”
St. Joe’s Bloom wins gold, advances to states
As St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy’s lone representative at districts, junior Reece Bloom won gold in the 200-yard IM with a time of 2:01.74.
The finish was nearly eight seconds better than his season best, and earned him a trip to states.
Bloom also placed second in the 500 freestyle with a time of 5:03.23.
Indoor track
State College relay team wins gold at state championships
The State College boys’ and girls’ track teams took home some hardware from the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association indoor state track and field championships Sunday at Penn State.
The boys 4x800 relay team of Bennett Norton, Sean Adams, Zachary DeCarmine and Henry Ballard placed first with a time of 7:52.50. The same team also placed 10th in the distance medley, with a time of 10:45.33.
Conrad Moore placed fourth in the high jump at 6-6.00.
On the girls’ side, the relay team of Elly Haushalter, Marlee Kwasnica, Karsyn Kane and Grace Morningstar finished sixth in the 4x800 with a time of 9:35.23. The distance medley team of Marlee Kwasnica, Casie Eifrig, Elly Haushalter and Lizzie Gilpatrick finished seventh in 12:30.02.
Gilpatrick finished 16th in the mile, and Rachel Spencer tied for 11th in the high jump.
The boys’ team finished 15th overall with 15 points (from the 4x800 and high jump), and the girls’ placed 37th (with points from the 4x800 and distance medley).
Penns Valley’s Sands wins gold
Penns Valley junior Colton Sand won gold in the boys’ 3000-meter final at the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association indoor state track and field championships Sunday at Penn State.
He finished with a time of 8:31.96.
This is Sands’ second state gold medal this academic year, as he won cross country gold in the fall.
With Sands’ 10 points, Penns Valley tied for 20th in the team race.
St. Joe’s Warren turns in two top-10 performances
St. Joseph’s Izzy Warren placed fifth in the 600-mete hurdles in 9.05 and 10th in the triple jump at the Pennsylvania Track and Field Coaches Association indoor state track and field championships Sunday at Penn State.
The 4x800 relay team of Clare Marsh, Riley Marflak, Camryn Eby and Myah Chappell finished 17th in 10:01.18, and Kathleen Simander placed 20th in the 800 in in 2:34.76.
Hockey
State College ends regular season with shutout
State College hockey concluded its regular season with a 7-0 shutout of Somerset on Thursday. The win was the seventh straight for the Little Lions.
Alder Gabel led the Little Lions in scoring with three goals. Zander Faust scored twice and Casey Wible and Colin Wible each added a goal.
In the net, Alex Walaschek had two saves in 34 minutes of play, while John Olsen had five in 17 minutes.
The Little Lions end the regular season with a 16-4 record.