March 2009 Archives

Which Division I college basketball programs have shown interest in York Catholic sophomore guard Kady Schrann? Fighting Irish coach Kevin Bankos said that's the wrong question to ask.

"It's probably easier to tell you the ones that haven't been showing interest," Bankos said with a laugh. "Some of the big name ones have definitely contacted me."

Schrann was named first-team all-state for the second consecutive season on Wednesday and helped the Irish win a fourth consecutive District 3 title and reach the PIAA championship tilt for the fourth straight season. The sophomore led the team in scoring with 17.5 points per game.

She has impressed enough people to garner serious attention from programs like Duke, Maryland, Penn State and Notre Dame among others.

A new book tells about the West York High School's district champs.

A 56-page book about the West York High School varsity football team's District 3 championship season is being published this month by the York Daily Record/Sunday News and its high school sports Web site, GameTimePA.com.

For details, see:The dogs got out.

Since this is the first year that lacrosse is an officially-sanctioned varsity sport at several YAIAA schools, it's hard to gauge which teams are the favorites to win the division titles and make some noise in the playoffs on both the boys and girls side.

Luckily, there's some entity out there confident enough in its system to post computer rankings for both boys and girls teams in Central Pennsylvania.

In a couple weeks or so, I'm thinking of doing my own spring rankings, with a bit of a twist. What I'm thinking is putting together a top ten teams across all the spring sports, ranking the squads based on how dominant they are against their competition. For example, at No. 1 could be a boys' volleyball team, at No. 2 could be a girls' soccer team, etc. Stay tuned for that.

In the meantime, check out my attempt at analysis of these lacrosse rankings after the jump.

No state titles, but still an incredible season overall for the YAIAA.

Any other year, York Suburban would probably be the top-ranked boys team in the area, what with the Trojans winning the District 3 Class AAA championship and reaching the state semifinalists. All of that just happened to occur in a season where William Penn went 32-2 and reached the championship game in the state's highest classification.

There is a change from last time on the girls side. Rationale and full rankings after the jump.

York Daily Record/Sunday News reporter and resident sports historian Jim Seip emailed me this morning after seeing my front-page story for today's newspaper. Seip knows York County basketball and is sure the 1957-58 William Penn boys' basketball team had far fewer than 32 wins:

The 1958 basketball team has no where near 30 victories. They went 23-1. The team's record has been verified with 1958 microfilm from the Daily & Gazette.

Back then only the Central Penn League champ entered the District 3 tournament, and when it did it entered the tourney with a bye -- starting play in the quarterfinals or semis. And back then the state tournament consisted of only district champions. The tournaments didn't have as many teams, the seasons were shorter.

There's no way the 1958 team could win 30 games -- they just didn't play as many games back then. Even the 1980 team (24-5) that reached the state semis didn't play 30 games.

The William Penn boys basketball team was unsuccessful in their bid for the first state basketball title in school history, losing to Penn Wood 72-53 in Saturday's PIAA Class AAAA championship game at Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center.

Look for extensive coverage of the game on Gametime and in Sunday's York Sunday News.

Penn Wood seized back whatever momentum Jevaughn Murphy's first-half buzzer beater took away from them, opening the third quarter with a 9-4 run to go up by 13 and force William Penn coach Troy Sowers to call his fourth timeout, leaving him with only one for the rest of the game.

The Bearcats cut the deficit to six on a Generett turnaround jumper that made the score 45-39, but the Patriots once again recovered well enough to increase their lead, taking a 15-point advantage into the fourth quarter after Will Brown hit a 3-pointer from the left wing in the closing seconds of the third quarter that made the score 57-42.

Most of Penn Wood's offensive production has come from 6-foot-5 forwards Aaron Brown and Duane Johnson. Through three quarters Brown has scored 18 and Johnson has scored 16.

It took a Jevaughn Murphy 3-pointer at the buzzer for William Penn to go into halftime down by single digits. The Bearcats opened the second quarter with an 11-3 run, but Penn Wood answered back and leads 34-26 after two quarters of play.

The adrenaline must have already been pumping, but Malachi Leonard's dunk to make the score 21-14 ignited the crowd and seem to help his teammates take it to another level. William Penn continued it's strong play and made the score 22-20 on a Chemin Lambert layup with 5:10 left in the second quarter.

Penn Wood rediscovered its game at that point, forcing the same turnovers that plagued the Bearcats in the first half. They were also forced fouls on key William Penn players, as Kelvin Parker and Chemin Lambert have both picked up their third.

