A quick glance around the packed room at the Conneaut Human Resource Center saw 13 past inductees to the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame in attendance.

Ed Armstrong, Don Cannell, Kim (Henson) Triskett, Chris Larick, Ron Richards, Joe Shantz from last year’s class; Tom Henson and Pat Sheldon from 2007; Harry Fails, 2005; and 2003 inductees Gene Gephart, Jon Hall, Bob Hitchcock and Bill Koval all made appearances.

Second-biggest class

The 14-member class of 2009 is the second largest in the seven-year history of the hall of fame, trailing only the 2008 class which saw 15 Ashtabula County greats enshrined.

He’s seen (nearly) ’em all

This year’s induction brings the total number of members of the hall of fame to 85. And by his count, Star Beacon sports writer Karl Pearson, dean of the area sports media and 2009 ACBF Hall of Fame inductee, has covered or watched nearly half of them (40) during his tenure covering high school athletics.

Pearson has covered 22 players and at least 15 coaches currently enshrined and three who he has covered as both student-athletes and coaches.

Double duty

In addition to being inducted into the Hall of Fame for his outstanding contributions as a media member, Pearson also serves as secretary for the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation. He also opened the event by performing the national anthem.

Family affair

A fair amount of seats at the awards banquet were taken up by the Henson family. There to witness former Grand Valley standout Kelly Henson’s installment were dad Tom, the legendary GV coach and 2005 Hall of Fame inductee, sister Kim Triskett, a member of last year’s class and the current head coach at GV, and son, A.J., a freshman standout at GV who was named to the Star Beacon Ashtabula County Boys Basketball team.

Long and short of it

At the request of the ACBF, inductees were asked to keep their individual remarks to 5-8 minutes. Some went longer, some needed less time to share their thoughts. The lengthiest speech was given by former Conneaut coach Tom Ritari, who spoke for 16:30. The shortest one was by Connie Mracek, who needed just 10 seconds to accept the award on her late father, Ken Smith’s, behalf.

Together again

Following the 1969-70 basketball season, Conneaut’s Scott Humphrey and Randy Knowles of Geneva were named Star Beacon Ashtabula County co-Player of the Year. Nearly 40 years later, and the pair again shared an honor as members of the 2009 ACBF Hall of Fame class.

Hard road back

Because of scheduling conflicts and because some were being inducted posthumously, not every member of the 2009 Hall of Fame class was able to attend the awards banquet. But nothing was going to keep Humphrey away.

“When Karl (Pearson) asked me if I could make it, I told him that I really wanted to and would do everything I could,” he said during his speech. “But earlier this week, I watched the car behind me get hit by a car while I was stopped and then crash into the back of my car. But, I didn’t want to let Karl down. Even a minor accident wasn’t stopping me.”

On the tube

CableSuite 541 filmed the banquet and will air the event on channels 6, 21 and 116 in its coverage area and on CableSuite541.com. Check local listings for broadcast dates and times.

Split votes

For the first time in the event’s history, it awarded co-Player of the Year awards to both boys and girls. Pymatuning Valley’s Andrew Smith and Lakeside’s Ace Jones shared the award on the boys side, while Jefferson’s Lizzy Ziemski and Geneva’s Taylor Webb were the girls’ recipients.

Coaching sweep

Earlier in the week, Pymatuning Valley coaches Jeremy Huber and Jeff Compan were named the Star Beacon Ashtabula County boys and girls coaches of the year, respectively.

The duo also took home those same honors from the ACBF. For Huber, it was the second year in a row the ACBF bestowed him with the Coach of the Year honor.

Earned his stripes

For 26 years, Brad Marinchak has laced up his sneakers and blown his whistle as a referee in Ashtabula County. On Sunday, he was recognized by his peers, colleagues — and sometimes playful combatants — with the ACBF Officials’ Appreciation Award.

“It’s an honor. I’ve really enjoyed going to all the area schools and meeting people, watching students develop and I have fun officiating,” he said. “A lot of times officials don’t get recognition, unless they do something wrong! But it’s great to be recognized in a positive way.”

Special dedication

The 2009 ACBF Awards Dinner was dedicated to the memory of former PV administrator Jeff Meddock, who passed away suddenly last fall. Meddock was a respected and devoted member of the PV community and volunteered on Huber’s staff.

Master of ceremonies Scott Wlyudyga, a former PV football standout and current teacher in the school system, presented the ACBF Special Recognition Award on behalf of Meddock to Huber.

By the numbers

• 85 — Total members enshrined in the Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation Hall of Fame.

• 59 — Number of points scored on Feb. 10, 1939 by Hall of Fame inductee Ken Smith for Rock Creek High against Colebrook.

• 43 — St. John scoring record held by Billy Johnson, a 2009 Hall of Fame inductee and five-term Ashtabula County Sheriff. He set the mark in a 1968 game against Maplewood.

• 14 — Inductees in the 2009 ACBF Hall of Fame Class, the second-largest ever.

• 13 — Past inductees in attendance Sunday.

• 11 — Grade level of girls’ co-players of the year Lizzy Ziemski (Jefferson) and Taylor Webb (Geneva).

• 10 — Former players in the Hall of Fame class.

• 7th — Annual ACBF awards banquet.

• 4 — Members of the Hall of Fame class who starred in the 1960s.

• 3 — Number of seasons it took Hall of Fame inductee Bob Miller to score 1,053 points at Andover High School (1956-69)

• 2 — Ashtabula County basketball teams to reach the state tournament. One was the 1949-50 Geneva Eagles coached by 2009 Hall of Fame inductee Bruno Mallone.

• 1 — Year in Ashtabula County for Hall of Fame inductee Randy Knowles. In his only season at Geneva (1969-70), Knowles led the county in scoring and was co-player of the year before going on to play at Texas A&M and professionally overseas.

Tirotta is a freelance writer from Ashtabula.