2020-21 Pennsylvania Sportwriters’ All-State Team (5A Classification)
Written by: Andy Herr on April 30, 2021
Foreword written by Mike Gross of LNP…
Archbishop Ryan’s Aaron Lemon-Warren was leading the powerful Philadelphia Catholic League in scoring in the 2019-20 season when a broken foot shut him down for the year.
Ryan started this season two weeks after everyone else in the PCL due to a COVID-19 shutdown, and the PCL started about a month after most of the state.
The team and the player kept plugging away, all the way to the Class 5A District 12 championship and state championship game, all the way to Lemon-Warren being the 5A Player of the Year according to voting for the Pennsylvania Sportswriters all-state team.
Lemon-Warren, a 6-5 senior, averaged 18.8 points and 8-3 rebounds per game. He is a Division One recruit with offers from, among others, Penn State, Fordham, Saint Louis, Drexel and Richmond.
Lemon-Warren’s teammate, 6-9 senior Christian Tomasco, made the second team. Tomasco, who led the Catholic league in blocked shots, will do a post-grad year at IMG Academy in Florida.
Ryan’s postseason run was ended in the state final by a tough, physical Erie Cathedral Prep club with shocking 75-53 ease.
That game was a coming-out party for Prep’s Khalil Horton, a 6-8 sophomore who delivered 25 points and eight rebounds. Horton averaged 14.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per game while shooting 52 percent from the field.
Horton has a scholarship offer from Robert Morris.
Horton’s teammate, 6-5 senior Liam Galla, made the second team and will play at Mercyhurst. Prep’s coach, Steve Piotrowicz was named 5A coach of the year for directing a team that bounced all the way back after losing by 22 points to rival Erie McDowell in February, during a stretch of six losses in nine games.
The rest of the first team: Karell Watkins, a 6-5 senior from Chester; Rodney Gallagher, a 5-11 sophomore from Laurel Highlands; Brayden Reynolds, a 6-2 senior from Chartiers Valley; Justin Edwards, a 6-6 sophomore from Imhotep; and Malik Edwards, a 6-2 senior from Bonner Prendergast.
Watkins ended his career with 1,426 points, seventh-most in the history of one of the state’s strongest programs. He averaged 22.5 points and 12.2 rebounds, and is receiving Division I college interest.
Gallagher is ranked among the top 100 sophomores in the country in basketball and football. He averaged 19 points per game, and holds scholarship offers from Pitt and Wake Forest.
Class 5A was particularly strong in Western Pa. this year, Reynolds, of powerful Chartiers Valley, was one of its biggest stars. He averaged 25 points a game, including 42 in a win at rival and eventual WPIAL champion New Castle.
Reynolds has an offer from Army.
Powerhouse Imhotep went undefeated and won the Philadelphia Public League title, but went no further due to a COVID-19 shutdown.
The Panthers figure to be back next season with a very young team led by Justin Edwards, a versatile 6-6 forward who already has scholarship offers from Virginia Tech, DePaul, Oklahoma State and Seton Hall.
Malik Edwards led the Philadelphia Catholic League in scoring with 22.4 points per game, and made first team all-PCL, despite his team playing only seven games.
Edwards will attend William Penn University, an NAIA Division I school in Iowa.
Class 5A
First team
Aaron Lemon-Warren, 6-5 Sr., Archbishop Ryan (POY)
Karell Watkins, 6-5 Sr., Chester
Khali Horton, 6-8 Soph., Erie Cathedral Prep
Rodney Gallagher, 5-11 Soph., Laurel Highlands
Brayden Reynolds, 6-2 Sr., Chartiers Valley
Justin Edwards, 6-6 Soph., Imhotep
Malik Edwards, 6-2 Sr., Bonner-Prendergast
Second team
Griffin Barrouk, 6-5 Sr., Bayard Rustin
- J. Miles, 6-1 Sr., Bangor
Mike Dunn, 6-3 Sr., Trinity
Christian Tomasco, 6-9 Sr., Archbishop Ryan
Liam Galla, 6-5 Sr., Erie Cathedral Prep
Fareed Burton, 5-11 Sr., Chester
Third team
Rhamir Barno, 6-0 Soph., Imhotep
Jayden Statum, 6-0 Jr., Shippensburg
Ty Burton, 5-10 Fr., Lampeter-Strasburg
Nate McGill, 6-4 Sr., Northern
Mike Wells, 6-3 Jr., New Castle
Denzel Figueroa, 6-5 Jr., Engineering & Science
Coach: Steve Piotrowicz, Erie Prep
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