Freeport’s Beale, Shiring win titles at Cager Classic skills challenge

By: HSSN Staff
Friday, March 23, 2018 | 11:03 PM

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The thing about getting rid of bee hives, there always are a few stragglers left behind to sting a person.

Freeport's Ben Beale and Damon Shiring left their marks as the two Yellowjackets swept both individual boys competitions at the 22nd annual Cager Classic skills competition Friday night at Highlands.

“It feels pretty good,” said Beale, who won the individual hot-shot contest. “I wanted to take the 3-point (contest), but I'll take what I can get.”

The 3-point contest went to the West squad's Shiring, who edged Riverview's Dorian Rodriguez of the East squad 11-7. Burrell's 6-foot-5 center Donovan Russell finished third with 12 3-pointers but did not advance to the final round.

“What people don't know is that behind closed doors, in practice, I'm one of the top 3-point shooters on the team,” said Russell, who has narrowed his college list down to Chatham, Bethany and Goucher (Md.).

Beale, a Penn State Behrend commit, fended off Valley's Alex Ward of the East squad to come away as the individual hot-shot champion with a narrow 29-24 win. Armstrong's Nate Baillie, a Mercyhurst football commit, finished second on the East squad, and Drew Orlosky (West Shamokin) was runner-up for the West.

The East squad's Chloe Kurpakus and Orlosky took down Russell and Burrell classmate Brittany Dunn, 47-32, in the co-ed hot-shot competition.

Even though Highlands struggled this season, the Golden Rams' Renee Cebula proved she hasn't lost her touch since the end of the regular season. The Chatham commit took the girls hot shot contest with a 42-17 win over Knoch's Casey Kretzer.

“It's kind of rewarding because our season wasn't very good,” Cebula said. “To come here and play with girls who are a lot better than me, and I can learn and show that I belong.”

Leechburg's Mikayla Lovelace always has shown she belongs. The 2,000-point scorer did what she does best by winning the 3-point contest 11-8 over Hampton's Laryn Edwards. Lovelace edged teammate Brittany Robilio, 13-12, to advance to the finals against Edwards.

“I was really nervous,” said Lovelace, an IUP commit. “This is definitely a shocker, and my dad was laughing at me the entire time. It's nice to end my career with something fun and to be with my teammates and meet all of these new people.”

The Cager Classic, an all-star competition for players from the Alle-Kiski Valley and surrounding areas, will conclude Saturday with the games at Highlands: the girls at 5:45 p.m. and the boys to follow.

Russell took the opportunity Friday to reflect on his high school career while getting to play with players he competed against in his four years at Burrell.

“We've all played against each other, and it's really nice that we get to come together and play together as one team instead of as rivals,” Russell said.

Beale grew sentimental as he sat in the bleachers watching his West teammates compete. After watching from the spectator side of the Highlands gymnasium his entire life, Beale looked back fondly at his unique basketball experience.

“Growing up I was here watching the best athletes, it's crazy,” Beale said. “Now, I'm here in the same place. The fact that I'll never be coached by dad (Mike) again (is tough). It's been a great ride.”

William Whalen is a freelance writer.