Friday, March 26th, 2021

2021 boys basketball Dream Team

By Tom Haines
Photo by Daily Standard Staff

Dylan Hughes

Parkway

6-4 Senior Guard

23.2 PPG, 4.1 Assists, 9.1 Rebounds

At the start of the 2020-2021 season, the Parkway boys basketball team was coming off its most successful year to date but had to replace its all-time leading scorer.
Caleb Kinney, who averaged 19 points per game in 2019-2020, left massive shoes to fill.
Senior Dylan Hughes stepped into the void and put up 23 points per game, and although they weren't able to replicate their tournament success, the Panthers now have the last two boys basketball players to be named the Daily Standard Dream Team Player of the Year as Hughes takes the mantle from Kinney.
"I had to pick up some slack on that this year," Hughes said. "We had some young guys who were just having their first varsity experience. I knew that losing our all-time leading scorer, that along with having some younger guys who are going to have to step up and play some bigger minutes, I might have to take on some of that scoring ability."
Hughes' scoring ability was very different from Kinney. Where Kinney dominated the post, Hughes was a threat to score from all over, combining sharpshooting from the perimeter with the ability to drive the lane and create looks inside.
But more importantly, Hughes had to take up the slack off the floor. As the only senior and one of only two returning varsity players, the challenge of maintaining a culture of success fell squarely on his shoulders.
"Losing seven seniors, and specifically Caleb and Nick (Hawk), two guys who were really big for us in the leadership aspect of the game, I really knew that I had to come in this year and be a leader," Hughes said. "(I had to) come into practice every day and make sure everybody got better."
The 2019-2020 team reached the regional final for the first time in program history before the tournament was called off due to the pandemic. In the opener of the 2021 tournament, Hughes scored 20 points and went coast-to-coast for a layup with 0.5 seconds left in overtime to keep the Panthers alive, but it wasn't enough. Parkway fell 58-54 in the second overtime to Ridgemont.
Although the Panthers couldn't get as far, the young team acquitted itself well many times over the course of the season.
"There's a lot of games we hit adversity, and we kept battling," Hughes said. "A lot of the young guys, it could've been easy for them to just put their heads down, stop working and just give up on the season. But I felt like we did a good job of battling adversity. Things didn't always go our way, but we were just always out there giving effort."
For Hughes personally, the early exit cost him a chance to make a run at Kinney's scoring record, and he finished 114 points short. But he eclipsed 1,000 career points in a February game against New Knoxville, which was his goal.
"As a kid, that's just one thing you always want to accomplish one day," Hughes said. "That was just an amazing feeling and something I'm glad I had the chance to achieve."
Hughes still has to decide where he'll continue his basketball career, with a few more weeks to consider his options. Regardless of where he plays, he plans to major in early childhood education with a minor in special education.
But with his Parkway chapter closed, he came back to the support he received from the community as the most special thing about his experience.
"The past four years, the support that they have given me personally, and the team, the organization, the program, has been terrific," Hughes said. "Words can't really describe how I feel toward the community and how grateful I am for all the support they've given me."

Dream Team:
Alex Eyink, Marion Local
Bennett Gels, St. Henry
Reece Busse, New Bremen
Bryan Falk, Minster
Justin Nixon, Minster
Austin Parks, St. Marys
Dylan Hughes, Parkway
Coach: Cory Stephens, New Bremen