For William Penn, Leonard has clearly come to play tonight and has been a major factor so far. He finished the first half with six points. Jevaughn Murphy has been another star and leads the Bearcats in scoring with 11 points.

Coming off the bench, Jevaughn Murphy scored the last five points of the first quarter to pull the Bearcats within 10 points after eight minutes of play.

The junior guard first drew a foul on a drive to the basket and easily made both foul shots. William Penn stole the ball on the next Penn Wood possession and Murphy drove to the hoop again, this time sinking the layup while drawing the foul. He made his third consecutive free throw.

A 10-point hole is much easier to stomach than a 15-point deficit, but the Bearcats clearly have their work cut out for them over the final three quarters.

William Penn fell further behind as the first quarter wore on, eventually trailing 19-4 with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter and forcing coach Troy Sowers to call another timeout.

The Patriots are forcing a ton of turnovers, about nine so far. The Bearcats are also having a hard time knocking down shots, with most of their attempts coming from the perimeter.

Malik Generett is visibly frustrated. After Penn Wood's Will Brown came up with a steal with Generett down on the floor trying to grab the loose ball, the senior pounded the floor with his palm loud enough for the entire arena to hear. Brown sank a layup, drew the foul and converted the free throw.

The only real ovation from the William Penn stands came when Duane Johnson missed a dunk. Penn Wood still stole the ball on the next possession and scored.

It only took 36 seconds for Penn Wood to take a 7-0 lead. Three William Penn turnovers helped make it happen, as did some offensive rebounding by the Patriots.

Anybody following the Bearcats recently knows they have been in this position before. It will take another recovery from a regrettable early performance to earn the state crown.

That is how 1996 William Penn grad and Bearcat assistant football coach Ali Johnson described seeing his beloved school in the PIAA Class AAAA finals.

"This seems unbeliveable. This is the state championship game," he said with glee.

Following Archbishop Carroll's 68-45 decimation of Lampeter-Strasburg in the PIAA Class AAA girls' championship, the Bearcats are 2009's final hope for District 3 to capture a state title.

For the first time in seven years, the YAIAA and District 3 did not win the girls' AA title when Villa Maria bested York Catholic Friday afternoon, 56-51.

Not used to getting shut out for PIAA gold, the district is counting on a William Penn victory in the final of of eight weekend games.

Between live blog posts, Steve Navaroli and I took some time to verbally dispense our insight regarding tonight's PIAA Class AAAA championship game from the Bryce Jordan Center stands.

Watch the video above to hear more about Penn Wood and what we think the Bearcats will need to do to win the first state basketball title in school history.

If you're looking for the biggest difference between William Penn's play in the PIAA Class AAAA tournament compared with, just keep your eye on No. 21.

The uniform is worn by sophomore Kelvin Parker, who has been William Penn's best defensive player all season but has nearly doubled his season scoring average with a state tournament output of about 19 points per game.

"Kelvin Paker has been the X-factor during this state run," Sowers said. "He has just attacked the basket."

Some of the same characteristics that make Parker so tough to face on defense has allowed him to step up when his team has the ball.

Walking the concourse at Bryce Jordan Center 60 minutes before game time and you can see one dominant color.

Orange.

Wiliam Penn fans made the trek to State College in droves, including those who packed seven fan buses.

Such support is no shock to Bearcats coach Troy Sowers.

"It has been like a home game for us every place we have played," he said.

The same could be said for Wednesday night's semifinal win over Plymouth-Whitemarsh when William Penn fans outnumbered Colonials rooters by a significant margin.

Courtside at the Bryce Jordan Center, William Penn players were looking plenty relaxed two hours before the start of the PIAA Class AAAA championship game against Penn Wood.

Malik Generett was his normal stoic self despite it being the biggest game the team (and the YAIAA) has ever played and taking the lead from senior, the rest of the squad looked calm as could be.

Fellow senior Malachi Leonard sway to whatever music was playing over the loudspeader while the girls' Class AAA teams were warming up. You couldn't pry the smile off his face.

Coach Troy Sowers said the team had a send-off breakfast and enjoyed a nice bus ride up, complete with a movie to pass the time.

The Bearcats look ready.

Malachi Leonard came into the PIAA playoffs as William Penn's leading scorer at more than 15 points per game. In the first three games of the tournament, however, he averaged only 6.7 points and fouled out of two of those contests.

