Paul Bartko

• Post by: mcalibrary
• December 15, 2023
• Comments off

INDUCTEE

Paul Bartko was a four-year varsity performer at Mount Carmel Catholic High and Lourdes Regional. During his freshman year he was first line reserve on the team which won the Anthracite Catholic League Championship. The following year he became a starter and led the team to a repeat of the Catholic League Championship.

Catholic High and Lourdes merged just prior to his Junior year; and that team was remarkably successful. They won the Central Penn Catholic League Championship and the PCIAA Eastern State Class B Championship. They lost a heart-breaking 1-point decision in the State Championship final. He captained the 1966 Raider squad which repeated as Harrisburg Diocese Class B Title and went all the way to the Eastern Final again before losing to Scranton Prep.

He continued his career at Bloomsburg University. After graduation, he entered the U.S. Army. In 1973 he returned to Mount Carmel High School as teacher-coach, and began to resuscitate the Tornadoes basketball program. His teams improved each year…and in his last year as coach in 1979, his team qualified for the SIAL Championship Playoffs advanced to the District IV Class B Finals, losing a heartbreaker to Montoursville in the championship game. He resigned as coach at the conclusion of that season. He presently is a teacher in the Mount Carmel Area School System.