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In memoriam: Keith Siverling, Trent Zdarko
Keith Siverling, 65, Cranberry High School's cross country coach for 25 years, died Monday.
His teams won four District 9 championships, including three straight from 2019-21. His first came in 2014. The Berries also qualified for states five other times under Siverling from 2015, 2016, 2018, 2022 and 2023.
Siverling also starred in cross country and track for the Berries when he was in high school.
He was a member of the Berries' 1977 District 10 2A champion two-mile relay that ran a school record 8:19.6., teaming with Steve Etzel, Lloyd Morrison, Craig Ausel on that unit.
Siverling was District 10 runnerup in the 880 in 1978.
After high school the popular Siverling made his mark as a soloist for various churches in the Cranberry area.
Trent Zdarko, the Oil City High School football team's one-time version of "Slash," died Wednesday after a two-year battle with illness.
Zdarko, who hailed from Titusville, attended Venango Christian, but played football and wrestled through the Oil City/VC co-op the two schools had at the time. He was a star in both sports. He was Oil City's last regional champion in wrestling, posting a 26-7 record at 170 pounds as a senior in 2014, before joining Cranberry in a co-op the ext season.
It was in football that Zdarko gained notoriety as a QB/APB/DL/P. That means he played quarterback and defensive line (a rare combination right there) and handled the punting. As a junior he was second team all-region as an all-purpose back.
That year, in 2012, in addition to playing defensive tackle, he once threw a 74-yard TD pass to Logan Way off the halfback option.
The next year he started the season at quarterback before giving way to one of the Oilers' best ever -- Jackson McFall -- but finished the season with 821 yards total offense, throwing for 171 against Corry and rushing for 119 on nine carries against Warren. He was first team all-region as a defensive lineman and punter.
Zdarko had a double lung transplant in May 2024, and according to family, had spent much of the last two years in the hospital.
Thursday's Results
Boys Hoops
Cranberry 54, C-L 46
Girls Hoops
Conneaut 48, Franklin 37
Saegertown 44, Rocky Grove 31
Today's Games
Boys Hoops
Oil City at Warren
Franklin at Corry
Cochranton at Cranberry
Maplewood at Rocky Grove
Girls Hoops
General McLane at Oil City
Cranberry at C-L
Wrestling
Cranberry at Redbank Valley
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Seeing Red
Ian Higley goes up against another red-head, Landon Wood, as Franklin takes on Warren Tuesday night at The Castle. The Dragons won the battle for second place in Region 5 and will host Oil City in another showdown Friday -- this time with first place on the line. (Photo by Tammy Curry)
Zarria Cullins puts up a floater. (Tammy Curry)
Lydia Kennedy works the paint area. (Christy Fackler)
Elena Ishman starred on defense again. (Christy Fackler)
Ella Fleeger stares down the hoop. (Christy Fackler)
Cranberry girls win nail-biter on Fleeger's clutch free throws
Freshman Ella Fleeger made two free throws with Cranberry down one with less than a second left, lifting the Lady Berries to a 39-36 decision over visiting Brookville Wednesday night at the Berry Dome.
Cranberry trailed 36-35 with 8.6 seconds to play when a runner by Darien Wenner was too strong after an in-bounds play, according to a report posted on YDL.com. But Elena Ishman grabbed the rebound and got the ball back out to Fleeger, who was fouled on a desperation shot.
She made both free throws with 0.8 seconds to play, putting the Berries ahead to stay, 37-36.
Brookville then tried a Hail Mary pass that went out of bounds. Fleeger scored again at the buzzer to set the final score.
The Berries (13-7) visit C-L on Friday, with a spot in the KSAC tourney on the line. II they win, they're in. If they lose, they need Redbank Valley to lose one of its last two games -- Forest Aea tonight or Keystone on Monday.
Either way, Cranberry will be in the District 9 2A tourney.
Fleeger led the Berries with 12 points, one short of her career high. Wenner finished with nine after two games since Jan. 31 of 17 baskets, including seven three-pointers, and 54 points. Emma Morrow added eight, and Jadyn Shumaker contributed a basket that got the Berries to win 35-33. Coach Carrie Melat again lauded the defensive play of Melanie Ishman.
The Berries trailed Brookville by six early in the fourth quarter when Fleeger and Wenner were a combined five-foot-six from the line.
​​
Thursday's Games
Franklin took a 35-34 lead into the last quarter against Conneaut, but managed only two points in the fourth and fell to the Eagles, 48--37, in a Region 5 game with first place on the line.
As it was CASH took over sole possession with a 5-2 record, while the Lady Knights (12-8) dropped to a second place tie with idle Oil City at 4-2.
Zarria Cullins scored 13 to lead Franklin and Jadyn Blum went six-for-six from the line.