The 6-foot-6 senior had a bit of a rebirth in Wednesday's semifinal victory, scoring 16 points for the Bearcats.

"Actually, Malachi, I think he's played all year and sometimes good players have tough games," fellow senior forward Malik Generett said. "He played hard and I know he has my back and my team's back. He grabbed rebounds and that's what we need him to do to win these games."

A similar performance tonight will go a long way toward securing a state title for William Penn, especially considering the opposition.

William Penn guard Ryan Matthews is tired of trailing in the first quarter.

The Bearcats were down 16-2 in their quarterfinal game against Parkland and then down 11-2 in their semifinal game against Plymouth-Whitemarsh. William Penn still managed to win both games, but the team wants to make sure it doesn't fall into an early hole in tonight's state title contest against Penn Wood.

"The slow starts are crazy," Matthews said. "We just have to maintain are composure in the beginning and come out strong. We have to come at them before teams come at us. We do that and stay with our game plan, we should win the state championship."

There are at least seven buses full of William Penn boys' basketball fans currently en route to Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. Right now the arena is relatively quiet, as staff members prepare the arena for the 6 p.m. PIAA Class AAA title game that will be followed at 8 p.m. by William Penn's clash with District 1 runner-up Penn Wood for the Class AAAA title.

You may have heard the program has never won a state title and hasn't reached the state title game since 1949, despite a proud history of memorable teams.

William Penn coach Troy Sowers believes there is one factor that is propelling his team to unprecedented heights that may have been overlooked.

Kevin Bankos can get away with it, at least.

"I think she played like a beast," York Catholic coach Kevin Bankos said of junior forward Brittany Hicks. "I know I'm OK to say that because I always kid with her. That's a huge compliment for her. She's a playoff kid. She's a limelight kid that's not afraid of these moments. She absorbs these moments. She wants these moments.

"We know she's going to be there so we're willing to give her the ball. We're willing to take our chance on her. We expect her to make big plays for us and she made a couple to get us back in the game."

Hicks scored 19 points and pulled down 12 rebounds in York Catholic's 56-51 loss to Villa Maria in Friday's state title game and was the only player on the floor for either team to register a double-double.

Kady Schrann, the sophomore leader for York Catholic was proud of her team's comback that fell just short.

"We kept at it. We didn't give up and that is what makes us proud," she said after the Irish fell short in their quest for a fourth straight state title.

Two players really stuck out to Schrann and it gives the team plenty to look forward to.

Freshman Karli McFatridge and Rachel Forjan hit big shots during the comeback.

"In practice, coach will take me out and put Rachel in," Schrann said. "She knows what she has to do. I tell her play with intensity and play hard - Karli too, They both step up a lot. I am proud of them."

The York Catholic girls were in an unfamiliar position while watching another team get gold medals and hoist a championship trophy.

Yet after a stunning comeback fell just short, the Irish were forced to watch the ceremony.

They handled it with class.

York Catholic came close. Painfully close, even. But the Fighting Irish couldn't complete a comeback against Villa Maria Academy, losing 56-51 in the state title game to fall short of their bid for four consecutive state titles.

Look for more information on the game here at The Lineup Card, on Gametime and in Saturday's York Daily Record

Kady Schrann banked in a pull-up 3-pointer from the top of the key with 0:43 showing on the clock to make the score 51-48.

The York Catholic defense has been outstanding in the second half and Villa Maria has struggled enough from the free throw line to keep the Irish in the game. The Victors do have the ball and a three-point lead, however.

After another York Catholic rally, Irish fans are confident the team can pull another amazing comeback victory

The Fighting Irish have continued their second half surge, pulling to within five points of Villa Maria. With 3:14 left in the game, the score is 46-41. Villa Maria just called a timeout with possession of the ball.

Schrann hit a 15-foot jumper while getting fouled and drained the free throw for the last three York Catholic points. Brittany Hicks had a chance to make it a one-possession game, but missed a pair of free throws.

Three years ago, York Catholic came back from 19 points down against Westmont Hilltop to win the the first of its three consecutive state titles.

The Fighting Irish trailed by as many as 18 midway through the third quarter, but was able to hold Villa Maria scoreless over the last five minutes and close the quarter with a 10-0 run.

York Catholic has stepped up its perimeter defense, keeping the Villa Maria shooters from getting open looks. Brittany Hicks has continued to make her presence known in the post and on the boards and Mary McGann has grabbed a couple rebounds as well.