Honorable Mention:
Celina: Josh Rasawehr
Coldwater: Ethan Post, Myles Blasingame
Fort Recovery: Owen Jutte, Brian Bihn, Cale Rammel
Marion Local: Charlie Huelsman, Peyton Otte
Minster: Johnny Nixon, Eric Schmidt
New Bremen: David Homan
New Knoxville: Patrick Covert, Carson Bierlein
Parkway: Gabe Schaaf, Caden Slusher
St. Henry: Logan Lefeld, Carter Ontrop
St. Marys: LeTrey Williams, Jadin Davis
Additional online story on this date
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Dream Team
When the New Bremen football team won the Division IV state championship game, it left Cory Stephens with two weeks to get his team ready for the start of the boys basketball season.
CELINA - Dan Huber found Ohio Northern University to be perfect for his college experience.
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CELINA - Celina's returning Western Buckeye League high jump champion has found a college home.
Senior Olivia Rider will compete at Bluffton University next season after committing to the NCAA Division III program on Thursday.
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CELINA - After a 2020 softball season that never was, Celina gets ready for 2021 with a team that has experience back.
Veteran assistant Jason Tri
COLDWATER - After the 2020 baseball season was canceled, the Cavaliers will look to try and defend its 2019 Division III state title in 2021.
Vete
COLDWATER - Kyle Ahrens will finally get a chance to coach the Coldwater spring softball team.
The Coldwater graduate was hired before the 2020 se
FORT RECOVERY - After a completely lost season, the fortunes of the Fort Recovery baseball team will be determined by how fast it can get up to speed
FORT RECOVERY - For the Fort Recovery softball team, the loss of the 2020 season is a tantalizing "what if?"
The Indians had five seniors in the c
MARIA STEIN - The year away from spring baseball took a hit to the Marion Local roster this season.
Mitch Hays, who moves up to the head coaching
MARIA STEIN - Mindy Feasel takes over at Marion Local this season and inherits a softball team that has several returning letterwinners and a competitive team that went 11-13 in 2019.
MINSTER - After bowing out in the Division IV state semifinals two years ago, veteran Minster baseball coach Mike Wiss returns a large contingent to the Wildcat dugout in 2021, but one that is lacking in varsity experience.
MINSTER - There won't be many familiar faces back for Minster softball coach Robb Hemmelgarn as his Wildcats return to the diamond this spring.
Min
NEW BREMEN - With a mix of experience and depth, the New Bremen baseball team will be looking to contend for a Midwest Athletic Conference title this spring.
NEW BREMEN - Lynette Ross will field a veteran team in her inaugural season as the head softball coach at New Bremen.
The Cardinal roster will sport seven seniors in 2021, including two returning letterwinners from 2019.
ROCKFORD -Coming off the first intrasquad scrimmage of the spring, Parkway baseball coach Luke Clouse is feeling optimistic.
"It's Parkway baseball
ROCKFORD ­­- As Trey Stover takes over for the only head coach in Parkway softball history, he already has a lot to work with.
Former coach Mark
ST. HENRY - For the first time since 1989, the St. Henry baseball team will take the field without John Dorner in the dugout.
Mike Gast, who played
ST. HENRY - In a year where every team in the Midwest Athletic Conference is battling inexperience, the St. Henry softball team might have a leg up.
ST. MARYS - Like most teams bouncing back from a COVID-19-canceled season, the St. Marys Roughriders will have plenty of holes to fill on its 2021 roster.
ST. MARYS - Fifth-year St. Marys softball coach Kendra Solomon has a decent pool of experience lying in wait as the Roughriders return to the diamond this spring.
CELINA - Young is the perfect word to describe the Celina track and field program in 2021.
After missing all of last season due to the pandemic, Ce
COLDWATER - After a year away from the track, the Coldwater track and field program will look to continue its upward mobility after the girls won the 2019 MAC and Division II districts title and the boys played fourth in the league.
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MARIA STEIN - Both the Marion Local boys and girls track teams will look to build upon the success they had in 2019.
The Flyer boys were one point away from winning a share of the Midwest Athletic Conference track meet and finished second at districts.
MINSTER - Both Minster boys and girls track teams will have a solid nucleus of veterans from the 2019 season to build on for the upcoming season.
V
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Leading the way
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Two years ago, Liam Ferroggiaro and
ST. HENRY - For several of the newcomers on the St. Henry boys track team, this spring is a chance to build on a strong fall.
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ST. MARYS - Numbers are up for veteran St. Marys track coach Rob Cisco this spring.
"I'm really excited about the fact that we have about 80 kids o
CELINA - Veteran Celina tennis coach Toma Hainline will have a year of rebuilding the boys program that features just three letterwinners from a 2019 team that went 1-8 in Western Buckeye League play and was unable to advance anyone from opening round matches at the league tournament.
ST. MARYS - Luke Gossard begins his first season coaching the St. Marys boys tennis team and will be pretty much be starting from scratch.
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