Shelby Whippets/Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference News
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Shelby
Must be Ready
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Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, will host
Orrville, of the Principal’s Athletic Conference, on Friday night in a
division IV regional quarterfinal.
As the top seed in region 14, the Whippets (10-0), #1 in the final
Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, had a
bye.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they tried to do the right things to keep
sharp. “I thought things went
well. I thought our kids did a
good job of trying to come in and get what we wanted to get done each day
but also trying to heal and rest and all those kinds of things but still
stay on top of our craft. Obviously,
we'll see how we play on Friday night and kind of see if we did a good job
to try and not build any rust. Overall, I thought it was a good week for our
kids and for our coaching staff too to get a little bit of rest last
week,” he said.
Orrville (7-4) topped Clear Fork (35-28) in a first round game played
last week at Clear Fork.
They are coached by former Madison coach Brent Besancon.
Mahaney says they are well coached and their offense has playmakers.
“Well, I think first of all Brent does a great job.
I think through the film the kids play extremely hard.
They don't have a ton of kids playing, but they have kids that play
really, really hard and that shows up on film and it's a credit to Brent his
staff,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Then I think, like
you said, I mean they score a lot of points.
They have a quarterback that's really accurate, a running back that
runs really hard, and a receiver that's a big time playmaker.
So, you couple that and put that all together and you have got an
explosive offense. So, I think
defensively we got to make sure we're ready to go.”
Shelby averages almost seven TD’s per game and that is with almost
every week a running clock in most of the second half.
Mahaney says they have to continue to take advantage of their
opportunities. “I think they
do a good job of getting to the football.
They like to get a lot of guys close to the line of scrimmage and
kind of play those back four in coverage.
When they swarm to the football, we have got to make sure up front
make sure we know where we're going and running our rules.
Then obviously if we get a chance to make an explosive play in the
pass game make sure we execute,” said Mahaney.
Published 11/07/25
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Shelby
Wants the Title
Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Robert Mahaney
Shelby will earn an outright title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference with a win on Friday night at Marion Harding.
It would the Whippets third straight title and second outright in a
row.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they really focused on accomplishing that
goal on Friday. “You put in a
ton of time and effort. You
commit to something that’s bigger than yourselves and I think for our kids
that have done that and stuck to our core values.
You get an opportunity to go out week 10 and win the league title
it’d something your excited about. That’s
something you have got to go and get. We
have talked to our kids this week that we are very thankful to be 9-0, and
proud to be 9-0, at the same time the job is not finished.
9-0 is not the end, 10-0 is the end goal of the mission. So,
I think for us we understand that the goal is to go out to finish 10-0.
I think it’s an awesome opportunity.
We have earned that right through the first nine games to go out
there with that opportunity Friday night,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (9-0,6-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, plays at Marion Harding (3-6,2-4), who lost a
tough one (28-20) to second place Galion last week.
Mahaney says they have improved a lot this season.
“They are a team that has gotten a lot better throughout the
season. I think coach (C.J.)
Westler does a really good job whether he was at Pleasant before and now at
Harding. You can see the kids
kind of grow and get more comfortable with him.
He does a good job of motioning and shifting offensively.
The running back runs hard. He's
a good football player. They had
some different guys play quarterback because they have done some different
stuff. They do a good job,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Defensively, their nose guard
is one of the best players that we've seen this year defensively.
We have got to make sure we account for him.
They play a three down line. They
have got eight guys in space and they kind of move those guys all around.
So, that’s where our offensive line will be challenged about those
guys in space. Then playing at
Marion Harding is always a challenge. It’s
like they play a lot better while they're at home, so we have to make sure
we're ready for that challenge.”
Shelby has already clinched a playoff berth, a first round bye, and
the top seed in its division IV region.
Mahaney says another goal they have this week is to continue to get
better as a football team. “Again,
it’s week 10 and we know that the postseason is coming right around the
corner. We're fortunate to have
secured that, so now we want to go out there and finish the mission of the
regular season, but then obviously continue to get better for the challenges
ahead. I think that our team
understands that and have had a good week of practice so far and hopefully
we can go out Friday night and continue to get better and hopefully finish
the mission,” he said.
Published 10/23/25
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Shelby
Can Get a Share
Shelby can win no less than a share of a third straight Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference title with a win on Friday night against visiting Marion
Pleasant.
They hammered archrival Ontario (42-0) last week.
Coach Robert Mahaney says again they executed very well in all areas
of the game. “I’m really
proud of our kids to come out against Ontario and play the way that we did.
On offensive and defense and even special teams really proud of those
guys to get out there and play high school football in week eight and
execute like we did against Ontario, I really proud of that.
As we get to play our last regular season game at home this week it's
just building some excitement off of that and hopefully we can build off
what we did last week into this week,” said Mahaney.
Last week, senior quarterback Brayden DeVito passed NFL All-Star Joe
Borrow in career passing yards in Ohio high school football.
Shelby (8-0,5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, hosts Marion Pleasant (1-7,0-5) on Friday
night. Pleasant was outscored
(48-28) by Marion Harding in a league last week.
Mahaney says they must play well against a team that shows some
potential. “They do a lot of
things really well. They just
have lost some close games. I
think their quarterback is a really good athlete that runs around and
extends plays. Defensively, they
fly around and get to the football and will load the box.
So, we have got to try to be ready for that up front and then be able
to make plays on the edge. They
have seen adversity, but you can watch the film and their kids play hard,
which is your credit to the staff they have there and the job they've done
and keeping those kids going,” he said.
Mahaney says they want that league title and they want to play well
in front of the home fans. “Like
we talk about all the time that, we want a team that gets better every week.
There are opportunities in front of us this week.
Playing our last regular season game at home with an opportunity to
clinch a share of the league title. Again,
an opportunity to play the game that we put so much into to get better,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “The challenge for our kids is
be better week nine than we were week eight with a lot of different things
on the line. Again, understand
what we're climbing, what we're trying to achieve.
Just to take advantage of that opportunity that we're given because
it really is dwindling now as we get into week nine the days and the weeks
are numbered, so we want to really do everything we can to enjoy the heck
out of those times and make the most out of it.”
Published 10/14/25
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Shelby
Has to Force the Action
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader Shelby plays at rival Ontario in
a conference game Frida night.
The Whippets lead Clear Fork and Galion by a game in the “MOAC”
standings.
They forced four turnovers, turning two into defensive touchdowns, in
overwhelming Clear Fork (52-14) in “MOAC” play.
Coach Robert Mahaney says he liked their approach.
“I am just really proud of our kids. I
thought we challenged them all week to come out and just start fast and I
thought we did that offensively and defensively.
Our kids really played well you know and I was proud of that.
Hopefully it’s something we can continue to build on.
It’s a new challenge this week, but getting better every week is
something we challenge our team with all season long. I
thought we did that last week and we have got to continue to do that,” he
said.
Brady Bowman had 209 receiving yards and scored four touchdowns last
week.
Shelby (7-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, travels to Ontario (4-3,2-2) on Friday night.
The Warriors downed Marion Harding (28-14) in a conference game last
week.
These two schools have produced four of the best games in the last
two years, all ending in spectacular fashion, two in the regular season and
two in the playoffs.
Mahaney says this year’s Warriors are going to do some similar
things. “There's definitely
some similarities. Defensively,
they run the 4-3 and they're really solid in what they do and they've done
that over the past several years. Offensively,
they do some things similar. They're
going to try to find ways to run the football and that’s what they have
been really successful with. Again,
kind of like last week our challenge to our kids is to come out to get
better this week. When you go
out and we want to start fast and kind of execute to the best of our
ability. It’s an away game at
Ontario and it's an awesome opportunity for us to play Friday night,” said
Mahaney.
Facing a team that wants to run the ball, Mahaney says they want to
put them in passing situations. “I
think it's important for us to win early downs defensively to put them in
situations in third and longs or things like that just so we can kind of get
them off schedule. The same
thing when we have the ball offensively.
We need to execute early that way we could put some pressure on them
to kind of get them off their game plan.
We did a good job with that last week,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday night, “We've seen it multiple times this year and we'll see
it Friday night, so we have got to make sure we execute at the high level
when we get the ball to put pressure on them.
Defensively, we have to win the early downs and put them into some
passing situations where we can kind of pin our ears back and try to get
after them. So, they do a lot of
really good things and we have got to make sure we're ready for them on
Friday night.”
Published 10/09/25
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Shelby
Has to Make Explosive Plays
Co-leaders in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference clash on Friday night
as Shelby plays host to Clear Fork.
The winner takes command in the “MOAC” race with just three games
to play after Friday.
Shelby (6-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, blanked River Valley (42-0) last week.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they went out and played a complete game.
“I was proud of our kids to go out there and make the trip down to
River Valley and to go out and play like they did.
Defensively, played extremely well the front seven in the back end.
Really give great big credit to those kids.
Offensively, we made plays when we needed to.
Did a great job as a whole team.
So, proud of our guys and hopefully again we can use it as a building
block to continue moving forward,” he said.
The Shelby defense gave up only 26 yards last week.
Clear Fork (5-1,3-0), #5 in our poll, is coming off a (31-7) smoking
of Marion Harding in league play.
Mahaney says this is a physical team that wants to run the ball and
plays outstanding defense. “I
think there's a couple of things that really stick out.
One is that they're extremely well coached and two is that they are
extremely physical. Offensively,
they want to line up and find different ways to run the ball at you.
They're big up front they come right at you.
Running backs, quarterback, they all run hard.
Quarterback does a good job of extending plays and making plays with
his legs and make throws when he needs to.
Defensively, they've been running the 3-3 stack the past couple of
years and have been really, really good at it.
It makes it hard to run the ball.
Again, the way they're super aggressive up there and the way they
play downhill they're going to challenge you in their coverage.
So, really it’s a team that is challenging and be physical with
you. So, we have got to make
sure we're ready for that challenge on Friday night,” said Mahaney.
Mahaney says their defense has to be very good on third down and the
offense needs to be explosive. “When
you look through on “huddle” you can see the other teams
offensively have had very few snaps because they do a really good job
offensively of controlling the clock and running the football.
Gaining first downs and taking that away.
Defensively again they're very good.
So, offensively you have to execute and be able to get first downs
and move the chains so that you can build your drives and score,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Defensively, you have got to get them
off the field on third down. Get
to third and manageable and try to win.
I think it's a really good point to try and see what the tempo of the
game can be. For us, we want to
continue to do what we do and that's to try to execute at a high level,
create very explosive plays and all those kind of things.
So, very thankful, I know our kids are, for an awesome opportunity to
play in a big game on Friday night. Hopefully,
we can go out there and execute the best we can.”
Published 9/30/25
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Shelby
to Face Athletic River Valley
Shelby will be at River Valley for action in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference on Friday night.
They are coming off a (48-0) destruction of Highland on Friday night.
It was their 18th straight regular season win.
They held Highland to four first downs and did not punt all night.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they executed at a high level.
“Really proud of our kids and the effort that they put together
offensively, defensively and on special teams.
I thought our kids played extremely hard from start to finish and
executed at a really high level. Hopefully,
we can use that as a building block to continue through now that we're kind
of on the downswing of the regular season as we get into the heat of
conference play. It’s a really
good performance by our kids and like I said hopefully we can continue to
build off of that,” he said.
Shelby runs the ball very well and they throw it well to a lot of
different receivers.
Mahaney says they have become very efficient.
“I think our kids offensively have done a really great job.
Again, I think it starts with the guys up front, who have done a
great job and have grown week to week. We
have done a really good job running the ball and being physical and then
also pass protection. Obviously,
Brayden (DeVito) has been Brayden and has done a good job of moving the
chains when we need to and being efficient and creating explosive plays,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Give a ton of credit to the
three backs that play for us and then all the receivers.
They've done a great job for us being efficient and understanding and
our tight ends have done great job as well.
The hard part is we have a lot of really good football players and
there's only one football, but they've done a great job of understanding
that it's all about the team. The
ball is going to find them when it's when it's their turn to find them and
then I think our kids have been committed to that and we've become a very
efficient offense.”
Shelby lost the last time they played at River Valley (28-24) in
2023. Ironically, that was their
last regular season loss.
This River Valley is (2-3,1-1) on the year.
They lost (32-20) to Marion Harding last week.
Mahaney says they are loaded with athletes on offense.
“Chase Smith, their quarterback, is a tremendous basketball player,
really a good athlete. They got
him back out to play. He played
when he was younger. So, right
away the ball is going to a great athlete on every play.
They love to throw it around and spread you out.
They have, in my opinion, really, really good receivers.
Their basketball team has had a ton of success and it's a lot of
those same kids playing receiver. So,
they have got really good athletes. They're
big up front. They do a really
good job. They've always been a
team that's going to throw a lot of different pass looks at you.
Throw vertical, throw horizontal, so you have to make sure you're
defending the whole field. Defensively,
they're big and they fly around to the football.
So, we're traveling there, which we have got to make sure we're ready
to do because it's always a challenge for us.
So, I think it's a great opportunity for our kids and I think
hopefully we're ready for that opportunity.”
Published 9/25/25
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Shelby
Has to be Disciplined
Shelby will be at home on Friday night to host the Highland Fighting
Scots in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play.
Last week, they rallied down (28-21) early in the third quarter to
beat Galion (45-34) last Friday.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were able to win up front in the
second half. “I just think at
the end of the day I'm really proud of our kids come out and played the way
they needed to do, especially in the second half to really control the line
of scrimmage and be able to run the ball.
Defensively to kind of buckle down and get some stops when we needed
it. I'm proud of our kids and
hopefully we can take that and build off it and continue through “MOAC”
play starting this week,” he said.
It was really this first time the Whippets have been challenged this
season and Mahaney likes the way they responded.
“We kind of challenged our kids.
They came out and they responded.
Galion scored right after halftime too kind of take the momentum and
keep it, but our kids put a drive together scored and got some stops and did
a really good job. We knew going
into it Galion was a really good football team.
It was going to be a game where we have to play four quarters and be
ready for a tough, physical battle and in an old rivalry.
Our kids did a really good job stepping up to that.
There are things here and there we have got to sure up, but overall
the effort is where we want to be right now,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (4-0,1-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, has Highland (2-2,1-0) on Friday night.
The Fighting Scots beat Marion Harding (12-6) in OT last week.
Mahaney says they will be facing an old fashion offense in the triple
option. “I think Highland is
extremely well coached. Coach (Ty)
Stover does a great job. They
always kind of blend or change their offense to what they're good at and
personnel that they have. This
year's no different. They're
running triple option and running the ball a ton and eating up clock.
They do a really good job of that and it's a different look,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Practice has been a little bit
different this week trying to get ready for that.
Our kids are more excited for the opportunity.
Defensively, with their style they do a really good job of
controlling the line of scrimmage with their defensive line.
Their linebackers flow to the football.
Their DB's keep everything in front of them.
So, I think you're talking about a team that's well coached and does
everything the right way. We
have got to make sure we go out and execute the best that we can.”
Mahaney emphasizes against that option, you have to maintain your
discipline. “It's a great week
to make sure that we're doing our job defensively.
Not trying to do too much, but sticking to what we want to do as a
Shelby defense. The team trusts
the guy around us and does our job and lets the team make the play rather
than individuals. There's no
better week than this week because if you don't do that, if you don't do
your job, then they're going to have a big play because they're going to
push you and push their responsibilities and all those kind of things.
So, our kids are excited for the opportunity.
Already this is the halfway season point of the season.
We have got to make sure the limited opportunities we get to get on
the field we take advantage of it,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/17/25
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Shelby
Has to Stop Big Play
Shelby will be at home for the rival Galion Tigers in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference opener for both teams on Friday night.
The Whippets (3-0,0-0), #1 in the first Swankosports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, went to Bellevue last week and
throttled the Redmen (49-6) in non-league play.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they did an outstanding job.
“I was really proud of our kids effort offensively, defensively,
and special teams. To go up to
Bellevue and do something we haven't done in a while our kids played really
well. They came out executed the
game plan, played together, played with energy and it was really exciting
with what our guys did. Just
another step and hopefully we can continue to get better this week for a big
game this Friday,” he said.
Senior quarterback Brayden DeVito went over 10,000 career passing
yards in that win. He is only
the 17th player in Ohio history to do that.
Galion (3-0,0-0), #3 in our poll, blanked Norwalk (41-0) last week.
They held Norwalk to just 49 total yards.
Mahaney says they are fast and skilled.
“I think they're really good football team.
I think speed definitely sticks out.
You can tell they're well coached.
Coach (Matt) Dick has done a tremendous there. I
think they're tough and physical. Offensively,
I think their quarterback Ayden Schmidt is really, really good.
He does a really good job of running their offense.
He can run the ball and throw the ball.
They have got a lot of different playmakers to get the ball to.
Then you couple that with the offensive line that wants to be really
physical, and is really good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
night, “Defensively it’s speed again.
They're creating havoc in getting to the football.
They play with relentless effort.
They let their front seven kind of go and then the db’s keep
everything in front of them and do a really good job in coverage.
So, there's a reason that they're (3-0) and it's going to be a really
good matchup for us this Friday we have to make sure we're ready to go.”
Mahaney says they have to limit the Tigers big plays.
“A lot of times it comes down to execution.
We have got to make sure we don't have any mistakes.
That's turnovers or penalties, those kind of things.
Up front we have to be able to communicate trying to pick up their
blitzes and stuff they do defensively. Defensively
we have got to limit their big plays. With
the speed and the explosiveness of their offense we have got to try to limit
that. Then create explosive
plays offensively for ourselves. I
think those are kind of the same keys week in and week out, but they've
become more important when it's with a big game like this.
Playing Galion for the 122nd time just an old rivalry
that's as old as any in the state. It's
a pretty cool deal for our kids, so we're just pretty excited about,” said
Mahaney.
Published 9/12/25
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Shelby
Expects a Battle at Bellevue
Shelby and Bellevue have played almost every year since World War II
and that rivalry renews on Friday night at Bellevue.
Pat Heydinger was a backup safety for the Whippets in that first
game.
Shelby pulled away in the second half last week and beat Lexington
(37-13) in a non-conference game.
Up (15-7) at the half, coach Robert Mahaney says he really liked the
way the Whippets (2-0) played in the second half.
“I was really proud of our kids effort from start to finish last
week and especially in the second half we came out and played really well.
Again, our defense played a ton of snaps and did a great job of
keeping them out of the end zone. Offensively,
we made plays when we needed to. Every
week we talk about it's a great thing for us to come out and compete on
Friday, but we have got to take this week to continue to get better each day
and every week, so another great opportunity this Friday,” he said.
Mahaney says they still need a more consistent effort and need to
clean up their mistakes. “I
would say consistent effort at times. We
had a lot of mental mistakes last week, week two, whether that's not hearing
the play right or just having a mental mistake.
Those are things we have got to clear up as we continue to be better.
One thing in our standard is that we don't want to beat ourselves.
I think that's something that we have to continue to get better.
We didn’t get it on fourth down, mistakes up front.
So, those things that can lose you games and we want to make sure
that that doesn't happen for us. So,
we're going to continue to get better at those things and at the end of the
day to consistently get better every time we get on the football field,”
said Mahaney.
Bellevue (2-0) comes off a (42-14) win over Wauseon.
They have a new coach this year in Alex Shepherd.
Mahaney says Bellevue has excellent personnel and they are going to
have to play very well. “You
talk about the old “NOL” rivalry. I
think coach (Alex) Shepherd has done a great job.
I mean they're Bellevue. The
kids are still tough, physical, they fly around to the football.
They're well coached offensively and defensively.
Again, Shelby and Bellevue. I
know it's coach Shepherd’s first time in it, but like it's 81 meetings and
it's a big game for both communities,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday night, “I think for us to go up to Bellevue, which is the place
we haven't won since like 2010. So,
I think it's something our kids are excited for that opportunity, but at the
end of the day we know that we're playing Bellevue.
They’re tough and physical, they run the ball, their quarterback is
really, really good. Coach
Shepherd is getting a lot out of them offensively.
Defensively, they're the most sound and fundamental defense that
we've seen this year.”
Published 9/04/25
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Shelby
Must Play Four Quarters
It what has been billed in some circles as the game of the season,
the Shelby Whippets host the Lexington Minutemen in a non-conference game on
Friday night.
The Whippets, the defending Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion,
blasted the Madison Rams (56-14) last week to open the season.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they did a lot of good things, but they
made some mistakes too. “We
want to be again a football team that grows every time they step onto the
field, whether it's the game field or the practice field. I
think there were some things that we have got to continue to grow and get
better, but overall really pleased with our guys.
You always wonder what week one is going to look like with the first
time under the lights, but I thought our guys did a great job of handling
that and really proud of the effort that they gave.
Now, like we said you have got to take the mistakes that we did make
and grow from them and get ready for a really big challenge this week.
You always want the biggest growth of your team from week one to week
two and we got to make sure we make that step,” said Mahaney.
Lexington beat Ontario (36-16) last week in their first game.
Mahaney does not differ from the opinion of most in saying the
Minutemen have a very good group of skilled players, maybe the best in this
area. “They're definitely
loaded with talent. If you look
at their skill group, I think that's one of the best still groups all over.
I think it starts offensively with Joe (Caudill), who is a tremendous
quarterback, a tremendous downhill runner.
He can stretch the field vertically and then in the run game, run you
over. He's a really good
football player. When you talk
about the receiving core with Fogle and Hughes and Seven Allen and Avery
Crawford. You're talking about
again just four guys that all four of them can beat you,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We have got to make sure that we are
on sync defensively to make sure we know where everybody is and sound in our
coverage. Their run game has
been really good. I think
Brandon Reeves kid runs really hard. Defensively
they fly around and get to the football.
They're long and lanky and flow into gaps.
So, again for us we have to be sound offensively, especially up
front, making sure we're trusting our rules and not just guessing.
They're a really, really good football team and we have got to make
sure we're ready to go on Friday night.”
Shelby has had the upper hand in this series.
They have won the last eight meetings and nine of the last 10.
It was (21-10) Whippets last year at Lexington.
Mahaney says to win again they need to play a full game.
“That's high school football and you have got to play four quarters
all the way to the end and you have to make sure that you finish against a
team like Lexington that is extremely talented and extremely well coached.
Coach (Andrew) Saris does a really good job, so I just think we're
trying to go against opponent with that you can’t miss a quarter.
You have got to play every opportunity you get to go out there and
make sure that you finish every quarter.
We're excited for the opportunity to play in a game of this magnitude
early in the season means that some things are going your way so we just
kind of want to harness that and get out there and compete as best as we can
on Friday,” he said.
Published 8/27/25
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Shelby
Has to Play with Energy
Shelby, the defending Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champ, and one of
the best teams in this part of Ohio, travels to Madison to take on the Rams
in the battle for the “Milliron Trophy” on Friday night.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they can’t wait to get the season
started. “It's really exciting
time of the year. For some of
these kids they put in a ton of time and effort and now it's go time.
Now, it's time to get to play in front of their family and friends
and their community. All that
hard work it's finally going to be there Friday nights.
I think when you playing with all that excitement and the nerves and
get under there for the first time you have to learn a lot about yourself
and a lot about your team,” he said.
On Friday night, Mahaney says they start figure what this team really
has, but he wants to make sure they have fun.
“You try to do your best to engage through practice or try to
engage through scrimmages, but again when those lights are on and the fans
are out there, the cheerleaders, it turns into a different environment.
The officials and all that kind of thing that add to a Friday night. I
just think you have got to figure out which of your kids can handle the
pressure and those kids who need to still continue to grow.
I think at the end of the day it’s like I told our team (Thursday)
night at our team meal. At end
of the day just enjoy this experience. High
school football is a special thing, especially in the community like Shelby
that's going to have your back through it all.
I think we want our kids to enjoy it.
There's going to be mistakes when you do this, but at the end of the
day enjoy the time out there with your teammates and playing on Friday
nights,” Mahaney.
Madison has a new head coach in former assistant Kobi Johnson.
Mahaney knows they will be fired up and he says they have talent too.
