Boys basketball: Both teams come out firing in all-star classic

EATON TWP. — The scoreboard inside Midview's Kubuski Gymnasium took a beating Sunday the likes of which it's likely never seen before as 19 of Lorain County's top seniors combined to score 282 points in the Gene Legeza Cage Classic. Led by North Ridgeville's Jake Boynar, who was MVP with a game-high 30 points, 23 of which came in the second half, the Home all-stars routed the Away all-stars 155-127. In what could be his final competitive basketball game as he prepares to head off to play baseball at Gannon University next year, Boynar had six of his team's 26 3-pointers, most of which came in a flurry of action late in the second half. "It was a good time. All of the seniors ... we were just out there shooting buckets and having a good time," Boynar said. "I was chucking up threes and they just started to go in. It felt good. "Lorain County does a good job of praising the seniors. This was a good event, and I am really happy they do this for us." In the first half it looked like Lorain's D.J. Pettis and Lake Ridge Academy's Jose Gomez would be the two battling for MVP honors as they combined to score 27 points to help the Home team to a 75-59 halftime lead. Gomez, who was Lorain County's top scorer this season, finished with 20 points despite dealing with an ankle injury he suffered late in the season. "This was a great opportunity," Gomez said. "I was still in a lot of pain, but I couldn't miss this. This was so fun. "We see some of these team and I'm friends with some of these guys so it was good to get there with them." Pettis finished with 19 points. With his grandfather, legendary coach Bob Walsh, cheering him on from the stands, Elyria's Ryan Walsh showed why he was named Lorain County's Mr. Basketball earlier in the evening, ending his high school career with a 22-point performance. "When you get to play with some of the best guys in Lorain County it's going to be fun," Walsh said. "I got to go out here with my friends and play a semi-competitive game. When you see we put up 155 that mean's not much defense was played. I love just going out and playing run-and-shoot." The Classic, which was the capstone of the Lorain County Boys Basketball Coaches Association 2023 Troy DiFranco All-Star Night activities, saw an average of seven points scored a minute as the all-stars played two 20-minute halves. The Away all-stars were led by Avon Lake's Isaac Richardson who scored 25 points and had a pair of powerful dunks, one coming on an alley-oop assist from Midview's Ryan Runser. Lorain's Christian Ruiz and Brookside's Avery Young had 18 points each for the Away team that fell behind 15-2 in the first 2:30 of the game and never led. Young, Walsh and Elyria Catholic's Colin Ginley had four 3-pointers each. Vermilion's Andrew Hendershot scored all of his 15-points on five 3-pointers. During the game's first timeout Lorain native and longtime official Larry Reardon was inducted into the LCBBCA Hall of Fame. Contact Todd Shapiro at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.