Small players rise to the top

Makala Gasparek and Mario Nero earned honors at the Al Beach Classic.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
BOARDMAN -- Two of the smallest players on the court made the biggest impact for their respective teams in the 37th annual Mahoning Valley Coaches Association Al Beach Classic at Boardman High school.
Boardman's Makala Gasparek (5-foot-4) in the girls game and Lowellville's Mario Nero (5-10) in the boys matchup earned Most Valuable Player awards for their efforts in leading a Mahoning County sweep of Trumbull County teams Wednesday night in the all-star event.
The Red Mahoning County girls team captured a hard-fought 46-45 victory over the White Trumbull team while the White Mahoning County boys team exploded for 54 points in the second half to turn back the Red Trumbull team, 100-85.
Gasparek ran the Red team from her point guard position and scored seven points while dishing out six assists.
Defensive gem
Gasparek's defensive efforts in leading the Mahoning County's press midway through the first half forced Trumbull County into 22 turnovers and many easy points for the Red.
Gasparek's steal and basket right before the end of the first half enabled the Red to grab a 24-16 lead at the break.
"What a fun game," said Struthers coach John Grandy who guided the Red team. "The fact that it was competitive out there made it even better.
"Makala kind of threw that press defense in there," Grandy said of the strategy. "We didn't really have time to practice one so she said let's just do this."
The Red also got strong games by Boardman's Stacie Wahlman who had eight points and five rebounds and Salem's Zahra Scullion who had six points and eight rebounds.
Salem's Leah Perry also grabbed nine rebounds and had the task of trying to guard Howland's Ellie Shields.
Shields, a Kent State recruit, scored 20 points in a losing effort.
The White team had one last chance to pull out a late victory after trailing by a point in the final seconds but a shot by Lakeview's Alynn Martin came up short with 3.6 seconds left.
Boys game
In the boys game, Nero knocked in his first four 3-point shots and finished the game by making 5-of-6 for 15 points to lead the White Mahoning County team.
Trumbull County had the better of the game early in the first half behind the hot shooting from Liberty's Mychael Doblanski who scored 11 of his 14 points in the half.
Mahoning Valley rallied late in the half and grabbed a 46-42 lead and then broke open the game with a strong effort in the final 16 minutes.
"We had a very unselfish group of players," said Boardman's Jared Cardillo who coached the White team. "All these guys are great players and it was just fun to watch them do what they do and have fun at it."
The White team also got strong scoring efforts from West Branch's Kyle Rockwell, Canfield's John Carbon and Western Reserve's John Porterfield who all tallied 10 points.
The night also featured outstanding individual efforts in both the boys and girls 3-point shooting contest.
Boardman freshman Monica Touvelle made 14 3-pointers to win the girls contest and Mineral Ridge's T.J. Bevilacqua nailed 15 in the boys contest.
In the Slam Dunk competition, Campbell's Tommie Hall bested Niles' Justin Allen.
Several area coaches also received awards during the game for their seasons.