KC's Callihan has eyes on winning for Gremlins

By JOHN ENRIETTO Eagle Sports Editor

January 07, 2005 Last Updated: January 07, 2005 01:54 PM High School

KARNS CITY - Karns City senior Tyler Callihan has plenty of reasons for putting the ball in the basket.

His teammates count on him to do so, he wants to win and he has a chance at his school's all-time scoring record.

Besides, it's a family tradition.

Callihan began this month with 1,111 career points. His father, Kevin Callihan, held Karns City's career scoring record when he graduated in the 1970s.

Tyler's brother, Joe Callihan, started on the last Gremlins team to win the District 9 title. His cousin, Pat Craig, was the leading scorer on that team.

His uncle, Dave Craig, once held the Karns City record for points scored in a game.

"It's been around me all my life," Callihan said of basketball.

And it became his passion.

So when he tore the medial meniscus in his knee while stealing second base during a high school baseball game May 5, 2004, baseball wasn't on his mind.

"I knew the knee was hurt. I could feel the pain," Callihan said. "I just prayed it wasn't the ACL or the MCL.

"The first thought that came to me was I had to be ready for the first day of basketball practice in November."

Callihan ran track for the first time last spring and qualified for the District 9 meet in the long jump. The knee injury prevented him from competing in that meet.

A pitcher and shortstop in baseball, he missed the Gremlins' postseason and the Karns City American Legion campaign last summer.

He visited his physical therapist in Butler every day instead.

"Even when the required rehabilitation work was over, Tyler kept on going," Karns City basketball coach Steve Andreassi said. "He was going to turn that injury into a positive."

Callihan worked on his upper body strength as well while rehabilitating his knee.

"I felt like I had to get stronger up there," he said. "Opposing players knocked the ball out of my hands too many times last year.

"I hated when that happened. I felt like I was letting my teammates down."

Doug Rodgers holds the school's career scoring record of 1,445 points, a mark that's stood for six years.

The single-game individual scoring record at Karns City is 50 points. Callihan's single-game best is 41, accomplished in this season's opener against Ford City.

Neither record is out of his reach.

"He's not worried about either one," Andreassi said. "Tyler's goals are obvious. He hasn't won a league title. He hasn't won a District 9 title. He hasn't played in the PIAA playoffs."

Callihan was a freshman sitting at the end of the bench when Pat Craig, Joe Callihan and company won the district crown.

"I really wasn't a part of that," the younger Callihan said. "I can be part of it this year.

"I'd love to break the single-game scoring record, but only in a close game where we need me to score those points. To score 50 in a lopsided game either way wouldn't make much sense," he added.

Last year's Butler County Player of the Year, Callihan averaged 23.4 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game.

In the early going this year, Callihan leads the county with 26 points per game. He also averages 10.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per contest.

Yet no college has come calling - yet.

"I had a couple of coaches talk to me when we played Keystone last year, but they were there to see (District 9 all-time scoring leader) Garrett Heath and happened to see me play," Callihan said.

"No one's approached me this year. It's a little disappointing, but if I don't get a scholarship, I'll probably walk on at a Division II school and try to play," he added.

Callihan began playing organized basketball at the Butler YMCA in second grade. He's never stopped.

He played for Karns City's eighth-grade team as a seventh grader, for the freshman team as an eighth-grader, for the junior varsity as a freshman.

A three-year starter for the Gremlins' varsity, Callihan averaged 9.6 points per game as a sophomore and led the team in scoring during the district playoffs.

The 6-foot-1 guard played the point as a junior and has played different positions this year to combat the box-and-one defenses the Gremlins often see.

"He's covered 5-7 guys in our league, 6-2 or 6-3 guys outside our league," Andreassi said. "Tyler's a versatile defender and he's as natural and pure a shooter as I've seen."

He should be. It's in his genes.

"Dad used to show me a newspaper clipping of him scoring 26 points in a game and tell me I'd never do that," Callihan said. "He's always egging me on to get better."

And Callihan keeps getting better - for the right reasons.

"He's a team guy," Andreassi said. "He just wants the team to win and everything he does is for the good of the team. That's why he's successful and that's why the other kids respond to him so well."