3 area hoops players named to All-State
It's no surprise that the three top hoops players in the area continue to reap the benefits months after the final basket went through the hoop. Saturday, the 2015-2016 Pennsylvania Sportswriters Boys and Girls Basketball All-State Teams were released, with three familiar faces from around Franklin and Fulton counties.
Jenay Faulkner, of Greencastle-Antrim, and the respective P.O. Players of the Year, Bronwyne Mellott from McConnellsburg and Dylan Gordon of Southern Fulton, each earned All-State honors.
Faulkner finds first team
Greencastle-Antrim's Jenay Faulkner found her way onto the girls All-State team for the second straight year, earning Class AAA first team honors in 2015-2016. She was on the second team a year ago.
Faulkner, a junior, averaged 19.1 points per game and dropped in 99 3-pointers and had 99 assists on the season, leading the Blue Devils in nearly every category. Her threat behind the 3-point line, and sometimes even at half court, and her "off the charts defense," according to G-A coach Mike Rhine, kept Greencastle in contention into the second round of the PIAA playoffs.
She is already a 1,000-point scorer and is well on her way to inking her name in as the Greencastle girls all-time leading scorer, and taking the school's scoring record next season. Faulkner was the P.O. Player of the Year in 2014-2015.
Mellott makes second team
Bronwyne Mellott, this year's P.O. Player of the Year, earned All-State honors for the third consecutive season, moving up to second team from third team the previous two years, after leading the Lady Spartans to their first District 5 championship appearance since 1999, and the team's first PIAA tournament berth in 17 years.
Mellott was the area's scoring leader all season, averaging 26.2 points per game, scoring more than 49 percent of the team's points.
The junior is closing in on scoring her 2,000th point and breaking the McConnellsburg's girls basketball all-time scoring record - a feat that Mellott has had on her mind since her freshman year.
Gordon named to third team
It was a good basketball season for Dylan Gordon, to say the least.
District 5 Class A Champion. Second-round appearance in the PIAA state tournament. P.O. boys Player of the Year.
And now, Gordon can add All-State to his lengthy hoops resume, after being named to the All-State Class A third team.
In his junior season, Gordon averaged 17 points per game, and was one of the top offensive leaders in the area. He also stacked the stat card with 229 rebounds, 94 assists, 59 steals and 20 blocks on the year.
While leading the Indians to the area's first All-Fulton County District 5 championship since 1985-86, and the team's first district title since 2011-- in which Gordon tallied 29 of Southern Fulton's 40 points - his defense was also first rate.
