Curwensville’s Strickland Named Second Team All-star by D9sports.com

Press release by www.d9sports.com

CLARION, Pa. – Without Maci Thornton, who knows where the Clarion High School girls’ basketball team may have finished this season.

But with Thornton, the Lady Cats went back to the District 9 title game for the fourth straight season, and that is a big reason the senior guard is the 2015 All American Awards & Engraving/D9Sports.com District 9 Girls’ Basketball Player of the Year.

As the point guard and leading scorer, Thornton was the catalyst of the Clarion offense scoring 45 percent of the Lady Cats points this season finishing second in District 9 in scoring at 21.0 points per game while adding 8.3 rebounds, 4.6 steals and 1.3 assists per contest. She shot 46.3 percent (204 of 441) from the field and 82.4 percent (122 of 148) from the free-throw line while scoring at least 20 points in 15 of the Lady Cats 27 contests including a season high of 31.

While Thornton’s career is winding down, the career of North Clarion’s Tori Obenrader is just getting started.

Obenrader, a freshman, was a large reason the She-Wolves were back in the District 9 playoffs this year, as she averaged a season double-double of 13.3 points and 11.9 rebounds per game helping her earn the 2015 All American Awards & Engraving/D9Sports.com Girls’ Rookie of the Year honor. Obenrader added 2.5 steals and 2.3 assists per game and shot 37.4 percent (117 of 313) from the field while scoring at least 20 points five times and finishing tied for 14th in District 9 in scoring.

Tom McNellie’s Venango Catholic Lady Vikings have been knocking on the door in Class A the last couple of years and finally broke through this season winning the District 9 Class A girls’ title and the KSAC South championship while finishing second in the KSAC to Karns City and McNellie’s leadership was a big reason why which is why he is the 2015 All American Awards & Engraving/D9Sports.com Girls’ Basketball Coach of the Year. The district title was Venango Catholic’s first since taking home the District 10 crown in 1980.

A talented group of players join Thornton, Oberlander and McNellie in being honored as 2015 All American & Engraving/D9Sports.com All-District 9 team members.

Joining Thornton on the first team are Karns City’s LeeAnn Gibson, Keystone’s Madison Johnson, Port Allegany’s Brooke Roys, Redbank Valley’s Brooke Hinderliter and Venango Catholic’s Ava Homan.

Oberlander is a second-team selection and is joined by Brockway’s Juli Esposito, Curwensville’s Ciara Strickland, Moniteau’s Kristina DeMatteis, Smethport’s Morgan Okerlund and Venango Catholic’s Taylor Moltz.

The third team consists of Cameron County’s Susie Guisto, DuBois’ Dayna DeSalve, Elk County Catholic’s Julia Sweeney, Karns City’s Shanel Preston, North Clarion’s Abbie Schmader and Union’s Lexey Shick.

This is the 16^th year of the postseason District 9 awards and the 15^th they have been housed at D9Sports.com (the first year, 2000, the awards were awarded by the Tri-County Sunday out of DuBois). It marks the eighth year All American Awards & Engraving has been the title sponsor of the awards.

The 2012 Clarion Area Chamber of Business and Industry Business of the Year in the Economic Development Division, All American Awards & Engraving is located on Route 322 in Shippenville. The company, which specializes in all kinds of awards, trophies and engraving products as well as screen printing and embroidery, will put just about anything on just about anything. It can be found on the web at www.allamericanhq.com or by calling 1-877-402-9273.

Located at www.d9sports.com and on Twitter @D9Sports, D9Sports.com is in its 15^thyear of covering athletics within the PIAA’s District 9. The independent media site is not affiliated with the PIAA or PIAA District 9 in any way. For more information on the site, please visit it or e-mail the staff at sports@d9sports.com.

