Johnson leads way for Walsh

NORTH CANTON — Josh Johnson of Warren has been a big reason why the Walsh University basketball team won the American Mideast Conference championship and qualified for the NAIA tournament for the fourth straight year.

A 6-foot-4 junior forward and a graduate of Warren Harding High School, Johnson is averaging a career-best 10.4 points and 5.1 rebounds and was selected to the All-AMC South Division team as honorable mention.

Walsh (25-4), guided by fourth-year coach Jeff Young, clinched an automatic berth to the NAIA Division II tournament March 12-18 in Point Lookout, Mo.

The Cavaliers, ranked No. 4 in the NAIA’s final regular season poll, sealed the AMC title and NAIA berth by defeating Malone College, 82-60, Feb. 26 in the AMC North South regular season championship game.

Johnson ranks second on the team in steals (31), third in rebounding and fourth in scoring. He also enjoys career-best numbers in field goal percentage (47.7) and 3-point goal percentage (37.9), while shooting 75 percent at the foul line and handing out 43 assists.

The son of LaKeith and Marlene Johnson, Josh is a two-year letterman and is majoring in sociology.

Last season as a sophomore, Johnson played in all 34 games averaging 6.1 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.

While at Harding under coach Steve Arnold, Johnson won three letters, and averaged 14 points and 7 rebounds per game as a senior, and 15 points and 9 rebounds per game as a junior.

Champion’s Stingel
also on Walsh team

Also on the Walsh team is Kevin Stingel, a 5-11 senior guard from Champion and a physical education major who has played in a reserve role for four seasons.

The son of Charles and Sue Stingel has played in 11 games this season, scoring six points.

While at Champion under coach Jeff Rasile, Stingel won three letters at point guard and averaged 14 points per game as a senior and 12 as a junior.

Point Park’s Whipple
is All-AMC North pick

Chivas Whipple, a 6-0 senior guard for the Point Park basketball team from Youngstown and Calvary Christian High, was been named to the All-AMC North Division team.

Whipple led Point Park (16-11, 6-4 AMC North) of Pittsburgh in scoring (18.2 ppg) and steals (57) and was second in rebounding (6.7) and assists (72). He scored a team-best 491 points, making 173-of-356 (49 percent) from the field, including 16-for-48 (33 percent) from 3-point range; and 129-for-149 (87 percent) at the foul line.

Last season, Whipple ranked No. 3 in the AMC in scoring (20.3) and rebounding (8.6), made 56 percent of his field goal attempts and eclipsed 1,000 career points in only his second season at Point Park. He was named AMC player of the year as part of the All-AMC first team, and was selected to the NAIA Division II All-American first team.

The son of Yvonne Whipple and a former U.S. Marine, Chivas was a two-year letterwinner and starter at Calvary Christian, and made the all-state team as a point guard.

In his sophomore year, Whipple led the AMC in scoring (24 points per game) and was second in rebounding (11.1), and also led the team in blocks (25) and steals (58). He was named AMC North newcomer of the year while making the All-AMC North first team.

XJohn Kovach covers area colleges for The Vindicator. Write to him at kovach@vindy.com.