Mike Mastovich
mmastovich@tribdem.com
JOHNSTOWN —
Shanksville senior Kayla Stockenus’ surpassing the 2,000-point mark in Tuesday’s loss to Windber brought a rare milestone back into the area’s spotlight.
While 1,000-point scorers have become fairly common in both boys and girls basketball, 2,000 is a much more rare feat.
Stockenus is only the second girls 2,000-point scorer in Somerset County history, and the third in The Tribune-Democrat’s current coverage area.
Conemaugh Valley’s Samantha Pollino scored 2,316 points. She played on a 2006 state runner-up Blue Jays team and earned Associated Press Class A Player of the Year honors. Pollino went onto a standout Division I career at Duquesne University.
Next up is Meyersdale’s Jen Tuscano, who had 2,236 points with the Raiders through 1995. Tuscano tallied 1,396 points at Pitt-Johnstown, then later coached at Meyersdale and worked with the University of Pittsburgh athletic department.
Stockenus had 27 points against Windber and has 2,007 for her career.
Area boys 2,000-point scorers include: Berlin’s Travis Eisentrout (2,824 points, 2001 graduate); Ferndale’s Matt Lushko (2,541 points, 1992); Conemaugh Valley’s Brandon Studer (2,540 points, 2003), Conemaugh Township’s Paul Byer (2,505 points, 2000); Conemaugh Township’s Andy Byer (2,360 points, 2005); Shanksville’s Owen Long (2,357 points, 1971); Portage’s Len Chappell (2,240 points, 1958); Shanksville’s Jeff Berkey (2,118 points, 2006); Central Cambria’s Jordan Miller (2,105 points, 2009); Laurel Valley’s Bob Golis (2,099 points, 1956) and Northern Cambria’s Ryan Galiczynski (2,004 points, 2002).
Shanksville now has three 2,000-point scorers in Stockenus, Long and Berkey.
Long, who was a longtime coach at Meyersdale, got his 2,000th point well before the 3-point line was put into the game, or the long-range shooter’s total most likely would be even higher.
Portage’s Chappell went on to a lengthy NBA career and scored 5,621 points. He is a Cambria County Sports Hall of Famer.
Ferndale’s Lushko is Cambria County’s all-time leading scorer, one point in front of Valley’s Studer. Lushko had 1,046 points at UPJ from 1993-97, while Studer ranked in the top five at Washington & Jefferson with 1,439 career points from 2003-07.
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Triple double: Northern Cambria senior forward Jeff Hogan had a big night in an 80-54 Heritage Conference win over Purchase Line on Tuesday. Hogan had 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for a triple-double.
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Making their points: Shade’s Ryan Fyock remains atop the scoring leaders with a 26.3 average and 263 points even though he was out with a leg injury for weeks. Fyock has returned to practice and was back on the floor Wednesday against Portage.
Blacklick Valley’s Dalton Cesarz had 461 points and a 25.6 scoring average through Monday.
Other players with a 20-plus scoring average are: Northern Cambria’s Adam Polites (372 points/21.9 average); Cambria Heights’ Isaac Vescovi (370/21.8); Johnstown’s Phillip Madison (291/20.8); Ferndale’s Chad Eisenhuth (310/20.7); and Penn Cambria’s A.J. Leahey (301/20.1).
Mike Mastovich is a sports writer for The Tribune-Democrat.
