By Joe Costa
HARRISBURG, Pa.–Central Dauphin High School served as host to the first installment of the Blue Star High School Elite Invitational Series just prior to the Christmas holiday. The inaugural triple header featured Middleburg Academy (Middleburg, Va.) taking on Bishop Shanahan (Downingtown, Pa.) followed by Central Dauphin East (Harrisburg, Pa.) and Episcopal Academy (Newtown Square, Pa.) wrapping up with St. John Neumann-Maria Goretti (Philadelphia. Pa.) taking on Capitol Christian Academy (Landover Md.).
In day’s first game, between the Eagles of Bishop Shanahan and the Dragons of Middleburg Academy, the first quarter was a back and forth contest with Middleburg taking a 15-14 lead after 8 minutes of play. In the second stanza the Eagles used full court man-to-man pressure to force 12 Dragon turnovers while shooting 22 of 28 from the free throw line to pull away to a 40-27 lead at the break. Middleburg came out of the locker room in the third quarter inspired but wound up frustrated not being able to penetrate the Bishop Shanahan defense. First year head coach and long time club basketball standout Fran Burbidge has the Bishop Shanahan playing with an intensity that limited Millersburg to just 11 second half points leading to a 64 -38 final margin.
An inside out approach in the win yielded a 16 point effort by Kelly Dreiling (5-11, 2014, G/F, Exton, Pa), an undersized but technically sound inside presence, while Ciara Forde’s (5-9, 2016, G, Glenmoore, Pa.) outside attack enabled her to add 11 points of her own. Middleburg’s offense is an attack the hoop approach which allowed Courtney Radcliff (5-8, 2015, G, Leesburg, Va.) to contribute 15 points, 9 of which came from the free throw line. Candice Berner (5-10, 2015, F, Leesburg Va.) added 13 in the loss.
Game two was a contrast between the Central Dauphin East Panther’s up and down game and Episcopal Academy Churchwomen’s precision execution style. The first eight minutes of the game were spent punching and counter punching with both teams making plays and mistakes. The Churchwomen held a slight edge most of the game until the Panthers tied things up at the end of the third quarter. The final period was a see-saw affair into the last minute of play when Episcopal’s Sarah Abbonizio (5-9, 2014, G, West Chester, Pa.), who led all scorers with 19 points, deposited the game winning lay-up with 25.7 seconds remaining. CD East had two more attempts to tie the game to no avail finishing on the short end of a 41 – 39 score. Two players hit double figures for the Panthers in the loss as Brittany Robinson (6-0, 2015, F, Harrisburg, Pa.) led the way with 15 while Michaela Gelbaugh (5-9, 2015, PG, Harrisburg, Pa.) added 13 of her own.
The marquee match-up of the day featured a battle of perennial powerhouses Saint John Neumann-Maria Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Capitol Christian Academy (Landover MD). From the tip this game had a summer evaluation period feel to it with Neumann-Goretti taking a shot to the chin when Capitol Christian exploded out of the gate with a 6-0 run over the first 1:30 of the game. Saints coach Letty Santarelli called time out and re-focused her squad and they returned the favor with a haymaker of its own. Led by the all-out play of Ella Awobajo (6-0, 2014, F, Philadelphia, Pa.) Neumann-Goretti finished the quarter on a 14-0 run of their own. Capitol countered using the strength inside of Theresa Gilmore (6-1, 2015, F, Washington, D.C.) as well was their transition attack to outpace Goretti in the second quarter 13-7 closing the halftime deficit to four at 25-21. The back and forth continued in the second half with Capitol capping a 15-7 third quarter when Breonn Highey (5-6, 2014, G, Washington, D.C.) hit a three pointer from the corner as time expired. The final period and the game were won by Neumann-Goretti with a 13-6 difference over the final eight minutes of play. Tanesha Sutton’s lay-up with a minute to go put Goretti ahead for good and the Saints held on for a 45-42 hard fought victory. The Saints were led by A.J. Timbers (5-11, 2015, G/F, Philadelphia, Pa.) who finished with 12 points while the Warriors were paced by a strong showing from Gilmore who tallied 18.
Blue Star Basketball will continue their High School tournament schedule with two more events over the Martin Luther King Holiday weekend.
Saturday January 18 – Blue Star High School Elite Invitational – Northeast in Long Island, N.Y.
12:00 noon – St. John Baptist (N.Y.) v. Boys and Girls High School (N.Y.)
2:00 pm – Sachem East (N.Y.) v. Monsignor Scanlon (N.Y.)
4:00 pm – Long Island Lutheran (N.Y.) v. Life Center Academy (N.J.)
6:00 pm – St. Mary’s (N.Y.) v. Neumann Goretti (P.A.)
Sunday January 19 – 7th Annual Blue Star High School Elite Invitational -Fort Washington PA
11:00 am – University (N.J.) v. The Hill School (Pa.)
1:00 pm – Germantown Academy (Pa.) v. Cicero North (N.Y.)
3:00 pm – Bishop Shanahan (Pa.) v. Rutgers Prep (N.J.)
5:00 pm – Penn Charter (Pa.) v. Wissahickon HS (Pa.)
7:00 pm – Upper Dublin (Pa.) v. CB West (Pa.)
Anyone interested in competing in a Blue Star High School event in the future should email Hope Fuery at hopefuery@usjn.com.
Joe Costa has been with Blue Star for 13 years now serving as a National Evaluator and Director of the Rising Blue Star program. Coaching the Pittsburgh Rockers for over 10 years; he helped produce two national championships and over 75 scholarship student athletes. Additionally Costa has coached both girls and boys on the high school & collegiate levels plus served as a floor coach for several Nike All American Camps and Skills Academies. He currently resides in Savannah, Georgia.
