Apr 8, 2007 — STEELTON - Zach Markle knew all of two people when he got to Steel-High for the first of six games played Saturday in the 31st annual Roundball Showcase.

The Spring Grove senior knew teammate Nicko Karanicolas of Eastern York, as well as West York's Cory Kane, who played for the other team in the contest.

Safe to say, a lot more people know Markle now after he led his team of senior basketball stars with 19 points in the game.

His "away jersey" team lost, 103-95, to a talented group that included three players from Class AAAA power Harrisburg High, but Markle played well - even if he didn't know he scored that many points.

"Yeah it really surprises me," Markle said of his point totals. "I thought I had around 11 or 12."

Markle, who averaged 13.4 points per game for the Rockets this season, scored the first basket for his team on a layup and, about a minute later, blocked a shot.

His presence was immediately noticed by Annville-Cleona assistant coach Mark Risser, who was coaching Markle's squad.

"He hustled, blocked a couple of shots, took the ball up strong and made his free throws," Risser said. "He is probably everything a college coach is going to look for. A guy that hustles,

is athletic and is just going to give it his all."

The 6-foot-6 Markle hasn't decided on a college yet. He is looking at Elizabethtown, as well as a few others.

One thing he had to overcome Saturday was a little bit of rust. Spring Grove did not make the postseason, so Markle's playing days ended much sooner than most of the guys he shared the floor with.

After missing part of his senior season with a broken hand, Markle still made the Daily Record/Sunday News all-star team. He also played in one of the recent YAIAA all-star games and he said he felt the effects of his inactivity then.

"You could tell I am a little bit out of shape," he said. "Those guys just got done playing a couple of weeks ago. It has been (nearly) two months for me."

Despite frequent substitutions, Markle and his teammates had to get used to playing 20-minute college halves Saturday.

Still, he canned a 10-foot jumper and had three other layups in the first half, in which he scored 11 points. Just before the intermission, Markle put on a great spin move to a basket, but it was disallowed when he was whistled for a player-control foul.

His team trailed 49-35 at the half, but Markle's hook shot put his team up 61-60 with 9:40 to play.

Karanicolas did his part in the comeback, too, dishing several great passes, but the opposition was just too strong down the stretch.

Perhaps Markle's most impressive plays came in the second half, when he blocked a dunk and hustled back to get in the way of another by the Harrisburg duo of Quenton Johnson and Daryl Baltimore.

"When you look at him, he doesn't look like a guy that would be an athletic type of guy," Risser said. "The more you watch him play, he is a workhorse on the boards, getting rebounds over the Harrisburg guys."

Markle expected a high-scoring game, but he was mildly disappointed about one thing.

"I wanted to throw a dunk down," he said. "I just didn't get the chance."