Pleasant Spartans/Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference News

Pleasant in State Again

Click here to listen to an interview with coach Kory Ute

          Marion Pleasant is in the volleyball state tournament for the second year in a row.

          The Lady Spartans (23-1) will play New Lexington in a division V state semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Vandalia Butler High School.  The winner will meet either Mentor Lake Catholic or Cincinnati Summit Country Day for the state title on Sunday afternoon at Wright State University.

          Pleasant beat Huron, the “SBC” Bay co-champ, (25-20, 25-17, 25-23) in the district final last Saturday at Elida.

          Coach Kory Ute says they were able to force Huron out of what they wanted to do.  “We felt like we played well.  Our main goal was to get them out of system because they have some strong hitters.  Anytime you have more than a couple hitters you just really have to be on your game to play better defense.  We got them out of the system a lot and we were just able to capitalize on what they threw back at us,” she said.

          New Lexington downed Frankfort Adena (25-14, 25-12, 16-25, 25-21) to win their regional championship last Saturday.

          Ute says they have an outstanding player and a lot of other pieces too.  “Well, they're good as well.  You don't get to this time of the year still playing in the very last week of volleyball without being good.  They have a first team all Ohioan Chloe Dick and she's a great hitter.  Scouting her just on film because I didn't have a chance to go watch them.  She can hit from the outside, she can hit from the back and do about anything.  They have more than a couple hitters.  They pull the ball and throw it to a lot of different people and it works well for them.  They don't get out of system a whole lot, so that's going to be our job to do that to them.  I'm hoping that they won't be as ready for us as maybe another team would be.  I think our chances are good if we stick to the game plan,” said Ute.

          Ute says if they stick to their game plan they have a chance to win on Saturday.  “Cameron did an interview, one of my Cams, did an interview (Tuesday) and talked about I think we didn't know what we were doing as far as like we didn't know what was happening next like for preceding the game and she said we had the nerves going.  She said, I don't feel nervous now.  I feel like we're getting prepared and that we're going to be ready,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “I like that because I don't ever ask them hey are you nervous.  She doesn't say it too often.  She did say it, I think, before Huron.  If they can understand that if they work with us.  Take in the information that we're giving them.  They do pretty well with it.  We think our chances are okay.  We've got to defend a lot, but that's what we do.  We have a libero that has over 500 digs this year and she's performed very well.  She is a very good reader of the ball.  So, she keeps our defense in line.  I know that she'll play as well as she can on Saturday also.”

Published 11/06/25

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Pleasant Meets Balanced Willard in Regionals

          Marion Pleasant tangles with Willard in the division V regional semifinals at Elida Middle School on Wednesday.

          Huron, like Willard out of the “SBC” Bay, plays Pemberville Eastwood in the other semi.  The regional final is on Saturday.

          Pleasant beat Johnstown-Monroe (25-20, 26-24, 24-26 and 25-13) in a district final last Saturday at Granville.

          Coach Kory Ute says they are excited to be in the regional.  “We're just always happy to be back in the show, so we were pretty excited.  Johnstown did a really good job.  I was a little bit worried about them going in because they've been gaining momentum all year and those teams are hard to get rid of.  We're really excited we're glad to be back for the third year in regionals.  We've made it a goal.  You talk to your kids about getting to the second season and you have to perform there.  You have got to perform every night when it gets to be tournament time,” said Ute.

          Pleasant (24-1) advanced to the state tournament last year and lost in the regionals two years ago and Ute feels that experience will help them.  “Well, I would think so.  I know our girls are pretty laid back this year.  Much more so than last year, so I think that is the experience part of it, but you still worry about a team coming in and maybe getting up on top at the beginning and how your girls are going to react.  We've been blessed this year we only lost one match, but I'll tell you we looked really crappy and that one match.  So, you don't want to slide backward.  Willard will be ready we know that,” she said.

          Willard (22-3) shared the Bay Division title with Huron.  They beat Otsego (27-25, 25-18, 25-20) to win their district title.

          Ute says the Lady Flashes show great balance.  “They're Willard kids, they're strong, they're athletic and they play hard and they don't stop.  They are very well balanced.  They've got three hitters that will hit the ball.  All three have a little over 200 kills each and then they've got one with about 125 kills, so people are hitting the ball and they're winning because of it.  Anytime you have more than a couple hitters it's a little bit harder to defend because you don't know where they're going to go with the ball,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They've done a good job, and like I said gaining momentum all year, and I kind of had my eye on them early just because watching their numbers at the beginning I thought, oh boy, they're going to come on strong and they sure did.”

Published 10/29/25

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Pleasant Clinches a Share

          Unbeaten Marion Pleasant wrapped up no less than a share of the title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Thursday night in beating Shelby is three sets 25-17, 25-11, and 25-12.

          They can win it outright with a win over second place Highland on Tuesday night.

          Coach Kory Ute says it feels pretty good. “It really does, yes it really does feel good.  The girls were smiling when they left the gym for sure,” he said.

          At (20-0) they are ranked #9 in the latest statewide coaches poll in division V.

          Ute says this team has been ready to play every night.  “You have to do it every night and in this league, there are a lot of teams that can come up from behind and bite you a little bit.  So, you have to be ready to go every night and you have to be at your best in athleticism, your best in communication and your best in teamwork every single time that you go out and play a match.  They've done really well with that, really well with that this year,” said Ute.

          They have outstanding talent, but Ute says it’s the team chemistry that makes this team what it is.  “They're really competitive girls and they don't like to lose, but I think I still go back to they're all friends.  They play for each other as much as for themselves and I think that’s huge,” she told Swankonsports.com after the win Thursday night, “I’ve had really good teams that didn’t do that and I don’t feel like they were as successful as they could have been.  This group genially, and last year too, they genially worked for each other every day.  They made them accountable as well.”

          Winning a share of the title one thing, but Ute says they are not really in a mood to be sharing.  “We want it outright.  Right now, we are sitting at 20-0.  We told them that can go away, but nobody can take the league away from you when you earn it.  So, go out and be greedy, get a hold of it, and it will follow you for a while,” she said.

Published 10/03/25

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Pleasant Back at it

          Marion Pleasant makes the trip to Ontario to take on the Warriors in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Thursday night.

          It will be their first action since January 18.

          Coach Ben Snively says they can’t wait to get back on the floor.  “We were talking as a team (Tuesday) and I said it's almost like a preseason all over again.  Hopefully this gives us a little time to recover and I think our kids will be hungry to get back on the court Thursday night against an Ontario team that is playing well, they beat Crestview the other night,” he told Swankosports.com on Tuesday evening, “I think it's going to be a challenge with their athleticism and the way they like to get up and down the court press a little bit.  So, a big challenge for us on Thursday night, but we're ready to get back out there.”

          Pleasant (6-8,4-5) is at Ontario (5-10,3-5) on Thursday night.  The Warriors lost (66-57) to Galion in a conference game last Friday.  They beat Firelands Conference leader Crestview (61-59) on Saturday afternoon.

          Snively says they are going to want to push the pace.  “The last game they jumped out on us early and then we were able to slow the pace a little bit and hit some shots.  The first thing we got to do is beat the press.  We have got to get the ball past half court and I think once we do that we're going to have to be patient because again they're just the team that if you let them out and they get going they can be a really dangerous team when they get going,” he said.

          Pleasant won the first matchup with Ontario (55-53) on December 17.

          Snively says perimeter defense will be a key for them.  “We have got to go there this time.  Teams are always looking for revenge, so that makes it a little bit tough when anytime you're on the road it makes it tough.  We do have a presence in the in the paint, but like I said they've got three of four kids that can shoot it and they're good slashes to the basket.  They’ve got a lot of kids that that'll put the ball up from three.  So, we'll just have to do a good job of getting hands in their face and trying to do the best we can and not give them second chance opportunities,” said Snively.

Published 1/29/25

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Can Pleasant Do it Again

Pleasant is the only team to beat River Valley in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game this year and they get another chance on Saturday night in suburban Caledonia.

          On Saturday night, they lost (60-50) to Shelby in an “MOAC” game.

          Coach Ben Snively says they could not maintain their play from early in the game and the Whippets physicalness hurt them.  “We jumped out.  We got out to an early lead and things were looking good for us.  Their guard that transferred he's done playing for the season, so they had a couple guys actually missing that evening.  We jumped out early and then (Brayden) DeVito took over the game and their physical presence and just how physical they played with us kind of hurt us.  We just weren't able to get much done against them defensively, but we know they're a tough basketball team and good program, so we're looking to bounce back from that,” he said.

          Before River Valley, Pleasant (5-7,3-4) plays at home against Highland.  The Fighting Scots beat Pleasant (48-41) on December 6.

          Snively says they have to shoot better.  “The first game we didn't shoot real well and to their credit they did shoot well.  It was one of those games that we got down early and we fought our way back about midway through the third quarter we actually took a one point lead.  From that point forward they hit a bunch of threes that night.  Every time we make a little run at them, they would hit the three.  Every kid on their team is fearless.  They will shoot it from anywhere.  They like to trap a little bit.  So, I think the biggest thing is handling their pressure and then just shooting the basketball better.  Hopefully, the homecourt advantage will be able to help us out this Thursday night to get through that game,” said Snively.

          On December 12, the Spartans beat River Valley, the “MOAC” co leader, (51-48) at Pleasant.

          Snively says they point to that game when it comes to the potential they have as a team.  “We really used that as a stepping stone as far as we beat probably one of the two best teams in the league.  Again, we know we can play that way.  I think a game like that gives you the confidence to do that.  I think they're going to have a different focus level this time and we have got to go to their court,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We know it's going to be a difficult match up, but hopefully we can control the tempo.  If you shoot the basketball well and take care of it, don't give up a lot of offensive rebounds, you give yourself a chance win about any basketball game.”

Published 1/15/25

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Pleasant Glad to be Back Out There

          Marion Pleasant hosts Wynford in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          The Spartans were walloped (61-30) by Marion Harding in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Saturday night.

          Coach Ben Snively says they were outplayed in every aspect of the game.  “Well, Saturday was just one of those things.  I give all the credit in the world to Harding.  They came out and they hit some shots.  We got down 12-2.  They made a lot of shots that day, but really we just we had no answer for really anything they did.  When they did miss, they got offensive rebounds.  They had 14 of them on us.  Quite honestly it was a disappointing effort on our part.  It was a total effort from coaches to managers to players, everybody.  They just they really took it to us and there was not much we can do about it.” said Snively.

          Pleasant (4-6) is at home for Wynford (1-8) on Tuesday.  Wynford is coming off a (65-21) thumping from Colonel Crawford in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night.

          Snively says in all due respect to Wynford, this game is more about them.  “I think it's a very winnable game for us.  We're really excited to get back and play after what happened to us on Saturday.  I know their record is not great, but as I told you kids coming off of a performance like we had the other night it's really important that we just got to go out and find ourselves again and get back.  It's not as much about Wynford as it is out about us going out and executing some things and getting back on the right track,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Like I said what happened on Saturday teams can go in one of two directions when you have a game like that.  So, just really looking forward to getting back out on the court.  It's a non league game, so I think that kind of takes a little stress and pressure off of you, but we're looking forward to getting back out there and getting back in school and getting some kind of rhythm going again.”

          Snively says thy just want to get back on the court.  “It just kind of makes me laugh, I feel horrible for football coaches.  Seven days in between and I know that's going to be pretty painful.  When you have a quick turn around like this it's always good.  I talked to the kids (Monday) about there's a quote I heard a while back that you're never really ever as good as you think you are and you're never really as bad as you think you are either.  So, you're always kind of somewhere in between.  We just got to get back out there and like I said getting the rhythm and get back to school and all that stuff and get ready to go for the stretch run,” said Snively.

Published 1/07/25

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Pleasant Has to be Focused

          Marion Pleasant, after two big league wins, plays St. Clairsville in a holiday tournament on Saturday afternoon.

          The Spartans beat archrival River Valley (51-48) last Thursday.

          Coach Ben Snively says they executed their game plan.  “They were both home games, so I think anytime you're at home that that helps matters.  It had been quite a while, I don't want to say how long it's been since beat River Valley, but it's been a while. We know we're not going to score, we're not going to run up and down with River Valley ever.  We just took care of the basketball that night.  We didn't turn it over and our kids were real patient.  They're really buying into everything we're asking them to do.  Just really proud of the effort.  River Valley didn't shoot the ball great that night, which helped us out a little bit.  They didn’t rebound like they normally do.  We were able to pull that out,” said Snively.

          They edged Ontario (55-53) on Tuesday night.  Snively says they executed well under pressure when they had to.  “We knew they were undefeated in the league and they play a different style of basketball.  They have got some good young kids coming.  They just trapped us all night.  We actually had a double digit lead at one point late in the game and they turned us over quite a bit.  We ended up pulling it out.  We made a free throw with four seconds to put us up four.  So, another great win, but again we were just able to do it on our home court,” he said.

          Snively says St. Clairsville will be a challenge heading into the important holiday stretch of the season.  “With the St. Clairsville trip this week.  I actually grew up in the Ohio valley and my cousin runs little tournament down there, so we're going to spend the night.  So, I'm a little worried we're going to be in the hotel room on Friday night and play Saturday afternoon.  St. Clairsville has a good program.  They're kind of similar to Ontario, they do have one kid that's bigger, they have got a 6’7” kid.  I think we'll have a shot down there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We come back with Galion and Cardington.  Cardington’s got like 10 seniors this year.  Galion we're on the road that that evening, so that'll be a difficult one for us.  We did move the Marion Harding game from January 2 to January 4, so that's going to be another Saturday afternoon game.  We have really got to focus in this time of year, especially with the kids.  (Thursday) was our last day of school.  You just have to keep them focused and that's the main thing.  I think we've got a group of kids that really pay attention to detail.”

Published 12/20/24

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Pleasant to Get Started Tuesday

          It’s act two for the Pleasant Spartans as they play their first game on Tuesday night at North Union in non-conference play.

          They started a game last Wednesday against Fairbanks, but it was stopped in the second quarter when an official had a heart attack.  Luckily, the man survived with the help of medical personnel and is recovering.

          Coach Ben Snively says it will be good to get a game in Tuesday.  “It was obviously a real rough situation for us.  Our community really stepped up and did a wonderful job in a in a bad situation last week.  Now we move on and it seems like with Thanksgiving and all that.  We did play them almost a half, but it's really like our first game going out to be quite honest,” he said.

          Snively says playing at North Union is always a homecoming for him.  “I graduated from North Union High School, so I have still got a lot of buddies over there.  I always enjoy going back going back home per se and getting to play against some of my friends kids and things now.  A guy I actually played with, his son, had 40 the other night against Fredericktown, that’s Miles Hall.  We're really going to have to do a job on him.  He did get to the line quite a few times, so we're going to have to limit his opportunities at the line.  We're just going to have to go over there and take care of the basketball like usual and try to control a kid that's probably feeling real confident right now after a 40 point night,” said Snively.

