A Night to Remember

by Joe Petrucci
March 27, 2007

Bill Pensyl has already been inducted into enough Halls of Fame.

The former standout athlete at East Stroudsburg High School Class of 1955 and 45-year boys basketball coach at Bangor Area High School, however, truly cherished — and represented — the honor he received at Koehler Fieldhouse on Monday.

Pensyl was awarded the Al Keglovits Spirit of Basketball Award in between the Fifth Annual Perryman & Keglovits All-Star games at East Stroudsburg University. Perryman, a 1994 East Stroudsburg South alum who is Monroe County's all-time leading scorer, died of cancer at age 19 in 1995. Keglovits, a popular teacher and basketball coach at East Stroudsburg South who also coached at King's College and Lehigh University, succumbed to cancer in 2001.

Pensyl, 69, recently went through his second bout with cancer after being free of the disease for four years since his original diagnosis in 2001. He had a baseball-sized tumor removed after Thanksgiving last fall. He then underwent 25 radiation treatments and five weeks of chemotherapy, which ended Wednesday.

"It's strange. Cancer forms a bond, an understanding," Pensyl said. "When you hear those names Perryman and Keglovits, it just jogs our memories."

Pensyl remembered valiantly trying to stop Perryman, who led the Cavaliers to the District 11 Class 4A title in 1993-94, when they advanced further than any other Monroe County boys basketball team the PIAA quarterfinals. The old coach also remembered Keglovits making him laugh from the opposing coach's bench during games.

"We take a lot of things for granted," Pensyl said. "All of us need to be aware."

Perryman's former teammate and friend, Kevin Smiley, has been aware every year of the annual all-star game. He has attended each one, reuniting with Shyeve Saunders, Kevin Gardner and Haasan Beyah — all members of the 93-94 team — and another of Perryman's former teammates, Jasper Talbert, on Monday.

"I like coming back and reminiscing," said Smiley, 31. "It helps keep Art's name going and keeps the dream alive for everybody who's fighting cancer."

Smiley said he'd like the players in the all-star games to watch a video of Perryman playing and Keglovits coaching to get a sense of how special the two were. That was something not lost on at least one player.

"They give us something to strive for because they were both good people and we want to be like them," said East Stroudsburg North's Maria LoCascio, who led the Keglovits Girls All-Stars with 14 points in a 71-66 loss to the Perryman All-Stars.

The winners were led by Pleasant Valley's Rebecca Fretz and 18 points and Pocono Mountain West's Adriana Johnson 15.

Event co-founder and co-director Bob Madsen didn't put a number on the amount of money raised, but said it was the best crowd ever. All proceeds benefit the Jimmy V Foundation and the Dale and Franes Hughes Cancer Center in East Stroudsburg.

"We had tickets out in the schools earlier this year and the coaches did a great job promoting the game," Madsen said.

In the boys game, the Keglovits All-Stars downed the Perryman All-Stars 80-74. Pocono Mountain West's Romond Vines led the Keglovits squad with 23 points, while East Stroudsburg South's Steve O'Brien chipped in with 13. Stroudsburg's Chris Dickison paced the Perryman bunch with 22 points.

Perryman & KeglovitsAll-Star Games

at Koehler Fieldhouse

Monday's results

Girls

Perryman All-Stars 71Keglovits All-Stars 66

KEGLOVITS 66

Booker 2 1-2 5, Smith 3 0-1 6, Determan 2 0-0 4, LoCascio 4 6-8 14, Williams 2 1-2 6, Young 3 0-0 8, Gabana 1 4-4 6, Rupell 6 1-3 13, Hough 0 0-0 0, Zlomsowitch 1 0-0 3. Totals: 24 13-20 66.

PERRYMAN 71

Johnson 4 5-6 13, Harris 6 0-0 12, Schneck 4 1-2 11, Yetter 1 0-0 3, Fretz 8 2-7 18, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Hrbek 5 0-1 10, Berger 1 2-3 4. Totals: 29 10-19 71.

3-point goals — Keg, Young 2, Williams; Per, Schneck 2, Yetter.

Boys

Keglovits All-Stars 80Perryman All-Stars 74

PERRYMAN 74

Smull 1 0-0 3, Borger 3 0-0 6, Dean 2 0-0 4, Llano 3 0-0 6, Letendre 0 0-0 0, Moritz 1 0-0 2, Spence 4 0-0 9, Lawrence 1 0-0 3, Dickison 11 0-0 22, Murray 3 0-0 8, Nikorak 2 0-0 4, Moate 3 0-0 7. Totals: 34 0-4 74.

KEGLOVITS 80

Castillo 2 0-0 6, Bridges 1 2-2 4, Johnson 0 0-0 0, O'Brien 6 0-0 13, McCutchen 3 0-0 6, Powell 3 0-0 6, Castle 3 0-0 6, Vines 11 1-2 23, Caceitto 4 0-0 10, Miller 2 0-0 4, Resh 1 0-0 2, Berger 0 0-0 0. Totals: 35 3-4 80.

3-point goals — Per, Murray 2, Moate, Smull, Spence, Lawrence; Keg, Castillo 2, Caceitto