MANSFIELD — JeVar Hudgens piloted Mansfield Senior to its first sectional title in almost a decade and the Ohio Cardinal Conference took notice.
Hudgens shared the OCC Coach of the Year award with West Holmes’ Lindsy Snyder when the all-conference teams were announced Friday.
The Tygers didn’t play their first game of the season until Dec. 28 because of the coronavirus pandemic. Mansfield Senior finished 8-4 in the OCC and knocked off Ontario in the Division II sectional final over the weekend to reach the district tournament for the first time since 2012.
“It is a great feeling,” Hudgens said Saturday. “We are making it happen.”
Mansfield Senior plays top-seeded Shelby in the district semifinals at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Ashland.
“Everyone is learning their role,” Hudgens said Saturday. “If we go in ready to play and shake the nerves off, I think we’ve got a chance.”
Two of Hudgens’ underclassmen, sophomore Kiyah Wentz and freshman Kiersten Bradley, were selected to the OCC first team. They were joined by Lexington’s Avery Coleman, Madison’s Chesney Davis, Ashland’s Kaylee Friesen, Wooster’s Nora Levy and West Holmes’ Kinsey Patterson.
Second team selections included Madison’s Kari Eckenwiler, Lexington’s Madi Basilone, Ashland’s Breena Plank, Mount Vernon junior McKenna Brokaw, Wooster’s Madison Kurtz and Eily Badertscher, and West Holmes’ Alicia Alexander.
Honorable mention picks were: Ashland’s Klaira Paramore and Kaylee Beverly, Lexington’s Lizzie Hamler and Lexi Blasberg, Madison’s Faith Kuhn and Taylor Russell, Mansfield Senior’s Monetta Hilory and Dakiyah White, Mount Vernon’s Olivia Reddy and Stella Bainbridge, West Holmes’ Hannah Rohr and Katrina Rolince, and Wooster’s Tori Pettorini and Grace Grey.
West Holmes’ Katie Spreng was selected the OCC Player of the Year after leading the Knights to the outright OCC title.
