By Chris Rossetti d9and10sports
CLARION, Pa. — The Inaugural Clarion County YMCA and D9and10Sports.com All-Star games had their share of fireworks and the first two Most Valuable Players.
Brookville’s Jace Miner and Keystone’s Emily Lauer garnered the MVP awards, leading their teams to victory at the Clarion County YMCA Sunday.
For Miner, his closing minutes secured the award as he scored 11 of the Blue’s final 20 points in the final three-plus minutes in a 116-107 win over the White. He finished with 17 points, six rebounds and six blocked shots.
Lauer led the White to a 77-69 win with 19 points and nine rebounds as the White broke a 54-54 tie after three quarters and pulled away for the win.
Both games were played in a 40-minute format with four 10-minute quarters. Teams were picked from seniors from District 9 along with District 10 teams from Warren County.
Here’s a closer look at the games:
BOYS
Blue 116, White 107
The back-and-forth runs were impressive and it was a closing 25-6 run by the Blue in the final 3:16. Miner’s basket got the run going and his layup with 1:40 left put the Blue up for good at 105-104 with 1:40 left and it was an 11-2 finish for the Blue from there.
DuBois’ Lennon Lindholm and Brookville’s Robert Keth shared team-high scoring honors with 18 points apiece. Keth drilled 6 of 8 shots from beyond the 3-point line while Lindholm made four and added seven rebounds, sharing the team-high with Clearfield’s Karson Rumsky.
Coudersport’s Hayden Keth and Caden Beldin each scored 13 points while Rumsky added 12 points. DuBois’ Nick Felix added 10 points and Karns City’s Chase Beighley scored nine points with five rebounds, finishing with six points in the key fourth quarter.
The Blue led 49-38 by the 4:38 mark of the second quarter, then the White closed the half with a 13-4 run that cut the deficit to 53-51. Elk County Catholic’s Mark Kraus started to heat up, nailing the first of his six 3-pointers with two seconds on the clock.
Kraus kept on drilling shots in the second half, 11 of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter with three more 3-pointers. He finished with six overall. The White outscored the Blue 38-18 in the third quarter, a 12-0 run to close the third for the Blue’s largest lead at 89-71.
But the Blue eventually got back into the game and the final three minutes led by Miner netted the successful comeback effort that saw the Blue own a whopping 45-18 advantage in the final quarter.
Six other players for the White reached double figures with Keystone’s Colin Say finishing with 14 points, Sheffield’s Tyler Hepinger’s 13 points all coming in the first half, Clarion’s Beau Verdill and Cal German with 12 apiece and Warren’s Ben Berdine with 11.
Clarion’s Hunter Craddock grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go with his three points and Clarion-Limestone’s Hayden Callen finished with 10 points. Austin’s Jackson Glover, while not scoring, finished with nine rebounds. A-C Valley’s Levi Orton scored eight points and collected eight rebounds.
In all, the teams combined to make 28 3-pointers, 16 by the Blue and 12 for the White.
The Blue was coached by Brookville’s Dalton Park and Karns City’s Chris Bellis, the White was directed by Clarion’s Scott Fox and Warren’s Jeff Berdine.
GIRLS
WHITE 77, BLUE 69
Breaking a 54-54 tie after three quarters, the White pulled away with a 23-15 advantage in the fourth quarter to get the win as seven different players found the scoring column in the fourth.
Lauer scored 13 points in the second half. Three other players on the White finished with double figures. Cameron County’s Kaelee Bresslin and Coudersport’s Sarah Chambers scored 11 points apiece and Coudersport’s Rosalyn Page adding 10 points. Chambers finished with seven rebounds and five assists.
St. Marys’ Kyla Johnson scored eight points with five rebounds, Eisenhower’s Delaney Chase added seven points and Cameron County’s Hailey Hilfiger scored five points with a game-high 15 rebounds. While not scoring a point, St. Marys’ Samantha Hayes grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out five assists.