Kady Schrann is stepping up her game and making plays on offense for the Irish, who now trail 39-31 going into the fourth quarter, but Hicks is still York Catholic's leading scorer with 15 points. Hicks scored a layup in transition off a Mary McGann with four seconds remaining in the third quarter to make it 10 straight points for the Irish.

Jenny McGann is on the bench with four fouls for York Catholic.

York Catholic opened the second quarter with five straight points, but Villa Maria took control of the game from there, utilizing its stifling defense and long-range shooting ability to close the first half with a 15-2 run and take a 32-17 lead with 16 minutes remaining in the season.

The Irish are really struggling against the Villa pressure and have often looked overwhelmed on offense, which helps explain why they scored only two points over the final seven minutes of the second quarter. Brittany Hicks leads the Irish with seven points. Kady Schrann is right behind with six and Jenny McGann has four, but no other York Catholic player has been able to score.

Villa Maria has utilized multiple weapons on the offensive end and have scored almost have of its points on 3-point jumpers. Without one or two players on which to focus, the York Catholic defense has been scrambling as the Victors have effectively moved the ball on offense to get open looks.

More first-half stats after the jump

Ashley Prischak's shot spun around the hoop several times, but fell for her second straight 3-pointer giving Villa Maria a 23-15 lead with five minutes to play in the first half.

York Catholic fell behind 17-7 late in the first quarter, but was able to get a field goal in the post from Brittany Hicks and one of two fouls shots from Kady Schrann along with a pair of defensive stops to close the quarter only down by seven.

The Irish will need to build on that last minute of play, which featured better defensive pressure and smarter decisions on offense. York Catholic has the momentum right now and will need to use it.

Unfortunately for the three-time defending state champs, senior Jenny McGann has already picked up two fouls. She is still in the game.

After the Irish scored the game's first basket, Villa Maria opened up a 14-3 run to take a nine-point lead and force York Catholic coach Kevin Bankos to call a timeout with 2:13 left in the first quarter.

York Catholic has committed four turnovers in the early going, which has allowed the Victors to score in transition. Kayla McBride has five points for Villa Maria in the early going. The Irish look out of rhythm so far.

York Catholic looks excited. Maybe not Brittany-Hicks-after-the-district-title-win excited, but close.

The Fighting Irish forced a turnover on Villa Maria's first possesion and Kady Schrann put York Catholic ahead 2-0 to start the game. That has to be an encouraging sign for the Irish.

Packing into the section closest to the York Catholic bench, the Irish students, led by a large group of seniors, many of which have been to the state title game for four straight years, were making themselves known.

Cheering their team while giving Villa Maria "encouragement" during warm-ups the group get really loud when the TV cameras focused on them.

They were ready.

It started with the players clowning around on the floor of the Bryce Jordan Center after their arrival about an hour ago (can anybody guess which one is Mary and which one is Jenny?), but now the York Catholic girls are all business -- shooting around and getting loose for the biggest game of the season.

Looking as focused as ever Brittany Hicks, is practicing her post moves as well as her jump shot. The 5-foot-10 Hicks is York Catholic's strongest offensive force in the paint and she worked on a turnaround move from both the left and right blocks.

Mary McGann is focusing on her pull-up jumper, taking two or three dribbles before pulling up about 12-feet from the basket on the left side of the floor. McGann and her twin sister Jenny combined for 30 points in York Catholic's semifinal victory over Delone Catholic, scoring 13 and 17 points, respectively.

Sure, they're laughing on the surface. But you have to think Villa Maria coach Scott Dibble (left) and York Catholic coach Kevin Bankos (right) are scheming ways to beat each other while they joke around on the court before today's game.

The two coaches do seem to get along well and seem to have a mutual respect for each other (although after his team lost to the Irish in the title game two years ago, Dibble did say: "They're good, but not that good.").

Villa Maria has looked impressive all season, with its only loss to a Pennsylvania opponent coming against a Cardinal O'Hara squad that will be playing for the Class AAAA title tonight, but Bankos has won the only time the two coaches faced off against each other.

She was the leading scorer on last year's championship squad and was named first-team all-state, but York Catholic's Kady Schrann was still only a freshman during the 2007-08 state title run.

This year it's different for Schrann (pictured above after last year's title win with since-graduated Ashton Bankos and Kelly Rhein). She has stepped up to a leadership role. She has taken a proactive approach in bringing along the younger Irish players. She has taken charge.

That's why it's no wonder the sophomore said if the Irish win today, this year's title would have a greater meaning for her.

