This section of the web site is devoted to basketball in Venango County and all five teams have enjoyed some accomplishments -- most notably the Cranberry girls with four straight district titles not once but twice in both District 10 and and most recently District 9, and Franklin with three streaks of three consecutive D-10 crowns -- twice by the boys. The Cranberry girls also have produced a streak of three straight state champions from 1992-94. The Franklin boys and the St. Joe boys -- way back in the '40s -- won two state crowns. Venango Christian girls produced Venango County's first PIAA state championship in 1980. Added up, 30 district and six state titles by Venango County schools.
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There's also have been plenty of individual accomplishments by players and coaches alike. You'll find most of them in this section.
Knights celebrate three-peat in 2023!
Coach (Jason Fulmer), players and fans celebrate Franklin's third straight District 10 3A title March 4, 2023, at Slippery Rock. Damon Curry (shown leading the cheers) later was named second team all-state. A fourth straight title was not to be, however, as the Knights fell to Girard on March 1, 2024, at Edinboro. Franklin was hoping to match the Cranberry girls who won four in a row twice: from 1992-95 (including three state titles) and from 2009-13 in District 9. Franklin had two other three-year streaks: the boys from 2001-03 and the girls from 1998-00.
Meanwhile, despite some glum looks, Oil City had a lot to be proud of, too -- District 10 runner-up trophies for the second straight year -- in 2022 to Fairview in 4A and in 2023 to Franklin in 3A. And the Oilers made interdistricts two straight years after a 50-year hiatus. Oil City made the playoffs the next two years posting its best four-year record since 2003-06.
Melat inducted into Virginia Tech Hall of Fame
She's part of ' The Streak' at Cranberry
Carrie (Mason) Melat, third from left, current Cranberry girls basketball coach and past star there,
was inducted into the Virginia Tech Hall of Fame in 2023.
Melat is one of the Hokies' all-time greats in women's basketball, scoring 1,369 points in 123 games, including a school record 121 starts from 2003-06.
She's among VPI's leaders in assists, steals and three-pointers with 200 (former record-holder), and helped the Hokies to four appearances in the NCAA tourney.
Melat and six other new inductees were honored the weekend of Oct. 8 when Virginia Tech hosted Purdue in football.
The 5-7 Melat is Cranberry's second all-time leading scorer behind Susan Blauser.
...and she's one of three Division I stars to hail from Venangoland
Susan Blauser (left) and Hillary Hager -- along with Mason -- starred in women's basketball around the turn of the century. None of them were strangers to the NCAA playoffs.
Blauser, also from Cranberry, played two years at Rutgers before transferring to Illinois where she really came into her own. Hager, from Franklin, was at Vanderbilt for four years.
Blauser was named to the All-Big East freshmen team before making first team All-Big Ten in 1999 and 2000.
Hager scored 840 points for the Commodores despite an abbreviated (35 points) sophomore campaign. She later earned her PhD from the school in cell and developmental biology.
Not one, but TWO Hall of Famers in 2023!
2022 all-staters
Franklin's Easton Fulmer (right) and Rocky Grove's Isaac Clayton were named to the Pa. Writers all-state team.
Fulmer was named a second teamer in 3A and Clayton a third-teamer in 2A.
Both seniors joined the 1,000 point lists; Fulmer is No. 4 all-time in Venango County history. Franklin's Damon Curry was second team 3A all-state in 2023, and he and teammate Jalen Wood were second team in 2024.
