Curtain call
Select area seniors relish being chosen to play in Roundball Classic
A curtain call awaits for some of the area’s top high school basketball players.
The Roundball Classic, which showcases senior basketball players in a set of all-star games this weekend, will take place at North Allegheny High School with 12 local boys and girls selected to participate.
Scheduling conflicts have prevented some players from attending, but nine have said they will take part in the festivities on Saturday and Sunday.
Jefferson-Morgan, Uniontown and Geibel Catholic each had two players chosen for the Roundball Classic. The Rockets’ Dayten Marion and Jeremiah Robertson and the Lady Raiders’ Aierra Jenkins will play. Scheduling conflicts will prevent Evan Strimel and Emma Larkin from representing the Gators and Lady Gators in the game, and the Red Raiders’ Isaac Ellsworth will not be able to attend either.
Ellsworth was chosen for the Class 5A North Boys, Larkin was chosen for the Class 2A/A Girls, and Strimel was chosen for the Class A/City League/Erie Boys.
Despite Ellsworth not being able to participate, Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky, who was picked as a Roundball Classic coach last year, was pleased to have another Red Raider selected for the honor.
“Isaac had a great career and so proud of him,” Kezmarsky said. “We have been lucky to have so many great Uniontown players selected to play in the game. It’s always great to end your career as a Roundball player. We have had a lot of players in it the last few years and we had so much fun coaching and playing in it last season.”
Jenkins, who will play for the Class 5A North Girls against the Class 6A/City League Girls in the final game of the event at 7 p.m. Sunday, sees the Roundball Classic as a perfect ending to her senior year.
“It feels great to know that I’m leaving my high school season with a bang,” Jenkins said. “I feel like I earned everything I got coming to me and this is just one of them. I’m so proud of myself and thankful for the people who stood by me.”
Others slated to play are Laurel Highlands’ Luke Martin, Beth-Center’s Jason Zellie and Southmoreland’s Noah Felentzer in boys games, and West Greene’s Kendra Tharp, Brownsville’s Ava Clark and Waynesburg Central’s Peyton Cowell in girls games.
Mustangs coach John Smith lauded Martin, who will play for the Class 5A South Boys against the Class 4A Boys at 2 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s an honor to have a player selected to play in the Roundball Classic game,” Smith said. “Luke is very deserving, and I’m proud that his hard work, dedication and commitment to the game were rewarded with this invitation. Looking forward to watching him represent our program one more time.”
Martin is happy to be part of the all-star affair.
“I feel like this is an opportunity to really showcase my skills, meet a lot of new people and play against the best players in the WPIAL,” Martin said. “There are some guys on my team I know, having played them twice this year and the year before. One of them is going to be my college teammate, too (Latrobe’s Rob Strong who, like Martin, will be playing basketball at Westmoreland County Community College), so I’m looking forward to talking to him some.”
Marion, Robertson and Zellie are on the Class 2A Boys roster and will play against the District 10 Boys at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Jefferson-Morgan coach Brandon Lawless commended his duo, which helped lead the Rockets to one of the best seasons in program history with a section title, WPIAL and PIAA playoff wins and a school-record in wins.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Dayten and Jeremiah and I couldn’t think of two players more deserving than the both of them,” Lawless said. “They’ve been such a joy to coach, not only because of the talent they have as basketball players, but because of who they are as human beings.
“They both believed from day one and they bought into our program and led by example, night in and night out, as it reflected in the box scores and their career progressions, and helped form a Jefferson-Morgan basketball program/culture.
“I’m grateful for the efforts and careers both have blessed me with over the years and I’ll miss them dearly. They’ll hold a special place in my heart for their dedication and efforts, the life lessons they both have taught me and the mark they left on the program.”
Zellie is happy to play with Robertson and Marion instead of against them for once.
“I’m very excited and honored to be selected for the Roundball Classic,” Zellie said. “It means a lot to be chosen to cap off my high school career. I’m also really excited to play with Jeremiah and Dayten, along with Bentworth’s Ben Hays. Those are my boys so it’ll be great to share the court with them one last time.”
Felentzer is on the Class 3A Boys, which takes on the Class A/City League/Erie Boys at 5 p.m. Saturday.
“It’s an amazing way to end my high school career, playing with the best,” Felentzer said.
Tharp will play for the Class 2A/A Girls against the District 10/District 9 Girls at 4 p.m. Sunday.
“It means a lot to be picked to play,” Tharp said. “I was chosen for the (Roundball) Undergrad game last year and it was such a good experience because you get to play with a bunch of talented girls from your own section and class, girls you’ve been really big rivals with on the court but then you get to work with them. It’s a nice little get-together, being on the same team for once.”
Clark and Cowell, both, like Tharp, multi-sport stars, will play for the Class 3A Girls against the Class 4A/5A Girls at 5:30 p.m. Sunday.
Clark, who recently led Brownsville’s softball team to its first ever WPIAL playoff win, is excited to get back on the hardcourt one more time.
“It means a lot, especially since it’s my senior year and I’m not going to play basketball in college,” said Clark, who will play softball at PennWest California. “I think it’ll be really fun to play one last time. I definitely have some friends from other schools on the roster with me.”
One of those is Cowell.
“It means the world to be in it,” Cowell said. “I’ve played basketball since I was a little kid. This is a way for me to set my last mark on a sport that I’ve always loved. It’s also an opportunity for my parents to see me because they’ve been super supportive throughout my entire career so I can give them one last showing.”
Cowell was not a high-scoring player but contributed to Waynesburg’s successful season with many other aspects for her game, including being a mentor to the younger Lady Raiders, three of which were freshmen starters.
“I did my best to try to help teach them,” Cowell said. “They’re such talented girls and I love them all to death. They were obviously a huge factor in our success this year. Three of our five starters were freshmen and they worked their butts off to get to that point. It was just a matter of helping them learn the way of high school ball and helping them succeed in any way that I could.”
A few players weighed on whether they’re looking to have fun or win the game while playing in the Roundball Classic.
“I want to have fun but I also want to win,” Clark said. “I want to give it my all and see what happens.”
Cowell had similar feelings.
“A little bit of both,” she said. “I’ve always been competitive so I’ll definitely do what I can to win the game but I want it to be a fun game, too.”
Martin is striving for a victory.
“For me, I want to win,” he said. “I’m super competitive. Winning to me is fun, but no matter if we win or lose, I have fun playing basketball. I want to go in, be myself, play my game, have fun and try to come out of there with a win. I think we have a really good chance. I like our matchup.”