Kevin Bankos and the rest of the York Catholic coaching staff is already on the court getting ready for the biggest game of the season. One of the big advantages the Irish have is the experience of that coaching staff during their three consecutive state titles. It also helps to have four of the top six players back from last year's squad.

That fifth starting spot on the floor is filled by 5-foot-10 freshman forward Carly Marks (pictured above).

Marks wasn't a starter early in the season when the Fighting Irish were still shuffling their lineup and trying to figure out the best combination of players for this season, but the freshman made an early impression on the coaching staff.

"Carly plays hard and her passion to play hard was the first thing we noticed," Bankos said of Marks. "The second thing is Carly refuses to lose. She hates to lose. When you have a young kid that hates to lose, you want that passion on the floor."

It's about an hour and a half before the start of the PIAA Class AA championship game between York Catholic (26-6) and District 10 champion Villa Maria (26-3) and with the arena still relatively empty besides a handful of media members like me and some staff, it seems like a good time to look closer at how the Fighting Irish made it this far.

You can read my print story from today's paper here, but one element that I didn't have much space to elaborate on is York Catholic's unique leadership style.

Senior starters Mary and Jenny McGann and sophomore standout Kady Schrann are Irish leaders this season, but they are far from bombastic.

"Quiet leadership," Jenny McGann said with a laugh before Thursday's practice. "That kind of doesn't make sense."

William Penn junior point guard Chemin Lambert (No. 5) runs the show for one of the best teams in school history. Sometimes he needs to be reminded of that fact. Coach Troy Sowers is happy to do it.

"Sometimes he's concerned about points," Sowers said of Lambert. "I said: 'Chemin, now you're the starting point guard on a team that's 31-1 and now in the state eastern finals. You're good. Just get the job done and let the game come to you."

Malik Generett and Malachi Leonard have garnered plenty of attention for their play in the post. Ryan Matthews has grabbed the spotlight several times as the team's top scoring guard. Kelvin Parker is the team's best defensive player and is leading the Bearcats in scoring during PIAA tournament play. Even sixth man Jevaughn Murphy was the subject of this feature story before the start of state play.

But make no mistake. Lambert is just as pivotal a part of this team as those teammates mentioned above.

Tom McInerney talked about how his struggles in York Suburban's district title victory (he fouled out with no points) helped motivate him to step it up in the first round of the PIAA Class AAA tournament. The evidence suggests that McInerney redeemed himself.

The thing is, the junior forward hasn't stopped playing at that high level.

Already one of the most talented and effective players on the team (he is averaging 11.2 points per game), McInerney has been a major presence offensively and defensively during Suburban's run to tonight's state semifinals, averaging 14.7 points per game during the three game stretch and helping the Trojans keep opponents under 50 points in each contest.

Suburban coach Tom Triggs said that comes as no surprise.

First of all: Three teams with the word York in its name or on its uniform in the state semifinals? I know I'm still fairly new around here, but that seems like kind of a big deal. Do I hear multiple state titles? Anybody?

Anyway, the boys rankings don't change. William Penn and York Suburban at the top in that order. There is some movement among the girls, however, although maybe not where you might expect.

Full list of teams and more rationale after the jump.

William Penn senior forward didn't have to think twice about it. Of course Wednesday's triple-overtime win over Central Bucks South in the second round of the PIAA Class AAAA tournament was the most exhausting game he had been a part of.

"This is the most," Generett said. "We just went out and worked hard. Shoot, I ain't never played that many quarters, that many overtimes, but it feels good to have a victory."

The guys on the sidelines were fatigued as well.

"I don't know what to say," William Penn coach Troy Sowers (pictured above) said. "I don't think I've ever been more exhausted in my life."

Here is a list of all of the YAIAA participants at the PIAA swimming and diving championships that run from Wednesday through Saturday. The AA competition is Wednesday and Thursday, with AAA hitting the water Friday and Saturday.

Class AA girls
Delone Catholic: Andrea Staub (200 individual medley, 500 free), Enya Messersmith (200 individual medley, 100 backstroke).
Dover: Christina Janosky (100 backstroke), Laura Rowlands (diving)
Eastern York: Lyndsey Dickson (diving)
Susquehannock: Christine Hammond (200 individual medley, 500 free)
York Country Day: Shannon Mulcahy (100 butterfly, 500 free)
York Suburban: Lauren Schmittle (200 free, 100 free), Jenna Bentz (200 free, 500 free), Rachel Buchanan (200 free), Katherine Triggs (500 free), 200 free relay, 400 free relay.

