By PAUL GOTHAM
They brought home the program’s first state championship, and now the Irondequoit Eagles are reaping the spoils.
Zach Stenglein led three Eagles to receive Class A All-State honors from the New York State Sportswriters Association.
“It’s awesome,” Stenglein said. “It shows our whole team was why we won the state title. It wasn’t just one or two guys. A full team is what it takes to win a state championship.”
Stenglein garnered fifth-team honors while teammate Gerald Drumgoole was named to the seventh team and Ty’Sean Sizer earned honorable mention.
“I had a pretty good feeling I was going to be on one of the teams,” Stenglein stated. “But to see that I was that high it was kind of shocking knowing that I didn’t average as many points as people around the state.”
Drumgoole nabbed Tournament MVP honors as he netted a game-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and corralled 12 rebounds to lead the Eagles past Greece Athena, 61-44 in the Section Five A1 finals.
“Based on the end of the year, Gerald could have been a little bit higher,” said Irondequoit coach Chris Cardon. “He probably played as well as anybody we had on the team at the end of the year.”
The sophomore guard/forward converted 12 of 13 free throws and finished with a game-high 21 points in Irondequoit’s 65-41 victory over North Tonawanda in the Far West Regional.
“He has the ability to score inside and out,” Cardon said of Drumgoole. “He shoots a good percentage for a young guy.”
Cardon also made note of Drumgoole’s athleticism which might get overlooked.
“His game is going to take off,” Cardon said referring to a spectacular putback dunk in transition that Drumgoole had against Greece Arcadia during the regular season. “It’s amazing to think a sophomore did that. He has a lot of pluses. He’s a good student, has a good family.”
Sizer scored 21 points in Irondequoit’s 54-43 win over Our Lady of Lourdes (I) in the state final and earned Tournament MVP honors. In the Federation semi-final Sizer drew the defensive assignment of marking Albany Academy’s Will Bennett (8th Team All-State) who averaged more than 15 points per game during the season. Sizer held Bennett to two points.
“One of the keys to our team was our defense,” Cardon noted. “He was a big part of that.”
Cardon pointed out that fellow Irondequoit Eagle Alex Goldsberry also could have earned a spot.
“These guys got pretty good recognition. It’s kind of a crap shoot. I don’t really have our guys on MaxPreps. That probably doesn’t help.”
In all, 24 student-athletes from Section Five earned large-schools honors.
Batavia’s Tee Sean Ayala earned 1oth team Class A as did East High’s Zion Morrison. Greece Athena’s Nigel Scantlebury was named to the 12th team. Wayne’s Braeden Zenelovic was a 13th team selection, and Brighton’s Isaac Nelson earned 14th team. Brockport’s Antonio Alvarez, Monroe’s RayShawn Boswell and East High’s Windell Lucas joined Sizer with Honorable Mention.
Fairport’s Dan Masino earned Class AA 4th team. Masino’s teammates Ryan Algier (12th) and Cam Keeley (Honorable Mention) nabbed selections. Jeenathan Williams (UPrep) earned 5th team. Jalen Pickett (Aquinas) earned 6th team. Nahziah Carter (Bishop Kearney) was named to the 8th. Isaiah Stewart (McQuaid/10th), Jabez Thomas (UPrep/14th) and Eric Lewis (Churchville-Chili/15th) rounded out the Class AA teams.
Jacob DiSanto (Victor), Jason Hawkes (Aquinas), Marique Simkin (Edison Tech) and Kailee White (Rush-Henrietta) earned Honorable Mention.
View the entire list of large school teams here.
Small school teams were announced last week. The lists can be viewed here.
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