March 27th News

By Shaun Spence

March 27, 2008, 8:05AM

Shaun Spence - ohioHSsports.com

Check back each and every weekday for the top prep headlines from across the state. Here are a list of summaries from some of the major stories around Ohio for Thursday, March 27th:

Basketball: Canton Timken's Johnie Davis is Stark County Player of the Year

After leading Canton Timken to one of the biggest turnaround seasons in recent boys basketball history, its no surprise that Johnie Davis is the Stark County Player of the Year. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound guard was a major reason why the Trojans from from 3-18 to 24-1. Davis averaged 18.8 points, 4.1 assists, and 3.1 steals in leading Timken to their first undefeated regular season. Davis transferred to Timken from McKinley halfway through last season. He spent his freshman and sophomore seasons on the bench watching as Raymar Morgan and company led the Pups to consecutive state championships. Davis was not able to win a third state title in four seasons of high school basketball, but nobody at Timken will forget the memorable 2007-08 Trojan basketball season. Canton Repository

Baseball: Elmwood and Suburban Lakes League Preview

Last season Elmwood had the most successful season in their program's history. The Royals had a 26-7 record that ended with a 6-3 loss to Heath in the Division III title game in Columbus. This season, Elmwood returns eight starters from its amazing run and the Royals are the unanimous pick of league coaches to win the Suburban Lakes League title in 2008. Woodmore was voted second, Genoa (two-time defending SLL champ) and was third. Returning for Elmwood are seniors Ben Hammer, Nathanial Fitch, Jon Aurand, Adame Sheline, Josh Mayo, Bo Sheldon, and Andrew Lee to go along with sophomore Reid Rothenbuhler. Hammer is signed to play at the University of Toledo and he excelled at the plate (.532 average with five home runs and 29 RBI's) and at the mound (4-0 with a 2.67 ERA) last season. Toledo Blade

Baseball: Kenston Shortstop Brett Tevepaugh

Senior Brett Tevepaugh of Kenston is fresh off setting the school's single season passing record in football as he threw for 1,619 yards this past season on the gridiorn. On the diamond, Tevepaugh is a vaccum at shortstop and he is the Bombers' leadoff hitter who has a .451 career batting average. The all-around athlete picked up wrestling in 8th grade (going undefeated at 160 pounds) before becoming the starting point guard on the JV team as a freshman. Tevepaugh would eventually give up both winter sports to concentrate on football and esepcially on baseball. Last year Kenston finished with a 22-6 record and a co-championship in their conference. A starter since he was a freshman, Tevepaugh hit .531 last year with 15 extra base hits, 36 runs, 32 stolen bases, and a .953 fielding percentage at the most demanding position in the infield. The Plain Dealer

Basketball: McDonald's All-American Game

The McDonald's All-American game is the elite high school boys and girls basketball all-star event in the country. The game has featured such stars as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and LeBron James. This year's edition featured two young men from Ohio: Toledo Libbey's William Buford (six points) and Canal Winchester's B.J. Mullens (12 points). Buford was this year's Mr. Basketball winner and both Buford and Mullens are headed to play for Thad Matta at Ohio State next season. Mullens' East team defeated Buford's West by a score of 107-102. Cincinnati Enquirer

Don't see news from your area of the state? Post a comment below with your local paper's web address and we'll feature your prep coverage throughout the week.