          Snively says he believes they are going to be ready to play when they toss the ball up Tuesday night.  “There's no question, like I said, it was almost like a little dress rehearsal the old previews we used to do back in the day where you play a half and then you're ready to go for your first game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We're going to get out there (Tuesday) night.  It's an odd feeling now since Tuesday night game where we were playing with no school before.  So, I've done this for quite a few years, so we'll go to over North Union (Tuesday) night and give them all we got,” said Snively.

Published 12/03/24

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Pleasant Finding Their Groove

          Marion Pleasant is going to be a pretty inexperienced team at least to begin the season as they lost a lot of talent to graduation.

          Coach Ben Snively says not only did they lose four year starter Trey Booker, but four other guys that played a lot.  “Aside from Booker we had four other seniors and those four other seniors they also played you know most of them, four of the five played from their sophomore year on.  So, those kids have been on the court for us for a long time.  Trey was a four year starter, but when you lose that type of experience it's going to be a whole new situation for us.  So, we're adjusting to that a little bit and mainly trying to find some scoring and finding basically a new identity,” said Snively.

          Snively says he has seen some good things in the preseason and they do have some kids to build around.  “I've been pleasantly surprised with our scrimmages thus far.  Again, the biggest thing is just getting these kids playing together.  We start in the summer time.  We did lose a kid that would have been a big player for us this year and Brennon Ringer.  He decided to wrestle this year.  He's a good football player and I think that probably benefited his career maybe this year a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We do have three returning letter winners back.  Lathan McCants, Owen Lowery, two seniors were expecting big years out of.  We had a 6’6” kid Evan Sickmiller last year that we tried to bring along as a sophomore.  He just wasn't quite ready yet, but he's really having a nice preseason hopefully he can just continue to get better for us each and every game.”

          Pleasant is scheduled to begin the season on the day before Thanksgiving against Fairbanks.

          Snively says they will be ready to go.  “We open up the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, so we're about eight days away. We have still got a couple scrimmages.  We just finished practice (Tuesday) night.  We have got four practices before our first game and the kids are definitely ready to get out there and get under those bright lights,” he said.

Published 11/20/24

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Pleasant Ready for the Tournament

          Marion Pleasant is the top seed in their division VI district as the girls’ volleyball tournament begins this week.

          They will host Grandview Heights in their opening match on Wednesday night.

          The Lady Spartans (19-3) finished third in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference a game behind co-winners Highland and Shelby.

          Coach Kory Ute says having faced some off the court tragedies before the season started, she is very proud of what they have already accomplished.  “Well, for how it started we were pretty pleased with how we did.  We had kind of a rough start.  We had some family tragedies in the beginning of August, so we lost our middle hitter for a couple weeks.  We lost our assistant coach back in May,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Getting together the girls trying to establish life without those two in the gym it was pretty tough.  We were pretty pleased that we ended up with our second game losing to Highland, but we played them tough.  Then we kind of got on a roll and took off and we were very pleasantly pleased.”

          They lost a four set match to Shelby last week where a win would have gotten them a share of the title.

          Ute says they have to move on.  “We had a rough spot against Shelby last week.  We were pretty upset about that at the time, but I tried to tell the girls one game doesn't define us.  Did we think we're going to be in that spot at the beginning of year?  Heck no we didn't and Shelby's a good team.  They got a first seed in their tournament, as did Highland, so we had three teams in one league get a first seed in their respective division.  So, you can't be upset with that.  We just have to go out and play a little bit harder and work a little bit harder and I think we'll be okay,” said Ute.

          With the expanded divisions this season, Ute says it gave her some hard work.  “It's very different and quite frankly I had to kind of do my homework a little bit more often with the teams that I don't normally see.  It's a little bit more homework and that's good for an old coach like me to do because it kind of keeps me on my toes.  Honestly, they don't know my players either, so I think it can be beneficial in a couple different ways,” she said.

Published 10/15/24

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Big Test for Pleasant

          In an important game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, Marion Pleasant entertains the Ontario Warriors on Friday night.

          Pleasant is one game behind both Ontario and Shelby.  The Whippets play River Valley on Friday.

          Pleasant needed overtime to subdue Clear Fork (17-10) last week.

          Coach C.J. Westler says they had to grind out a win.  “Just really proud of how our kids came out.  They're very physical team and we had to match their physicality and our kids were able to do that.  We stopped the run.  The elements presented some challenges.  It kind of played into their hands being a physical running team.  We were trying to throw the ball around a little bit, so we struggled with that.  To go into overtime and to fight the way that that we did and come out with a victory just very proud of our kids and how they battled through that entire game,” he said.

          The Spartans (4-2,2-1) play host to Ontario (6-0,3-0) on Friday night.  The Warriors are coming off perhaps the best game of the season in a (49-0) romp over Galion last Friday.

          Westler says Ontario is runs the ball and stops the run.  “Very similar to last year.  I know they had a huge senior class last year and they lost a lot of kids, but honestly when you watch the film you can't really tell.  Very stout up front, very tough running back, good skill kids and obviously their quarterback jumps right off the screen when you're watching film.  Really, I think they're an all around team.  They have a tough run defense.  Honestly, we've talked to the kids they're the class of the conference, them and Shelby, they were at the top last year and they're right there this year.  So, if we're going to take the next step these are the type of teams that we have to be able to compete with and hopefully get a win,” said Westler.

          Ontario won (45-14) last year.

          The Warriors have run the ball very well this year, but Westler says they can throw it too.  “Going back to our game last year and rewatching that.  We played pretty well defensively, but we couldn't really get anything going on the offensive side of the ball and that kind of hurt us.  You're never going to stop a kid (Miller) of that caliber, but I feel like we played them pretty well.  He had a couple nice runs on us, but we were able to bottle him.  We did give up a couple deep balls, which they like to throw it short and until the DB’s start to creep up and then they'll take their shots deep.  So, we just have to be disciplined there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They are very good running team.  They're running backs run extremely hard they break a lot of tackles.  Defensively, right now we're sitting with the top rushing defense in the conference and they're right there with us, they're tough to run against.  Some of those kids play both ways, but they're big and stout up front for sure.”

Published 10/02/24

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Pleasant Has to be Physical

          Marion Pleasant makes the trip to Clear Fork to face the Colts on Friday night in a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.

          Last week, they were overwhelmed by rival River Valley (35-0) in conference play.

          Coach C.J. Westler says they just didn’t play well at all.  “A little disappointed on how we performed.  Going into the game I expected us to be a lot better.  I thought we had a good week of practice and a good game plan, but overall it was a bad game, outplayed, out coached, really outclassed and in every area.  We've talked to the kids about moving on and looking ahead and not back and we have had a pretty good week of practice so far this week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Really looking forward to Clear Fork.  They say styles make fights and really we struggled to match up with River Valley two years in a row now with their style.  Clear Fork really is the complete opposite of that.  They love to run the ball and really what we do best is defending the run.  So, I'm really excited to see the match up Friday really strength versus strength and hopefully we're able to play a little a little bit better on Friday.”

          Westler says the kids have responded to coaching this year.  “You give them all the famous quotes on life’s not about what happens to you, it's about how you respond.  All those types of things, but really it's true.  There's going to be whether it's athletics, whether it's life, you're going to have high expectations at times and something's going to go wrong and you have got to be able to fight back and get it fixed.  That's kind of what we've talked to them about this week and we've had a good week.  I think our kids are excited to go out Friday and get things turned back around and get more on a positive note,” he said.

          Pleasant (3-2,1-1) plays at Clear Fork (1-4,0-2) on Friday night.  The Colts fell (31-14) to unbeaten Ontario last week.

          Westler says they are going to have to be physical if they want to stop Clear Fork from running the football.  “I talked to the kids you look at their stats and they're a little bit skewed because of who they played in their non conference.  They played Sandusky Perkins, I believe it's one of the top schools in the state, they played Granville who's a really good program.  They struggled against those two schools, so when you look at their statistics for five games, they look a little bit down, but you have got to keep in mind they played two of the better teams in the state.  Recently they've really got it going.  They're running the ball hard, their quarterback runs the ball hard, their running back runs the ball hard and they're extremely physical up front.  They fire off the ball.  So, we have to be able to match that level of physicality.  On defense, they run a 3-3 stack and they love to bring pressure and blitz.  So, really it's physicality on both sides of the ball that we got to be able to match,” said Westler.

Published 9/26/24

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Pleasant Wants to Control the Ball

          Marion Pleasant will be at home for arch rival River Valley in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, the Spartans buried Highland (31-7) in conference play.

          Coach C.J. Westler says they took the field did their jobs pretty well.  “I was just very proud of the kids with the way we came out and executed.  We set a plan in place to really try to contain their quarterback.  We made a few adjustments to our defense and I feel like for the most part we were able to do that.  We did a great job offensively of executing both in the run and pass game in the second half.  We had a few drives that I think were seven or eight minutes each.  So, we really controlled the time of possession and the ball.  So, I'm just very pleased with how we played and looking to build on that for this Friday,” said Westler.

          Pleasant (3-1,1-0) hosts River Valley (2-2,0-1) on Friday night.  The Vikings lost to Ontario (27-14) in their conference opener.

          Chase Ebert is second in passing yards and third in rushing yards in the “MOAC” and Westler says they have to do something about controlling him.  “They're a very good team.  Obviously, a huge rivalry game and they've kind of had our number the past couple of years.  Really similar game plans this week.  Their quarterback is kind of the engine of their team.  He kind of does it all for them.  They are a spread offense.  Four receivers and a lot of times they go empty and go five wide.  He's their playmaker, whether he's you know finding the open guy, he's a really good quarterback, but then when the play breaks down he can really make some plays with his with his legs also so we definitely have to contain him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Offensively we have got to make sure we're executing.  Last year, we were in a bit of a shootout with them and that kind of plays into the style of team that they are.  So, we want to try to avoid that and get some stops defensively and hopefully play another well-rounded game.”

          River Valley won (64-43) last year.

          This is a big rivalry game, but Westler says they can live on emotion.  “We've talked to our kids all week about execution.  It's going to be a huge crowd because they're right down the road, I think 5 miles away, so they're going to bring a big crowd and we're going to have a huge crowd.  It's like a mini cheer night, so all the youth kids that want to be cheerleaders are going to be there with their parents.  It's our youth football night, so all of our youth football players and their parents are going to be there.  It's going to be a huge crowd, great atmosphere, but after the start of the game that kind of fades away in your mind and it turns into just football.  We have got to be the team that executes the best if we want to come out on top,” he said.

Published 9/18/24

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Pleasant Wants to Run it

          Marion Pleasant opens play in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night as they travel to Highland to meet the Fighting Scots.

          The Spartans (2-1) belted Whitehall-Yearling (48-6) last week.

          Coach C.J. Westler says he was pretty pleased with how they played over first three games.  “We came away kind of happy with our non conference.  The Hopewell-Loudon game got away from us a little bit in the second half.  It was tied up 15-15 midway through the third and we kind of self imploded a little bit.  So, obviously we'd love to have that one back.  Now, we're into conference play and we've talked to our kids about this kind of the second phase of our season.  Sort of a new season and really what we've done to this point kind of gets put behind us and we're moving on.  With our non conference I think it definitely prepared us for conference play because we're going to have tough games week in week out,” said Westler.

          Highland (1-2) beat Coshocton (42-28) last week to get their first win of the season.

          Westler says their quarterback Kolton Stover is a special player.  “They are really, really big upfront.  They have a really big offensive line.  Their quarterback is really their go to guy.  He's one of their leading rushers.  I'm a lefty so I kind of enjoy watching lefties on film.  He has a really strong arm.  He can make all the throws.  So, we definitely have to contain him and he's an athletic kid.  If a play breaks down he can use his legs and make plays that way also.  So, as far as our defense we definitely have to limit their explosive plays and kind of try to bottle up that quarterback and contain him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday morning, “As far as their defense, they're a little susceptible to the running game, so we feel like we have a pretty physical offensive line and we have to be able to run the ball this week.”

          It looks like the “MOAC” is going to have its share of good teams this year and Westler says when you get a chance to win, you have to snap it up.  “Our conference is very tough.  If it's a game where you're playing well and you feel like you should win the game, you definitely have to execute and finish the game off because one bad game could kind of really damper your hopes of competing for the conference when there's so many good teams,” he said.

Published 9/12/24

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Pleasant Hopes to Challenge Shelby Again

          Marion Pleasant makes the trek to Shelby to face the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion Whippets on Friday night.

          Last week, they had a four game winning streak snapped by Marion Harding (47-39) on Friday night.

          Coach Ben Snively says they just couldn't make enough shots.  “Marion Harding is really good, Marquis Long really hurt us in the second half.  We held him to four in the first and he had 12 the second half, all around the basket.  We just didn't have an answer for his strength and athleticism.  We had it cut to one point and had some chances.  Again, we shot 27 percent, so to even be in the game shooting that bad I wouldn't say happy, but I guess we were happy to be around given the fact that we didn't shoot the ball real well.  Again, a lot of that credit goes to their defense for just taking it to us defensively,” said Snively.

          In their first meeting with Shelby (17-2,13-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, the Whippets edged Pleasant (11-9,6-7) by final of (57-50) back on January 12.

          Snively says they played well for a long time in that game.  “That's one I think we're going to look back with a lot of regret.  We still had the lead with two minutes and 30 some seconds and they got a steal and a dunk and that tied it up and from there they just ran away with it.  Again, we played about as well as we could have the first half against them.  They settled in a little bit.  They never panicked, they're a very good team with a lot of good players and they just kind of picked away at us.  Then like I said with two and half to go they tied it up and from that point forward they just did what they do all the time and that's win,” he said.

          Snively says to be competitive again they are going to have to shoot well and be a solid job rebounding.  “Well, again as simple as it sounds, we made a lot of shots.  Another thing in that game, I just looked at stats and watched the film and we held them six offensive rebounds.  So, we did a great job on the boards.  We were able to contain (Alex) Bruskotter a little bit.  For the night, he ended up with 21 or 23, but most of them came, over half of them came with the foul line in the late going,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We know he's a tough match up.  They have got a lot of good players around him as well.  So, it's going to be a tough matchup.  It’s the last weekend before the tournament, so we're kind of looking at this they've already got it wrapped up.  We're just going to look at just go over there and do the best we can possibly do and hopefully we can keep ourselves in the game and give ourselves a chance at the end.”

Published 2/14/2024

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Pleasant Responding Great

          Mario Pleasant takes a four game winning streak into a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game Friday night at Marion Harding.

          These four wins, including a (61-33) win over Centerburg Monday night in non-conference play, have come after the injury to leading scorer Trey Booker.