Class AA boys
West York: Brian Strathmeyer (200 individual medley, 100 backstroke)
York Suburban: Kevin Marsteller (200 free, 100 butterfly), Ben Appleby (200 free, 100 free), Ian Kruper (100 butterfly, 500 free), 200 free relay, 400 free relay.

Class AAA girls
Central York: Kelly Dvoryak (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke)
Dallastown: Leigh Waltz (diving), Julie Brown (50 free), Caroline Bixler (100 butterfly), 200 free relay
Spring Grove: Lauren Magalski (diving)
William Penn: Morgan Pfaff (200 individual medley, 100 backstroke)

Class AAA boys
Dover: 200 medley relay, Eric Naylor (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke), Stephen Cashman (100 butterfly)

Salisbury catcher Lauren Brenneman is back in familiar territory when the Central York grad was named the Capital Athletic Conference co-Player of the Week in softball.

Brenneman, shown above tagging out a baserunner during Central's 2005 district championship game, hit 8-for-17 for the week, including a team-high three home runs, along with five RBI and six runs scored during the Virginia Wesleyan Beach Blast.

She is joined for CAC honors with York College sophomore third baseman Kelly Smith, who hit 18-for-35 with five RBI and eight runs scored for the 25th-ranked Spartans.

Fellow York College standout Ryan Poff, a Spring Grove grad, received the same honor for his .538 batting average (14-for-26) with 10 runs scored, 13 RBI, six doubles and a homer. He also stole two bases for YCP, which is has won nine-straight.

Dallastown's Clay Gable finishes the 171-pound title in style, racking up eight points in the third period to record a 16-1 technical fall over Cedar Cliff's Clint Morrison at 5:18 of their Class AAA 171-pound PIAA Wrestling championship.

The Wildcat hit a reversal and then five back points to make it 14-0 and, after letting the Colt junior up, hit a double leg takedown to clinch the gold medal.

Clay Gable moved his lead out to 7-0 after the second period with an escape and a takedown.

No change in the rankings from last week. The top two boys teams won their first round games while Eastern York and Delone Catholic had their season ended this weekend. Simple enough.

As usual, it's a little more complicated on the girls side.

Eastern York won their game, which helps them keep their top spot. York Catholic, Red Lion and Delone Catholic, ranked third through fifth, all won their games, while second-ranked West York lost in the first round of the state tournament.

So why do I still have the Bulldogs ranked No. 2 this time?

Dylan Alton of Central Mountain won the marquee match-up of the Class AAA finals of the PIAA Wrestling Championships, defeating Joey Napoli of Cumberland Valley in the 145-pound final. Both wrestlers were 2008 state champions.

Dylan's twin brother Andrew won his first title one weight class earlier, pinning Jack Bachman of Hempfield Area (District 7) in 1:24. It was his third first-period fall of the tournament.

Delone Catholic's Dallas Brown fought the good fight but in the end couldn't solve the defense of Line Mountain's Jon Fausey in a 7-5 loss for the PIAA Class AA 189-pound championship.

Fausey showed an excellent variety of offense, scoring three takedowns on three different moves while giving Brown no openings in his defense. The Squire senior had trouble getting anything started offensively against the taller Fausey, a Team Diesel teammate in the off-season, but did finally hit a takedown with 32 seconds remaining in the bout but it was too late as he was unable to turn the Eagle senior to his back for nearfall points.

Brown finishes his senior season with a 36-4 record and his second straight state tournament medal. Last season, the University of Maryland-bound wrestler was fourth at 189 pounds.

Dallastown's Clay Gable put on a totally dominating performance in the semifinal round of the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships to earn a shot at a state title this evening, winning a 9-3 decision over Belle Vernon's Patrick Tasser.

The Wildcat senior was in control of Tasser from the start, registering the initial takedown just 19 seconds into their 171-pound bout and riding him for the rest of the period.

Gable (38-4) then hit for takedowns in the second and third period before tacking on a reversal in the waning seconds.

In Saturday's finals, he will face Cedar Cliff's Clint Morrison, who surprised everyone in winning three straight bouts here, two in overtime.

Some notes from the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament first round game at York College.