“I think Madison you could tell just through the scrimmages they've
gotten a lot better. I think you
can tell that they're coached really well. I
think coach (Kobi) Johnson's done a great job with those guys.
They have some players returning from last year that have done a good
job through their scrimmages. They're
playing hardnosed on defense and you know doing some different things and
getting after the football and tackling well.
Offensively, the quarterback does a really good job of running their
offense and he's a downhill runner and he's aggressive, he’s a linebacker
on the defensive side,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night,
“The two athletes that they have returning at running back and receiver
are two guys that played a lot for them last year and are really good
football players. So, we have to
make sure we know where they're at and be ready to go defensively.
At the end of the day, we know we're going to Madison for the home
opener, for the Million Trophy, for coach Johnson’s debut.
We know that they're going to be fired up and ready to go, so we have
got to make sure we match that energy and enthusiasm and be ready to
play.”
Published 8/22/25
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Shelby
Has a Plan
Shelby won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference football title last
season and they return a lot of talent, including All-Ohio quarterback
Brayden DeVito.
They were (12-1) last year and coach Robert Mahaney says they have a
lot of key players back. “We're
very fortunate, we have 18 seniors on our football team and 25 plus juniors.
So, we have got an older group as far as number wise. I
mean you're talking about nine starters returning on offense and I think
seven on defense, so we have got a lot of guys back that played a lot of
football for us. They have
been a part of the program. Again,
we're very fortunate to have a quarterback now that's going to be in his
fourth year starting for us. We
talk about experience we have got a great group of guys.
They understand what our expectations are as the coaching staff and
what the expectation is to be a Shelby football player,” he said.
DeVito has signed to play at Air Force next year.
He threw for 2,925 yards last season and 26 touchdowns.
Mahaney says he has the ability to be better this year.
“You're talking about a guy who was just really worked extremely
hard to put himself in a position to capitalize on ton of God-given talent,
but then he worked extremely hard. We
weren't sure what was going to happen his freshman year, but he kind of went
out and just performed and did things that other people couldn't do.
He took some learning pains as a freshman playing varsity football,
but his sophomore year had a tremendous season and then last year was even
better. We hope to have a great
season with him again this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
night, “This year he better understands the offense and has those guys
around him that have more experience and we are putting more on their
shoulders. Brayden is doing his
job of leading. He called guys
back today to watch film with him and make sure everybody's on the same
page. Again, he is a kid with a
lot of natural talent, but it has decided to work as hard as he possibly can
to get every ounce of it to show on the football field or the basketball
court or the track. We are
talking about a three sport athlete. He
had a tremendous junior season and now we just hope his senior season can be
just as productive.”
Shelby will scrimmage Colonel Crawford and Sandusky Perkins on Friday
and Norwalk next week. They open
against Mansfield Madison on August 22.
There is a lot of talk out there about how good Shelby can be, but
Mahaney says they are not listening to the noise.
“I talked to our guys about we have our expectations in our own
locker room and those are the ones that matter to us.
That's being true to our four core values and being true to what it
means to play Shelby Whippet football and to play for the guys inside our
locker room. Everything on the
outside, and there's a lot of it here and there, depending on this or that. We
want to just focus on ourselves. If
we continue to do that and continue to take every day as an opportunity to
get better and every rep has an opportunity to get better.
The season, it’s like here it comes, it felt like June and July
took a long time and now we're in August.
We scrimmage on Friday. It's
just going to be here before we know it.
Again, we just want to try to be close to our core values as best as
we can and grow as a football team and get better every day,” said Mahaney.
Published 8/07/25
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Perkins
Downs Shelby
Perkins put crooked numbers up in both the third and fifth innings
and they beat Shelby (9-1) in a division IV district semifinal played on
Tuesday afternoon at Willard.
They will play Clear Fork in a district final at Willard on Thursday.
Kash Koch took a perfect game into the seventh before Nic Eyster
reached him for a single leading off the seventh.
Eyster later scored on a ground ball.
Koch had one walk and nine k’s in the game.
Coach T.J. Blanton says Koch was on his game.
“Every time Kash is out on the mound we've got a chance to win the
game. He was really dialed in
there. Obviously, we all know he
had a perfect game going there in that last inning.
I think it really didn't matter when we built the lead with the
hitting and that takes pressure off the pitchers, fielders and everybody
else. So, Kash just went out
there and did his job and all of his pitches were working,” said Blanton.
Perkins (17-8) put up four runs in the when Carter Koch walked, Sam
Schweinfurth singled and Bryce Davie laid down a perfect bunt down the third
base line to load the bases. A
run scored on a Dylan Crabtree ground ball and three more came across on
walks by Shelby starter Travis Sloan.
Blanton says they were able to take advantage of some opportunities.
“That's one of the things we talked about is if you're not hitting
you just have got to get on base anyway.
They walked a few guys and we were patient and that leads to runs
too,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Anyway you can score runs, we'll take
it. Doesn't matter if you're
hitting the ball, walking, you want to get out there if you can put crooked
numbers on the board that really puts pressure on the other team and really
relieves pressure on your team and the pressure on our pitcher.”
Perkins added five more runs in the fifth highlighted by a two run
double by Blake Parker and a run scoring single by DH Quentin Binette.
Shelby (17-12) is a baseball team that showed dramatic improvement
this season after starting the season slow with an inexperienced team.
Coach Jon Amicone says they just made too many mistakes against
Perkins. “This is a good
baseball team and that’s frustrating part.
You look at the scoreboard and you see five errors and you see all
the walks, it's sad. It's
disappointing because you didn't even give yourself a chance.
It’s not for a lack of effort.
These kids love baseball and they worked their tails off.
They gave us everything they had for five months and I appreciate
that it's just it's just really sad when it's over,” said Amicone.
Published 5/28/25
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Shelby
Rallies Past Ontario
Shelby won the rubber match Thursday as they beat Ontario (5-3) in a
division IV sectional final on a raw day in Shelby.
The two teams split their two game series in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference a couple of weeks ago.
Shelby scored three times in the bottom of the sixth inning to break
a (2-2) tie between the arch rivals.
Coach Jon Amicone says they played some very good small ball.
“The kids that are really nice job in the sixth of manufacturing
some runs and getting a big hit. The
inning started with just an infield hustle single by Maverick Noel, one of
our seniors. He kind of set the
tone. He dove with a head first
slide in the first base just to put the pressure on.
So, that’s the kind of leadership we needed to get the inning
rolling. Our guys did a nice job
in sixth manufacturing some runs,” said Amicone.
Ontario took the early lead in the game, but Amicone says they played
some good defense and showed some patience.
“We got down early and our guys did really nice job defensively
just trying to put up zeros and just kind of hanging into the game.
We were able to tie it in the fifth and obviously in the sixth inning
we pushed some runs around across. You
can get down and things can snowball on you if you let it happen, but our
guys are really nice kind of bowing their backs so to speak and then really
just continue to grind out the game. Just
staying with it and just waiting for opportunities,” he said.
Plus, Amicone says they got good pitching from two of their best.
“Travis Sloan was our starter.
He gave us five innings. They
had some traffic earlier on the bases, but Travis was really able to bear
down and get the big strike out with two outs to kind of limit damage early
in the game. I think that was
key because it kind of felt like first few innings were kind of fighting
uphill because they had so much traffic on the bases.
Our defense and Travis did a really nice job of continuing to try and
put up zeros as we went throughout the game,” he told Swankonsports.com
after the win, “We went to Nic Eyster.
He's been our guy for a number of years.
He's a four year starter for us and he was able to pitch the last two
innings. Something he doesn't do
is come out the bullpen. He’s
one of our other starters, but once Travis got over 100 pitches, we felt
very comfortable going to Nic. We
can rest easy at night knowing that we're going to win or lose with Nic
Eyster on the mound. He did a
nice job for us kind of closing out the game.”
Published 5/23/25
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Clear Fork Smokes Shelby
The Clear Fork Lady Colts on Tuesday built momentum similar to an
avalanche roaring down a mountain side and they went on to bury Shelby
(12-2) in five innings in a division IV district semifinal on Tuesday
evening in Galion.
They’ll be back Thursday to meet Lexington in the district final.
Lady Lex (21-3) scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning and
beat Ontario (2-1) in the first semifinal on Tuesday.
The Lady Colts (16-10) scored three runs in the first inning.
The first scored on an RBI single by Hailly Thrush, the next two on
wild pitches/passed balls.
Clear Fork coach Adam Brokaw says that first inning was the fuel for
their engine. “We've been
having trouble getting on the board early in games and getting three in the
top of the first inning definitely helped.
Then we were able to get another one in the second and just kept
scoring runs in the first four innings and were able to get up 12-0 on them.
The three runs first inning were huge,” he said.
Another run scored in the second on a wild pitch.
Clear Fork added five more in the third, scoring twice on errors, a
force play, a sacrifice and Kylie Ludwig’s RBI hit and they had a (9-0)
lead. The Lady Colts scored
three more in the fourth on a two run homer by Katrina Rogers and another
Whippet error.
Brokaw says getting the early lead relaxed the players.
“We scored on a couple of passed balls.
There were wet conditions. Our
pitcher Miley (Shafer) only had a couple of walks.
Her pitch count wasn't too high. When you're planning ahead it's a
lot easier on everybody,” he told Swankonsports.com on after the win,
“Getting those three runs in the first inning and then we go out and I
think we got them 1-2-3 in the bottom of one.
We were able to get another run in the second inning and up 4-0.
The girls were able to relax a little bit.”
Shelby (15-11) committed four errors and allowed three runs to score
on wild pitches or passed balls.
Lady Whippets coach Sami Martin says they just didn’t execute.
“Honestly, all the keys to win the game we talked about before the
game didn’t happen. It’s
hard to lose that way, be we have a lot of young talent and they got to get
a season under their belt and we can build on the success we had this
season,” said Martin.
Brokaw says Tuesday was really a change of pace for them.
“We've been saying all year that we got to start games earlier.
Why do we wait until we have got our backs against the wall?
We're down four runs, three runs, Saturday we're down 11-3 and fought
back and tied it up 11-11 in the seventh inning.
Why can't we just get out of the gate and score early, so that's what
we did,” said Brokaw.
Martin says losing your last game is always tough.
“We will greatly miss the seniors.
They were a key part to all of our success.
They lead on and off the field. We
thank them for being a Whippet for four years and helping the younger girls
learn the ropes,” she said.
Lexington beat Clear Fork (6-2) on May 2.
They also beat the Lady Colts (7-1) in a district final last year.
“We faced them last year in district finals, so it's a rematch of
last year. Everybody knows they
have a good pitcher. So, we have
just got to put the ball in play and see what happens,” said Brokaw.
Published 5/21/25
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Shelby
Outscores Pleasant
Shelby got out the lumber, or in this case fabricated the metal, and
beat Pleasant (12-9) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Thursday
evening in Shelby.
Coach Jon Amicone says his kids did a nice job of responding.
“That’s kind of what we told our guys after the game.
Not all games are the same. We
want to be a team that wants to play good defense and pitch well, but
(Thursday) night it's going to be a different way of winning.
Pleasant hit the ball really well and did a nice job of putting
pressure on us. Our guys
responded really good (Thursday). So,
I think we had some good at bats. We
were going to have to outscore them to win and it's just kind of a different
type of game than were used to playing, but I was really happy with our guys
efforts overall,” said Amicone.
Shelby is now three games over .500 for the season (13-10,5-8) and
Amicone says they have matured as a baseball team.
“I think our kids had really good at bats.
Like I said, the maturity of our team has shown as the year has gone
on. It's been fun to see as a
coach. The leadership's getting
better. Kids at the beginning of
that were juniors, being their first varsity start and now there in their 23rd
start of the season. So, they've
kind of graduated from that whole kind of rookie class of varsity baseball
and they've gotten past that. That
was also neat to see them kind of grow up as players,” he said.
Shelby plays Madison on Friday in non-league play and Pleasant again
Saturday in their final league game.
The Whippets play arch rival Ontario in a division IV sectional final
next Thursday. The two teams
spilt a series last week.
Amicone says they will have to play well to win.
“We’re trying to play our best baseball right now.
We know we have two more games this week and that's what we want to
do. We want to try to iron out
the kinks that we've and continue to work even in practice be the best we
can so when we play Ontario on Thursday their guys are trying to hit on all
cylinders,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “That's going
to be tough game for us. We’ll
have to be playing our best or our season is going to be over and we
understand that.”
Published 5/16/25
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Sloan
No Hits Warriors
Shelby got back on the winning track as Travis Slone fired a no
hitter and the Whippets thumped the rival Ontario Warriors (11-0) in
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action on Wednesday evening.
Shelby had been carrying a three game losing streak into the game and
coach Jon Amicone says it was pleasing to get a win like they did Wednesday.
“Nice for us to get going again.
We had some late inning losses last week and Monday, so to see our
kids bounce back in this sort of way it was nice to see as a coach,” he
said.
The Whippets (11-9,4-7) will play at Ontario (8-9,6-5) on Thursday to
complete the two game series.
Amicone says Slone has a very good fastball and was able to mix that
with other pitches. “Starting
with our pitcher Travis Slone. He
did an unbelievable job for us throwing a no hitter, something that doesn't
happen every day. He was able to
throw his fastball really well. He
was locating his fastball early and it really allowed his slider to kind of
play up a tick. So, he did a
really good job for us, but really it was our defense behind him that played
exceptional,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They were
on their toes, but I think it works hand in hand. Travis was working fast,
he was throwing a lot of strikes and that allowed our defense to continue to
move and stay tuned into the game. So,
it was kind of a great job by Slone, but at the end day when you get those
sort of games with pitchers it's an entire team effort and our guys showed
that.”
Amicone says getting some early offense with a factor.
He says it allowed Slone to be a little more relaxed.
“We were able to score early in the first inning and tack another
one on in the second just kind of kind of continue just to build off of
those runs throughout the innings. We
have a good emphasis on trying to extend the lead.
It’s something we talk about with our guys.
Having a lead and being able to extend it and how important that is
in the game and our guys did nice job of that top to bottom throughout our
lineup,” said Amicone.
Published 5/08/25
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Clear
Fork Gets Huge Win
Clear Fork got a win they almost had to have on Wednesday as they
scored five times in the first three innings and beat Shelby (7-1) in
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action.
That avenges a (9-4) loss to the Lady Whippets on Monday.
The Lady Colts (11-6,8-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com softball
coaches poll in the large school division, shares first place with River
Valley, a (6-4) winner over Highland on Wednesday.
Shelby and Ontario are just a game back.
Clear Fork scored in the top of the first when Jada Brokaw tripled
off the leftfield fence and scored on a sacrifice fly by Hailly Thrush.
They added three in their half of the second on four straight hits by
Addy Schlosser, Katrina Rogers, Miley Shafer and Presley Lilly.
The third run scored on a Shelby error.
They scored another in the third when Mya Perry doubled and scored on
a sacrifice fly by Rogers.
Lady Colts coach Adam Brokaw says getting off to a good start was key
for them. “We've had some
rough games. We haven't been
able to finish against Hillsdale, Ontario and Shelby and now we finally got
off and scored five runs in the first 3 innings and that's like huge help
for us. We've been struggling to
get on the board early and finally we got there,” said Brokaw.
Brokaw says those early runs relieved some tension for them.
“Our pitcher goes out there and relaxes a little more and our whole
team settles down a little bit. So,
definitely getting one in the first inning. I
think we got three in the second and then one another one in the third.
That kind of lets us relax a little bit,” he said.
Shelby (13-7,9-3) scored its only run in the bottom of the third when
Reece Friend reached on a throwing error and scored on a triple by Natalie
Kennard.
Shafer did not allow a Lady Whippet to get to second base after that
third inning and Brokaw says she got some weak contact and the defense
played well behind her. “We
got them to pop out to the infield some and some ground balls where we made
plays and we made a couple of good catches.
So, if she throws strikes and we play good defense and if we can get
some runners across the plate we're a decent team,” said Brokaw.
Shelby coach Sami Martin says they hit some balls hard, but were not
rewarded. “It was like it felt
like any hole in our field they found and we just hit it right to them.
I told the girls don't make any adjustments you're hitting the ball
hard. They just made the routine
plays and they made some really good ones as well,” she told
Swankonsports.com after the game, “Just sometimes it feels like it's out
of your control and I think that's when it can be the most frustrating
because there's not adjustments you can make it's just kind of like you hate
to say it is what it is but it kind of was.”
Only trailing by a game, Martin knows they are clearly still in the
race. “I told the girls I said
you can't hang your heads. We
have got to have two good days of practice and then next week the games are
huge. The league is just so
close and that's evident in everyone's splitting.
We can win one game in the next night the next team that's just how
close we are. Clear Fork, they
have still got River Valley to play and someone's going to have to win and
lose those. We have got to take
care of business against Ontario and worry about us and see how the pieces
fall,” said Martin.
Clear Fork finished up the scoring when Rogers homered off the
scoreboard in center field in the sixth and in the seventh Mel Blubaugh
singled and scored on another extra base hit by Brokaw.
Clear Fork plays Highland next week and River Valley the following
week. Brokaw says they control
their own fate. “Highland's
been hitting the ball and doing some things.
They play River Valley. It’s
just us and River Valley with two losses in the conference.
So, we're still in the driver’s seat of our own destiny,” he
said.
Published 5/01/25
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Clear
Fork Explodes; Beats Shelby
Clear Fork broke a scoreless tie with a six spot in the bottom of the
sixth inning and Colts shutout the Shelby Whippets (6-0) in a Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference Monday Evening at American Legion Field.
The Colts remain in the race in the “MOAC”, in a logjam, two
games behind league leading Highland. They
play the Fighting Scots twice next week.
Garrett Hotz was outstanding for Clear Fork Monday.
He went the distance on the mound and got the key hit with a two run
double to produce the first two runs of the game.
`
Jay Jackson started the sixth for the Colts with an infield single,
Hunter Rahall walked, Chandler Ball sacrificed the runners to second and
third, and then after a Shelby conference on the mound, Hotz ripped a double
down the leftfield line to score both runners.
“It's one of those things. That's
how you have got to play it. When
their infield is in, you're hoping that you can at least get a sac fly in
that situation, but we were fortunate enough to get a big hit.
Get a double and two runs, so that was huge for us,” said Clear
Fork coach Gabe Kennedy.
Kennedy feels the bunt that Ball got down was key.
“It was a big inning for us. The
guy who got it started was Chandler Ball, a junior, took one in the nose
earlier. He's got blood all over
the turf and didn't come out of the game. (Ball was in the face trying to
field a pickoff throw to first). He
had two at bats that were not the greatest at bats where he struck out both
times. He laid down a huge bunt
in that inning getting guys in scoring position.
That kind of set the table for what's going to happen leading to
Hotz’s double,” he said.
Porter Schmidt executed a perfect bunt single and Hotz went third and
scored on Jacob Brokaw’s single to make it (3-0).
A walk and a couple of Shelby errors led to three more runs.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says Clear Fork was able to execute better
than them and they must to a better job limiting damage.
“I think it was a really clean game by both teams. I
think that's the way baseball should be played. I
thought both pitchers did a tremendous job keeping hitters off balance. I
thought the defense played tremendous. At
the end of the day, I thought, and told our kids, Clear Fork executed as a
team offensively better than we did,” he told Swankonsports.com after the
game, “They started to get bunts down.
That's what really opened up the sixth inning for them.
They manufactured runs. Unfortunately,
when we had an opportunity to do that. We
didn't execute the way we know we can do against excellent pitcher like Hotz.
Ultimately that's what doomed us. The
score is the score, we understand. It
kind of got away from us. We
can't let it snowball like that. You
have got to continue to get outs when bad stuff happens and we’ll learn
from it.”
Hotz was masterful other than when he faced Shelby first baseman
Quinton Albert, who reached him for three hits, including two doubles.
He struck out three hitters and most importantly didn’t walk
anyone. Kennedy says he was on
top of his game. “Any coach
knows when your kids feeling it or when he’s struggled a little bit and
you could tell from the from the start you know he was doing a nice job.
He's been doing that for us his entire high school career.
He’s very consistent, he's a competitor, he wants the baseball, and
he wants to be on the mound. We
have got to be ready to go on Wednesday,” said Kennedy.
Shelby had its best chance to score in the fourth when Albert doubled
and got to third on a throwing error with two out, but was stranded there.
Amicone says Hotz kept them off balance.
“You tip your cap to Hotz. He
is a heck of a pitcher and has been for a long time.
I thought our guys had a lot of good at bats against him, but the end
of the day he does just enough to keep you off balance where it's never a
comfortable at bat and he got a lot of weak contact and their defense did a
really good job,” he said.
Clear Fork (9-4,6-3) is at Shelby (9-7,2-6) on Wednesday.
Kennedy says it’s another must win.
“We've talked about it. There
are no days off. The conference
is loaded, our non league schedule is loaded.
We tell the kids, those of you that don’t like practice,
congratulations we have a lot of games in a short amount of time coming
up,” he said.
Published 4/29/25
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Shelby
Gets Past River Valley
Shelby outlasted River Valley (4-1) in nine innings in Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference play on Wednesday evening.
Coach Jon Amicone says they were able to make some things happen in
that ninth inning. “It was a
very competitive game. You have
got to tip your cap to River Valley. They
played a really clean game. Really
the game of baseball should be played that way. I
thought both pitchers did a really good job of mixing up their pitches and
the defense played extremely well behind on both sides.
We were fortunate enough to get a little break in the top half of the
ninth and score some runs and then hold them in the bottom half,” he said.
Amicone says they were patient and waited for their opportunity.
He says Nic Eyster was tremendous on Wednesday.
“There are times in every single game that you're going to play it
where that moment is really the game. That
can come in the third inning as well as the fourth all the way up to the
last,” he said after the win, “We were fortunate enough to have Nic
Eyster on the mound (Wednesday) night. He's
been our number one for many years. It
seems like every time we need a big strikeout to end an inning when they had
a threat, he was able to do that for us.
So, he was a catalyst really for a victory.”
The Whippets (9-6,3-5) have won three of their last four league games
and Amicone says they are starting to mature.
“I've been very pleased with our work ethic and our ability to get
better. Really grinding during
practice and continue to evolve as a baseball team.
We were kind of a younger team starting out the season and that
excuse needs to go away now. We're
a few weeks into the season and we have got to continue to evolve and mature
and play the game the way it’s meant to be played.
We've done a nice job of doing that and very pleased with our guys
effort in that regard,” said Amicone.
Published 4/24/25
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Big
Inning Gives Highland the Win
Highland got a huge early season win on Thursday when they scored six
times in the fifth inning and rallied to beat Shelby (6-3) in a Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference game.
Fighting Scots coach Donnie Kline says they just decided to have some
fun. “I think the boys kept
battling. It was tough we got
down early to Shelby again. It
kind of the same feel from the
night before where Shelby just did everything right, just filled up the box
and played clean defense. We
made some mistakes early on the base paths, but the boys kept battling in
that fifth inning. We told the
boys let’s play loose and go out there and have fun.
We're down to nine outs here, let's have fun, and things had started
to happen. We were smart on the
bases and had a couple of clutch hits from some young guys,” said Kline.
Shelby beat Highland (6-1) on Wednesday and Whippets coach Jon
Amicone says Thursday they just didn’t make enough plays.
“Ultimately when plays needed to be made, Highland made more plays
that we did. I thought Zach
Church was an absolute bulldog for them (Thursday) night and sometimes you
just tip your cap to the opponent. I
thought our kids handled adversity extremely well at the beginning of the
game and played with a lot of emotion, but at the end of the day we didn’t
do enough to earn a win,” said Amicone.
Church went the first four and two thirds innings for Highland,
striking out eight batters. He
also had two hits as did young Cade Minnick, who Kline says had the biggest
hit in the game in that fifth inning. “We
had a young man who has been basically a JV player Cade Minnick, a
sophomore, got his first start at first base (Thursday) and had two hits,
including a big hit that scored the go ahead runs that ended up being the
game winners. When you run a
program, you try to get as many guys as possible to keep them interested.
