After accomplishing plenty in four years at Pinkerton Academy with their considerable athletic skills, recent PA grads Valerie Martin and Alex Ebner officially finished their high school sports careers with noteworthy performances in recently-held all-star games in Vermont.
Basketball star Martin – who showed aggressiveness, lots of ability, and plenty of confidence right from the start of her freshman year en route to a superb career with her Lady Astros – led the New Hampshire team to an 83-37 pounding of the Vermont contingent in the Twin State Basketball Classic at Essex High School.
Martin, who will be playing her college hoops at Keene State later this year, helped her Granite State contingent race out to a 24-2 lead in the first half and finished up with 24 big points in the 46-point victory.
As a result of her stellar performance, the former Lady Astro won the Michael Johnson Award as the New Hampshire contingent’s most valuable player in the 33rd annual girls’ contest.
And in the Twin State boys’ soccer match played at Castleton State College in the Green Mountain State, former Pinkerton booter Alex Ebner put forth another example of his ability to set up goals with corner kicks by setting up the winning marker in the New Hampshire crew’s 1-0 edging of the host Vermont side.
Ebner’s corner boot was perfectly placed for recent Hanover High grad Luke Strohbehn to head home a little less than 10 minutes into that hard-fought battle on what spectators couldn’t help calling “a highlight-reel goal.”
Strohbehn nearly converted on another header off a corner kick by Ebner – who will attend Southern New Hampshire University in the fall – early in the second half, but that attempt didn’t quite make it across the goal line.
Pinkerton veteran boys’ soccer coach Kerry Boles was in attendance at the annual New Hampshire/ Vermont soccer contest and wound up with plenty of reasons to be proud of the performances of both of his former Astro booters who played in the prestigious, high school career-ending match.
“Kyle Hicks was the only other player from PA who played in the game. As usual, he played great, just like Alex,” said Boles.