          Coach Ben Snively says he is very proud of his kids.  “I'm really, really happy for the kids, really proud of the way they've responded since Trey’s injury.  This thing could have went either way and our kids have chosen all just to come together for one another.  Again, we're using Trey (Booker) as inspiration.  I just can't say enough about the way they have just fought the last three or four games and just have come to together,” he said.

          Snively says they have had to do some different things and the players have responded.  “I think there's a combination of a lot of things.  When you lose a kid with the ability of Trey.  He was averaging 22 points a game.  We've been more patient simply because we've had to because we don't have Trey there to go get a basket for us anytime we needed one.  So, definitely offensively we've played more patient.  Obviously, there's more shots out there for other kids now and those kids in those situations have really stepped up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We're seeing less possessions in the game.  We're consciously talking about that.  I think with Trey being out that's also opened up the door for Owen Lowry to play a little bit more, who's just been terrorizing the boards.  He has done a tremendous job for us.  Again, it's one of those unsung heroes situations where you don't see it in the box score as far as points are concerned, but he's just been rebounding the heck out of the ball for us.”

          Pleasant (11-8,6-6) plays on the road at Marion Harding (14-5,9-3) on Friday night.  The Presidents are coming off a (73-36) destruction of Ontario in a conference game last Saturday.  Harding won the first game (61-47) on January 4.

          Snively says they have to hold their own on the boards.  “They're athleticism overall basketball.  They've got some size, they have got speed, they have got kids that can dribble.  They got a kid at point guard, the (Logan) Thrapp kid.  You don't see his name pop up with points too often, but he is averaging about eight assists and he's kind of the glue of that team.  Marquis Long, I mean, just he's a terror on the boards.  This will be a big, big challenge for us.  I think the first time we played them I believe we gave up 17 offensive rebounds and you're not going to win like that.  So, again we have got to try to at least cut that in half.  So, again the challenge for us will be is basically can we keep them off the boards.  I mean they've got some shooters, like I said they've got a little bit of everything, some size, so it's going to be a big challenge for us, especially on the road.  We're going to go over there and hopefully we continue to play well” said Snively.

Published 2/07/2024

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Perimeter Defense Big for Pleasant

          It’s two in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference for Marion Pleasant this week as they host Ontario on Thursday and play at Galion on Saturday afternoon.

          Last Friday, they went to Clear Fork and beat the Colts (58-54) in a conference game.

          Coach Ben Snively says they got contributions from a lot of kids. “That was really big for us.  They came into our place and beat us earlier in the year.  We knew Holz was going to be a load to handle.  He got into some foul trouble early.  We played much better offensively, we were really patient, we hit a lot of shots the first half.  We were up 10 at the half and gave that away in what felt like about 35 seconds in the second half and it was a really tight game from there.  So, we had Lathan McCants step up and he had 17, J.T. Snively had his career high 13 that night and Carson King had 13, so we have some kids step up and we got double digits out of three kids.  The defense held tight and it came down to the very end.  We made enough free throws and got enough rebounds to put them away at the end and it was a big win for us,” said Snively.

          Pleasant (8-8,4-6) entertains Ontario (4-11,2-7) on Thursday night.  The Warriors lost (67-41) last Friday to Galion.  Pleasant won the first meeting (60-49) on December 21.

          Snively says they are going to shoot a lot of threes.  “I think the other thing with them is they have got kids coming off the bench.  You never know who's going to get hot.  I mean they have consistent scorers in (Grady) Schroeder and (Landon) Foltz, so you really have got to know where they're are, but they have the freedom and the green light to come in and crank it up there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Again, the key for us will be anytime we're in the situation with our size is we're just going to have to make sure we do a great job of only giving them one opportunity.  We'll really focus (Thursday) night on just on boxing out and making sure, we know they're going to hit some, but when they miss, we have got to make sure we get the rebound and don't give them second chance opportunities.”

          Galion beat Pleasant (52-43) the first time they played on December 23.

          Snively says they have outstanding guard play.  “Chaffin and Kent, those two are, I know there's we got some big names in here with (Alex) Bruskotter (Shelby) and Smith from River Valley, but I'll tell you as far as two guards go that play together, I think they're about as good as you're going to find anywhere.  I really like the way they play, they're unselfish, they can score, they can dish it out.  It's a tough match up.  We usually play pretty good defense, but we always have our hands full when you got two guards of that caliber and either one of them can go off on you at any given time in any game,” he said.

Published 2/01/2024

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Pleasant Without Booker

          Marion Pleasant will play at Clear Fork against the Colts on Friday night in action in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.

          They will be without the services of senior guard Trey Booker for the remainder of the season.  He broke his leg in a win over Highland (67-53) last week.

          Coach Ben Snively says he was just over 100 points from becoming the schools all-time leading scorer.  “We're working really miss Trey, he's done a lot for our program over the course of the last three and half, three and three-quarters years.  We're really disappointed for him and it's just one of those things that happens sometimes and it gives you a little bit of perspective on how these things can be taken from you at any given minute.  We have got to move forward.  Trey was able to be with us last Saturday at the River Valley game and he's going to be an inspiration now to us and we're just going to do the best we can to move forward without him.  He'll still be there with us, but on the court we have got to find a kind of a new way to play the game,” he said.

          Snively says they are just going to have to remake themselves here late in the regular season.  “It's just so different because I've had this kid, he started for me for four years.  The thing about him was even all the way back to as a freshman he just had a knack for getting to the basket.  Pretty much anytime he touched the basketball he could get to the basket and that opens some other kids up and he was very good at finishing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “When he got injured he had 116 free throws already this year, which still could lead the league at the end of the year.  I don't know to be close.  We have got other kids that are just going to have to step up now.  Now there's just some shots out there for them that they hadn't got before, so we’ve got a lot of confidence and other kids.  Hopefully, they take advantage of this situation and can start playing really well for us.”

          Pleasant (7-8,3-6) is at Clear Fork (7-7,3-5) on Friday night.  The Colts are coming off a disappointing loss to Ontario (67-59) last Saturday.  They did beat Pleasant (65-56) on December 15.

          Snively says they are going to have to rebound and guard the paint.  “I think Tim's (Brafford) has done a great job there.  When you look at the last couple of years, they're probably the most improved team in the league I believe.  They do start four seniors, the (Garrett) Holz kid, he's terrorized the last two outings.  The first time we played them they got every loose ball, they got a lot of offensive rebounds and ended up 50 points in the paint.  So, we know what we have to do, we have to limit them to one shot.  They do shoot quite a bit of threes as well.  So, if we can limit them to one shot each possession.  If we make some shots we'll give ourselves a chance to go over there and maybe get a “W” on Friday night,” said Snively.

Published 1/26/24

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Pleasant Needs Consistency

          Marion Pleasant will play two games in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this week.  They play at Highland on Thursday and host rival River Valley on Saturday.

          Last week, the Spartans almost pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season… almost.  They led “MOAC” leader Shelby by 18 in the second quarter, but lost it (57-50) in the end.

Coach Ben Snively says they let it get away from them.  “When a good team like that's under a little pressure they tighten down defensively a little bit too.  I mean we only got 19 shots the second half.  We had a few more turnovers, but you have got to give them credit.  We got no offensive rebounds.  We had some good looks once again, we just didn't knock those down.  We shot 5-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, which that's the situation against a team like that, we have got to make all 10 of them.   So, it was it was frustrating once again, but these kids, they never give up and they just kept fighting.  We just let one slip away that we probably really shouldn’t have,” said Snively.

          Pleasant (6-7,2-5) is at Highland (1-11,0-7) on Thursday night.  They lost to Ontario (57-54) last Friday in a conference game.

          Snively says they need to get an early lead.  “Again, the situation we're in right now, we can't take anybody lightly.  I know they don't have a lot of wins on the season.  They've played a couple close games here lately.  We're on the road on a Thursday night so let's go over there be able to generate some enthusiasm on our own.  It's tough for high school kids to get up for that sometimes with the weather the way it's been who knows,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Like I told the kids, if we just go over and continue the way we have started the first half.  I think the key Thursday night for us will be to get off to a good start.  We don't want to go over there against a team that maybe you're supposed to beat and get down early.  You want to get out to an early lead and hopefully we can maintain that throughout the course of the game.”

          Rival River Valley (9-3,5-2) will come calling on Saturday night.  The Vikings won the first meeting (61-52) on December 9.

          Snively says again if they can be consistent, they can compete.  “In that situation there, you throw the records out.  We have got to put two halves together.  We've been talking about that a lot lately.  We're playing about 24, 26 great minutes of basketball.  We just have one or two quarters where we're almost nonexistent.  The defense is still solid and the rebounding solid.  It's really amazing that we're even in some of the games with the way we've shot the basketball.  So, we are going to have to do a better job of just putting two halves together and playing for a full 32 minutes.  We have got them at home, so hopefully we can get them,” he said.

Published 1/17/2024

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Pleasant Must Slow Down Shelby

          Marion Pleasant plays host to Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader Shelby on Friday night in league play.

          They lost (51-44) to Buckeye Valley in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Ben Snively says they just couldn’t make enough shots, especially at crunch time.  “Once again our shouting left us in the second half.  We played really well the first half and had a seven point lead heading into halftime and maintained that throughout most of the third quarter.  I think we gave up our first lead with about three minutes left in the game.  So, again we went cold shooting.  We ended up at 34% for the game, but in the second half we were in the teens.  So, when you can't make shots that makes it difficult.  We did go to the foul line and were 12 of 14, a lot of that done by Trey Booker.  He is getting to the rim really well and finishing as far making his free throws.  It’s been a mystery to me how we are shooting way better on the road then we are at home.  That's just something we just have got to get corrected and get some confidence back, see that ball go through the hoop, and do it for a for an entire game.”

          Pleasant (6-6,2-4) entertains Shelby (8-2,6-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night.  The Whippets hammered Ontario (87-54) in their last league game last Thursday.  They beat Ashland (84-61) in non-league play on Saturday night.

          Snively says the big and athletic.  “Well, they're the best team in the league, they've been that way for five years.  It's obviously a very tall task for us (Friday) even at home.  We recognize we're going to attempt to slow the pace of the game.  They're big, they're fast, they're long, they've got athletes.  It's a tough task, but we talked the kids about once again we're in a situation where there's no pressure go out and have fun.  If we can handle the pressure and slow the pace of the game a little bit, I think we might be able to give ourselves a chance,” said Snively.

          Alex Bruskotter scored 53 points, 38 the second half, against Ashland. 

          Snively believes tempo is crucial for them.  “They’re very good and they are led by (Alex) Bruskotter, who is coming off of 53 point night.  I'm hoping he used a lot of them up last Saturday when they played Ashland.  So, like I said, we're going to go out there and I know our kids will play and give everything they have got.  We have got to keep them off the boards, slow their transition, and slow the pace of the game.  If we can do those three things, which is easier said than done, but if we can do those maybe we'll give ourselves a chance to win,” he said.

Published 1/12/24

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Pleasant Must Rebound

          Marion Pleasant hosts Marion Harding in a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Thursday night.

          Pleasant is coming off a (60-46) win at Cardington last Saturday.

          Coach Ben Snively says they did a better job attacking on offense.  “It does seem like it's been forever.  We had eight games in 15 days and then we've spaced them out here a little bit.  So, the Cardington game we played pretty well.  We shot the ball better, we did a much better job of attacking the rim and not just relying on our three-point shot so much.  It's been hurting us a little bit, so we've really going to do make a commitment to get the ball in the basket a little bit more and look for more threes off kickouts rather than catching and shooting in the offense.  So, we played well against Cardington and have got a big challenging schedule here the next three games out,” said Snively.

          Pleasant (6-4,2-3) plays at home against Marion Harding (7-2,3-1), who just spent last week in Florida winning two out three game.

          Snively says the Presidents are more varied on offense this year.  “Well, I think you're looking at team that has always been athletic.  They've got some size and they’ve got really good guards.  I think the other thing that's not typical them this year they've shown they can play both styles of basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “If you want to slow it down with them a little bit they're not afraid to play that way where in the past they used to like the trap and speed things up, but they can also play that way as well.  So, you have got some experienced guards that have been there years, a nice blend of size in there as well, just a real dangerous matchup for anybody.”

          Snively says if they are going to stay in this game, they must rebound the basketball.  “The biggest thing for us with our size we really have to keep them off the offensive glass.  I mean that's going to be the biggest factor for us.  We have got to force outside shots and when they miss, we have to rebound.  That's kind of been our Achilles heel this year when teams have beaten us handily it's pretty much we’re giving them second and third opportunities at the basket.  Anytime you do that they're going to make you pay for it in the end.  Harding is good on the glass,” said Snively.

Published 1/04/2024

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Pleasant Has to Shoot Better

          Marion Pleasant plays at Cardington, the “KMAC” co-leader, in a non-conference game on Wednesday night.

          They lost on Saturday, (52-43) to Galion in play in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.

          Coach Ben Snively says Galion is tough to guard, but the thing is the Spartans didn’t make any shots.  “They have got two very good guards.  Those kids Chafin and Kent play very well against us.  You can't leave them open, Chafin drives a little bit and they're just real solid in everything they do.  We've had two games at home in a row in which we shot 34%.  It's very difficult to win games when you're shooting percentages that low and again it's not that we're taking bad shots, we just aren't hitting them,” he said.

          Snively says they worked extensively on shooting during their practice on Tuesday.  “We talked (Tuesday) and we shot for about an hour and a half in our two hour practice.  We just talked a lot about being confident and making sure you're in range and feeling good about your shot and when you get the chance knock it in.  So, we feel like that's correctable if we get around that 47% mark we're going to be a lot better off.  Again, that's the goal heading into Cardington (Wednesday) is basically just shoot the basketball better,” said Snively.

          Pleasant (5-4) visits Cardington (5-1) on Wednesday night.  The Pirates only loss came to Colonel Crawford (61-57) last Tuesday in non-league play.  They beat Danville (63-43) in a “KMAC” game on Friday.

          Snively says it will be a good test for them.  “They're much improved team from last year.  We blew them out at home last year, but they started a bunch of sophomores and now those kids are all juniors.  I believe they play two seniors, one senior starts and one comes off the bench, but they're both good players,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They have got a real nice junior class and they get up and down the floor, they like to shoot the three.  So, again a key for us will be, and we did a much better job against Galion in keeping people off the offensive glass.  So, they're much improved from last year, they're coach over there has done a great job with them.  They're believing and it's going to be a tough road game for us (Wednesday) when we go over there.”

Published 12/27/23

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Pleasant Has to Slow Down

          Marion Pleasant goes to Ontario for a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Thursday and hosts Galion on Saturday night in another conference game.