Sometimes those young guys they could be a spark,” he said.
Highland (6-3,4-1) shares first place in the league with Galion, who
beat Ontario (11-1) on Thursday, a game in front of Clear Fork, a (6-0)
winner over Pleasant, and Marion Harding.
Kline knows Thursday was a big win, but there are many games to be
played. “I know we're still
early in the season, and I think we always say that early season you can't
really win the league, but you can lose it,” he told Swankonsports.com
after the win, “I think losing (Wednesday) and having the opportunity to
be swept and then go down two games the league.
Next week we've got Galion, who's just playing very good baseball.
It would have put us in a really tough position.
There is still a long way to go, but definitely would have been a
really bad spot if we were down two league games this early.”
Published 4/18/25
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Shelby
Bounces Back
Shelby remains a game back in the standings in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference after they downed Highland (9-4) in a conference game on Thursday
evening.
They lost (9-7) to the Lady Fighting Scots on Wednesday, their first
loss in league play.
Coach Sami Martin says it was a big win for them.
“(Wednesday) night was definitely a tough one to swallow.
It just kind of felt like they were just hitting the crap out of the
ball. There was nothing we could
do to keep from hitting the gaps. We
tried every pitcher, we scored seven runs and had one error and still gave
up nine runs. So, we were just
kind of beating our heads against the wall with strategy.
What can we do different? So,
the message was to the girls there is always a new day.
We're a good team, they're a good team, we got to give them our best
and bounce back the best you can,” said Martin.
Martin says their pitching and defense was better on Thursday.
“Alyssa (Booker) did a great job (Thursday) night.
She struggled a little bit (Wednesday) night and we had to make a
pitching change. She was able to
pitch the rest of the game, the girls made the plays behind her and we were
able to score a lot of runs again and this time hold them to less runs than
we were able to see the night before. It's
a really good bounce back win for confidence to stay in that league hunt.
That's really one of our major goals, so (Thursday) was huge for
us,” she said.
Shelby (12-5,8-1) trails Clear Fork by a game in the conference race.
Martin says games like Thursday are actually a bigger mental
challenge than they are a physical one.
“It definitely is more mental.
I tell the girls all the time that batting .300, .400, that's a
really good batting average, so you're getting out six or seven of your 10
at bats. That that can be hard
to swallow and to actually understand that if I have a .300, .400 batting
average, I'm really good and I'm still getting out six or seven times out of
10 times,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I think for the
girls sometimes to understand that it is a game of waves, it is a game of
mental toughness and you can just never count yourself out.
I think the girls do a really good job of that.
They always try to pick each other up.
They're definitely a team that they don't give up until it's the last
out of the last inning and the game is over.
So, that's always promising they take it seriously, but they don't
let it bring them down. They do
try to pick each other up, so that's a really good quality that our team has
this year.”
Published 4/18/25
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Shelby
Gives Highland First “MOAC” Loss
Shelby won its first Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game of the season
and Highland lost its first as the Whippets downed Highland (6-1) at Shelby
on Wednesday evening.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says they came out of the dugout ready to
play baseball. “Our kids did a
really good job (Wednesday) of coming to the ballpark ready to play.
From the first inning all the way to the last pitch our guys had a
really good focus and a really good intensity.
Those are fun games to play when the team is competing at the high
level and they're in tune to the game and really work as hard as they could
every pitch,” said Amicone.
Highland coach Donnie Kline says Shelby was the better team in all
areas on Wednesday. “Shelby
outplayed us and out executed us (Wednesday) night.
They filled the zone from the mound, put balls in the play, and
played clean defense. That is a
recipe for winning at the high school level.
We will have to play better (Thursday) in order to compete with the
Whippets at home,” said Kline.
Shelby (6-5,1-4) is at Highland (5-3,3-1) again on Thursday.
This time at Highland.
Amicone says pitcher Sam Gwirtz went out and did what he had to and
the defense behind him was outstanding.
“Sam Gwirtz gave us really strong five innings.
He was able to mix his slider and his fastball.
A really good two pitch mix. He
was able to initiate some weak contact and let our defensive play behind
him. I was extremely proud of
our defense. That's something we
want to hang our hat on at Shelby is be a really good defensive team.
Put it at zero in the error column and do things.
We were able to turn two double plays during the game.
Those are huge momentum swings in the game.
I thought defensively our guys played really well,” said
Amicone.
Kline says with their lack of hitting they have to be almost perfect
and Wednesday they were not. “Our
margin for error is so slim in our offensive funk right now.
We are working to get our guys into rhythm,” he said.
Amicone says the key to their six runs was their solid execution.
“I thought our guys did a really nice job at the plate
manufacturing runs. We were able
to bunt decently well. Ran the
basics extremely well. I thought
our guys from top to bottom competed while they were in the box and took
their walks and were able to have productive even outs and that's what you
have to do to a team like Highland,” he told Swankonsports.com after the
win, “Highland is the standard of the “MOAC.”
It's just a great baseball school.
That's who we strive to be and then they're really good test.
Really good setting the stone of what baseball should be in Ohio.
I have the utmost respect for Highland’s baseball team and their
head coach Donny Kline. So, I'm
really happy with our guys to go out there and compete and get a win against
that team like that.”
Published 4/17/25
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Shelby
Wallops Lexington
Shelby picked up its second straight win in non-conference play as
they drilled Lexington (12-2) in five innings on Monday.
Coach Jon Amicone says it was a win the Whippets (6-4) needed to have
at this point in the season. “I
was happy with our guy’s efforts, especially on a Monday on the road.
For us to come back and get a much needed win going into the week
against really good team with Highland in our league that we’re going to
play here. Perkins at the end of
the week. So, we want to start
off on the right foot and I feel like guys they're really nice job of doing
that,” he said.
Shelby also beat Crestview (12-0) on Saturday.
Amicone says they are starting to get better at bats.
“Our last couple games we’ve done a lot better job of grinding
out at bats and that’s what we expect.
Unselfishness, getting bunts down, running the bases extremely
well,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I thought the nine guys
in our lineup have done a really good job playing team baseball last couple
of games. The runs are starting
to come finally for us. Again, I
thought it was we're finally getting to that team kind of at bats.
What we want, what we preach to the guys, have started to really buy
in and grind out at bats for us.”
Shelby, winless in the league, will play Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
leader Highland on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Amicone says his young team has shown the improvement that he is
looking for. “That's what you
want to see. You want to see
growth as the year goes on. We
understand we're not going to be able to score 12 runs every game.
You have to find other ways to win and other ways to capitalize when
given the opportunity. I do see
that growth and I think kids continue to work and continue to buy into what
we're saying. They're really
good group of kids. I really
enjoy coaching them. I'm happy
for them that they're starting to get some wins in that column,” said
Amicone.
Published 4/15/25
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Lady
Whippets Win Again
Shelby maintained a share of the lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference by blasting the Galion Lady Tigers (13-3) in five innings on
Thursday evening.
Coach Sami Martin says they turned in another solid effort.
“It was a good game. It's
nice to see us kind of performing on all cylinders. I
feel like our defense is playing really good and playing really well behind
our pitcher. We're making all
the routine plays and our outfielders are making some dynamic plays as
well,” she told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We kind of tell our
pitcher that all you need is let your defense play behind you and she does a
really good job doing that. Then
obviously we're putting the ball in play hard as well.
So, when everything's working for you, it feels pretty good.”
Martin says they are not asking their players to make spectacular
plays in the field, just the regular ones.
“I told the girls that that's the goal is to make all the routine
ones and then the dynamic ones will come after that once you build
confidence off of making the routine ones.
Yeah, it's so important if you can just make your pitcher feel like
they don't have to strike everyone out and they can rely on their defense I
think it is a game changer for sure,” said Martin.
Shelby (8-3,6-0) shares the “MOAC” lead with Clear Fork.
Those two schools shared the league title last year.
Martin says the Lady Whippets are playing with a lot of confidence
right now. “That's what I told
the girls (Thursday) night. I
said if you keep doing what you're doing you're going to continue to get the
same results. If you keep making
all the plays and hitting and playing small ball and just being a team.
We feel pretty good going against whoever we're playing,” she said.
Published 4/11/25
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Galion
Blanks Shelby
Galion shutout Shelby (3-0) Thursday in play in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference action.
The Tigers continue to tail Highland by a game in the conference
standings.
Galion scored three times in the bottom of the fourth inning and
coach Kenny Fagan says they just found a way.
“We thought their guy was doing a really good job of getting easy
outs, so we kind of just talked in between our inning we scored three of
anything to win,” he told Swankonsports.cm after the win, “We have got
to take walks, got to run the bases and it kind of worked out for us.”
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says they played well, but just too many
mistakes in a close game. “I
though both pitchers threw great games and gave their teams and opportunity
to win. Unfortunately, we made a
few mistakes that cost of a chance to win.
It’s a tough pill to swallow,” he said.
There were only three hits in the game.
Shelby had two and Galion one. The
Whippets had two errors. Gailon
didn’t have any.
Fagan says they got great pitching on Thursday.
“Braxton Prosser went six innings.
I think he struck out 12. Alan
Carver came in with the save. Our
pitching and defense is our strength and we know that.
It proved that (Thursday) night and that's going to lead us to some
wins,” said Fagan.
We are just two weeks into the seven week regular season in the
“MOAC” and Fagan knows there is a lot of baseball left to play.
“I can't remember a time where we beat Shelby twice in the year, so
that puts us in a pretty good spot. We
know we got a tough road ahead with Ontario and Highland coming up and those
are big ones for us,” he said.
Published 4/11/25
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Shelby
Wallops Harding
Shelby remained unbeaten in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play as they
overwhelmed Marion Harding (22-2) on Thursday.
They had beaten Harding (17-3) on Tuesday.
Coach Sami Martin says the Lady Whippets went into this game with
good focus. “That's always the
message. We talked about
Pleasant. The second time we
played them they looked like a whole different team, so that was the
message. You never know so you
still have to do all the things. You
have to do all the right things. You
have got to play together. You
can never underestimate any team,” she said.
Of course, their game with Harding was cancelled on Wednesday.
Martin says the girls know they have to be ready for last minute
changes. “We talked about at
the beginning of the season to be ready for the last minute change in
locations, play a game, not play a game.
It can be hard if you're not like mentally prepared for that
sometimes. We just kind of got
to go with the flow,” she told Swankpnsports.com on Thursday night, “It
was actually kind of nice have a break (Wednesday).
This was our ninth game already in the first week and a half, so it
wasn't actually a terrible thing to just have a day to reset.”
Shelby (7-2,4-0) plays Galion, who lost twice to Clear Fork this
week, in their conference series next week.
Martin says in softball you can’t have too many highs and lows
emotionally. She says everybody
fails in this game. “Even when
you think about slumps in batting too or pitching or whatever it may be, not
even as a whole team. We just
remind the girls that you will go through slumps.
You'll have highs and you'll have lows.
I joke with the girls and tell them if you get a hit every three of
10 times you're batting 300, which is pretty good, which means you're
failing 7 of the 10 times. The
girls are always, yeah, I never thought of it like that.
It's a game where you have to be mentally tough because even the good
people are still getting out seven or 10 times,” said Martin.
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Shelby
Gets Past Pleasant
Shelby beat Marion Pleasant for the second straight day this time
(6-3) at Shelby on Wednesday in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action.
Pleasant scored three times in the first inning, but the Lady
Whippets responded with the three of their own.
Up (4-3) going to the bottom of the sixth, Shelby pushed across a
couple of insurance runs.
They had whipped the Lady Spartans (13-2) at Pleasant on Tuesday, but
coach Sami Martin says this was a different kind of game.
“It felt like a whole different Pleasant team (Wednesday) night
than we saw the night before. Their
pitcher is a really nice pitcher. She
throws hard. She was just having
a little bit of control issues (Tuesday) night and we had a good eye at the
plate. (Wednesday) she was
definitely locked in,” she told Swankonsports.com after the win, “It
definitely made the game feel like a whole different atmosphere. I
was proud of the girls and how they bounced back and then were able to hold
them the rest of the game and just score a few runs when it mattered.”
Martin says those two runs in the sixth were huge for them.
“That was kind of the message when we came in the bottom of the
sixth. I said I think our
defense and our pitcher would really appreciate some cushion, so, let's do
that for her. The girls got
really excited and had a lot of energy and we were able to push two across
just to feel a little more confident going into the top of the seventh,”
she said.
Shelby also beat Huron (11-0) on Saturday and being (3-0,2-0) Martin
says they gives them a lot of confidence, especially with a less experienced
squad this season. “It's a
great start. It's a great
confidence booster going into playing Danville on Friday.
They’re always a powerhouse in their division, a lower division,
but they won state quite a few times. Then
Madison is a just across the way rival I would say.
So, it's great, especially being younger to give them a little
confidence at the varsity level,” said Martin.
Published 3/27/25
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Shelby
Emphasizes Defense
Shelby is going to have a lot of first time varsity baseball players
this spring, but they are well schooled in what they need to do to be
successful.
Coach Jon Amicone says they have a had experience at the JV level and
they know what is expected of them. “We
lost a lot of good seniors last year and I would say a veteran team in that
we have a lot of juniors that I'll be on the club this year.
They played a lot of junior varsity baseball,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “A lot of over two year starters for
our JV program, so in that essence they played a lot of Shelby baseball.
They know expected of them and so in that regard we expect them to
play high level even though it is the kind of first varsity experience for
us.”
For kids coming up to the varsity of the first time Amicone says they
have to adjust to pitching they’re seeing.
“It’s just the pitching that you see hands down.
They're not seeing the type of pictures that that we see at the
varsity level. Guys are able to
throw maybe three different pitches for strikes.
You really don't see that at JV and when kids can be juniors and
seniors and they've been refining their mechanics and then working and
pitching more and more and start to develop those different off speed
pitches. So, for me that's the
biggest jump the kids are going to see,” said Amicone.
Shelby opens the season on Friday against Mansfield Senior in
non-conference play. Their first
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference games are April 1 and 2 against Marion Harding.
Amicone mentioned “Shelby baseball” earlier and he says that
means you better be ready to play defense.
“They're expected to field the baseball at an extremely high level.
We are a defense first team. We
are a program that really feels strongly that you lose baseball games, you
don't win them. That's something
that we really focus on that if you can field the baseball for us and really
value the baseball defensively you’re going to find a spot in our
lineup,” he said.
Published 3/25/25
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Shelby
Leaning the Basics
Last season, Shelby shared the softball title in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference and this they have a lot of talent to replace, but their
opportunistic.
Coach Sami Martin says they are going to promote a lot of kids from a
successful JV team. “Well,
we're really hopeful. We're
pretty young. We graduated six
seniors that all had played basically since their freshman or sophomore
year. Our JV last year was
undefeated and they had a really great season.
We'll be young, so I think there'll be a little bit of growing pains
here and there, but they're very talented.
We're super hopeful to at least be competing for another league
championship and then also make a further push in the tournament later in
the season,” she said.
Martin says scrimmages are where they’re going to be challenged
this preseason. She says they
have to have a different mindset. “We
were actually just talking about that. My
catcher this season, she played JV last year and she'll play some third base
too, but we were just talking to her when you’re playing JV, you just want
to get outs for the most part. At
varsity, we have got to get lead outs. Just
kind of changing their mindset,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
evening, “Working for lead outs, taking some risks.
Base running is always a big jump from JV to varsity.
Things you could get away with, you can't get away with and just some
things like that. So, these four
scrimmages are going to be super important just to get in a groove.
Understand the change of pace and just gaining some confidence in a
little bit faster paced game.”
Martin says the players at the varsity level are more athletic and
things come a lot faster. “Pitchers
are usually throwing harder, runners are running faster, arms are stronger
it's just again just things that you could typically get away with in JV you
really can't. So, just changing
the mindset. We tell the girls
be quick, but don't hurry. I
think when they realize how much faster it is they want to hurry, which
leads to errors. So, we just try
to really train their mindset to be quick, but not to hurry,” said Martin.
Published 3/13/25
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Shelby
Has to Continue to Finish
There has been no team around here that has been a better finisher
than Shelby and the Whippets get another chance on Friday night as they take
on Elida in a division IV district final at Findlay High School.
They rallied for 10 down in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night to
edge Upper Sandusky (60-58) in a semifinal.
Brayden DeVito hit a runner in the lane to give the Whippets the lead
with less than 30 seconds to play. Karsen
Homan took a charge on the ensuing Upper Sandusky possession to preserve the
win.
Homan had a monster night with 23 points and 15 rebounds.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they made big plays on both ends.
“We talked about after the game the locker room we were really
proud of our guys finding a way to finish such a good basketball game.
We made our run in the second half and they were able to make their
own at the end of the third quarter. I
think we were up 10 at one point. They
were up 10 at one point and then we found ways to get some stops and scores
at the end. Just proud of our
guys for finishing and finding a way to play another game,” he said.
Shelby (16-8) takes on Elida (17-7) on Friday night.
The Bulldogs took down Lima Bath (52-38) in their semi on Tuesday
night.
Gallaway says they have very good guard play.
“They're a really good team. They
finished second in the “WBL” this year, which is always a really good
basketball league, physical, it's a tough league to Shawnee and Shawnee is
one of best teams in the state. They
are really athletic. We're kind
of familiar with some of their personnel from this fall.
A lot of their best football players are some of their best
basketball players, so we recognize some of their names,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They're led by two of their
guards that were two first team selections in their league.
They have got some good size. Like
I said, very athletic, they like to play at a fast pace.
We have got our hands full. We're
going to have to do a great job for four quarters against these guys.”
Shelby beat Elida in a football playoff game this fall.
The Whippets ability to win close games has been pretty good this
year and Gallaway says if there are clutch plays to be made on Friday night
they have to be the ones making them. “Making
winning plays consistently throughout the game and obviously late that's got
to be us. You look at our last
four or five games. I think
we've had three overtime games. The
other night against Upper was right down to the wire.
We don't envision it to be like that, but it does say something to
our guys on handling adversity throughout the game and find ways to finish.
So, it's something we want to take with us Friday against Elida.
Hopefully, our guys are locked in ready to go Friday,” said
Gallaway.
Published 2/28/25
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There will be a special edition of
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10-11 PM
Defense
the Key For Shelby
Shelby meets Upper Sandusky in a division IV district semifinal on
Tuesday night at Findlay High School.
The winner plays with Elida or Lima Bath on Friday back at Findlay.
Last Friday, the Whippets (15-8) beat Ottawa-Glandorf (51-49) in
overtime to win a sectional championship.
The winning points were scored on two free throws by Brayden Devito,
who played on a sprained ankle.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they were able to gut out the win.
“We're really proud of our guys effort for four quarters the other
night against a really good team. Like
we said, Ottawa-Glandorf is just a really respected program across the
state. They brought their fan
base to Shelby. I think they
might outnumber our fans there too. Our
guys just were able to fight through adversity for four quarters and find a
way there at the end hold on. So,
I'm just really proud of them and they were excited that we're still playing
basketball right now,” said Gallaway.
Upper Sandusky (17-6) beat Clear Fork (63-41) last Thursday in a
sectional championship game at Upper.
They also beat Shelby (62-56) in a non-conference game on January 7.
Gallaway says there has been a lot of water under the bridge since
then and both teams are better. “We
played them about almost right in the middle of our season.
It was either game 11 or 12. It was a good game over at their place.
They were able to come out on top.
I see a lot of similarities between the teams.
Coach (Jeff) Winslow just does a great job getting his guys prepared
game in and game out. They've
improved and they're not the same team that we played halfway through the
season and I don't think we are either.
So, we're expecting this to be a great battle with two good teams.
We're fully expecting this to be a four quarter game,” said
Gallaway.
Shelby has won eight of 11 since that loss to Upper.
The Rams have won eight of 12.
Gallaway says Upper does a lot of good things to get open shots and
they must play very good defense. “Upper
does a really good job with their actions on offense.
You can just tell that they're coached well and there's not much bad
movement. Whatever they do, it's
with purpose, it’s with great action, so that really puts a lot of
pressure on us defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night,
“We're going to have to really sit and guard and we have got to be
physical against them. Their
league with Crawford and Mohawk, it's a physical league, it's a grind it out
league and that's something that we have got to really emphasize on the
defensive end.”
Published 2/25/25
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There will be a special edition of
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10-11 PM
Shelby
Must Execute Better
Shelby locks horns with Bellevue on Saturday afternoon in a division
IV district championship game at Bucyrus High School.
They advanced with a (62-34) win over Clyde in the semifinals on
Wednesday.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they were able to build on that lead in the
second half. “I'm pleased,
it's a good win. We've been a
little under the weather and so to come away with a good win like that.
I thought we settled down better second half and we were composed.
We were able to spread the lead a little bit with with a 20-10 third
quarter. I think that was a big
difference and just kind of back breaker a little bit for Clyde.
Yeah, I'm pleased, we're happy, we're playing on,” she said.
Shelby (22-2) is the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champ this year.
Bellevue (23-1) won the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
The Lady Red downed Sandusky Perkins (60-35) on Wednesday.
Lantz says they are strong in the post and the perimeter too.
“They've got a really good inside out game with 6’3” (Kaitlyn)
Turinsky inside. She's got a
nice shot, she finishes as well, she can attack the basket, good footwork
inside. Then the other end she's
kind of an intimidator in the middle. She blocks a lot of shots every game.
Then to go with her they got several really, really good guards that
can knock down the three and they can get to the basket as well,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “They're just an all around good
basketball team. They're
aggressive defensively. They put
a lot of pressure. Offensively,
there's weapons everywhere the court. So,
it's one of those that we've got to be talking, we've got to have each
other's backs on defense and make sure that we're talking and rotating
properly and limiting their looks and attempts at the basket.”
Bellevue beat Shelby (67-54) on January 28 at Bellevue.
Lantz says there are clearly some things they have to get better at
doing. “One is composer.
I think we had a lot of unforced turnovers that game.
They do bring pressure and with pressure you're going to have a
turnover, but to the extent of what we had.
We didn't finish well, we missed several layups that game. Which hurt
us. I think the other thing that
that hurt us a bit that game, second half especially, is they ran a high
screen and roll with (Hailey) Rees and Turinsky and that caused us some
issues. So, definitely something
we're hoping to be better at this time.
Walking through is one thing and actually doing it to another.
So, it's one of those that we've got to be strong, we have to be
physical, and we have got to play a good, solid four quarters,” said
Lantz.
Published 2/21/25
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There will be a special edition of
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10-11 PM
Shelby
Playing as a Team
Shelby will be at home for Ottawa Glandorf in a division IV sectional
final on Friday night.
The Whippets (14-8) have won seven of their last nine games,
including a (64-54) win in overtime over Marion Pleasant in their final
regular season game last Friday.
Coach Greg Galloway says they have just continued to get better.
“I've just been really proud of the progression we've made as a
team. We went through some
different bumps and adversity has been a part of our team throughout the
year. It hit us in the middle
and the beginning. I just really
proud of the resiliency of our group finding ways to pick each other up.
We finished the season strong with some really good wins in the
conference and our non league. I’m
just proud of the way we're playing right now.
I know our guys are really excited to turn the page and to try to
make a run in the tournament,” said Gallaway.
Gallaway says the Whippets have bought into the team concept and they
have excellent chemistry. “I
just think we kind of have solidified our roles a little bit more.
Guys understand what their teammates think of them on both offense
and defense and what their coaches think of them understanding what their
responsibility is. When you're
able to understand your role and your teammates roll, you're able to play
more fluently. We’re thinking
isn't involved as much. I just
think that the more we played together, the more we've been able to get reps
with each other and the more fluent and our chemistry has improved,” he
said.
Ottawa-Glandorf (8-12) has won three of its last four.
They beat Archbold (51-47) last Saturday.
Gallaway say the Titans are a traditional power and they play to a
very high standard. “They're
very similar to us as a team that made it out to the state last year in that
regard and lost a lot of seniors. So,
they kind of have a completely new team like us.
