Grant, Tondo, Keirsey honored

Sean Durkin, Brian Danilov and John Diehl are among the coaches honored.
By ROB TODOR
VINDICATOR SPORTS EDITOR
Tyra Grant, the Ursuline High senior who averaged a double-double per game this season and is the Mahoning Valley's all-time top scorer, headlines the 2005-06 Northeast Ohio Inland District all-star basketball team announced Thursday.
Grant, who signed with Penn State earlier this year, averaged 30.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the Fighting Irish, who were 16-4 and won the Steel Valley Conference.
Ursuline will play Garfield Heights Trinity Saturday in the Division III regional championship game.
Grant was one of several honorees from the Valley.
Ashleigh Tondo of McDonald was named co-player of the year in Div. IV and Howland's Ellie Shields received the same honor in Div. I.
Ursuline's Sean Durkin, McDonald's Rob Hilbun and John Diehl of Howland were named coaches of the year in Divisions III, IV and II, respectively.
On the boys side, Vance Keirsey of Mineral Ridge shared player of the year in Div. IV with Ian McGuire of Windham, and Campbell Memorial's Brian Danilov was co-coach of the year in Div. III.
Among the best
Tondo averaged 20.8 points per game for McDonald, which finished the season with a 19-1 record and won the Inter-County League.
A 5-foot-6 senior, Tondo led the Blue Devils to the district championship and a berth in the regional semifinals.
Shields, a 6-3 junior, averaged 18 points per game for Howland, which also won a district championship. The Tigers finished 15-5.
Keirsey, a 6-3 senior, averaged 18 points per game, leading Mineral Ridge to an 18-2 regular season record. The Rams play McDonald tonight in the district championship game at Struthers.
Danilov led Campbell Memorial to an 18-2 record this season and the top seed in the district tournament. The Red Devils play Ursuline tonight in the Div. III championship game at Salem.Several Valley players were named to first team. Girls were Courtney Schiffauer of Boardman in Div. I; Shields in Div. II; Grant and Morgan Bonekovic of Brookfield in Div. III; and Tondo and Krista Johnson of Columbiana in Div. IV.
Boys selected first team were: Eddie Kershaw of Liberty, Tom Jesko of Salem and Micah Herndon of Southeast in Div. II; Terrance Phillips of Campbell Memorial, Jerome Jones of Ursuline, Marcus Judy of Lisbon, Tashaun Walker of Warren JFK and Dan Hartman of LaBrae, in Div. III; and Keirsey and Andy Timko of McDonald in Div. IV.
Standout big man Raymar Morgan and coach Dave Hoover of No. 1-ranked Canton McKinley also earned top honors.
Morgan, a 6-foot-8 senior, averaged 24.1 points a game and is the player of the year in Div. I.
Hoover was selected as the coach of the year by a media panel from the district.
McKinley is the reigning big-school state champion.
Other boys players of the year included: Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary's Marcus Johnson (6-3, sr., 18.3) and Wooster Triway's Linc Rottman (6-2, sr., 16.7) in Div. II; Atwater Waterloo's Eric Schiele (5-9, sr., 41.3) in Div. III; and Mineral Ridge's Vance Keirsey (6-3, sr., 18) and Windham's Ian McGuire (6-0, sr., 20.4) in Div. IV.
The boys coaches of the year were: Stephen White of Akron Buchtel and Wooster Triway's Keith Snoddy in Div. II; Jay Peters of Cuyahoga Falls Christian Academy and Danilov in Div. III; and Windham's Marty Hill in Div. IV.
The other top girls players were: North Canton Hoover's Brittany Orban (5-11, soph., 22.7) in Div. I and East Canton's Katy Arick (5-11, sr., 21.7) in Div. IV.