          Coach Ben Snively says they took a little break after losing (65-56) to Clear Fork last Friday and they have come back refreshed.  “It's been a little bit different for us in that we played, again I keep saying this, we played seven games in 15 days and we took the weekend off.  I said let's get away for the weekend and I think that was good for us.  We came back Monday and we've got a couple of good practices.  (Wednesday) was kind of more of a walkthrough preparation type thing for Ontario and Galion this weekend.  We have got an experienced group.  We've got kids who have been playing for a while and these things happen in basketball some nights we didn't shoot the ball well.  A lot of credit goes to Clear Fork.  They came in wanted it a little bit more, but our kids are refocused now.  We're going to get ready for our next two upcoming games,” he said.

          Pleasant (4-3,1-2) is at Ontario (1-4,0-2) on Thursday.  The Warriors lost (66-53) to Galion in “MOAC” play last Friday, but they won their first game in downing Norwalk (69-64) in overtime on Saturday.

          Snively says they are going want to push the tempo.  “Early on in the year they were going a lot faster than they are they kind of slowed down a little bit I think.  I talked to our kids about that and then that's an exact message I had (Wednesday) was they're going to try to get you to play fast and honestly that's been that's been a problem for us this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We're not very patient on offense and when you're not hitting shots it seems like we're on the defensive end all night.  So, we're really emphasizing going into (Thursday’s) game, if we can get a layup or something near the basket that's different, but we're going to try to be a little bit more patient.  Again, we’re just have to make the other teams defense work a little harder than we have in the past three or four games.”

          On the other hand, Snively says they want to slow that tempo down if they can.  “In today's basketball game the three pointers so huge for kids.  If we just sit out there, again against Clear Fork, we hit nine threes, but we shot 29 of them.  I feel like as a coach that's too many unless you're hitting 50% of them, that's one thing, if you're just having a night that's crazy making everything that's one thing.  I think though our most successful teams have been around 15 threes for the entire game.  So, again our focus has to be, we've talked a lot about cutting to the basket rather than standing outside at the three, so we're really going to emphasize heading into (Thursday) night's game getting the ball to the basket and other people cutting to the basket,” said Snively.

Published 12/21/23

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Pleasant Wants to Pressure Clear Fork

          Marion Pleasant plays at home against Clear Fork in a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.

          The Spartans (4-2,1-1) drilled Northmor (79-49) on Tuesday night in a non-league game.

          Coach Ben Snively says they were able to make their pressure affective and get out in transition.  “Northmor's always been a tough place for us to play.  Their point guard was injured, but Grant Bentley, he's a great basketball player for them, he actually scored his 1,000^th point that evening, so hats off to him.  For the first time in a while we got 28 points in transition the other night, so we've been talking about that for a long time getting out and running a little bit and we were able to generate some steals with their point guard being out and we turned them over quite a bit,” he told Swanknsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Carson King ended up with 26 points, that was a career high for him, he was 5-8 from three-point line.  Trey Booker, we been talking about distributing more and he had seven assists.  So, yeah we went over there Tuesday night and anytime you go somewhere else on the Tuesday night it’s always tough, but I was really proud of the kids for the way they responded to that situation.”

          Clear Fork (0-2,0-1) lost their conference opener to Galion (68-55) last Thursday.

          Snively says they have some shooters and that makes them dangerous.  “Well, first of all one of their losses is to Lexington and that shouldn't even count because Lexington's a pretty good team.  I think Tim Bradford has done a great job over there and I know they're going to be well coached.  They do have seven seniors.  They're still trying to find their way I think as far as winning games, getting over that hump.  We have them at home.  So, we're just hoping to continue to you know use our use our athletes and our depth a little bit and maybe get out pressure a little bit and run a little bit.  I know last year they came in and they hit 10 threes in our gym, so I know there are a couple of their kids are going to be feeling pretty good coming into this situation.  So, we've talked a lot about running them off the three-point line,” said Snively.

          Snively says they are usually undersized, but that won’t be the case against Clear Fork.  “They don't have a lot of size this year, which you know neither do we, so that should help us out in that category a little bit.  So, like I said it'll be another battle.  There's not any nights off in the “MOAC” and we're just excited to get back out there on Friday night,” he said.

Published 12/15/23

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Pleasant Starts League Play

          Marion Pleasant tips-off league play with two Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference games as they host Highland on Thursday and travel to River Valley on Saturday night.

          They beat Marion Elgin (64-31) on Tuesday night in non-conference play.

          Coach Ben Snively says they were more patient and shot the ball better.  “We played well.  They came out early, they hit a couple shots, and it was 12-10 and we went on about an 8-0 run and from that point we controlled the game throughout.  After the North Union game when we didn't shoot the ball really well, again a lot of credit goes to North Union for playing solid defense on us, but we just talked about being more patient in our half court sets.  We were taking a lot of quick shots against North Union and we just kind of slowed it down.  When you play in the lead and you played behind, it’s two different stories.  So, we were able to get out and then once we got that lead established the kids got some confidence and they felt good about what they were doing.  We played real well (Tuesday) night,” he said.

          Pleasant (2-1) is at home for Highland (0-1) on Thursday night.  The Fighting Scots lost their opener (62-29) to Worthington Christian last Friday.

          Snively says Highland will be more of an up tempo team under first yar coach Ryan Stover.  “Well, their new coach Ryan Stover was at Galion, so I know a little bit about him.  I actually coached him at Highland many, many years ago at this point.  They're going to be a different style this year than Highland in the past.  They're up tempo, they're trying to trap a lot, so again a key for us will be if we handle their pressure we will be in good shape, especially at home with our guards.  We have a lot of guards with experience.  I hope that that doesn't give us any problems.  They play a little zone on defense as well, but it'll be a different style.  Anytime you have a new coach even though we've played against him at another different school it’s always an exciting time for them and the kids are going to be pumped up still.  They have got a lot of new faces, but they play hard from what I see on film.  They play really hard.  We'll have to have to come and we'll have to be ready to play (Thursday) night,” said Stover.

          Snively says the arch rival River Valley Vikings have had their number, but he says they are going to give all they have.  “It's always an interesting game for sure just being Marion County rivals and things over the course of the years.  I've played a lot of games against them.  They've got our number here lately.  They've had some very, very good teams.  We're going over there with no pressure on us as far as us being supposed to be the team to win.  They've been winning a lot of games here the last four or five, six years, so it's going to be a tough task on the road,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Again I think you feel like when you're talking about conference games at the very least you want to try to split.  This is the first year actually in 10 years that we've, I think due to wrestling we've always played the first game at Pleasant and the second game at River Valley.  So, this will be the first time you've ever traveled there in December and they will come to our place later in the year.  So, our kids will be ready for that.  Still early in the year you don't even need to look at records, but I think it'll be a 32 minute battle over there on Saturday night.”

Published 12/07/23

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Pleasant Features Experience

          Marion Pleasant is a team that has five kids with a lot of experience as they embark on the season this weekend with non-conference game at Fairbanks on Friday and home with North Union on Saturday.

          Coach Ben Snively says they have not had to do much teaching this year during the preseason.  “I was really pleased with our kids this year.  We've got five seniors coming back and four of them have played basically, a couple of them played since their freshman year, and the other three have been sophomores and one as a junior last year.  So, we have experience, but we did improve throughout the course of the preseason.  It was a lot of just of fine tuning for us as most of these kids already know, they've been in the program now for a while, and they know what we're doing.  So, again we're trying to consistently get better each and every day,” said Snively.

          With it being opening week, Snively says there is no question that his kids are ready to go.  “We're so ready we're going to probably practice for maybe an hour (Thursday) night.  I don't know that I can practice much more.  The last two days have been great practices, so our kids are just chomping at the bit to put those uniforms on, smell that popcorn out there, and get ready for some live action,” he said.

          Both of these teams, Fairbanks and North Union, at one time were part of the “MOAC”, which has had number of members over the years, and Snively says both will offer a challenge.  “We opened up with Fairbanks last year.  They actually beat us at home last year by three points.  They have a 6’5” post player, he's a pretty good player and they got another guard that's a nice player.  So, we're going to have to be on our game right from the get go.  We have got to go to Fairbanks, that's a smaller gym, I've been there a few times and historically we've not played great there, it'll be a different type of atmosphere for our kids.  Again, we're looking forward to it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “North Union, same thing, it's kind of a local rival, on old “MOAC” rival, about 15 minutes away.  They're coming to our place on Saturday.  They'll be ready to go to.  They have a very good player in Max Parish and a couple of nice guards.  So, these are both Central District division III teams.  So, this is a really, really big weekend for us right from the get go.  Like I said, I like our experience and I think our kids will be ready to go.”

Published 12/01/23

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Pleasant Playing Well; Meets Grandview

          Marion Pleasant plays at Grandview Heights in a division III tournament game on Wednesday night.

          The Spartans (12-10) have won five of their last six, including a (67-62) win over Marion Harding in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game last Thursday.

          Coach Ben Snively says they are starting to play some pretty good basketball.  “We've been talking a lot about that.  We're peaking at the right time.  We lost a lot of close games to teams that were a little bit better than us earlier in the year.  The win against Harding, the kids definitely deserved that.  They've been working hard all year for that and we finally get over the hump against somebody that was a little bit better team than us,” he told Swankkonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “The bottom line is we're shooting the ball in the basket.  You look at many different things and coaches beat themselves to death trying to figure things out about what are we going to do to score and his and that.  It's simply putting the basketball in the basket, this solves a lot of your problems offensively.”

          Snively says that Grandview has a big guy that they are going to have to defend.  “They are they have a big kid, he's about 6’5”.  We feel that Marcus Hemphill had a big night against us, the freshman from Harding, and he's a 6’3” kid.  This kid is 6’5”, but he's kind of a similar, he's a little bit thicker of a kid and we know we have got to do a job trying, I don't think we're going to stop him, but we're going to try.  With the match up against Marcus it's kind of a similar player, so we feel like we did hold Marcus down a little bit better in the second half.  So, we're going to use some of the same type of strategies against this this kid,” said Snively.

          Snively says Grandfield Heights also has some guards that make shots from the perimeter.  “They've got four guards on the outside that can all shoot the three, they can drive a little bit.  They're not real big kids, for us we they're not 6’3”, 6’4” type guards, they are more size, so we feel good about those matchups.  We'll just have to do a good job of controlling the big and trying to shut down the guards from getting the threes,” he said.

Published 2/22/23

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Pleasant Continuing to Build

          Mario Pleasant hopes to get to the .500 mark this week as host Northmor in a non-conference game on Tuesday night and Galion in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, they beat Clear Fork (71-68) in conference game on Thursday night and lost (57-54) at Ontario in a “MOAC” game on Saturday night.

          Coach Ben Snively says they continue to work hard on executing in tight games.  “The Clear Fork game, obviously, we were at home and we felt fortunate to come out on top.  They hit 10 threes and we hit nine, so it was a real fun game to be a part of.  I think Clear Fork has come a long way since last year.  I mean they owe a lot of that to (Tim) Brafford, he is doing a great job over there.  They are going to be something to reckon with here in the next few years,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Ontario, we go over there Saturday night and it was a really tight game.  We just hung in there the whole night and toward the end of the game we were back and forth trading baskets.  Unfortunately, they were able to get an offensive rebound against this late.  We had a look with six seconds left with our best player Trey Booker taking the shot and it just didn't fall for us.  So, another good game, but that's the type of game where we've just been trying all year and we just can't quite get over the hump.  So, we'll just keep working on those and hopefully things start turning and our direction as we head into late February and in the tournament on these tougher games.”

          Northmor (12-7) and currently in third in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference comes calling on Tuesday night for a non-conference game.

          Snively says they Golden Knights will be a challenge.  “Blade Tackett does a nice job over there, he's been there three or four years now.  Northmor, again another program that I remember a long time ago that was always an easy win when you went over there.  They've really turned all their sports programs around.  They have got the new school.  I just think they've got a lot going for them over there at Northmor.  We do have them at home, so I hope that gives us an advantage.  They've done a really nice job of just turning to school around from where old timers like myself that remember when they weren't so good.  They do good things.  The Bentley kid had 45 in a game this year, so anytime you have someone on your team like that it's something that's going to keep you awake at night as a coach,” said Snively.

          Pleasant (8-10,5-7) plays host to Galion (6-12,3-9) on Friday night in “MOAC” play.

          Snively says have a couple of really good players.  “Well, the Chapin kid had 30 something the other night.  I really like Chapin, I think he's as one of the steadiest point guards.  He's capable of 30 on any night, but he's just real steady and does what the team needs.  Kent, you talk about range, I mean literally when he crosses half court you better get a hand in his face because the kid is, I mean he's worked his butt off at the game and he can shoot it from about anywhere.  He did get loose on us the first time we played and we'll do a much better job of finding him and transition on Friday night in our home gym.  So again, two home games again.  We had seven out of nine on the road in January, so we got some home games now and hopefully we're able to get things done at home,” he said.

Published 2/07/23

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Pleasant Beats Clear Fork; Shares “MOAC” Lead

          Marion Pleasant maintained a share of lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference by beating Clear Fork (51-38) on Thursday night on the road at Les Hauenstein Gym.

          They took a (4-3) lead on a basket by Avah Steele and never trailed again avenging a (34-29) to Clear Fork at their place in December.

          Clear Fork (11-7,7-4) pressed pretty much the whole game like they normally do, but Pleasant coach Kaeriann Pratt says they were ready for the pressure.  “They're very well coached team, but we came prepared and ready for pressure because we knew that's what they do best,” she said.

          Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers says they use pressure to make the opponent play faster, but Thursday night Pleasant handled in much better than the first time they play.  “Because they have good basketball players.  Last time we played them they turned it over 20 times and this time they didn’t.  They've gotten better since the last time we've seen them.  Sometimes the press isn't just to get 30 turnovers either it's to control tempo and do certain things and they were just really good,” said Sellers.

          Pleasant took an (18-9) lead after the first quarter as Whitney Waddell had nine of her 13 points.  However, Clear Fork battled back to cut it to (20-19) after a goal by Lilly Wortman with 4:01 to play in the second quarter, but Pleasant closed the half on a (9-3) run to take a (29-22) halftime lead.

          Clear Fork again got back into it early in the fourth quarter and closed to within (36-33) after a Wortman basket with 4:32 to play in the game, but Steele hit a three and then a layup to kick it back out to eight (41-33) with 2:24 left and the game was never in question thereafter.

          Sellers says they had some lulls offensively, but it was their defense that cost them the game.  “It's been that way for stretches for us, but that's not what beat us.  We you can't give up 51 points to a team and expect to win,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They got a lot of layups, they got a lot of shots in places that we didn't want them to get it.  I think that's more of a reason.  They played fundamentally better, they executed better and they deserved the win.”

          Pratt says they executed well with the ball, but she never felt safe until the end.  “51 points we were happy with that, but they always come out shooting and you have to really guard their shooters,” she said.

          Steele led all scorers with 26 points on Thursday night, 14 of those came in the fourth quarter when she was 6-6 at the charity stripe.  Lyvia Davis led Clear Fork with 11.

