The 2015-2016 basketball season wrapped up last night at the annual end of the season banquet. Players were rewarded and seniors were congratulated as every level, from Junior High to Varsity reflected on their seasons.

On the girls side, The Lady Eagles finished a successful 20-3.  However,  their season ended a little earlier than they had planned with an early playoff exit. Looking back, the girls defeated some of the top teams in the area including two state-ranked A teams: Blairsville and Bishop Guilfoyle and also clinched their third straight Mountain League title. The Lady Eagles had many highlights to their season but fell short to Marion Center in the playoffs. The girls will lose four seniors this season: Finnley Christine, Marissa Sprankle, Madison Noll, and Amber Gill.

For the boys, they finished with a 15-10 record and qualified for the AA state tournament.  Having one of the toughest boys schedules yet, they pulled out a winning record and contested some of the best teams around including D6 AA champions Bellwood-Antis, Sweet 16 state playoff contender Penns Valley, and a solid West Branch squad. They even gave AA undefeated State Champions Aliquippa all they could handle in the first half but fell short 71-41. The boys will graduate two seniors: Zack Soellner, and powerhouse Anthony Politza. The boys will have big shoes to fill next season without Politza in their lineup.

All basketball players were honored at the banquet and several varsity athletes were awarded for their outstanding performances this past season. The awards were as follows:

Anthony Politza: Won MVP of the boys team and lead the team in all aspects on the court. Anthony averaged 19.2 points per game, 11.5 rebounds, and 2.3 steals as he finished his career with 932 points.

Hunter Anderson: Awarded offensive MVP of the boys JV team for always being the “go-to” scorer.

Denver Light: Awarded defensive MVP for the boys JV team while leading the team in rebounds this season.

Jacob Meredith: Awarded offensive MVP for the Varsity squad due to his court awareness. Jake started every game this season for the Golden Eagles.

Kasey Engle: Awarded overall MVP for the girls team. Engle continues to climb the all-time scoring record and is currently in 5th. She also holds the record for most three pointers in a game and most three pointers in a season.

Finnley Christine: Awarded offensive MVP for the Lady Eagles. Finnley averaged 15 points a game before her injury and helped lead the Lady Eagles to three Mountain League titles.