HART STARS FACE CANYON'S IN FOOTBALL ALL-STAR GAME.

Byline: Gerry Gittelson

The treasured high school football rivalry between Hart and Canyon lives to see another day at the 10th annual East-West All-Star Game on June 11 at 3:30 p.m. at Birmingham High in Lake Balboa.

Canyon defeated Hart twice last season, including a 21-13 victory in the Southern Section Div. II championship at Home Depot Center in December.

Seven Hart seniors have been selected to participate for the West, and four Canyon seniors are slated to play for the East, as the players will strap on their team helmets and represent the community one final time in an event that raises money for the Valley Youth Conference charity.

The Hart selections are quarterback Tyler Lyon, receivers Robbie Casselberry and Troy Yudin, linemen Jackson Smith and Ricky Vittallo, linebacker Patrick Sarkissian and defensive back James Wheeler. The Canyon selections are quarterback Austin Civita, receiver Richie Wirthlin, lineman Garrett Leary and linebacker Matt Brown.

Official rosters are expected to be finalized soon. Lyon and Wirthlin didn't confirm because of schedule conflicts, but the rest are solid.

Lyon, who's headed to Arizona on a scholarship, said he plans to pursue other summer activities. Plus, his father Chuck feared an injury.

``I'm not a big fan of all-star games,'' Chuck said.

Wirthlin initially confirmed, then backed off.

``It's an honor and I was excited about it until I realized the game was on Sunday, and because of my religion I can't play on Sundays,'' said Wirthlin, a Mormon who plans to play at BYU as a recruited walk-on. ``I'll be out of town fishing with my dad. If I make it to the NFL one day, that's a different story.''

Other local selections are Saugus receiver Casey Stevenson for the East and Valencia defensive back M.J. Robotham for the West, both of whom will be playing their final football game. Stevenson is expected to concentrate on baseball in the future, and Robotham plans to run track at Cal Poly.

``It's going to be cool to play one last game,'' Robotham said. ``I used to run track in the Valley Youth Conference when I was a kid, so it's nice to help out the organization that I started with.''

Hart girls' basketball standout Tatianna Thomas has committed to play basketball at Oregon, where she'll join Hart teammate Taylor Lilley.

Speaking of Lilley, an all-state selection who's considered one of Hart's top female athletes, it's fitting that she has accepted an offer to attend the school prom with Matt Valaika, a UC Santa Barbara-bound soccer and baseball standout who is perhaps Hart's top male athlete.

Canyon football junior Nick Madia bench-pressed 395 pounds during an eight-team weightlifting contest at Canyon last weekend - five pounds shy of Ryan Bremler's 2004 school record.

``Nick has a lot of natural strength, and he works very hard,'' coach Harry Welch said.In other Canyon football news, junior running back J.J. DiLuigi was offered a BYU scholarship during a weekend recruiting visit earlier this month.

Wes Pascolla, a former Valencia baseball standout now at Santa Ana College, is expected to play at Division II Chico State next season.

The third annual Saugus football passing tournament is scheduled for June 23-24 at Central Park in Saugus.

After taking a year off from baseball, former Vasquez High of Acton baseball pitcher China McCarney, who throws 94 mph and is a prodigy of Santa Clarita private coach Jim Wagner, might be drafted by the San Diego Padres or Florida Marlins this June, according to Wagner.

``It's kind of hard to assess what might happen but a number of scouts are interested in him,'' Wagner said. ``His fastball is back up to about 92 mph.''

Hart's Josh Herman is scheduled to participate in the annual Battle of the Valley all-star basketball game April 29 at Cal State Northridge.

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