ZT’s Cam Evans wins second straight SVC POY honor, all-conference teams released

Derrick Webb, Staff Writer

CHILLICOTHE — For quite some time now, Zane Trace’s Cam Evans has been heralded as one of the Scioto Valley Conference’s best players.

That’s no secret.

But over the past two seasons in particular, the league’s coaches have voted him as the best player.

Evans earned a second consecutive SVC Player of the Year honor on Wednesday, becoming the 10th player in history to win the award twice … in the boys basketball realm.

“It means a lot to me to be able to win the award in general, especially in back-to-back years. As much as the award kind of zones in on one player, there is no way that I could’ve done it without all of my friends, family, coaches, teammates, and community on my side,” Evans said.

Evans leads the league in scoring at 21.2 points per game to go alongside 3.2 assists. He’s shooting 79 percent from the free throw line and 53 percent from the field.

That’s led to his Pioneers owning a 19-3 overall record and a 13-1 mark inside the SVC.

“The guys and coaches on the team push me every day in practices and games and they continue to trust me,” Evans said. “My family pushes me everyday to be better on and off the court. It means everything to me to be able to win the award for the ZT community.”

Coach of the Year honors belong to Unioto’s Matt Hoops, who led his Shermans to a 13-1 mark in the SVC to share a title with Zane Trace.

The award is the seventh of Hoops’ career and his sixth in the past seven seasons.

Earlier this season, Hoops won his 200th career game. His career coaching record now stands at 212-131.

Joining Evans with first-team all-SVC honors are Unioto’s Isaac Little, Adena’s Logan Bennett, Zane Trace’s Nick Nesser and Piketon’s Chris Chandler.

Little is averaging 13.4 points per game while playing through an injury, Bennett is third in the league in scoring with 16.3 points per night, Nesser pieced together a campaign where he averaged 12.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per contest, and Chandler posted 13.4 points per evening.

Huntington senior Seth Beeler, Westfall senior Jay Wyman, Paint Valley senior Bryce Newland and sophomore Cordell Grubb, and Adena junior Preston Sykes make up the five second-team all-SVC selections.

Earning third-team all-league honors were Unioto’s Josh Lambert, Zane Trace’s Colby Swain, Westfall’s Lucas Blackburn, Southeastern’s Derek Wheeler, and Piketon’s Tyree Harris.

Honorable mention selections were as follows: Adena’s Nate Throckmorton and Dillon McDonald, Huntington’s Caleb Smith and Dalton Haubeil, Paint Valley’s Cruz McFadden and Trent Mettler, Piketon’s Brody Fuller and Levi Gullion, Southeastern’s Aiden Estep and Aaron Gillum, Unioto’s Nate Keiser and Reece Wheeler, Westfall’s Hayden Lemaster and Connor Spohn, and Zane Trace’s Triton Davidson and Luke Johnson.