Bowling Green senior Brock Hastings won the three-point shooting contest at the District 7 all-star game at Napoleon’s Grand Canyon Sunday. (Photo by Brandon Shrider/AIM Media Midwest)
NAPOLEON — Division II got the best of D-I in both the boys and girls District 7 Coaches Association all-star games Sunday at Napoleon High School.
In the boys’ game — the last of four all-star games on the day — Division II raced to a double-digit lead and held a 34-28 lead at halftime.
Division I struggled through a scoring slump in the second half and D-II buried an array of 3-pointers paired with several dunks to run away with a 98-77 win.
With the score out of reach for much of the second half, teams turned the game into a highlight show.
Rossford’s Derek Vorst, the tallest player on the floor at 6-foot-10, had an 11-point run by himself, which included three consecutive 3-pointers. The Indiana State Universityk-bound Vorst was named the MVP with a game-high 19 points.
“It was nice. Knowing it could be the last time we play together in this uniform — it was cool,” said Vorst, who was playing with a pair of Rossford teammates. “I love playing with these guys and it was a nice last hoo’rah.
“It’s an honor,” added Vorst of playing in the game and winning MVP. “One year my dad (Rossford coach Brian Vorst) won coach of the year, so I got to come watch all of it, I thought it was cool and I wanted to play in it some day. So it means a lot to be able to play out here.”
Vorst’s teammate Jake Morrison won the dunk contest, scoring a 46 on his third and final dunk. Morrison also caught an alley-oop pass from Vorst during the game and hammered it home for a dunk en route to 16 points. The third Bulldogs’ player in the game, Brenden Revels, added three points.
Toledo Central Catholic’s Michael Greenlee matched Morrison’s 16 points for the D-II team. Also in double figures for D-II was Wauseon’s Landon Hines and Woodward’s Cameron Knabbs, who both scored 11.
“Being the only Wauseon player, it’s really special,” said Hines of playing in the game. “And playing with all of these really, really good players, it was really fun.”
Springfield’s Dominic Bracey paced the Division I team with 15 points, including multiple crowd-inspiring dunks.
Bowling Green’s Brock Hastings, who won the boys’ 3-point contest with 20 points, added three more 3s during the game — including two from well beyond the arc — and scored 11 points.
Toledo Start’s Romel Hightower, who caught an alley-opp pass for a dunk on a baseline cut early in the game, added 10 points and Perrysburg’s Matt Watkins scored seven.
Napoleon’s Blake Wolf, who missed the first-half of the basketball season due to an injury, did not score in the game.
In the girls’ game, the two teams traded leads several times. But after Division I went on a run to take a late lead, Napoleon’s Sophie Chipps made a tough layup through contact for a 58-57 lead with 1:45 to play.
Chipps, who scored nine points and won MVP, added another layup in the final minute to help D-II to a 62-57 win.
“I’m really glad I got an opportunity to play with these girls. They’re all really good girls and it was so much fun,” said Chipps.
“It means a lot,” added Chipps of winning the MVP award. “We had a couple girls play really well, and honestly I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m really glad I got it.”
Bryan’s Reese Grothaus, who won the girls’ 3-point contest with 18 points, knocked down a 3-pointer from the wing for the first bucket of the game. The Golden Bears senior added another triple just two steps inside the half-court line a few minutes later and finished with seven points.
“It’s just so fun, just being with everybody that you hear about in the paper, or you play against — so you don’t really know them on a personal level — and then getting to play with them and know them on a personal level is so fun,” said Grothaus. “There’s no pressure on anybody, but we’re all so competitive, so it’s a fun little competition and it just gets everybody’s spirits high.
“I didn’t know if I was going to win it or not,” added Grothaus of the 3-point contest. “But I just kind of went out there with a shooter mindset.”
Toledo Rogers’ Mylah Williams led D-II with 11 points, while Bryan’s Blayze Langenderfer scored eight and Wauseon’s Hayley Meyer — the only traditional post player in the game — added four points.
Division I was led by Springfield’s Kendal Carruthers, who scored a game-high 17 points. Notre Dame’s Dekota Smith added 15 points, while Perrysburg’s Megan Gibbs scored four points.
Fairview’s Carrie Zeedyk and Liberty Center’s Peyton Armey, who both played in the D-III/IV all-star game earlier in the day, competed in the girls’ 3-point contest and finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively.