They brought one starter back from last year's team and we bought one
starter back from last year's team. When
you speak of tradition and Ottawa Glandorf there's not really many teams
that you can put ahead of them in the entire state,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “What coach (Tyson) McLaughlin
does down at Ottawa Glandorf was just very impressive from afar. He
gets his guys to buy into his system no matter what the year is.
They just play extremely hard, their expectations, their standards
are very high at O-G. It's
impressive to watch. They don't
have the 18 plus wins that they normally do, but they compete against
anyone. They play extremely
hard. They have got some really
good guards, some high IQ players and it's going to be a great matchup for
us.”
Published 2/20/25
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There will be a special edition of
“Out of Bounds” this Saturday night
10-11 PM
Shelby
Needs to Play Well
Shelby faces Clyde on Wednesday night in a division IV district
semifinal at Bucyrus High School.
They will face the winner of a game between Bellevue and Sandusky
Perkins for a district title on Saturday night.
Last week, they beat Lexington (56-50) in a sectional final at
Shelby.
Coach Natalie Lantz says it was not their best performance.
“It definitely wasn't one of our best games.
I thought Lexington played fantastic.
We had a few girls a bit under the weather.
It was just one of those that we survived it.
There were things that we did well a couple times throughout the
night. Then there were things
where we just looked fatigued and just our heads weren't quite in the right
space, but we came away with the win and that's what matters right now,”
said Lantz.
Shelby (21-2) takes on Clyde (11-12) on Wednesday.
The Lady Fliers held off Upper Sandusky (52-48) on the road in their
sectional game.
Lantz says they will need to play well because Clyde can do some
things. “They're a talented
young team. They've got a really
good sophomore guard-forward. She
scores well, she rebounds well, she's physical.
Then they got some kids that could knock down the threes and can
finish inside. So, I'd say
they're a well-rounded team. They're
going to play hard,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We
definitely have to show up and play with a lot of energy, play Shelby
basketball. If we play our
aggressive defense and we're talking and rotating the way we need to, if
we're patient and composed offensively we'll get the looks that we're
looking for. Just the things
that we need to do. We've got to
focus on what we can do right.”
Now, there has already been a lot of talk about a Shelby-Bellevue
rematch, the Lady Red blew out Shelby (67-54) a couple of weeks ago, but
Lantz points out that if both teams don’t play well that game may not even
happen. “Both Bellevue and us
we've got the district semifinal games Wednesday night and we've got to
bring it at tournament time. So,
it's fresh for everybody. Everybody's
got a chance. You can't overlook
anybody. I know Bellevue and
Shelby, we both have great records coming in, but for us, we've got to go
out and play our game and play well so that we can get to that position on
Saturday for a chance for a district title,” she said.
Published 2/19/25
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Shelby
Starting to Peak
Shelby entertains Marion Pleasant on Thursday night in a game in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Monday night, the Whippets edged Ashland (68-64) in a non-conference
game.
Coach Greg Gallaway feels they did a lot of good things.
“Ashland’s a really good team.
They play in a tough conference in the “OCC” and they've been
battling with some of the top teams in their league just losing by a point
or two. We knew it was going to
be a tough challenge for us Monday night.
I'm really happy with the way we played. I
thought we came out with a lot of energy.
We made shots, we got good looks offensively and we did a good job
having some eagerness and energy on defense as well,” he told
Swanknsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I was just really pleased with
our effort overall. A good team
like Ashland made their run in the second half, but we did a good job
attacking their runs and not letting a 12-0 run turn into a 20-0 run.
So, I'm just proud of our group.”
Gallaway says they are doing a good job peaking at the right time.
“That's the goal. We
say that at the beginning of the year. Especially
a new team we're going to go through some different bumps and along our
path, but our goal as a team is just to be playing our best basketball in
February. We are trending in the
right direction. Our guys are
buying into the process right now,” he said.
Shelby (13-8,9-4), winners of six of their last eight, plays host to
Pleasant (8-12,4-9) on Thursday night. The
Spartans lost to Clear Fork (46-43) in their last league game Saturday
afternoon. They beat Kenton
(59-43) on Tuesday night.
The Whippets won the first meeting (60-50) on January 11.
Gallaway says the Spartans are dangerous.
“First off, they're really well coached.
Coach Ben Snively just does a great job year in and year out with
this group. He has a great
culture over there. They have
proved that they can beat anyone in our league.
They have some really good guard play.
Lathan McCants is one of the better guards in our league.
Then they have got a guy like Sickmiller that's 6’7” pushing
6’8” with his length and athleticism can really cause you some problems.
We're just looking to finish the regular season out strong and
continue trending in the right direction,” said Gallaway.
Published 2/13/25
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Shelby
Hosts Lexington in Tourney Lid Lifter
Shelby will be at home Thursday night for a sectional final in
division IV as they host Lexington.
They won their seventh straight Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title
this season.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they are starting to peak and that’s what
you want and this time of year. “I
think we're definitely headed that direction. I've
been really happy with the group and the way the girls have played the last
couple weeks and I feel like they're pushing to get better.
They want to have a good run here come tournament time.
We know we have to take one game at a time,” she said.
Shelby (20-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com the final girls’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays host to
Lexington (10-11) on Thursday night.
Lantz says they have some weapons.
“I think after playing them a week ago.
We played well. We shot
really well and I think we defended well.
There are things that we have got to do again in order to get a win
on Thursday. Lex is a good team,
they've got a couple of really good players, they're well coached, they have
some nicely designed out of bounds plays for quick scores.
So, definitely think that we need to be ready on Thursday,” said
Lantz.
Shelby drilled Lexington (61-24) last Monday, but Lantz doesn’t
believe they will come in over confident.
“I feel like with this group of seniors. I
feel like they're pretty dialed in. It
really comes down to us doing our jobs again and making sure we get the
stops on defense, provide ourselves extra opportunities on offense and then
staying composed and executing,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “We've seen them play a couple different defenses between man
and a 3-2 maybe a 1-3-1 look. So,
we're going to work hard to prepare for whatever we might.
We've seen a lot of other defenses throughout the season, which helps
prepare us in case there's something played against us that we don't expect.
Then offensively, like I said, we have to take care of the ball.
We have to be aggressive and we have to make good cuts.
The more active we are without the ball the better we are and so
those are definitely some things that we're focusing on.”
Published 2/12/25
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Shelby
Plays a Couple of Athletic Teams
Shelby will play at Sandusky Perkins on Tuesday in a non-conference
game and then at archrival Ontario in a matchup in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference on Friday.
The Whippets lost (67-62) at River Valley to the “MOAC” leaders
last Thursday and then beat Clear Fork (42-37) in conference game on
Saturday.
Coach Greg Gallaway was pleased with what they did on both nights.
“We were really pleased with last week.
We like to get two wins, but we played really tough on the road at
River Valley. That's a really
good basketball team. Their a
top five team in the state according to some of the RPI rankings.
We went out and competed for four quarters. I
think we tied it in the third. Had
some chances to take a lead. We
just couldn’t kind of get over that hump in the in the fourth quarter,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Credit to our guys.
We kind of mixed our line up a little bit with some late notice
injuries. We had five guys that
seemed like were always on the floor that stepped up to the challenge.
We took a really good team to the wire.
We were able to get a good win at home against Clear Fork.
Kind of a low scoring game. Our
shots didn't really fall for us, but defensively we kind of just settled in
on that end and held them 37 points. It's
a good team win for us.”
Perkins (11-7) is coming off a huge with over rival Sandusky in
giving the Streaks their first “SBC” Lake loss of the season (72-58) on
Saturday.
Gallaway says the Pirates are athletic.
“It's a really good Perkins team.
They're led by their point guard in Dederich.
They're coming off a huge win against a rival in Sandusky.
That's one of the better teams in the state Division III and they
were able to take care of business at their home court. They're
starting to play better than they have been.
It was a game that we picked up this year.
We knew going into this year how athletic and some of the guys that
they had back from last year's team. So,
we're expecting a four quarter battle over at their place and our guys have
got to be ready to go,” said Gallaway.
Shelby beat Ontario (68-59) on January 2 at Shelby in a game that
featured a lot of emotion.
Gallaway says Warriors (6-11,4-6) are playing well.
“Our guys are always excited to play a team like Ontario that's
just down the road. Our guys are
familiar with a lot of their team and it always seems to be a great game
between the schools. They're
playing really good basketball right now.
They start a lot of freshmen and right now I don't know if you would
consider them freshmen anymore with the experience that they've had
throughout this year. We have a
lot of confidence and we're going to have to play really well over at
Ontario,” he said.
Published 2/04/25
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Shelby
Can Win it All
Shelby will win an outright title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
if they can win at home against Ontario on Friday night.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they voiced this as a goal before the season
started. “That's one of our
goals this year is to win the title outright.
Another goal is to go undefeated in the conference.
It's been that way since day one and so we're still on track to do
so, but we have two big games to complete our goal,” she said.
The Lady Whippets (16-2,12-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won a piece of a
seventh straight league title by beating Clear Fork (69-65) last Saturday.
Ontario (4-14,4-8) lost (72-41) to Northern 10 leader Colonel
Crawford on Tuesday. They beat
Marion Harding (59-55) in their last conference game last Saturday.
Shelby whipped the Lady Warriors (67-32) on December 28.
Lantz says they are improved. “I
think they're playing a lot better the second half of the season.
They've had some different players step up. I
think two in particular. They've
got a guard and a forward that are playing really, really well right now.
It's definitely something that we're going to try and kind of limit
them a little bit, but at the same time we're going to work on really
playing our game and continuing to prepare for tournament time,” said
Lantz.
Shelby lost for just the second time this season (67-54) to talented
Bellevue on Tuesday night.
Lantz says they want to learn from that loss.
“Unforced turnovers we're really high for us, really bad.
We did some good things throughout that game.
Some things that we need to learn and build from.
We kind of talked about it quite a bit (Wednesday).
We had a team meal (Wednesday) and that was one of our topics.
What can we do better from now to the end of the season and how can
it help us come tournament time,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
evening, “Every player said we're going to start that (Thursday) at
practice and they did. I thought
we had a good practice (Thursday). They
were talking better, they were moving better.
If we didn't hit a goal in a certain drill they wanted to go again
and hit it. So, they're a group
willing to work. They're very
competitive and they want to be successful.
Bellevue is a really good team. I
thought we did some really good things the first half, but the unforced
turnovers. Then giving them way
too many second looks in the second half especially really hurt us down the
stretch.”
Published 1/31/25
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Shelby
Finding a Rhythm
Shelby, a winner of four of its last five, faces two challenges in
the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this week as they visit league leading
River Valley on Thursday and host Clear Fork on Saturday.
Last week, they downed Highland (65-50) on Thursday in league play
and smoked Madison (65-48) in non-league action on Saturday.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they have settled into a good rhythm.
“We're really pleased with our guys and how they responded this past
weekend. That was our goal to
try to get two in a row and we did that with the big league game Friday
against Highland and then going over to Madison and playing against really
athletic team over at Madison and doing a good job of executing for four
quarters. So, we're really
pleased with our guys. We're
liking some of the positive changes that we made.
Our guys have really started to buy into just the process right
now,” said Gallaway.
Shelby (10-6,7-3), in third place in the league, is at River Valley
(13-2,8-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in
the large school division, on Thursday.
The Vikings took sole possession first place in the conference with
(56-49) win over Marion Harding last Friday.
They humbled Shelby (94-64) on December 10 in Shelby.
Gallaway says they have to play really well on defense.
“They took it to us at home. They're
a really good team. One of the
best teams in our division in the state.
The thing that really scares you about River Valley is just they have
so many threats. I think they
have four guys that are averaging double digits.
So, there's so many different guys that can beat you.
They're well coached. They
play under a system. It's going
to take a team effort,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon,
“A connected effort on the defensive end making sure we know personnel,
know where shooters are at and finishing with rebounds each possession.
Then just going over to RV is never an easy task.
You have got to make sure that you have some energy and you're ready
to fight through adversity right from the start.”
Shelby edged Clear Fork (5-10,2-7) on December 27 (59-55) at Clear
Fork.
Gallaway says they want to continue to play good basketball.
“Saturday, we need to play against a returning first team guy in
our league in Garrett Hotz. We
want to just make sure that our goal is to just continuing to build trying
to stack days. We want to be
playing our best basketball in February.
So, our guys just need to say process driven and keep trying to get
better each day,” he said.
Published 1/30/25
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Shelby
Rallies Past Clear Fork
Shelby outscored Clear Fork (9-1) in the last 2:27 of the game and
rallied to beat the Lady Colts (69-65) to grab at least a share of their
seventh straight title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Saturday night
at Les Hauenstein Gym.
Eve Schwemly scored six of her game high 32 points in those final two
minutes.
Shelby coach Natalie Lantz feels their depth kind of wore down Clear
Fork in the late stages of the game. “One
of our plans was not to give up so many three balls and right off the bat we
didn't stick to our game plan on we left kids open and they knocked them
down. They're very good shooting
team. That's a very, very good
team and that game could have gone either way.
I'm proud of the girls to sit down and really just working on
defense. Went to a kind of a
rovers zone defense after our man wasn't working right off the bat and then
changed it up to back to man,” she told Swankonsports.com after the game,
“I think we just wore them down a little bit when we started to close in.
Both teams made plays down the stretch.
A couple things fell our way at the end and we were able to pull it
off.”
Clear Fork (16-3,10-2) got off to a great start in the game as they
got back to back threes to start the game from Brinley Barnett and Asia
Bechtel and ran to a (14-2) lead in the first 3:18 of the game.
They built the lead to as much as 17 points at (35-18) with 2:55 to
play in the half after two free throws by Hailly Thrush.
Shelby reduced their deficit to nine at halftime (37-29) and three
after three quarters (55-52) and the game was on.
Shelby (16-1,12-0) in fact did not take their first lead in the game
until :40 were left in the contest when Alyssa Booker swished a three from
the top of the arc to make it (66-65) Shelby and the Lady Whippets closed it
out.
Lantz says she has confidence in Booker.
“Alyssia Booker, she's a senior, high IQ player. She
does great on defense. People
overlook her because of her size, but she has a nice shot.
That's one of things we talked about with her and Soph Long that we
really wanted them to step up and be scorers. That
was a huge shot for her, but I trusted her taking it.
Eve did a good job penetrating and then Alyssa knocked it down, which
helped. Then we got a good stop
at the other end, got the rebound and made our free throws down the
stretch,” said Lantz.
Booker finished the game with nine points.
Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers credits Shelby for the win, but adds
he was very proud of his players effort.
“The game lived up to the billing.
It was a packed crowd. Two
really good teams. Two teams
that are known for defense couldn't stop each other, which was a little bit
surprising. They played a really
good game, Shelby did, and we played a really good game.
Unfortunately, in sports somebody has to lose.
(Saturday) night just wasn't our night to win it, but I'm super proud
of our kids. How they competed,
how they played. A very, very
bright future with this team. I
just think they're incredible, the team that we have here.
So, hats off to Shelby, but I'm really proud of how we played,”
said Sellers.
Mel Blubaugh led Clear Fork with 21, Barnett had 19.
Lantz says they worked very hard to limit Blubaugh’s touches in the
fourth quarter. “I really
think Eve stepped up. I thought
Soph (Long) did a really great job in the first half on her and in third
quarter was a little bit of foul trouble, so we shifted and put Eve on her.
I think that's one of the things that so special about Eve is she's
very, very good on both sides of the ball.
She did a great job offensively (Saturday) night and then defensively
she stepped up at the end. The
girls talked and switched where they needed to. I'm
just so proud of them for digging deep and trusting each other and getting
the stops that we needed to down the stretch,” she said.
Published 1/25/25
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Shelby
is Developing
Shelby is working hard to put some new pieces into their rotation as
they host Highland in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday and
travel to Madison for non-conference play on Saturday.
Last week, they lost a tough one (46-40) to “MOAC” co-leader
Marion Harding on Thursday and rallied to beat Galion (70-66) on Saturday in
league play.
Coach Greg Gallaway is proud of how they have been playing as they
try to move some pieces around. “We
were able to go down to the Harding on Thursday and it's just always tough
to play over there, they got a really good team.
We felt we were right there at the end. I think with a couple minutes
left it was a tie game or a one possession game.
Down the stretch, we just didn't make enough winning plays to come
out on top. We are really proud
of our effort on going on the road on Thursday and competing for four
quarters,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Then
Galion, we were happy to be able to bounce back with one day of prep and go
out and find a way to win at home. Really
proud of our guys. We're
starting to find some new contributors on our team.
With game 14 to 15 a lot of teams seem very dialed into their
rotation and ours has been mixed up a little bit through the halfway point.
So, we're still trying to develop that chemistry, but ultimately just
really proud of our guys and find a way to win Saturday.”
Shelby (8-6,6-3) plays at home against Highland (6-9,2-6) on Friday.
The Fighting Scots lost (52-42) to co-leader Marion Harding last
Saturday. Shelby won the first
meeting (64-53) on December 17.
Gallaway says Highland keeps getting better.
“Highland is really improved from last year and they continue to
keep getting better as the season goes.
They've lost a couple tough ones here recently, but they've competed
and went toe to toe with everyone in the conference.
Coach (Ryan) Stover has got them playing really hard, they’re
buying into his system and we know it's going to be a battle here at
Shelby,” he said.
Madison (4-11) is coached by former Shelby player and assistant coach
Davey Hipp. Gallaway appreciates
what Hipp is doing at Madison. “Coach
(Davey) Hipp is doing a great job over at Madison.
You can tell some of the values that he's put into his program.
You can tell how much of an impact he's making on those guys and
they're starting to play well and they're competing with a lot of teams. I
know they're all kind of losing stretch right now, but you can tell when you
watch them how much improved they are from last year.
You know he's going to have a great game plan against us.
It's going to take a full four quarter effort for us to go on the
road and to go compete with them on Saturday,” said Gallaway.
Published 1/23/25
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Shelby
Knows What’s at Stake
If they win both of their “MOAC” game this week against River
Valley and Clear Fork, the Shelby Lady Whippets will claim no less than a
share of a seventh straight Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title.
Right now, they lead Clear Fork by a game in conference standings and
they play the Lady Colts at Clear Fork on Saturday.
But first, they host River Valley (5-10,4-6) on Thursday.
Shelby beat river Valley (63-27) on December 19.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they expect more of a challenge on Thursday.
“River Valley's playing much better than they did first time
around, so we're looking to take one game at a time and the first step is
River Valley,” she said.
Shelby (14-1,10-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Clear Fork (15-2,9-1),
#3 in the small school division, on Saturday.
The Lady Whippets used a big second half run to beat Clear Fork
(49-36) on December 9 in Shelby.
Lantz says they must be very good on both ends of the floor.
“I think we need to play really well on both sides of the ball. I
mean they're a good team. They're
scoring well right now. I just
think we need to do a good job of containing their shooters and limiting
their shots. It really comes
down to us being able to play good defense and then convert on the offensive
end,” said Lantz.
Lantz says they understand what two more league wins would mean for
them. “It's a goal to win out.
It's a goal win seven straight. We
also know that we've got a tough stretch here,” she told Swankosports.com
on Tuesday evening, “We've got River Valley Thursday, Clear Fork Saturday,
and we still have Ontario and Pleasant yet.
Then, of course, we have Bellevue next Tuesday.
So, we're in the midst of a pretty good stretch,” said Lantz.
Published 1/22/25
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Shelby
with Things to Accomplish
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays at Highland in
a conference game on Friday night.
The Lady Whippets lead Clear Fork by a game and Marion Pleasant by
two.
They beat Willard (43-34) on Tuesday in a non-conference game.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they had to battle some adversity.
“We got off to a good start, which I was pretty excited about just
having a few players down with injuries and illness and trying to fight
through that game. We got off to
a strong start and then just kind of went into conservation mode, which is
not normally our typical style game. It
was a physical game. Things that
were out of our control. I felt
like we did a pretty good job of letting it go and just kind of keep
playing. It's always good to go
to Willard and to get a win. They're
a good, young team. I think
Alanna (Bedingfield) is doing a great job with that group. A
lot of talent there, a lot of size there, footwork in the post.
I haven't seen any footwork like that yet this year that was that was
as good as what they have. So,
definitely a team to watch. I
think a team that to make a run come tournament time, but really, really
happy to get the win,” said Lantz.
Shelby (13-1,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Highland (4-9,3-6) on
Friday. The Lady Fighting Scots
lost to Marion Harding (52-45) in a conference game last Saturday.
Lantz says they are going to have to make them take tough shots.
“They're getting better and better.
They're a physical team, they play hard, they have got a lot of nice
three point shooters. So, we
have to definitely pressure the ball and make sure we don't leave people
open to take open shots. We'd
like to force them to play faster, take quick shots and hopefully throw them
off a little bit. That way they
don't shoot as high percentage from three.
We've just got to take care of the ball, we've got pressure the ball
and we've got to control the boards,” said Lantz.
Shelby has won every “MOAC” title they have ever competed for and
Lantz says that puts a bull’s eye on their back.
“That's a good thing. I
think a lot of these teams in the “MOAC” are good, they're well coached,
and they're going to be prepared for us.
The second we overlook a team, we're going to be in a world of hurt.
If we go out focused and play with a lot of effort and energy and we
communicate well, then I think the games could be in our control, but if we
don't focus and do the little detail as well it's a lot tougher to get a
win,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “I know the girls
are excited about (Friday) night with Highland.”
Lantz says this would be a big win for them in terms of program
history. “It's a huge game
with the opportunity to come away with win number 800 for our program.
The girls want to get it done. We
have another player getting ready to reach a milestone as well and we're
pretty excited about that. The
time and the effort, extra practices and extra time in the gym and she's
putting in is really paying off. So,
we're excited for that too,” she said.
Published 1/17/25
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Shelby
Must Limit Turnovers
Shelby, a game behind Marion Harding and River Valley in the
“MOAC” standings, plays a big game at Harding in Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference play on Thursday night.
They kept themselves in the race with a big win (60-50) at Marion
Pleasant on Saturday.
Coach Greg Gallaway calls it a great team win.
“I was really pleased with our effort on the road.
I think it was our best team effort by far this season.
We kind of faced some adversity this week as a team.
We had a lot of guys step up and a lot of newcomers that haven't
played much for us that that played big minutes and impacted the game
greatly for us Saturday at Pleasant. I
thought we just had an urgency to play hard and play together consistently
for four quarters. A stat line
that coaches always love is when you have 17, 18 it assists and you're
spreading the ball around and making the extra pass.
I thought we did that. We've
lacked that a lot this year, so I'm just really pleased with our effort to
go over to the Pleasant and win,” said Gallaway.
Landon Foltz, who transferred from Ontario this year after playing
football for the Warriors, has been ruled ineligible for the rest of the
regular season and tournament by the OHSAA.
An appeal may be in the progress.
Shelby (7-5,5-2) is at Marion Harding (11-2,6-1) on Thursday.
The Presidents beat Galion (63-46) in their last league game on
Thursday. They added a (52-44)
win over Tiffin Columbian in non-conference play on Saturday.
Gallaway was says Harding is a tough place to play and the Presidents
have a very good guard-post combo. “They're
playing really good basketball. I
think they've rattled off eight straight wins in a row.
That was our first game this year.
We're a completely different team and they are a completely different
team. They're playing just
really good basketball. One
thing that's always certain whenever you go over to Marion Harding it's
never an easy place to play and that's because they've had really good teams
and it's just hard to play over at their place,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Monday afternoon, “They've had a tough non league schedule this year.
They're prepared well. Between
their point guard Logan Thrapp and their post player Boston Pearson you
could argue that's the best guard post combo in the league.
They're at the top of our league for a reason, so we have got to put
together a great plan. We have
to have a good practice week and we got to go over there and execute.”
Harding beat Shelby (78-70) in overtime on December 10.
That was the Whippets first game of the season after a long football
run.
Gallaway says Thursday they must limit turnovers.
