State stars score win

Last night's Keystone All-Star Showcase was an important start to a busy offseason for a couple of midstate hoopsters.

The Pennsylvania All-Stars won for the 15th time in a 19-game series with Maryland, riding 21-point efforts from Steel-High's Josh Proctor and Greencastle-Antrim's Dameatric Scott to a 110-100 victory.

Players' games have been put under the microscope for the better part of four years, but for recruits like Scott and Proctor, questions still must be answered.

Proctor has hit the iron since the Rollers' AAA state championship season, looking to address his lanky frame and put on more muscle to play inside at the next level. Rider and Monmouth (N.J.) are among the schools he's considering.

Scott has heard from Division I schools Clemson, East Carolina and Virginia Tech, but remains open to the idea of starting smaller and preparing harder for a move to college basketball's big stage.
 

While there's little questioning the nuts and bolts of Scott's game, refinement of his physical tools is key to how and where he projects at the next level.

"I need to get faster and bigger," Scott said. "I'll probably be a wing in college, so I need to work on my dribbling skills and jump shot. But most of all, I need to get faster."

Since Greencastle-Antrim was bounced out of the second round of the state playoffs, Scott has focused on getting lighter and improving his quickness.

With college coaches in the stands, interior players like Scott and Proctor can have a tough time standing out in showcases with little emphasis on defense and rebounding. What they did instead against the Maryland stars was knock down inside shots, battle under the boards and lead the Pennsylvania stars in scoring.

Scott got to work in playing from the perimeter, handling the ball and knocking down three 3-pointers in the win over Maryland.

"He's a very, very talented offensive player," said one coach, who was not allowed to comment publicly about an unsigned recruit.

"We're trying to find out more about him. There are a lot of coaches here to see him."

Scott is taking charge of his own recruiting and leaving less to chance. He's not getting too caught up in the D-I offers now when he admits that there is much left to be done on the court and in the classroom.

"My goal in the next two years is go to Maryland," said Scott. "I'm looking at a lot of juco schools. I want to go there, get stronger, get the grades up, then hopefully transfer from there."

In the earlier girls' all-star game, the Pennsylvania All-Stars faced an uphill battle right from the jump in falling 97-74 to the stars from Maryland.

For starters, half of the 10 Maryland players were committed to Division I schools. Pennsylvania could counter that advantage with big-time recruits Shawnice Wilson (Pitt) of Pittsburgh Westinghouse and Becky Burke (South Carolina) of Abington Heights.

What the Pennsylvania team could not match was Maryland's chemistry and experience playing together. While a roster of 15 all-stars from Pennsylvania are too far spread across the state, Maryland's group has played together since youth and AAU basketball.

"You could definitely tell [they had played together]," said Milton Hershey coach Becky May. "They were able to get a rotation of 10 players. I think our girls had fun playing here, and we definitely saw some talent on the court today."

Maryland's Arika Ullman led all scorers with 20 points as her club jumped out to a double-digit lead midway through the first half and was never threatened. Wilson paced the Pennsylvania team with 14 points. Palmyra's Jillian Keefer added eight points.

DUSTIN HOCKENSMITH: 255-8250 or dhockensmith@patriot-news.com