College notebook: Former First Love standout reaches milestone
First Love Christian Academy in Washington has produced several Division I men’s basketball players and one of them, guard David Collins, who is currently a junior guard at South Florida, recently reached a milestone when he scored his 1,000th career point. That came in the Bulls’ 81-61 victory over Drexel on Dec. 15.
Collins had a season-high 23 points and became the 20th player in USF history to score 1,000 career points.
“It’s a great feeling that I hit a milestone,” Collins said, “but we got the win and that was the most important thing. It felt good to get it rolling, and get another win with the team.”
Collins averaged 18 points per game for First Love as a senior.
In football
The postseason honors keep rolling in for Washington & Jefferson’s Joey Koroly.
A Washington native and Trinity graduate, Koroly was selected to the D3football.com All-America Team. Koroly received third team recognition for his work as a kick returner/punt returner.
A First Team All-South Region selection by D3football.com and an All-ECAC first teamer, Koroly registered three returns for touchdowns in 2019, two of which were kickoffs (98 yards vs. Thiel and 85 yards vs. Waynesburg) and one punt for a score (54 vs. Bethany). His 98-yard kick return for touchdown against the Tomcats broke the school record for longest kick return.
Koroly led the PAC and ranked ninth in Division III in kick return average (28.7). He earned PAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors twice. The former Hillers standout led the conference in passes defended (15) and pass breakups (12) to go along with his three interceptions.
Koroly was named to the All-PAC first team as a returner while picking up All-PAC honorable mention for at defensive back. He was selected Academic All-District by the College Sports Information Directors of America.
In basketball
Fairmont State’s Sierra Kotchman was named the Mountain East Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week for Dec. 16-22.
Kotchman, a junior guard from Washington and a Trinity graduate, scored 32 points to lead the Falcons to a 84-73 non-conference win over Wayne State. She was 10-of-18 from the floor, including 7-of-10 from three-point range. Kotchman also had six assists and grabbed three rebounds.
Marlena Schmidt, a senior center from Eighty Four and a Ringgold graduate, had 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots to help No.2-ranked Southeastern (Fla.) to a 97-72 victory over Concordia (Neb.), the No. 1-ranked team in the NAIA on Dec. 20. Schmidt made five of seven shots from the field and scored all of her points in the second half when the Fire outscored Concordia 54-44.
For the season, Schmidt is averaging 9.6 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game. Schmidt, who has started 78 of 79 games in her three years at Southeastern, located in Lakeland, Fla. is shooting 66 percent from the field.
Isabella Mills, a freshman at Case Western Reserve, scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in the Spartans’ wild 79-72 triple-overtime victory over Denison on Dec. 7.
A key player on Peters Township’s WPIAL and PIAA Class 6A championship team last season, Mills made 6 of 18 shots from the field and 6 of 9 at the free-throw line, had six teals and five blocked shots against the Big Red. She played 48 of a possible 55 minutes in the marathon game.
For the season, Mills is averaging 10.7 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. She has scored in double figures in each of the last four games.
Rece Henneman, a senior forward from Clarksville, is averaging 8.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game for Carlow.
A Jefferson-Morgan graduate, Henneman has had two games this season with at least 20 points. He scored a season-high 27 points against Saint Vincent on 12-for-20 shooting, and had 24 points against Chatham.
In wrestling
North Carolina senior A.C. Headlee was chosen the Atlantic Coast Conference Wrestler of the Week for the second time this season after helping the No. 18 Tar Heels defeat Appalachian State 19-13 on Dec. 1.
After the Mountaineers won at 149 pounds with a major decision to begin the afternoon, Headlee helped turn the momentum at 157 with a 3-2 upset of No. 13 Matt Zovistoski. It was the first of five straight Tar Heel wins.
Headlee used a first-period takedown and strong defense throughout the seven minutes to pick up the victory, the Waynesburg native’s second over a top-15 opponent this season. He knocked off No. 10 Will Lewan of Michigan on Nov. 8.
Washington & Jefferson’s Michael Heinl earned his 100th career win and reached the finals at the two-day Messiah Petrofes Invitational.
Heinl became the fifth wrestler in program history to amass 100 career victories with three Friday-evening victories at 149 pounds. A national contender at 149, he earned a fall in 23 seconds over Bridgewater State’s Christian LaChance and grabbed a 14-1 major decision against Jacob Harry of Springfield.
Heinl posted a 12-4 major decision over Raymond Kable of McDaniel in the quarterfinals and won a 6-1 decision over Colin Devlin of Gettysburg in the semifinals. He squared off with fourth-ranked Luke Hernandez from Mount Union in the title bout, settling for second with a 9-7 defeat.
Waynesburg’s Caleb Morris was named the Presidents Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week for Dec. 2-8 finishing fifth at 157 pounds in the Messiah Petrofes Invitational.
Morris, a Waynesburg Central graduate, won by pin and decision to reach the quarterfinals before dropping into the consolation rounds. Following a pair of decision victories in wrestle-backs, Morris dropped a 3-2 decision one match shy of the bronze medal contest. He ended his day on a high note with an 8-0 major decision victory over Alex LaVeck of McDaniel in the fifth-place match.
Compiled by Chris Dugan