          Shelby beat Highland (60-38) to keep their share of the lead.  River Valley was also in a share of first place, but the score of their Thursday night game with Marion Harding was unavailable as of 3 AM Friday morning.

          Pratt says they might need some help from Clear Fork next week.  “Shelby and River Valley play on Saturday so someone's got to go down, so we'll see.  What would be the perfect scenario is it all comes down to Shelby and Clear Fork because they were going to play next week, so it'll be a good battle.  It's so much fun in the “MOAC” with all of us competing like that, it's just it's been a lot of fun,” said Pratt.

Published 1/27/23

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Pleasant Has to Rebound

          Marion Pleasant, a winner of four of its last five, plays two more road games this week as they are at Buckeye Valley for a non-league game on Tuesday and visit Marion Harding for a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

          They beat Cardington (59-30) in a non-conference game last Tuesday night and downed Galion (68-64) in a “MOAC” game on Friday night.

          Coach Ben Snively says they were able to slow down the Galion scorers in the second half.  “Anytime you can go on the road get a victory that's a positive thing.  It’s kind of unbelievable to me, but we are yet to lose on the road this year, so hopefully we can continue that trend this week and keep moving in the right direction.  The Galion game was a close game throughout and their two stars Cooper Kent the (Elijah) Chafin kid, they both played real well against us.  We were able to control them somewhat in the second half to pull out the victory at the end of that one,” said Snively.

          Pleasant plays at Buckeye Valley, once a member of the “MOAC” on Tuesday night.

          Snively says they are an inexperienced team this year.  “Actually, they are down a little bit.  They had a lot seniors last year that all basically played since their freshman or sophomore years.  They do start four seniors, but they all played behind those other kids for three or four years.  Again, they're well coached.  Coach (Andy) Gast we go way back.  He's a disciplinarian type of coach and they're going to play good, solid defense.  Again, for us in both games this weekend it'll be about keeping teams off the boards and not letting them get second chance opportunities,” he said.

          Pleasant (5-4,3-3) takes its act to Marion Harding (8-4,4-2) on Friday night in league play.  A loss (54-47) to Marysville on Saturday broke a five game winning streak for the Presidents.

          Snively says Harding is really athletic and they must compete on the boards with them.  “They have got four or five new players on their team this year that have transferred in there.  They are an entirely different team.  They've always been very athletic, but I think they're even more athletic now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Again the challenge for us with our size will be to do a great job bounding the basketball defensively.  Obviously, we’re going to have to slow the pace of the game a little bit to stay in there with them. It’s a Marion County rivalry and I know our kids will be up for it ready to go over there and give it all we’ve got on Friday night.”

Published 1/10/23

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Pleasant Has Been Good on the Road

          Marion Pleasant, of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at home against Cardington of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference on Tuesday night in non-conference play.

          Coach Ben Snively says despite their record being under .500 this year, he is pretty pleased with what they have done.  “Honestly, we've been beaten by some good teams so far.  You're never happy when your below .500, but close losses to Shelby and River Valley, we felt like the kids played hard and gave everything they had.  We also had a three point loss to Fairbanks first game of the year and Ontario, we knew they were going to be a good team.  Gage Weaver came in and hit us for 24 and they got us on the boards a little bit.  So, as far as our wins, we have won all of our games on the road.  So, we're headed into January where we see nine of our 11 games on the road.  So, if we can find some wins on the road that will be good for us heading into the second half of the season.”

          Snively says they have been successful on the road, but now they have to start winning in their new home gym.  “More importantly, we got a new gym that we have got to get a win in.  You have got Shelby and you have got River Valley, we had a tough Fairbanks, Ontario is a good basketball team.  We've played well at home and we've had great crowds in our new facility.  We love our new facility and we just have to breakthrough there and hopefully Tuesday may will be the night we can get that done,” he said.

          Pleasant (3-4) entertains Cardington (5-5) in non-conference play on Tuesday night.

          Snively says the Pirates have good guard play and they are going to have to continue to play good defense to come out on top.  “They've got some confidence now I know they've struggled a little bit the past year, so anytime teams have some wins.  I think we match up fairly well in size with them compared to some of the other teams we play.  They have got a couple good guards.  We're just going to go out there and then continue to play good strong defense and see if we can't shoot a little bit higher percentage shots and get a “W” at home,” said Snively.

Published 1/03/23

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Pleasant Takes on Pretty Good Fairbanks

          Marion Pleasant uses the option of beginning their boys’ basketball season on Wednesday as they host Fairbanks in a non-conference game.

          Coach Ben Snively says you are never going to have all of your stuff in for the first game, but he feels they are prepared for Fairbanks.  “I have been doing this thing for a while now and I don’t think you are ever fully prepared.  Different things can happen throughout the course of the game.  With a some experience, we have touched on about everything.  We have an idea of Fairbanks is going to do to us.  When it comes down to it your kids just have to be fundamentally sound.  If we do the basic things right, I think we will give ourselves the opportunity to win,” said Snively.

          More and more teams are taking the option of playing on the day before Thanksgiving and Snively says he is willing to give it a try.  “To be honest this is the first time in my career that we have started this early.  We usually do open up on a Friday night.  We have a couple of teams that we are going to move down later in our schedule.  We actually had a conflict because Fairbanks scheduled our game on the night of a conference game they had, so we thought naturally we would move it the beginning of the year.  It seemed to work out and I am excited about the opportunity.  You want to get that first win so that Turkey tastes a little better the next day,” he said.

          Snively says Fairbanks will have some height and they also have shooters they will have to defend.  “They have a couple of big kids.  One of their big post players in 6’4”.  He is coming off a knee injury from last year.  They have another 6’4” kid that is really athletic that we will have to focus on to keep him off the boards,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They have a couple of decent guards and that can all shoot the three.  Again, at this stage in the game, I have seen them on film and I went and scouted one of their scrimmages, so it is the first game of the year and you never know what to expect.  Anybody can get hot on any given day.  With a lot of unknowns, we will just go out and kind of play it by ear and see how the game goes.  See who is hot and see what is going on and take it from there.”

Published 11/23/22

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Pleasant Will be Competitive

          Pleasant has experienced some growing pains the last couple of years, but it looks like now they are ready to compete.

          Coach Ben Snively says they are going to be a more experienced team this year.  “We had our first scrimmage (Tuesday) night.  We went against Ridgedale and Tiffin Calvert, a couple of smaller schools.  Tiffin Calvert was in the regional final last year, so we knew they would come in an be ready to go.  I am happy with what I have seen so far.  We had a lot of sophomores playing last year and they are all juniors now.  I think that experience is going to pay off for us.  We are trying to get in shape and get the kids ready to go.  We have a fun thing at the Coliseum this Saturday where all of the Marion County Schools are going to go against us, the non-league teams.  So, that should be a lot of fun.  We are just getting ready for that first game the day before Thanksgiving,” said Snively.

          The Spartans open the season on November 23 against Fairbanks.  Their first Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game is December 2 at home against Shelby.

          Pleasant will play in multi team scrimmage at Marion Fairgrounds Coliseum on Saturday.

          Snively says that will be fun.  “When I graduated in 1992, we still played our tournament games in the Coliseum.  I was fortunate to ply four or five games there in my career and it really is a neat venue to play in and I think the kids will really have fun in that environment,” he said.

          Snively believe the Spartans have a chance to be competitive in the “MOAC” this year.  “I think right now as we look down our schedule, I believe Shelby and River Valley are going to be the cream of the league.  Marion Harding will be athletic, they have some transfers in as well.  We are somewhere in that area.  At that point it’s about getting better every day.  We have more experience, so we won’t have the excuses that we have had in the past about being young,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We have some decent depth and some guards that have been around for a couple of years.  So, we are going to rely on that experience, limit the turnovers and make more shots.  Our biggest question mark is still rebounding.  We aren’t very big, so we are going to have to do a great job boxing out.  If we can do those things, I think we will be able to surprise some people.”

Published 11/10/22

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Pleasant Can’t Have Live Turnovers

          Mario Pleasant has two games to play this weekend to close the regular season as they travel to Mario Harding on Friday night for a “MOAC” game and host Ridgedale in a non-conference game on Saturday.

          The Spartans beat Clear Fork (69-61) and Galion (69-50) in conference games last week.

          Coach Ben Snively says they played well early in both games and were able to build a lead.  “In the first half of both games we played really well.  Over at Clear Fork, Trey Booker, who really hadn’t shot that many threes this year, kind of struggling, had four makes in the first half, but we only ended shooting 11 for the game.  To Clear Fork’s credit they fought back hard and they had it down to a five point game at one point, but with some free throws we were able to come through.  Trey also had 33 points that night.  As a school that was our 1,300^th victory that night, so we were really happy about that and proud of that and get to part of history.  Again, the same thing with Galion.  We jumped out to and early lead and were just able to maintain.  Just happy and proud of the kids for a good week last week,” said Snively.

          Pleasant (8-12,6-7) plays at Marion Harding (12-8,10-3) on Friday night.  In their first meeting the Presidents won (71-46) on January 14. 

          Snively says they must avoid the live turnovers because Harding is good at turning those into scores.  “They first time we played them they turned us over 25 times.  What we have really talked about is obviously you can’t turn it over 25 times, but when we turn it over, we are giving them two points basically every time.  They are good at getting out in transition.  I believe we gave up 40 some points in transition.  So, if we turn it over through five second calls, travels, or throwing it our of bounds it’s different that turning it over during play and giving them a bucket.  So, we are really focused on that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Athletically, they are very good on the offensive boards.  We are not real big, so we will have to do the job there.  They just have some good kids, they have some kids that can shoot it, they have athletic players, they have some size, a little bit of everything.”

          Ridgedale (2-18) comes to Pleasant on Saturday night.

          Snively says that always seems to be a good game.  “It’s a county game.  Last year, we were in the same situation with them that we should go in and win.  They will try and slow it down and keep themselves in the game.  They have a great coach in Michael Mathey and they are very disciplined.  We close out the gymnasium on Saturday, so that is going to be big for our community.  We are just excited to get to play a team that has battled with us for a long time in Marion County, so it should be a fun one on Saturday night,” he said.

Published 2/18/22

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Pleasant Has to Attack

          Mario Pleasant heads for Galion and a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.

          Wednesday night, they downed Clear Fork (69-61) in a conference game.

          Coach Ben Snively says they got off to a very good start and then were able to hang on.  “We jumped out to a big lead.  We got up 20 points early and were feeling really good.  Trey Booker had a big game for us on (Wednesday) night.  He ended up with 33 points.  He went to the foul line 22 times.  He hit four threes I believe in the first quarter.  So, we were able to get off to a healthy lead.  We were still double digit at halftime.  We knew they would make a run at us and sure enough they did,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They cut it to 55-50 actually at one point, but through free throw shooting and things we were able to hold on for a win.  Anytime you can go on the road in this league, and I know Clear Fork has struggled, their kids are still playing hard and I give a lot of credit to Steve Bechtel for keeping those kids focused.  We were fortunate to come out of there with a win.”

          Pleasant (7-12,5-7) is at Galion (4-14,2-10) on Friday night.

          Snively says they need to attack the Galion pressure.  “I have seen some film on them and again the same situation that we had with Clear Fork the other night.  When we played Galion, we were up on them 26 at one point and they scored 34 points in the fourth quarter and we ended up winning that one 85-80.  They are trapping everywhere anytime you get a dead ball situation, so we will have to be really careful with the basketball.  When we get out of the traps, we have to attack out of that and get some easy buckets around the rim.  I feel good about our chances.  Anytime you go on the road it’s tough, but feel good about what we can get done,” said Snively.

          Pleasant in a tough Central District division III and Snively says they didn’t get the best draw.  “We did draw the three seed, we have Harvest Prep, who historically has been a very good basketball team.  Our only two choices were Harvest Prep or Africentric and we went with Harvest Prep because they don’t have quite as big a lineup.  The bottom line is when you get to tournament time if you can make shots and get hot and on a run at the right time anything can happen come late February, early March,” he said.

Published 2/11/22

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Pleasant Trying to Mature

          Pleasant is clearly better, but there are still some growing pains for the Spartans who play Bishop Ready on Tuesday and Clear Fork on Wednesday in back to back games.

          The Clear Fork game was moved form Thursday due to possible weather concerns.

          The Spartans got behind (16-0) early before battling back and they ended up losing (72-59) to rival River Valley last Friday.

          Coach Ben Snively says you can’t start in a hole like that.  “There is no question it was disappointing, especially in a rivalry game.  We had three or four opportunities around the basket early in that game and couldn’t get any of them to fall.  Three of then were from about a foot and sometimes that happens in basketball.  River Valley being a talented as they are took advantage of that.  They were clicking on all cylinders in the first half and we just dug ourselves too big of a hole.  We talked at halftime that we weren’t planning on giving up or anything like that and the kids came out we actually played really well in the second half, but the damage was done and we just played catchup from there all night,” said Snively.

          Pleasant heads for the capital city on Tuesday to meet Columbus Bishop Ready in a non-conference game.

          Snively says that will be a real test.  “They are a very, very good basketball team.  They are getting some votes for the top 10 in the state.  They are 12-3 in a very tough “CCL”.  They are very fundamentally sound.  They have two kids that are 6’5” that are going to give us trouble. We are not very big.  So, we are really going to have to be on our game Tuesday night when we go down there.  This is probably a top five seed in our Central District tournament in division III district tournament, so it gives our kids a chance to see where we are trying to get to at some point.  We are playing some young kids, but there is no excuse for that anymore, we have got plenty of experience.  We get to see a team that has been there and done that.  Year in and year our Ready has tough kids that are fundamentally sound and it’s going to be a tough task on the road Tuesday night,” said Snively.

          Pleasant (6-10,4-6) is at Clear Fork (0-17,0-10) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Wednesday night.  The Spartans won the first time (46-22) on December 17.

          Clear Fork has been pressing more.  Snively says they will be ready for whatever they see.  “I have always really enjoyed coaching against coach (Steven) Bechtel.  He is obviously trying some different things as they are struggling a little bit.  His teams are always well coached.  We are not in position ourselves to take anyone for granted.  We have been pressed a lot this year with the young kids.  We don’t handle the pressure at times great.  We have been getting better at that and that is a process as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Centerburg came in a week ago and really pressured us hard and we handled it for basically for three and half quarters and in the last four minutes we just struggled finishing.  We will be prepared for that.  We talk about patience and attacking pressure.  When you get it our of a trap you have to get a score.  We will be ready to go because you can’t look at records in this situation.  You have to go and play every game or you get knocked off in this league.”

Published 2/01/22

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Pleasant Must Avoid Turnovers

          Marion Pleasant has a pair of games in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this week as they host conference co-leader Shelby on Thursday and travel to Highland on Saturday.

          The Spartans have won three of their last four, but they were hammered (71-46) by co-leader Marion Harding last Friday.

