Gregory named top defender

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University forward and West Branch High School graduate Sophia Gregory was named the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year on Monday.

Gregory follows last season’s Horizon League Freshman of the Year award by joining Lilly Ritz (2022-23) as one of only two Penguins to be named the conference Defensive Player of the Year. Gregory leads the Horizon League with 9.0 rebounds per game and 6.7 defensive rebounds per game, and she is the anchor for YSU’s defense that leads the conference in scoring defense, opponent field-goal percentage, opponent 3-point field-goal percentage and blocks. In addition to her rebounding prowess, Gregory ranks second in the Horizon League with 1.5 blocks per game, and she is sixth with 1.8 steals per game.

Gregory’s highlights haven’t just been on the defensive end. A second-team all-conference selection, she averages 10.5 points and 3.0 assists while shooting 57.1% from the field. She is the only player in the league to rank among the top eight in rebounds, assists, steals and blocks during the regular season, and her versatility is notable at a national level. She is one of five players in the country averaging at least 10 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and a block per game.

“I think there’s been so much growth for her on both sides of the ball,” YSU coach Melissa Jackson said. “But for her to get Defensive Player of the Year, I think speaks a lot to her athleticism, her instincts and all that, but the concepts and how she’s been able to pick up things this year — that growth has been tremendous. I credit a lot of that to our coaching staff. Her position coach, Shayna Gore has done an unbelievable job with her, bringing her in and watching film. She really has gotten better and grown in a lot of areas.”

YSU hosts Wright State in the first round of the Horizon League Women’s Basketball Tournament on Wednesday.

Feren led Raider programs

CANFIELD — South Range athletic director Donee Feren died on Saturday at the age of 54.

A 1990 graduate of South Range, he began coaching in the district in 2008. In 2009 he was named head softball coach and later went on to be named the athletic director in 2015.

Feren had been battling cancer and the school district just had a benefit basketball game for him on Feb. 13.

Plenty of ‘no hits’ to go around at Elon

The Elon Phoenix pulled off a rare double when the baseball team’s Aidan Stieglitz combined with two relievers for a no-hitter shortly after the softball team’s Anna Dew pitched a perfect game.

Saturday’s gems put the 7,000-student private school in North Carolina in the spotlight as stat geeks pored through record books to see if or when a school had ever had two pitching performances of such magnitude occur on the same day. No one has come up with the answer, though ESPN reported it definitely hasn’t happened in the past three years.

“I was primarily a pitcher in college myself, so I can appreciate the effort,” said athletic director Jennifer Strawley, who played softball at Penn in the 1990s. “It doesn’t happen every day that you see a perfect game or a no-hitter and to have both on the same day. You also recognize it’s a total team effort and to get to that place, there are plays made behind them that led to the pitchers being able to enjoy that moment.”

Dew struck out six and threw just 79 pitches in an 8-0 win over Charleston Southern that ended after six innings because of the run rule.