George Guido: Leechburg’s Lovelace leads A-K Valley all-staters

By: HSSN Staff
Tuesday, April 24, 2018 | 11:27 PM

The Alle-Kiski Valley's second all-time leading girls basketball scorer and two-time Valley News Dispatch Player of the Year now has a place on the all-state team.

Leechburg's Mikayla Lovelace, who led the Blue Devils to heights the program never had experienced, was named first-team, Class 2A all-state Tuesday afternoon.

The teams, three from each classification, were selected by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters from around the state.

Lovelace received third-team honors last season. She finished her stellar Leechburg career with 2,047 points, second most in Alle-Kiski Valley history to Ford City's Lizzie Suwala's 2,266 points and second best in Armstrong County history.

Lovelace will further her career at IUP in the fall. She plans to major in chemistry.

Also, Mars girls coach and Deer Lakes graduate Dana Petruska was named Class 5A Coach of the Year.

Petruska guided the Planets to the PIAA title with a 36-33 victory over Archbishop Wood last month at Hershey's Giant Center.

Petruska, who has 439 career victories in 30 years, will be inducted into the Alle-Kiski Valley Sports Hall of Fame on May 19.

Lower Burrell resident Tess Myers, a sophomore at Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, was named to the Class 4A third team.

Myers will be best known for her mad dash to the hoop and a buzzer-beater to give North Catholic a 50-49 victory over Beaver in the WPIAL finals at Petersen Events Center.

Myers' coach, Molly Rottman, was named Class 5A Coach of the Year. So we have the 5A and 4A coaches of the year at schools just 5 miles apart long state Route 228.

Also, West Shamokin's Olivia Fusaro was named to the Class 3A second team.

Fusaro has been part of a Wolves program that made the PIAA semifinals last year and contended in the Heritage Conference this past season.

Fusaro was the East MVP in the Cager Classic last month at Highlands High School.

Lovelace and Fusaro will be recognized at the A-K Hall of Fame banquet, and Lovelace also will be a student honoree Sunday at the Armstrong County Sports Hall of Fame banquet at Laube Hall, Freeport.

Cunningham's big day

It's one thing to excel in two sports.

But it's something entirely different to do it on the same day.

Last Friday, Jeannette's Tre Cunningham drove in three runs for the Jayhawks during their 11-6 section victory over West Greene.

After that, he took a 63-mile trip to Geneva College, where he played in the Roundball Classic.

Cunningham poured in 17 points at the Roundball for the Class 2A/City League all-stars in its 99-96 victory over the District 10 all-stars at Geneva's Metheny Fieldhouse.

St. Joseph finds a home

The St. Joseph baseball team isn't having the season it hoped for with a 1-6 mark at mid-week.

But the Spartans at last have found a home.

After playing home games for many years at Hank Dunn Field in the Karns section of Harrison Township, that field was converted to youth football for the Highland Hornets.

Since then, St. Joseph has led a nomadic existence, playing home games at No Off-season in West Deer, Pullman Park in Butler, Agan Park in Springdale Township and elsewhere.

Even a field planned for the Birdville section of Harrison near Citizens Hose Co. never materialized.

Now, the school has been approved to play at Freeport's James Swartz Jr. Stadium for $500 per year.

Freeport councilman Sean McCalmont said the lease is on a one-year renewable basis.

The Spartans, still mathematically alive for a WPIAL playoff spot, will host Leechburg at 3:45 p.m. Friday.

George Guido is a Valley News Dispatch scholastic sports correspondent. His column appears Wednesdays.

Tags: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Jeannette, Leechburg, Mars, North Catholic, St. Joseph, West Shamokin