North and South basketball all-stars announced
Sir Winston Churchill’s Ally Sentance is one of 40 players selected to participate in next week’s high school all-star games. File photo by BERNIE PUCHALSKI
Niagara’s abundance of talented high school girls basketball players will be showing their skills at the annual all-star games next Wednesday at St. Catharines Collegiate.
It is a memorable night for all the participants.
“The kids talk about this event for years afterwards; that they were a part of it and wearing their game shirt,” organizing committee member Frank Keltos said. “It is the last memory potentially of basketball for most of the players unless they continue to play post secondary.”
Keltos’ daughter Sam played in the event before moving on to play NCAA Division 1 basketball with St. Francis College in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“I still talk to my daughter about the game and her memories of playing for three years and how the excitement of the game brings out the most in them.”
Frank Keltos feels the all-star games are a big part of the local sporting calendar.
“It is important to showcase the players for an outstanding year and for some, give them one more chance to play with the best players in the Niagara region.”
The top 20 game will start at 7 p.m. and the top 10 game will begin at 8:15 p.m. Admission is $3 for students and $5 for adults with all proceeds going to Gillian’s Place.
Players of the games will receive awards from the Brock women’s basketball team and the St. Catharines Rebels help sponsor the event by purchasing the shirts for the teams.
Named to the Team North (Zone 4) top 10 team are: Sir Winston Churchill’s Kaley DeMont and Ally Sentance from Sir Winston Churchill; Viktoria Cubelic and Sofia Al-Kayed from St. Francis; Mackenzie Schroeder from Eden; Mia DiPasquale and Maddie O’Brien from Blessed Trinity; Paige Epp and Ilijana Vukovic from Grimsby; and, Hana Parkin from Governor Simcoe.
Selected for the Team North 11-20 team are: Eden’s Beth DeBoer: Denis Morris’ Emily White and Lexxus Bell; Holy Cross’ Mackenzie Brown; Smithville District Christian’s Terin Hultink; Sir Winston Churchill’s Natalie Weber; St. Catharines Collegiate’s Micailah Jones; Thorold’s Mia Nicholson; St. Francis’s Abby Ruetz; and, Blessed Trinity’s Ella Muraca.
Coaching the North teams will be Keltos from Sir Winston Churchill and John DiPasquale from Blessed Trinity.
Honourable mentions for the North teams went to: Sir Winston Churchill’s Janee Harrison; Denis Morris’ Dani Orlando; Eden’s Jeniah Wiens; St. Catharines Collegiate’s Chenoor Irandost and Trinity Taylor; Grimsby’s Asha-Lee Crooks; and, Holy Cross’ Amanda Hemphill.
Selected to the Team South (Zone 3) top 10 team are: A.N. Myer’s Tori Rigas-DiDomenico and Julia Colavecchia; Notre Dame’s Maddie Picton and Chloe Peters; Jean Vanier’s Alex Hebert and Matteya Wendling; Centennial’s Catherine Maltais and Olivia Smith; Saint Michael’s Julie Manlow; and, Greater Fort Erie’s Taylor Doyle.
Named to the Team South 11-20 squad are: Lakeshore Catholic’s Isabella Favero; Notre Dame’s Jamira Rousseau; Port Colborne’s Victoria Fraser; Saint Paul’s Julia Camisa; E.L. Crossley’s Mackenzie Sider; Jean Vanier’s Julia McPhail; Saint Michael’s Anne Ibey; Greater Fort Erie’s Megan Louws; Centennial’s Destiny Paquin; and, Stamford’s Lyssa Stewart.
Coaching the South will be Phil Mosley from Centennial and Kate Harpur from A.N. Myer.
Honourable mentions to the South teams are A.N, Myer’s Rosie Tait; Greater Fort Erie’s Emily Patrick; Saint Michael’s Lauren Carter; Saint Paul’s Susan Leone and Megan Falco; and, Lakeshore Catholic’s Logan Tworyczuk and Maddie Wilcox.
Every coach in Zone 3 and 4 was sent out a nomination form and each coach was allowed to choose three players. Once all the names are submitted, committee members Keltos, Mosley and Dante Pirillo assemble the squads.
“We make sure that every school who nominated a player is selected to a team and then we fill the roster with the teams that had the most success this season; zone champs and SOSSA (Southern Ontario Secondary Schools Association) champs,” Keltos said.
