Clark Kellogg Award watch list

The News-Herald will present first Clark Kellogg Award to the area’s boys basketball player of the year as part of the Varsity Chalk Talk Show at Hooley House on March 27. The following players are leading candidates as the regular season winds down. (in alphabetical order) Michael Bothwell, Cornerstone Christian: 2016 News-Herald Player of the Year scored 15 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and handed out nine assists in Cornerstone’s victory against SPIRE Institute Feb. 17. The 6-foot-4 Furman commit averages 24.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game. Shoots 46.7 percent from 3-point range. Hugh Brown, Hawken:

Scored 32 points in Hawken’s victory over Hudson WRA. Lake Erie College commit ranks sixth in the area and leads the Hawks in scoring at 19.5 points per game. Brown is third in the area with 49 made 3-pointers and averages 3.9 assists and 2.5 steals per game.

D.J. Dial, Brush: Scored six points in a loss to South Feb. 16. Led the 15-7 Arcs to a second consecutive outright Western Reserve Conference championship. Led Brush in scoring at 15.5 points per game. Luka Eller, Lake Catholic: Scored 14 points in a win over Walsh Jesuit. Cougars sophomore forward averages a double-double of 20.3 points and 10.3 rebounds

per game.

Jerry Higgins, VASJ: Defending News-Herald Player of the Year scored a gamehigh 26 points in a victory over Cleveland Central Catholic to secure a share of the NCL White title. Vikings senior point guard leads the team with 24.2 points on 50 percent shooting, 5.9 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 4.2 steals per game. The last player to lead VASJ in those four categories for a season was Clark Kellogg. Chris Jefferson, Benedictine: Scored 21 points in Benedictine’s victory over Akron Hoban to secure the program’s first NCL Blue title. Bengals senior guard is averaging 15.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and two steals per game. Dechlan Kirincic, Gilmour:

Posted 20 points in Gilmour’s win against University. Scored 14 points and led the Lancers with eight rebounds in a loss to SPIRE. Kirincic averages 20.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. Became Gilmour’s all-time leading scorer this season. Alex Sulka, Chardon:

Scored 17 points in a victory over Madison. Leads the area in scoring with 28.3 points per game. Sulka owns the career scoring record at Chardon, and has posted games of 51 and 45 points this season. Shane Zalba, Mentor: Scored 20 points in Mentor’s 73-50 win over Medina. Leads Mentor with 17.2 points, six rebounds and 2.6 steals per game. Zalba leads the Cardinals and the area with 6.2 assists per game.