Copley's Trent Wininger, Caleb Laurich sparkle in boys basketball all-star games

COVENTRY — Copley boys basketball teammates Trent Wininger and Caleb Laurich shared a lot in common Tuesday night at Coventry High School.

Wininger and Laurich led their respective team in scoring and received a "Player of the Game" trophy on a night filled with standouts in the Greater Akron Basketball Coaches Association All-Star Games.

Wininger scored 28 points and had five rebounds and three assists to lead the White Jersey All-Stars to a 102-88 win in the Underclassmen All-Star Game.

Laurich totaled 18 points, 16 rebounds and three assists to guide the Dark Jersey All-Stars to a 100-96 victory in the Senior All-Star Game.

Wininger, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, also placed first in the 3-point shootout inbetween games. Garrettsville senior Kaidan Spade was victorious in the free throw shooting contest.

"I made my shots and my teammates in the game got good looks for me," Wininger said. "... I got hot in the first round of the 3-point shootout and made 14-of-15 and then I only made eight in the second round."

Both games featured up-tempo basketball with impressive slam dunks and 3s from well beyond the arc.

Laurich, a 6-foot-7 senior, was among a list of dunkers that was extensive.

"It was super fun to play in this game," Laurich said. "I was with some of my AAU guys that I have played with for awhile, Danny Flood from Buckeye and Connor Sams from Wadsworth. I have known Danny and Connor since I was in fifth or sixth grade [with The National Basketball Academy AAU team]. It was definitely fun playing on the same team, and playing with some other guys that are super athletic and super good at the game of basketball. That made this really enjoyable and easy for me."

Twinsburg's Anthony McCarthy, Walsh Jesuit's Rico Pickett, East's Eric Holley III, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Seth Bagwell and Green's Trey Martin each had multiple dunks in Tuesday's nightcap, the Senior All-Star Game.

Archbishop Hoban teammates Jonas Nichols and Will Scott were among the dunkers in the Underclassmen All-Star Game. Wininger, Hudson's Tino Yli-Junnila and Revere's Baron Bania found success beyond the 3-point arc.

Winning from 3-point range

The White Jersey All-Stars made 21 3-pointers in the Underclassmen All-Star Game. Wininger made seven 3-pointers en route to his 28 points, and Yli-Junnila and Bania each made four 3s.

Yli-Junnila finished with 22 points, four rebounds and two assists. Bania totaled 16 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

The White Jersey All-Stars also received solid 13 points and seven rebounds apiece from Stow's Titus Baskerville IV and Highland's Hunter Winston. Baskerville also had four assists and three steals.

Scott paced the Dark Jersey All-Stars in the Underclassmen All-Star Game with 22 points and five rebounds. His Hoban teammate, Nichols, totaled 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Other notable players for the Dark Jersey All-Stars were Cuyahoga Falls' Tim Mitchell (15 points, six rebounds); Stow's AJ Pestello (13 points, nine rebounds) and Tallmadge's Ty Hurst (10 points, five rebounds).

Winning at the rim

The Dark Jersey All-Stars attacked the rim with an assortment of layups and dunks to win the Senior All-Star Game.

Laurich tossed down multiple two-hand slam dunks en route to his 18 points.

"It is always fun playing with Caleb because he always does all the dirty work and he is a great friend outside of basketball," said Sams, who scored 10 points. "He wants to win."

Highland's Aaron Filips played a key role in the victory with 15 points, six rebounds and three assists. McCarthy scored 13 points and Medina's Tre Hammond had 12 points.

Spade and Flood both scored nine points and had three assists in the win, Tallmadge's Aaron Gergely had eight points and seven rebounds and Pickett scored six points.

"Caleb has got the best motor I have ever seen from a big kid," Flood said. "... It was awesome to play with him one more time. Being on the court with Connor is super fun. Even in practice, it is all smiles and having a good time when you are with him."

Copley's Brian Emich coached the The Dark Jersey All-Stars to a win and had a blast.

"We had balanced scoring," Emich said. "I told them: 'Hey, let's try to keep it close. Let's have fun, but play defense. The crowd is here and they want to see good basketball, too.' We kind of had a five in, five out philosophy and I thought they did a good job."

Emich was also pleased to see Wininger and Laurich play well.

"They are very similar in their approach," Emich said. "They both work extremely hard everyday. I have been with Caleb for four years now. I have coached him as a freshman all the way through to his senior year and he is focused, he works hard, he understands what he needs to accomplish and he is a team guy. I think we are seeing the same thing in Trent now as a sophomore."

Holley paced the White Jersey All-Stars in the Senior All-Star Game with 22 points and nine rebounds. Kenmore-Garfield's McNeal Thompson IV totaled 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Barberton's Tony Fox had 14 points and five rebounds.

Other notable players for the White Jersey All-Stars were Bagwell (12 points, six rebounds); Martin (11 points, three steals); Streetsboro's Devin Reese (10 points, five rebounds) and Bryce Vecchio (six points, eight rebounds) and Coventry's Kamden McAfee (six points, seven rebounds).

"It was good to share the court with all of these guys," Thompson said. "We had a lot of fun. There were a lot of dunks. Me and Holley, we have been playing against each other our entire high school career. Finally, we get to play with each other."

Proud papas

Kenmore-Garfield coach McNeal Thompson III and Coventry coach Devon McAfee enjoyed their roles as spectators Tuesday with their sons on the court.

Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MBeavenABJ.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Trent Wininger, Caleb Laurich shine in basketball all-star games