Women’s basketball recap
John, Adams and Kezmarsky wrap us outstanding seasons Laurel Highlands graduates Candace John and Sabrina Adams recently wrapped up stellar college basketball careers, while Brownsville graduate Penny Kezmarsky got off to a solid start with a fine freshman campaign.
John and Adams were both four-year starters for the Fillies, and went to become four-year lettermen in college at Robert Morris University and Geneva College, respectively. Kezmarsky had an impact in her initial season with Point Park College.
Another Laurel Highlands graduate, Amy Bandzuch, played at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg as a freshman under coach Carol Gelet, a Geibel Catholic graduate and former Clairton High School boys and girls basketball coach.
Uniontown graduate Teya Minor is a member of the Potomac State College at WVU team, although no statistical information was available on her 2002-03 season.
Candace John
John, a 5-foot-10 senior guard was one of the few bright spots in a dismal season for the NCAA Division-I Lady Colonials, who went 1-26 overall and 1-17 in the Northeast Conference. She topped her team and was third in the NEC in scoring with a 17.1 average, and set a school record with 78 3-pointers, which was good enough for third in the NEC. She was first on the team and fourth in the NEC is foul shooting at 81.2 percent.
John also led Robert Morris in minutes played (37.3 per game), starting 24 of 26 games, was second in assists (63) and steals (39), and grabbed 3.7 rebounds per game.
John’s importance to her team was never more evident than in the Lady Colonials’ only victory of the season against visiting University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) on Jan. 11. Robert Morris defeated the Retrievers 85-82 in triple overtime as John totaled a career-high 30 points along with 11 rebounds, six assists and three steals in playing all 55 minutes.
John, who led Robert Morris in scoring in all but seven games as a senior, became the 15th player in school history to top the 1,000-point mark. She wound up 11th on the list with a total of 1,148 after scoring a still-school-record 1,735 for the Fillies at Laurel Highlands.
John averaged 6.7 points in playing 28 games as a freshman at Robert Morris, tallied 12.7 ppg in 27 games as a sophomore, and poured in 20.7 ppg in 25 games as a junior.
Sabrina Adams
Adams, a 5-7 senior guard, was the only Golden Tornado to start all 30 games.
Geneva, an NAIA team, went 17-13 overall and 10-8 in finishing fifth in the 10-team North Division of the American Mideast Conference. The Golden Tornadoes qualified for the AMC tournament, but fell in the first round to Ohio Dominican.
John was second on the team in 3-pointers (35), steals (61) and assist-turnover ratio (1.5), third in assists (2.1 per game), and, showing her toughness, battled her way to 3.7 rebounds per game to finish fourth in that category.
John averaged 6.0 points per game as a senior and was named honorable mention All-AMC.
Penny Kezmarsky
Kezmarsky, a 5-11 freshman, didn’t play center at Brownsville, but is listed as one at Point Park, standing as one of the tallest players on a team that has no one over 6-0.
The NAIA Pioneers went 7-21 overall and 3-15 in the North Division of the American Mideast Conference.
Kezmarsky appeared in all 28 games, and earned a starting nod three times in averaging 15.7 minutes per contest.
She finished third on the team in field goal percentage, fourth in rebounding (3.3) and blocked shots, sixth in scoring (5.4 ppg), and also contributed 19 assists and 10 steals.
Kezmarsky was known as an outstanding shooter for the Lady Falcons and that trend continued at Point Park, despite her roster designation as a pivot player. She led the Pioneers in 3-point shooting percentage (35.4) by hitting 23 of 65 attempts from outside the arc.
Amy Bandzuch/Carol Gelet
Bandzuch, a 5-8 forward, appeared in 15 games for Pitt-Greensburg, which went 23-7 overall and 10-2 in tying for first place in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.
The Lady Bobcats won the AMCC tournament and earned a 62-54 victory in the first round of the NCAA Division-III tournament before falling to King’s in the second round, 82-67.
Bandzuch averaged 1.6 points and 1.4 rebounds per game, and added six assists, five steals and two blocked shots.
Gelet, who led Clairton’s boys team to a 51-26 record and a WPIAL championship in her three years there, has steadily improved the UPG program in her four years. The Lady Bobcats won seven games in Gelet’s first year at the helm, and claimed 15 and 14 victories in the next two years, earning AMCC Coach-of-the-Year honors in both of the latter seasons.
Gelet’s 23-7 mark this year ups her career record at UPG to 59-49.
NOTE: If you have more information on an area high school graduate participating in women’s college basketball or any other sport, please contact Rob Burchianti at rvburchianti@hotmail.com.