Rising Stars 17U/11th Boys Westmoreland Classic Champs, Others Also Do Well (05/16/14)

(By Fred S. Port)

Last weekend, May 10-11, four Rising Stars teams competed in the Westmoreland Classic in Greensburg. All the teams competed at a high level and played well throughout the tournament.

17U/11th Boys
The 17U boys played extremely well. They finished the tournament with a 4-0 record. Their defense was exceptional and they executed their offense almost flawlessly. The dominated the competition winning every game, including the championship game by 20 plus points. They held their opponents to an average of 27 points.

(Photo submitted by Rising Stars)
Rising Stars 17U/11th Boys Team -2014 Westmoreland Champs –
Front Row (L-R) Christian Cyphert, RJ Laugand, Jacob Creighton, Noah Rankin, Coach Rogers Back Row(L-R) Coach Port, Tyler Gates, Devin Zagar, Jake Dougherty, Brady Kingston

They beat MT CAT 11 48-29 in the opening game. They followed up with a 52-25 victory over MT CAT 10.

In the first round of the playoffs the Stars were again matched up with MT CAT 11 and beat them again 52-19. In the championship game the Stars rolled over a pretty good Greensburg team 61-35. Below is their roster.

RJ Laugand – Clarion-Limestone, Noah Rankin – Clarion-Limestone, Devin Zagar – Venango Catholic, Brady Kingston – Venango Catholic, Jake Dougherty – Redbank Valley, Jacob Creighton – Cranberry, Janco Swart – Cranberry, Christian Cyphert – North Clarion, Tyler Gates – Titusville

13U/8th Girls
The Rising Stars girls finished the tournament with a 2-1 record and just missing the tournament playoffs. They lost their opening game to PA Blue Thunder (McCutheon). They rebound back an and beat a pretty good SWAGG team in their second game. With a must win game on Sunday morning, Rising Stars beat PA Blue Thunder (Roberts). Unfortunately, their points win total was not enough to propel them into the playoffs. Coaches Irwin and Foust were very pleased with their output and look forward to upcoming tournaments, as they were coming off two championships in a row. They are playing this weekend, May 17-18 in the Erie Spring Classic. Below is their roster.

Brooke Irwin – A-C Valley, Olivia Boocks – A-C Valley, Ellie Thompson – A-C Valley, Annie Viertel – A-C Valley, Cami McNanny – A-C Valley, Emma Fox – A-C Valley, Allison Sherman – A-C Valley, Erin Merryman – Cranberry, Hannah Duncan – Cranberry,Tori Obenrader – North Clarion, Maya Thornton – Clarion Area

13U/7th Boys
The Rising Stars boys were 3-1 heading into the championship game. They averaged 50 points per game. In the opening round of pool play, they beat a very good Hangtime team 62-53. In their second game they lost to Morg. Storm 51-44. In their last game of pool play, Rising Stars blew out PA Shooting Stars 52-31. They finished pool play 2-1 and landed the number one seed going into the playoffs. In the opening round of the playoffs, Rising Stars had a rematch with PA Shooting Stars, beating them 56-21. That victory set up a rematch with Morg. Storm in the Championship Game. The Stars played a tough, hard fought game but was unable to overcome a slow start and lost 51-40. Their roster is below.

Julian Laugand – Clarion-Limestone, Ian Callen – Clarion-Limestone, Deion Deas – Clarion-Limestone, Bryan Dworek – Brookville, Trenton Gilhousen – Brookville, Aaron Park –Brookville, Cade Skinner – Titusville, Brooks LaVan – Keystone, Enoch Clark – Indiana, Marcos Cintron – St. Patrick

15U/9th Boys
The Rising Stars 15U boys team played well over the weekend. Each game the team got better and lost their last game by one point to LSU. They also played some tough games against to Pittsburgh Pride Black and MT CAT. Their relentless hustle and desire to compete for the entire game served them well. These are qualities that good players and teams need to be competitive. All the guys played hard and we liked the progression of the players and the team. Their roster is below.

Daniel Callen – Clarion-Limestone, Noah Port – Clarion-Limestone, Julian Laugand – Clarion-Limestone, Kai Skinner – Titusville, Nadir Lynch – Clarion Area, Reed Anthony – Clarion Area, Ryan Anthony – Clarion Area, Cameron Craig – Clarion Area, Christian Smith – Clarion Area, Tyler MacNeil – Cranberry

(Thanks to Fred S. Port for this article. Good work Rising Stars!!)