High School Basketball All-Stars: Rivals join on as teammates
HARRISBURG ? Imagine you do battle with a rival team three times in a given
season.
The games are as intense as can possibly be, and the stakes in the final game
are the highest they’ve ever been between the two schools.
Then a few weeks later one of your rivals is now your teammate.
Red Land’s Kendall Hinze found himself in that spot when he looked down the
bench Friday night and saw Cedar Cliff guard Chris Sempeles.
The two west shore rivals are just a handful of weeks removed from matching up
in a do-or-die elimination game of the district playoffs won by the Patriots in
a thriller.
“It is kind of weird seeing some of these guys we did battle with all year
and now their on the same team,” Hinze said. “(Chris and I) just did the normal
handshake before the game to get each other ready. I think it was all settled,
we’re all good.”
And although Hinze’s Mid-Penn All-Star team was defeated by the Keystone
all-stars 115-95, Friday nights’ game was time well spent, even if it was spent
with the arch enemy.
“It’s pretty fun,” said Hinze, who scored eight points and pulled in five
rebounds. “It’s kind of unusual but it’s still pretty fun. It’s fun to do
something you can go out there and have fun with.”
Hinze was just one of several area players involved in the 32nd annual Roundball
Showcase all-star games. The two day event which began last night at Susquehanna
Twp. High School shifts over to Steel-High’s Benkovic gym with the first game
tipping off at 3 p.m. today.
The games consist of two 20 minute halves with the clock stopping for timeouts
and substitutions.
Carlisle’s Pat Wilson played along side Hinze and Sempeles and pocketed 12
points and three rebounds.
“Playing hard all season and then getting the chance to play in an all-star
game, it’s fun out here,” Wilson said. “Just have fun.”
“There’s some funny guys, everyone’s really cool and everything. If you play
against anybody (in the regular season) you’ve got to go to war. Playing with
them on the same team is fun.”
Big Spring’s Charlie Blosser IV also participated for the Mid-Penn all-stars and
netted six points and six rebounds. Sempeles chipped in 10 in the loss. The
Mid-Penn team was led by Bishop McDevitt’s O.J. Burnett, who scored a team-high
15.
Daniel Boone’s Jimmy McCarthy scored 18 to lead the Keystone team, which also
got 17 from Southwestern’s Chad Tipton.
On the girls’ side, the Mid-Penn all-stars defeated the Keystone all-stars 78-47
led by game MVP Lauren Dadigan from Cumberland Valley. Dadigan scored 10 points
and pulled down five rebounds and blocked a shot in a little over 10 minutes of
floor time. Boiling Springs’ Ali Aunkst provided a balanced effort with seven
points, three rebounds and three steals to help fuel the victory.
Cedar Cliff’s duo of Hannah Smith and Christine Belskey combined for eight
points, three rebounds and three steals.
“I was really honored to be selected,” said Aunkst. “All of those girls are
incredible players. It was just really nice to be recognized and it was
flattering I got picked.”
“I played on AAU with Hannah and Chrissy, it’s just nice to come together. We’re
people you know? So it’s nice.”
Aunkst said she and her Bubblers teammates have been waiting a long time to get
recognized for their efforts on the court.
“We normally didn’t get a lot of credit in previous years. Over the course of my
four years we’ve been winning more and more and finally we’re getting some
credit and Boiling Springs is a named to be recognized.
“It’s good we’re out there.”
NOTES: Red Land’s Amy Sharp was selected to participate in the
girls’ game but did not, same for Boiling Springs and Susquenita’s Zach Dicks in
the boys’ game. Belskey, Smith, Carlisle’s Alexandra Brehm, Northern’s Sam
Nicodemus and Jaclyn Boone, Red Land’s Yavon Robinson and Big Spring’s Alison
Eberly are all listed as playing in today’s first game at Steel-High. On the
boys’ side, Wilson, Shippensburg’s Whit Crabtree, Boiling Springs’ Edwin Willis,
Northern’s Rhett Sheibley and Trinity’s R.J. Dill were all selected for the
third game at Steel-High today, set for a 6 p.m. tip.