Rusty Miller

AP S;orts Writer

 

The reigning Mr. Basketball in Ohio is still making news.

Luke Kennard, who averaged 41 points and 10.4 rebounds a game last year while winning the Associated Press award as top player in the state, scored 44 points in a 90-64 win over Brookville.

That moved him past LeBron James (2,646 points) for fourth place on the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s list of top career prep scorers in the state.

Kennard, a 6-foot-6 senior who has signed with Duke, has 2,652 points and trails only Jon Diebler (3,208), Jay Burson (2,958) and Geno Ford (2,680).

ROUND NUMBERS: Findlay High head coach Jim Rucki achieved his 400th career win on Friday when the Trojans beat Toledo St. Francis 65-47 in a Three Rivers Athletic Conference game and his 401st the next night with a 64-43 nonleague win over Kenton.

Rucki amassed a 160-71 record in 10 seasons at Rocky River High School, and has compiled a 241-113 record in guiding Findlay, 10-7 this season, to a school-record 15 consecutive winning seasons.

Also, not so far away from where Rucki plies his trade, Liberty-Benton girls coach Nate Irwin needed just 11 seasons to achieve his 200th win. He collected it with a 59-44 win over Kalida. The Eagles are 18-0 this season and ranked No. 3 in the Division III state poll.

INJURY BUG: St. Henry remained unbeaten in the Midwest Athletic Conference with a 71-61 win over New Bremen last Friday, but lost leading scorer and Dayton-bound Ryan Mikesell and second-leading scorer Mitch Stammen to injuries late in the game.

On Saturday, the Redskins had their 14-game winning streak snapped by Celina 60-42 as the Bulldogs avenged an earlier loss to St. Henry in a holiday tournament in Coldwater.

RECORD-SMASHER: With three regular-season games left in her senior season, Wickliffe’s Mariah Porter sits at 960 career points. She’s 21 away from the school record of 981, set by Mary Seifert, who graduated in 1982. Against Cuyahoga Heights earlier this season, Porter broke the school’s career rebounding record of 775, also held by Seifert.

Porter also set the school’s single-season rebounding record with 366 last season. In addition, the 6-foot-3 Porter holds the single-game rebounding record with 31.

AND ANOTHER: Athens senior point guard Dominique Doseck set a goal before her freshman season of becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer. She achieved that goal last Thursday in a 44-40 win over Albany Alexander.

Doseck scored 22 points, giving her 1,789 for her career. She broke the old record of 1,776 set by Liz Howerth in 2003.

Doseck, who will play for Ohio University next season, is averaging 24.4 points a game this season for Athens, which is 14-4.

NOTE THIS: During a 15-game winning streak, Nelsonville-York’s girls (17-2) have given up 39.3 points a game; Defiance Ayersville’s Brayton Martin set the school record for most 3-pointers in a game with 10, then came back three nights later to establish the school mark for career buckets behind the arc with 155; after scoring just nine points in the first half, Defiance’s boys tallied 15 in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the third quarter en route to a 40-30 victory over St. Marys Memorial; Montpelier’s Hannah Blake scored 34 points in a 72-54 win over Hicksville; Defiance Ayersville’s Molly Hammersmith had 22 points, 10 rebounds, 8 blocks, 5 assists and 4 steals in a 60-42 win over Fort Jennings and followed it up with 14 points and 17 boards in a 53-45 double-overtime win over Holgate.

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Rusty Miller can be reached at http://twitter.com/RustyMillerAP