The North girls' All-Stars

All-Star basketball teams often feature a collection of scorers, nothing but a group of shooting guards and small forwards that look to shoot the basketball with incredible frequency. It can often lead to boring basketball.

The group comprising the North girls' roster for Saturday's AmeriServ Senior Hoops Classic, which tips off at 1 p.m. at the Pitt-Johnstown Sports Center, is much more than a collection of offensive standouts. It resembles an actual basketball team.

Sure, the North features some of the area's premier scorers, but there are players who rebounded, ran the point and dug down defensively. Another positive for Portage coach Lance Hudak, who guided the Mustangs to one of its best seasons and will lead the North roster, is every player came from a playoff team. Several of those players came from teams that accomplished more than expected in the postseason.

Coach: Lance Hudak, Portage
The Mustangs finished 22-4 and won their first WestPAC championship with a hard-fought overtime victory against Berlin. Portage was the District 6 Class A runner-up and qualified for the PIAA playoffs.

Players (in alphabetical order)
Katie Bracken, Central Cambria
Red Devils' post presence averaged 8.8 points and a team-best 9.1 rebounds.

Jamie Cekada, Conemaugh Valley
Blue Jays point guard did a little bit of everything as she averaged 7.1 points, 4.9 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.8 steals.

Casey Gallaher, Forest Hills
Gallaher aggravated an injury in the final game of the season and won't be able to play but plans to attend game. She scored 1,500 career points.

Lexi Hody, Conemaugh Valley
Ranked second on team with 10.1 scoring average.

Taylor King-Brothers, Central Cambria
King-Brothers recently signed with St. Francis track, but she's also a basketball standout who averaged 8.8 points and 3.2 steals.

Paige Lamberson, Westmont Hilltop
Three-point shooting specialist averaged 11.9 points and made 65 3-pointers.

Heather Marsh, Blacklick Valley
Stat-sheet filler averaged 11.0 rebounds and team-high 11.1 rebounds.

Emily McCabe, Portage
Key role player for Mustangs averaged 4.9 points and 4.2 rebounds.

Bri Mulhern, Penn Cambria
Another sharpshooter, Mulhern averaged 11.7 points and made 47 3-pointers.

Candice Ramus, Portage
One of the area's premier shooters in rifle, Ramus was a rare multi-sport winter sports athlete.

Erin Rodgers, Westmont Hilltop
One of area's most complete players averaged 16.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 4.0 steals.

Marlee Zubek, Forest Hills
Key figure for District 6 Class AAA champs averaged 8.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists while leading team with 30 3-pointers.

District 6 girls' Class AA preview

Top seeds: 1. Bald Eagle Area (20-1), 2. Bellwood-Antis (19-1), 3. Westmont Hilltop (19-3), 4. Blairsville (21-1).
Defending champion: Forest Hills.
Top players: Erin Rodgers, Paige Lamberson (Westmont Hilltop), Sarah Pfeil, Katie Gehlmann (Richland), Mackenzie Barbin, Emily Daley (Bishop McCort), Bri Wasser, Taylor King-Brothers (Central Cambria), Kaitlyn Krug, Bri Mulhern (Penn Cambria), Marissa Ward (Bald Eagle), Mackenzie Livingston (Blairsville).
The skinny: Bald Eagle's record is impressive. The level of competition they played isn't. Ditto for Bellwood-Antis. ... The Hilltoppers play Bishop Guilfoyle for the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference title later today. ... Blairsville averages close to 70 points per game and is coached by former Richland coach Ralph McGinnis. ... Richland is seeded seventh and if the Rams get past Central Cambria, they could give No. 2 Bellwood-Antis trouble. ... Bishop McCort has displayed considerable improvement as the season has progressed.
Sleeper: Richland.
Prediction: Blairsville over Westmont Hilltop.

Area well represented on PFN All-State teams

The Pennsylvania Football news released its comprehensive All-State teams on Tuesday, and the area is well-represented, particularly in Class AA.

If you want to read the entire list of players, click here.

Locally, many of the players – Richland's Tanner Solarczyk, Berlin' Drew Glotflety and Penn Cambria Mack Behe – one would expect to be recognized were. There were a few surprises, too.

Greater Johnstown's Dalvin Williams was the lone local representative on the Class AAA team. He earned second-team honors at linebacker after he finished the regular season with 149 tackles. Williams was a first-team selection to the Pennsylvania Sports Writers' All-State team and had 10 or more tackles in all 10 of the Trojans' games.

Richland's Kyle Flick

Solarczyk, selected Tribune-Democrat Offensive Player of the Year, was a first-team running back in Class AA and was joined on the first team by Rams receiver Kyle Flick. Richland also placed quarterback Matt Shaffer on the second team along with lineman Josh Dininny. Receiver Luke Shertzer was the fifth Richland player selected as he made third team offense.

Ligonier Valley placed two on the Class AA offense. Lineman Micah Tennant, who will play at Lehigh, was a second-team selection and Ryan Torrance made third team at running back.

Forest Hills receiver Jared Shope, who spent time at quarterback this season because of an injury to Rangers starter Joe Donoughe, was a third-team selection.

Ligonier Valley's Stuart Urch

Behe made the PA Sports Writers All-State team at linebacker as a junior and a senior, so it's no surprise that the disruptive force from Penn Cambria earned a first-team spot in Class AA. He's joined at linebacker by Ligonier's Stuart Urch, who had 20 sacks.

Central Cambria defensive lineman  Tyler Gironda was a third-team selection in Class AA.

Two area talents landed on the Class A second team offense in Bishop McCort kicker Jordan Spangler and Berlin's Drew Glotfelty. Spangler kicked nine field goals in addition to being one of the area's premier pass catchers. Glotfelty, along with Solarczyk, rushed for 2,000 yards.

Berlin offensive lineman Levi Bowser was a third-team selection along with Shade running back Brock Medva.

Luke DiFrancesco, another of Bishop McCort's talented receivers, earned second-team honors at defensive back. He was joined by emerging defensive lineman Stew Trulick of Berlin and Norther Cambria linebacker Alex Atkins – Tribune-Democrat Defensive Player of the Year. Atkins finished the season with 160 tackles.


Windber placed three players on the third team in receiver Matt Barkley, punter Dustin Blough and defensive back Devon Tomlinson. North Star's Brantley Rice was also a third-team pick at defensive back.