Blackwood, Garwood named Private-Parochial Players of the Year

By LILL NORTHRUP

Aquinas sophomore Mason Blackwood and Northstar senior Ryan Garwood were named 2021-22 Private-Parochial Division I and II Players of the Year, respectively as announced by league coaches. Blackwood led the Li’l Irish to the Class AA Far West Regionals while Garwood and the Knights claimed the top seed in Class B1.  

Blackwood connected on 49.4 percent of his attempts from behind the 3-point (40-of-81) and led Aquinas with 17.7 points per game. The 6-foot-6 forward hit 54.5 percent of his shots from the floor and averaged 7.4 rebounds a game. Blackwood shot 72.0 percent (69-for-96) from the free throw line and blocked 1.8 shots per game. He recently received his first Division I offer from Siena College.

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Blackwood’s teammates, Jack Bleier, and Myles Blackwood were also named to the Private-Parochial Division I All-Star Team. Bleier averaged 13.3 points and dropped 60 three-pointers. The 6-foot-3 guard finished with an 8:1 assist to turnover rate. Myles Blackwood, older brother of the player of the year, averaged 12.5 points, 2.9 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 2.0 steals per contest. He became the first AQ player to reach 1,000 career points since current Penn State Nittany Lion Jalen Pickett.  

Rob McCullough and Jordan Jordan, both from Aquinas as well, also earned Division I First-Team honors. McCollough averaged 11.4 points and 2.3 assists per game. Jordan scored 5.6 points per game and grabbed 3.4 rebounds per game.  

James Mathews and Andrew Edwards of UPrep rounded out the Division I team. Mathews scored 20.3 points while handing out 5.1 assists per game. Mathews scored 40 points in the Griffins’ victory over Corcoran (III) on December 11th. The output was the second highest in program history. Edwards averaged a team-high 11.2 rebounds with 10.7 points and 3.1 blocks per game. The forward also handed out 3.0 assists per game.  

Garwood, the Division II Player of the Year, led Section V with 30.4 points per game. The guard broke the Section V record with a total of 370 career three-pointers. He scored 20-plus points in 19 of 20 games this season. In four of those 20 games, he scored 40-plus points. The three-time sectional champion also holds the Section V record with 13 3-pointers in a game. The Roberts Wesleyan commit became the 12^th person in Section V to score over 2,000 points as he ended his career with 2,044 points. 

Garwood’s teammate, Andrew Eschner, made the Division II All-Star team. Eschner averaged 15.6 points per game. The junior forward finished with seven double-doubles on season. He also averaged 8.4 rebounds.    

Deonte Major and Josiah Heyward were Rochester Academy’s two Division II All Star Team representatives. The two helped RACS go undefeated in the regular season (17-0). Major led the Racers 3.8 assists while also contributing 10.9 points per game and 2.8 steals. Heyward averaged 10.0 points, a team-high 3.1 steals and 4.4 rebounds per game.  

Antoine McFadden was recognized for EMHCS for the DII All Star team. McFadden recorded 16 double-doubles for the Hornets. The senior averaged 21.0 points and 15.0 rebounds per game.  His career-high was 33 points in a game and he accomplished that twice this season against Bishop Kearney and Horseheads (IV).  

 Zacarr Johnson rounded pff the Division II All Star Team from Bishop Kearney. Johnson averaged 16.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-2 finished with three double-doubles.