College roundup: York County's Rouse, Shaw earn PSAC women's basketball honors

A pair of former York County girls’ basketball standouts were recognized by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference for their stellar 2023-24 seasons last week, and a handful of local products will compete in the NCAA Division II Tournament starting this weekend.

Lock Haven’s Rhlyn Rouse, a York Tech graduate, was named PSAC Freshman of the Year and earned Eastern Division second-team honors. She was joined on the second team by Millersville’s Makiah Shaw, who previously starred at Red Lion.

Rouse has averaged 8.7 points and 6.5 rebounds in just 17.7 minutes per game for the Bald Eagles (28-3), who reached the PSAC tournament final before losing 80-65 to Gannon on Saturday. Lock Haven was selected to the NCAA Tournament on Monday and will battle California (Pa.) in the opening round at noon Friday after defeating the Vulcans 54-51 in the PSAC semifinals.

Lock Haven was represented on the PSAC East first team by sophomore Jenadia Jordan, a York native who played her high school basketball at Linden Hall. Jordan has averaged a team-best 15.6 points and 2.5 assists this season while grabbing 6.0 rebounds a night. The Bald Eagles’ rotation also includes a pair of Delone Catholic graduates (senior Brooke Lawyer and redshirt freshman Abby Jacoby).

Shaw, a junior, averaged 12.9 points and 4.7 rebounds for Millersville this season. She scored in double digits 20 times in 30 games and eclipsed 20 points four times for the Marauders, who finished 13-17. 

Two other York-Adams League products are on tourney-bound PSAC teams. West York’s Alianna Hopta has played in 14 games this season for West Chester, which will visit Fairmont State on Friday in the opening round. IUP is in the same four-team pod and will open against Fayetteville State on Friday; the Crimson Hawks’ roster includes Central York grad Teirra Preston, who tallied 10.3 points and 8.1 rebounds in 19 games this season but last saw the floor on Jan. 31.

EAGLES’ LANDING

While the Juniata men’s basketball season didn’t culminate in an NCAA D-III Tournament appearance, the Eagles still celebrated a championship in their final game.

Juniata claimed the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament title on Sunday afternoon with an 83-77 victory over Alvernia. The top seed in the six-team bracket had previously earned a 93-86, double-overtime triumph over No. 5 Penn State Behrend in the March 3 semifinals. The Eagles finished their season 17-11.

Former Central York teammates Evan Eisenhart and Gabe Guidinger scored 21 and 16 points, respectively, in Sunday’s title game. Guidinger’s 4-point play at the first-half buzzer gave Juniata a 44-36 lead at the break, and Eisenhart helped seal the win with a pair of late free throws. Eisenhart and Guidinger closed their senior seasons with averages of 13.2 and 9.1 points per game, respectively.

LION’S DEN

The Penn State York men’s basketball team reached the USCAA Division II semifinals with a 66-61 victory over Miami Hamilton on Monday afternoon in Virginia Beach. The No. 3-seed Nittany Lions (28-6) are set to take the floor at 4 p.m. Tuesday in the semifinals against No. 10 Penn State Wilkes-Barre, which upset No. 2 NHTI in the quarters.

New Oxford graduate Deriq Brown knocked down six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points and nine rebounds in PSY’s tournament-opening victory. Teammate Quentin Wells added 15 points, while Marquise McClean (York High) tallied 11 points, five assists and four steals. The Lions led 32-24 at halftime but went back and forth with the Harriers in the second half before the defense pitched a shutout in the final 2:45.

Stay tuned for more in-depth coverage as the Lions’ playoff run continues.

Baseball: Penn State York closed a 4-2 week in Myrtle Beach with a 7-1 victory Friday over St. Clair County CC. The Nittany Lions (4-3) will play their first home game of 2024 this Friday at WellSpan Park, with a doubleheader against Central Maine CC set to begin at 2 p.m.

SPARTAN STANDOUTS

York College senior and Dillsburg native Andrew Mott earned NCAA Division III All-American honors in the shot put on Saturday, placing seventh at the indoor national championships in Virginia Beach. Mott’s throw of 16.91 meters once again bested his own school record. He was the first Spartan thrower to qualify for indoor nationals, much less become an All-American. Now he’ll turn his focus to the outdoor campaign, which begins at the York College Twilight Meet on March 27.

Maura White became the first York College women’s wrestler to compete in the National Collegiate Women's Wrestling Championships over the weekend. The freshman went 0-2 and was eliminated on the opening day of the tournament in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but will always hold a piece of school history.

Men’s golf sophomore Jacob Fripp made an ace on Sunday during the Tiger Invitational, hosted by Hampden-Sydney at Forest Creek Golf Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina. Fripp sank a 7-iron from 183 yards on the 14th hole in the opening round. The Spartans went on to finish 17th in the competitive 18-team field. Fripp’s ace was the first in competition for York since Eric Stauffer in 2013.

Junior softball player Emma Wade was named MAC Commonwealth Player of the Week after going 7 for 14 with a .929 slugging percentage and 12 RBIs in four games, during which the Spartans went 3-1. Wade was 4 for 4 with a homer, two doubles and six RBIs in the second game of a doubleheader last Thursday at Scranton.

The York baseball team earned wins of 11-3 and 25-1 over St. Mary’s (Md.) on Sunday, putting up a nine-run fourth inning in Game 1 and notching 14 and 11 runs in the second and third frames of Game 2. Michael Tinneny led the way individually with two homers in the opener, and he finished the doubleheader 5 for 6 with five RBIs and six runs scored.

Men’s lacrosse sophomore Coleton Mahorney (Dallastown) recorded his first career hat trick on Saturday in York College’s rain-soaked, 17-11 home loss to No. 1-ranked Salisbury. On the women’s side, senior Madison Kurland (Central York) tallied three goals and an assist in the Spartans’ 9-7 loss at No. 14 Stevens.

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