Jim Thorpe junior Skyler Searfoss was recently presented the Schuylkill League Girls Basketball Most Valuable Player award, which is named after the late William “Babe” Conroy. Searfoss led the Olympians in scoring (16.5 points per game), assists (3.8 per game) and steals (4.6 per game) and helped her team finish second in both the Schuylkill League and District 11 Class 4A. Conroy was a one-time Shenandoah Valley baseball coach and former sports editor of the Evening Herald and Hazleton Standard-Speaker. In the photo above (at right), Conroy’s wife (Ann Louise) and son (Bill) present the trophy to Searfoss at a ceremony at Fighter’s Heaven in Deer Lake. At left, former Mahanoy Area boys basketball coach Mickey Holland presents the Schuylkill League Boys Basketball MVP awards to Nativity senior Kegan Hertz and junior Marquis Radcliff. The two shared the award after leading their team to a state championship. The award is named after Holland. The criteria for selection includes leadership (on and off the court), toughness and tenacity, academics (minimum 3.0 GPA), overall play and sportsmanship. For the past seven years, the award has been sponsored by Integrated Surgical Specialists of Pottsville with the help of Drs. Mark Brayford, Jason Phillips, Jared Cicero, Timothy Gill and Nathan Tiedken. SAM MATTA/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS