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Sunday, March 23, 2003

By Mike White, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

HERSHEY, Pa. -- Sto-Rox Coach Bill Minear walked off the Giant Center court yesterday and ripped off his tie. He was fit to be tied.

	Sto-Rox's Adam DiMichele drives between Trinity's Matthew Wesner, left, and Chris Cassidy before dishing off in the Class AA final in Hershey yesterday. (Lake Fong, Post-Gazette photos)

Sto-Rox lost to Camp Hill Trinity, 66-49, in the PIAA Class AA championship in a game marred by a brawl in the second quarter. Players were fighting and some fans came onto the court.

Two of Sto-Rox's top players were ejected in the first half. Without them, the Vikings were no match for Trinity, which finished with a 33-0 record.

Minear was upset at the officials and Trinity's team. And he didn't hold back his thoughts.

"I don't understand how grown men can sleep at night with what they did in that game," Minear said, in reference to the game's three officials -- William Schoen, Joe Dente and Joe Arcuri.

John Geiger, a 6-foot-4 junior guard-forward, was ejected with six minutes left in the first quarter for throwing punches at a player on Trinity's bench. Davon Huger, a 6-7 junior forward, was thrown out with 2:04 left in the first half for throwing a punch at Trinity's Chris Crane.

Geiger and Huger each average 14 points per game. When Huger was thrown out, Sto-Rox trailed 23-21.

"We'll just never know who the better team is, and I would hope Trinity's coach would feel the same way," said Minear, whose team lost in the PIAA final for the second year in a row. "We feel like we're the better team. Last year, we came up here and they called touch fouls. This year, it was a demolition derby."

The fight started when Geiger was taking the ball out of bounds in front of the Trinity bench. After the official handed him the ball, Geiger turned around and started punching Trinity's Matt Wesner, who was seated on the bench.

John Geiger, left, and Davon Huger deal with the disappointment.

After the game, Geiger said he regretted throwing punches but said he was provoked. Geiger said someone on Trinity's bench grabbed him between the legs from behind.

"When I was taking it out and I felt someone grabbing my shorts," Geiger said. "I gave him a nudge backward with my foot. He kicked me and then he grabbed me under my legs."

Geiger broke into tears after describing the incident.

Trinity's players said they did not tough Geiger. Trinity's Rob Lutz, who was sitting next to Wesner, said Geiger stepped on his foot and he told Geiger to get off.

"Then he turned around and started hitting Matt," Lutz said.

Minear said Geiger should not have thrown punches but added: "For him to react like that, something was done to him. He's a player, not a fighter."

Wesner had a few bumps and bruises on his head after the game.

"Our coach warned us before the game that Sto-Rox is a bunch of street kids who play dirty and cheap shot," Wesner said.

When told of Wesner's comments, Minear was incensed.

	PIAA officials and coaches attempt to restrain Sto-Rox players and fans during a fight in the first half.

"That team is a bunch of white thugs," Minear said. "I have no respect for their coach [Larry Kostelac Sr.], either, because he obviously wants them to play that way."

Adam DiMichele, Sto-Rox's star junior point guard, said Trinity had "the dirtiest players you'll ever see. They do all kind of stuff to you. Hold. Elbow. Everything."

After Geiger punched Wesner, the benches emptied. Punches were thrown by players on both teams. Trinity's Johnathan Smith, who hadn't played in the game, came off the bench and went after DiMichele. The two were fighting on the Sto-Rox side of the court. DiMichele had a welt on his neck after the game.

"I got that from a fan who came on the court," said DiMichele, who also had cuts on his arms.

When order was restored, Geiger was given a technical and thrown out of the game. No technicals were given to Trinity and no Trinity player was thrown out.

"It was an unfortunate incident, but I thought my kids handled themselves the right way," Kostelac said.

Minear viewed the incident with disbelief.

"[Smith] was choking Adam DiMichele and nothing is done to anyone on their team," Minear said.

PIAA officials did not allow reporters to talk to the officiating crew after the game. Bob Lombardi, Associate Executive Director of the PIAA said: "The officials confirmed that [Geiger] threw a punch. That's why he was ejected. By rule, everyone else off the bench goes, too. But we would've had nobody left then. So what they did was negate each other after the punch."

Huger was thrown out a few minutes later for hitting Crane.

"That wasn't a punch," Huger said. "I was right next to him. If I wanted to, I would've punched him and I would've made sure I hit him. But I didn't."

Sto-Rox trailed 28-22 at halftime but were outmanned without Huger and Geiger. DiMichele tried to carry Sto-Rox, scoring a team-high 24 points, 18 in the second half. But Trinity slowly pulled away. The Shamrocks led 48-34 heading into the final quarter.

Crane finished with 22 points while junior guard Mike Walker and junior forward Kevin Morris added 16 apiece.