Final score: York 75, Christopher Newport 61

Score over the last 6:15 of the game: York 18, Christopher Newport 2
Number of double-digit scorers: York 4 (April Sparkman, Keli Ward, Amanda Andrews, Jamie Sapp), Christopher Newport 2 (Chelsie Schweers, Jessica Moore).
YAIAA alums: York: Jamie Polan (West York) played four minutes. Mandy Parshall (Northeastern-home school) played in the final minute and grabbed a rebound.
Number of seniors in uniform: York 6, Christopher Newport 0.
Number of previous NCAA appearances: Christopher Newport 11, York 0
Previous meeting between the two. Christopher Newport 88, York 52, 1991-92 season

Delone Catholic senior Dallas Brown advanced to Saturday's PIAA Class AA state championship match in the 189-pound weigh class Friday after a dominating 9-1 major decision over R.J. Malson of Greenville.

Brown will face Line Mountain's Jon Fausey who knocked off defending champion Roman San Doval, 5-2, in the semifinal match.

A 5-for-7 performance in the second round of consolations brings the YAIAA medal count from the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships to six for the three-day event, very easily the toughest scholastic championships there are in PA.

Leading the way were seniors Tanner Bidelspach of Spring Grove and Keith Dahlheimer of Red Lion.

Bidelspach extracted a bit of revenge by totally controlling his 7-1 victory over Central Dauphin's Kevin Gooding. The Rocket 112-pounder connected for three takedowns and stayed out of the dangerous tilts the Ram sophomore has become known for. The win turns around their result from the District 3 Championships where Gooding knocked off Bidelspach, getting five points enroute to a 8-4 win.

Dallastown's Clay Gable turned out another solid performance in his 171-pound quarterfinal round bout of the PIAA Class AAA Wrestling Championships, winning an 8-0 major decision over Ty Wilps of Chartiers Valley.

The victory puts the Wildcat senior into tomorrow morning's semifinal around against Belle Vernon's Patrick Tasser. Tasser upset pre-tournament favorite Nick Milano of Erie Cathedral Prep, 3-1, in their quarterfinal bout.

With three wrestlers on the mat simultaneously, the Delone coaching staff of Trevor Byers and John Hefner would know very quickly if they were going to have a good or a great PIAA Wrestling tournament.

About five minutes later, it officially became a great one as all three Squire wrestlers - Josh Ruppert (112), Jacob Boyde (119) and Tyler Small (125) - won second-round consolation matches to reach the medal rounds. Add in Dallas Brown (189) who had already clinched a piece of hardware with his quarterfinal victory earlier in the morning and Delone was a perfect 4-for-4.

All four Delone wrestlers return to action this evening to determine what place they will be wrestling for in Saturday's medal matches.

In one of the highlight quarterfinal bouts of the PIAA Class AA Wrestling Championships, Dallas Brown of Delone Catholic eeked out a 6-5 decision over Westmont Hilltop's Zac Bennett. Bennett had won the Class AA 189-pound state title in 2007 but missed almost the entire 2007-08 season with an knee injury.

Brown won it with a reversal with just 20 seconds remaining. The Squire senior now faces RJ Malson of Greenville in this evening's semifinal round.

Meanwhile, Bermudian Springs senior Derek Schmleyun went into the PIAA Wrestling Championships one of eight undefeated wrestlers in the Class AA field. After Friday's quarterfinal round, the Eagle senior is no longer in than elite group.

Schmelyun fell behind United's Robert Henderson on a first-period takedown and things went downhill from there, eventually ending in a 14-6 major decision for the Lion sophomore. The two-time District 3 champion found himself on his back three different, the first time of which could have been called a pin without question but the ref was a little slow getting around the wrestlers.

The diving McLain's of Dallastown are still making a splash (sorry, I couldn't resist).

The three brothers, Zach, Zane and Nick have all moved on to the compete in college.

The eldest, Zach (above diving for Army) will graduate from West Point in May and recently placed third in the 1-meter competition at the Patriot League swimming and diving championships. The 2005 Dallastown alum also placed sixth in the 3-meter.

Middle brother Zane was solid at the Big East championships, finishing ninth in the 3-meter and 11th in the 1-meter for the University of Pittsburgh.

Zane, is shown above diving for the Wildcats before graduating in 2007.

Although he didn't make Penn State's travel squad, youngest brother Nick, a 2008 D-town grad pictured above, did compete in home meets for the Nittany Lions.

Two more losses at heavyweight by Red Lion's Keith Dahlheimer and Kennard-Dale's Nick Page completed a rough 1-7 preliminary round for the YAIAA's Class AAA qualifiers.

