The Daily Record
From Staff Reports
Campbell recruit Cory Gensler of Cary started and scored 17 points in a 118-98 win for the East boys in the annual North Carolina Coaches Association All-Star game at Greensboro Coliseum on Monday night.
Robert Colon (Northside) was named the Most Valuable Player after leading the East with a game-high 26 points.
Shaft Parker (Farmville Central) scored 23 points. Gensler had nine rebounds and three assists.
Ben Zemonek (Leesville Road) scored 14 points and added several highlight dunks in the first quarter to set the tone for the East.
With 10 rebounds, Zemonek was the only player to record a double-double.
Damani Applewhite (Westover) finished with 12 points and Tharon Suggs (Broughton) scored 10. Brock scored eight points, Peyton Pappas (Cedar Ridge) had six and Trevor Willis (East Carteret) had two.
The East led by just three points at halftime but pushed the margin to double digits quickly by starting the third quarter on a 10-2 run. The East ultimately outscored the West 34-19 in the quarter to take control of the game.
Pappas started at point guard and led the team with four assists despite being a late addition to the roster.
He found out he was playing in the game just a week beforehand.
The East dominated rebounding, 64-44.
Gensler Leads Imps
A second-team all-state selection by the North Carolina Basketball Coaches Association, Gensler led Cary High School to the 2016 Eastern 4-A championship.
A 6-foot-4, 185-pound guard, Gensler is the third Campbell recruit to play in the East-West contest since Kevin McGeehan became coach at CU in April, 2013.
Quinton Ray played for the East out of Middle Creek in 2013, while Chris Clemons, 2016 Big South Conference Freshman of the Year, represented Millbrook in last year’s game.
As a senior, Gensler averaged 17.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.9 steals for an Imps team that finished 31-2.
He made 42-of-112 (37.5 percent) of his 3-point field goal attempts on the year, including the game-winner against Garner in the 4-A regional final that provided Cary with a 71-69 overtime triumph.
Over his four-year varsity career, Gensler scored a school-record 1,956 points in 107 games (18.3 per outing) and hit 166-of-421 threes (39.4 percent).
A four-time all-conference selection, Gensler led Cary to a 49-9 record (.844) over his final two seasons.
Gensler joins forwards Austin Burnette (Raleigh), Nick Greely (Fairmont, W.Va.), Mogga Lado (Nampa, Idaho) and Damontez Oliver (Glen Allen, Va.) and guard Marcus Burk (Indianapolis, Ind.) in the 2015-16 Camel recruiting class.
Campbell returns three of its top five scorers from a team that finished 12-18 last season and earned a win over Conference USA member Charlotte, while going 2-0 against Southern Conference teams.
Clemons returns after ranking seventh among the nation’s freshman scoring leaders (18.5), along with senior guard Kyre’ Hamer (9.5) and junior forward Shane Whitfield (7.6).
The Camels roster now includes five scholarship players who played high school basketball in the Raleigh area.
(WRAL HighSchoolOT and Campbell Media Services contributed to this report).
Campbell recruit Cory Gensler scored 17 points in the East’s win on Monday night.
Photo/Ray Black III/News& Observer