“I think one thing for sure, we have got to make sure that we
control the basketball, we handle the basketball.
They're a team that can pressure well in the half court and the full
court, so if we're not going to take care of the basketball, if we're going
to make weak passes and we're going to be weak with it, it could be a long
night for us. So, I think that's
going to be one of our keys is to limit turnovers,” he said.
Published 1/14/25
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Whippets
Need Quick Start
Shelby plays over at Marion Pleasant on Saturday night in a game in
the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
They trail co-leaders River Valley and Marion Harding by a game in
the conference standings.
They beat rival Ontario (68-59) in a hotly contested game in the
league last Thursday, but then lost non-conference games to Margaretta
(70-56) on Saturday and Upper Sandusky (62-56) on Tuesday.
Coach Greg Gallaway says their execution needs to be better on both
ends of the court. “I think
just simply we need to get better. First
off Margaretta is one of the best teams in the state.
A lot of guys came back from their regional finalist team last year.
They played really well together, play unselfish basketball.
They were able to get on us early at home.
Then the other night at Upper, coach (Jeff) Winslow does a great job
with those guys and they're playing really good basketball right now,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It’s just something that
we were able to watch film (Wednesday).
There are some details on both sides offensively and defensively that
we just have got to be a little bit more in tune with right now.
Those little details, as we know, can make the difference between
winning and losing. So, moving
forward, we have got a big one Saturday against Pleasant, so we have got to
be ready to go.”
Shelby (6-5,4-2) plays at Pleasant (5-6,3-3) on Saturday.
The Spartans are the only league school to beat River Valley this
year. They did lose (61-30) to
Harding last Saturday.
Gallaway says they have a big guy that’s pretty good.
“Coach (Ben) Snively does a great job with those guys year in and
year out. They have got some
talented players too. 6’6”
Evan Sickmiller, he's a guy that has played a lot of JV last year, a little
varsity I believe, but he's done a great job being one of their guys this
year. At 6’6”, a lot of
people would just think those guys are guys that play underneath the basket,
but he can be a guy that can space a little bit and can force you to have to
guard on the premier as well. He's
done a great job this year. Lathan
McCants is another guy that is one of their solid guards that's averaging
double digits and just really smooth and very comfortable guard.
He's a guy that you can't let see a couple go down early because his
confidence is just going to keep going up.
We have got to do a great job on those two and the rest of the guys
on Saturday,” said Gallaway.
Gallaway says all of their goals are still in front of them, but a
win Saturday is a must. “We
have those goals, they're still attainable to us right now.
I think it's always good to reassure our guys that they know that
those are still in reach and also with our district and giving ourselves a
good seeding for that. So,
there's no reason for us to panic right now, but I do think we have got to
go out on the road this Saturday and come out with a little bit more of a
sense of urgency to play. I feel
like that's what we've lacked past couple of games, the fast start, and
that's got to be something that we come out of the gates with over at
Pleasant and we're ready to go right from the tip,” he said.
Published 1/10/25
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Shelby
Starts Second Half With Athletic Marion Harding
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, starts the second
half of the league schedule on Thursday night at home against Marion
Harding.
The Lady Whippets (9-1,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, lead Clear fork by
game in the standings.
Pleasant fell two back when Shelby beat them (48-43) last Friday.
Shelby coach Natalie Lantz says it wasn’t their best execution, but
it was good enough. “There
were some spurts where we did some really, really good things and I don't
want to take anything away from the girls when we did things like that, but
there were just a lot of inconsistencies.
Just kind of not talking and rotating the way we normally do on
defense. So, all things that we
can fix and get better. It's
great to come away with the win. Pleasant
is a good team, they're a good program no matter who they lose year after
year and who they have coming in. They're
just a solid program, well coached,” said Lantz.
Marion Harding (5-5,3-4) beat Galion (58-46) on Friday night.
Lantz says they are athletic and feature one of the best guards
around. “Harding, they have a
bunch of athletes and if you let them speed you up or if you speed them up
and get into a transition game with them, they're able to stick with you.
So, it's definitely a team that we need to come out and talk and
rotate well defensively and stay composed offensively in order to come out
with a win,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They're
athletic, they return a four year starter in Aniya Mitchell and she's one of
the top players in the conference. So,
we just have to be ready to “D” up and make sure we have each other's
backs.”
Shelby won the first meeting (47-29) on December 5.
Lantz says they have to be ready for anything against Harding.
“We've seen a lot of different things so far this season, which I
think helps us a little bit just in defenses I think the teams have tried to
either slow us down or limit touches by Eve (Schwemly).
We work on a lot of different things versus zone, versus man for our
offensive sets. We've been
working really hard in our execution and composure to make sure that we're
taking the best shot, not a quick shot, where it's warranted anyway.
Then defensively, we've been working on some things ourselves.
We know what we're good at, we know what our go to defenses are and
we work on some things that we might have to see down the road in order to
stop some teams.”
Published 1/08/25
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Shelby
Must Handle the Press
Shelby will host Ontario on Thursday night in play in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference.
Both trail first place River Valley and Marion Harding by a game.
Shelby lost (73-53) to Lexington in a non-league game on Saturday
night.
Coach Greg Gallaway says the Minutemen took advantage of what they
gave them. “We knew going into
it we were going to play a really good Lexington team, an experienced team.
Part of our game plan was to try to slow them down and make them beat
us with outside shooting. Credit
to them, they did a really good job shooting the basketball at Shelby. I
think they were 10 or 11 of 18 from three.
It was something going into the game we knew we were going to give
up. Credit to them they made
those shots. It wasn't the way
we wanted to start our in the first quarter.
We didn't execute very well offensively in the first half, but I was
really pleased with our fight in the second half.
I think in the third we outscored them 24-17.
Our guys had a good sense of urgency, but when you go down early to a
good team like Lexington you can't put yourself in the hole like that and
expect things to go your way. So,
it was a disappointing loss, but our guys looked well in practice and some
of those things we struggled with have been a priority for us Monday and
Tuesday on trying to get better at those things,” said Gallaway.
Shelby (5-3,3-2) has Ontario (2-6,2-2) on Thursday.
The Warriors also lost in non-conference play Saturday, (52-49) to
Madison.
Gallaway says they have great young talent.
“Ontario has a completely new team.
They play a lot of young guys that are freshmen. I
remember when they were in middle school, I don't think they lost the game
in middle school and you can just see why.
Right now, those guys just go out there and they play with a lot of
comfort. It doesn't look like
they're just freshmen,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,
“Their guard plays really good. They
have guys that have all got in the scoring column.
I think they're still trying to figure themselves out, kind of
similar to us as well. They have
lost some close ones. I think in
their last five they've lost three that have been with one possession.
So, they're definitely improving each game.
Our guys need to be ready to go Thursday.
This game with Ontario is always a rivalry.
We're so close to each other in distance.
We know it's going to be a great game, so we have got to be ready to
execute right from the tip.”
Ontario wats to push the tempo, the Whippets don’t mind that, but
Gallaway says they have to make good decisions with the ball.
“They're very comfortable playing at a fast pace.
That's something that you can definitely tell that coach (Jerry)
Moton is trying to instill in their program right now is to play up and down
and they have got the athletes to do it.
We're okay playing at that pace too, but we got to control the
basketball. I think sometimes
when people want to play at that pace they can under prioritize being
careless with the basketball and that's something we have got to make sure
we take care of. Just simple
things, being strong with it, trying to make strong passes, things like
that. We need to try to make
sure we're staying true. We got
to be able to handle their pressure if they show that,” he said.
Published 1/01/25
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Shelby
Takes on Composed Pleasant
Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference leader Shelby plays host to second place Marin Pleasant
on Friday night.
Pleasant and
Clear Fork trail Shelby by a game.
Shelby hammered
Ontario (67-32) on Saturday in a conference game.
Coach Natalie
Lantz says they played well on both ends of the floor.
“We moved the ball extremely well. I
thought there were countless times that we made the extra pass, which got us
a really nice look at the basket. The
same thing goes for defense too. Just
our rotations were good. We
might not have always gotten the stop, but the kids rotated the way they
needed to. Definitely some
things to work on, but we were really excited with what we saw,” said
Lantz.
Shelby
(8-1,6-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in
the large school division, will be at home for Pleasant (9-4,5-1) on Friday.
Pleasant picked spilt games over the weekend as they beat Ridgedale
(43-13) on Friday and lost (51-26) to Kenton on Saturday.
Lantz says this
is a team that is well
disciplined and hard to press. “They
are really good. It's a good
program. Coach (Keriann) Pratt
is a friend of mine. She does a
really good job with her program. She
kind of reloads every year. She
did lose a lot last year, but their top player returned in Avah Steele.
She's one of those players that can do it all on the offensive side
of the ball and defensively she's long and lanky,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “If they run a pressure defense,
she's going to be at the point of it. They're
one of the more composed teams in our conference and I think in our area as
well. So, it's harder to force
turnovers against the team like that. We're
going to do our best with our game plan and try to push them to be a little
bit uncomfortable. Hopefully,
make some make some errors in favor of us, but it's definitely a game we
have to be ready for.”
Lantz says they
want to get a good start in both halves of the game.
“We definitely have been putting more stress on making sure we come
out strong in the first quarter and the same thing third quarter.
A lot of times that can dictate a ball game right there.
Sometimes it's tougher than others, especially good teams like
Pleasant, but we're going to do our best,” she said.
Published
12/31/24
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Shelby
Needs a Win at Clear Fork
Defending Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion Shelby pays a visit
to the valley for a game with Clear Fork on Friday night.
The Whippets are coming off a (45-35) win at Norwalk on Monday in
non-conference play.
Coach Greg Galloway says they played good defense and it was a good
bounce back win for them. “I
was really pleased with our response from the previous game against River
Valley, they smoked us at our place, we gave up 94 points.
Defensively, we really wanted to challenge our guys and to go over to
Norwalk and to only give up 35 points was something we're really pleased
with as a coaching staff. So,
I'm really proud of our guys in terms of answering that challenge
defensively. It was a grind it
out win. We'll take them in any
way we can on the road. So, just
was pleased with our response on Monday,” he said.
Shelby (4-2,2-2) plays at Clear Fork (2-5,2-2) om Friday.
The Colts also played Monday and lost (49-46) to Madison in a
non-league game. They have losy
three straight.
Gallaway says Garrett Holtz is a tough guard.
“With Garrett Hotz, I'm pretty sure he's the only first team
returner in our league this year. He's
leading our conference in scoring right now, so he puts a lot of pressure on
you. You can see the growth
he’s made in his game from being a guy that can really put pressure on you
down low and now he's got range to be a threat on the three-point line as
well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We have got to
do a really good job on him. Some
of their second pieces are younger guys that are starting to figure
themselves out within their offense. It
definitely puts a challenge on us defensively and we have got to make sure
we find a way to get some energy at Clear Fork on the road, which is always
a tough place to play.”
Gallaway says this feels like a game that have to win.
“Our mindset is we have got to find a way to just bring some energy
on the road. It's a big league
game. Every team in our league
has a loss, so it's a really important one for us and we want our guys to be
focusing down into our game plan on Friday at Clear Fork,” he said.
Lexington (6-1), #1 in the Swnkonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, comes calling on Saturday.
Gallaway says it will be a very good test.
“Lexington is one of the best teams in our area right now.
They bring back a lot of experience with their guard play, really
with everyone on the floor, and you can tell just how connected and together
that group is. They present a
lot of challenges just with their depth and their experience.
So, it's been a fun game the past three or four years that we've had
with Lexington and it's always a great game for the area and we're excited
for that challenge Saturday at our place,” said Gallaway.
Published 12/27/24
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Shelby
Wants a Fast Pace
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays at rival
Ontario on Saturday in a conference game.
The Lady Whippets lead the conference standings by a game over both
Clear Fork and Marin Pleasant.
They are a winner of all their games but one, however, coach Natalie
Lantz says it pretty happy, but knows they still have to get better.
“I'm pretty happy with where we are.
We have some things that we want to improve on.
Defensively I mean I think we've done a really, really good job and
there's some things I think we could do better in that way. I
think for the different defenses we've seen we've done a pretty good job,
but again I think there's some things that we can improve on.
So, excited for where we're at and excited for the growth that we
have,” she said.
Shelby beat River Valley (63-27) last Thursday in their last
“MOAC” game.
This is Christmas week and Lantz says it’s a little different for
them this year. “Honestly this
is our first Christmas week and I think, I don't know, five years that we're
just not loaded with games over Christmas break.
So, that gives us a little bit of a chance to give our girls some
downtime. We had a pretty tough
schedule leading into Christmas and we were able to give him a couple of
days off and we'll come back and start practicing again on Thursday-Friday
before we play Ontario Saturday,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday
afternoon, “It's kind of nice that we only have one game.
Christmas midweek can throw a little bit of a wrench in things just
depending on what the team schedule. This
year it works out nice that we can give our girls a little bit of a break
halfway through or almost halfway through.”
Shelby (7-1,5-0) is at Ontario (1-8,1-5) on Saturday.
Ontario lost (59-49) to Marion Harding on Saturday.
Lantz says they want to push them tempo.
“If we let them get into a half court game I think they can compete
with some teams. Our goal, as it
is every game, we're going to try and put some pressure on them and try to
force turnovers and give ourselves extra opportunities at the basket.
They've got a couple nice sized post players that are able to finish
well. They've got a couple of
good shooters. So, we definitely
want to put pressure on the kids that we need to.
Offensively, we need to play our style of game and try to get some
opportunities in transition from our defense,” said Lantz.
Published 12/24/24
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Team
Defense a Key for Shelby
Shelby is one of five teams with one loss early in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference and they host River Valley, another of those five, on
Friday night in a big early season battle.
They downed Highland (64-53) on Tuesday night in league action.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they were able to put a complete game
together. “I was really
pleased with our guys going on the road against a much improved Highland
team and find a way to put a complete game together. I
thought our energy was really good from the tip.
We were able to get on them early and then I thought our guys did a
good job throughout the rest of the game defensively getting stops we
needed. Credit the Highland that
we couldn't put them away. They
did a good job answering all our runs. We
found a way to finish on the road. We
have got we got a big one Friday,” said Gallaway.
Shelby (3-1,2-1), a winner of three in a row, hosts River Valley
(4-1,1-1) on Friday night. The
Vikings beat Marion Harding, a team that beat Shelby, (64-56) on Saturday
night in “MOAC” play. The
beat Ridgemont (79-63) in a non-league game on Tuesday night,
Gallaway they some very good veteran talent.
“River Valley is a really good basketball team.
Coach (Rodney) Brown does a great job year in year out.
Their culture with basketball has been really, really good these past
four years when I've been coaching here in Shelby and before that.
They bring back three starters from last year's team in the (Chase)
Smith kid, Sawyer Weston and (Chase) Ebert. Experienced
guys that have been playing a lot of varsity basketball for them,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “When you can bring guards,
veteran guards, back that's always a really good thing.
They get really challenged in their non league schedule.
Just like the past three years, we expect this game to be a battle, a
four quarter battle. We have got
to make sure we have a couple of good days of prep and we have got to put
together a complete game.”
Gallaway they the Vikings have really good balance and that stretches
a defense. “We have really got
to value our communication against a good offensive team like River Valley.
They just have so many threats. If
we have any miscues on defense, they're going to make us pay because they
have multiple guys that can hurt you. They
have four guys that are averaging over 10 points a game.
So, it's going to be a really big collective effort for us on the
defensive end,” he said.
Published 12/19/24
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Shelby
Eager to Get Started
Shelby, coming off the bet basketball season in school history, gets
this season started on Tuesday night by hosting Marion Harding in a game in
the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Coach Greg Gallaway says getting practice time after a long and
successful football season is important too, but it’s time for them to
play a game. “That's the
message right now and I know our guys are excited too.
We're just excited to have the opportunity to play this week.
We get that chance to host a really tough league game on Tuesday
night. Ultimately, our locker
room is just very excited, scrimmages are passed, and to just go out there
and play,” he said.
They are at Galion on Thursday in “MOAC” play and host Willard on
Saturday in a non-league game.
Brayden Devito, a guard, is the only starter from a team that won a
regional championship last season. They
have added junior Landon Foltz, who played varsity basketball his freshman
and sophomore seasons at rival Ontario.
Gallaway says it is kind of like putting a big puzzle together and
finding the right pieces. “We
have guys that return from last year that played a big part in our team, but
their roles are elevated tremendously this year.
So, everyone regardless if they're a returning letterman for us or
new to our team you we have a brand new team and our guys have got to accept
their roles,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Ultimately
be connected and play together. So,
it is a lot like putting pieces together like a puzzle and we're still
trying to figure those out. We
might not have those figured out for a couple games, but our guys really
bought into the process and took the mindset to just get better each day at
practice. So, it's been a very
good start so far.”
Marion Harding (1-1,0-0) played only once last week and that was a
(48-41) loss last Monday to Columbus Bishop Ready.
Gallaway says they are going to be experienced and have some talent
too. “Marion Harding brings
back some talent from a really good team last year.
It starts with her two main guys and Logan Thrapp and Boston Pearson.
Logan Thrapp is their returning
point guard. who kind of runs the show for them offensively.
Boston Pearson is the coach’s son, who is a really skilled post and
you can tell he's already made so much improvement from his sophomore to his
junior year. So, they bring back
some experienced guys and then they clean out the rest of their roster with
some very athletic kids that have had varsity time as well too.
So, we definitely have our hands full,” said Gallaway.
Published 12/10/24
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Shelby
to Start Tough Stretch
Shelby has gotten off to a good start to the season, but things are
going to get tougher for the Lady Whippets over the next week and half
beginning with a visit to Marion Harding for a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference on Thursday.
After beating Perkins (59-23) on Saturday, the Lady Whippets are
(2-0) on the season.
Coach Natalie Lantz says she is pleased, but knows they have to get
better. “I think we're off to
a good start, but we definitely have a grueling schedule here coming up.
To get two games and two wins under our belt I think is a good thing,
a confidence builder, but there were definitely some things that we needed
to work on moving forward,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening,
“I'm definitely seeing some good things on the defensive end and girls
getting more and more confident and our depth.
So, definitely some things that we like and will play to our
advantage here this year.”
Shelby also plays Reynoldsburg, Clear Fork and Margaretta coming up
and Lantz says they have to be prepared.
“Part of the reason that we're working the way we are and kind of
building up preparing for certain things for certain teams here that we play
in the next week and a half. Some
of the teams do similar presses and similar defenses.
Some teams, they're all good, all five teams here coming up are
really good teams and so it's going to be really important that the girls
stay healthy and stay focused and dialed in on what they need to do each
night and how to take care of business,” said Lantz.
Shelby (2-0,1-0) travels to Marion Harding (1-0,0-0) on Thursday.
The Lady Presidents beat Hamilton Township (39-35) on Friday night.
Lantz says they have to contain Aniya Mitchell.
“They have really good guard play.
Aniya Mitchell, this is her senior this year, and she's been one of
the top guards in our conference for the last four years now.
So, obviously we want to do the best we can to contain her.
It comes down to us playing a really good defensive game and being
smart with the ball on offense,” she said.
Published 12/04/24
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Shelby
Kids Have Winning Attitude
Shelby enjoyed the best basketball season in school history last year
and they believe this year can be good too.
Of course, they just got some of their kids this week after football.
Coach Greg Gallaway says that is something they thought might happen
and they were ready for it. “With
football making a late run that is stuff that we hope to expect every year
here at Shelby with the great tradition and our football program.
We are a little bit behind because other teams have got to start for
the most part at the beginning of November.
This is something that we were expecting this year.
So, when it comes to that we just have got to get our guys in and get
them up to speed as quickly as possible,” he said.
Gallaway says they have a number of guys that are going to have to
accept new roles this season, but he says they were around a very positive
environment last year. “We
have a few guys that contributed to our team last year, but undoubtedly
everyone's going to have to accept new roles this year.
We do have an entirely new team.
The nice part about last year when we were able to make a run like we
were we were able to dress 15 for the tournament and we had a lot of JV guys
that were able to take on those last spots to fill our roster out,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Just to understand the time
and the work that needed to be put in to achieve great things in the
postseason and in the regular season, So,
yes, we don't bring much experience back, but we feel like last year's group
was able to lay a good foundation on the work and the time that needs to be
put into to be successful.”
Plus, a number of basketball players were part of football team that
won 12 games and the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title and Gallaway thinks
that a plus too. “When you
think about this year to a lot of those inexperienced guys that are going to
have to help us this year played a big part on the football team and the
football team had a tremendous year this year.
We feel like winning translates from the football field to the
basketball court. So, that's a
big plus for us as well. So, as
a staff we feel good about those guys that got valuable minutes in the fall
and how that can translate to the basketball court as well,” he said.
Published 11/22/24
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Shelby
Very Deep, Very Talented
Shelby looks to be in position to win another girls basketball title
in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this year a lot of depth and a lot of
talent.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they have gotten a little bit of a late
start due to the tremendous season enjoyed by the volleyball team, which
advanced to the state semifinals. “What
an awesome season for volleyball. We're
so excited for them and just how far they've come over the last several
years and for the senior class especially to make a run like they did.
We've had our volleyball kids back with us now for I think about four
or five practices, including a scrimmage.
So, a little bit later start to have everybody but at the same time
like that's so special with high school sports to have a long run in any
sport. Like I said, we're just
so proud of them and so excited for all their accomplishments,” she said.
Lantz says they are going to be a very experienced team this year and
those kids have shown great leadership.
“I would call eight seniors pretty veteran.
We definitely have a lot of experience back.
We're really excited about that.
We are most definitely going to be senior led and these kids are
getting after it every day. I
think that's one of the things that I love about the culture of our program
is every year the senior leadership just keeps getting better and better.
They come in and they work hard at practice and lead by example.
The communication is there and the practices are competitive,” she
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “If you come in and go
through the motions you don't get a whole lot out of it.
We really are we're excited about this season, we're excited about
our seniors having the opportunity to lead a special season we hope.
We have some juniors and sophomores that'll likely contribute at the
varsity level. It's going to
take a little bit for things to fall into place and to see where things are,
but we like what we see so far from our kids and the aggressive play.”
Lantz says it will be important to get some varsity minutes for those
kids that are not seniors. “Now
we're going to have a more veteran staff you know on a JV team as well based
on who we have for varsity. It's
exciting our practices all the way through from you know freshmen through
seniors are very competitive. It's
going to make the program in general I think better.
The toughest thing could be what's it look like for next season.
In one regard, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, but on the
other hand we do want to get some of these younger kids some experience at
the varsity level this year so they're not thrown into the wolves next year,
which I don't think they will. If
you look at it this way, they're practicing against some of the most
experienced players in our conference and in our area on a daily basis.
So, I would say that's going to make them better.
Stepping in and starting varsity and getting big, big minutes and
stepping into new roles is a whole other ball wax,” said Lantz.
With the roster that they have, Lantz says they have lofty goals for
this season. “We have eight
letter winners back, which seven of those are seniors and one of them is a
junior. We do have depth at
multiple positions and honestly between those eight anybody could start on a
given night. We definitely want
to take advantage of that with our seniors.
They put the time in and it also gives us flexibility for matchups
with different teams or to create mismatches with different teams.
So, we're going to look to potentially take advantage of those
situations as well this year. We're
excited, we're working hard every day and it's just going to take a little
bit longer here to get that chemistry, which is why we pushed game one back,
our Margaretta game back,” she said.
Published 11/20/24
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Shelby
Must Tackle Well
Repeating something can be one of the most difficult things in sports
and that will be the challenge for the Shelby Whippets as the meet Ontario
Friday night in a division IV regional semifinal at Arlin Field in
Mansfield.
The Whippets beat Ontario (50-36) in a regular season game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says the Whippets have to be really good
tacklers. “I think first of
all you have got to give Ontario a ton of credit. Offensively,
they do a lot of really good things. They're
coached really well. They
execute at the point of attack really well.
Their offensive line is big and physical.
