White Pigeon’s Mitchell Moore and Mendon’s Joe Gales were named league Co-MVPs.
Regular season and final St. Joseph Valley League champion Mendon placed four players on this year’s boys basketball all-conference list, with senior Joe Gales sharing Most Valuable Player honors with White Pigeon senior Mitchell Moore.
Gales, along with Zach Darmofal (senior), Marcus Craft (senior) and junior Jordan Medich, made up nearly half of the All-SJV First Team. It was the second consecutive year Gales earned MVP honors.
“It is rewarding to see that all of my time and hard work in the offseason has paid off and I’m happy to be one of the final SJV MVPs,” said Gales, who averaged 19 points, seven rebounds and three assists per game for the Hornets, which finished 6-0 in league play.
Moore registered 21.37 points, 7.42 rebounds, 2.68 assists and 3.21 steals per contest for the Chiefs, including a 42-point effort in a win over Niles-Brandywine, when he shot 73 percent from the field.
“Even though I was sort of expecting it because of my stats, it’s still fun and exciting to get the call from coach and what not,” Moore said. “Some people look down on our conference because we are so small but I think we have a couple solid teams that can hang with the best of Class C, so it’s an honor to be selected.”
Darmofal scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds per game, adding 57 assists and 38 steals for the year.
“It’s a good feeling,” he said of the recognition. “Granted it’s a small league, but it’s still nice to be chosen out of the rest of the teams — a lot of good athletes in the SJV.”
Craft poured in 10.4 points per game and averaged 3.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.9 steals per contest. He finished the year at an 88-percent clip at the free throw line and 46 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
“Making the all-league team was one of my goals this year and i couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” he said. “They were a fun group to play with. Being that it was the last year of the SJV, I’m happy that we won the conference as a team also.”
Added Medich, who averaged 10 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 60 percent from the field: “It’s an amazing feeling to be selected for the All-SJV team. I am truly blessed.”
White Pigeon’s Dylan Hochstetler (junior) and Centreville’s DeMarco Taylor (junior) and Matt Clementz (senior) also made the first team.
“I want to congratulate everyone who made it because it’s not easy,” said Taylor, who averaged 18.2 points per game. “And it makes me feel good only being a junior and making it. I had my goal set to be the MVP but I just have to keep working hard. And as my coach tells me, hard work will pay off.”
Added Clementz: “It definitely is an honor to be named part of the squad. Couldn’t have done it without the amazing teammates I had. Love those guys and will miss them.”
Honorable mentions were Erik Batten, a senior from Mendon, Jon Peckinpaugh, a senior at Centreville, and White Pigeon junior Riley Olsen.
Eli Schwartz (Centreville), Robert Riley (Mendon) and David Miller (White Pigeon) were all special mentions.
All League
Mitchell Moore (12), White Pigeon Co-MVP
Joe Gales (12), Mendon Co-MVP
Zach Darmofal (12), Mendon
DeMarco Taylor (11), Centreville
Dylan Hochstetler (11), White Pigeon
Marcus Craft (12), Mendon
Matt Clementz (12), Centreville
Eric Toledo (11), Bronson
Jordan Medich (11), Mendon
Honorable Mention
Erik Batten (12), Mendon
Jon Peckinpaugh (12), Centreville
Riley Olsen (11), White Pigeon
Special Mention
Chase Carpenter, Bronson
Eli Schwartz, Centreville
Robert Riley, Mendon
David Miller, White Pigeon