Murray, Shanks earn MVP honors
HARRISBURG — After a long and grueling season of basketball, it's nice to kick back and have a little fun on the court.
Friday night several Sentinel Area basketball
players took to the court for their last runs in the 29th Annual Roundball
Showcase All-Star Games.
Friday the action kicked off at Susquehanna Township High School with three
games on the bill. The first game pitted the Mid-Penn girls All-Star squad
against the Keystone girls All-Stars.
The Mid-Penn team proved up to the challenge defeating the Keystone squad 79-58.
Trinity's Katelyn Murray was named MVP of the Mid-Penn team thanks to her eight
points and all around good game.
"I've got no regrets about my four years at Trinity," said Murray. "I played
with a great group of girls. It was a great experience and we had a lot of fun.
We should not have any regrets, we played our hearts out. You couldn't ask for
anything more than to have the success we had in my four years at Trinity."
Murray was on top of her game Friday, dishing out assist after assist and
running the floor with the same attitude she brought to the floor in every
Shamrock game this season.
Offensively, the Mid-Penn squad was led by Harrisburg's Shay Johnson and her 15
points. Susquehanna Township's Courtney Brooks dropped 14 points on the Keystone
team. Big Spring's Amy Fry contributed four points in the paint to complete the
Mid-Penn's potent inside presence.
After the girls finished up it was time for the
Mid-Penn and Keystone boys all-star teams to take the floor. Again, the Sentinel
area players had an immediate impact on the outcome.
The Mid-Penn squad defeated the Keystone team 98-92. The Mid Penn team executed
a great inside-outside game to send the Keystone team packing. Red Land's David
Shanks was named the Mid Penn MVP thanks in part to his 12 points.
"If you end a season with regrets then you didn't leave it all on the floor,"
said Shanks. "I think we did that this year. No one really gave us a chance with
Mechanicsburg and CD in our division. But we won the Keystone division and a few
big games along the way. I'm just starting to realize I have one more game left
to play. That's one last time to put on this jersey, and being able to put on
this jersey is special.
"We have a big student following at our school. It feels pretty good to be
respected by people you don't even know. After a game you'll walk down the hall
and people you don't know will come up and say things like ‘good game last
night'. But after Thursday that will all be gone, but this team will come back
and see that championship banner hanging in the gym and we'll know how special
this year was. The school my forget the people on this team, but we never will."
Mechanicsburg's Josh Koontz provided the Mid-Penn team with an almost
unstoppable inside presence to open the floor for the outside shooters. Cedar
Cliff's Dan Hodge and West Perry's Trent Reisenger slashed their way to the hoop
for a combined 11 points. Chambersburg's Chas Rahauser led the Mid-Penn offense
with 14 points.
The Roundball Showcase travels to Steelton-Highspire High School today with four
games on the docket. The Girls North vs. South game is scheduled to start at
3:45 p.m. Megan Miller (Camp Hill), Tereka Porter (Carlisle), and Amanda Slagle
(Mechanicsburg) are scheduled to play.
At 5 p.m. the boys North vs. South game takes place. Red Land's Colin Restar,
Austin McCardle, and Vinnie Agnone along with Boiling Spring's Pat Roach and AJ
Korzun take the floor for the North team. Shippensburg's Bobby Bastin and Josh
Ebersole are slated to play for the South squad.
At 6:30 p.m. the Pa. girls take on the Maryland girls. This will be the final
time the Trinity faithful will see Murray take on a high school court. The final
game Saturday at 8 p.m. pits the Pa. boys and the Maryland boys against each
other. Jeremy Boone (Mechanicsburg) is the lone Sentinel area representative
scheduled to play in this game.
There are two games scheduled for Thursday April 14 at Alvernia College in
Reading. Participating in those games will be Randy Jones (Big Spring), Jess
Swartz (Big Spring), Tereka Porter (Carlisle), Megan Miller (Camp Hill), Pat
Roach (Boiling Springs), AJ Korzun (Boiling Springs), Dan Hodge (Cedar Cliff),
Matt Wesner (Trinity), Vinnie Agnone (Red Land), and David Shanks (Red Land).