Their running backs run hard and the receivers make plays and then
obviously when you have Bodpegn Miller as your quarterback you're going to
be able to do a lot of things. He's just as dynamic as they go.
So, you have got to give a lot of credit to them,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Defensively, we have got to try to
make plays. Whether we try to
force a turnover here or there or whether it's trying to get some stops.
What we want to do is try to play Shelby Whippet defense, which is
just do your job to the best of your ability, to trust the guys around them
and then at the end of the day we have got to pursue the football and
tackle. At the end of the day, I
don't care what it looks like. There
is no such thing as an ugly tackle this week.
However. we get them down and we're going to take advantage of that.
We have got to pursue the football and try to tackle as a team
defensively.”
In that first meeting, Ontario failed to recover a kickoff, the
Whippets pounced on it and scored to go up two scores late.
Mahaney says they have to execute in all areas, including special
teams. “Special teams are a
huge phase of the game and a huge part of last time and I'm sure we'll be
this time. They're a really good
special teams unit themselves. They
have a really good kickers and they cover the field well and they have
dangerous returners. So, we were
fortunate the last time to get that break, but that's something we can’t
count on this time. We have got
to go out there whether it is offense, defense, or special teams our kids
have got to play together and they have to execute and play with energy and
passion,” he said.
When it comes to keys, Mahaney again says they must tackle well and
continue to make big plays on offense. “I
think one of the biggest things is that we have to tackle well.
Our tackling efficiency needs to be really high because again they're
so dangerous. When you have a
chance to get them down you have to do that.
Offensively, we need to be efficient with the football, limit our
penalties, limit our turnovers and execute in the red zone and on the goal
line. We have got to make sure
we find ways to score. It's what
we’ve done all year and we want to continue to do that and that's just to
play together and to do our jobs playing for the guys around us. Those are
the things that we think we can be that can give us success week in and week
out,” said Mahaney.
Published 11/15/24
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Shelby
Needs More Explosive Plays
Shelby beat Ontario to win the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title and
now they must do that again in a division IV regional semifinal game at
Arlin Field on Friday night.
Last week, Graham Scott, a sophomore member of the Shelby football
team was killed in an ATV accident. His
funeral was held Monday.
Coach Robert Mahaney says he was especially proud of how his young
players battled that adversity last week.
“At the end of the day we were extremely proud of our kids in what
they what the handled things off the field and on the field, just really
proud of our kids to just come together and play as a team, honor our
teammate and go out and find a way to win the game.
Really proud of our guys for our seniors they won their last game at
home. Just a lot of things to be
really proud of. We got to we
got to play another week and now have a huge opportunity for us this
Friday,” h said.
Shelby beat Ottawa-Glandorf (27-14) in a quarterfinal game in Shelby.
It was the Whippets rallying to score twice in the last two half
minutes and beat Ontario (50-36) last month.
Mahaney says they are going to see at least a few adjustments from
the Ontario defense. “We're
going to see what kind of adjustments that both sides make.
Kind of see how it changes the second game.
Again, they're coached really well and they're going to do a good job
defensively and they have really good football players from their
interiority line to the defense ends to their linebackers and their dbs.
They're really solid at every single position and they can make
plays. So, really at the end of
the day offensively we have to know our rules and we have to execute at a
really high level,” said Mahaney.
High school football often times is about the big play and Mahaney
says they have to make more of those than Ontario on Friday.
“That’s one thing we have talked to our kids about this week is
that we have got to continue to do what we do.
We're excited it being week 13, but we have got to continue to stay
process driven and do the things that we do.
Again, on game days one of the things that we want to do is win the
explosive battle and that's something that we got to do,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Turnovers and explosive plays are
really the two things that are a big indicator of what wins football games.
So, those are two areas that we want to win.
We try to create explosive plays offensively and we have got to
continue to try to do that and at the same time we know they're going to
make some explosive plays because they're really good on offense as well,
but we have got to try to limit those defensively.”
Mahaney echoes the feelings of Ontario coach Aaron Eckert about the
game being played at Arlin Field. He
says that’s the right place. “You
are talking about a regional semifinal game with two teams from Richland
County it makes perfect sense for it to be at Arlin.
It’s the stadium that’s most well most well known in the area, so
I think it's really an exciting thing for Richland County and both schools
and both teams and both communities. For
it to be at Arlin really just highlights it.
It's very fitting, so I think it's an exciting opportunity for our
guys and for them too. I hate to
keep saying how exciting it is, but at the end of the day when you're
playing week 13 football that's what it is,” said Mahaney.
Published 11/13/24
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Shelby
Plays With Trust
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champ, plays at home against
Ottawa-Glandorf, of the Western Buckeye League, in a regional quarterfinal
in division IV on Friday night at the Whippet Athletic Complex.
The Whippets (11-0) rallied after spotting Elida an early lead and he
blasted the Bulldogs (49-21) last week in their playoff opener.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were able to make the right
adjustments. “I thought our
kids did a great job of continuing to play and understanding that there's
going to be ups and downs throughout a football game.
I thought our kids did a great job of continuing to stay the course
and trust the guys around them and sticking to what we do best offensively.
We played really well defensively once we kind of got settled in the
second half of our kids played really, really well.
So, some adversity I think is always good for your football team and
our kids did a good job of responding to that,” said Mahaney.
Ottawa-Glandorf (6-5) held off Galion (13-7) last week.
Mahaney says this is a school district where athletics are respected.
“I think “OG” is a community with a ton of pride and I think
their kids play with a ton of pride too.
You watch the film you can see their effort it sticks out on the film
a lot. I think it's something
that football team prides in, just like all those sports.
They have a ton of success in a lot of different sports because of
the support that they receive in the effort that they play with and all
their sports and their football team is the same,” he said.
Three of the Titans five losses have been by two scores of less.
Mahaney says they play very hard and do what they have to do to win.
“Defensively, they fly around to the football and they pursue the
football relentlessly and so we got to be ready for that.
Offensively, they do a lot of good things with finding different ways
to run the football, so we have got to be ready for that.
They're going to stick to their game plan,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Coach (Ken) Schriner has been there
for a long time and has had a ton of success. 29
years and over 200 wins. So,
they have ability, they have great effort.
Again, they play in a great conference in the “WBL”, so they're
going to be battle tested as well.”
You get to this level of the playoffs game are often decided late.
Mahaney has confidence in his players.
“Our kids have been really good all year continuing to play and
understanding that high school football is a four quarter game.
We've made some plays when we needed to down the stretch.
We have really good football players on our team, but we don't have
any kid that goes out there and tries to be Superman.
They have committed themselves to doing their job and playing as a
team. I think that's why when we
get in the situations, we find ways to make plays because we just trust the
guys around us, trusting ourselves and if we can continue to do that we can
be successful,” said Mahaney.
Published 11/07/24
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Shelby
Has to Have Right Mindset
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, and second seed
will host Elida in a first round playoff game in division IV on Friday
night.
The Whippets (10-0), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, belted Marion Pleasant (33-14)
last week to secure the outright title.
It was the 30th title in the Whippets illustrious history.
Coach Robert Mahaney says it was a pretty good night.
“It was a special night for our team and for our seniors.
It was awesome to see our kids who have bought in since last winter,
through the spring, and through the summer, to kind of get that reward of
having that moment on the field and then the bus ride back into Shelby was a
really cool moment for our kids. Really
proud of them and everything that they accomplished this year.
Now, we're looking forward to keeping things going into the
playoffs,” he said.
Despite what they have done over the first 10 weeks, Mahaney says
that is irrelevant now. “The
seeds are set, the pairings, all that kind of stuff and now you just go out
and play football. We talked
about it to our team that you had to have a special sense of urgency in the
playoffs because every week you're fighting for your team's life.
The seniors are trying to continue to play to extend their last
season of high school football. Our
team is trying to extend their season, so they can sit together another week
and spend more time together. There
is just a sense of urgency that has to pick up and so far through two days
of preparation we've done a good job with that,” said Mahaney.
Elida (3-7) comes out of the Western Buckeye League.
Mahaney says they have been tested.
“The first thing is that they're in a really good football
conference. We've had
opportunities to play teams from the “WBL” over the past couple of
years, Van Wert specifically. We
have seen their conference and know there are going be battle tested.
It's a really good football conference and week in and week out
they're going to be tested. They
have some really good wins over some of those teams in that conference, so
that's the first thing. Then
secondly, they have some really good football players. Defensively,
they fly around and get to the football.
They have a defensive end that's really special football player and
has division one offers and rightfully so,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday night, “We have got to make sure up front we know what we're
supposed to do and execute at a high level.
Offensively for them, they do a really good job and do some really
good stuff schematically. Their
quarterback is good and they have a wide receiver that they play in the slot
that they hand the ball. Then
have a lot of different ways to get him the ball and he's one of the best
athletes we've played all year. So,
they have a lot of really good football players and they're battle tested.
So, we have got to make sure that we have that sense of urgency and
understand what we're playing on Friday and come out ready to go.”
Published 10/30/24
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Shelby
Plays for Undisputed Title
Shelby already has a share of its fourth Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
title in five years and they can win it outright if they can win at Marion
Pleasant on Friday night.
They scored twice in the final minutes last week to get past Ontario
(50-36) in an “MOAC” game between unbeaten teams.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they kept attacking.
“I thought our kids played exceptionally well.
I was really proud of our efforts offensively defensively and our
special teams. I’m proud of
our guys after going down early and then going down late to stick to what we
do and have no panic and flip the page and to keep attacking.
I thought our kids did a great job with that.
It was a great high school football game. Ontario
is a really good football team and coached really well, so for our guys to
continue to fight through it and play the way that we did just really,
really proud of them,” he said.
Quarterback Brayden DeVito accounted for seven touchdowns in the
game.
Shelby (9-0,6-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, visits Marion Pleasant (5-4,3-3) on Friday
night. The Spartans stuffed
Marion Harding (14-3) last week.
Mahaney says they have talent on both sides of the ball.
“I think Pleasant is a really good football team. I
think they're coached really well. Offensively,
they do a lot of different things that stress your defense.
The quarterback Lowry is a really good football player.
Their running back is good, they have receivers that can make plays
and a good offensive line. They
put a lot of stress on you with their offensive,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Defensively, again they're very good
up front. That's where it starts
with them inside with their tackles are very good.
The defensive end #24 is a really good football player.
He leads the league in sacks with like double anybody else.
He makes a ton of plays for them.
Their linebackers run to the football and their db's do good job of
keeping things in front of them and tackling the football.
I think offensively, defensively and special teams, they do a really
good job. It starts with how
well they’re coached and then their kids give a ton of effort.
Pleasant has a ton of tradition and you can see that that tradition
in the effort on film.”
Mahaney says they have been telling the kids that last week was only
step one towards their goal. “We
talked about that this week with our guys about finishing the job.
Coming out this week we get one more regular season football game.
Our seniors get to play in one more “MOAC” game.
We want to go out there and take full advantage of it.
Fly around and play together and have a lot of fun and play Shelby
Whippet football and compete until the very end and then hopefully we find
ourselves in a position to make plays to win the game at the end.
If we can do that and play with one another and go out and execute I
think we can do that,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/25/24
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Shelby
Has to Limit Mistakes
Shelby hosts Ontario in a huge game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference between unbeaten squads on Friday night.
To the winner goes the outright lead with one week to play.
Ontario quarterback Bodpegn Miller has accounted for 25 touchdowns
this season. Plus, he plays a
role on defense and special teams.
Shelby coach Robert Mahaney says he is capable of making a big play
from anywhere on the field. “At
the end of the day he's a special high school football player.
A special athlete in State of Ohio.
He plays quarterback and he's going to touch the ball on every single
play. He can throw it, he can
run it, he can extend plays. Everything
that you could ask a quarterback to do in high school he can do it and at an
elite level too. He's a special
kid, but I think also you have got to give credit to their offensive line,
who has gotten better every single week and is a really solid unit.
Mason Vantilburg is playing really well at running back and then they
have got a lot of receivers that can make plays.
Overall, they're really solid unit and then they're coached well.
They do good things and they take advantage of the opportunities and
mismatches and all those kind of things.
So, really offensively, they're a very good football team,” he
said.
Shelby (8-0,5-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, has beaten the Warriors (8-0,5-0), #3 in that
poll, in four of the last five meetings since the Whippets joined the
league.
Mahaney says in a lot big games like this special teams plays a big
role. “I think special teams
is a is a huge part of the game and it seems like in bigger games there's
always something that happens in special teams.
So, we have got to be ready to execute.
Ontario has really good special teams.
Over the past several years they've had really good kickers and they
have the same thing again. We
talked about how good Bodpegn is as a quarterback and an athlete, but man he
can pound the ball on kickoffs too and puts it through the end zone.
To me that’s impressive as anything else that he does.
All night we're going to be starting at the 20 offensively, so we
have to be ready to do that. They
cover punts and all those kind of things, punt returns, they do a really
good job. So, the hidden yardage
battle is going to be a big thing and hopefully we can go out there and try
to make some plays when we get the opportunity to,” said Mahaney.
When it comes to keys, Mahaney says they have to limit mistakes and
turnovers, be good tacklers, above all make more explosive plays.
“I think one thing that we have got to try to do is control what we
can control and make sure we don't beat ourselves.
We have got to make sure we do our best to limit the amount of
penalties that we have and we have got to make sure that we limit our
turnovers offensively. We don't
want to give them any extra possessions, so we have gotta make sure we do
our best to make sure we limit turnovers,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday night, “Defensively, we have to tackle at a high percentage
whether it's Bodpegn or whether it's Vantilberg. They have got kids that can
make you miss or break tackles. So,
we have to really do everything we can to get them on the ground when we
have the opportunity to do that. So,
I think those three things. We
have got to limit our penalties, we have to make sure we don't turn the ball
over offensively, and really try to tackle.
I think at the end of the day whoever wins the explosive play battle
is going to have a big say in the game.
I think offensively, we have got to try make some big, explosive
plays and defensively we have got to limit them.
So, I think those are things that we try to focus on and get us ready
for this game.”
Published 10/17/24
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Shelby
Must Make Explosive Plays
It’s finally here, as Shelby hosts Ontario Friday night in a game
between the unbeaten co-leaders of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
The Whippets (8-0,5-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, rallied to beat Clear Fork (34-7) last
week.
They found themselves in a tie ballgame late in the third quarter,
but coach Robert Mahaney was proud of the way they took control of the game.
“Yeah, I thought it was really good job of responding to the
situation. Clear Fork makes a
big, explosive play and it ties the game.
Give a lot of credit to coach (Aaron) Brokaw and Clear Fork.
They are tough and physical and have gotten better every week and you
can definitely see that when you play them.
Fortunately, our kids after taking their best shot, we're able to
kind of play with the next play mentality and come out and make some
explosive plays offensively through the pass game.
We had some big plays, but our big thing is we didn't finish drives.
I thought we did a really good job with that down the stretch of the
game to score some points and put it away.
It's good I think to have some adversity like that and I think Clear
Fork is a well coached and a football team on the rise.
I thought it was really good for our kids to respond like they did in
third and fourth quarter,” he said.
Ontario (8-0,5-0), #3 in our poll, smoked Marion Harding (45-14) last
week.
They have not given up more than two scores in any league games this
season and some of those have been in garbage time.
Mahaney says that Warrior defense is big and it’s talented.
“I think Ontario, first of all they're extremely well coached, I
think coach (Aaron) Eckert does a great job and his staff are putting kids
in really good positions to make plays.
I think when you look at their defense, I think it starts up front. I
think their two interior defensive linemen are two of the best interior
lineman we have played all year. They're
very good, they're returners, they gave us fits last year and they give us
fits again on Friday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night,
“They're really good football players.
Their ends are big and strong, they're middle linebacker flies around
and they're outside linebackers are fast and strong.
Their front seven is totally without a doubt combined size and
strength the biggest that we've played this year.
I think that's a big strength for them.
Then they cover it up with their secondary with some really athletic
kids. Whether Miller plays back
there or not they have other kids too that can fly around in Foltz and Mahon
and all those kind of kids that you know cover up a lot of space back there.
So, I think from front to back they're extremely solid and they play
really sound defensive football.”
Mahaney says Ontario has not given up a lot big plays, but they have
to find some. “I think that's
extremely hard for a lot of high school football teams to do.
We have struggled with it throughout the season.
The ability to sustain drives is what separates good teams from great
teams. I think there's two
things that we have got to do to try to be successful and one is try to find
ways to create explosive plays. Our
kids have got to execute and all of those kind of things.
Then secondly, we have got to sustain drives.
We can't hurt ourselves with penalties or negative plays.
We have got to try to continue move the ball forward and not put
ourselves behind the sticks or make a lot of penalties that cost us.
So for us, that's a really big focus this week is trying to make sure
we don't beat ourselves offensively and then also trying to find ways to
make explosive plays, whether it's breaking tackles or whatever we can do to
try to make some big plays, because we know that they explosive play battle
is a thing that normally decides a lot of football games, so we try to do
our best to win that,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/15/24
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Shelby
is Process Driven
Shelby, the co-leader of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays down
at Clear Fork against the Colts in a conference game on Friday night.
Last week, quarterback Brayden DeVito accounted for seven touchdowns
the Whippets destroyed River Valley (55-21) to stay unbeaten.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they really played an excellent football
game. “I thought our kids did
a really good job offensively. It
was our best game this season with the way that we executed scoring every
possession in the first half. I
thought our kids did a really good job offensively executing and limiting
penalties and zero turnovers and all those kinds of things.
So, couple that with the defense that played really well.
They had three really big plays against us and beyond that I thought
we played really well defensively. With
what River Valley does and the challenges that they presented, I thought our
kids played an extremely well executed football game,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (7-0,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, visits Clear Fork (2-5,1-3) on Friday night.
The Colts edged Marion Harding (14-13) in “MOAC” action last
week.
Mahaney says the Colts are becoming a good team.
“I think Clear Fork is a good football team.
Their non conference schedule is extremely difficult.
They got into our league and have been getting better every week and
you know and then had a big win last week.
So, I think they’re a team that's gotten better every single week.
Defensively, I think they're really good with what they present with
3-3 stack and how they run to the football.
I think their defense is really good,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday night, “Offensively, they're going to line up in some different
formations and kind of come right at you. So,
you have got to be ready for that physical style and I think when you
combine that with a team that likes to run the ball and play good defense I
think it's a good combination. We
have got to be ready for that challenge.
Always going to Clear Fork, it's a challenge within itself.”
Shelby shares first place in the conference with Ontario and they
play the Warriors next week.
Mahaney says they are not thinking ahead.
“We haven't talked about that game at all.
Our focus is to be a great football team and great football teams get
better every single week. Good
football teams kind of ride the emotions of the season.
We want to be a great football team that continues to get better
every day at practice and continues to be better every week.
We want to be a better football team than we were last week this week
and every week through the rest of the season.
If we can do that hopefully we can be a great football team by the
time it's all over,” he said.
Published 10/09/24
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Shelby
Beats Pleasant; Shares “MOAC” Title
Shelby beat Pleasant in four sets on Tuesday night and the Lady
Whippets will share the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title with Highland.
The Lady Whippets edged Pleasant (25-17, 23-25, 25-22, and 25-15) at
Pleasant. Highland beat Ontario
in three straight (25-21, 25-20, and 25-18) on Tuesday.
Shelby coach Katelyn Olewiler, in her second year as head coach, says
this is team that knew what they wanted.
“I am just so proud of the girls.
They had a goal in their mind. We
set this goal together at the beginning of the season and they were
determined to make it happen,” said Olewiler.
The Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference is an excellent volleyball
conference. Pleasant would have
shared the title if they had won on Tuesday night.
Galion is good too.
Olewiler says dating back to last year she knew the Lady Whippets had
great potential. “I knew from
last year that these girls had a lot of potential and coming back we were
just bigger, better, stronger, so I knew from the beginning of the season
that this was a very special group,” she said.
When it comes to the win over Pleasant, Olewiler says they executed
the game plan very well. “I
think we came in with a game plan. The
girls were able to stay focused and level headed even in that
environment,” she told Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday night,
“We knew going into it that it was going to be an intense environment, but
we welcome that challenge and they really took it head on.”
Published 10/09/24
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Shelby
Defense Must Contain
Shelby hosts River Valley in a key matchup in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference on Friday night.
The Whippets share first place with Ontario.
The Vikings are game back.
Last week, Shelby routed Highland (41-6) in an “MOAC” game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says it might have been their best game of the
season. “I thought our kids
did a great job of coming out early handling the weather that we played in
and scoring on our first two drives was a great way to kind of get the
momentum. The defensive played
really well. We had a big
turnover and we were able to bounce back and really played well from start
to finish. You take away the one
turnover and I thought it's probably one of our better games that we played
all year collectively from offense to defense.
So, I think it's a really good performance or us against a really
good Highland team to go there and win.
I'm proud of our kids effort and how we handled the adversity of the
weather and all those kinds of things. So,
overall it was a really good step for us I believe,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (6-0,3-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, is at home for River Valley (4-2,2-1) on
Friday. The Vikings stuffed
Marion Harding (10-0) last week in the wind and rain.
Their only “MOAC” loss came a couple of weeks ago (27-14) to
Ontario.
River Valley was the only conference school to beat Shelby last
season (28-24) at their place.
Mahaney says Chase Ebert is the engine that fuels the Vikings.
“I think River Valley a really good football team.
I think it starts with their quarterback. I
think Chase Ebert is really, really, really good.
He throws it around. He
can make every throw on the field. He
can extend plays with his legs and then he has receivers that make a lot of
plays for him. They have really
good receivers and the offensive line protects him.
He's super tough too. He'll
take the abuse and he'll take the hits and keep making plays.
He’s a really, really good football player.
Defensively, I think they are fast and fly around and get to the
football. So, we have to be
ready handle the speed that they present.
Their secondary is very sound. Really
sure tacklers. So, it's going to
be a really good football game and I think our kids are excited for that
opportunity,” said Mahaney.
Ebert has thrown for almost 1,500 yards and 14 touchdowns this
season.
Mahaney says he is going to make plays.
He says they can’t allow the big one.
“I think the big thing you have got to understand that he's going
to make plays, but you can't let those plays compound.
You have got to really just try to limit the explosive plays that
they create. Again, he's a
really good football player. They
are coached really well. They do
some really good things. The
biggest thing is you have to make sure you keep things in front of you the
best you can and then make them sustain drives,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday night, “Again, with their playmaking ability it presents a lot
of troubles. As far as how to
stop him I think that's a really good question.
He's going to make plays. He
been throwing the ball 40 times a game and runs the ball a bunch.
So, I think he's going to make plays.
We'll do our best to try to slow him down, but understanding that he
is going to make plays and playing that next play I think going to be the
most important thing for us because at the end of the day we got to find
ways to get stops.”
Published 10/02/24
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Shelby
to Play a Sound Highland Team
Shelby, the “MOAC” co-leader, plays at Highland in a Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference game on Friday night.
They played very well last week in handing Galion their first loss of
the season (35-6) in a conference game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they executed pretty well.
“I thought our kids did a really great job last week. I
thought they did a good job of executing the game plan offensively and
defensively. I thought we came
out defensively and did a really good job of controlling the line of
scrimmage and making plays and then offensively executing when we needed to.
Anytime you go to Galion and you know rivalry game like that and play
the way that we did we're pretty happy about it.
Hopefully, it's something that we can use building forward,” he
said.
Shelby (5-0,2-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, plays at Highland (2-3,1-1) on Friday night.
The Fighting Scots handled Marion Harding (28-9) last week.
Mahaney says Highland does a really good job of executing what they
have to do to be successful. “I
think Highland is a really good football team. I
think you can see the growth that they do every week.
Last week it culminated in a big win over Harding.
I think the growth sticks out on film they've had as a team.
I think coach (Ty) Stover does a really good job offensively and
defensively and so they're going to be really well coached.
I think defensively they do a good job of mixing up coverages and
flying around to the football and pursuing football.
They're able to create plays that way with their pursuit.
