The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Westlake’s Reghi wins trip to Indianapolis
Will participate in 3-point Championship on April 4
After a lengthy process that included four rounds of voting, Cal Reghi came out on top and is headed to Indianapolis.
Westlake’s sharpshooting guard is the fan vote winner of the American Family Insurance High School 3-Point Championship.
“It’s crazy just to be thinking about how stuff is going to go down,” said Reghi. “A month of voting that led to this. It’s really a good feeling.”
The American Family Insurance “#DreamFearlessly Fan Vote” was a digital media contest that had been ongoing for the past five weeks. The goal of the contest was to match up 16 of the top high school dunkers, boys 3-point shooters and girls 3-point shooters in the nation in a bracket-style format to determine the final participant in the Slam Dunk Championship, Boys’ 3-Point Championship and Girls’ 3-point Championship.
The winner of each category will compete in the championship round on March 30 at Franklin Central High School in Indianapolis. The event will be televised on CBS at 1:30 p.m. on April 4.
For the final round, Reghi defeated Trey Baker from Mundelein High School in Mundelein, Ill.
With the contestants needing votes from the public to advance from round-to-round, Reghi used his Twitter account along with other social media platforms to help promote the competition and encourage voting.
Voting ended on March 18 at 1 p.m. and with the results now official, Reghi is thinking about the opportunity that he now has in front of him.
“It’s a lot of curiosity, a little anxiety and good nerves,” said Reghi. “Just being able to go down there, compete, have fun and see what it’s all about. (It’s a great way to) wrap up a really fun senior year in a way that I never thought would even be possible.”
Reghi had a breakout senior season this year and is no stranger to long-range shooting.
The senior knocked down a Morning Journal area best 69 3s this season. He also made a school-record eight 3-pointers in a playoff win over Firestone on Feb. 24 en route to a 26-point outing.
When the senior heads to Indianapolis, he is looking to continue doing what he did all season long — knock down shots.
“I’ve been shooting my whole life,” Reghi said. “(I’ve been taught by) all the coaches who have been teaching me how to shoot the ball since I was a little kid and my parents. Just go down there and do what I was selected to do. Whatever happens, happens but (I’ll) put forth my best effort and let it play out how it may.”
The senior is enjoying the ride and is thankful for the support from his friends, family, teammates, the community and surrounding schools such as Bay and Rocky River.
“I’m extremely grateful to have all of my family, friends, coaches, teammates and teachers that were voting for me,” Reghi said. “(The teachers also) pushed students to go vote for me. The school was very good about it and our principal was great. I’m very blessed to be in a position where I have a really good support group. It really means a lot to me.”
The American Family Insurance High School Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships is an annual event that is held in the host city of college basketball’s national championship game.
Some big names in the sports world have been a part of the event in the past, including Cavs guard Collin Sexton (2017 3-point).
Other NBA stars who have shown off their skills include the Sacramento Kings’ Buddy Hield (2012 3-Point), the Memphis Grizzlies’ Grayson Allen (2014 Slam Dunk), the Utah Jazz’s Donovan Mitchell (2015 Slam Dunk), the Orlando Magic’s Markelle Fultz (2016 Slam Dunk) and the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young (2017 3-Point).
A pair of WNBA players have also competed in the contest, these include the Seattle Storm’s Jordin Canada (2014 3-Point) and the Washington Mystics’ Ariel Atkins (2014 3-Point).
Some of the best high school dunkers and 3-point shooters in the country will be present and Reghi will be among that group.
“I’m interested to see who’s going to be down there,” said Reghi. “The only kids I’ve seen have been in this fan vote portion. I don’t know who the other competitors are, but I’ll be sure to look them up and see what they are all about. It’s exciting and it’s very cool. It will be interesting to see.”