Sharp shooter
BUTLER TWP — When it came to putting the ball in the basket, no one in Butler could match Shawn Bellis.
In fact, 20 years after his prep basketball career ended, no one has matched him yet.
Bellis, a small forward for the Golden Tornado, scored 1,466 points in his hoop career. He graduated in 1994 and that record still stands.
“I'm very surprised no one's taken that one down yet,” Bellis said. “I figured it'd be gone by now. But, yeah, I'm pretty proud of it.”
Bellis will be one of six inductees joining the Butler High School Athletic Hall of Fame during a 5 p.m. reception Sept. 5 in the high school cafeteria. Joining him will be Lyneil Mitchell, Annie Lowry, Troy Mohney, Mark Maier and Mark Farabee.
All six will be recognized on the field prior to Butler's home football opener against Baldwin that night.
Bellis was a freshman on the Butler team that won the WPIAL title in 1991. The Golden Tornado won their section title his sophomore season and reached the WPIAL playoffs again his junior campaign.
Butler won four consecutive section titles before the 1992-93 squad fell short of the crown.
“New Castle and Shaler really had stacked teams that year. We didn't win our section that season, but I think that was our best team,” Bellis said. “Matt Clement was our point guard ... We had a bunch of good players.”
That 1992-93 Butler team also featured 1,000-point scorer Jaron Hilovsky and center Jason Pawlowicz, who went on to play for Geneva College.
Bellis played for a Tornado squad that reached the PIAA West finals.
Bellis also owns Butler basketball records of 614 points scored in a season and 47 points scored in a game.
The latter mark was set against Freeport in Bellis' senior year, George Abraham's first as Butler coach. Mark Jula coached Bellis during his first three high school seasons.
“We were losing by a couple of points at halftime at Freeport and Coach Abraham wasn't too happy with us,” Bellis recalled. “I had 32 points in the second half — 19 straight for our team at one point — and we blew them out.
“Coach told me I had the school record when he took me out of the game. I had no idea I was even going for it.”
Though he was a freshman at the time and rarely saw varsity minutes, Bellis said Butler's run to the 1991 WPIAL title “was an experience I'll never forget.”
He also recalled a game against Shaler his senior year, going up against eventual NBA player Danny Fortson.
“He scored 41 points and I scored 40,” Bellis said. “We just battled each other all night. I loved going against top players.”
Bellis remains active in sports today, having spent the past 22 summers playing in the Chicora Modified Softball League and playing in a YMCA basketball league once a week.
“You have to stay active,” he said. “But I do miss the competition from high school, playing basketball with all of my friends and playing against the good players from that time.
“I'm honored to be joining this Hall of Fame. There's some great names in there and I'm happy to be included.”
