Hill School, Pope John Paul II fare well on Class 4A all-state lists
Caleb Dorsey has a long list of accomplishments at the Hill School.
By the end of his senior season, Dorsey had the Blues career records for wins (73) and rebounds (580) and a first team All-Mid-Atlantic Prep League selection to his name.
Dorsey, a 6-foot-8 wing headed to Penn State next season, now adds first team all-state selection to his list of accomplishments and accolades.
Dorsey leads the Mercury area’s representatives on the Pennsylvania Sports Writers’ Class 4A all-state list, which also includes his brother Gabe, a second team selection, Pope John Paul II’s Justin Green and Drew McKeon on the all-state third team, and PJP coach Brendan Stanton as the Class 4A Coach of the Year.
“My time at Hill has been some of the best four years of my life,” Caleb Dorsey said. “I definitely can’t complain about the decision to attend that school. Coach (Seth) Eilberg definitely made it a family environment from the time I stepped on campus freshman year, and I was glad I was able to play for him for four years and (assistant coach Phil) Canosa for one year. It’s been a wonderful experience.”
“A lot of the stuff doesn’t really seem real to me, especially since the season’s over now,” he added.
Caleb Dorsey averaged 11 ppg, 8 rpg and 3 apg per game, while guarding the other team’s top scorer this season. Gabe Dorsey, a 6-foot-6 junior guard, averaged 15 ppg and 5 rpg and made a program record 78 threes, while defending opponents’ top guards.
Both Caleb and Gabe were first team Mercury All-Area selections along with teammate Daniel Nixon. The Dorseys, who spent the last three seasons together with the Blues, helped lead Hill to the MAPL title game and the PAISAA quarterfinals..
“I loved playing with Gabe,” Caleb Dorsey said. “He used to play up on travel teams with me, so that chemistry has been building for a long time. Any chance I get to play with Gabe, I thoroughly enjoy because he’s one of the best shotmakers I know. It makes my job easier being able to kick it to the wing or the corner, and he’ll knock it down.”
Stanton, who was also named the 2019-20 Mercury All-Area Coach of the Year, guided PJP to the best season in the program’s 10-year history. The second-year head coach guided a team that was 6-15 two years ago and 11-12 in his first campaign to a 21-6 record this season.
The Golden Panthers won their second straight Frontier Division title, set a program record for regular-season wins (17) and overall wins (21), won the District 1-4A title and advanced to the PIAA quarterfinals for the first time in history before their season was halted by the coronavirus pandemic.
“When The Mercury had named me Coach of the Year, some of the guys were texting me saying congratulations and whatnot,” Stanton said. “I said. ‘I didn’t score a single point. I didn’t do anything. I really don’t even call that many plays. You guys just sort of make things happen.’ I think that’s been the coolest thing. When I got the job two years ago, I never would have expected anything like this or really even the success we’ve had so quickly.
“It’s been awesome to see and it’s just a testament to the kids we have. They believed from Day 1 that they were going to be really good and I believed in them. It’s unbelievable just how things have worked out. We’ve had a lot of lucky bounces with the ball and things like that, but it’s been an amazing ride.”
Green, a 6-foot-5 junior forward, was a do-it-all star for PJP, earning him Mercury All-Area first team honors. He posted a well-rounded stat line of 13.1 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.6 spg and 3.2 bpg, while also making 35 threes. His defense and rebounding were essential parts for an undersized PJP team, which particularly stood out in a PIAA second-round win over Allentown Central Catholic.
McKeon, a 6-foot-3 wing, was one of the area’s top sharpshooters over the past two seasons and a Mercury All-Area second team selection this winter. He averaged 13 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.9 apg and 2.3 spg, while shooting 51 percent from the field and knocking down 70 threes.
“They’ve really been the heartbeat of this turnaround,” Stanton said. “I’m going to get this award and I appreciated you guys giving me the Coach of the Year from The Mercury as well, but those two guys have really done everything to turn it around in terms of their leadership and their work ethic.
“I feel like how seriously they take the game and how seriously they prepare themselves, it really trickled down to everyone in our program from seniors to freshman. That made my job a helluva a lot easier.”
Here are the rest of the Class 4A selections:
FIRST TEAM
*Jordan Longino, 6-4 Jr. F, Germantown Academy
Tyreese Watson, 6-4 Jr. G, Bonner-Prendergast
Elijah Taylor, 6-8 Sr. F, Imhotep
John Camden, 6-7 Jr. F, Archbishop Carroll
Donald Whitehead, 6-7 Jr. F, Hickory
Caleb Dorsey, 6-8 Sr. F, Hill School
SECOND TEAM
Isiah Warfield, 6-5 Sr. F, Central Valley
Nick Filchner, 6-8 Sr. F, Allentown CC
Ibrihim Kane, 6-5 Sr. F, Polumbo
Jake Kelley, 6-3 Sr. G, Bishop McDevitt
Gabe Dorsey, 6-6 Jr. F, Hill School
Zach Rovinsky, 6-7 Sr. F, Western Wayne
THIRD TEAM
Drew McKeon, 6-3 Sr. G, Pope John Paul II
Steven Ressler, 5-11 Jr. G, Bedford
Donovan Rodriguez, 6-0 Sr. G, Bonner-Prendergast
Johnny Crise, 6-6 Sr. F, Highlands
Justin Green, 6-5 Jr. F, Pope John Paul II
Peyton Mele, 6-3 Jr. G, Hickory
Coach of the year: Brendan Stanton, Pope John Paul II
Also receiving votes: Kevin Funston, Bonner-Prendergast; Joe Klazas, Lancaster Catholic
