Mightiest Mikes
Members of the 1995-96 Carmichaels boys basketball team were honored during halftime of Friday’s Carmichaels-Bentworth game. The Mikes finished 22-6 that season and reached the WPIAL Final Four and the PIAA Elite Eight. Members of the team included (from left) Justin Voithoffer, scorekeeper Matt Bargerstock, John McCombs, head coach Don Williams, Tom Martin, Jason Kowalczyk, Gary Giles, Dan Everly, Jono Watson, assistant coach Tim Jones and athletic director John Krajnak. (Photo by John F. Brothers, Herald-Standard)
Coach Don Williams (at left) greets the members of his 1995-96 Carmichaels boys basketball team. The team, which reached the WPIAL Final Four and the PIAA Elite Eight, was horned during halftime of Friday's Carmichaels-Bentworth game.
CARMICHAELS — Twenty years ago Carmichaels was in the beginning stages of a boys basketball season that would evolve into the best in the program’s history.
The 1995-96 squad can certainly make a strong case as the mightiest Mikes of all.
Riding a trio of sharpshooters, a hustling man-to-man defense and a following of just about the entire community, Carmichaels went 22-6 and reached the Final Four of the WPIAL playoffs and the Elite Eight of the PIAA.
That squad was honored at Carmichaels Area High School during halftime of the Mikes’ 60-31 win over Bentworth last Friday night.
The sharpshooters were Justin Voithofer, who led the WPIAL in scoring at 29 ppg, Dan Everly and John McCombs, all of whom averaged double figures. They meshed almost perfectly with Bryan “Dutch” Voithofer and Gary Giles.
Coach Don Williams and assistant coach Tim Jones rode those starters almost exclusively, usually using only one player of the bench, that being Greg Stewart.
Williams and Jones could sense early in the season they were coaching a unique, committed group.
“You got the feeling it might be a magical year,” Jones said.
“When I saw that I had three good shooters and then I had the perfect role players to complement them, I knew we could be in for something special,” Williams said. “They could all handle the ball and they bought into playing defense.”
Williams feels that squad’s defense gets overshadowed sometimes.
“That they key, that they all played defense,” he said. “They were on each other’s butts in practice. If you didn’t play defense, they were on you.”
The way the team gelled was an important factor, according to Everly.
“There were three of us that scored a little more than the others but we all played together,” Everly said. “Mr. Williams instilled that in us. It was a team effort. Everybody had their role and played within it. We hustled a lot on defense.”
Williams commended the team for the way it took instruction and played under control.
“They were disciplined,” Williams said. “Whatever you told them to do, they did. Justin was the leading scorer but he really wasn’t the sole leader of the team, they were all leaders, and they got along. They were friends. I think that was important, too. Nobody was jealous of anybody.”
McCombs, who moved to Carmichaels from Medina, Ohio, for his senior year, stressed that point as well.
“These guys took me in and welcomed me,” McCombs said. “It’s just amazing how in God’s providence we all fit together to make this team.
“We really, honestly didn’t care who scored. If Justin would score 40 or if they would try to shut him down and Dan or I or someone else would step up, if just didn’t matter, as long as we won at the end of the game.
“Even when we didn’t win, we gave it our best and you walk off the court with your head held high. That’s one thing coach Williams and coach Jones taught us above all else.”
The team won much more than it lost, however, as the three-headed monster of Voithofer, McCombs and Everly proved to me too much for most defenses to handle.
“It was hard to find a night where all three of us were down,” Everly said.
Justin Voithofer felt the roots of the team were developed in the offseason.
“We played a lot, at Bailey Park, at the undergrad tournament at Laurel Highlands with Mr. Mark John,” Voithofer said. “We played teams like Uniontown, Laurel Highlands, Connellsville, Brownsville. We might have lost but that competition made us better.”
That year the Mikes had to battle in a rugged split section during the regular season. Section 4-AA/A had 10 teams and Carmichaels was one of the Class A teams as was Monessen. Leading the Class AA contingent were two very strong teams in Geibel Catholic and Charleroi, the latter of which would win the overall section crown.
In fact there was only one team that managed to defeat the Cougars in their 18 section games.
Carmichaels topped Charleroi, 63-52, on Dec. 12 as Voithofer scored 27 points.
