CLARION — Christian Lezzer of Clearfield and Brett Gardner of Curwensville are on opposite rosters for the 14th annual Sportsmanship I/Clarion County YMCA District 9 All-Star game to be played Saturday night at Clarion High School.
Lezzer, who will play for the Red Squad, scored 154 points for a 9.1 average and led the Bison with 26 three-pointers despite missing six games because of football commitments.
Gardner, selected for the Blue Squad, topped the Golden Tide with 344 points, a 14.96 average, and poured in 49 treys. He made 63 of 96 free throw attempts for 65.6 percent.
A total of 40 senior boys and girls will be in action in a two-game schedule that begins with the girls at 6 p.m. followed by the boys at approximately 8 p.m. The games serve as a tribute to outgoing senior basketball players and a fund-raising event for the YMCA’s Camp Coffman.
The boys game features five of the top six scorers in the district this year, including a pair of Johnsonburg all-state guards in Cameron Grumley (21.1 ppg.) and Cole Peterson (20.4 ppg.). The Rams standouts both finished their careers with more than 1,500 points, but any points they score in this game will count against each other as Grumley and Peterson will be on opposing teams with Grumley heading the Blue Squad and Peterson leading the Red Squad.
Joining Grumley on the Blue Squad is No. 2 scorer Adam Lencer (21.5 ppg.) of Keystone while No. 4 scorer Logan McFarland (20.8 ppg.) is on the Red Squad with Peterson.
Also on the Blue Squad are Timmy Kentoski (DuBois Central Catholic), Dylan Clingan (Cameron County), Ellis Painter (Clarion), Brandon Schlimm (Elk Co. Catholic), Tyler Young (Punxsutawney), Jeff Kocjancic (Kane), Kade Logue (Austin) and Hunter Lydick (DuBois).
Other players on the Red Squard are Tyler Kepple (Karns City), Nate Shirts (Brookville), Antonio Troese (Clarion), Keagen Goodliff (Oswayo Valley), Jeff Eaton (A-C Valley), Charles Rini (East Forest), Brandon Mancuso (Punxsutawney) and Cory Huff (Elk Co. Catholic).
In the girls game, Cranberry’s 1,900-point scorer Emily Merryman leads the way. She’s the only player among this year’s top six scorers in the district on one of the rosters because the other five are underclassmen. No. 6 scorer Becca Lathrop of Port Allegany was named to the game but will be unable to play due to injury.
Merryman heads the Black Squad. She’ll be joined by Kylee Schaffer (DuBois Central Catholic), Lily Port (Clarion-Limestone), Kyla Miles (Clarion), Lindsay Homan (Venango Catholic), Kiana Ho’ohuli (St. Marys), Haley Vinelli (Bradford), Jenny Reed (North Clarion) and Grace Kroh (Clarion).
On the White Squad are Fontaine Glenn (Moniteau), Chelsea Benson (Johnsonburg), Jill Wallace (West Forest), Abby Mellott (Clarion-Limestone), Hannah Glover (Austin), Ali Rinfrette (Bradford), Alissa Burns (Clarion-Limestone), Taylor Newcome (Punxsutawney) and Emily Schumacher (Karns City).
The coaches in the boys game are Joe Ferguson of the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference champion Clarion-Limestone Lions for the Red Squad and Jon Songer of the North Tier League champion Cameron County Red Raiders for the Blue Squad.
For the girls, the coaches are Dave Kerschbaumer of the KSAC champion Karns City Lady Gremlins for the White Squad and Bob Hannon of the District 9 League champion Bradford Lady Owls for the Black Squad.
Prior to the games, players will compete in a 32-point shooting contest, which requires players to shoot from different areas of the court with made shots counting as points. The preliminary round begins at 4:30, with the finals returning at each halftime to vie for the titles.
