BROOKVILLE – St. Marys senior Levi Welder is the 2009 All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com District 9 Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year.
Joining Welder in being honored with individual awards are Venango Catholic’s Maxx Rynd as the All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com District 9 Rookie of the Year and Elk County Catholic’s Aaron Straub as the D9sports.com District 9 Coach of the Year.
In addition to the three individual awards, the All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com first-, second- and third-team All-District teams were also announced Saturday at the Alice R. Kozel Foundation District 9 All-Star game banquet in Brookville.
It is the 10th edition of the All-District teams and the ninth year that D9Sports.com has hosted the awards. It is also the third straight year that All American Award & Engraving has served as the title sponsor providing all the plaques and certificates that were awarded.
The major-award winners along with all the first-team honorees were provided a plaque courtesy of All American Awards & Engraving, while the second-and third-team honorees received a certificate from All-American Awards & Engraving.
NOTES – Both the major award winner and the all-district teams were chosen in a voting by the editorial staff of D9Sports.com after soliciting nominations and information from District 9 coaches, officials, players and fans as well as first-hand accounts of those players … All-American Awards & Engraving is located just outside of Shippenville and can be found on the web at http://www.allamericanawardsandengraving.com/. The company’s phone number is 1-877-402-9273.
2009 ALL-DISTRICT 9 BOYS’ AWARD WINNERS
ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Levi Welder, Sr., F, St. Marys
Welder, who was the 2007 District 9 Rookie of the Year, is the second Dutchmen to earn Player of the Year honors joining Adam Fox, who earned the award in the award’s first year in 2000. He averaged a double-double with 17.4 points and 10.6 rebounds per game while adding 4.2 blocks per contest. Welder ranked sixth in District 9 in scoring and helped St. Marys go 14-11 overall and 8-4 in the D9 League while finishing second in District 9 Class AAA and qualifying for the PIAA playoffs. He finished his career with 1,131 career points.
ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Maxx Rynd, So., G, Venango Catholic
Rynd had a sensational season leading District 9 in scoring at 23.4 points per game while helping to lead Venango Catholic into the District 9 Class A playoffs. He hit 19 3-pointers on the year while scoring 20 or more points 16 times in 23 games including a career-high 42 points vs. Clarion.
ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING COACH OF THE YEAR
Aaron Straub, Elk County Catholic
Straub earns the Coach of the Year award for the fourth time in 10 years and for the first time since 2006 after leading Elk County Catholic to a 23-8 overall record, a 9-3 D9 League mark and a 3-3 AML-North mark. ECC went from the sixth seed in the District 9 Class A playoffs to the District 9 championship and then went to the PIAA Class A semifinals while knocking off defending PIAA champion Serra Catholic in the process. Straub won his 600th career boys’ game during the year and has a career boys’ record of 604-179 in 27 years while having a 29-year career coaching record of 631-199.
2008 DISTRICT 9 ALL-DISTRICT BIOS
(A listing of the team members is below)
ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING FIRST TEAM
Levi Welder, SR., F, St. Marys (Player of the Year)
See Bio Above
Scott Booth, Jr., G/F, Union
Booth, who was a third-team selection as a sophomore, was second in District 9 in scoring this year at 21.3 points per game while adding 6.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game. He scored his 1,000th career point during the year and has 1,136 career tallies, the leading active scorer in District 9.
Allan Eaton, So., F, A-C Valley
Eaton is just the third sophomore to earn first-team All-District honors in the 10 years the award has been given out joining Elk County Catholic’s Jesse Bosnik and Johnsonburg’s Calvin Grumley, who were both first-team selections in 2005. He averaged a double-double on the year with 17.2 points and 11.0 rebounds per game while adding two blocks per contest. He ranked seventh in District 9 in scoring and will enter his junior season with 601 career points. Eaton was the All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com District 9 Rookie of the Year last season.
Nate Higgins, Sr., F, Elk County Catholic
Higgins helped lead Elk County Catholic to the District 9 Class A title and the PIAA semifinals by averaging 15.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while adding one assist and one block per contest. He ranked 10th in District 9 in scoring and scored his 1,000th career point during the playoffs finishing with 1,050 career tallies.
