Mt. Lebanon, Chartiers Valley, Seton-La Salle headline all-star list
Jonny David
Eddie Flohr
Joe Mascaro
Ryan Norkus
Andrew Wheeler
Jack Relihan
Patrick Ehland
Christian Del Greco
Mark Lamendola
Alec Ferrari
Mt. Lebanon may not have garnered any trophies or medals for the boys’ basketball season. However, the Blue Devils experienced a monumental year. They posted a 21-7 record.
“Section champions, beating Upper St. Clair three times and epic wins over CV twice, and play-in wins to get into the PIAA tournament,” said Lebo floor boss Joe David. “All great moments this year.”
The good times continue into the post-season for the Blue Devils as three of their standouts headline the 2015 edition of The Almanac’s Elite Eleven. Jonny David earned first-team honors while Patrick Ehland spearheads the second team and Mark Lamendola merited Rookie of the Year status.
A senior, David ranked among the top scorers in the WPIAL with his 18.5 average. He dished up four assists, grabbed four rebounds and swiped two passes per game. He scored over 1,000 points in his career.
“He can shoot,” Coach David acknowledged. “He’s a shooter and those aren’t a dime a dozen. There’s a value to having a shooter on a team.”
There’s value as well in leadership. David captained the Blue Devils to a share in the Section 4-AAAA title. His 3-pointer at the buzzer sealed Lebo’s victory against Chartiers Valley, 58-55. The triple-overtime thriller clinched the section banner for the Blue Devils. David also had the buzzer-beating basket to upset the Colts, 50-48, in the PIAA tournament.
“He’s a natural leader. That’s his strength,” said Coach David. “He has a high basketball IQ. He’s gifted, fast and quick.”
An honors student, pulling down a 4.2 QPA, David will study physical therapy while enjoying preferred walk-on status at the University of Kentucky. The Wildcats are the No. 1-ranked team in the nation.
“He’s got to get better,” acknowledged Coach David. “Jonny needs to work on everything, shooting, defense, ball handling. Initially, he’ll be shell-shocked, but I think he’ll adjust.”
A senior, Ehland made the biggest adjustments throughout his playing career at Mt. Lebanon. The 6-8 forward ranked second in scoring. He averaged 13.1 points per game. He led the squad with 8.1 rebounds per game. He blocked 40 shots.
An all-section performer, Ehland earned the praise of opposing coaches. “He was the most improved player over the last four years in our section hands down,” said Bethel Park skipper Ben O’Connor.
Hands down, Mark Lamendola will be one of the top players in the league next season. The newcomer garnered a starting role in the Lebo line-up. As a sophomore, he averaged eight points per game. He dished up four assists and managed two steals a game.
SLS stars
After winning a WPIAL title and finishing runner-up in the state in 2014, few people expected Seton-La Salle to succeed, except the Rebels themselves.
“We exceeded people’s expectations,” said SLS head coach Mark Walsh, “but these boys believed all year that they were going to come here and win.
“In the spring they said, ‘coach, we are going back’ and I looked at them and I was waiting for them to start giggling. I thought, ‘wow, these guys really believe’ and as a coaching staff we thought we’d be able to get back here (to the WPIAL championship game).”
While the Rebels did compete in the Class AA championship game, they succumbed to then undefeated Aliquippa, 68-57, in the final played at the Petersen Events Center. SLS claimed the Section 3 banner and finished 24-4 overall after losing to West Middlesex in the second round of the PIAA tournament.
Seniors Ryan Norkus and Christian Del Greco played great roles in the Rebels’ success.
Norkus shared Player of the Year honors in Section 3 with Alex Ferrari from Chartiers-Houston (also on the Elite Eleven). He averaged 18 points and 15 rebounds per game for the Rebels.
Norkus scored over 1,000 career points. He guided the Rebels to three straight section titles. In three years as a starter, the Rebels compiled a 74-9 record, complete with two appearances in the district finals, three PIAA showings and one runner-up trophy.
According to Walsh, in all of his years of coaching, he has never had a student athlete who has worked as hard as Norkus. “He literally would contact me relentlessly about working out in the off-season and that alone will tell you why we were so successful. His maturity level is way beyond his age.”
Walsh added that Norkus’s impact on the high school goes beyond the court. “Every kid in the school knows him not because he plays basketball but because he talks, shows interest and cares about the students in his school. He does it in a way that is incredible to watch. Ryan is one of the most respected and likable young men I have ever been around. He works well with others, putting them ahead of himself. He can communicate with people of all ages regardless of where and when he interacts with them.”
Meanwhile, Del Greco also had an impact on SLS’s success. The senior averaged 11.8 points per game. A true playmaker, Del Greco led the squad, dishing up six assists per game. Despite his lack of height, Del Greco also pulled down four rebounds a game.
In the Section 3-AA balloting, Del Greco garnered Finest Fifteen recognition. He also ranked third in the voting and earned a spot on the first-team.
Top Five duo
Rounding out The Almanac Elite Eleven first team are Eddie Flohr and Joey Mascaro.
While Chartiers Valley graduates Matty McConnell, again this year’s MVP (see related story), the program is in good hands with Flohr. The junior guard ranked second on the team with a 14.9 scoring average. He led the team with an 80-percent conversion rate at the foul line. The first-team all-section performer converted 52 percent of his field goals. Flohr dished up 5.5 assists and had nearly two steals a game.
