The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Seniors take curtain call in all-star contest
Three standouts who left a lasting imprint showcased their talents in a final all-star game.
Three area standouts who left a lasting imprint on their programs showcased their talents in a final all-star game April 15 at Lorain.
Elyria’s Antonio Blanton and Lorain’s Jalil Little and Naz Bohannon took part in the annual 3rd Coast Hoops senior all-star game, competing with the best high school talent Northeast Ohio has to offer.
“It was just exciting, all the dunks and everything,” Blanton said. “Yeah, we played in the one at Oberlin, but playing in this one is crazy. You see so much talent throughout the whole state of Ohio, so it’s just crazy how much talent we have, but we don’t all see it or get a chance to play. Teaming up (with them) is fun.”
Along with scoring nine points in the senior all-star game for Team Am Pro, which won, 133128, Blanton took home the 3-point contest trophy after beating Elyria Catholic’s Dorian Crutcher. Blanton shot 17 3s in the finals to edge Crutcher, who made 16.
Little had 11 points and a pair of rebounds for Team 3rdcoast, while Bohannon scored 26 to go with 12 rebounds and four assists.
“It was real fun,” Bohannon said. “I got to play one last game in front of my home crowd. I mean, I like to win, but it was cool, I had 26 (points), everybody put on a show. I got to play with a lot of top guys around the state.”
Some of those top players included were Derek Culver, a Warren Harding senior and West Virginia commit, Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Jayvon Graves (Buffalo), Northwestern’s Derek Koch (Bowling Green State), Massillon Jackson’s Kyle Young (Butler), and MVP of the night, Newark’s B.J. Duling (Kent State).
Bohannon, who is undecided but has fielded offers from West Virginia, New Mexico, Brown and Youngstown State among others, got the crowd going four seconds into the game with a dunk that set off the high-scoring affair, and said the level of competition makes this all-star game unlike any other.
“It’s great because these are guys I’ve been playing with since I started playing AAU in about fourth or fifth grade,” Bohannon said. “Now that we’re all mature, we’re all grown men, we’re all going to go to the next level so I got to see where we’re going to be, where the future of college sports is going.”