SHELBY β The District 6 Coaches Association confirmed what north central Ohio fans have known all season.
Shelbyβs Alex Bruskotter is the genuine article.
A Wright State recruit, Bruskotter was selected the District 6 Player of the Year in Division II when the teams were introduced Monday.
The 6-foot-7 Bruskotter led the Whippets to their fifth consecutive Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title. Shelby is 19-2 with one regular season gain remaining. The Whippets visit Willard on Friday.
Bruskotter leads the MOAC in scoring and rebounding, averaging 23.7 points and 9.1 boards a game. He scored a career-high 53 points and connected on a single game-record 12 3-pointers in an 84-61 win over Ashland in January.
Shelby teammate Casey Lantz joined Bruskotter on the District 6 first team, along with Mansfield Seniorβs Kyevi Roane and Lexingtonβs Brayden Fogle and Elijah Hudson. Lantz averages 12.2 points a game, while Roane averages a team-best 17.4 points and 6.8 rebounds a game. Fogle leads Lex at 14.5 points and 8.2 rebounds a game. Hudson is good for 12.8 points and 5.7 rebounds a night.
Area second-teamers included Clear Forkβs Garett Hotz (16.3 ppg, 8.2 rpg), Galionβs Cooper Kent (17.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Elijah Chaffin (15.9 ppg), Lexingtonβs Seven Allen (10.6 ppg, 4.4 apg) and Shelbyβs Issaiah Ramsey (10.7 ppg).
Local honorable-mention selections were Mansfield Seniorβs Karion Lindsay (8.3 ppg) and Duke Reese (8.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg), Ontarioβs Landon Foltz (13.1 ppg) and Grady Schroeder (14.3 ppg), Lexingtonβs Joe Caudill (9.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and Shelbyβs Brayden DeVito (9.6 ppg).
Willardβs Joe Bedingfield was selected the Division II Coach of the Year.
Division I
Ashlandβs Paxon Ediger was selected to the District 6 first team in Division I. The sophomore averages a team-best 12.6 points a game.
Gabe Baith was selected to the second team, along with Madisonβs Will Kepple. Baith averages 10.9 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game, while Kepple averages 9.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists a night.
Ashlandβs Nathan Bernhard and Madisonβs Cam Kuhn and Owen Wigton were honorable-mention selections. Bernhard averages 8.8 points and 6.7 rebounds a game, while Kuhn is good for 8.4 points and 3.8 rebounds and Wigton averages 9.5 points and 2.1 rebounds a night.
Sanduyskyβs Jason Henlon was the Player of the Year in Division I, while Sanduskyβs Demar Moore was the Coach of the Year. The Blue Streaks, who won a Division II district title last year before bumping up to Division I, are 19-1.
Division III
Crestview coach Kurtz was selected the District 6 Coach of the Year in Division III.
The Cougars are 20-1 with one regular season game remaining. A win over Western Reserve on Friday would secure no less than a share of a second straight Firelands Conference championship.
Kurtz picked up career victory No. 400 late last month. He is 70-22 in his second stint with Crestview after piloting the program to a 32-34 mark from 2008 to 2011. Heβs also had coaching stints at Temple Christian and Mansfield Christian.
Two Cougars, junior Justice Thompson and senior Jarek Ringler, were selected to the District 6 first team. Thompson is averaging 23 points a game, while Ringler is good for 12 points and 3.6 assists a night.
Other area first-teamers include Wynfordβs Grant McGuire and Wes Prenger. McGuire averages 13 points and 6.9 rebounds a game, while Prenger ranks second in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference in scoring at 17.9 points a night.
Bucyrus senior Malachi Bayless, the N10βs leading scorer at 19.7 points a game, was a second team pick. He was joined by Crestviewβs Dylan Bruner.
Local honorable-mention picks included Crestviewβs Sam Wells and Tyson Ringler and Wynfordβs Ashton Warren and Sam McMillan.
Margarettaβs Julian Washington was the Player of the Year in Division III. The sophomore averages 20.2 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.3 assists a game for the Polar Bears (17-3).
Division IV
Lucas senior Logan Toms was tabbed the Division IV Player of the Year after leading the Cubs to a sixth straight Mid-Buckeye Conference crown. Toms averages 17.2 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists a game.
Tomsβ teammate, Aidan Culler, earned a spot on the first team. The senior averages 17.4 points and 6.6 rebounds a game.
Mansfield Christianβs Amarr Davis was runner-up to Toms in Player of the Year voting. Davis averages 15.6 points and 5.7 assists a game. Davis was joined on the first team by teammate Davion Mack. The freshman averages 18.7 points and 7.4 rebounds a game.
Colonel Crawfordβs Trevor Vogt and Payne DeGray both earned first-team bids. Vogt averages 15 points a game, while DeGray is good for 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds a game.
Mansfield Christianβs DβAndre Martin (10.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg) was an honorable-mention selection in Division IV, along with St. Peterβs Antonio Lindsay (12.5 ppg, 4.0 apg) and Plymouthβs Jarrett Burrer (12.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Gavin Bishop (8.2 ppg, 3.7 apg).