According to opposing coach Ben O’Connor of Bethel Park, Flohr was the best point guard in Section 4-AAAA. “He’s fun to watch and difficult to play against.”
Mascaro was precisely that, too, for Bethel Park. A two-time all-section and all-Almanac performer, he ranked among the top scorers in the WPIAL. The senior averaged 18 points per game. He dished up four assists a game to go along with two steals.
“Joe ranks right with the best basketball players that I have ever coached, but it is the ‘other’ things that set him apart,” explained O’Connor. “He is a very, very well rounded young man. I am honored that my son sees him as one of his heroes. He does well academically, works very hard in everything that he does, is a great basketball player, and stays out of trouble.”
In addition to his above 4.0 GPA in the classroom, Mascaro brought the BP hoop program back into prominence. During the two years before his arrival on the court, the Hawks combined for 12 victories. In his career, Mascaro won 66 games. He garnered MVP or all-star honors in every tournament in which he competed.
Triple threat
Jack Relihan of South Fayette, Alec Ferrari of Chartiers-Houston and Upper St. Clair’s Andrew Wheeler round out The Almanac’s Top Ten. All garnered second-team honors on the Elite Eleven team.
A senior, Relihan led the Lions to a 19-7 overall record that included an undefeated section championship and appearances in the WPIAL as well as PIAA playoffs.
Relihan led the offensive attack. With a 16-point average, he ranked among the top scorers in the WPIAL. He led the Lions in 3-point field goals. In a first-round WPIAL playoff win against Steel Valley, he fired in 28 points. Relihan, who played on South Fayette’s state championship football clubs, averaged 2.2 steals and 3.5 rebounds a game.
Despite a 12-11 overall record, Ferrari stood out for the Buccaneers. In fact, the senior shared MVP honors in Section 3-AA with Ryan Norkus from Seton-La Salle.
This winter, he averaged nearly 24 points per game. He scored a school-record 47 points in an 80-49 win against Fort Cherry during the regular season. He also scored 543 points, setting a new single-season record at Chartiers-Houston. Ferrari also holds the school record for assists. Selected to last week’s Washington-Greene County Rotary Club All-Star game, he scored a game-high 21 points.
As a junior, he also garnered all-section laurels. He averaged 13.4 points that season.
Just a junior, Wheeler has a bright future ahead of him. He earned first-team all-section honors. He led the Panthers in scoring with a 12-point average. He ranked among the team’s top 3-point shooters.
Honorable mention
Among the players receiving honorable mention status are:
From Bethel Park: Anthony Bomar and Jake Dixon.
Ben O’Connor called Bomar Bethel Park’s “silent leader.” He averaged 7.5 points and dished up six assists per game.
Meanwhile, Dixon blossomed into a top-scorer, rebounder and shot blocker for the Hawks. The 6-5 senior, who excels at volleyball and football, averaged 12 points and 10 rebounds a game to go along with two blocked shots. “He started to hit his stride the last few weeks of the season,” said O’Connor.
From Bishop Canevin: John Weldon. A junior, Weldon made the Finest Fifteen in Section 3-AA.
From Canon-McMillan: Britton Beachy and Sam Bohn.
Last year’s Almanac Rookie of the Year, Beachy led the Big Macs in scoring with 15.4 points per game. He converted 51 percent of his field goals, including 39 percent from 3-point range. The sophomore also averaged 4.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. According to Rick Bell, Beachy has a chance to be one of the best he has ever coached. “Most players play basketball,” Bell said. “Britton works at improving his skills and game almost every day.”
A senior, Bohn averaged 12 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists a game for the Big Macs. He converted 42 percent of his field goals. “Sam is one of the best point guards,” Bell said. “He is like a coach on the floor with a high basketball IQ.”
From Chartiers-Houston: AJ Myers. This sophomore merited recognition of the Finest Fifteen all-star team in Section 3-AA.
From Chartiers Valley: Jake Ritson and Ross Wilkerson.
A senior, Ritson averaged 13.3 points per game. He led the Colts in 3-point shooting, making 81 treys. He converted 52 percent of the time. He also was the team’s best free-throw shooter, making 81 percent of his attempts.
A junior, Wilkerson averaged 11.1 points per game. He made 66 3-pointers. He had the highest conversion rate at 53 percent.
From Peters Township: Timmy Swoope and Nick Valentic. A senior, Swoope averaged 10.2 points per game. Nick Valentic followed with a 9.4 average.
From Seton-La Salle: Cletus Hilton. This junior garnered recognition on the Section 3-AA’s Finest Fifteen unit.
From South Fayette: Nick McKee and Brett Brumbaugh. An all-state performer in soccer, McKee also excelled on the hardcourts. The senior averaged 12 points per game and led the team in the assist department. An all-state performer in football and bound for Duquesne to play quarterback, Brumbaugh ranked second on the team in scoring. He averaged nearly 13 points per game. He led the club in rebounding.
From Upper St. Clair: Zach Pateras, Zach Cherup, Marcus McGinniss and Doug Wagner. While Pateras averaged 10 points and Wagner ranked among the team’s top rebounders, Cherup and McGinniss provided strong leadership for a team that had lost its top eight players from last year’s playoff club.
“Our seniors turned into great leaders and our returning players gained a lot of experience,” said Danny Holzer, who has been named Coach of the Year for guiding his inexperienced group to the quarterfinals in the WPIAL playoffs and to a 17-8 record. “I’m really proud of my team and players. We had a good season and I’m extremely excited about the future.”