LEXINGTON, Ohio — He was the first player selected in the News Journal All-Star Classic draft and St. Peter’s point guard Tyson Kent showed why Wednesday at Lexington High School.
Kent scored a team-high 24 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out six assists as the North stars rallied for a 132-105 win in the 39th edition of the annual showcase.
The son of Mansfield Senior great Ahmed Kent, Tyson orchestrated a second-half surge that saw the North outscore the South 78-45. He scored 16 of his 24 in the second half as the North erased an 11-point deficit to win going away.
“I enjoyed myself out there,” said Kent, the third St. Peter’s player and first since Marcus Butler in 2004 to hoist the MVP trophy. “All those players are amazing players.”
Ahmed Kent, who ranks third on Mansfield Senior’s career scoring list, had eight points in the 1986 Classic. His son had matched his scoring output by halftime.
“My dad wanted me to be different from him,” the younger Kent said. “We worked on different things: dribbling, shooting and defense and it has showed.”
North coach Jason Hess of Ashland knew what he was getting when he selected Kent with the No. 1 pick. Kent torched the Arrows for 24 points and 10 assists in a regular season game in Ashland in early January.
“There’s a reason why we picked him with our first draft pick,” Hess said. “Some of his best attributes aren’t his ability to score or dribble. It’s his leadership.
“When he’s on the floor, he brings a lot of energy and it allows the other guys to feed off him.”
Comeback: The South led 60-54 at halftime and 76-65 early in the second before the North came to life. Kent and Co. scored 17 unanswered points as part of a 50-10 run.
“I told somebody after the game that is how (Ashland) played all year,” Hess said. “We were down at halftime all season and still found ways to win games.”
South coach Tim Mergel of Madison knew his club wasn’t safe.
“We played a good first half and about five minutes of the second,” Mergel said. “The next thing you know, we’re down 20. Hess must have told his kids, ‘Make believe that you are at Madison,’ because any time we play Ashland at our place they shoot lights-out.”
Leaders: Kent was one of six North stars to score in double figures. Colonel Crawford’s Heath Starkey had 19, while Ashland’s Griffin Gerwig had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Ashland’s John Wolfe and Wynford’s Jack Reed each had 12 and Mapleton’s Chase Davis added 10 points and eight boards.
Shelby’s Davey Hipp scored a game-high 28 points and matched a Classic record with eight 3-pointers. Ontario’s Jackson Todd and Madison’s Jacob Koehler each had 16, while Madison’s Tyrell Ajian added 14 — including a highlight-reel steal and ally-oop dunk late in the second half.
Hipp connected on his eighth triple with 30 seconds remaining, but his potential record-breaker was off line with less than 10 seconds remaining.
“I thought I got fouled,” Hipp said. “It was fun tying the record.
“Playing with all those guys is an honor. Everyone is so talented.”
