Mahoning County captures Al Beach games

March 20, 2019 at 12:10a.m.

CANFIELD

When Lisbon’s Justin Sweeney suffered a torn ACL in Week 2 of the football season, he knew that it was going to be tough to salvage the remainder of his senior year.

But he was determined not to let his final basketball season slip away.

Sweeney scored a game-high 18 points to lead Mahoning County to a 131-121 win over Trumbull County in the 49th Al Beach High School Basketball Classic on Tuesday night at Canfield High School.

Serena Sammarone of the host Cardinals scored a team-high 13 points in the girls game as Mahoning County posted a 102-92 win for a sweep of their Trumbull County counterparts.

For his efforts, Sweeney was named game MVP while Howland’s Alex Ochman, who had a game-high 22 points in a losing cause, earned MVP honors in the girls game.

“I tore my ACL on Aug. 29, had surgery on Sept. 18 and played my first basketball game on Dec. 15,” said Sweeney, who averaged 21 points for the Blue Devils and was a first-team All-Ohio selection in Division IV.

“I was determined that I was going to play basketball my senior year so to be named MVP of tonight’s all-star game is a nice way to end my career.”

Trumbull County held a 59-58 halftime lead in a game whose format credited each team with a point for a defensive stop.

Limited to a bucket in the opening 20 minutes of action, Sweeney hit four consecutive 3-pointers during a 1:34 span in the second half to turn an 81-77 deficit into a 101-87 lead.

“It’s always special to play in an all-star game and go up against players that you played against your entire varsity career,” Sweeney said. “You also get to do things in this game and take shots your coach wouldn’t ordinarily let you take during the regular season.”

Boardman’s Cam Kreps and Brandon Zuchowski of West Branch were the other two Mahoning County players to score in double figures, each with 11.

“Games like this are always fun and when you have two of your players also on the team, it’s even more special,” said winning coach Pat Birch of Boardman. “It was kind of funny that at the end of the game with both teams having already hit the century mark, our bench was shouting play some defense to their teammates so we can win this game.”

Sammarone, who is headed to the University of Findlay in the fall, scored 11 of her 13 points in the opening half to help Mahoning County open a 50-45 advantage at the break.

“After four years of hard work, it’s nice to be recognized by playing in this all-star game,” Sammarone said. “It’s just a fun time.”

Ochman scored 11 points in each half to walk off with MVP honors, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a 15-point deficit that Mahoning County had built with a little over two minutes to play.

“Today was all about having fun and scoring points,” said Ochman, who is headed to Shawnee State upon graduation. “I just met some of my teammates today, but it was a great experience to finally play with those that you went up against the last several years.”

Austintown Fitch’s Sabria Hunter added 11 points for Mahoning County and Champion’s Abby White added 11 points in a losing effort.

“I loved the new format and I think the girls did, too,” said winning coach Dan Schnurrenberger of Fitch.

Hubbard’s Jackie Adler won the girls 3-point contest with 14. White was the runner-up with 13.

The boys 3-point contest was won by Lakeview’s Daniel Evans with 20 points while Riley Miller of Western Reserve finished with 18.