Award winner bios

All-District bios

All-District team list

All-District Team History

BROOKVILLE – Coudersport’s Blair Heimel is the 2008 All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com District 9 boys’ basketball Player of the Year.

Joining Heimel in being honored with individual awards are A-C Valley’s Allan Eaton as the All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com District 9 Rookie of the Year and Bradford’s Dave Fuhrman as the D9sports.com District 9 Coach of the Year.

In addition to the three individual awards, the All American Awards & Engraving D9Sports.com first-, second- and third-team All-District teams were also announced Saturday at the Alice R. Kozel Foundation District 9 All-Star game.

“Blair, Allan and Dave proved through the year that they were at the top of the class in their respective categories,” D9Sports.com co-Editor Chris Rossetti said. “As he showed last year when he was a first-team selection, Blair is one of the top big men District 9 has seen in a long time, while Allan is looking to join him with that distinction after having a very solid freshman season. Dave Fuhrman finds a way to make Bradford competitive year-in-and-year-out, and this season was no different with another run to the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals including a pair of victories over highly-touted WPIAL teams.”

It is the ninth edition of the All-District teams and the eighth year that D9Sports.com has hosted the awards. It is also the second straight year that All American Award & Engraving has served as the title sponsor providing all the plaques and certificates that were awarded.

The major-award winners along with all the first-team honorees were provided a plaque courtesy of All-American Awards & Engraving, while the second-and third-team honorees received a certificate from All-American Awards & Engraving.

“Jim Carroll at All American Awards did a tremendous job with the plaques and certificates again this year,” Rossetti said. “I would encourage anyone who needs this type of work done to give him a call.”

NOTES – Both the major award winner and the all-district teams were chosen in a voting by the editorial staff of D9Sports.com after soliciting nominations and information from District 9 coaches, officials, players and fans as well as first-hand accounts of those players … All-American Awards & Engraving is located just outside of Shippenville and can be found on the web at http://www.allamericanawardsandengraving.com/. The company’s phone number is 1-877-402-9273.

2008 ALL-DISTRICT 9 BOYS’ AWARD WINNERS (Top of page)

ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Blair Heimel, Sr., C, Coudersport

Heimel, who was the third-leading scorer in District 9 this season at 19.1 points per game, helped Coudersport to a 29-1 overall record and both the District 9 Class A and the North Tier League championships this season. He helped the Falcons to the PIAA Class A quarterfinals.

A 1,000-point career scorer (1,040), Heimel, who was a first-team All-District selection last year, averaged a double-double this season by adding 10.2 rebounds per game while also averaging 2.5 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.4 steals per contest. He shot 63.5 percent from the field, while scoring 20 or more points 14 times with a high of 28.  

Heimel is the first Coudersport player to earn Player of the Year honors, and he is the first North Tier League player to earn the award.

ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Allan Eaton, Fr., F, A-C Valley

Eaton proved to be a key contributor for a young A-C Valley squad this season finishing second on the team in scoring at 8.9 points per game while adding 6.6 rebounds per contest. He shot 45 percent from the field and scored 15 or more points three times with a high of 24. He got better with experience averaging 12.7 ppg in his final 11 contests with a pair of 20-point games.

Eaton is the first A-C Valley player to earn Rookie of the Year honors.

ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING COACH OF THE YEAR

Dave Fuhrman, Bradford

Fuhrman guided the Owls to a 20-8 overall record and both the District 9 Class AAA and D9 League championships. He then helped Bradford to the PIAA quarterfinals by beating a pair of state-ranked WPIAL teams – Chartiers Valley and Hopewell. The Owls run was stopped by eventual state champion Steelton-Highspire. Of the eight losses by Bradford this season, three of them came against teams that earned state titles – Steelton-Highspire in Pennsylvania and Maple Grove and Olean in New York.

The District 9 Class AAA title was Bradford’s seventh in the last eight years. Fuhrman, who is his 18^th year at Bradford, earned his 300^th career win this season and finished the year with a career record of 306-157.

This is the second time Fuhrman is the District 9 Coach of the Year having also earned the honor in 2004.

