A-K Valley basketball stars light up scoreboard at Cager Classic

By: Ted Sarneso
Saturday, April 6, 2024 | 10:19 PM

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Those attending the 27th annual Alle-Kiski Valley Cager Classic on Saturday evening at Highlands High School were there to see some basketball between East and West All-Star teams.

The girls game looked more like a track meet, and there’s a good possibility the burn marks are still present on the court.

“That’s the way it should be,” said Highlands coach Shawn Bennis, who helmed the West team.

“Luckily I’m still a little in shape for how fast the game was played,” said St. Joseph’s Julie Spinelli, who finished with 20 points for the West. “But it was definitely getting hard down the stretch.”

The East’s transition game beat the West down the court throughout the night and led to a 95-78 win.

“Our strategy was to run and gun, to use our speed against the other team and to play together,” said Kiski Area’s Abigail Johns, who scored 15 points for the East.

The West was able to slow the game a bit and set itself up in the offensive zone halfway through the first quarter.

Spinelli scored three points, Knoch’s Naturelle Ewing sank a 3 and fellow Knight Adah Fuller produced four points to cut the East lead to 20-16 at the end of the first quarter.

They helped pull the West close after the East started on an 8-3 run, with Highlands’ Kate Myers scoring the only three points for the West. She followed with two more treys before being subbed out.

The early part of the second quarter belonged to Johns, who scored 10 points to boost the East lead to 35-19 midway through the quarter.

Once again, Spinelli sparked a comeback for the West by hitting a 3 and a jumper, then Freeport’s Morgan Croney sank a pair of 3s and Jocelyn Bielak of Highlands added a layup to pull the West within two with 45 seconds left in the half.

At the half, the East was up 42-38 after Sarai Weaver of Armstrong pulled in a rebound and drained the put-back.

The West opened the third quarter the same way they did in the first: by scoring many points quickly. Plum’s Megan Marston had eight points in transition as the East made mental mistakes and began to turn the ball over and the West expanded its lead to 61-44.

Spinelli, Bielak and St. Joseph’s Emma Swierczewski tried their best to cut the West deficit, but at the end of the third quarter the East was up 71-58.

The West had no answer for the Weaver, who made her presence known down low in the fourth quarter with eight points in the paint and extended the East lead to 86-68 with two minutes left in the game.

“It’s a game of runs,” Bennis said. “They were making shots and we weren’t, but after a timeout we got some baskets back. Each team had some great players and no matter the outcome of the game, everyone was a winner tonight.”

Emma Paul of Armstrong closed the game with a half-court 3 at the buzzer and finished with 18 points to lead the East. Weaver finished with 16, and Marston had 10.

Fuller scored 13 points, and Myers and Bielak each scored eight points for the West.

Johns and Spinelli earned MVP honors for their teams.

“It felt good to win the award, but it was a team effort,” Spinelli said. “I might have scored the most points for my team, but everyone played hard.”

Said Johns: “I’m honored to win MVP. It was an overall fun experience to play with people that went from foes to teammates tonight.”

In the end, it was all about the athletes and letting them display the skills they had developed over the last four years.

“It was just an exciting game, and it went by so fast,” said East coach Rich Mull of Plum. “I was even more impressed with the defense the girls displayed on both teams. Usually in all-star games you don’t see a lot of defense.”

Said Bennis: “It’s a great event, first class, they do it right, they treat the girls right. The girls I got the pleasure to coach for two days were some great young women who will be successful in anything they decide to do going forward.”

The boys contest was a high-scoring, possession-oriented game the East won 101-98.

Cameron Reigard of Highlands was on fire, scoring the first 13 of the West’s 15 points in the opening five minute of the game, including three straight 3-pointers. His teammate Bradyn Foster had the other two.

Billy Schaeffer of Deer Lakes came in and added to the West lead with a pair of 3s and two layups and the West led 29-19 over the East, which found its scoring from Kiski Area’s Isaiah Gonzalez and Cam Rowell of Franklin Regional, who each scored four points in the quarter.

The 3s started to rain down in the second quarter.

For the West, Freeport’s Brady Sullivan hit a pair and Brendan Getlak of Plum drained one. For the East, Franklin Regional’s Cooper Rankin drained two 3s, and Rowell and Butler’s Braylon Littlejohn sank one each.

“It was fun,” Littlejohn said. “To be able to see all my old friends and hoop with them for the game we love, it’s really great.”

The West, coached by Rich Macura of Freeport, held a 57-47 halftime lead with Reigard leading all scorers with 22 points. Cooper Rankin paced the East with 12.

The second half began with Rankin willing his team back in the game, scoring the East’s first seven points of the third quarter and shrinking the West lead to 64-54.

Grant Rochkind of Cheswick Christian Academy sank a pair of 3s, and Alex Nyilas of Hampton added two layups as the East brought their lead up to 12 with a 69-57 at the five-minute mark of the third quarter.

Reigard drained one 3 for his only points of the quarter, but his teammates filled the bucket and the West lead was 80-68 at the end of three quarters.

Led by Rowell, Gonzalez, Littlejohn and Macky Bennis of Burrell, the East fought its way back to tie the score 94-94 with four minutes to go in the game.

Gonzalez gave the East its first lead of the night when he made the second of two foul shots, and Rowell added a layup to make it 97-94 with a minute to play.

Peter Kramer of Hampton and Reigard each made layups for the West to tie the score 98-98 after Gonzalez made a free throw and Bennis made a bucket to give the East a 100-98 lead.

West bumbled the inbounds play, and Littlejohn made a free throw to make it 101-98.

“I knew we all can play, so I had a feeling it might be a crazy game, but that was definitely more than I expected,” Littlejohn said. “There was a lot of talent out there tonight.”

With three seconds left, Reigard’s deep 3 attempt fell short.

Reigard led all scorers with 27 points, Foster had 14 and Billy Schaeffer of Deer Lakes finished with 12 for the West.

“We all know each other,” Reigard said. “It’s our senior year. It was all about being competitive but also having fun in our last high school game.”

For the East, Rankin and Macky Bennis led the team with 19 points apiece. Rowell, Littlejohn and Gonzalez each scored 15.

MVPs were Littlejohn for the East and Reigard for the West.

“We all came out and played lights out,” Littlejohn said. “For me to come up with the MVP award with all the talented kids on my team, it feels good.”

Said Reigard: “Getting this award is nice, but the main goal was to go out and have fun. That’s what it’s all about. Some of us, who have played together for so long, this may have been our last chance to play together, so I say to enjoy it.”

In total the East made 11 3-pointers and the West sank 12.