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April 1, 2006

SFU recruit feels at home in Loretto

By MIKE MASTOVICH

LORETTO — Officially, Portage’s Randy Spaid concluded his high school basketball career Friday night in the Altoona Mirror Classic.

But the 6-foot-8 swing man also provided a glimpse of the future during the Regional All-Stars’ 125-88 victory over the Blair County All-Stars.

One of nine Regional players to reach double-digit scoring, Spaid tallied 13 points and had six rebounds in his first game on the DeGol Arena floor, where he’ll begin his college career this fall at St. Francis University.

“It’s awesome because a lot of players are going to different schools and it’s nice for me to come here and play on my (future) court,” Spaid said. “This is an awesome floor and St. Francis is a great place.”

State College’s Eric Meister is headed to Holy Cross University, but he still had time for one more banner performance at the high school level. Meister took boys MVP honors after scoring a game-best 19 points and grabbing nine rebounds for the Regional team. He also had two assists, two blocks and a steal.

Penn Cambria’s Luke Tomaselli had 13 points,

and Bishop Carroll’s Jeff Minemyer, Bishop McCort’s Pete O’Connor and Greater Johnstown’s Aireon Jefferson each netted 10 points for the Regional team.

Johnstown’s Kurt Hoffman, who also is headed to St. Francis in the fall, didn’t play because he has mononucleosis, tournament organizers said.

“It was great to play in this game,” O’Connor said. “The other team had great athletes. Our team had great height. We didn’t have dunks in the first half, but the second half we kind of pleased the crowd with the dunks.”

The Regional team had five players at 6-6 or taller on the court. Meister (6-6), Cory Boone (6-7), Minemyer (6-7), Spaid (6-8) and Cody Boone (6-8) helped the Regional squad outrebound Blair County 66-47 and block four shots.

“Obviously, with our height, we got what we wanted,” Spaid said. “We got rebounds. We made extra passes.”

State College coach Drew Frank’s Regional team also was solid from the floor, shooting 53.7 percent (51 of 95).

Hollidaysburg coach Mick Pentoney’s Blair team was cold, shooting 34 percent from the floor (34 of 100). Three stars were held scoreless.

“We knew that it was going to be a lot of fun and we had a lot of great players, a lot of good guards and big men,” Johnstown’s Jefferson said. “We knew if we worked together, we could play well as a team even though we only had one practice. This is a great accomplishment.”

Each team had one practice, but the Regional players seemed to adapt better.

“There weren’t any nerves because you’re just going out there to have fun,” McCort’s O’Connor said. “We worked really well together. It seemed like we’ve been practicing together for a week but we only had one practice. We blended together.”

Notes: Altoona’s Joaquin Osimani led Blair County with 17 points. ... Honorary coaches for the boys game were Johnstown’s Paul Litwalk for the Regional Stars and Altoona’s John Swogger for Blair County. ... Northern Bedford’s A.J. Nastasi, the state’s all-time leading scorer with 3,883 points, was honorary captain of the Regional team. Nastasi averaged 40 points a game as a senior and went to West Virginia on a football scholarship. ... Altoona’s Doug West was Blair County’s honorary captain. West played 12 NBA seasons from 1989 to 2001, scoring 6,477 points with Minnesota. He scored 2,037 points at Villanova.



Mike Mastovich can be reached at 532-5083 or mmastovich@tribdem.com.

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