Raymond, Minnfield, McCoy honored

Northview's Niki McCoy.

B.J. Raymond led St. John's.

St. John's Jesuit senior B.J. Raymond, a 6-6 forward and third-year starter for the fifth-ranked 18-3 Titans, shared top honors as co-player of the year in Division I on the 2005 Associated Press Northwest Ohio all-district boys basketball team selected Monday in Findlay.

Raymond, a second-team All-Ohioan last season when St. John's reached the D-I state championship game, averaged 20.8 points and 7.8 rebounds during the regular season, helping the Titans win their fourth consecutive City League championship. In his first tournament game last week, Raymond became his school's all-time leading scorer by passing Neshaun Coleman's standard of 1,422 points.

The Xavier University-bound Raymond shared player-of-the-year honors with Lima Senior's Travis Walton, who will play at Michigan State. Walton averages 19.4 points and 5.6 rebounds for the 18-3 Spartans.

Joining those two on the D-I all-district first team are Raymond's teammate, Notre Dame-bound 6-7 forward Zach Hillesland; standout 5-11 junior guard Darryl Roberts of St. Francis de Sales, who led the CL in scoring at 23.7 points; and 6-5 senior forward Jonathon Avery of eighth-ranked 20-1 Mansfield Senior. Gregg Collins, who guides Avery's Tygers, received top coaching honors in D-I.

Central's Jessica Minnfield.

The Division I girls team also featured co-players of the year: Jessica Minnfield of Central Catholic and Niki McCoy of Northview.

Minnfield, a Michigan-bound 5-6 senior guard, paced the 18-4 Irish with 14.1 points per game. McCoy, a 5-11 senior, made the transition from post to a guard-forward role this year and helped the 23-1 Wildcats to their fourth straight district championship. She averaged 16.7 points and 5.3 rebounds.

Joining them on the D-I girls first team are sophomore guard Shareese Ulis, who helped Waite to a City League playoff championship; Findlay's 6-0 sophomore guard Carlee

Roethlisberger (18.5 points), who led the 21-2 Trojans to a Greater Buckeye Conference title, and Mansfield Madison senior guard Leah Mottayaw.

Waite's Manny May is the D-I girls coach of the year.

Northview's Niki McCoy.

The teams were chosen by an eight-member media panel that included representatives from Celina, Defiance, Findlay, Lima, Mansfield, Sandusky, Tiffin and The Blade.

In Division II boys, the Diebler family of top-ranked 21-0 Upper Sandusky gained a sweep of sorts as father Keith Diebler shared coach-of-the-year honors with Josh Leslie of St. Marys Memorial, 6-3 senior guard and son Jake Diebler (18.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 11.1 assists) was chosen player of the year, and Jake's high-scoring 6-6 sophomore brother, Jon Diebler (24.9 points), joined him on the first team. The younger Diebler has surpassed 1,000 in just two seasons. The trio was at Fostoria High last year, and Keith, previously coached his eldest son, Jeremiah, while at Gibsonburg. Jeremiah Diebler was an Ohio Division IV co-player of the year in 1999-2000, when he averaged 33.2 points per game.

The D-III boys first-team included Archbold's 6-0 senior guard Dan Borcherdt (22.6 points), who shared player-of-the-year honors with New London's Erik Marschall, a 6-7 Bowling Green recruit who averaged 18.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game. Woodmore's fourth-year starter Tyler Rosenberger (20.0 points), a 6-4 guard, also made the first team, and Woodmore's Don Christie shared coach-of-the-year honors with Spencerville's Kevin Sensabaugh.

In D-IV, Danbury guard Jake Fanning (24.4 points) shared top player honors with Continental's Kurtis Brown (20.4 points), and Paul Wayne, who guided Holgate to last year's state championship, was named coach of the year. Marty Baird of Van Buren, Josh Vorst of Ottoville, and Lee Brubaker of Holgate were also on the seven-player first team.

During the regular season, Ottawa-Glandorf and Upper Sandusky were ranked 1 and 2, respectively in the final girls Division II state poll, and the all-district team reflected their 20-0 regular seasons.

Shelly Bellman of O-G and Kerri Krauss of Upper Sandusky shared top player honors, and their respective cocahes - O-G's Lori Smith and Upper's Andra Bell - shared the top coaching honor.

Included on the D-II first team were Kim Young of Eastwood and Elaine DiCesare of Fostoria.

Two of Young's Suburban Lakes League rivals - Kelly Wagner of Elmwood and Erin Limes of Otsego - were each picked to the girls Division-III first team, from which Margaretta junior Micki Kuns was chosen player of the year. Patrick Henry's Rick Schwiebert shared top D-III coaching honors with Brenda Friend of Western Reserve.

The Division IV girls first team included three players from the Midland Athletic League - Becky Babione of Fremont St. Joe, Amanda Ritzler of Tiffin Calvert and Leannae Lucius of New Riegel - plus Putnam County League foes Stacey Niese of Miller City and Stacey Wannemacher of Ottoville. St. Joe coach Gary Geller shared top coaching honors with Marion Local's Treva Fortkamp, and Marion Local's Maria Moeller split the top player honor with Gretchen Polinski of Mansfield St. Peter's.

Contact Steve Junga at:

sjunga@theblade.com

or 419-724-6461.