Rocky Grove dropped a 44-31 verdict to Saegertown despite 11 points, eight steals, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks by Lydia Kennedy. The Orioles are 7-12.​
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SIDE NOTE -- Makayla Presser-Palmer, the superstar from Northwestern, has passed two former local stars on the District 10 girls basketball all-time scoring list. Over the weekend she moved ahead of Franklin's Hillary Hager (2,299) into fourth place, then on Monday, she took over third place ahead of Cranberry's Carrie Mason (2,335).
According to Tom Reisenweber of the Erie Times-News, MPP needs fewer than 100 points to become D-10's all-time leading scorer. Nos. 1 and 2 are Lakeview's Sheena Aden (now Mittelmeier) with 2,421 and Cranberry's Susan Blauser (2,385).
Aden played at Pitt-Johnstown where she was recruited by Jodi Gault. But Gault, the Hall of Fame from Oil City, had retired before Aden got to play.
Warren wins at Franklin;
showdown set today vs. Oilers
While Oil City was having an easy time at home with Titusville, Warren was warming up for Friday’s showdown with the Oilers with a 62-54 conquest at Franklin, breaking a second place tie in Region 5 with the Knights.
The Oilers (14-5) took care of Titusville, 68-27, to pad their Region 5 mark to 10-1. Warren is a game behind at 9-2, while Franklin dropped to 8-3.
Elsewhere, Rocky Grove held on to its lead in Region 2, outlasting Cochranton, 80-77, as four players scored in double digits, and Cranberry made 31 trips to the foul line and handled homestanding Brookville, 75-64, to go to 17-2 on the season.
Warren broke open a tight game in the second quarter to go up 35-22 at halftime. The visiting Dragons built 13-point leads several times before Logan Crissey drained a three to start the second half to put Warren up by 16. Franklin did chip away after that, but could get no closer than six, and that was near the end of the game. Two three-pointers by Jameson Wofford and another by Alex Umbenhaur, who had three for the game, put a dent in Warren’s lead every time.
Crissey and Wofford each had 24 points. For Franklin (11-8), Umbenhaur and Nolan Parry, with some big second half shots to keep the Knights within striking distance, added nine apiece.
Pacing the Oilers against Titusville were Nevin Stinson with 15 and Steven Heise and Michael Fink with 11 apiece. Stinson is the first Oiler ever to put together back-to-back 400-point seasons. He has 403 so far this year and had 407 last season.
The heavy artillery for the Grove came in the form of Landen Carter with 24 points, Connor Ritchey 21, Landon James 16 and Noah Baughman 13. The Orioles are 13-6 and remain a half-game ahead of Saegertown in the Region 2 standings.
Cranberry cashed 21 of 31 foul shots against Brookville. Blake Marchinke bagged seven field goals, was seven of 11 from the line and finished with 21 points. Cole Findlay, Shia Sanchez and Connor Morrow scored 15 apiece.
The Berries (17-2 overall) clinched second place behind Clarion in the KSAC and will take on Brookville TBA in the semifinals of the KSAC tournament. One of their two losses this season was to Clarion.
Rocky Grove turned back Forest Area, 44-41, in girls hoops. Lydia Kennedy netted 16 to go with 11 rebounds and Abigail Mawhinney added 14 points and seven blocks.
Thursday's Game
Leading by a point, Cranberry pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat Clarion-Limestone, 54-46. Connor Zerbe scored a season-high 16 for the 18-2 Berries, including 10 in the opening quarter when he hit from distance twice. Shia Sanchez added 10.​
Connor Zerbe had a big game for Cranberry with a season-high 16 points and a pair of first-quarter three-pointers.
AROUND THE AREA – Just saw on Facebook via Bob Greenburg of the Sharon radio station that the basketball career of Lakeview's Lucas Fagley is over. Torn ACL. Fagley, the Sailors' all-time leading scorer, was injured in last Friday's game...Cathedral Prep beat Meadville, 108-85, for its fifth 100-point game of the season…and that’s not all: there were 45 fouls called, four technicals, one player ejection and five fan ejections…Ahmari Horton broke a 35-year-old Prep single-game scoring record with 43 points…But that was nothing, Kenny Godoy scored 51 in Girard’s win over North East. Godoy has more than 1,600 points in his career. Willie Shunk went over 1,000 points for North East…Ft. LeBoeuf topped luckless Corry in overtime…
(Photo by Eric Elliott)
Cleaves
106-year-old Oiler hoops record refuses to be broken
Barring a miracle, it looks like Steve Cleaves’ 106-year-old record is safe and he can continue to rest in peace.
Cleaves – who went by Ike – scored 545 points for the Oil City High School basketball team in 1920 – 106 years ago. Those 545 points are the most by an Oiler before or since – in other words a school record.
That record had a chance to be erased this season by Nevin Stinson, who after the first Warren game on Jan.13 had 334 points, and was carrying a 25.69 ppg average, with 12 regular season games to play. (Not to mention playoffs.)
Had Stinson continued at that pace, he would have had 608 points alone by the end of the regular season, shattering Cleaves’ record.
