N-H hoops awards show set for Hooley

A capacity crowd will be on hand Tuesday, March 21, for The News-Herald’s Awards Night at Hooley Pub and Kitchen where the Clark Kellogg and Kaayla Chones Awards will be announced.

The Clark Kellogg Award goes to The News-Herald’s boys basketball coach of the year, while the Kaayla Chones Award goes to the girls basketball player of the year.

The Kellogg Award is named for the former St. Joseph standout who went on to star at Ohio State and in the NBA, while the Chones Award is named for the former North standout who played collegiately at North Carolina State before moving on to the WNBA.

In addition to the Kellogg and Chones Awards, awards for the boys basketball and girls basketball coach of the year will be presented.

The presentations will be made during a special edition of the Varsity Chalk Talk, hosted by Bill Tilton. Show time is 6 p.m.

Finalists for the Kellogg Award are:

• Madison’s J.P. Dragas, who broke the record for points in a career for the Blue Streaks as a junior. He averaged 27.1 points with 55 3-pointers, 6.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.3 steals and 1.1 blocks.

• Mayfield’s Kyle Irwin, a 6-foot-5 John Carroll signee who averaged 22.2 points with 11.4 rebounds. He also led the Wildcats with 3.1 assists per game with the ability to do it all as a big man.

• Richmond Heights’ Dorian Jones, the leading scorer for the state champion Spartans. Jones averaged 20 points a game as well as seven rebounds a game. While he’s strong on the drive, he can also pull up from deep with 63 3s on the season.

• Cornerstone Christian’s Quinn Kwasniak, who moved into third all-time for 3s in a season in Ohio with 125 as a sophomore. He led the area with 29.6 points per game while also averaging six rebounds and five assists for the Patriots.

• Beachwood’s Nate Lurie, the floor general for the Bison, was a threat from deep and on the drive.

The senior averaged 26.2 points per game with 2.8 assists while guiding Beachwood to its first regional appearance in a decade.

Finalists for the Chones Award are:

• West Geauga’s Alexa

Hocevar, who averaged 14.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.2 blocks per game.

• Gilmour’s Helen Holley, who averaged 14.7 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.3 steals, 2.6 assists and 2.5 blocks per game.

• Riverside’s Savanah Laurenty, who averaged 17.5 points, 13.5 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 3.8 steals per

game for the WRC champion Beavers.

• Fairport’s Kara McFadden, who averaged 28.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 4.2 steals and one block per game. She set a new state record this year with 127 3-pointers for the Skippers.

• North’s Kailey Minch, who averaged 20 points, 2.7 assists, 2.2 steals and made

81 3-pointers in her senior season.

Finalists for the boys coach of the year are Beachwood’s David Krasnow, Riverside’s Matt Grendel and Richmond Heights’ Quentin Rogers. Finalists for the girls coach of the year are Riverside’s Brian Fulton, Gilmour’s Tyler Hammond and Richmond Heights’ Eugene White.