I think offensively the quarterback Stover does a really good job,
he's a three-year starter. He
does a really good job with their offense getting the ball where he needs
to. They have got receivers that
make plays. They're just really
fundamentally sound. So, it's
going to be a good test for us Friday night if we can match them in the way
that they play,” said Mahaney.
Shelby Brayden DeVito is the passing efficiency leader in the
“MOAC” this season (191.18), but Highland’s Kolton Stover is second
(155.49) for the season.
Mahaney says Stover is excellent at putting the Fighting Scots in
good positions. “Last year's
team and the year before that they had the leading rusher in school history
and they gave him the football. The
nice thing that they have this year is that Stover is a three-year starter
at quarterback and so they trust him to make decisions and get the ball out.
He's really efficient and you can tell he's a coaches kid because you
can tell that he understands the offense and knows where to put the
football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They do a
really good job of scheming things up and again they have a lot of receivers
that can make plays. Really good
athletes that once they get open and there in the open field they can make a
lot of big plays happen. So, we
have got to do everything in our power to limit explosive plays and try to
find ways to contain what they're going to do.
It’s got to start up front and our front seven try to control the
line scrimmage and then hopefully our back end keep things in front of them
and if we can do that then hopefully defensively we'll give ourselves a
chance to win.”
Published 9/26/24
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Shelby
Has got to Make Big Plays
When Shelby and Galion play the scoreboard my run out of numbers and
Friday night the Whippets are at Galion in a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference.
Both have been playing excellent football.
The Whippets (4-0,1-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, beat Marion Harding (33-14) last week in
a conference game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were pretty good on both sides of the
ball. “I thought our guys
overall did some really good things, especially up front.
Our front seven did a really good job of controlling the game
defensively. Then our offensive
line played pretty well for us to run over 300 yards.
So, overall really pleased with them.
Now, I thought we had a lot of penalties and we have got to clean
that up, especially going into a big game this week.
Overall. pleased with the growth that we're making and hopefully we
can continue that to this week,” he said.
Galion (4-0,1-0) scored 27 points in the first quarter last week and
buried Clear Fork (41-21) in an “MOAC” game.
Mahaney says the Tigers have an team loaded with talent.
“This is my sixth year at Shelby and coach (Matt) Dick has been
there the whole time. I think he
does a great job with their program. I
think they're extremely well coached whether it's special teams or offense
or defense they do a really good job. They
find ways to make plays. This
year specifically the Clear Fork game they blocked three punts and had a
pick six and all of a sudden they can score in bunches because they make
plays in all three phases,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night,
“Their defense is extremely fast. They
fly around and get to the football. Their
quarterback is really, really good. I
think the (Braxton) Prosser kid is a really, really good quarterback.
He makes a ton of plays for them.
Again, they do a good job of scheming things for him to make plays.
They have a lot of really good receivers.
The Chambers kid is super fast, but they have a lot of really good
receivers as well. So, I think
offensively and defensively they do a lot of really good things.”
Last year, Shelby won (62-26) and two years ago Galion beat the
Whippets (34-37) at Galion.
Mahaney says this game might be about the big play.
“We have got to do a really good job of trying to limit the big
plays. That's going to be a big
emphasis I think of who wins on Friday night is who can create more
explosive plays because they make a ton of explosive plays.
Again, the Prosser kid is able to extend plays and make plays with
his legs. He is able to throw
the ball downfield really well. I
think defensively they do a really good job of eliminating the big plays, so
we have got to try to take out where we had some opportunities, we got to
take advantage of it. Also, we
have got to try to do our best to make sure we limit what they do
offensively. Again, you're
talking about a week five game that's going to be an exciting opportunity
for our kids and for both communities. You
are talking about a rivalry that goes back 100 years, so it's exciting and
it's going to be an exciting Friday night,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/20/24
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Shelby
Has to Take Advantage
Shelby, the defending co-champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, starts this conference season at home on Friday night against
the Marion Harding Presidents.
In a rainstorm last week, the Whippets, (3-0), #2 in the
Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division,
pounded Bellevue (34-0) in their last non-conference game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they executed the game plan well.
“I thought our kids did a great job of coming out handling the
weather and executing the game plan. I
thought they did a great job. Our
front seven defensively did a really good job of controlling the game.
Our secondary didn't allow explosive plays.
Then offensively I thought we did a good job.
Again, the offensive line played really well and our backs made good
cuts and we made some explosive plays when we needed to. I'm
overall really pleased with how the kids executed the game plan.
Again, we want to continue to stay process driven and come back this
week with an opportunity to get better as we start “MOAC” play,” he
said.
Mahaney says their goal this week is to win, but moreover improve as
a football team. “I think
every time you get to go out on Friday night as a football team that's an
opportunity you want to take advantage of.
Those opportunities are limited.
We only get so many opportunities as a team.
For our seniors as league play starts and pretty soon we're halfway
through and then we'll get to the end of the season.
So, I think we want to go out there and take advantage of that
opportunity. Again, stay process
driven and continue to grow as a football team, so hopefully as we work our
way through conference who we are through non-conference play, through weeks
hopefully by week 10 we're a better football team and pleased with what we
did,” said Mahaney.
Marion Harding (1-2) lost (49-24) to Lima Senior last week.
Mahaney says they can make big plays on offense and they are going to
be really aggressive on defense. “I
think Marion Harding is a very explosive football team offensively and
defensively. Offensively, they
have a quarterback that can really throw football really well and receivers
that can make plays and a running back that makes plays.
They score a lot of points and can make some explosive plays.
The defensively, they are going to challenge you.
They are going to challenge your receivers with man coverage and be
physical out there. They're
going to blitz a lot too and bring a lot of pressure,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It creates an explosive play for
them and some opportunities if you can win some matchups to make some
explosive plays for yourself. Again,
they do some things offensively and defensively that we have got to be ready
to handle. They are an explosive
football team and we have got to be ready to come out Friday night and
execute at a high level because if we don't it will cost us.”
Published 9/12/24
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Shelby
to Meet Solid Bellevue
Shelby hosts Bellevue on Friday night in a battle between two
traditional football rivals.
Last week, the Whippets (2-0) beat Lexington (21-10) in
non-conference play.
Coach Robert Mahaney says their defense controlled the game.
“I thought our defense played a really great game against the team
with a lot of really good playmakers. We
did a good job of keeping things in front of us and our front seven did a
really good job of controlling the line of scrimmage, playing team defense,
trusting their keys and just the guys around them.
For us, that's a great thing. Really
through two weeks they played really well and through the scrimmages too, I
should say that as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night,
“So, going into week three, I think that's a great place you want to be
defensively. Again, our
challenge to our kids is it never stays stagnate.
We want to continue to get better every day, be process driven and
hopefully we can continue to do that defensively.”
On offense, Mahaney says they go things done.
“I thought we did a really good job of creating some matchups and
taking advantage of that. We
were able to get 21 points in the first half. Then
again in the second half I thought we did a good job of controlling the ball
a little bit more. It's just we
had some penalties and some missed assignments that really put us behind the
sticks after we had moved the ball a little bit.
So, we never really got a chance to get down to the red zone.
Overall, offensively and defensively, I thought we played a really
great game in battling the heat and came out with a win out of Lexington. We'll
take that every chance we can,” he said.
Bellevue (1-1) beat Wauseon (28-7) last week to get their first win
of the season.
Mahaney says as usual the Redmen do a lot of very good things on both
sides of the ball. “Bellevue
obviously is a really well coached team and they do things fundamentally
sound on both sides. Their
defense flies around and gets to the football and keeps things in front of
them. They do a really good job
defensively. Offensively,
they're going to try to out formation you and do all the things that they do
and they run the quarterback a lot. Again,
their coached really well. I
think you can see the growth from their week one to week two and that's what
a lot of high school football teams do.
So, we know they're going to come here to us week three and give us
their best shot,” said Mahaney.
Bellevue edged Shelby (35-33) last year and Mahaney says this should
be another outstanding game. “Shelby
versus Bellevue, this is the 80th meeting. It goes back to 1944
or something like that. So, it's
a game that has its own meaning. I
think our kids are excited and we know Bellevue is going to be excited, so
it's going to be a really good high school football game,” he said.
Published 9/04/24
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Shelby
Will Get Lexington’s Best
Shelby takes its act to Lexington for a non-conference football game
on Friday night.
Last week, the Whippets pulled away late and beat the Madison Rams
(40-14) on the opening Friday.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they played well on both sides of the ball,
but they have got to capitalize when they are in the red zone.
“I thought overall for it being week one and everything that that
entails I thought our kids did a really good job.
Like we talked about Friday night and Saturday morning we have got to
do a better job getting the ball into the end zone when we get close.
We had three empty trips and we have got to get better at that still
and that's been an emphasis for us this week in practice.
Overall, really pleased. I
thought our defense played really, really well all night long from start to
finish. Offensively, we made a
ton of plays we have just got to finish off when we get inside the 10-yard
line, which is something we'll continue to get better at. Our team has
continued to attack each day with as an opportunity to get better and we've
got to continue to do that,” said Mahaney.
Lexington took the early lead last week, but lost (31-14) to Ontario
in their first game.
Mahaney says they know what their dealing with in the Minutemen.
“I think Lexington is a really, really good football team.
They’re coached well and they do good things offensively and
defensively. I think you're
talking about a team with a ton of talent.
I think offensively they can make a big play happen at any time.
Seven Allen is a tremendous talent.
The Crawford kid is a really good receiver then obviously Brayden
Fogle is really good too. They
do a really good job. (Joe)
Caudill is a really good quarterback. The
running back is really good. Their
line is fast,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They can
make a lot of plays happen and so we got to make sure we're sound.
We have to hustle to the football and tackle.
Their defense is very fast, they swarm to the football, they play a
lot of fast kids and they do a really good job of pursuing the football and
getting there. We have got to
make sure we block to the whistle. Overall,
it's going to be a really big challenge for us on Friday.”
Both teams have lofty goals for the season and Mahaney says
especially with the Minutemen coming off a loss, they are going to be pumped
up. “We expect to get their
best shot, there's no doubt about. It's
the home opener for them and they want to again to get the taste of last
week out of their mouth and it's a Richland County football game between two
schools right next, right close to each other.
It's a game that both schools are excited about.
So, we definitely expect to get their best effort.
We have to be buttoned up and cleaned up when we go down there and be
ready to go. So, I think it's
going to be a heck of a football game. We
are excited for that opportunity, but we know the challenge that it is. I
think our kids are excited to play a game with a lot of people watching in
Richland County this week,” he said.
Published 8/28/24
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Shelby
is Focused
Shelby, the preseason favorite in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
will be at home for the Madison Rams on Friday night in a non-conference
game.
They have not lost to Madison since 2014.
Coach Robert Mahaney thinks his kids are ready to play solid
football. “We challenge our
team to take it day by day and just to try to get better every single day
and we'll challenge them to do that through the whole entire year because I
think great football teams continue to get better day in and day out and
week by week. We challenge our
kids to do that. Of course, it's
the first game and there's going to be nerves, jitters and all that kind of
stuff. Week one the first
quarter and a half sometimes it can be a little bit different than the rest
of the season. So, I just think
we have got to be prepared for that and try to handle those kinds of things
and then eventually just calm down and play Shelby Whippet football,” he
said.
Mahaney says with guys new to starting at the varsity level, they
will count on their seniors to provide leadership.
“I think we have got a good mix of that.
I think we have some guys from last year's team obviously offensively
with Brayden (DeVito) at quarterback and Nic Eyster at receiver (Xadrian)
Ream and Brayden Schartiger and Quinten Albert up front.
Those guys played a lot of snaps for us last year and we have got to
rely on those guys. Defensively,
we have got a lot of guys back too that played for us.
I think those guys have got to be able to lead by example.
Our seniors and juniors have been going out there and are able to do
that. I think our kids want to
go out there and play for one another, that's what we asked them to do.
I think when you focus on just playing with the guys on your team,
worry about what we can control and some of those things will kind of take
care of itself and that's what we hope to see happen Friday night,” said
Mahaney.
Mahaney thinks Madison will be improved and they are going to have to
be ready to play. “I think
coach Besancon is doing a great job. I
think he has things going. I
think they're tough and physical up front.
I think their offensive line gets off the ball and comes at you.
The defensive line does the same thing really holds their gaps well.
Their strong and do good job up front.
Their linebackers fill and the secondary flies around gets to the
football. So, I think we have
got to execute offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night,
“Defensively I think they're going to do some things to push us.
I think Cam Kuhn is a really good quarterback, so we have got to be
prepared for that. It's week one
you and it's a rivalry game. So,
I think both sides are going to be excited to go.
It's our first time playing at home.
Week one is its own challenge in itself.
Then we throw in a really well coached team and it kind of adds to
it. At the end of the day, it's
our first opportunity to go out on a Friday night really and we’re excited
for that.”
Published 8/23/24
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Shelby
Finding Some Ways
Shelby, the defending co-champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, will have some shoes to fill in places, but in other spots they
have some solid returnees.
Coach Robert Mahaney says at this point they are just trying to get
better every day. “We're kind
of in a unique spot where we bring back some guys with a lot of experience.
I think we bring back five starters defensively and six offensively,
but we graduated some really good seniors. Issaiah
Ramsey, arguably one of the best receivers in school history, and all the
other guys that played with him. So,
I think we've had some shoes to fill offensively with a lot of our skilled
positions, but we've have three returners up front, which has been good to
build on that. I think we've
seen some growth from the guys that have needed it.
I think we've had some guys step up. For
us, we're just tacking every day as a chance to get better, every drill is a
chance to get better, and I think our guys have bought into that.
We want to be processed driven, we don't want to be goal oriented and
only worried about Friday nights. We
want to embrace the process and do everything we can to be process driven
and our guys have done a great job doing that. So far through camp we've
been really excited where we're at and Friday we get a chance to scrimmage
against two really good opponents and we're going to take advantage of that
opportunity,” he said.
Shelby will scrimmage Sandusky Perkins and Colonel Crawford on
Friday.
Shelby has featured a high octane offense in recent years and with
the league’s leading passer in Brayden DeVito back, Mahaney thinks they
can do some things again. “We
have some guys, obviously again Issaiah Ramsey was explosive and Casey Lantz
did a lot for us, and Miles Swisher and then Skyler Winters was a really
good running back, but again you know Brayden (DeVito) is going into his
third year as the starter brings us a ton of experience at that position.
When we talk about the explosive plays made over the last two years a
lot of it was through him. So, I
think we definitely still have potential and we're going to try to create
ways to be explosive. We've had,
in my opinion, one of our biggest progresses we've seen through the summer
has been at the receiver position. We've
had a lot of juniors, and Nic Eyster, who was our one returning guy outside,
has stepped up into a leadership role and has done really well,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Our junior class, we have got
five or six kids that can be really explosive for us and a couple sophomores
thrown in there too. So, we've
seen a lot of growth in that position. Running
back, we've had a kid step up into that role that's been doing really well
for us so far. So, hopefully
those guys continue to grow. Again,
we're going to see live bullets this Friday and we'll kind of see how
everything works. Obviously, the
team we are right now is going to be different from the team we are week one
to the team we are week 10. So,
we just have got to continue to grow and develop and we'll kind of see where
we're at.”
On defense, Mahaney likes the development he has seen throughout the
preseason so far. “Defensively
I thought, again, we've had a good training camp. I
think our secondary is playing extremely well.
We bring back two returners back there in the secondary and I think
the guys that have filled in, Brayden is playing corner for us right now,
and he's doing a really good job there.
I think our secondary is doing well.
Our linebackers are continuing to develop.
Cohen Sturts starts at MIC and we have a good position battle for the
other one and have seen some kids step up into that role.
Defensively, our linebackers are flying around and getting where they
need to it's here. Then our four
guys up front, Karson Holman returns for us at defensive end and Xadrian
Ream, a big guy for us in the middle. Then
we have some other juniors kind of step up into that role at the other end
and the other tackle. I'm
excited to see where we're at. Again,
it's one thing to go against ourselves over and over again.
We have a good a good idea where we're at, but again, until this
Friday going against two really good opponents we'll see kind of where we're
at. So far whether it's offense,
defense, or special teams our kids have done a really good job of continuing
to grow every day and that's all we can ask for,” said Mahaney.
Published 8/08/24
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Shelby
Wins; Stays Alive
Shelby still has a chance to share in the title in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference after shutting out Pleasant (5-0) on Monday evening in
league play.
They need Ontario to beat first place Highland twice this week.
Plus, they need to win their two games against Galion.
Coach Jon Amicone says he expects his kids to continue to go all out
to win a piece of that title. “It
was good to see our kids play well after the weekend.
Technically we're still in league race and I know we need some help,
but we're doing our part. We
told our kids continue to do your part.
We've made our bed and we’ve got lie in it as far as not winning
games earlier on the year to put us in this situation,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “Until that last nail is in the coffin we
expect our kids to play hard, especially these league games and they proved
that (Monday). So, hopefully we
continue to play well and maybe get some help down the road and see what
happens.”
Amicone says they have to take care of their business first.
“That's what we told the guys you have to focus on yourself and win
games and kind of see what happens. Baseball
is a funny game. It can put you
in the highest highs and the next day be the lowest of lows, but anything
can happen. So, it's really up
to us to continue to play good baseball all week and try to put ourselves in
that situation. That's kind of
where we're at,” he said.
Ace Nic Eyster was on his game again for the Whippets (12-7,8-4) on
Monday.
Amicone says he was efficient and got his business done quickly.
“Nic Eyster has been our one all year.
He did another great job. We
time our innings. We have a goal
of what we want each defensive inning to last and I think all seven of our
innings went under five minutes. So,
we were happy about that. We
want to work quick with our pitchers. We
played good defense. Nic was a
catalyst for that (Monday) night. He
threw two different pitches for strikes anytime in the count and did a good
job of keeping Pleasant off balance. They're
a good hitting team, so our defense responded well,” said Amicone.
Published 5/07/24
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Shelby
Stays in it
Shelby stays right there in the tight race in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference with a (5-2) win at Ontario on Tuesday evening.
They are tied with Clear Fork for second place in the conference a
game behind Highland. Ontario is
now three games back. Highland
beat Clear Fork (7-2) on Tuesday to take first place.
Coach Jon Amicone says anytime you win at Ontario it’s a big one.
“It was a good one for the guys.
Anytime you go to Ontario, you know you're in for a dogfight.
They're a premier program in the area and they have been for a long
time. So, I was pleased with our
guys effort. We came in there
with a different mindset and a lot better focus and then what we've been
seeing. We kind of got back to
playing Shelby baseball,” he said.
Last week, the Whippets lost four in row before beating Huron (14-4)
on Saturday in a non-conference game, including twice to Clear Fork.
Amicone says they showed mental toughness on Tuesday.
“They did a really nice job of bouncing back.
Unfortunately, that's baseball, that's going to happen.
You're going to lose a few games in a row, you're going to be in
slumps and that’s just part of the game.
You want to see the mental toughness come out and our guys did that
that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We had a really good
practice (Monday), a real crisp practice and very focused practice.
A lot of guys that want to get back on the right track.
So, it was nice that we started the week off with that kind of
win.”
Shelby (10-5,8-3) plays at home against Ontario on Wednesday.
They play Galion in their league series next week.
Amicone says they got a very solid effort from starter Nic Eyster on
Tuesday evening. “Nic Eyster,
he's been our number one guy throughout the whole season.
Nic’s a competitor. He
is that guy on the mound that we want and we trust and he did a really nice
job. He had three pitches that
he's throwing anytime in the count. When
you're able to mix those types of pitches anytime the count you're
initiating soft contact as we talked about.
He did a nice job being in command on the mound,” said Amicone.
Published 5/01/24
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Clear
Fork Overwhelms Shelby… Again
Garrett Hotz threw a shoutout and the Clear Fork offense erupted for
16 hits and the Colts drilled the rival Shelby Whippets (13-0) in six
innings in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game in Shelby on Thursday
evening.
The win keeps Clear Fork tied for the top spot in the conference with
Highland. Shelby, who started
the week in first place, is now a game behind.
Clear Fork (13-2,8-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com coaches poll in
the large school division, plays Highland next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Clear Fork coach Gabe Kennedy says his kids were mentally focused.
“Anytime you play a conference team we have got to be ready to go.
Shelby is always really, really, good, extremely competitive kids,
they don't quit till the end and obviously very well coached.
Coming here to Shelby this was supposed to be played on Tuesday.
You talk about mental toughness.
We get a late bus and a late start.
We have got all the fans here, the umpires are here for 30 minutes
and we can't start till our kids are ready to go,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the game, “They've been mentally tough.
We just told them, it's got nothing to do with the teams we are
playing this way or that way, it doesn't matter.
Our schedule is loaded. The
kids right now are the ones that are doing the job.
It's not the coaching staff, it's the kids.
Right now, I told them I would hate to coach against us right now the
way that we're playing.”
The first two teams combined to strand 14 runners in the first three
innings. The only run scored in
the top of the first when Clear Fork’s Luke Schlosser walked, Jay Jackson
had an infield single and Mason Sansom drove in Schlosser with an RBI
single.
In fact, Clear Fork led only (1-0) after four innings of play.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says they couldn’t get a clutch hit.
“We had our opportunities earlier in the game to score on them
early. I think we left five guys
in scoring position in three innings. We
didn’t take advantage of our opportunities and they did, that's the bottom
line. We have got to understand
the opportunities in front of us. We
let them hang around and obviously they busted through and they did a great
job in scoring position and we didn’t. That
was kind of the difference in the game,” said Amicone.
The Whippets left the bases loaded in both the first and second
innings and two on in the third.
Hotz had command issues early in the game.
He walked six Whippets in the first three innings, but he ended the
first with a strikeout, the second with a force play and third with a fly
out.
Kennedy says he was able to make big pitches when he had to.
“I mean 13-0, the score is a little bit misleading.
Garrett Hotz got into a lot of trouble.
We left guys on base too. He
got out of trouble. It was one
of the things where he was kind of on a short leash there late in the fifth
inning, but then once we got the 10 run rule, we they decided to let him
run,” said Kennedy.
In the last three innings he worked, Hotz retired nine of the last 13
batters he faced. Two of the
Whippets that reached did so on errors.
In the fourth, Clear Fork got to Shelby starter Nic Eyster.
After the Whippets failed to execute a double play, five straight
Colts batters reached beginning with a single by Dawson Staley, an RBI
single by Nate Lind, a hit by Schlosser, Jackson was hit by a pitch to drive
in a run and then Samson cleared the bases with a double to right.
The Colts then added seven more in the sixth.
Schlosser doubled to start the inning, Jackson drove him home with a
single, Samson added another RBI single and that sent Eyster to the bench.
Lefty Travis Sloan replaced him.
He walked Kasey Swank, two Colts reached on errors, and Champ Delancy,
Lind, Schlosser and Jackson followed with hits.
Clear Fork is known for its small ball game, but Kennedy says
Thursday they had their hitting shoes on.
“The nice thing is we didn't have to do it the way that we normally
do with stealing bases and bunting. We
didn't have to do that at all. Our
kids came ready to hit. Nic
Eyster is a heck of a pitcher, we just got to him,” he said.
Schlosser and Jackson each had four hits.
Samson and Delancy had three a piece.
Samson had five RBI, Jackson had three.
The Colts will play Loudonville in a non-conference game on Friday.
Kennedy says they will worry about Highland next week.
“I told the kids we are focused on Loudonville as a head coach I'm
already on to next day. I want
them to celebrate and enjoy this, this is a big win, but I'm ready for
Loudonville and then we get to Highland next week we'll see what we’ve
got,” he said.
Published 4/26/24
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Shelby
Blanks River Valley
Shelby is the leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference after
shutting out River Valley (5-0) on the road Wednesday evening.
Nic Eyster toed the rubber for the Whippets at River Valley and coach
Jon Amicone says he was outstanding. “Nic
Eyster did a great job for us. He
was able to throw three pitches anytime in the count.
