ALTOONA, Pa. (D9Sports) — Led by Class 1A first-team selection Tori Obenrader of North Clarion, seven District 9 girls’ basketball players were named to the Pennsylvania Sportswriters All-State Girls’ Basketball teams Tuesday.
(Photo of North Clarion’s Tori Obenrader. Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here)
On the Class 1A team, Obenrader was joined by A-C Valley’s Ellie Thompson, who was a second-team selection.
Three District 9 players were named to the Class 2A squads including Kane’s Ella Marconi (second team), Ridgway’s Emily Fullem (third team) and Keystone’s Taylor Geer (third team).
Karns City’s Emily Hegedus is a second-team Class 3A selection, and Punxsutawney’s Leah Miller is a second-team Class 4A selection.
Obenrader (first team in 2017) and Miller (third team in 2017) are both repeat members of the All-State teams.
This season, Obenrader was named the All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com District 9 Player of the Year for the second straight season while earning first-team All-District honors for the third straight year by averaging 24.2 points, 15.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. She had 24 double-doubles on the year and finished her career as the fifth all-time leading scorer in District 9 history with 2,115 career points while adding 1,560 career rebounds, both school records. Obenrader, who led North Clarion to back-to-back District 9 and KSAC titles in 2017 and 2018 and to the PIAA quarterfinals as a junior and PIAA second round as a senior, will play at Gannon next season.
Thompson, a Mansfield recruit, helped A-C Valley enjoy it’s best season ever with 21 wins, a KSAC South title, a KSAC runner-up finish and the first PIAA win in school history by averaging 19.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 2.3 steals per game. She was named a first-team All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com All-District performer and finished her career as A-C Valley’s all-time leading scorer with 1,527 career points.
Ellie Thompson. Photo by Jared Bakaysa
Marconi, the lone underclassman on this list from District 9 as a junior, helped Kane to a second-place finish in District 9 Class 2A and the PIAA playoffs by averaging 15.3 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. A first-team All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com All-District player, she will enter her senior season with 1,072 career points.
Fullem was a key contributor on Ridgway’s District 9 playoff squad leading the district with 5.3 blocks per game while adding 20.4 points and 14.7 rebounds per contest. She finished her career with 1,307 points and over 1,000 career rebounds while being named second-team All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com All-District 9. Fullem will continue her athletic career as a volleyball player at Clarion University.
Geer led Keystone to a third-place finish in District 9 and the PIAA playoffs, the Lady Panthers second PIAA playoff appearance in three seasons, by averaging 20.2 points per game. Finishing with 1,401 career points, Geer was named a second-team All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com All-District 9 performer. She will play basketball at St. Vincent next season.
Keystone’s Taylor Geer
Hegedus, a first-team All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com All-District 9 performer for the third straight season, was the leading scorer in District 9 this season averaging 25.7 points per game while finishing a season double-double with 12.2 rebounds per contest and adding 3.5 assists and 3.4 steals per game. She shot 80 percent (200 of 250) from the free-throw line and finished her career as Karns City’s all-time leading scorer with 1,735 career points. She will play basketball at Clarion University.
Emily Hegedus of Karns City. Photo by Howie Dittman
Miller was a 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound player in just three years of varsity basketball at Punxsutawney and was named a first-team All American Awards & Engraving All-District 9 player for the second straight season after averaging a District 9-leading 16.2 rebounds per game to go with 15.3 points, 4.0 blocks, 2.4 steals and 1.0 assists per contest. She had 20 double-doubles on the season and finished with 1,037 career points. Miller will continue her basketball career at Chestnut Hill next season.
