HARRISBURG — The Roundball Showcase started in 1977 and has showcased many
of Pennsylvania’s best senior basketball players. Friday night was no
exception.
The Pennsylvania team won a 112-107 shootout with its brethren from New Jersey
at Susquehanna Twp.
In earlier showcase games, the Mid-Penn girls’ and boys’ squads won contests
against the Pa Select teams. The girls won 56-55 and the boys needed a
last-second putback from Bre-Mahr Manning to edge the Pa. Boys squad 96-94.
The Roundball Showcase will continue next Saturday at Steel-High with another
five contests anchored by the annual Maryland-Pennsylvania shootout, with a
girls and a boys game. The first contest begins at 3:30 p.m.
In the Friday night main attraction, the Pennsylvania team took the lead in
the latter part of the first half and maintained the lead despite repeated
efforts from the New Jersey squad to creep within striking distance.
Breland Roach of Harrisburg led all Mid-Penn scorers in
the opening half with 10 points. The play of guard Mike Celestin from Lenape
Regional High School in New Jersey was the highlight, as he made a few
impressive assists and hit two 3-pointers en route to 10 points.
Greg Edwards and Akeem Wilson of Susquehanna Twp. combined for 10 points and
the Central Dauphin East duo of Amani Glenn and Terrance Kellum split five
points.
In the second half, Trinity’s Matt Donahue and Northern’s Robbie Bleiler split
10 points, with Donahue canning two treys and Bleiler adding a dunk on a
break.
Bleiler also made it to the second round of the halftime slam dunk
competition, where he didn’t get the chance to move on to the finals. Edwards
took the championship with Glenn finishing second.
The second half was riddled with highlight-reel moves, including eight dunks.
Duane Johnson of Penn Wood slammed home three himself on rebounds.
“It was fun tonight,” Donahue said. “Everybody wants to get a dunk or two and
shoot the long-range shots. It is all in fun and to please the crowd. I got a
chance to play with some guys that I played against this year and last year
and also some guys that I have played with in the past on AAU teams. Robbie (Bleiler)
and I go back to playing together in third or fourth grade.
“It is all about making the plays. It brought back some memories of the old
Mid Penn Motion team.”
“I was just glad to get a dunk,’ Bleiler said. “I definitely wasn’t playing
any defense. This was certainly better competition than I played against all
year. Lloyd got the spin move and the left hook and I am certainly glad he was
on our team.”
Both were referring to Lloyd Hill, the mammoth but nimble big man from
Steel-High who displayed a soft shooting touch from the arc by burying two
3-pointers.
In the second game of the evening, the Mid-Penn boys led the entire contest
until Ben Cable of West York canned two NBA-range trifectas in the final 30
seconds to tie the contest. Carlisle’s Cory Henneghen worked to get a shot and
his 3-point attempt bounded off the rim before Bre-Mahr Manning of Middletown
coralled the loose ball. His last-second shot from the right block skimmed off
the edge of the backboard and ricocheted into the bucket just as the buzzer
sounded.
Henneghen and the Liddell twins canned four 3-pointers in the opening half.
Kevin Onyeaka of Central Dauphin East led the Mid-Penn squad with 14
first-half points.
During the second half, Max Liddell and Henneghen split five treys. Max ended
the game with five total 3-pointers and 15 points and Robert Fitzsimmons of
Camp Hill added four points to the Mid-Penn total.
The Pa Select team was paced by Kody Koser of Lancaster Christian with 14
points, all in the second half. Steve Carsto of Shamokin Prep led the team
with 17 points.
The girls’ contest came down to the wire also as the Mid-Penn girls survived
several last-second shots by the Pa Select team to win their game by one
point.
Meisha Cousins of Susquehanna Twp. and the C. D. East trio of Emily Richter,
Kirstin Selvey and Danielle Everson split 50 of the team’s 56 points. Nikki
Zangari of Red Land added the other six points.
The Pa Select team was led by the spectacular play of Warwick’s Ana Cruz, who
tallied 19 points and knocked down two long-range bombs on step-back moves.
Lindsay Murray of East Pennsboro played but did not score.