Higgins paces area All-Ohio

After concluding his high school career as Villa AngelaSt. Joseph’s all-time winningest player, Jerry Higgins earned firstteam Division II All-Ohio honors.

Higgins averaged a team-high 23.8 points, 6.3 assists and 3.9 steals per game. The 5-foot-9 senior guard led the Vikings in rebounding for most of the season and finished at 5.3 rebounds per game. He shot 48 percent from the field and 34 percent from 3-point range.

Higgins led VASJ to a regional final berth as the only returning player with meaningful varsity experience from last year’s D-III state championship team. Higgins finished his high school career with 87 wins and a 24-2 record in the state tournament. He is a finalist for The News-Herald’s first Clark Kellogg Award.

Lake Catholic’s Luka Eller earned second-team All-Ohio recognition. The

6-foot-7 sophomore forward averaged 20.2 points and 10.3 rebounds for the Cougars, who finished as Ashtabula District runnerup to VASJ.

Chardon’s Alex Sulka, a finalist for the Kellogg

Award, is a third-team AllOhio selection. The Hilltoppers’ 6-foot senior forward led the area with 27.8 points per game and averaged a team-high 10.1 rebounds per game.

Sulka concluded his high

school career as Chardon’s all-time leading scorer. He recorded 51- and 45-point games during an outstanding senior season.

Lake Catholic’s Luke Frazier and Gilmour’s Dechlan Kirincic and C.J. Charleston

earned honorable mention.

Benedictine’s Chris Jefferson earned special mention in D-I. Fellow Bengal Davin Zeigler, Mentor’s Shane Zalba and Brush’s D.J. Dial were recognized on the honorable mention list.

MICHAEL JOHNSON — THE NEWS-HERALD VASJ’s Jerry Higgins, left, drives past Roger Bacon’s Brandon Bibbs during the Vikings’ 54-52 victory over Roger Bacon in the Division III state final last year.