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Wildcats’ Stroup named third team

More than half of the players selected to this year’s Pennsylvania Sports Writers All-State Girls’ Basketball Team have signed, committed or are weighing Division I college scholarship offers, and that doesn’t even include about another dozen others going to top colleges in other sports.

Some, though, still stood out amidst such an illustrious and accomplished field.

In a very rare achievement, Lancaster Catholic’s Kiki Jefferson and Bellwood-Antis’ Alli Campbell were voted players of the year in their respective classifications unanimously. Jefferson heads up the Class 4A team. Campbell’s team competes in Class 2A.

They weren’t the only ones who were clear choices in the statewide print media poll. In Class 6A, Peters Township’s Makenna Marisa was voted to the top spot on all but three ballots. In Class 3A, only five voters had someone other than Neumann-Goretti’s Diamond Johnson as their player of the year selection.

Southern Lehigh’s Olivia Snyder and Berlin Brothersvalley’s Kiera Booth are the players of the year in Class 5A and Class 1A, both garnering honors by comfortable margins.

Each of the six coach of the year winners guided their teams to PIAA titles: Peters Township’s Bert Kendall (6A), Chartiers Valley’s Tim McConnell (5A), Bethlehem Catholic’s Jose Medina (4A), Delone Catholic’s Gerry Eckenrode (3A), Bellwood-Antis’ Jim Swaney (2A) and Berlin Brothersvalley’s Rachel Prosser (1A).

Jefferson and Campbell not only were unanimous player of the year honorees, they also were repeat winners of the award.

A James Madison recruit, Jefferson averaged 20.6 points and 10.6 rebounds in propelling Lancaster Catholic to a 30-1 record and a berth in the PIAA quarterfinals, where it were upset by Mifflinburg. The 6-foot swing player capped her scholastic career with 2,510 points.

A 6-foot-1 guard, Campbell, a junior who already is committed to Notre Dame, poured in 29.1 points for Bellwood this season while also collecting 9.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 4.4 steals. She surpassed the 2,000-point mark for her career and recently was named USA Today Player of the Year for Pennsylvania.

Marisa saved her best for last, registering 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists as Peters Township completed an undefeated season with a 62-49 victory over Garnet Valley in the PIAA final. The 5-foot-11 Penn State recruit posted averages of 20.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists and shot 53 percent from the floor.

A 5-foot-6 junior, Johnson was named the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state following the season. She netted 54 points in a March game against Imhotep Charter, scored her 2,000th point and finished the season with averages of 25.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 4.0 steals and 3.0 blocks.

Snyder averaged 24.1 points to wrap up her prep career with 2,077; the three-time all-state pick is going to Georgetown. Booth nearly put up a double-double per game in leading her team to the state championship, although she’s committed to Villanova to play volleyball after she completes one more high school campaign.

Four seniors bound for Division I colleges join Marisa on the Class 6A first team — Abington’s Kassondra Brown (Rhode Island), Northampton’s Victoria Keenan (Seton Hall), North Allegheny’s Rachel Martindale (Akron) and Garnet Valley’s Emily McAteer (Loyola, Md.). Upper Dublin junior Jackie Vargas rounds out the squad.

The 6A second team includes Peters Township’s Isabella Mills and Garnet Valley’s Becky Borcky.

Two players from PIAA champ Chartiers Valley — Megan McConnell and Mackenzie Wagner — help Snyder head up the 5A first team. Meanwhile, PIAA runner-up North Catholic placed three players on the Class 4A squad, as junior Kylee Lewandowski and Tess Myers made the first team and Yale recruit Dani Short made the third.

Blackhawk also had two Class 4A first-teamers: guards Mackenzie Amalia and Mady Aulbach.

Pennsylvania Independent Schools Athletic Association champion Germantown Academy, which went 30-1 against a national schedule, had three players on the 3A team, including first-teamer Jaye Haynes. The 3A first team also includes Philipsburg-Osceola’s Halle Herrington, who scored 30.5 points per game.

Along with Campbell, the 2A first team includes Penn State recruit Anna Camden of Shipley School and Quinnipiac commit Halee Smith of Juniata Valley. Although 2A is comprised of schools with small enrollments, 10 of the 19 all-state players are Division I college recruits.

Three of the six first-team players in Class 1A are underclassmen, including Kennedy Catholic’s Malia Magestro, who scored 28.9 points per game. Twin sisters Madison and McKenna Lampe of West Greene were voted to the 1A second team.

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