NOTES – In order to be eligible for the award or the all-district team, a player must participate in at least 70 percent of his team’s games. In order to be eligible for Rookie of the Year a Player must be either a freshman or a sophomore who saw limited or no time as freshman

2015 ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING/D9SPORTS.COM

DISTRICT 9 ALL-DISTRICT TEAMS

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Maci Thornton – Sr., Clarion – 21.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 4.6 spg, 1.3 apg; Shot 46.3 percent (204 of 441) from the floor; Shot 82.4 percent (122 of 148) from the free-throw line

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Tori Obenrader – Fr., North Clarion – 13.3 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 2.5 spg, 2.3 apg; Shot 37.4 percent (117 of 313) from the field

COACH OF THE YEAR
Tom McNellie – Venango Catholic – Led Lady Vikings to 21-7 overall record, District 9 Class A title, KSAC North title, KSAC runner-up finish. It was Venango Catholic’s first District 9 title and its first District title since winning a District 10 championship in 1980.

FIRST TEAM ALL-DISTRICT

Maci Thornton – Sr., Clarion – 21.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 4.6 spg, 1.3 apg; Shot 46.3 percent (204 of 441) from the floor; Shot 82.4 percent (122 of 148) from the free-throw line

LeeAnn Gibson – Jr., Karns City – 14.0 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.8 spg, 2.0 apg; Shot 56.5 percent (122 of 216) from the field; Shot 66.7 percent (94 of 141) from the free-throw line.

Madison Johnson – Sr., Keystone – 20.6 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 3.7 apg, 3.6 spg; Shot 76.3 percent (122 of 160) from the free-throw line

Brooke Roys – Sr., Port Allegany – 15.6 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 1.8 bpg

Brooke Hinderliter – Jr., Redbank Valley – 20.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.5 spg, 1.6 apg, 1.5 bpg; Shot 60.3 percent (188 of 312) from the field including 19 of 33 from 3-point range; Shot 81.8 percent (135 of 165) from the free-throw line

Ava Homan – Jr., Venango Catholic – 19.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.0 spg, 1.3 apg; Blocked 10 shots; Shot 49.2 percent (157 of 319) from the field; Shot 76.3 percent (122 of 160) from the free-throw line.

SECOND TEAM ALL-DISTRICT

Juli Esposito – Sr., Brockway – 15.9 ppg, 7.7 spg, 7.3 rpg, 4.3 apg; Shot 33.9 percent (129 of 380) from the field’ Shot 66.1 percent (74 of 112) from the free-throw line

Ciara Strickland, Sr., Curwensville – 21.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.6 apg, 3.6 spg; Shot 37.1 percent (196 of 529) from the field; Shot 33.9 percent (58 of 171) from 3-point range; Shot 74.5 percent (76 of 102) from the free-throw line

Kristina DeMatteis – So., Moniteau – 13.3 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 4.9 spg, 3.9 apg

Tori Obenrader – Fr., North Clarion – 13.3 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 2.5 spg, 2.3 apg; Shot 37.4 percent (117 of 313) from the free-throw line

Morgan Okerlund – Sr., Smethport – 15.0 ppg, 11.4 rpg, 1.7 spg, 1.4 apg; Shot 39.0 percent (112 of 287) from the field

Taylor Moltz – Sr., Venango Catholic – 16.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.8 spg, 1.0 apg; Shot 41.8 percent (147 of 352) from the field including 37.8 percent (62 of 164) from the free-throw line; Shot 77.2 percent (95 of 123) from the free-throw line.

THIRD TEAM ALL-DISTIRCT

Susie Gusito – Sr., Cameron County – 13.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.0 spg, 1.7 apg; Shot 37.7 percent (120 of 318) from the floor.

Dayna DeSalve – Jr., DuBois – 14.0 ppg; Scored in double digits 17 times in 22 games including six games of 20 or more points; Averaged 21 ppg in her final six contests

Julia Sweeney – Sr., Elk County Catholic – 9.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 6.0 apg, 5.0 spg

Shanel Preston – Sr., Karns City – 12.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.2 spg, 1.5 apg; Shot 35.6 percent (115 of 323) from the field including 39.7 percent (48 of 121) from 3-point range

Abbie Schmader – Jr., North Clarion – 14.9 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 2.0 spg, 1.5 apg; Shot 45.2 percent (137 of 303) from the field

Lexey Shick – Jr., Union – 14.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 3.0 apg, 2.9 spg; Shot 36.1 percent (117 of 324) from the field including 25 3-pointers