Rutecki, Huckshold receive top AP honors

March 15, 2016 at 12:00a.m.

Huckshold is coach of year

LISBON

Although the Lisbon High School boys basketball team’s season ended sooner than expected, the Blue Devils’ top player and coach have received a bonus.

Austin Rutecki, a four-year starter and Lisbon’s all-time leading scorer, on Monday was named to the Associated Press’ All-Ohio first team for Division IV.

His coach, Chris Huckshold, shared Coach of the Year honors with Van Wert Lincolnview’s Brent Hammonds.

Bristol’s Alex Jones, who averaged 17 points, was named to the second team.

Lowellville’s Cole Beatty, who averaged 18 points, was named to the third team.

Earning special mention honors were Mathews’ Clay O’Dell, Sebring’s Josh Zmuda and McDonald’s Jake Reckard. McDonald won the Struthers district with a win over Wellsville. In the regular season, Lisbon defeated McDonald, 61-54.

Lisbon’s Josh Liberati made the AP’s honorable mention list as did Sebring’s Robbie Rouse, Warren JFK’s Justin Bofenkamp, Southington’s Tommy Hall, Southern’s Troy Holden and Wellsville Justin Miller.

During Lisbon’s 23-2 season, Rutecki averaged 18 points per game, surpassed Lucien Smith’s career record for points and finished just short of 1,500.

Rutecki wasn’t the Blue Devils’ only offensive threat. Three of his senior classmates also topped 1,000 points for their career: Liberati, Avery Andric and Josh Craig.

Three seasons ago, Huckshold inserted Rutecki, Liberati and Andric into his starting lineup and used Craig as his first man off the bench.

After two seasons of learning, the Blue Devils began to hit their stride last season, finishing 19-6 before being eliminated in the Division III tournament with a 55-53 loss to Springfield.

This season, the Blue Devils’ only regular-season loss was to East Liverpool. The Blue Devils swept their Inter-Tri County League White Division opponents.

For the state tournament, Lisbon moved down to Division IV. After beating Wellsville twice in the regular season by a combined 48 points, the Tigers exacted their revenge on March 1 with a 74-55 victory in the Struthers district semifinal.

“They just played better than us, I’ll be honest,” Rutecki said after the upset. “They hit shots, we weren’t. They executed well, so congrats to them.

“Things just weren’t falling tonight,” Rutecki said. “It’s just a shame — last game of our career to go that way.

“But that’s what happens in life — you have valleys and you have peaks. It’s part of life and you’ve just got to learn from it.”

Rutecki, the AP’s Northeast Inland Player of the Year, has not yet decided where he will play in college.