Bocook, Sidwell headline TR Prime Time Players

The basketball season may have ended in disappointment, but there were plenty of individual performances worth noting.

That was evident by those on the Times Recorder Prime Time Players team, picked by the TR sports staff.

Zanesville senior Malik Bocook took our boys player of the year and Maysville junior Kori Sidwell took top honors for the girls. Their teams combined for 44 wins.

The 6-4 Bocook, a second-team All-Ohioan in Division I, averaged 19.5 points and 7.6 rebounds with opponents’ defenses keying on him nightly.

He scored more than 20 points eight times, including a season-high 36 against Wheeling (W. Va.) Park, and earned the East Central Ohio League Scarlet Division Player of the Year as well as the East District Division I Player of the Year.

Sidwell, a versatile 5-10 forward, scored 40 combined points against Columbus Eastmoor Academy and West Holmes in the Division II regional tournament, which capped a 25-2 season just one win shy of the state tournament. She contributed a team-high 14.7 points on a team-best 56.4 shooting percentage to go with 6.2 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.9 steals.

Zanesville’s Scott Aronhalt and Philo’s Dan Hilty were the boys and girls coaches of the year.

Aronhalt led the Blue Devils to a 19-6 season and a district appearance in Division I after graduating six players from a team that went 23-2, won an ECOL Scarlet Division title and reached the Division I district finals.

Hilty took the Electrics to a second straight district final and a 20-5 mark that included ending Maysville’s 62-game regular season winning streak. Their 18 regular season wins were the most in school history and was their best season since 1999-2000.

The rest of our boys roster featured John Glenn juniors Drew Rackley, Matt Weir and Tanner Slack, Tri-Valley senior Camden Craig and junior Marcus Dempsey, Zanesville senior Ramon Wilson, Sheridan senior Luke Fox and junior Dylan Dupler, Rosecrans sophomores Aaron Gehlken and Michael Fisher, Morgan juniors Marcus Mayle and Mason Edgell, New Lexington senior Collin Russell, Philo senior Layke Fletcher and Maysville junior Chase Roberts.

Maysville seniors Brooke Smith and Callie Tatman, Philo senior Corrie Burkhardt and junior Kara Hutcheson, Zanesville junior Devyn Bonner, Sheridan juniors Donna Swinehart and Katrina Scheuvront, Morgan senior Laura Davis, New Lexington juniors Allie Russell and Emily Bartholic, Crooksville freshman Carson Miller, Rosecrans sophomores Riley Hagy and Abby Hutcheson, Tri-Valley senior Monica Crossley and West Muskingum sophomore Carley Barker rounded out the girls team.

Rackley, Weir and Slack led the Muskies to the regional final and a 24-1 record, which included the school’s first unbeaten regular season since 1984-85.

The 6-1 Rackley was East District Division II player of the year and a first-team All-Ohioan after leading the area with 20.6 points, while shooting better than 77 percent from the foul line and 40 percent from the arc.

Weir contributed 13.0 points and team-high 4.4 assists and shot nearly 50 percent from 3-point range, and Slack also shot 40 percent on 3s and averaged 10.7 points.

Craig and Dempsey took the Scotties to their first district final in Division I, with Dempsey scoring a team-high 19.5 points per game and Craig almost 13 for the 20-5 Scotties. Both ranked among the area’s top three-point shooters.

Wilson provided the Blue Devils a strong second option with 12.6 points, 3.1 assists and 2.5 steals per game; Fox and Dupler were consistent threats, combining for nearly 23 points per game for the Generals; and Gehlken led the Bishops with nearly 17 points per game, and Fisher made more than 80 3-pointers.

Edgell, who set the school record for 3s in a season, and Mayle helped the Raiders to a 10-win season after averaging 14 and 12 points per game, respectively; Russell led the Panthers in scoring (14.4), rebounding (7.0) and assists (2.9); Fletcher was a sparkplug for the Electrics with team-highs in scoring (18.3), 3-point percentage (37.8), free throw percentage (82.4) and assists (2.5) and Roberts was the Panthers’ leading scorer with 16 points per game.

Smith and Tatman helped the Panthers make a second straight regional title game. Smith, a second-team All-Ohio pick, contributed 11.4 points, 4.0 assists and 2.6 steals per game and was the team’s most consistent outside shooting threat. Tatman, a vital role player, aided a deep Maysville squad with nine points, three rebounds and three assists per game.

Burkhardt, one of the area’s top two-way players, was a force in the post with 12.5 points and a team-best 7.8 rebounds; Hutcheson led the team with almost 14 points per game and a three-point shooting percentage of 36.6.

Bonner was the go-to offensive threat for the Lady Devils, who almost knocked off Newark, a state final four squad, in the Division I tournament. She was the area’s leading scorer with 16 points and grabbed six rebounds per contest.

Swinehart scored a team-high 11.6 points and the 6-4 Scheuvront was an intimidating presence in the post with nearly nine rebounds per game for the Generals; Davis was an all-around threat for the Raiders with 9.0 points, 4.3 steals and 3.2 assists per game; and Russell and Bartholic were consistent scoring threats with 15.2 points and 14.6 points per game, respectively.

The 5-10 Miller, a point guard, shined for a young Ceramic team with 9.5 points and 7.8 rebounds, while Hagy and Hutcheson guided the Bishops to the district semifinals despite injuries and low numbers, averaging 12 points per game.

Crossley was one of the top players for the Scotties with seven points and six rebounds a contest and Barker was a perimeter-threat by making nearly 40 percent of her 3s for the Tornadoes.