蘑菇视频

Jun 12, 2026 By Rob Burchianti 10 min read

Erica Hogan Gaster wasn’t sure she was worthy of a spot in the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame.

“I was surprised,” the 1999 Geibel Catholic graduate said when she found out she would be part of the Class of 2026. “I don’t know if I ever considered myself to be in the top echelon of sports athletes in Fayette County. I was honored and grateful. I didn’t expect it at all.”

The numbers certainly tell a different story.

Hogan was a winner wherever she played. She scored over 1,000 points at both Geibel and Saint Vincent College and her teams had a combined record of 213-55 (66%) in her eight years playing at those schools.

The Lady Gators had an astounding record of 130-13 in her four years with them, including 105-10 in her three years as a starter. Hogan’s teams made the WPIAL championship game in all four of her years at Geibel and won titles her freshman and junior seasons.

“We had some really good teams,” Hogan said. “It was fantastic to play under Coach (George) Bortz and all the talent that was there at the time. I had some great memories of my athletics at Geibel High School.”

Hogan recalled how she got started at basketball while discussing her impending induction on Hall of Fame co-founder George Von Benko’s Sports Line Talk Show on WMBS Radio recently.

“I was probably 3 or 4 when my Aunt Donna bought me a Dr. J adjustable hoop,” Hogan said. “So for anybody in this age bracket, you remember Dr. J (Julius Erving). I don’t know what prompted her to buy it for me or whether or not I asked for it, but that was one of the things that drew me to the sport initially.

“Then growing up with 19 cousins on my dad’s side, many of us being around the same age, sports was all we did, and I was always drawn to basketball.”

Hogan’s love for basketball began there and continued to increase as she grew up. She remembered shooting basketball in her grandmother’s driveway.

“My grandma still lives on Lincoln Street and my dad’s sister, my Aunt Ellen, lived two doors down from my grandma,” Hogan said. “Several houses up were the Murthas, my Aunt Mary. She had kids in Adam and Jarod and Jimmy, we were all around the same age. Every first Thursday that we got out of school from St. Mary’s (where Hogan attended) or St. John’s we met in Grandma’s driveway and that’s how we spent our afternoons.”

Hogan eventually became part of the Geibel girls basketball dynasty, playing under Bortz, who she recalled fondly.

“I got along with him well,” Hogan said. “He was tough. I always felt like he was fair. When somebody did something, we had to run, we were all running as a team. I don’t feel like he ever singled one or two of us out, although I think some of my teammates would disagree,” she added with a laugh. “But my relationship with him, I have nothing but positive things to say.”

Geibel won four straight WPIAL championships from 1993 to 1996. Hogan was a freshman on the 1996 squad that went 25-3 and played in the final. Once Hogan stepped in as a starter the Lady Gators went 26-2 in 1997, 29-2 in 1998 and 25-3 in 1999, Geibel won the 1998 district title and lost in the final in the other two years.

“It was amazing,” Hogan said of her time at Geibel. “When I was a freshman and Alison (Watts) and Robin (Guerriere) and Tara (Cochrane) were seniors, I didn’t expect to make varsity. Then to get in in the championship game as a freshman, I’m not really sure what Coach was thinking at that point,” Hogan said with a chuckle. “But get your feet wet, throw them into the fire I feel like is what he did to us.”

Hogan was proud of Geibel continuing its run of WPIAL championship game appearances after the core group from the first four teams graduated.

“After that initial four years of those girls, I feel like people may have counted us out because we lost such talent,” Hogan said. “But the rest of us, we wanted to live up to that legacy and we wanted to succeed in the same way. It wasn’t quite four years in a row, I mean I have a couple of silver medals in there, but it still is something to say to be in the championship all four years of my career.”

While Geibel dominated in the WPIAL, Hogan recalled the Lady Gators’ struggles to advance far in the PIAA tournament.

“It is a little bit of a sore spot,” Hogan said. “Being as good as we werem it was hard to swallow never getting past I feel it was the second round. I think to a point then it became a mental block for us.

“I don’t know if we weren’t prepared properly for the teams that we were seeing from different areas. Some of them played a bit of slower basketball. I don’t know what year I was but I remember a team just running an offense for minute after minute after minute, I think it ended up being like a 36-32 game. It was one of those that we weren’t used to playing. We were used to pressing, we were used to running, we were an in-shape team. I don’t know if that was the case or if we just felt out of our realm, but it is a sticking point.”