2008 DISTRICT 9 ALL-DISTRICT BIOS (Top of page)

See team members listing

ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING FIRST TEAM (Return to top of Bios)

Blair Heimel, Sr., C, Coudersport (Player of the Year)

See Bio Above

Ryan LaBrozzi, Sr., G/F, Bradford

This is LaBrozzi’s first All-District award. He tied for 10^th in District 9 in scoring at 17.0 points per game while adding 7.9 rebounds and 2.9 steals per contest. He also shot 50.1 percent from the field while helping the Owls to the District 9 Class AAA and D9 League titles and the PIAA Class AAA quarterfinals. He finished his career with 905 points.

Ben Lanich, Sr. C, Bradford

This is Lanich’s second All-District award after being named second-team last season. He averaged a double-double this season with 14.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game while adding two blocks per contest. He shot 53.6 percent from the field and ended his career with 961 points.

Christian Spilman, Sr., G, DuBois Central Catholic

Spilman, who was a second-team All-District choice last year, averaged 13.9 points, 5.6 assists, 4.8 steals and 4.0 rebounds per game for the District 9 Class A runner-up and AML champion Cardinals. He was the starting point guard for the Cardinals PIAA runner-up team as a junior. Finishing his career with 1,036 points, Spilman raised his game after teammate Dom Varacallo suffered a torn ACL late in the season. In his final nine games, he averaged 16.6 ppg including a high of 28 in the AML title game victory over ECC while helping the Cardinals to the second round of the PIAA Class A playoffs.

Seth Streich, Jr., F, Johnsonburg

Streich, who hadn’t played organized basketball since junior high, was one of the breakout players in District 9 this season, leading the district in scoring at 21.2 points per game while averaging a double-double by adding 10.4 rebounds per contest. He added 2.4 steals, 1.8 assists and 1.3 blocks per contest and helped the Rams to the second round of the District 9 Class A playoffs. He scored in double digits in each of his 23 games this season while netting 20 or more points 15 times including a high of 30 points. He averaged 24 points per game in his final seven contests. Streich is the only underclassman on the first-team and one of just four underclassmen among the 19 all-district selections.

Dom Varacallo, Sr., G, DuBois Central Catholic

Varacallo is making his first appearance on the All-District team, but All-District honors are nothing new for the Varacallo family. Dom’s older brothers Matt, Chris and Albert were all All-District performers with Chris (2003) and Matt (2005) earning first-team honors. Overall, the Varacallo family now has five All-District awards (Matt was also a second-team selection), which is more than 22 schools (including some who are no longer in D9) have earned. 

Dom earned the award by being the seventh-leading scorer in District 9 this season at 17.7 points per game despite playing his final six games with a torn ACL. He added 3.6 assists, 3.1 steals and 2.9 rebounds per contest. Prior to his injury, Varacallo, who was a starting guard on last season’s PIAA Class A runner-up squad for DCC, he was averaging 20.0 points per game, which would have been good for third most in District 9. He finished his career with 988 points and scored 20 or more points 14 times this season with a high of 31.

ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING SECOND TEAM (Return to top of Bios)

A.J. Ethriedge – Sr., F, Union

Ethriedge was the second-leading scorer for the KSAC-East champion and KSAC runner-up Golden Knights averaging 16.5 points per game while scoring 20 or more points 11 times including hitting a high of 27 twice. He finished his career with 686 points despite basically playing just two years of varsity basketball.

Ethan Gravatt – Sr., G, Rocky Grove

Gravatt, who joins teammate Cruz Mietus (third team) as the first two Rocky Grove players to earn All-District 9 honors, was the leading scorer for the KSAC Champion Orioles, who finished third in District 9. He averaged 16.7 points per game while adding 6.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists per contest. He was lights out from the free-throw line, hitting 82 percent of his charity shots. A member of Franklin’s 2006 PIAA Class AAA state championship team, Gravatt was in his first season at Rocky Grove.

John Hau – Sr., F, Coudersport

Hau, who was a third-team All-District selection last season, teamed with Blair Heimel to lead Coudersport to the District 9 Class A and North Tier League titles and trip to the PIAA Class A quarterfinals. He averaged 15.0 points per game despite playing his final seven games with a torn ACL. He added 7.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.4 blocks and 1.9 steals per game and ended his career with 1,052 career points. He was averaging 17.5 points per game before his injury.