But things began to happen. Stinson missed two games. I’m not sure what happened there, but suffice it to say when he returned to the lineup for the Corry game on Jan. 27, he was slapped with two fouls in the first two minutes of the game, forcing him to the bench for most of the rest of the first half. What’s more, when he did get back into the game to start the second half, those pretty threes just weren’t falling. He scored seven points that game.
And two games later, they’re still not falling.
So, with three regular season games left, Stinson has 403 points on the season. And since it doesn’t look like the league-leading Oilers are going to win the state championship, it appears Cleaves’ single-game scoring record is safe for another year.
There’s another thing, too. Stinson played on the junior high team when he was in ninth grade – not on the jayvees/varsity. As a sophomore, he saw limited varsity action, scoring 17 points. Doesn’t look like a 1,000 points career guy in the making does it?
But, he totaled 407 points as a junior, and coupled with how he became a scoring machine through the first 13 games of this season, Stinson shot himself in contention for that more celebrated achievement. Not your usual route to 1,000, but there he was.
However, due to the aforementioned things that went down in mid-January, that isn’t going to happen, either. Had he reached 1,000 by way of fisher’s fence, Stinson would have only been the second Oiler to hit the Holy Grail of High School Hoops. (Ben Schill is the only one; he finished his career in 1996 with 1,130 points.)
Stinson still has the opportunity to become only the third Oil City player to score 900 points or more. Chris Jasiota ended with 975 points in 2003, and Logan Way is No. 3 all-time with 949 in 2014. (Cleaves, by the way, is fourth with 866).
And getting back to Cleaves. He played in an era where teams had a designated foul shooter, and Cleaves was the man for the Oilers in 1920. Because of the DFS rule, which was dropped in about 1923, there are those who would give Cleaves the record grudgingly. (Never mind that Cleaves didn’t have the luxury of the three-point line.)
In that case, Oil City’s “modern” single-season scoring record is 498 points by Mike Emick in 1971, and Stinson has a chance to break that. As it is, he’s the only Oiler ever to put together back-to-back 400-point single seasons. Plus, he’s still averaging 23 ppg, which would be the best in OCHS history if he keeps that up.
Another thing about Cleaves: He followed his more famous brother Jack, a football All-American, to Princeton where he captained the basketball team, which was 21-2 and Eastern Collegiate (formerly Ivy League) champion his senior year. So he was no slouch. He retired from practicing law in New York City in 1988, and died in 1991, probably never believing he set a record in high school and one that still stands – 106 years later.
On the mat, in the pool
Sammi Smith was a double winner for the Franklin girls.
This never gets old: Cranberry's Dalton Wenner being proclaimed the winner.
Berries top Knights
Cranberry used four pins to defeat Franklin, 36-31, Tuesday.
Brent Hurrelbrink, Aiden Thompson, Jedediah Fox and Dalton Wenner had falls for the Berries.
Aiden Myers, Corbin Clark and Ethan Hart had pins for the Knights, and Gary Kiselka won a major.
Kaden Kiselka outlasted Noah Lucarelli, 12-9, at 285 for Franklin in what was probably the feature bout.
Cranberry (5-6) still has dual meets remaining on the schedule.
Franklin (7-8) will next participate in the D-10 2A sectionals Feb. 13-14 at Sharon.
Franklin girls region swim champs
Franklin, which finished with only four firsts, found itself trailing Sharon before the 200 free relay, but rallied for an 88-80 decision to clinch the Region1 championship and remain undefeated at 7-0.
“We were down in the first half of the meet, so I pulled the girls together right before the (relay) and spelled out for them what they needed to do if they wanted to remain undefeated," Franklin coach Charlie Smith told The News-Herald.
"I told the girls they had the capability to overcome this deficit, but it was up to them. They responded very well the second half of the meet."
Sammi Smith was a double winner. She took the 50 and teamed with Sophie Wehrle, Ellie Coyer and Chloe Switzer to win that upcoming relay.
Dani Erdley later won the backstroke before Evelynn Highfield took the breaststroke. Depth was the difference.
Jacksen Clark was a four-event winner in the boys ' 96-59 victory. Parker Smith and Jacob Balsamo were triple winners for the Knights.
Dani Erdley took the backstroke as the Lady
Knights wrapped up the Region 1 title. (Photos by Christy Fackler.
Football
Franklin finds
its man
Austin Ion was introduced as the new Franklin football coach at a school board work session on Jan. 19. He officially became Franklin's 26th paid coach at the board's Jan. 26 meeting.
Ion succeeds Matt Turk, a former Knight all-star, who resigned after six years at the helm.
Ion is a 2017 Keystone High School graduate who played football, basketball and baseball for the Panthers.
He played wide receiver at Grove City College, where he majored in accounting.
He has coached at Keystone for eight years and most recently served as jayvee coach under coach Todd Smith.
The commiittee to select a new coach at Franklin consisted of athletic director Becky Barnes, high school co-principal Tom Holoman, Central Elementary principal Joe Keenan and assistant AD Chris Romanowski.
Ion was the choice among "nine good applicants," according to Barnes.​