          Coach Ben Snively says the reason was they had way too many turnovers.  “The first time we played Shelby we had 22 turnovers and likewise Marion Harding turned us over 25 times the other night and had 37 points off of our turnovers.  It is going to be really tough to win a game in that situation.  We didn’t shoot the ball terrible.  We were at 42 percent, so I was happy with that.  We would like to do a little better.  I guess the only thing we can take from the Harding game is when we face Shelby they are really similar,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They don’t trap as much, but they play in your face defense just like Harding does so hopefully we will be more prepared to handle the pressure on Thursday night, but it is going to be a tough challenge.  The game within the game we have to get the ball past halfcourt first and then we have to attempt to get a shot off.  We just have to take better care of the basketball.”

          Pleasant (4-9,4-3) plays at home against Shelby (10-3,6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Thursday night.  Shelby won the first meeting (67-37) on December 3.

          Snively says they need to contain the Whippets transition game and maybe their home gym will help.  “We do have a little bit of an advantage there in that we still have the smaller gym, so that can’t hurt us.  They can still get out and go, but they don’t have as far to run, so that closes those gaps down a little bit.  We have got to make them run quarter court offense.  We can’t give them easy baskets because when you give good teams like that easy baskets it is going to be a long night,” he said.

          Highland (4-8,2-5) hosts Pleasant on Saturday.  They beat Clear Fork (61-53) last Friday.

          Pleasant beat the Scots (62-57) on December 9 for their first win of the season.  Snively knows Highland will want revenge.  “I think that will be a really tough contest for us because we really needed a win early in the year at our home gym.  That was out first win of the year.  I think it was a situation of two evenly matched teams and our kids were really stiving to get that first win and I think we kind of snuck up on them a little bit.  The Fitzpatrick kid they have scored 27 against us last game.  They had another good player that got in foul trouble and that helped us.  It is going to be challenge over there at Highland.  You feel better because you know you have beaten them once.  Anytime you have beaten a team that is equal, you know they are really going to be ready to play,” said Snively.

Published 1/20/22

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Pleasant Has to Avoid Turnovers

          Pleasant has lost only one game since the second week of December and the Spartans play at home against Marion Harding in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

          Last week, they beat Galion (85-80) in a “MOAC” game on Thursday and Cardington (49-32) in a non-league game on Saturday.

          Coach Ben Snively says they have been able to put the ball in the basket, something they were not doing early in the year.  “We have started shooting the basketball better.  Our defense has remained pretty consistent other than the Galion game the other night.  That was just a situation where through three quarters we were playing great defense and they caught fire and scored 34 points on us in the fourth quarter to really tighten that game up way more than we would have liked to have seen it.  A lot of credit to them for making a comeback like they did,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Just the fact that we are shooting the basketball better.  As you look down our schedule, we have some tough games coming up here.  We were able to win some of the games we thought were winnable.  We have won four out of five and we feel fortunate there and looking forward to the next set of challenges coming up.”

          Pleasant (5-6,3-3) hosts Marion Harding (6-3,5-1) and in a share of first place in the conference.  The Presidents are coming off a (69-38) win over Ontario last Thursday.

          Snively say they are going to pressure them.  “They have a new coach in Jamie Pearson this year and they are doing things a little bit different, trapping a little more, running up and down.  Marion Harding is always very athletic, which always causes a tough matchup for you.  River Valley is still our rivalry game, but if it’s not, then it’s a tie with Harding for who is our biggest rival.  Our kids will be ready on Friday night, but it will be a tough challenge at home,” he said.

          Against a team like Harding you are going to have turnovers, but Snively says they want to avoid live turnovers.  “Obviously, every team likes to keep around 12 turnovers.  If we get up into the 16, 18 it will really be trouble.  We also talk about in our program, the touchdown turnover where you not only turn it over, but you get an easy bucket out of it.  We will talk again if you are trapped, we would rather take a five second call and give ourselves a chance to play defense rather than turning it over and giving them a layup.  Those can be really costly and as athletic as they are that will be the number one key Friday night for us being able to stay in the game is to handle the pressure,” said Snively.

Published 1/12/22

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Pleasant Has Found Shooting Eye

          Marion Pleasant welcomes Galion for a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Thursday night.

          The Spartans are coming of a belting of Mt. Gilead (73-48) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Coach Ben Snively says for really the first time this year they shot the ball really well.  “We finally made some shots.  We actually shot 51% as a team, which is really good.  We hit 7 of 19 from three point range, which is really good, so that was positive.  I guess we have just been saving off to the new year.  We talked a lot about it being the new year and starting over again and getting things on the right path.  We had a long break and we were able to clean some things up.  The kids were ready to go (Tuesday) night and we got the job done,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Our defense has been solid all year and it was solid again (Tuesday) night.  Obviously, the game is more fun and your defense is a little better when the ball goes through the hoop.  We talked about getting a little closer to the three point line and taking better shots.  Our kids at Pleasant buy into what we are telling them.  So, it was a positive thing all of the way around.  We are hoping that the turn of the year here, we can get things turned around.”

          Pleasant had not played since before Christmas and Snively thinks that was a plus for them.  “Not only did we have a break, but with the holidays falling on the weekend the week of Christmas I gave them three days completely off.  As a coach, you think, I’m nervous about that, you really don’t want to give them that time off, but I think it did benefit us.  Sometimes getting away from the game it is a refreshing thing.  The kids get rested up a little bit.  Then we took two days off around New Year’s.  We had five days off over the break to maybe get our legs back a little bit.  Mentally too it can be draining sometimes when you get around late December or early January.  I think the break definitely helped us,” said Snively.

          Pleasant (3-6,2-3) plays at home against Galion (2-7,1-5) on Thursday night.  Galion lost (89-67) to River Valley in an “MOAC” game last Thursday.

          Snively says perimeter defense is going to be important for the Spartans.  “I got a chance to go see them play last week at River Valley and River Valley is a very good basketball team.  They have a new coach this year and ironically, I coached coach (Ryan)Stover in high school in my first couple of years.  I think this will be the first player that I have coached that I am coaching against, so I’m looking forward to that.  There is a new look and anytime there is a new coach you don’t know what to expect.  They are pushing the basketball.  I looked at the stats and they shoot a pretty high percentage form three, so I think we are going to have to run them off the three point line a little bit.  Keep them from scoring in transition and just continue to play good, solid defense.  Being a home game if we continue to make shots, I feel good about our situation,” said Snively.

Published 1/06/22

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Clear Fork Holds off Pleasant

          Clear Fork maintained a share of second place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with a (55-48) win over Marion Pleasant on Thursday night at Les Hauenstein Gymnasium.

          Pleasant would score the first five points of the game, all by Maddie Simmons, but the Lady Colts would go on a (16-0) run over the next 4:30 to take a (16-5) lead after a Lilly Wortman three pointer from the right wing with 1:25 to play in the quarter.  The Lady Colts would never trail the rest of the way.

          Pleasant cut it to (21-19) with 4:45 to play in the half and Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers called time out.  Two threes by Wortman and another by Lyv Davis fueled a (13-3) run to end the half and Clear Fork held a (34-22) advantage at the break.

          The Lady Colts (7-1,3-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, had six threes on the night, all in the first half, and Sellers thought that outside shooting was key for them.  “I think we were up 12 at half.  I don’t know the stats, but I know we pushed the pace.  We knocked down some shots in the first half.  I think Pleasant did a really good job of focusing on taking aways some things we wanted to do with Bekah.  The outside shooters certainly helped her out in the first half.  We like to go inside out.  We like to shoot in transition.  So, we did knock down some shots,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I thought Bekah worked pretty hard in the second part of the first half and into the second.  She certainly made an impact then.  We needed them to shoot and it looks like they put the ball through the hoop from deep pretty well.”

          It has been defense that has been the cornerstone of the Lady Colts play this year and Sellers felt they did an outstanding job taking away Pleasant’s first two options on offense.  “Columber is a really good player.  She is playing next level basketball next year.  I think we held her to seven.  #4 (Emerson Williams) was averaging close to 10, really good player and she had two.  We looked to guard them pretty aggressively.  I think we did a really good job on them.  Some of their other players quite frankly stepped up and did a really good job, especially late against us.  I love games like that because its showed us as coaches what we need to do a better job prepping for later parts of games.  I think there are some really good positives out of the negatives late in the game,” said Sellers.

          Clear Fork pressed for 32 minutes, which they have done all year, but Lady Spartans coach Keriann Pratt felt they handled that pressure pretty well.  “We are strong with our guards, so it didn’t really rattle us.  We rushed some shots when we got down in a little bit of panic when we caught the ball.  We are young, we have two seniors out there.  We have sophomores and freshmen.  They did some freshmen things.  We need to relax and handle it,” she said.

          Wortman lead Clear Fork in scoring with 18 points.  The Lady Colts had three others in double figures with 12 from Davis and 11 each for Annika Labaki and Conrad.

          Pleasant (2-4,2-2) did an excellent job of slowing the tempo down in the second half and they did not allow Clear Fork to pull away.  The Lady Colts largest lead with 15 (39-24) with 6:02 left in third after a Bekah Conrad hoop.

          Clear Fork led (51-40) with 2:26 left after a Conrad free throw, but Pleasant didn’t go away outscoring Clear Fork (8-3) down the stretch.  The Lady Spartans got as close as five (53-48) with 21 seconds left.

          Pratt says they just got behind too much early.  “Scott (Sellers) said we were one of the hardest teams that he has had to play against.  The girls were aggressive.  We just got down early.  I told the girls that they were hot at the beginning and you can’t let that happen,” said Pratt.

          Pleasant was paced by freshman Avah Steele with 13, eight in the fourth quarter and Simmons with 11.

          Sellers says they did not do a good job slamming the door and he blames himself.  “It’s not just to say it, but a lot of it is my fault.  We focus so much on minor details in pressure defense, some of our press stuff and matchups.  Certainly, some things that Pleasant was going to do.  We didn’t put a lot of time into late game this week other than certain things we like to do to run a little clock.  Some of the things we did in the last 30 seconds were out of character for our team, certainly out of character for me, I’ll do a better job of that.  All it takes is 10 minutes in practice to cover it and your good and I didn’t do that this week.” said Sellers.

Published 12/17/21

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Pleasant Looking for a Boost

          Marion Pleasant entertains Clear Fork in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday night between teams searching for success.

          Pleasant has one win and Clear Fork has none so far.

          Pleasant coach Ben Snively believes they are starting to play better heading into Christmas.  “We definitely have gotten better that has been the goal right now.  I talked to the kids (Thursday) that we were young and inexperienced and all of that stuff.  We have to kind of put that on the back burner now, we have six games under our belts, so we have to get rid of that.  We have had a tough schedule to start out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We did take about a half step backwards against North Union, but that is an old “MOAC” team and they have a 6’7” kid and another 6’3” kid that is being recruited for division I football.  So, they took it to us, but we had been improving.  Again, the story of our season is not being able to make shots and it has been the same story.  We just have been getting decent looks and we haven’t been able to knock them in.”

          Pleasant (1-5,1-2) is at home for Clear Fork (0-5,0-3) on Friday night.  The Colts lost a pair of “MOAC” games last week to Galion (55-46) on Thursday and Ontario (58-36) on Saturday.

          Snively says both teams are struggling.  “I think they are in a very similar situation that we are.  I have a lot of respect for coach (Steven) Bechtel.  Looking at the records, both of us have struggled this year.  I told the kids if you look at their record you can take that for what its worth, but they are looking at ours as well and they are going to come in and give us everything they have got because they see it as a chance to win a game as well.  So, both of us are struggling right now out of the gates.  It will be a big game for us, especially being a home game.  I just told the kids to be on alert because Clear Fork will come in and play their best game of the year Friday night,” said Snively.

          Snively hopes they can build on what they did in the fourth quarter of a (70-53) loss to North Union on Tuesday night.  “North Union was up big on us in the fourth quarter and they subbed quite a few kids and we had our best quarter of the year.  I understand that we were playing against some subs, the backups, but we are trying to build off the ball did go in the hoop.  We were over 20 points in that quarter.  We have kids that are working on shooting.  They worked all summer, they just aren’t falling right now.  So, we are going to continue to believe.  Sometimes we over complicate the game, but the team that puts the ball in the basket will probably come out victorious,” he said.

Published 12/17/21

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Pleasant Looking to Get Better

          Marion Pleasant hosts Highland on Thursday and travels down the road to rival River Valley on Saturday in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play.

          Their opened league play in losing (67-37) to defending conference champion Shelby on Friday night.

          Coach Ben Snively says Shelby is really good and they found it hard to keep up.  “We are just trying to improve right now.  We knew going in it would be tough.  The game actually didn’t start out too bad for us and then they made one of their runs on us.  They are just a very physical and run up down the floor.  They have great athletes, guards that can shoot it, and they have a little bit of everything.  We knew it was going to be tough, especially at Shelby.  So, it was a good test early on to kind of see where we are at.  We just have to keep trying to improve.  I told the kids after the game take that for what it’s worth because they are going to do that to a lot of other teams as well this year.  We are just trying to look at our mistakes.  Our shooting woes are still continuing, obviously that has something to do with Shelby’s defense as well last week, but we are just trying to improve day to day,” said Snively.

          Snively says they have a lot of inexperience this year and that is leading to inconsistency, especially on offense.  “We have some older kids, but we have one kid that has played major minutes in his career, so we knew we would be a little bit inexperienced.  We have four sophomores playing some varsity basketball and playing a lot of minutes for us right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “It’s really weird too because I think you see times where a player or two will be in slump, but it’s like we are all in a slump together.  I’m hoping this Thursday and Saturday we can all just break out together.  We are in it together and we can break out and make some more shots.  That’s changes everything.  Our defense actually has been pretty solid this year, but then you can’t put the basketball in the basket I makes the game real difficult.”

          Pleasant (0-3,0-1) hosts Highland (0-3,0-1) on Thursday night.

          Snively says he looks forward to playing Highland again.  “Highland used to be in our league.  I actually cut my teeth at Highland, this is where I started my career, so this has always been a fun game for me just because that’s where I started out.  I know their coach Christian Toombs, we went to college together.  They will be a disciplined team and they will be physical with you.  I know they will be really solid with Christian over there.  We have not played them for a couple of years, we used to play them non league.  So, it will be a feeling out thing on Thursday night.  Our hope is to just go in and improve and make some shots and see if we can get on the right course here,” he said.

Published 12/07/21

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Pleasant Must Shoot Better

          Pleasant is one of those teams early in the season that just hasn’t made enough shots to win games.

          They are going to have to make some on Friday night as they travel to Shelby to meet the Whippets in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game.

          Coach Ben Snively says they have gotten a lot of good shots, but they have failed to convert.  “We have been below 30 percent in both games we have played.  We are not forcing shots, you have a couple of them in each game, the bottom line is we just are not putting the ball in the hole right now.  We have some inexperience.  We have quite a few sophomores players, so some of that could be due to it being early season and being inexperienced.  Hopefully with two games under our belt, we will start to see some kids settle in a little bit and knock down some shots,” he said.