Hogan scored 1,200 points at Geibel and was named to the All-County team three times. In her senior season, Hogan was chosen as the Lady Gators’ MVP and won the 3-point shooting contest at the Roundball Classic.

“I think at the time I was just enjoying the moment,” Hogan said of her individual success. “I always wanted my team to do well. I don’t know that I ever focused on individual milestones. I don’t think I ever even considered that I would be a 1,000-point scorer in high school, let alone go to college and do it also.

“I was just living in the moment and enjoying anything that came along and really just focusing on how I could help my team be as successful as possible.”

Hogan admitted that she was a distributor just as much as a scorer in high school.

“I was always a point guard. I was running the show sort of speak,” Hogan said. “I was the person on the court that was making sure the offense was running, that was making sure everybody knew what we were doing, come defense, come offense. I was more worried about the team winning than I was about how many points I could score in a game.”

Hogan also participated in AAU basketball and particularly enjoyed playing for coach Chris Cluss.

“I loved it,” Hogan said. “There were girls on the team from different areas. I met friends from the Hempfield area and Morgantown, different schools throughout Fayette County. We didn’t have the social media and the phones the kids do today, so you’re meeting people and building friendships with people that are from your area but you may not know them because they go to other schools.

“I 100 percent loved the experience. I wish we could’ve played for another 10 years.”

When it came to college, Hogan considered a couple other places but chose Saint Vincent.

“I had gotten letters from places like W&J,” Hogan said. “I considered Wheeling Jesuit.”

Hogan’s sister attended Saint Vincent but she was a fan even before that.

“My heart was set on it before my sister decided to go there,” Hogan said. “I don’t really know what drew me to Saint Vincent. My dad did go there. He was an alum. I went, I visited with Coach (Kristen Zawacki) and I looked at the facilities and the grounds and it just seemed like it fit for me.

“I’m more of a person that likes a small community rather than a very large atmosphere. It was close enough to home yet far enough away. My parents could be at my games. They had a successful record, too, with one coach throughout its history until she passed (Zawacki died in 2010). It felt right to me.”

Hogan loved playing for Zawacki.

“She was a force,” Hogan said. “She was hilarious at times, she was tough at times and she was the person that we could all go to as her team if we needed anybody, if we needed anything.

“We didn’t have a football team at the time and I feel like the atmosphere of the school was very close-knit. There was a lot of community there. Even with the younger players and the older players, they took care of us and then we carried on that tradition. When the younger kids came in we tried to take care of them.

“We enjoyed every single moment we had when we were there. We went to tournaments in Iowa and Tennessee and we got to see different places and experience different things together. I don’t have one single regret about my choice.”

The Bearcats were highly successful, also, posting records of 26-7, 17-12, 18-22 and 22-12 while Hogan was there and made two NAIA national tournament appearances. Hogan played in every one of Saint Vincent’s 125 games during her four years there, starting as a junior and senior. Just as she did in high school, Hogan helped the Bearcats in a variety of ways. She was second on the team in scoring in each of her final two seasons, was second in assists and first in steals her senior year and led the team in both of those categories as a junior.

Hogan finished her career at Saint Vincent with 1,105 points and looked back on tallying her 1,000th point.

“It was actually my grandma’s birthday,” Hogan pointed out. “We were playing at Point Park. The only people there at the time were my parents and that was OK because they were my supporters through my entire career. It was a free throw.

“I believe my 1,000th point in high school was a corner 3-point shot, which I was terrible at. I was awful shooting from the corner. I was pretty good from the free throw line and that’s where it came in college.”

Hogan was named first team all-conference as a senior at Saint Vincent after earning honorable mention the previous two years.

“I think my only regret is that I didn’t play more sports,” Hogan said when asked to reflect on her athletic career. “It was like basketball was my life. I also ran track in order to stay in shape for basketball. That might be the only regret I have is not trying out different things. But in my personality I hate to be bad at something and I think probably that’s what maybe held me back from trying other sports,” she added with a laugh.

Hogan had great relationships with all her coaches, including her uncle Bob Hogan whom she played for at Laurel Highlands Junior High School for two undefeated seasons.

“I loved every coach I played for,” Hogan said. “I can’t say a negative thing about any of them because they gave me so much.”

Tickets are sold out for the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame luncheon/social and the annual golf outing, which will take place on June 19 at Pleasant Valley Golf Club.