But the entire league brigade came back with a vengence going 7-for-7 in first-round consolation matches to remain in the medal hunt. The Mustang duo of Cameron Throckmorton (119) and Drew Rebling (130) each earned decisions and were joined there by New Oxford's Jordan Conaway (103), Spring Grove's Tanner Bidelspach (112), Dallastown's Jon Childress (125), Dahlheimer and Page.

All seven are just one win away from wrapping up hardware to bring back to York County. It would just be a matter of how high up the stand each would finish.

William Penn boys' basketball coach Troy Sowers wanted to make sure his players entered Tuesday's practice with the right mindset. The Bearcats were coming off their first loss of the season and Sowers said he just wanted to make sure "everybody's heads were at the right place."

Senior forward Malik Generett had already gotten the job started.

"Malik Generett is our leader," Sowers said. "Malik came out and was vocal and before I was even talking he was telling everybody that we were going to have a good week in practice."

Dallastown's Clay Gable broke the YAIAA losing streak in the Class AAA portion of the PIAA Wrestling Championships with a victory in the 171-pound weight class. The Wildcat senior knocked off Great Valley's Scott Schretzenmaier, 5-0, to advance to Friday's quarterfinal round where he will face Ty Wilps of Chartiers Valley.

The Class AA session was pretty uneventful save one unbeaten wrestler - Sharpsville's Justin Buchanan - dropped two straight to be eliminated.

However, as usual, Class AAA brings a little bit more excitement to the Giant Center and this one was a big one as defending state champion Cortland Choate of Blue Mountain. Choate lost a 4-2 tiebreaker decision to Nick Catalano of Canon McMillan in the opening round of the 130-pound weight class.

If the name sounds familiar, it should. Choate won his 2008 title by defeating Red Lion's Chris Albright 2-1 to win the 125-pound weight class.

The five YAIAA lightweights who qualified for the PIAA Wrestling Championships all made the same fate in the opening round Thursday afternoon - tough losses.

Both South Western wrestlers - Cameron Throckmorton (119) and Drew Rebling (130) - dropped one-point decisions. Dallastown's Jon Childress (125) lost a two-pointer while New Oxford's Jordan Conaway (103) and Spring Grove's Tanner Bidelspach (112) lost by four as each gave up points late when they were trying to come from behind.

Although ice hockey is not a school-sponsored or PIAA sanctioned sport, a pair of brothers from West York have still managed to make a splash on their college team.

Jacob and Matt Javitt have been standouts for the Robert Morris University, which just won the Eastern Collegiate Hockey League title for the second consecutive season.

Jacob, seen above celebrating a goal -- something he did quite often while playing for West York, has accumulated an amazing 85 points in 35 games for the Colonials this season, including his team-high 33 goals. He has made opponents pay for taking penalties at an alarming rate with 14 power play markers.

The team captain scored a natural hat trick in RMU's 6-1 win over the University of Buffalo in the league semifinal and was recently named the ECHL MVP.

Younger brother Matt (seen below while at West York) is in his first season at RMU and has 17 points, (four goals, 13 assists) in 33 games. He is also fourth on the team in penalty minutes with 54.

Both also received All-Academic awards.

It's not the York Suburban High School gym, but it's pretty much the next best thing.

One of the perks of winning a District 3 championship is getting to play relatively close to home in the first round of the PIAA tournament. The York Catholic girls will make the quick trip to Hempfield High School in Landisville to take on District 12's Bodine. The York Suburban boys have an even closer destination for its contest against District 2's Abington Heights -- Dallastown High School.

The District 3 Class AAAA third-place finisher Red Lion girls will also get to play at Dallastown on Friday, leading off the doubleheader with a game against District 1's Central Bucks East at 6 p.m. before the Trojans take the floor at about 7:30.

Suburban coach Tom Triggs said playing close to home can be a major advantage.

"One of the nice things is that we only have to travel 15 minutes," Triggs said. "I think that makes a difference. Abington Heights is going to have to travel, what, two-and-a-half hours to get down here. That's always tough when you're not used to traveling that far."

He's now an assistant on the staff of head coach Tom Triggs, but Joe Hasenfuss used to be at the helm of the York Suburban boys' basketball team, winning more than 500 games during that time.

Despite all of that success, Hasenfuss had never been a part of a district championship team during his coaching career -- until Thursday night.

Considering how many players Hasenfuss had seen and coached over the years, I wanted to get his perspective on this year's group and try to gain some insight as to what made this particular team a championship team in his eyes.