By PAUL GOTHAM
Dezmere Ellis paced Leadership Academy for Young Men to a second straight No. 1 seed. CeyQuan Salmon spearheaded the biggest turnaround in the Rochester City Athletic Conference. The pair of senior guards were named Player of the Year as announced by the RCAC on Thursday.
Ellis scored 17.9 points while grabbing 7.0 rebounds and handing out 6.0 assists to earn 2018 RCAC Upper Division honor. He paced a Leadership Academy offense which led the RCAC averaging 86.1 points per game. Ellis was at the forefront as the Lions opened the season 12-0 and eventually earned a No. 1 seed in Section V Class A2.
Teammates Davon Brown and Rondell Watson joined Ellis on the Upper Division First Team. Brown scored 14.9 points per game. Watson led the Upper Division averaging 21.8 points per game.
Monroe’s Chris Gibson, Jr., McQuaid Jesuit’s Anthony Iglesia and East High’s Chaz Washington rounded out the first team. Gibson scored 16.3 per game for the Redjackets which claimed a share of the Upper Division – the first regular season title in the program’s history. Gibson finished his high school career with 1,225 points. Iglesia scored 13.4 for McQuaid which ended the regular season winning eight of nine. Washington paced East High with 18.5 points per game.
Edison Tech’s Tristian Flowers and Alton Knight earned second-team Upper Division as did Monroe’s Jonathan Jones and Devante Mateo. McQuaid sophomores Kobe Long and Jermaine Taggart also received second-team nods.
Salmon earned Lower Division Player of the Year. He led a World of Inquiry squad which improved from 4-17 a year ago to 13-8 and a No. 6 seed in Class B. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 21.8 per game in 2017-18 and finished with 1,601 career points. He also grabbed seven rebounds per game and handed out four assists. Teammate Charles Maurice Brown earned a first-team selection as well scoring 15.2 per game.
Wilson-Magnet finished undefeated in Lower Division play, and a trio of Wildcats grabbed first-team nods. Junior guard Robert Davis led the Lower Division with 23.6 points per game. Sophomore forward Brennan Clark followed with 14.6 points, and junior forward Desi Floyd added 12.6 points per game. Jiahmere Mitchell paced NE Douglass to the program’s first sectional final appearance and closed out the Lower Division first team. Mitchell scored 23.4 points. per game.
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A trio of School of the Arts freshmen highlighted the second team with Ethain Clarke DeSouza, Ke’vion Mitchell and Reggie Smith taking the honors. NE Douglass Panthers Adonis Flagler and Lamar Lovelace earned second team as did Early College senior forward Shedrick Smith.
Tahjir King (Franklin), Josh Purcell (McQuaid), Giovanniel Santiago (Monroe), Ryziere Wilson (Edison Tech) and Connor Zamiara (McQuaid) were named Honorable Mention.
Leadership Academy’s Reggie Simmons and Wilson-Magnet’s Brendan O’Toole were named RCAC Coaches of the Year. Simmons has guided Leadership Academy to a 33-9 mark over the past two seasons including 17-4 in 2017-18. The fifth-year coach earned the Upper Division honor. O’Toole’s Wildcats swept the Lower Division. O’Toole just completed his sixth season at the helm for Wilson.
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