McDonald’s Rasile first-team All-Ohio selection

Staff report

Four Mahoning Valley players earned first-team recognition on the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association’s Division III and IV All-Ohio boys basketball teams.

McDonald junior Zach Rasile, Bristol senior Gage Elza and Lisbon senior Justin Sweeney were first-team selections in Division IV, while LaBrae’s Tyler Stephens was the area’s lone first-team pick in Division III.

The 6-foot Rasile, Ohio’s career leader in 3-pointers, averaged 36 points for the Blue Devils, who fell to Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference rival Lowellville in a district semifinal at the Struthers Fieldhouse.

The 6-foot Elza averaged 26.2 points for the Panthers, who won the Grand Valley district title and fell to Richmond Heights in a regional semifinal at the Canton Fieldhouse.

The 6-foot Sweeney averaged 21 points for Lisbon’s Blue Devils, who saw their season end in an overtime loss at Sebring in a sectional final.

The 6-foot-6 Stephens averaged 19.9 points for the Vikings, who fell to Ashtabula Edgewood in the Warren Harding district final.

Badger’s Aiden Miller made the second team in Division IV and Lowellville’s Matt Hvisdak made the third team in the same division.

Miller, a 6-3 senior, averaged 21.4 points for the Braves, who fell to Bristol in a district final. Hvisdak, a 5-10 senior, averaged 17.1 points for the Rockets, who fell to Springfield in a district final at Struthers.

The Tigers (21-6), the final boys or girls team from the Mahoning Valley to be eliminated from tournament play, were represented by Drew Clark on the Division IV special-mention list and Shane Eynon as an honorable-mention pick.

Other honorable-mention selections in Division IV included Joey Clark (Sebring), Matt Church (Bristol) and Tyler Roscoe (Mathews).

Valley Christian’s Milan Square and Champion’s Joe Abramovich were special-mention selections in Division III.

Earning honorable-mention status in Division III were Jordan Zupko (Mineral Ridge), Chris Brooks (South Range) and Benton Tennant (LaBrae).