L-B's Gerken named top player in BVC

Liberty-Benton swept its way to a Blanchard Valley Conference boys basketball championship this season and the Eagles swept top honors in all-league balloting as well with senior guard Jake Gerken and third-year head coach Doug Whiteman leading the way.Gerken, a 6-foot-7 guard who led the league with a 21.9 scoring average, was named the BVC Player of the Year. Gerken also averaged 5.9 rebounds and was among the best 3-point scorers in the league, making 42-of-102 triples for a .412 accuracy.Whiteman guided the Eagles to a 20-2 regular season record, a 10-0 mark in league play and the school's second outright BVC title in his three seasons as head coach.Lincoln Holler, a 6-6 junior who averaged 13.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and led the BVC in free throw accuracy (56-of-63, 88.9 percent) was also first-team all-league for L-B, while 6-8 senior center Tyler Grose (11 ppg, 6 rpg) was second team.Joining Gerken and Holler on the all-BVC first team are Arlington's Jase Vermillion, Van Buren's Seth Gregory, Ada's Zack Zimmerman and Leipsic's Jayce Brecht.Vermillion, a 6-1 senior guard, was second in the BVC in scoring (15.2 ppg) and dropped in 50 3-pointers during the 2024-25 season. Gregory, a 5-11 senior, averaged 13.3 points a game and was deadly from long range as well, nailing a league high 71 3s.A 6-2 junior, Zimmerman averaged 13.9 points a game with 46 3-pointers. Brecht, a 6-2 junior, averaged 13.9 points and led the BVC in steals with 58.In addition to L-B's Grose, the all-BVC second team includes Arlington's 6-10 junior center Calvin Willow (11.1 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and 6-1 senior guard Brady Griggs (4.6 rpg, 4.4 apg). Willow led the league in rebounding and Griggs led the BVC in assists. Riverdale's Evan Reiter (11.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg), Arcadia's Isaac Stoner (12.4 ppg) and Pandora-Gilboa's Lane Lee (14 ppg) rounded out the second team.Arcadia freshman Tripp Brubaker (13.6 ppg), Elmwood's Owen Traxler (11.5 ppg), Vanlue's Owen Roszman (13.5 ppg), Ada's Carson Conley (10.2 ppg), Leipsic's Ty Lammers (10.9 ppg) and Van Buren's Lucas Harrington (8.6 ppg) were third-team all-BVC. HONORABLE MENTIONADA – Kayleb Hickman, Gavin Oldfield. ARCADIA – Blayne Colman, Owen Green. ARLINGTON – Ayden Cavinee, Drew Metzger. ELMWOOD – Landry Seedorf, Zackery Gross. LEIPSIC – Nick Schroeder; Brevin Brandt. LIBERTY-BENTON – Brody Thomas, Reid Irwin. MCCOMB – Haiden Ebright, Luke Kern. PANDORA-GILBOA – Cory Gerten, Camden Verhoff. RIVERDALE – Hayden Hagerty, Ethan Elwood. VAN BUREN – Finn Martin, Brady Lance. VANLUE – Landon Saltzman, Cameron King. ALL N10 BOYS Upper Sandusky's Brock Montgomery was a first-team selection in the 2024-25 all-Northern 10 Conference boys basketball selections released on Monday.Montgomery, who will lead the Rams against Shelby in today's Division IV district semifinal game at Findlay High School, led Upper with a 13.3 scoring average. The 6-foot-1 senior also averaged 3.7 rebounds and was among the league leaders in assists (3.1 apg).Seniors Justin Heilman (11 ppg, 3.5 apg) and Kaimen Iles (8.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg) were second-team all-N10 for the Rams, who went 16-6 in regular season games and finished third (10-4) in the N10 standings.Carey's Kyler Boes (13.5 ppg) was also a second-team pick.HONORABLE MENTIONCAREY – Chase Stone. UPPER SANDUSKY – Josh Heilman. ALL-WBLOttawa-Glandorf's Karsyn Erford and Kaitlyn Kimmet were first-team selections and Troy Yant was named coach of the year in the all-Western Buckeye League girls basketball selections for the 2024-25 season.A 5-foot-8 junior guard who averaged 14.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.8 steals, Erford was selected the WBL Player of the Year. Kimmet, a 5-11 senior forward averaged 11.8 points and 5.1 rebounds.Erford and Kimmet were also first-team picks in the all-District 8 selections.Yant, who achieved his 300th career win this past season, guided O-G to a 9-0 WBL record and 22-0 overall slate. In his 13 seasons as head coach, he has led O-G to nine WBL titles and six regional championships.O-G's Alivia Grothause (9.8 ppg) was second-team all-WBL, and Carlie Brinkman (7.1 ppg) earned third-team honors.In the all-WBL boys basketball selections released this week, O-G's Grady Toumazos (11 ppg) was second team and Brody Fortman (10.8 ppg) received third-team honors. CORRECTIONFindlay High's Audrey Whitener qualified for this week's district wrestling meet by placing fourth in the 125-pound weight division of the girls sectional tournament held at Findlay High on Friday.In one part of an article in Saturday's paper it stated that McKenzie Montgomery, who wrestles for Gibsonburg, had placed fourth at 125. SCHEDULE Tuesday's Events BOYS BASKETBALLOHSAA TOURNAMENTDIVISION IIAT TOL. CENTRAL CATHOLICFindlay (7) vs. Toledo St. John's (3), 6 p.m. DIVISION IVAT FINDLAY HIGHUpper Sandusky vs. Shelby, 8 p.m. GIRLS BASKETBALLOHSAA TOURNAMENTDIVISION V REGIONALAT ELYRIALiberty-Benton vs. Canton South winner, 6 p.m.AT RIDGEDALE H.S.Ottawa-Glandorf vs. Johnstown, 6 p.m.