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All Stars put on a show at Beach Classic
By greg gulas
BOARDMAN
There was a little bit of everything at the Mahoning Valley Coaches Association’s 40th Annual Al Beach Classic All-Star Game on Tuesday at Boardman High.
There was a slam dunk champion who never even dreamed of taking part in the competition, yet alone advance to the finals so he could strut his stuff for the title.
You had a girls 3-point champion who admitted that shooting on her home court gave her a decided advantage while the boys 3-point champ simply could not miss with time winding down to secure his crown.
Then there was the boys game featuring two long distance shooting squads that combined for 183 points and 24 buckets from beyond arc; and only three points coming off of free throw opportunities.
In the opening game of the night between the girls all-stars, Dominique Jenkins of East had 14 points to lead the White squad past the Red squad, 69-54 while Canfield’s Mike Podolsky had a game-high 19 points to lead the White to a 93-90, come-from-behind victory over their Red counterparts in the boys nightcap.
“This was really a fun time for me because I got to sit back and actually enjoy the game. It was a game in which you just felt that the team with the ball on the very last possession was the team that was going to win,” White co-coach Mark Cherol of the East High Panthers said.
Leading by just a bucket at halftime, 46-44, the White squad fell behind by a 69-61 count at the midway point of the second half, only to draw to within 90-88 with 1:51 remaining in the game.
Hubbard’s Kurtis Drummond then nailed a bucket form beyond the arc for a 91-90 lead with just 20 seconds remaining with Brian Sole of Newton Falls then adding a bucket moments later to secure the three-point victory for the White team.
Podolsky, who earned game Most Valuable Player laurels, scored 11 of his game-high 19 points after intermission and was elated with the victory.
“This win feels great and it’s the most fun that I have had so far. I’ve played with most of these guys over the past few years so it was just fun to be with everyone on the same court tonight,” Podolsky said.
In the opening game of the evening, the White led 35-33 at intermission, fell behind 45-41 at the 14:31 mark of the second half then watched Jenkins score four straight buckets for a 49-45 advantage as they never trailed the rest of the way.
Jenkins, of the Ursuline Fighting Irish, earned game Most Valuable Player honors by scoring 12 of her 14 markers in the second half, including those eight unanswered points.
“We came out and gave it our all, playing hard the entire 40 minutes tonight. I was a little nervous but it was really fun once again to play with many of the players that I have played with over the last few years,” she stated.
Brookfield’s Pablo Diaz earned the slam dunk title while Boardman’s Monica Touvelle narrowly defeated Struthers High’s Dana Mathews, 18-17 for the girls 3-point title.
Poland’s Niko Fatimus won the boys 3-point title as he topped Struthers High’s Nick Ragan by a 15-13 margin.
White team coach Sandi Kohler of Springfield said it might have been an all-star game, but she highly encouraged her girls to shoot a lot because she was there for a win.
“This was a lot of fun, but being the competitor that I am I told our girls to shoot as many times as they could. Our last tournament game we had to face Dominique [Jenkins] so tonight it was nice to have her on my team,” Kohler said.
Long time area coach Al Boggia received the organization’s Contribution to Sports Award while boys coach of the year plaques were presented to Joe Savko (Struthers), Mark Cherol (East), John Cullen (Canfield), Roy Sembach (Newton Falls), Jeff Rasile (McDonald) and Ken Grisdale (Poland).
Girls coach of the year awards were presented to Kohler, John Grandy (Struthers), John Diehl (Howland), Tony Matisi (Lowellville), Ron Moschella (Boardman), Pat Pavlansky (Canfield) and Roger Zeigler (United).