          Pleasant (0-2) lost (51-40) to Marion Elgin in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

          Shelby (1-0) won their opener (78-60) over Mansfield Madison last Friday night.

          Snively says the Whippets still want to pressure you and run the floor, like they did last year.  “They are the cream of the cop.  River Valley was able to get them once and have lost one game in two years.  With Shelby, nobody in the league has been able to do much with them.  Obviously, it is going to be a very difficult test for us on Friday night, but at this stage we have a lot basketball to play.  We are going to try and go over there and make strides and get better as a team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “That is really all I can ask out of my kids.  We have to make some shots.  We have to be patient against them.  We definitely don’t want to get into a track meet with them.  They still get the ball out and go a little bit and pressure you quite a bit.  They have good athletes.  It will be a difficult task for us, but we will go over there and give them all we’ve got.”

          Shelby thrives on your mistakes and Snively says they have to limit those on Friday night.  “I have seen a little bit of them on film this year and they don’t really trap you so much as they pressure you.  When you have some bad turnovers and they turn them into points you are really in big trouble.  So, it will be key for us again to be patient and take care of the basketball and try and keep our turnovers down and avoid those runs that they have,” he said.

Published 12/02/21

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Rebounding a Key to Pleasant’s Improvement

          Pleasant has the personnel to return to their winning ways this season, but they still have things to work on.

          The are slated to begin the season at Northmor on the day before Thanksgiving and at Cardington the Friday after Turkey Day.

          Coach Ben Snively says they have shown some good things, but also the need to get better in a week.  “We are obviously not satisfied with where we are at, but we are doing things a little better than we did last year I think at this time.  I think anytime you can make progress that’s good.  We have had three scrimmages already, two of which we did fairly well, and then last Saturday we played and we didn’t do so well.  It was a good learning experience for the kids.  I think maybe we thought were a little better than we were at that point,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Northridge came in and smacked us around a little bit, so it was just a good learning lesson.  Just like the regular season that happens sometimes.  You win a couple and you start feeling good about yourself and before you know it somebody smacks a little bit.  So, it was a good learning lesson for us and we are just trying to improve every day.”

          Snively says getting their share of rebounds this year is going to be key to their success.  “We are not a very big team again this year.  We have a couple of 6’3” kids, but again we are going to have to do a much better job rebounding than we did this past weekend.  That is going to eb a real key for us this season, we really have to move people out of the way because we are not big at all.  So, between that and taking care of the basketball are our two main focuses right now.  We have to get better at rebounding and that is what Saturday kind of taught us,” he said.

          Pleasant is still a work in progress and Snively says he believes the preseason is where you need to find your strengths and weaknesses.  “I think most coaches, especially in the smaller schools, we look for a scrimmage or two that you know is going to be really tough.  Especially, when you think you are good, you want to go find out exactly what areas you need to improve before the season starts.  You hate that have one those wake up calls once the season starts.  That is exactly what preseason is all about.  We will have seven days to prepare for Northmor the day before Thanksgiving,” said Snively.

Published 11/16/21

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Making Shots Again the Key for Pleasant

          Marion Pleasant, of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, is on the road at Johnstown-Monroe in a first round tournament game in division III on Wednesday night.

          The Johnnies are the third seed in the Central District.

          Pleasant (8-13) has won two if its last three, but they did get hammered (113-65) by Shelby in a conference game last Friday.

          Coach Ben Snively says they learned from that experience.  “The Shelby game was obviously a setback on Friday night, but prior to that we had won two in a row.  We played pretty well in those games.  As we go into Johnstown we had three, four days of solid practice to be prepare for this and we were we obviously looking at them prior to this,” he said.

          Johnstown (15-5) won the Licking County league this season.

          Snively says they have two really good players.  “They have two really talented players.  One is Gavin Foe.  He ended up getting the district 11 player of the year and the North-South honor for our district.  He is averaging 23 points a game and he is going to be tough to handle.  They have another young man by the name of (Jake) Lust that was also a member of their team last year that won the district championship.  We are looking forward to the challenge (Wednesday) night,” he said.

          Snively adds that Foe reminds him of a player he coached at Pleasant and they are going to have to keep him and the Johnnies off the boards if they are going to get the win.  “We made a really good run about three or four years ago and we went to the regional finals.  Their main player is very athletic, which kind of reminded us that we had a young man named Nico Sansotta was a very good basketball player,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They are just really scrappy on defense.  We are going to have to have a solid night and make some shots.  We definitely will have to keep them off the boards.  They are very good defensively.  They have the two main scorers and the rest of their kids are averaging around five, six points a game.  So, if we make shots and keep them off the boards, we think we have a chance to maybe go in there and get an upset.”

Published 2/24/21

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Pleasant Must Make Shots

          Pleasant will be at home for the Galion Tigers in a matchup in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.

          The Spartans have a chance to put together a little run here toward the end of the regular season.

          They rebounded from a (78-40) loss to Ontario on Saturday night in a league game to beat Ridgedale (49-34) in non-conference play on Tuesday night.

          Coach Ben Snively says it was a good bounce back.  “Ridgedale came out and they really wanted to control the tempo and we jumped out to a seven, eight point lead and then before we knew it right after half they got as close as two to us and we made another run,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Going back to last Saturday against Ontario, I knew it was going to be a tough one in the fact that we beat them the first time and they just really came out.  Shaver got things started early.  He hit a couple of jumpers and he had 15 in the first half against us.  He only ended up with 17 in the game, but that is because he is such an unselfish player and he got others involved.  They really took it too us on Saturday night, but it was good Tuesday to get a win, especially on the road in a difficult environment.”

          Pleasant (7-12,3-7) plays host to Galion (0-17,0-9) on Friday night.  Galion came within a whisker of a win on Tuesday night in losing to Bucyrus (47-45) in non-league game.

          The Spartans took the first meeting (56-42) on January 26 and Snively says Galion had the early lead in that game.  “They have had their struggles this year.  I feel really confident it is senior night for us.  We won on the road earlier this year, however, they were beating us at halftime, so you know it’s a situation where they know they can play with us.  I am sure they are going to come over and give us all they have got on Friday night,” he said.

          Snively says the Tigers definitely have their attention.  “It was just a couple of weeks ago and like I said they will be ready to play.  They did some good things against us that night.  They played a lot of zone against us.  So, we will have to shoot the basketball well.  Being at home, the shots are usually a little easier to shoot in an environment that you are used to.  So, if we can come out and get them out of their zone early, I think we will be in good shape Friday night,” said Snively.

Published 2/12/21

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Pleasant Continuing to Grow

          Marion Pleasant features a younger basketball team that wants to continue to grow and they have two more chances this week with Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference games with Clear fork at home on Thursday and at Ontario on Saturday.

          On Tuesday night, Bishop Ready came calling and they and they beat the Spartans (60-43) in non-conference play.

          Coach Ben Snively says really it was a physical mismatch.  “Bishop Ready is one of the better teams in the Central District this year.  They only have 11 games in, but I believe they are 8-3 and play in a very tough Central Catholic League.  Quite honestly, it was men against boys (Tuesday) evening.  We are going to learn from that experience as we have tried to do all year.  Quite frankly, they were just a way better team than we were.  They have three or four seniors that have played since their freshman year.  It was a tough matchup for us.  We got to within 12 at one point, but they were just a little bigger, faster, stronger than us,’ said Snively.

          Pleasant (5-11,2-6) hosts Clear Fork (6-9,3-5) on Thursday night.  The Colts are coming off a (66-44) win over Loudonville in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.  The Colts also beat Pleasant (59-49) on December 22.

          Snively says this should be a competitive game.  “I saw that score against Loudonville and thought they probably played pretty well.  They have a little size advantage on his, but I think we can hang with them because we are at home.  The first time around it was a closer game than maybe the score indicated, but we didn’t shoot the ball very well.  That has been our story all year if we can put the basketball in the hole (Thursday) night I think we will have a shot to win the game,” he said.

          Saturday night, the Spartans are at Ontario (10-5,5-3) again in conference play.  Ontario outscored River Valley (76-64) in a conference game on Tuesday night.  Pleasant upset the Warriors (61-54) on January 7.

          Snively says it will a tough task to win again.  “That one is kind of scarry we are on the road.  They are a very good basketball team.  There is no question that was the best game we have played all season.  We shot 50 percent that night.  Again, with a well coached team and a group of seniors.  They know they were knocked off that night by a team that probably shouldn’t,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I know coach (Joe) Balogh will have them ready to go.  It will be another tough challenge for us.  We have a couple of younger kids playing and we will go up and give it everything we have got and learn from our experience.”

Published 2/04/21

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Pleasant Returns to Action Against Galion

          Pleasant, after not playing last week, plays at Galion in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Tuesday night.

          The Spartans last played on January 15 and lost (36-34) to Marion Harding in a conference game.

          In fact, Pleasant has only played once since January 7 and Snively says they just want to get back on the floor.  “We talk a lot about perspective.  We were actually ahead of schedule at one point then all of he sudden we lost three of our last four and the perspective goes back to maybe not winning and losing to we just have to get these kids some games.  We have lost one due to cancelations with Centerburg and we are still looking for a possible game there.  This is a makeup with Galion in itself,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We are just excited to get the kids back out on the court and there maybe a little rust and whatever the case may be, but we are just excited that we get to go out and play again.”

          Pleasant (4-9,1-5) travels to Galion (0-10,0-7) on Tuesday night.  The Tigers lost to Clear Fork (46-34) on Saturday afternoon.

          Snively says the makeup of these two teams is pretty similar.  “They are in a similar situation to us this year when I look at statistics and things they are just having a difficult time putting the ball in the basket.  I think anytime you go on the road, I told our kids (Monday) night that we just have to be mentally prepared and go out there and give me everything we have got.  That is the main thing for us going into (Tuesday) is the mistakes.  We have to take care of the little things and just me mentally ready to play the game at Galion on Tuesday,” he said.

          When you have a team that struggles shooting the ball, Snively says they want to get to the foul line and try some shots when people aren’t guarding them.  “Regardless of records I feel like in high school basketball, and basketball in general, when you have to go on the road and are in a different atmosphere that is not always easy.  Historically, we have shot the ball pretty well up at Galion.  We are in that same situation that there are in and a lot of times it is about who can get to the foul line.  If you are struggling from the outside you have to be able to get the ball inside and attack the rim and win the foul line battle for the evening,” said Snively.

Published 1/26/20

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Pleasant Faces “MOAC” Leaders

          Marion Pleasant gets the opportunity this week to travel to Shelby and take on the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leaders on Thursday night.

          Shelby leads the “MOAC” by two games over River Valley.

          They lost (34-32) to Marion Harding in a conference game Saturday night that coach Ben Snively says frankly was hard to watch with so many shots hitting iron.  “For whatever reason it seems like when we get together with Harding nobody can score.  I am really not sure why that is.  For whatever reason it always seems to be a low scoring game.  A fan that was actually able to see the game, one of our ticket people, told me boy it was just an ugly game to watch.  We shot 23 percent and they shot 31, which is about as ugly as it gets.  A lot of that has to do with the defense and the kids are pumped up to play against each other,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I think anytime you are losing, and we are losing some games this year, it is usually a reoccurring theme and for us we are not able to put the ball in the basket.  So, we will continue to work at it.  We have been doing a lot of shooting in practice to try and find different things on offense to get us going.  Nothing seems to be working right now, but again we still have nine or 10 games left and we will keep working at it and see where we can get to.”

          Pleasant (4-9,1-5) plays at Shelby (10-2,7-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Thursday night.  The Whippets lost (61-51) to Olentangy in a non-conference game on Monday night.  The MOAC’s leading scorer T.J. Pugh did not play in that game for undisclosed reasons.  He is expected to return on Thursday.

          Snively says Pugh is outstanding, but they have other very good players too.  “Obviously, they have Pugh and he is a phenomenal basketball player.  He can put the points up and rebound.  When you look at teams that have been good for as long as they have his supporting cast is just tremendous as well.  They are just a very disciplined group of kids.  They do what is ask of them and when somebody needs to step up there is always someone their to step up for them.  They do a great job of getting out and running.  For us when you have a lack of depth at times.  They are just very athletic and they can shoot the basketball, they can attack, they can get out and run and they will trap you a little bit,” said Snively.

          Snively says not only is Shelby very talented, their kids know how to win games.  “I think the biggest thing with a group like this is they just know how to win.  They find ways to win even in situations where they could be down, they just find ways to win.  They have some great kids and a strong tradition.  So, it is going to be a very difficult game for us on the road at Shelby,” he said.

Published 1/20/21

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Pleasant With Rematch With Marion Harding

          Pleasant begins the second half of the double round robin in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night by hosting the Marion Harding Presidents.

          A non-conference game with Centerburg scheduled for Tuesday night has been postponed.

          The Spartans played their best game of the season last Thursday in beating Ontario (61-54) in a conference game.

          Coach Ben Snively says they finally made some shots.  “We shot 50 percent for the game against Ontario.  That has been our woes all year.  We were 60 some from three point range.  We had a couple of freshmen that really stepped up and were our two leading scorers.  I think when you have that going its is really good for us.  For the whole season it has just been a matter of putting the ball in the hoop and we have not done a very good job of that, so fortunately we were able to break out of that.  When you are on one of those peaks and playing a little better we have had two games in a row now postponed, so we were anxious to get back on the court.  Galion for last Saturday and Centerburg for (Tuesday) evening where both were postponed.  So, we will go back to work in practice and just continue to try and get better,” said Snively.

          Pleasant (4-8,1-4) entertains Harding (3-4,3-3) on Friday night.  The Presidents won the first time (48-40) on December 18.  Harding lost their last league game to Ontario (54-42) on Saturday night.

Snively says the first game was up for grabs.  “They are were on a break early in the year, so they don’t have as many games in.  We went over there earlier in the year and it was a typical Marion Harding-Pleasant basketball game, somewhat lowing scoring, and a good basketball game back and forth.  We were in the lead until about midway in the third when they took over.  It was close down to the end.  We are one of the better free throw shooting teams in the league this year and actually in one stretch against Harding we went 0-6,”  he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “To take nothing away from Marion Harding, they are a good basketball team, well coached, as most teams are in this league.  It will be another Marion County rivalry game.  We have them at home, so that will hopefully kind of give us an edge on Friday night.”

Snively says it is going to boil down to the fundamental elements of the game.  “I am a coach that I would rater go back and watch the film, I know it has been a couple of weeks ago, but I would still like to see how we react to them and they react to us.  Typically, when you coach against these guys over and over not a lot of things change, it is just a matter of who wants it a little bit more and takes care of the basketball and who can make shots and who wins the free throw line.  With the Marion County thing, all of these kids know one another and they have been playing each other since third grade.  It’s always fun to get together with county schools and we will figure it out Friday night and see what happens,” said Snively.

