Forty-five senior players from throughout the Star Beacon coverage area will gather today at Lakeside High School for the annual Star Beacon-Ed Batanian Senior Classic.
The girls game, involving 22 girls presenting all 11 schools that put teams on the court, will begin the festivities at 6 p.m. at Lakeside Gymnasium. The boys game, which includes seniors from 11 of the 12 schools in the Star Beacon area, will feature 23 seniors and will be played 20 minutes after completion of the girls game.
Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens and students. No passes will be honored.
Coaching the Stars, or the visiting team in the girls game will be Conneaut’s Tony Pasanen and Mike Smith, coach of Madison’s Division I district semifinalists. The home team, dubbed the Beacons, will be coached by newly minted state Division II co-Coach of the Year Nancy Barbo of Geneva, a Division II regional semifinalist, and Perry’s Ryan Dolotowski, coach of Perry’s Chagrin Valley Conference Chagrin Division co-champions.
The visitors in the boys game has been nicknamed the Mean Machine and will be coached by Conneaut’s Tim Tallbacka and Grand River Academy’s Josh Hartz. The Hammers will be the home team and will be coached by Geneva’s John Marhefka and his staff.
The girls and boys games will be played in two 20-minute halves. Each player will have a limit of six fouls.
One girl from each team will be chosen a Player of the Game by the Star Beacon sports staff and will received a special award provided by Fundamental Basketball Camp proprietor Ray Force. One player from each squad in the boys game will receive a special award supplied by PlayAll Awards and Engraving proprietor Rob Rich.
At halftime of each game, a 3-point shooting contest will be held between two shooters from each team. The winner will also receive an award provided by PlayAll Awards and Engraving.
Also available to fans are a pair of Adirondack oak outdoor love seats that have been donated by Edgewood High School wrestling coach Greg Stolfer and his woodshop class. Raffle tickets for the seats will be sold on the basis of one for $1, three for $2 and an arm’s length for $5. The winning number will be drawn at halftime of the boys game.
