With the first pick ... Tyger star goes No. 1

MANSFIELD – Pat Durham won 347 games in his head coaching career at Clear Fork, South Central and St. Peter's, but he's oh-fer in the News Journal All-Star Basketball Classic.

He coached the South in 1983 and the North in 2009 and was one of the honorary coaches in the 35th anniversary alumni game in 2013, which makes him 0-3 going into the 38th Classic as a member of the North staff headed by South Central's Brett Seidel.

Durham kept that dubious mark secret until they headed up the stairs to a News Journal conference room for Monday night's player draft.

Seidel did his homework on the players in the selection pool, but apparently failed miserably when it came to scouting his own assistant coach and the man he played for in high school.

"I think we got some shooters and hopefully on game night we'll have some 'makers,'" Seidel quipped after the draft. "Then again, with Dur on my side, we're probably going to lose."

Seidel, who played in the 1995 Classic for South Central, won Monday's coin flip and didn't hesitate when given the option of making the No. 1 pick or passing for the right to take picks 2 and 3 instead.

"We defer," he said, almost before the coin hit the ground.

South coach Colby Bright of Galion just as quickly nabbed Mansfield Senior's versatile Mario Young with the top pick.

"It feels good," said Young when informed of the honor, "but, nah, no pressure added. This will be a new challenge."

Young may be the first No. 1 pick in history to admit he has never attended one of the Classics as a fan, but he has a pretty good idea of what to expect from watching all-star games on TV.

"I'd like to get a windmill dunk," said the owner of double-digit one-hand slams this season. "I can play 1 through 5 (positions), but if I had my choice I'd be a point guard. I like to facilitate and spread the court out."

Take the coin flip out of the equation and both coaches admit getting the players they had at the top of their draft boards anyway.

With his double-pick to start, Seidel took Lexington guard Joey Zahn and Willard wing Connor Robinson. Zahn is the leading scorer (16.1 ppg) for the state-ranked and Ohio Cardinal Conference-leading Minutemen. Robinson, a third-team All-Northwest District selection in 2015, ranks second in the area in scoring (20.2 ppg) behind South all-star Kirk Manns of Fredericktown (20.8 ppg).

"I didn't know who (Bright) was going to take, but we got the three players we had in our top three," said Seidel, also referring to his next pick, Ontario's 6-2 Corey Thomas. "Zahn's a great player; I like Robinson's motor and Thomas is freakishly athletic. I've seen all of them on film or TV."

With his second pick, Bright took Ashland's 6-5 post Logan Brewer, who played a big role as his Arrows handed Lexington one of its two losses, 61-51 at Lex two weeks ago.

"With what we're wanting to do, push the ball, Young is the ultimate guy," Bright said of the Tyger star and All-Ohio football player. "We also wanted a guy who can stretch the floor and still give us a 'big,' and Logan fits that bill."

The Classic will feature nine of the area's top 11 scorers, five of them on the South and four on the North.

For the South, that fraternity includes the 6-2 Manns, the 6-3 Young (16.2 ppg), Temple Christian guard Nick Standridge (17.4 ppg), Colonel Crawford guard Owen Adams (17.3) and Buckeye Central's 6-4 Grant Loy (16.2 ppg)

Scoring leaders countering that firepower for the North will be the 6-2 Robinson, Hillsdale's 6-6 Eric Pickering (19.2 ppg), the 5-11 Zahn and South Central's solidly-built 6-2, 205-pound Brayden Wilhelm (15.8 ppg).

Bright's love for speed as co-head track coach at Galion showed in his choices. He took one of the quickest players in the area with his No. 1 pick and selected a couple of track stars in Adams and Loudonville's Austin Van Sickle, a member of the Redbirds' state runner-up 4 x 100 meter relay team last spring.

There were four sets of teammates heading into the draft and three of them remained intact. Galion's Kalvin Rinehart and Houston Blair were automatically assigned to the South to play for their high school coach, as was the case with Wilhelm being placed with the South Central staff on the North.

Bright, who played for Galion in the 2002 Classic, also picked Mansfield Senior's David Hall to complement Young, his Tyger mate, on the South, while Seidel paired Thomas with Ontario teammate Andrew Rathburn.

Ironically, the two sidekicks who are splitting up for the Classic are Zahn and 6-4 post Jonah Yaussy from the host school. Yaussy will give the South an inside force to battle the likes of Pickering, the 6-5 Rathburn and Lucas' 6-3 Rueben Luna.

Rounding out the rosters are Shelby's Brandon Schneider for the South and Mansfield Christian's Brandon Mount, Madison's Billy Buckley, Crestview's Trevor Durbin, Wynford's Alex Crall and St. Peter's Kyle Osgar for the North.

"Jonah and I haven't played on opposite sides since 4th grade," Zahn said. "We were on different AAU teams for a bit. We knew we were messing around, but the refs didn't. I gave him a couple of elbows and I got a technical foul. We both looked at the ref like 'What?' We explained to him later how we knew each other."

They can reenact their civil war in the Classic.

"He better move out of my way when I'm driving, but if he comes down the lane, I'm going to hammer him," Zahn said, laughing. "I guarantee he would say the same thing."

jspencer@nncogannett.com

419-521-7239

Twitter, Instagram: @jspencermnj

IF YOU GO 

*What: 38th News Journal All-Star Basketball Classic

*When: Thursday, March 24

*Tip-off: 7:30 p.m.

*Beneficiary: The Rehab Center Children Fund

*Coaches: Colby Bright, Galion (South); Brett Seidel, South Central (North)

*Tickets: $10. All proceeds go to the Rehab Center Children Fund. Go on sale in March.

ROSTERS

*South squad: Kalvin Rinehart, Galion; Houston Blair, Galion; Mario Young, Mansfield Senior; David Hall, Mansfield Senior; Logan Brewer, Ashland; Kirk Manns, Fredericktown; Grant Loy, Buckeye Central; Jonah Yaussy, Lexington; Nick Standridge, Temple Christian; Owen Adams, Colonel Crawford; Brandon Schneider, Shelby; Austin Van Sickle, Loudonville

*Head coach: Colby Bright, Galion

*North squad: Brayden Wilhelm, South Central; Joey Zahn, Lexington; Connor Robinson, Willard; Corey Thomas, Ontario; Andrew Rathburn, Ontario; Eric Pickering, Hillsdale; Brandon Mount, Mansfield Christian; Billy Buckley, Madison; Trevor Durbin, Crestview; Alex Crall, Wynford; Rueben Luna, Lucas; Kyle Osgar, St. Peter's

*Head coach: Brett Seidel, South Central