The closest game Charleroi had after that was when the Mikes visited town in the rematch In January. It turned into a classic battle. The Cougars survived for a 79-75 win in triple overtime, despite 47 points from Voithofer. The devastating loss wound up costing Carmichaels a share of the overall section championship.
While such a crushing loss might have had a lasting effect on most teams, that wasn’t the case for the Mikes.
“I think one of the best games we played that year was after we lost that triple overtime game,” Voithofer said. “We had to play a good Frazier team that we only beat by three on their floor. Well, we came out and beat them by I think 40 or 50 points and we almost scored a hundred. That was probably the best game we played all year. We could’ve had a big letdown and easily lost that game.
“Obviously the WPIAL and the state playoffs were very memorable, but that game sticks out to me because it showed what kind of guys we were.”
Carmichaels split with the top teams in the section and managed to tie for second place with Geibel at 15-3.
The Mikes also earned their first ever win over Monessen, the defending WPIAL Class A champion, on Feb. 9, 71-58, thanks to six 3-pointers and 31 points from McCombs and 27 points from Voithofer. That home victory — the Mikes didn’t lose a home game all season — all but clinched the top Class A spot in the section for Carmichaels.
The Mikes 19-4 regular season got them enough respect to earn the No. 3 seed and a first-round bye in the WPIAL Class A playoffs. They rolled past Avella in the quarterfinals, 74-56, with Voithofer scoring 30 and McCombs hitting five 3-pointers in a 25-point performance.
That victory clinched Carmichaels’ first berth in the PIAA playoffs in 24 years.
The Mikes fell to second-seeded Rochester in the WPIAL semifinals, 69-56 at Robert Morris College, despite 19 points from Everly, but drew tremendous praise from Rams coach Bob Rauch.
“I want to give Carmichaels all the credit in the world,” Rauch said after the game. “I don’t think I’ve seen anybody execute their offense more efficiently or better except for Blackhawk. These guys run their patterns, and (Williams) did a great job coaching.”
The state playoffs were next and the Mikes proved they weren’t just happy to be there. They defeated Disctrict 10 runner-up Sharpsville, 58-55, in the first round behind 21 points from Voithofer, 16 from Everly and 10 from Bryan Voithofer.
Sharpsville had a chance to tie it with one second left but Giles deflected the inbounds pass to secure the win.
Next up was District 5 champion Northern Bedford, a 25-4 team that featured the state’s leading scoring in A.J. Nastasi, who averaged 31.6 ppg and topped 2,000 points in his career.
Most thought for sure the Mikes’ run would finally end against the formidable Panthers.
But they were wrong.
Carmichaels stormed back from a 10-point fourth-period deficit to pull out a stunning 65-62 win. McCombs capped the comeback with consecutive 3-pointers to put the Mikes in front to stay, and Justin Voithofer made six straight pressure-packed free throws in the final 17 seconds to seal it.
Still, the Mikes had to hold their collective breaths when Nastasi’s launched a potential game-tying 3-point attempt from halfcourt at the buzzer.
“The ball hit that rim and it bounced up and I didn’t think it was ever going to come down,” Williams said.
The ball eventually fell harmlessly to the floor and Carmichaels was in the state quarterfinals. Voithofer and Everly each hit four 3-pointers in the game while scoring 23 and 20 points, respectively. McCombs hit two treys in scoring 18 points.
At that point, the Mikes were the lone WPIAL Class A team remaining as Rochester, Duquesne and Sewickley Academy had all fallen by the wayside.
The season finally came to an end in the state quarterfinals with a 54-34 loss to 28-1, District 9 champion Coudersport. Voithofer was the only player to hit double digits against the defensive-minded Falcons with 13 points.
Voithofer’s outstanding season still stands out to McCombs.
“Justin’s just one of the most gifted basketball players I have ever seen,” McCombs said. “I’ve never seen anyone shoot that fast off the dribble, off the pass, and he was such a good shooter.”
“You would think that he took an awful lot of shots, but he really didn’t,” Williams said. “He took the shot when it was there.”
Everly was happy to see the team honored at halftime and at a dinner following Friday night’s game at Fairdale Inn.
“It was nice that the school did this for us,” Everly said. “I thought it was a great opportunity to get the guys together and reminisce. It was good to come back and see everyone. We still keep in touch, whether it’s face to face or Facebook.”
“Every time I see the movie ‘Hoosiers’ I think of those guys and that team,” Jones said. “They were just a special group of players.”