Farrell's Stubbs, Stewart net All-State honors

March 27, 2008 08:22 am

— 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.
In Class AAAA, Penn State signee Renee Womack of Methacton is on the 1st team and Virginia recruit Chelsea Shine of Conestoga is on the 2nd unit.
For all the Philadelphia flavor on this season’s team, the Class AAAA player of the year is Abington Heights’ Becky Burke. A returnee to the 1st team and a South Carolina recruit, Burke averaged 25.7 points, hitting for more than 30 eight times. She ended her career with 2,162 points.
Burke edged out sophomore Alyssa Thomas, who powered Central Dauphin to the PIAA championship, for the Class AAAA award.
The Class AAAA second team is dominated by players from the Pittsburgh area. Mount Lebanon’s Jackie Babe and Upper St. Clair’s Jackie Gensler will team up at Duquesne next year, while Jamie Smith takes her 23.1 scoring average at Woodland Hills to St. Peter’s. Markel Walker of Schenley is a junior.
Hampton averaged 20.6 points and 13.5 rebounds to lead Engineering & Science to the PIAA quarterfinals, scoring 40 in a playoff win against Allentown Central Catholic. Kirsten Olowinski rounds out the AAA 1st team after leading Mercyhurst Prep to the PIAA title game.
Wilkinsburg’s Darche Jackson, who averaged 33.8 points, is the AA player of the year and heads a group dominated by underclassmen. Jackson and Carey are juniors; Lucas and Camp Hill Trinity’s Laura Murray are sophomores; and Kady Schrann, who keyed York Catholic’s run to a 3rd consecutive PIAA championship, is a freshman.
Schuylkill Valley’s Corielle Yarde is the only senior on the Class AA first team. A 2nd-team selection last year, she averaged 26 points.
Rachel Connely, a 6-foot-5 James Madison recruit, put the finishing touches on her Class A player of the year season with 19 points, 16 rebounds, 12 blocked shots during Marian Catholic’s PIAA final win over Mount Alvernia.
Mount Alvernia’s Renee Brown, Monessen’s Christina Chukwuedo, North Catholic’s Amy Longo and Stubbs completed the Class A 1st team.
The 4 PIAA championship teams produced the coaches of the year. Along with Miller in Class AAA were Central Dauphin’s Bill Wolf (AAAA), York Catholic’s Kevin Bankos (AA) and MarianCatholic’s Paul Brutto (A) over Mount Alvernia’s De Porucznik.

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