Josh Loos – Sr., C, Moniteau

Loos was the fifth-leading scorer in District 9 this season averaging 18.6 points per game while also averaging a double-double on the year with 11.8 rpg. He added 4.0 blocks per game and shot 40.4 percent from the floor. He scored 20 or more points six times including 30 or more four times with a career-best 39 points to go with 24 rebounds Jan. 4. The 39 points were the second most by a player in District 9 this season. Loos finished his career with 708 points in two seasons as a varsity player.

Matt Shiner – Jr., G, Clearfield

Shiner was one of the main reasons Clearfield has one of its more successful seasons in recent memory going 19-8 with a District 9 Class AAA runner-up finish and a PIAA playoff berth. He was the leading scorer for the Bisons and the ninth leading scorer in District 9 at 17.2 points per game while scoring a season-high 32 points.

Corey Snyder – Sr., G, East Forest

Snyder, who joins is older brother Bobby (2006 first team) as an All-District selection, was the second-leading scorer in District 9 this season, averaging 20.7 points per game while adding 4.8 rebounds. 3.8 assists and 3.3 steals per contest. He hit 78 3-pointers this season, and scored 20 or more points 13 times in 24 games, including twice reaching 30 with a high of 32. He ended his career with 1,105 points, tied for sixth in school history.

ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING THIRD TEAM (Return to top of Bios)

Scott Booth – So, G/F, Union

The best sophomore in District 9, Booth finished fourth in the district in scoring at 19 points per game. He scored a career-high of 35 points this season while scoring 20 or more tallies nine times. He has 627 career points in two seasons.

Logan Haberberger – Sr., F/C, Elk County Catholic

Haberberger was a key member of ECC’s fourth-place District 9 Class A team that qualified for the PIAA playoffs for the 12^th straight season. He averaged 10.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 47.8 percent from the field. He was a contributor on last season’s D9 Class A title team for ECC and finished his career with 497 points in just two seasons on the varsity squad.

Cruz Mietus – Sr., G, Rocky Grove

Mietus, who joins teammate Ethan Gravatt (second team) as the first two All-District 9 honorees for Rocky Grove, averaged 14.7 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while helping the Orioles to the KSAC title and a third-place finish in District 9 Class A as well as a PIAA playoff appearance for the first time in school history. He shot 47 percent from 3-point range and finished his career with 924 points.

Kyle Rhoads – Sr., G, Keystone

Rhoads, who was the D9Sports.com District 9 Rookie of the Year in 2006 as a sophomore, makes his first appearance on the All-District team after being named the KSAC MVP. He averaged 11.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game while helping Keystone to a 20-win season. Scoring 924 career points, he helped Keystone to the District 9 Class AA title as a sophomore and to a second-place finish in Class A as a junior. 

Mark Shannon – Jr., C/F, Brockway

Shannon helped Brockway to the District 9 Class AA semifinals by averaging 13.7 points per game while adding 9.5 rebounds, 2.7 blocks, 1.5 steals and 1.4 assists per contest. He scored 20 or more points six times including a high of 27 and unofficially has 556 points in two seasons. He is the first Brockway boys’ player to be named All-District in the nine years of the awards.

Cameron Turner – Sr., F, Karns City

Turner averaged a double-double for the Gremlins this season with 14.4 points per game and 11.2 rebounds per contest. He added 3.5 assists, 2.6 blocks and 4.0 assists per game and finished his career with 821 points, 532 rebounds and 82 blocked shots. He scored 20 or more points six times this year with a high of 28.

Drew Vandermeer – Sr., G/F, Clarion

Vandermeer averaged 14.7 points per game this season while scoring 20 or more points five times with a high of 26. He added 8.3 rebounds, 4.5 blocks and 4.0 assists per game and finished his career with 851 points.

2008 ALL-AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING D9SPORTS.COM Top of page

DISTRICT 9 ALL-DISTRICT BOYS’ TEAMS

(Each team is listed alphabetically by player’s last name)  

See this year's team without photos

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

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