WARREN, Pa. – A player with a drive to win that few have had in the annuals of District 9 basketball, Jace Miner led Brookville to the PIAA Class 3A championship game – the first PIAA title-game appearance in school history.
Miner is the 2021 D9and10Sports.com District 9 Boys’ Basketball Player of the Year Powered by All American Awards & Engraving.
The 6-foot-5 senior, who is headed to Wichita State on a baseball scholarship, averaged 18.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.3 blocks per game. Slicing through defenses like a hot knife through butter, Miner’s patented drive to the hoop helped him shoot 56.9 percent from the field.
Miner’s signature moment came in the PIAA quarterfinals at Ellwood City when, in a tie game with 13 seconds left, he stole an inbounds pass, scored to give Brookville the lead with eight seconds left, and then blocked the Wolverines final shot from inside the paint as time expired.
Joining Miner as major award winners in 2021 are his coach, Dalton Park, who is the Chuck Daly Coach of the Year as presented by the Chuck Daly Foundation, and Karns City’s Luke Cramer, who is the D9and10Sports.com District 9 Boys’ Basketball Rookie of the Year.
Park led Brookville to a 23-3 overall record, the District 9 Class 3A title, and the PIAA Championship game. Brookville beat Kane, 69-49, to win the D9 title then topped Chestnut Ridge, 68-58, in the PIAA District 5-9 subregional. Earning a spot against WPIAL Champion Ellwood City, the Raiders won that game on the aforementioned Miner steal, layup, and block, 62-60. Brookville then beat Bishop Guilfoyle, 46-44, to earn a trip to Hershey and the PIAA Championship game, where the Cinderella run came to an end with a 75-53 loss to Loyalsock. The second-place state finish easily was the capper on the best season in school history.
Cramer, the second straight Karns City player to earn District 9 Rookie of the Year honors and the third in four years joining Micah Rupp (2020) and Chase Beighley (2018), had a terrific rookie campaign as a freshman averaging 10.2 points. 3.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists for the District 9 Class 2A champion Gremlins. He added 17 steals and 12 blocked shots while shooting 41.3 percent from the field.
In addition to the major award winners, the 2021 D9and10Sports.com District 9 Boys’ All-District teams were also named.
Joining Miner on the first team were A-C Valley’s Levi Orton, Clarion’s Cal German, Clarion-Limestone’s Hayden Callen, Coudersport’s Hayden Keck, and Karns City’s Chase Beighley.
The second team consisted of Clarion’s Beau Verdill, Clearfield’s Cole Miller and Karson Rumsky, DuBois’ Lennon Lindholm, Karns City’s Nathan Waltman, and Redbank Valley’s Bryson Bain.
The third team featured Brookville’s Griffin Ruhlman, Cameron County’s Caden Beldin, DuBois Central Catholic’s Alec Srock, Elk County Catholic’s Mark Kraus, Johnsonburg’s Cam Stelene, Kane’s Carson Whiteman, and Redbank Valley’s Chris Marshall.
All American Awards & Engraving specializes in all kinds of awards, trophies, and engraving products as well as screen printing and embroidery. As the company likes to say, they will put almost anything on almost everything. The 2012 Clarion Area Chamber of Business and Industry Business of the Year in Economic Development is located on Route 322 in Shippenville. It can be found on the web at www.allamericanhq.com and can be reached at 1-877-402-9273.
2021 D9AND10SPORTS.COM BOYS’ BASKETBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR POWERED BY ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING
Jace Miner, Sr., Brookville: 18.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 3.5 apg, 3.3 spg, 1.3 bpg, Shot 56.9% from the field. Led Brookville to the PIAA Class 3A championship game, the first PIAA title-game appearance in school history.
Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here
2021 D9AND10SPORTS.COM BOYS’ BASKETBALL CHUCK DALY COACH OF THE YEAR AS PRESENTED BY THE CHUCK DALY FOUNDATION POWERED BY ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING
Dalton Park, Brookville: Led Brookville to a 23-3 overall record, the District 9 Class 3A title, and a second-place PIAA Class 3A finish while taking the Raiders to a PIAA championship game for the first time in school history
About Chuck Daly: Daly was a 1948 graduate of Kane High School who started his coaching career at Punxsutawney High School (1956-63, 111 wins, D9 title in 1958 and league titles in 1958, 1962, and 1963) before moving into the college and pro ranks where he won two NBA titles with the Detroit Pistons. Daly also coached the 1992 United States Olympic “Dream Team” to a gold medal finish. He was inducted into the James Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994. In addition to coaching the Pistons for nine years going 467-271, he spent a little under a season coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1981-82 and coached the New Jersey Nets and the Orlando Magic in the 1990s. He was also the head coach at Boston College and Penn in the college ranks. The NBA continues to honor his coaching legacy with the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award given annually to a longtime NBA coach’s life in basketball and his “standard of integrity, competitive excellence and tireless promotion” of the game.
