Wyoming Area’s Luke Kopetchny and three of the leaders of Old Forge’s run to a Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association championship game in Hershey were among those recognized Thursday when Pennsylvania sports writers released their all-state boys basketball team.
Kopetchny, who made all-state in both football and basketball as a sophomore, moved up from third team to second team in Class 4A this season as a junior.
Old Forge was prominent in the Class 2A selections. J.J. Thomas shared Coach of the Year honors while Cameron Parker and Logan Fanning both made the first team.
Kopetchny, a 6-foot-3 forward, is also part of Wyoming Area’s success in track and field this spring.
A junior season that included scoring the 1,000th point of his career saw Kopetchny shoot better than 53 percent from the floor while scoring more than 24 points and grabbing 8.8 rebounds per game. He led the Wyoming Valley Conference in scoring and free throw shooting percentage while ranking second in 3-pointers.
Kopetchny was earlier named Player of the Year on the Times Leader All-WVC team and Most Valuable Player of Division 2 by coaches after leading the Warriors to a title repeat.
Thomas was named Co-Coach of the Year with former National Basketball Association player Mike Iuzzoloni, coach of the Sewickley Academy team that defeated Old Forge in the state final.
Parker played a major role in getting the Blue Devils to the state championship game for the first time since winning it all 94 years ago. He had 19 points in the second half of a quarterfinal comeback against Delone Catholic, then 36 in a semifinal victory over previously unbeaten United.
On the season, Parker averaged 17.6 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 45 percent from the floor, 34 from 3-point range and 78 from the line. His 97-game career produced 1,206 points with the help of 145 baskets from 3-point range.
Fanning shot 70 percent from the floor while averaging a double-double of 16.2 points and 11.0 rebounds with 2.6 blocks per game. He had 19 double-doubles on the season and finished his career with 955 points, 579 rebounds and 202 blocked shots in 75 games.