Matt Shiner – Sr., G, Clearfield
Shiner, a second-team selection last year, helped lead Clearfield to its first District 9 Class AAA title since 1999 by averaging 18.4 points per game, the fifth-best mark in District 9. He hit 49 3-pointers while shooting 86.2 percent from the free-throw line. Shiner finishes his career with 953 career points.
Seth Streich, Sr., F, West Forest
Streich, a first-team selection last year, helped lead Johnsonburg to a second-place finish in District 9 Class A and the PIAA playoffs as well as the AML Title by averaging 15.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He ranked 13th in District 9 in scoring while adding 1.6 steals, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 assists per game. In just two years of varsity basketball, Streich scored 899 career points.
ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING SECOND TEAM
Jarrin Campman – Sr., G, Clearfield
· 14.8 points per game (16th in District 9)
· 45 3-pointers
· 739 career points
John Ferraraccio – Sr., F, DuBois Central Catholic
· 14.9 points per game (15th in District 9)
· 11.1 rebounds per game
Jeremy Schmader – So., G, North Clarion
· 21.8 points per game (2nd in District 9)
· 3.4 rebounds per game
· 3.1 steals per game
· 804 career points
Mark Shannon – Sr., F, Brockway
· 3rd team selection in 2008
· 13.7 points per game (22nd in District 9)
· 8.9 rebounds per game
· 4.0 blocks per game
· 911 career points
Dan Sullivan – Sr., G, Cameron County
· 17.0 points per game (8th in District 9)
· 1,079 career points
Brock Witkowski – Sr., G, Keystone
· 13.3 points per game (24th in District 9)
· 4.0 rebounds per game
· 3.2 assists per game
ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING THIRD TEAM
C.J. Hesdon – Sr., G, Clarion-Limestone
· 15.0 points per game (14th in District 9)
· 6.1 steals per game
· 5.3 rebounds per game
· 4.3 assists per game
Matt Potvin – Jr., F, Clarion-Limestone
· 12.0 points per game
· 11.3 rebounds per game
Brett Quiggle – Sr., G, St. Marys
· 15.4 points per game (11th in District 9)
· 4.0 rebounds per game
· 60 3-pointers
Maxx Rynd – So., G, Venango Catholic (Rookie of the Year)
(See Bio Above)
Wayne Taylor – Sr., G, Otto-Eldred
· 18.5 points per game (4th in District 9)
· 945 career points
Robby Wortman – Jr., F, Elk County Catholic
· 10.4 points per game
· 6.5 rebounds per game
· Helped ECC to D9 Class A title and PIAA Semifinals
2009 ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING D9SPORTS.COM
DISTRICT 9 ALL-DISTRICT BOYS’ TEAMS
(Each team is listed alphabetically by player’s last name)
Player of the Year: Levi Welder, Sr., St. Marys
Rookie of the Year: Maxx Rynd, So., Venango Catholic
Coach of the Year: Aaron Straub, Elk County Catholic
First Team
|
Scott Booth – Jr., Union |
2-time All-District, 1-time 1st Team |
|
Allan Eaton – So., A-C Valley |
First-time Selection |
|
Nate Higgins – Sr., Elk County Catholic |
First-time Selection |
|
Matt Shiner – Sr., Clearfield |
2-time All-District, 1-time 1st Team |
|
Seth Streich – Sr., Johnsonburg |
2-time All-District, 2-time 1st Team |
|
Levi Welder – Sr., St. Marys |
First-time Selection |
Second Team
|
Jarrin Campman – Sr., Clearfield |
First-time Selection |
|
John Ferraraccio – Sr., DuBois CC |
First-time Selection |
|
Jeremy Schmader – So., North Clarion |
First-time Selection |
|
Mark Shannon – Sr., Brockway |
2-time All-District |
|
Dan Sullivan – Sr., Cameron County |
First-time Selection |
|
Brock Witkowski – Sr., Keystone |
First-time Selection |
Third Team
|
C.J. Hesdon – Sr., Clarion-Limestone |
First-time Selection |
|
Matt Potvin – Jr., Clarion-Limestone |
First-time Selection |
|
Brett Quiggle – Sr., St. Marys |
First-time Selection |
|
Maxx Rynd – So., Venango Catholic |
First-time Selection |
|
Wayne Taylor – Sr., Otto-Eldred |
First-time Selection |
|
Robby Wortman – Jr., Elk County Catholic |
First-time Selection |