Punxsutawney’s Riley Presloid scored a team-high 13 points to go with eight rebounds while Clearfield’s Megan Durandetta and Port Allegany’s Bree Garzel each scored 12 points with Durandetta making four 3-pointers.
Cranberry’s Ava Ferringer scored nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
DuBois’ Saige Weible finished with four points and 10 rebounds. Otto-Eldred’s Kayley Heller finished with nine rebounds and two points. Punxsutawney’s Sarah Weaver finished with six points and seven rebounds.
The White was coached by Mike Logue of Eisenhower and Dave Sullivan of Cameron County, the Blue by DuBois’ Keith Kriner and Punxsutawney’s Mike Carlson.
BOYS’ BOX SCORE
BLUE 116, WHITE 107
Score By Quarters
White 26 25 38 18 – 107
Blue 27 26 18 45 – 116
White – 107
Cal German (Clarion) 5 0-0 12, Levi Orton (A-C Valley) 4 0-0 8, Beau Verdill (Clarion) 6 0-0 12, Jackson Glover (Austin) 0 0-0 0, Hunter Craddock (Clarion) 1 1-2 3, Tyler Hepinger (Sheffield) 5 0-0 13, Ben Berdine (Warren) 5 0-0 11, Colin Say (Keystone) 7 0-0 14, Mark Kraus (Elk Co. Catholic) 9 0-0 24, Hayden Callen (Clarion-Limestone) 5 0-0 10. Totals: 47 1-2 107.
Blue – 116
Nick Felix (DuBois) 4 0-0 10, Robert Keth 6 0-0 18 (Brookville), Chase Beighley (Karns City) 4 0-0 9, Caden Beldin (Cameron Co.) 6 0-0 13, Carson Whiteman (Kane) 2 0-0 4, Lennon Lindholm (DuBois) 6 2-4 18, Hayden Keck (Coudersport) 6 0-0 13, Karson Rumsky (Clearfield) 6 0-0 12, Andrew Burda (Venango Catholic) 1 0-0 2, Jace Miner (Brookville) 8 0-2 17. Totals: 49 2-6 116.
3-pointers: White 12 (German 2, Hepinger 3, Berdine, Kraus 6), Blue 16 (Felix 2, Keth 6, Beighley, Beldin, Lindholm 4, Keck, Miner).
GIRLS’ BOX SCORE
WHITE 77, BLUE 69
Score By Quarters
White 11 25 18 23 – 77
Blue 14 18 22 15 – 69
White – 77
Hailey Hifiger (Cameron Co.) 2 1-2 5, Kaelee Bresslin (Cameron Co.) 5 0-0 11, Kyla Johnson (St. Marys) 3 0-0 8, Emily Lauer (Keystone) 9 0-0 19, Delaney Chase (Eisenhower) 2 3-4 7, Hannah Lary (Bradford) 1 2-2 4, Sarah Chambers (Coudersport) 4 0-0 11, Ava Cherico (Clarion) 1 0-0 2, Samantha Hayes (St. Marys) 0 0-0 0, Rosalyn Page (Coudersport) 4 1-1 10. Totals: 31 7-9 77.
Blue – 69
Abby Guiher (DuBois) 1 2-2 4, Bree Garzel (Port Allegany) 5 0-0 12, Saige Weible (DuBois) 2 0-0 4, Ava Ferringer (Cranberry) 4 0-2 9, Megan Durandetta (Clearfield) 4 0-0 12, Kelsey Stuart (Warren) 1 0-0 3, Riley Presloid (Punxsutawney) 5 0-0 13, Aslyn Pry (Moniteau) 2 0-0 4, Sarah Weaver (Punxsutawney) 2 2-4 6, Kayley Heller (Otto-Eldred) 1 0-0 2. Totals: 27 4-8 69.
3-pointers: White 8 (Bresslin, Johnson 2, Lauer, Chambers 3, Page), Blue 11 (Garzel 2, Ferringer, Durandetta 4, Stuart, Presloid 3).