Heimel District 9 Player of the Year
First Northern Tier League player to earn the award

Coudersport's Blair Heimel is the 2008 District 9 boys' basketball Player of the Year.

A-C Valley freshman Allan Eaton is Rookie of the Year and Bradford's Dave Fuhrman is Coach of the Year.

"Blair, Allan and Dave proved through the year that they were at the top of the class in their respective categories," said Chris Rossetti from D9Sports.com, an Internet District 9 sports information service that co-sponsored the awards.

"As he showed last year when he was a first-team selection, Blair is one of the top big men District 9 has seen in a long time, while Allan is looking to join him with that distinction," Rossetti added. "Dave Fuhrman finds a way to make Bradford competitive year in and year out."

This was the ninth season the District 9 awards were presented.

Heimel, who was the thirdleading scorer in District 9 this season at 19.1 points per game, helped Coudersport to a 29-1 overall record and both the District 9 Class A and the Northern Tier League championships. He helped the Falcons to the PIAA Class A quarterfinals.

A 1,000-point career scorer (1,040), Heimel, who was a first-team All-District selection last year, averaged a double-double by adding 10.2 rebounds per game while also averaging 2.5 blocks, 1.5 assists and 1.4 steals per contest. He shot 63.5 percent from the field.

Heimel is the first Northern Tier League player to earn the award.

Joining Heimel on the All- District 9 team were Ryan LaBrozzi, Sr., Bradford; Ben Lanich, Sr., Bradford; Christian Spilman, Sr., DuBois Central Catholic; Seth Streich, Jr., Johnsonburg; Dom Varacallo, Sr., DuBois Central Catholic.

Another Coudersport senior, John Hau, was among six players selected for the second team.

Hau averaged 15.0 points per game despite playing his final seven games with a torn ACL. He added 7.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.4 blocks and 1.9 steals per game and ended his career with 1,052 points. He was averaging 17.5 points per game before his injury.