Rosters, coaches set for Hoops Showcase

By ERIC KNOPSNYDER
The Tribune-Democrat

March 11, 2008 11:56 pm

— Bishop McCort girls basketball coach John Hahn and his counterpart at Northern Cambria, Eric Thomas, will get one more chance to square off this season.
The coaches, whose teams met in the PIAA Class AA Western Final on Tuesday night, will be on opposite benches when the first Tribune-Democrat Senior Hoops Showcase tips off on March 22.
The event, which is being held at Cambria County War Memorial Arena, will feature the top senior basketball players in The Tribune-Democrat’s coverage area. All-stars from schools in Greater Johnstown will take on squads made up of the best players from elsewhere in the Cambria-Somerset region.
The girls game begins at 3 p.m., with the boys contest at 5 p.m.
On the boys side, Bishop McCort’s Pat Hollern will coach the Greater Johnstown team while Conemaugh Township’s Scott Cable leads the Cambria-Somerset team.
“It’s such a tremendous honor for our staff to be selected to coach in the first annual Tribune-Democrat Senior Hoops Showcase,” Hollern said. “You have had the chance over the past couple of years to coach against some of these players in our conference and other conferences, and it will be a neat experience to put them all together on one floor.”
Hollern will have some familiar faces on his team, as three Crushers made the squad. Matt Varga, Zak Boyd and Mike Cruz, who helped lead Bishop McCort to the District 6 Class AA title, make up the largest contingent from one school on the Greater Johnstown boys squad. Forest Hills, Richland and Westmont Hilltop each have two players on the team.
Kevin Byer will be the lone Conemaugh Township player on Cable’s squad, which brings together an array of talent. The Cambria-Somerset squad has 14 players from 14 different schools, with the geographic area ranging from as far south as Salisbury for Shane Knopsnyder to as far north as Cambria Heights for Adam McCombie.
Thomas’ squad leans heavily on District 5 Class A girls champion Conemaugh Township, with Jamie Gennett, Megan Maurer and Stephanie Straka scheduled to play. North Star and District 6 Class AA champion Northern Cambria each have two players on the squad.
Hahn has three of his Crushers on the Greater Johnstown team, with Marissa Basile, Julie Morey and Brittany Genday.
Windber has Carey Cox, Laura Deyarmin and Alexis Lapinsky on the squad while Greater Johnstown and Forest Hills each have two players.
The teams were picked by a selection committee with input from local high school coaches, who nominated the top seniors on their respective teams and from squads they faced during the season.