HIGH SCHOOLS Wesson adds another award to his collection
champion. Duling, a 6-8 senior and Kent State signee, averaged 20 points and seven rebounds on 59 percent field-goal shooting. Francis, a 6-2 sophomore point guard, averaged 15.7 points and 4.3 assists.
The remainder of the first team consisted of Kyle Young of state tournament bound Massillon Jackson, Naz Bohannon of Lorain, Vincent Williams of Toledo St. John’s, Danny Davis of Springfield, Keegan McDowell of state tourney-bound Cincinnati Moeller and Matt Davet of Cleveland St. Ignatius.
Hilliard Bradley junior Braden Norris made second team.
Carl Kremer of Cincinnati Moeller and Tim Debevec of Massillon Jackson, each of whom guided their teams to the state tournament, shared coach of the year.
Division I
The power-packed lineup in the big-school division accounted for just nine losses. Three of the top four teams in the final Associated Press poll are represented.
In notching the first unbeaten season in the rich history of its program, topranked Cincinnati Moeller (27-0) allowed opponents just 41.2 points per game. Only three teams topped 50. Five players score between 7 and 13.3 points for the Crusaders, who have made it to the final four six times since 1999 for coach Carl Kremer (518-153, 26 years).
Second-ranked Pickerington Central (26-2) has a prolific one-two punch in sophomore point guard Jeremiah Francis (15.9 points, 4.3 assists), a first-team all-Ohioan, and North Carolina-bound 6-foot11 center Sterling Manley (15.4 points, 9.2 rebounds).
No. 4 Massillon Jackson (26-2) is led by 6-7 Butler signee Kyle Young, who made first-team all-Ohio and finished runner-up for Ohio’s Mr. Basketball award. He averages 18 points and 6.5 rebounds. Toledo signee Logan Hill chips in 12.7 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Eric Flannery has guided balanced Lakewood St. Edward (23-5) to the final four for the 10th time in his 21 years at the school. The Eagles score 76.7 points per game.
BOYS BASKETBALL
Division II Division III
Rich in tradition, Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph (21-6) makes it fifth straight trip to Columbus, with two champions and two runners-up in that stretch. The Vikings are led by first-team all-Ohioan Jerry Higgins (15.7 ppg., 5.0 apg.) and second-teamer Alonzo Gaffney (13.2 ppg.).
No. 4 Proctorville Fairland (24-1), which made its last state tournament in 1961, has throttled opponents by an average score of 73.5 to 47.8. Fairland’s only loss came to Division I Hilliard Bradley. The entire starting five consists of juniors, led by first-team all-Ohioan Isaiah Howell (14.6 ppg.).
St. Bernard Roger Bacon (23-4) is making its third trip to Columbus in four years. Three Spartans average in the 12- to 13 points-per-game range.
The venerable Doug Krauss has won 540 games in his 33 seasons at Archbold (22-5). He has yet to win a title in eight state tourney appearances. Bryce Williams leads the Blue Streaks at 14.8 points per game.
Division IV
Although none of the qualifiers was ranked in the final AP poll, Lima Perry (24-3) might be an emotional favorite. Perry assistant coach and head football coach Herb Lane died in a car accident last week. Buoyed by four double-figures scorers, the Commodores are outscoring their opponents 77.4 to 47.1. Jakoby Lane-Harvey (16.0 ppg.) made first-team all-Ohio.
Late-charging Wellington (21-7), which fell to eventual champion Cornerstone Christian in a semifinal last year, returns with virtually the same cast, plus two transfers. The Jaguars use their height and depth to stymie teams defensively.
Delphos St. John’s (21-4) is back in the state tournament for the first time since making a strong run from 1995 to 2002. Led by 6-8 first-team all-Ohio center Tim Kreeger (17.6 ppg.), the Blue Jays thrive on depth and a defense yielding just 44.8 points per game.
While it enters with more losses than any other team in the field, athletic and versatile Cleveland Heights Lutheran East (18-9) is toughened by an ambitious schedule that included state qualifiers Villa Angela-St. Joseph and Lakewood St. Edward and regional finalist Garfield Heights. Second-team all-Ohioan Maurico Tate averages 17 points and 7 assists per game.