California’s Cope shines at Washington-Greene All-Star Game
WASHINGTON – Rick Cope had a big smile on his face at the conclusion of Friday night’s Washington-Greene County High School Senior All-Star basketball games. Cope totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Gold team in the boys game, and also won the Slam-Dunk contest. Cope even came up big in the clutch as his offensive rebound and bucket tied the game and sent it into overtime.
The only part of the California forward’s night that didn’t go according to plan was his team went on to lose to the Blue team in the extra frame, 106-103.
Even that wasn’t so bad, according to Cope, however.
“It was a blast,” Cope said in assessing the entire night of festivities at Washington High School. “I couldn’t ask for a better way to end my high school career, except that we didn’t win the game, but I had a couple teammates on the winning team, so I felt good for them.”
Trojan teammates Ryan Robinson and Shane Tonkavitch played for the Blue team, and it was Robinson who made two key plays in OT that sealed the victory.
With the Blue down 97-96, Robinson came up with a steal. He spun to the hoop and missed the shot, but teammate Brendan Cypher of Chartiers-Houston put in the rebound to give the Blue the lead for good.
After the Blue’s Jonathan Wiess of Trinity tallied the last of his team-high 27 points to make it 100-97, McGuffey’s Seth Hunter scored to pull the Gold within one. Robinson then delivered the final dagger by drilling a 3-pointer with 57 seconds left for a 103-99 lead and the Blue went on to win by three.
“It was pretty fun playing with all these great players,” said Robinson, who contributed five points, nine rebounds, one assist and one steal to the Blue’s win. “We were having a lot of fun, but eventually it got more serious because both teams wanted to win.”
Hunter scored a game-record 35 points, including all seven of his team’s OT points, and grabbed 10 rebounds in being named the Gold’s MVP. Weiss, who also had nine boards, was voted the Blue’s MVP.
There were three other local players in the game, as well as two coaches.
Mapletown’s Joe Clites played for the Blue, while Mapletown’s Drew Denham and Waynesburg Central’s P.J. Schumacher played for the Gold, which was guided by Maples head coach Fred Morecraft and assistant coach John Morecraft.
“This was just a tremendous opportunity, to be involved with first-class kids like this,” John Morecraft said. “As a coach, you can’t ask for a better experience.”
“It was a great honor to be asked to coach in this game,” said Fred Morecraft, “and it was a lot of fun coaching such high-level skill. What a great experience. Plus it was nice to coach my little brother (Denham) one last time.
“The toughest thing is getting equal playing time for everyone. We wanted to get every one in, but we said we wanted to try to win if it was close at the end. You know, they say there isn’t much defense played in these all-star games, but when it got down to the end and the game was on the line, you saw some of the best defense around.”
The Gold was down three with 2:26 to go in regulation when Hunter hit a game-tying 3-pointer. After a bucket by the Blue, Hunter drilled another trey to put the Gold up by one, but consecutive baskets by Cypher put the Blue ahead 96-94.
Hunter’s potential go-ahead 3-pointer barely rattled out, but Cope gobbled up the rebound and scored with 25 seconds left to tie it, 96-96. The Blue’s chance to win in regulation was foiled by Schumacher, whose steal led to a couple frantic missed shots by the Gold in the final seconds.
Fred Morecraft raved about Hunter, Schumacher and the rest of the participants.
“I’ve seen Seth play several times over the years, but to see close up what he brings to the court … his enthusiasm level is sky high, he hustles all the time, and he’s a great player,” Morecraft said. “He’s just a high-class kid. P.J. is a great athlete and a great kid, too. Really, you could go right down the line and say something good about every kid who played in this game.”
Schumacher, who turned in a fine all-around performance, made a pair of 3-pointers in scoring eight points to go along with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Denham chipped in with one point, three boards, two steals and one assist. He had two of the game’s nicest passes, making a behind-the-back flip to a teammate after a steal that led to a bucket, and hitting Washington’s Jerome Barnes with a long bomb for a lay-up in displaying the strong and accurate arm that led the area in passing during football season.
Clites contributed two rebounds, one assist and one steal to the Blue’s win, while Tonkavitch added one board and one steal.
The Gold led 46-45 at halftime. Then it was time for the 3-point shootout and the dunk contest, which both involved local players.
Tonkavitch hit 10 of 25 attempts in the 3-point battle, but Schumacher and Cypher each hit 13 to force a shoot-off.
In fact, the two sharpshooters had to go to three shoot-offs before Cypher finally came away with a one-basket win.
Cope made all five of his attempts in the preliminary round of the dunking contest, including an impressive reverse.
“That’s my specialty,” Cope said with a smile.
“It’s funny because I didn’t even want to be in it, but I got talked into it.”
Cope joined Peters Township’s Mark Smith and Burgettstown’s Jason Young in the final and was the only one to throw down both attempts, including one authoritative two-hander, to take home the prize.
“It’s an honor to win this with all the great athletes here,” Cope said. “I mean, there are guys in here who can jump out of the building, so I was lucky to win.”
There was one local player in the girls game. Beth-Center’s Brittany Cole had four points, seven rebounds and two steals for the Blue team in its 70-59 loss to the Gold.
Chartiers-Houston’s Emily Briggs, who had 26 points and 15 rebounds, was the Blue’s MVP. Washington’s Tiara Bennett, who totaled 22 points and 10 boards, was the Gold’s MVP, and Washington’s Amber Harris added 12 points and 22 rebounds.
Cole hit seven 3-pointers to tie Briggs in the girls 3-point shootout, but Briggs won the shoot-off.