Published 1/12/21

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Practice Does Pleasant Good

          Marion Pleasant will be busy this week as they play three times after playing only once since December 22, two of them will be Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference games against Ontario on Thursday and Galion on Saturday.

          The Spartans also play Tuesday night at Mt. Gilead in a non-conference game.

          They beat Berne Union (63-59) on Saturday and coach Ben Snively says they have started to shoot it at least a little bit better.  “We had a little more practice time.  We have been very fortunate to actually be on schedule and played an extra game.  We had a game scheduled for mid-January that we moved up earlier in the year.  Again, with practice at this time of the year with COVID all of the stuff going on and we actually played a lot of games.  We have 10 games in already, which we are really excited about and happy about.  We did have some down time with the dates they fell this year with the holidays there weren’t many opportunities in there and for whatever reason didn’t have anything scheduled.  We got a good, solid week of practice in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “So far this year, we just haven’t been able to shoot the ball very well and we worked on that a little bit.  Saturday, we went down to Berne Union, which is at the southern tip of the central district, and again we didn’t shoot it great, but we were in the lead of the game the whole time and when we needed shots that is when we made them.  I talked to the kids about that, at crucial points in the game when that other team in making a run we were able to get some shots in those situations.”

          Pleasant play at Mt. Gilead Tuesday night and Snively says the Indians will press a lot and make it tough for them to execute their offense.  “From talking to some people and seeing some film on them they trap everywhere.  They run a little half court trap.  They have some kids that can shoot the basketball.  I feel like all of the Morrow County schools, we play Northmor, Cardington, and Mt. Gilead, we played Highland a few years back.  These are old rivalries for us and it’s always going to be a good game.  They know who we are, we know who they are.  We have to go over there.  It’s always tougher to win on the road than it is home.  I think six of our last seven have been on the road, so we are looking forward to getting back home here later in January.  It will be a tough game for us.  They all are at the varsity level.  You just have to go over there and do the best you can and hope some shots fall and you play your game,” he said.

          Pleasant (3-7,0-4) hosts Ontario (7-3,3-1) on Thursday night.

          Snively says the Warriors are well disciplined and they will be in for a battle.  “The (Griffin) Shaver kid, he is their team leader, he has been playing since his freshman year.  Between he and Bell at River Valley they are two of the better points guards that I have actually seen in my career.  I think the big thing with both of them is they are both experienced.  They are well coached.  With coach (Joe) Balogh being around him for four years, Shaver is like an assistant coach out on the floor.  I have always really appreciated Shaver, he just lets the game come to him.  When he needs to take over, he takes over.  He is also one of the better defenders I believe in the league.  Obviously, Ontario has plenty of kids around him that play basketball as well.  They are well coached and they going to be a challenge, but we get them at home.  You have to do everything you can to try and win your home games.  So, hopefully we can get some shots to fall against them and who knows it’s basketball and anything can happen,” said Snively.

Published 1/05/21

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Pleasant Now Plays Rival River Valley

          Marion Pleasant was to play Shelby and River Valley was to play Clear Fork in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference games on Thursday.  Both games were wiped out by the purple haze, so now Pleasant will host longtime rival River Valley on Thursday.

          The Spartans (3-0,0-0) beat Marion Elgin (46-32) last Tuesday.

          Coach Ben Snively says they have some momentum and look forward to playing the Vikings.  “We lost a tough one early on and we have won the last couple of games, so we have a little bit of momentum.  River Valley called over when Shelby cancelled and we talked about moving it up and I think at this point you are looking at different teams and you are trying to prepare, but once again we are just trying to get as many games as we possibly can for these young men to just get out and experience some high school basketball.  So, regardless of what day it is or you we are playing you are just excited that you can get out there and play some games,” said Snively.

          River Valley (2-3,2-0) pounded Galion (80-35) last Friday in their last league game.

          Snively says the Vikings have an outstanding point guard and some shooters to go with him.  “I believe they have maybe the best point guard in the league with Ethan Bell.  He can create, he has a high number of assists, he can score, he just does it all for them.  They have a lot of kids on the perimeter that can really just shoot the basketball.  They have a big down low.  So, they have everybody coming back.  Again, a lot of experience as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They had no seniors last year.  So, it’s going to be a very difficult matchup for us, but again in a rivalry game you throw the records out the window it’s so early in the season.  I feel good where we are and I know our kids are going to compete.”

          There is no doubt this this is a tempo game, according to Snively, he says they can’t get into a track meet with River Valley.  “There is not doubt in my mind that they are at their best when you miss a shot, so I think it is going to me very key that we control the tempo.  There is no way we want to go out and run with these guys they just have too many weapons with different players.  We have talked about being patient, looking for a good shot.  As in any basketball game when we get those open looks, we are going to have to make them,” he said.

Published 12/09/20

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Pleasant Moving Forward

          Marion Pleasant is fortunate in a way because they are playing games while other teams are waiting to get on the floor.

          They will be playing for the third time on Tuesday night at Marion Elgin in a non-conference game.

          In another odd twist associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is the Spartans will be doing it without their coach Ben Snively, who is quarantined as he has been for the last 10 days.

          Snively says for the first two games, a (67-66) loss to Cardington and a (61-44) win over Northmor, he was at home while his team was playing.  “I watched the first two games via live stream and was sending some texts to our coach at halftime trying to give them a little bit of advice.  I have a lot of confidence in our assistant coaches to take over the situation, but it was a real weird feeling.  Also, there is hardly anyone in the crowd and I have not got to experience that yet, but my coaches were telling me what a different kind of experience that was.  So, it is going to be new to me when I get back.  I will miss one more game, which is (Tuesday) at Elgin and then I will be able to return to work and practice and things on Friday of this week,” he said.

          Snively says the staff and players made the right adjustments from game one to game two last weekend.  “The biggest thing was even without myself being there I was able to relay messages to our coaches about what I saw in the first game.  We were kind of in a similar situation in the Northmor game in that we were up big going into the fourth quarter.  It is just key that the kids learn from their first experience with having a lead going into the fourth and we weren’t able to hold on to it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Basically, we talked about we took some quick shots and we had some turnovers against Cardington, which cost us, but in the Northmor game we did a much better job of taking care of the ball and attacking in those situations and we increased our lead in the fourth.  So, that was a really positive thing, especially early on and that’s all you can ask from kids is that losing is just a learning experience and we were able to take what we learned on Friday night and turn it around into a win on Saturday.”

          Snively says games against Elgin are always intense because the schools are right round the corner from each other.  “They are in Marion obviously and we have played them the last couple of years.  They had a really good player last year that they lost.  We have been able to see them a little bit on film.  I really don’t know a lot about them.  They do play some zone, they play some man.  Again, it is one of those Marion County rivalry games.  It’s fortunate that we still get to play them in basketball because we had some great games with them in the past.  It’s always a tough game when you go on the road for the first time each year and I expect it to be a good game.  Unfortunately, I’ll be watching from the live stream again,” said Snively.

Published 12/01/20

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Pleasant Spartans Hard Workers

          Pleasant is getting ready for the basketball season and as an inexperienced team they are dealing with a lot of off the court issues right now.

          Coach Ben Snively says they have gotten just a handful of practices based on some issues with COVID-19.  “We are exactly a week in because, but last Friday-Saturday we had a few cases here at Pleasant so they cancelled all extra curriculars on Friday and Saturday, so we did not get a chance to practice, but we will get back after it (Monday.)  We went back to the hybrid model where we have of the kids coming a couple days a week.  Hopefully, we will get some of these cases straightened out.  It has been a real trying time for everyone and we just hope we can get some games in this year,” he said.

          Snively is echoing some of the same things football coaches were saying during their seasons, it is one day at a time.  “You just don’t know how many you are going to get in if any with flu season and indoors and outdoors, you hear all of these things.  It literally is day to day.  Like I said, we had a couple of cases and we had around 70 kids quarantined because they were in close contact.  I believe we have three basketball players that are out and the girls’ team has five,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Again, they don’t actually have cases, but they are quarantined due to the distancing with those that were infected.  It changes every day.  My “JV” coach got quarantined as well, so we are going to pick up the slack for him over the next couple of weeks and help out the “JV” kids and just keep moving forward every day.”

          On the basketball floor, Snively says they are going to be inexperienced, but he knows the kids are going to work very hard.  “I think we are going to be a team that is inexperienced this year.  Once again, we have a great community and great kids and I just enjoy being with them in the gym every day.  It is one of the most mysterious groups we have had in a while due to fact that a lot of them have not been on the court, but they have been working real hard for us and giving us everything they have got and they are learning and that’s all you can ask.  I think we will be able to be competitive and if you go out and give yourself a chance to win that’s what it is all about,” said Snively.

Published 11/10/20

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Pleasant Plays Best Game; Needs to be Better

          Marion Pleasant is a fixture in the state football playoffs, but this year has been their least productive year in more than a quarter of a century.  Last week, in their playoff opener it was a different story.

          They beat Ben Logan (35-13) to advance in the playoffs and will travel to Otsego to play the unbeaten Knights on Saturday night in a second round game in division V.

          Last Saturday, Pleasant (2-5) belted Ben Logan in what was their best performance of the season.

          Coach Aaron Cook is excited by what he saw.  “We were really proud of our kids.  It has been a little bit of a different season than what we are used to.  Credit the teams in the “MOAC,” it is a really talented league and we saw that round one of the playoffs, just teams that did play from our league.  It was the first time all year we faced a division V team, so that was kind of refreshing for us.  We are usually playing up a little bit in our league.  Ben Logan was a very good team, very big, very physical, had some really nice athletes.  It was a battle, it was one of those games that went back and forth.  Just proud of way our kids hung in there and fought,” said Cook.

          This the 25^th playoff appearance for the Spartans and they have three state titles to their credit.

          The Pleasant defense was much better last week than it has been.  It was the first time all season they had allowed less than 28 points in a game, they had twice given up more than 48.

          Cook says those kids have worked hard to get better.  “We have just prided ourselves in getting better on that side of the ball.  We are playing some young kids, we are starting three or four sophomores on that side of the ball, so anytime you do that you go through some growing pains.  Those kids have started to grow up a little bit.  Just really proud of how they have fought and how they have played.  We have given up a lot of points this year and being able to contain a really good Ben Logan team that was a nice thing for us,” he said.

          Otsego (6-0) has only really been challenged once this season and that was a (17-7) win over Pemberville Eastwood on week two of the season. 

          Cook says they are led by brothers, who are the sons of the head coach in quarterback Joseph Dzierwa and Noah, a wide receiver.  He says this is the best team they have scouted this season, and that includes unbeaten Shelby.  “They are as talented as anybody we have seen.  Probably have the best quarterback we have seen and that is not saying that lightly because we have seen some really good quarterbacks in the “MOAC.”  He is a very talented kid, 6’6” kid, head coach’s son.  You can tell he is a student of the game.  Has been raised around the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “His older brother is a starting receiver, kind of the same deal with him, very talented kid.  You can tell those guys have spent a lot of time with dad.  The rest of the kids around them are just phenomenal, super quick, they are just solid, you can see why they are 6-0.  They as talented as anybody in the State of Ohio.”

Published 10/14/20

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Pleasant Plays Big Play River Valley

          Pleasant plays at home against archrival River Valley on Friday night in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play.

          This is one those rivalries that date back to the time of Camelot.

          Last week, the Spartans played Lucas for the first time ever and lost (35-21) in a non-conference game.

          Pleasant coach Aaron Cook says it was a fun game to play even though they lost.  “You know what Lucas does.  You see them in the state finals last year.  Coach (Spitler) has done a great job over there.  You try to get ready for that stuff and it’s so difficult.  I thought our kids played really well.  I said on Friday night, hats go off to Lucas, what a fun game to watch and coach in.  I have a lot of fun with the Lucas kids.  They were just great kids and it was a hard hitting game.  I told coach (Spitler) after the game, just love his team.  Just a good small school team and they execute and were phenomenal,” said Cook.

          River Valley (2-1,2-1) dopped out of first place in the “MOAC” when Ontario beat them last week (28-24) in a conference game.  They now trail Shelby by a game.

          Cook says the Vikings do a lot of things on offense that you have to contain.  “I have known coach Green for 30 plus years and he does a phenomenal job and he always has his teams ready to play.  He has a ton of athletes on that team.  Their quarterback is as good as I have seen a River Valley quarterback be.  He can make every throw.  He does a phenomenal job,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They are big up front.  They are definitely a good football team.  It’s a rival game, so obviously both sides get going and enjoy that.  They are a phenomenal team and they have athletes everywhere.”

          River Valley quarterback Cayden Shidone leads the conference in passing yards with 573 and TD passes with seven.  Meanwhile, Pleasant signal caller Austin Shaffer is second in the conference in rushing with 545 yards and has run for seven.

          Cook says River Valley is physical on defense.  “Their defense is phenomenal.  They have a bunch of juniors and seniors.  You pop in the tape and you say that kid is still there?  They just have played so much football.  I always enjoy playing them because those kids play the game hard.  They have a physical and phenomenal defense,” he said.

Published 9/16/20

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Pleasant Ready to See What They Have

Pleasant Needs Another Win

          Marion Pleasant remains in the thick of the red division race in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, just a game behind Jonathan Alder and Marion Harding with four games still left to play.

          Last week, the Spartans (5-1,2-1), #3 in Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, shut out North Union (14-0) to keep themselves in the conference race.

         Coach Aaron Cook says their defense was just outstanding again and they were the difference.  “Our kids played extremely well on defense and that is something we have been doing consistently all year.  Our kids have been running to the ball and tackling very well.  Obviously we played a very good game against a talented and well coached North Union team.  It was a great high school game.  It was 7-0 late into that game and our defense came up big multiple times to get stops for us,” he said.

          Their only loss came three weeks ago to Jonathan Alder (33-16,) but since then they have two straight.  Cook his kids have continued to work hard to get better.  “Our kids have done a pretty decent job of improving from week to week.  Our completion has been pretty much consistently difficult, so every week you have to bring you “A” game.  Our kids understand that.  They have been doing a pretty good job of working and that is easy to do when you win, keeping engaged, they want to get better and they work hard.  Hopefully we can continue that process,” said Cook.

          Pleasant hosts Buckeye Valley (3-3,2-1) in a red division game on Friday night.  The Barons played very well last week in losing (28-20) to conference co-leader Jonathan Alder. 

          Cook says the Barons are a big, physical team that is pretty athletic too.  He says it will be a test.  “They are one of the biggest and most physical teams that we will play all year.  They present some problems for us with their size.  They are very skilled on the outside.  They have a great quarterback and they play great defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It is going to be a challenge.  Everybody in this league has great talent and quality teams and you have to come ready to play.  Hopefully our kids will come ready to play and play a pretty good high school football game and we will see what happens.”

Published 10/04/16

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