By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

Nine Waterloo High School boys and girls basketball players were recently named to the 2022-23 All-Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Scarlet Division team.

For the Vikings’ girls basketball program, which finished the season with a 9-3 division record to place second behind undefeated Sebring McKinley, five players were recognized.

Senior Rose Couts and junior Kaira English were named First Team All-MVAC.

Couts finished a superb career by averaging 15.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 3.0 steals per game this season. She was also top five in Portage County in field-goals made (135) and top 10 in made free throws (45).

English was another Waterloo player that peppered multiple statistical categories this year. She averaged 14.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.1 steals per game. In Portage County, she was top 10 in field goals (108) and top five in free throws (63).

Junior Lilly Foster, who led the Vikings in assists at 3.3 per game, along with senior Abby Mazur, who led Portage County with 58 made 3-pointers, were both named to the All-MVAC Second Team.

Waterloo junior Kaylee Webb earned Honorable Mention status.

For boys basketball, the Vikings placed four players on the All-MVAC team led by First Team honorees Navarre Alhassan and Ryan Wise.

Both seniors, Alhassan averaged 17.7 points per game this season and became the school’s seventh player to reach the 1,000-point milestone.

Wise has been one of the area’s top rebounders for two consecutive seasons. He averaged 9.9 this year after pulling down 12.2 per game last year. He also was a scoring option for the Vikings’ this season and the team’s top visionary passer.

Senior Anthony Podojil, who averaged 11.3 points per game this season as a shooter and slasher, was named to the Second Team.

Junior Drew Flarida, who was a double-double threat on most nights, was named to the Honorable Mention team.

For the season, the Vikings’ boys finished 8-6 in the Scarlet Division and tied for third place.