Trio lead area on All-Ohio

Mentor’s historic boys basketball season garnered impressive postseason honors April 6 for those involved. The News-Herald coverage area’s leading scorer was not left out, either.

The Division I and II boys basketball All-Ohio teams were announced by the Ohio Prep Sportswriters Association, and the Cardinals led the area with three selections.

Coach Bob Krizancic was named D-I Co-Coach of the Year, and senior point guard Luke Chicone was a first-team All-Ohio pick. Teammate Jonah Waag was an honorable mention pick.

Brush’s Elmore James, who led the area in scoring at 29.8 points per game as a junior, joined Chicone as one of 10 first-team picks. Chicone, who will play at Youngstown State next season, averaged 23 points and eight assists this past season.

Chicone was also named the D-I Northeast Inlands District Player of the Year, as well as the winner of the 2021 Clark Kellogg Award, given to The News-Herald’s boys basketball player of the year. He averaged nearly six rebounds and four steals per game.

“I thought on the court, he did exactly what I thought,” said Krizancic of Chicone. “He exceeded everything with the intangibles. He became such a phenomenal leader. As much as he did on the court, what he did off the court impressed me so much. He will be truly missed when he leaves here.”

Krizancic led the Cardinals to a 25-1 record that included the first undefeated season in the regular season (19-0) of his 40-plus coaching career, Mentor’s first No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press state poll, and the school’s third trip to the D-I state final four. The Cardinals lost to eventual state champion Centerville in a state semifinal.

On the D-II All-Ohio team, Perry’s Jaylen Anderson and Chardon’s Brady Toth were third-team selections. Anderson averaged 22.8 points for the Pirates as a senior and Toth, another senior, averaged 20.3 points in leading the Hilltoppers to their first district final in recent memory.

Area honorable mention picks in D-II were Chardon’s Nathanael Sulka, Ryan Mueller of Gilmour and Chagrin Falls’ Jack McMullen.

The Ohio Mr. Basketball Award will be announced April 7.

PAUL DICICCO (CHICONE) AND BARRY BOOHER (JAMES) — FOR THE NEWS-HERALD Mentor’s Luke Chicone drives against North on Feb. 24. Brush’s Elmore James glides under the basket eyeing a layup past Riverside’s Jake Segulin on Jan. 22.