About the Chuck Daly Foundation: The Chuck Daly Foundation was formed in Punxsutawney in 2016 by 1960 PAHS graduate George “Butch” White, who played basketball under Daly. The foundation was formed primarily to create scholarships for both male and female student/athletes in both basketball and golf.
Photo by Paul Burdick. Check out more of Burdick’s work here
2021 D9AND10SPORTS.COM BOYS’ BASKETBALL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR POWERED BY ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING
Luke Cramer, Fr., Karns City: 10.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 17 steals, 12 blocked shots, Shot 41.3% from the field. Helped Karns City to the District 9 Class 2A championship.
2021 D9AND10SPORTS.COM BOYS’ FIRST-TEAM ALL-DISTRICT 9 POWERED BY ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING
Levi Orton, Sr., A-C Valley: Led District 9 in scoring at 27.6 ppg and added 8.9 rpg, 3.8 spg, 1.4 apg, and 0.8 bg. Shot 51.8% from the field and 82.1% (110 of 134) from the free-throw line. Finished his career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,703 career points, the 19th most in District 9 history
Cal German, Sr., Clarion: 20.0 ppg, 4.0 apg, 3.6 rpg, 2.9 spg, 0.2 bpg, Shot 46.1% from the field, 35.3% from 3-point range (49 made), and 85.6% (77 of 90) from the free-throw line. Finished his career with 1,663 career points, second in school history
Hayden Callen, Sr., Clarion-Limestone: 20.1 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 3.8 apg, 3.7 bpg, 3.0 spg, Shot 75% from the free-throw line. Finished with 1,613 career points, second in school history
Hayden Keck, Sr., Coudersport: 21.6 ppg, Finished with 1,341 career points, seventh in school history
Chase Beighley, Sr., Karns City: 19.1 ppg, 4.6 apg, 4.0 rpg, 2.5 spg, Shot 48.6% from the field, 41.1% from 3-point range (69 of 168), and 76.7 (89 of 116) from the free-throw line. Finished his career with a school-record 1,697 points
2021 D9AND10SPORTS.COM BOYS’ SECOND-TEAM ALL-DISTRICT 9 POWERED BY ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING
Beau Verdill, Sr., Clarion: 15.0 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.2 spg, 2.1 apg, 1.5 bpg, Shot 46% from the field. Was perhaps the most-improved player in District 9 after scoring 79 points as a junior. He scored 404 as a senior
Cole Miller, So., Clearfield: 14.7 ppg, 5 rpg, 2 apg, 1 spg. Enters his junior season with 542 career points
Karson Rumsky, Sr., Clearfield: 17.2 ppg, 7 rpg, 2 spg, 1 bpg. Finished his career with 1,129 points, eighth in school history
Lennon Lindholm, Sr., DuBois: 14.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.3 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.1 bpg, Shot 40% (66 of 165) from 3-point range and 83.7% (41 of 49) from the free-throw line
Nathan Waltman, Sr., Karns City: 15.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.0 spg, 22 blocked shot, Shot 66.7% (174 of 261) from the field. Scored 1,049 career points, 10th in school history
Bryson Bain, Jr., Redbank Valley: 18.6 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.3 spg, Shot 74.3% (52 of 70) from the free-throw line and hit 52 3-pointers. Enters his senior season with 943 career points
2021 D9AND10SPORTS.COM BOYS’ THIRD-TEAM ALL-DISTRICT 9 POWERED BY ALL AMERICAN AWARDS & ENGRAVING
Griffin Ruhlman, Jr., Brookville: 9.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.2 spg, 1.0 apg, 0.2 bpg, Shot 50.3% from the field, Helped Brookville to the PIAA Class 3A championship game
Caden Beldin, Sr., Cameron County: 13.3 ppg, 7 rpg, 4 apg, Finished with 1,233 career points, 5th in school history
Alec Srock, Jr., DuBois Central Catholic: 13.3 ppg, 9.0 rpg, 1.6 bpg, 1.4 spg, 1.2 apg, Shot 62% from the field
Mark Kraus, Sr., Elk County Catholic: 14.4 ppg
Cam Stelene, Sr., Johnsonburg: 13.2 ppg, 8.8 rpg, Shot 55% from the field
Carson Whiteman, Sr., Kane: 15.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.2 apg, 2.5 spg, 0.8 bpg
Chris Marshall, Jr., Redbank Valley: 17.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4.0 apg, 3.1 spg, 17 blocked shots. Enters his senior season with 954 career points
