By Philip Cmor

For The Associated Press

The Philadelphia Catholic League doesn’t become a member of the PIAA until next season, but that didn’t keep it from having a major effect on The Associated Press Pennsylvania girls all-state basketball teams.

Long respected for its talent and the quality of its teams, the PCL placed 4 players on the Class AAAA team. Cardinal O’Hara’s Stephanie Holzer and Archbishop Wood’s Ashley Robinson are on the 1st team, Conwell-Egan’s Carmen Tyson-Thomas the 2nd and Wood’s Rosie Tarnowski the 3rd. In addition, Meg Pearson and Kerri Shields, both of Archbishop Carroll, are on the Class AAA 1st team.

Mercer County selections included two of Farrell’s talented trio of seniors — Tieshia Stubbs on 1st team and Chloé Stewart 3rd team in Class A. The 3rd Steelerette, Kaveeda Myers, also was nominated, but didn’t make the final vote.

“I think it’s a tremendous achievement, a tribute to all their hard work over the last four years, the extra time they put in, AAU ball in the summer. It’s just great to be recognized as one of the top 15 players in the state,” summarized 8th-year Steelerettes’ skipper Eddie Turosky of his triplets, all of whom surpassed the career 1,000-point plateau.

The 6-foot Stubbs scored 453 points this season and 1,302 for her career and is bound for Akron University on scholarship, while the 5-3 Stewart scored 424 points this season and 1,272 for her career while serving as Farrell’s playmaker and defensive catalyst.

Stewart, still undecided on college plans, was an all-state 3rd-team a year ago.

“It says a lot about their character and work-ethic,” Turosky praised. “I wish them continued success. They left, along with Kaveeda (who scored 1,369 career points) a great mark on the program. ... The kids put the time in and you see the results — it’s all about commitment.”

Farrell finished 25-3 and in the Class A western regional title tilt to culminate the program’s career year. Turosky admitted, “It’ll be hard to find three kids of that caliber, again, especially at this level. But they were a joy to watch for four years, no doubt about it.”

If the selections are any indication, the PCL should be a major force when it joins the PIAA for the 2008-09 school year. Holzer, Pearson, Robinson and Tyson-Thomas are all juniors.

Catholic League teams weren’t the only non-PIAA squads from the southeastern corner of the state to make their presence felt in this year’s all-state selections. Germantown Academy, winner of the Inter-Academic League despite the loss of UConn signee Caroline Doty to a preseason knee injury, placed Jesse Carey and sophomore Maggie Lucas on the Class AA 1st team. Katie Kuester of Inter-Ac rival Academy of Notre Dame made the AA 2nd team.

PIAA member schools in Philadelphia and its suburbs are well represented, too.

DePaul recruit Keisha Hampton of Carver Engineering & Science is the Class AAA player of the year. She is joined on the 1st team by Laura Johnson, the point guard who spearheaded Mount St. Joseph’s run to a PIAA championship. Johnson’s coach, John Miller, is the coach of the year.