INDIANAPOLIS – A pair of former freshmen of the year award winners from defending league champs Walsh received Great Midwest Athletic Conference Basketball Players of the Week honors as the season officially tipped off with crossover competition.
Men’s and women’s Great Midwest programs had a chance to enhance their postseason resume early on with many contests vs. GLVC or GLIAC teams from the Midwest Region.
Walsh was the lone men’s program to go 2-0 during the first week, bringing down Maryville and UMSL from the GLVC. Five teams from the league earned their first win of the year including Cedarville, Findlay, Hillsdale, Malone and Ohio Dominican.
The women made a strong impression as four teams busted out of the gates with 2-0 starts. Findlay, Kentucky Wesleyan and Trevecca Nazarene, all secured some great victories against regional competition.
Men’s Basketball Athlete of the Week
Darryl Straughter
Guard
Walsh
Junior
Canton, OH (Canton McKinley HS)
Straughter came out firing and was rarely off target as the defending conference tournament champion Cavaliers averaged over 80 points to beat Maryville and UMSL.
Straughter averaged 23.5 PPG while shooting a crazy 15-21 on three-pointers. To go along with that the Junior tied the single-game conference record with 10 triples made against Maryville.
All of his game-high 30 points in that game came from behind the arc. Straughter matched the 10 three-pointers made by former Davis & Elkins guard Kevin Simpson, another former league freshman of the year, back in 2018.
Straughter also had four rebounds, an assist and a steal in 35 minutes of time on the floor.
The junior followed that up with 17 points and three rebounds while making five of his eight tries from deep in the victory against Missouri-St. Louis. He was 6-of-12 from the field and finished opening weekend with a shooting percentage of .590.
Walsh has two home games in North Canton this week as they face Franciscan and Wright State-Lake.
Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Week
Mayci Sales
Forward
Walsh
Junior
Massillon, OH (Tuslaw HS)
Sales was a driving force in allowing Walsh to cut down the nets for a conference title in 2018-2019 and it appears her game has blossomed into a whole different level.
As a first team all-conference selection as a sophomore, Sales picked up right where she left off and averaged 21.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG and 2.5 APG over the weekend.
The Cavaliers earned two regional wins over Wayne State University and Ferris State University where Sales also shot .590% from the field.
In the blowout win over Wayne State to start the season, Sales put up 20 points and 5 rebounds while only missing three shots. Against Ferris State,
Sales recorded 23 points and 8 rebounds. She also was 3-of-4 from three-point range in the 15-point victory for the Cavaliers. She tied Hilsdale’s Lauren Daffenberg for the league lead in scoring through the first two games of the season.
The Cavaliers play three times this week as they start off with a home contest against Urbana. Later this week they travel to Ursuline to battle it out against Lindenwood and Saginaw Valley State in more Midwest Region action.