He felt really comfortable with them and he got a lot of soft contact
and was able to kind of kind of string some things together allow our
defense to play behind him. They
did a great job dominating the routine play, things we talked about. I
think we got more back to playing Shelby baseball than we have the past
couple days,” said Amicone.
Amicone says Eyster didn’t try to do too much.
He says he is comfortable letting his defense make plays.
“We feel pretty good if our guy can throw three pitches for
strikes. We feel confident we
can win that day. If he's
throwing two pitches for strikes, we feel good.
The name of the game for our pitchers is we want initiate soft
contact. We don't spend a lot of
time talking about strikeouts. It's
fun to punch tickets. We spend a
lot more time being able to hit locations with different pitches and be able
to initiate soft contact and allow our defense to play,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We want to play as a team, that's who
we want to be offensively and defensively.
We really talk to our pitchers about the emphasis on initiating soft
contact and ways to do that.”
Amicone says the Whippets (6-2,2-1) are confident that they can win
close games like Tuesday night. He
says they aren’t going to try and blow teams out all of the time.
“We're built to win these kind of games, that's kind of who we are.
If you get Shelby and kind of a high scoring game, we're not built
for that. These are the type of
games that we want to play, that's what we emphasize in our program.
We're all about kind of extending leads.
If we have a lead, we try to extend it one run at a time.
Our guys understand the way we want to play the game and the value of
pitching and defense is in the forefront of our program.
So, our guys are really comfortable playing these type of type
games,” he said.
Published 4/17/24
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Shelby
Wins Opener
Shelby played its first baseball game Thursday and they won it,
beating Tiffin Columbian (11-4) in a non-conference game played at Shelby.
Coach Jon Amicone says it was a very good way to start the season.
“It was nice for us to get out there.
Really appreciate the community kind of pitching together and getting
our field ready to go. It's nice
getting off after a long wait for basketball kids to get in shape.
This was our first game and to be able to play as well as we did
against caliper team like Tiffin I'm really pleased with our guys,” he
said.
It was a cold windy day, but Amicone says they did an excellent job
of getting clutch hits on Thursday. “I
thought top to bottom our lineup did a really good job executing all of our
offense that we wanted to run. We
got some really good base hits and six RBI's with two outs and that's
something we really stress, getting the two out RBI.
Those could be game changing plays and our guys did nice job really
grinding out every pitch that they could and the score kind of looks like
that,” said Amicone.
The weather has been hard of the schedule of every team in North
Central Ohio, but a component in Shelby’s late start was the success of
their basketball team.
Amicone says they are alright with that.
“The reason was justified. We
loved watching our basketball kids do what they did.
That was a special season. We
had seven coming to us from that team,” he told Swankonsports.com after
the win, “They needed to get acclimated.
They did a nice job. A
few of them came back the next Monday and some came back later that week,
but they did a good job of kind of learning on the run to get themselves in
baseball shape.”
Published 4/05/24
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Perimeter
Defense Big For Shelby
Shelby meets Maysville in a division II state semifinal at the
University of Dayton on Saturday afternoon.
The winner plays Youngstown Ursuline or Kettering Alter for the state
title on Sunday.
There will be a public sendoff for Shelby on Friday and there have
been a number of events involving students this week.
Coach Greg Gallaway says that is all part of this experience.
“That's been a message that we really sent to our guys as much as
we can. Just enjoy this day by
day our Monday practice, our Tuesday practice, Wednesday, Thursday to Friday
when we leave. Just little
things that we do down there as a team we want everyone to soak it in.
It's been the message that's been consistent among our team.
We're just very fortunate to be one of four teams left in division II
still playing basketball,” he said.
However, Gallaway says when it comes to practice, they have to have
the same focus they have had all year. “We're
trying to get on routine as much as possible for us in the regular season
and postseason. We don't play
till Saturday, so we've been light to start the week, but we want the same
effort and energy and focus that we always get.
So, that's we're trying to keep things consistent with scheduling and
organization, which is our practice. Right
now, it's hard to do that, especially with everyone that is contacting our
kids at school through social media, newspapers, etc.
I will say our guys have done a great job taking those in because we
want our kids to embrace that because they deserve to get recognition right
now, but they also have such a good job of understanding when it's time to
turn the page and focus on the task at hand Saturday,” said Gallaway.
Shelby (25-2) plays Maysville (25-3) on Saturday afternoon. The
Panthers beat Columbus Bishop Hartley (50-49) in Vincent Warren (72-64) in
their regional last week at Ohio University.
Gallaway says this is a team that can score and has multiple
shooters. “They're just a
really good basketball team and it's multiple guys.
They have had an incredible year.
Their tournament run has been really special, just like everyone
that's down at Dayton. They're led by their senior guard Alex Bobb, he
averages about 26 points per game, he's a scorer, he can score a multitude
of different ways, has a deep trigger and really gets them going
offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Then they have a
lot of other guys that have stepped up, especially in this tournament run.
Gator Nichols, who's a guard, a sophomore, and then Jordyn Watson,
who's more of a wing, a 6’2” wing, that's played some phenomenal
basketball, both those guys have. They
shoot a lot of threes but they're really efficient.
It's one thing for teams to shoot a lot of threes, but it's another
thing to shoot a lot of threes and make them, I know it sounds simple.
There's shooting close to 40 percent as a team right now.
So, we have got to do obviously a really good job on getting hands up
on the perimeter.”
Gallaway says with a team that shoots that well from beyond the arc,
they must get close outs. “I'm
not saying we have played a kid similar to him, but we've played against
some really talented guards this year. A
couple of things you know that stick in my mind with how we approach that
it's not one guy. It's not just
the initial matchup, there's four other guys that are connected to where he
is, communicating, so little things that are important.
At the end of the day, they're going to make shots, their good
players, and we want to just try to make those shots to tough as
possible,” said Gallaway.
Shelby is also good at a lot of things and Gallaway says they must
continue to do what they are doing. “That's
why we're down in Dayton this weekend. The
identity that we have on off the floor.
Then offensively and defensively we feel really good on what that is
and we have a lot of guys that don't question it and that's what's got us
here. That's something that you
still want to do. Obviously,
there's going to be tweaks and different things throughout the week to get
prepared for Saturday, but you never want to lose the fact of who you
are,” he said.
Published 3/21/24
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Shelby
Should Enjoy it; Keep it the Same
Shelby is making its first ever trip to the state tournament, but
some other programs in North Central Ohio have been there before.
The coaches of those teams emphasize to enjoy the journey and
maintain their practice routine.
Lexington won the state title in 1989 and 1991 under coach Gregg
Collins.
They also made the state final four in 2018 under current coach Scott
Hamilton.
He says his advice would be enjoy the tip, but make sure you prepare
just like the Whippets have been all season.
“I would tell coach (Greg) Gallaway to make sure that everyone on
his staff and his players enjoy every moment leading up to the state
tournament, and while they are in it. I
would tell him to keep his routine as normal as possible and not concern
himself with the stage that they are playing in.
Prepare for the next opponent like he has every opponent this season.
Looking back on my experience it was a very enjoyable time in the
state tournament,” said Hamilton.
Shelby beat Lexington in the division II district final this year.
Willard has been to the state four times, the last time in 2001 under
current Olentangy Liberty head coach Greg Nossaman.
He says he misses those days when he played Shelby.
“First of all, it's all about the small towns.
I miss coaching at Willard, every night, regular season, tournaments,
packed houses, the people lived and died by it.
We had so many great games with Shelby over my 10 years there,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We played them back in June,
in Ashland, in a shootout, and we ended up beating them.
We beat them by five points. I
remember Natalie Lantz was there, of course her son played.
They are a very good team, that’s summer ball, you know,
whatever.”
Nossaman emphasizes that these opportunities don’t come along very
often. “Just enjoy the
environment, just enjoy everything about it because it just doesn't happen
very often. I know Greg (Gallaway)
has done a great job with those guys. A
lot of good players. I miss that
basketball because it's all about the community and the kids that are born
and raised there,” he said.
One coach in my phonebook that has won a state championship is former
Norwalk coach Steve Gray. He led
the Truckers to the division II state title in 2014.
Gray says Shelby should not change their practice routine at all
because that would send the wrong message.
“Don't change anything in terms of their preparation, how they go
about things and practice during the week because obviously what they're
doing right now is really working. The
change, I think, sort of sends a little message to the players maybe we're
not good enough. So, if I were
them, I would just keep everything the same because they're doing a great
job,” he said.
Gray feels that Friday practice that the Whippets have planned for
the Dayton area is going to be very important.
“First of all, I told them to enjoy the journey, that was our theme
all the way through the tournament, enjoy it. The
great thing about practice is you do have their ear and you just emphasize
for this next two hours I'll your mom, I'm your dad, I'm your coach, I'm
your everything and you can turn out all the outside noise, but really do
enjoy it. Plus, I think Shelby's
doing it the right way. They're
going to go down to Dayton on Friday, practice someplace and that's when you
have your kids alone. I think
that's a really good idea, it worked for us, and I just hope they come out
with the right results,” said Gray.
Published 3/21/24
© Swankonsports.com
Siegfried
Smiling From Above
With Shelby playing in the state boys’ basketball tournament, you
can help but think of images of the past.
The man who has always been the face the Shelby basketball down
through the years is the late Larry Siegfried, who played for the Whippets
in the middle to late 1950s. He
led the State of Ohio in scoring as a senior in 1957.
Siegfried passed away in 2010.
Mansfield St. Peter’s Dean of Students Roy Shoulders had a very
close relationship with Siegfried. He
considers him a second father.
Shoulders says Siegfried would identify with this year’s Whippets.
“Well, honestly, I don't think you can talk about great basketball players
from Richland County without Larry, in my personal opinion he’s the best
player out of Richland County. It's
argumentative, but when you talk about Shelby, Ohio, there's no one that
embodied being a Shelby Whippet like Larry and during those glory days of
Shelby Whippet basketball and then then transitioning to Ohio State and then
the NBA. Larry, I know is
looking down and he's smiling. I
just think he's probably tickled pink seeing the Whippets make this run to
the final four. So, you know if
there's any type of heavenly good coming Larry's hand is going to be to in
it,” said Shoulders.
Shoulders says that Larry was always a team first kind of guy and he
would see that in the this year’s team.
“This Shelby team embodies everything that Larry stood for in its
team. It's guys who care about
the group. They put the group
before themselves. They
understand the importance of being selfless.
They understand the importance of the effort you give every day as to
not just benefit yourself, but it benefits the team.
So, I really believe Larry would love watching this team play.
When you look at his career at Ohio State.
As a sophomore he was the leading scorer, but when you get Havlicek
and Lucas coming in and Mel Nowell and Joe Roberts and all of those guys,
Larry kind of took a backseat in scoring. It
was about the team. When he went
to the NBA, first starting out with the Cleveland Pipers and so forth and
then Havlicek putting a good word in for him to Red (Auerbach) and next
thing you know he's with the Celtics and he's an integral part to the
Celtics. He was a role player,
starting as sixth man, but primarily a starter on those five championship
teams that that he won. He was a
defensive guy. I think one year
led the league in the free throw percentage, but it was everything about the
team and that was what was important,” said Shoulders.
Shoulders says basketball brought he and Siegfried together, but that
was not what their relationship was about.
“Larry embodied everything that was good about sports.
For the longest period of my life in my 20s and early 30s almost
every Saturday morning Larry and I would be out on his boat on Pleasant Hill
fishing for bluegill and croppie. You
would think most of that time would have been spent talking about the glory
days and everything and it would have been this ex pro athlete who had all
these great stories to tell. Honestly
90 to 95 percent of the conversations we had was about the essence of being
a real man, the essence of leadership, what it means to be a team and team
building,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “When I became a head
coach for the first time in 1991 the first thing Larry said to me, and I say
this once I've said it 1000 times, he said Roy every person you hire will be
a reflection of your character. He
goes every assistant you hire will be a reflection of what you stand for as
a man, what you value as a man, and I always took that to heart.
He said you can find anyone who can “X” and “O”, but you want
to find good people because you win with people.
He goes and if you start at that ground base of people with morals,
values, and principles he goes the “X” and “O’s” will take care of
itself and that's the type of man he was.”
This year’s coaching staff has consistently talked about the
quality of the young men on the team. Shoulders
believes that Siegfried would be impressed.
“He didn't sit around and always talk about the days playing with
Bill Russell and Havlicek and being coached by Red he talked about the type
of men they were and the character they had.
That's what I really appreciated about our relationship is that it
really wasn't based on basketball, it kind of brought us together, but that
wasn't it. He was, I tell
everybody, I'm blessed to have the mom and dad I had, but Larry was as much
of a second father to me and was as instrumental in my life as my own
father. He was an unbelievable
man,” he said.
Published 3/20/24
© Swankonsports.com
Lantz
on Lantz
The name Lantz is synonymous with Shelby basketball.
Casey Lantz is a key member of the boys’ basketball team that will
play in a state semifinal on Saturday. He
is a member of three straight “MOAC” winning teams.
His older brother Cody was part of a 2021 team that played in the
regionals and two Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion teams.
Their mother, Natalie, has coached the Lady Whippets to six straight
conference titles.
So, winning is a big part of the family.
Casey says he and his older brother were really competitive,
sometimes too much. “In my
household it is pretty competitive. So, me and my older brother.
We would always go at it with each other, but sometimes my mom just
had to step in kind of put us in our place when we're younger,” he said.
Natalie not only has been a successful coach at the Shelby, she
played for the Lady Whippets in the early 1990’s.
She says she knew this team was going to be very good from an early
age. “I think this is all the
more special. I mean getting to
watch your kid go through this and have this opportunity.
I mean these boys are like brothers.
They've been playing together since second grade.
We thought they were special then.
We just had so much fun watching when they were little second graders
and played in a fourth grade league. I
think they lost by one or two in the championship game.
These fourth grade teams are like how are these little dudes, how are
they competing with us?” she told Swankonsports.com, “Then just year
after year, just their growth. I
think it's a big statement about how important it is to have good youth
coaches. Troy Baker and Aaron
Bruskotter coaching them for a long time. I
think they did it the right way. Worked
really hard on the fundamentals, worked really hard on sharing the ball and
being aggressive and now to watch Casey have the same opportunity
potentially that we had in the final four and hopefully win it.”
Natalie was the second leading scorer on a Lady Whippets squad in
1992 that finished (24-3) and was the runner-up in division II.
She says she will tell Casey to leave it all out there.
“Same thing that (assistant coach) Todd Kehres talked about like
enjoy the moment, but when you get there, do your job, go play, focus on the
game, let the crowd’s energy boost you.
Stay true to yourselves and go play hard, it's within their grasp.
Obviously, there's no weak teams at this point.
They've got to go out and they've got to play well both sides of the
ball, but they need to play free without pressure.
I think that comes from just their leadership their experience.
This group has played together for a long time and they know each
other. Just go out have fun,
enjoy the moment and leave it all out there because when it's over it's
over. You have the possibility
of two more games in your high school career and make it the best,” said
Lantz.
Kehres played on a Buckeye Central team that finished as Class
“A” runner up in 1983.
Published 3/20/24
© Swankonsports.com
Shelby
Takes it Day by Day
Shelby plays Maysville in a division II state semifinal on Saturday
afternoon at University of Dayton.
It’s the Whippets first ever appearance in the state tournament.
Coach Greg Gallaway says this process began almost a year ago when
this year’s team talked about goals. “At
the end of each season we do post evaluations, a lot of teams do that.
I've been a part of those as an assistant coach at different schools
and you always hear that response from people when it comes to an individual
or team goal is we want to go down to state and sometimes you take those in
and 16, 17 year old kids don't understand the work that goes along with it.
It's really easy to say that, but we had post evaluations last year,
and losing a heartbreaker in the district to Lexington last year, we had
those responses that they wanted to make a final four.
That wasn't something we would dismiss because we knew we had the
guys to be able to get here. We
knew we were going to be able to put in the work.
So, that was something we talked about last year after our season.
Our guys kept that in mind and that had to do with all their off
season workouts and credit them for for getting us this far,” said
Gallaway.
When they got together this past summer for shootouts and team camp
at the University of Findlay, Gallaway says they knew they has some pretty
good chemistry. “One thing
that we wanted to make sure our summer was filled with opportunities to
compete. I think that's the big
thing we always look at. Then
the second thing is the chemistry to grow with the guys.
We had a lot of great opportunities with Midwest Live at Cedar Point
playing against teams that were in the final four in Michigan.
It was cool to kind of follow along with them and see they're still
playing basketball right now and us competing and beating those teams,” he
told Swankonsports.com, “We were able to check that off with the
competitive standpoint in the summer, but another thing we do is we go to
Findlay camp every year where we stay in the dorms.
As much as a great weekend that is for us to just compete against
other teams, the big focus with that is to just develop chemistry.
I know our guys loved it. Hang
out in the dorms going out to eat late and just bonding there.
So, I think when you look back at our connectedness, I could say a
lot of that started over the summer.”
Even with the outstanding talent that the Whippets have Gallaway says
it not something where they were talking all of the time about winning a
state title. He says they talk
instead about a process. “We
have goals as a team, but it wasn't something like that we put in our locker
room that we looked at every day for before practice and stuff.
Our guys just had a good idea on what that was.
Sometimes when you think about results so much you lose the process
and we wanted to say with the process. Take
days one at a time, take games one at a time, not look ahead.
I think when results do happen it's when you stay level headed, you
just worry about yourself day in day out,” he said.
Senior Alex Bruskotter says the players knew after a regular season
loss to Lexington in December, they had to get better.
“I’ll start with the bottom first. We
lost to Lex as our second loss of the year, that's when we were kind of
we're really not that good. We're
up in all these polls and all this, but we just lost to Lex and we're
struggling right now. We need to
find ourselves. We're not
playing up to our potential. Then
I think we kind of stopped taking shortcuts.
We started doing things the right way.
We just did the right things day after day.
We started valuing the process a lot more.
Then I think we got wins like Findlay and we kind of just realized
like we're on the right track and taking the right steps to unlock our
position,” said Bruskotter.
We’ll have more on the Whippets this week on Swankonsports.com
Published 3/19/24
© Swankonsports.com
Whippets
are a Team
Shelby has eight seniors on its roster and they will take that
experience with them as they travel to Dayton this weekend to play in the
schools first ever final four.
They meet Maysville in a division II state semifinal.
A win would mean playing either Kettering Alter or Youngstown
Ursuline for a state championship on Sunday.
The farthest a Shelby boys’ basketball team had advanced prior to
this season was the regional final in 1957 when they were led by the late
Larry Siegfried.
Think of that, that was 67 years ago.
Dwight Eisenhower was President, McDonald’s had one restaurant in
the country and my parents, who are 81, were in junior high.
Coach Greg Gallaway believes a real key to the Whippets success is
the continuity of their senior class. “All
eight of our seniors, they're just so close and tight knit and then they
bring everyone else along. I
think when you look at teams that make these runs one thing that a lot of
schools have in common is, that's consistent, is the seniors.
As coaches we recognize that,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We try
to let them figure that out. Good
teams can be coach led, great teams are player led. One
thing that's for certain is this team is player led.
So, credit to our guys keeping each other accountable day in and day
out and that's a big reason why we're going down to Dayton this week.”
When speaking to other coaches this season that were playing Shelby,
they talked about how difficult it was to get the ball out of the hands of a
6’7” point guard in NW district co-player of the year Alex Bruskotter.
In their regional semifinal win over Lima Shawnee (59-50), Bruskotter
scored three straight times in the lane when the Whippets put it away with a
(10-2) run. He scored 13 of his
game high 27 points in the fourth quarter of their (55-46) win over Lutheran
West in the regional final. He
had four assists, team highs, in both games.
Bruskotter says he has to understand the flow of the game.
“That's one of the things about being a point guard is you have to
balance what you should do. You
want to get your teammates involved, you want to try to get yours and I
guess it just depends on different times in the game.
I like to get others involved early and just kind of get everyone
comfortable in the game first and then if things start opening up for me
then obviously, I'll take that, but just kind of depends on the
situation,” said Bruskotter.
Bruskotter is a candidate for Mr. Basketball in Ohio and scored 53
points in game against Ashland this year.
However, he knows a good pass is going to mean two points for the
Whippets. “I really haven't
had to take over games this year because I know what they can do.
Obviously, I've been playing with them for a while.
So, I mean I know they're comfortable in these tight situations. I
know I can trust them that they'll get a bucket or get a stop.
I mean it's easy for me to be comfortable situations knowing that I
have these guys by my side,” he said.
Published 3/19/24
© Swankonsports.com
Shelby
Makes First Ever Final Four
Huge
Fourth Quarter Pushes Whippets Past Lutheran West
For the first time in school history, the Shelby Whippets are going
to the final four.
They used a (14-0) fourth quarter to hunt down the Lutheran West
Longhorns (55-46) Saturday in a division II regional final at the Stroh
Center at Bowling Green State University.
They will play Maysville in a state semifinal next Saturday
afternoon.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they do everything together and Saturday
they won because they were together. “It
feels really good. In our
tradition, there's been a lot of really good basketball.
We're talking NBA championships, and not just one, but multiple, All
Americans at Ohio State. This
group's different, they are special. We
separate ourselves by how connected we are and that's one of our core values
that we take really seriously. When
practice is done, they hang out. You
can't force that as a coach, but little things like that is why.
I know this sounds crazy but it's not because we made shots
(Saturday), it's the connectedness and we truly believe that.
That's why we're going down to Dayton,” said Gallaway.
The Whippets fell behind (7-2) in the first 3:43 of the game, but cut
their deficit to (14-12) at the end of the first quarter on back to back
threes by Brayden DeVito and Alex Bruskotter.
Shelby (25-2) took the lead (17-16) on a Bruskotter three with 5:18
to go in the second quarter. However,
the Longhorns led (22-20) at the intermission.
Lutheran West led by as many as eight (37-29) with 3:24 left in the
third quarter after a three by Derek Fairley.
It was (37-33) Longhorns through three quarters after Whippet baskets
by Casey Lantz and Bruskotter.
In that that third quarter senior forward Issaiah Ramsey made threes
on back to back Shelby possessions. He
says that made him a more confident player.
“I saw one go in and you know that instantly gave me confidence.
It felt really good too, it wasn't just lucky it went in, and I felt
really good. That's the reason I
kept shooting. This game was
really about turning the page and especially for me.
Last game I struggled and I struggled to turn to page in this game.
No matter the outcome I thought I had to turn the page and I thought
I executed that well,” said Ramsey.
What looked like it might be a dagger, Tino Yli-Junnila drilled a
three with 6:33 to play to put Lutheran West up (40-33), but then the
Whippets got busy.
They scored the next 14 points to establish a (47-40) lead with 1:32
left in the game after a Lantz goal. Bruskotter
made eight straight free throws over the final 19 seconds to put it away.
Gallaway says that run was the difference. He says down seven, they
didn’t panic. “That's why
we're here. Basketball is such a
game runs. We've been in moments
like this this year a lot in our league and our non league.
Credit to our seniors, I keep saying that, but it's 100 percent the
truth. Our seniors, our
veterans, on knowing how to play in those moments.
We attacked the runs well. When
they made a shot, we say composed and didn’t get in panic mode and a lot
of that credit has to go to these guys and the rest on the floor, so I'm
just so proud,” said Gallaway.
Bruskotter says the key to that fourth quarter rally was their
defense. “Going in the fourth,
we're down four and then we're just like we have got to grind out stops.
They’re hitting tough shots on us right now because I thought we played
pretty good defense. Then
offense will piggyback off the defensive stops,” he said.
Ramsey says they talked about defense at halftime and they came out
and executed they way they have been. “I
thought about momentum, we brought a great crowd.
When that three was made it kind of just like opened our eyes.
We knew it was defense and that allowed us to go on the run.
The halftime talk was offense will come and defense is key.
I thought we really executed that well in the second half,” said
Ramsey.
Shelby took its first lead of the second half (41-40) on a Lantz
basket with 4:07 left. Bruskotter
added two free throws and Ramsey and Lantz had baskets to give Shelby that
(47-40) lead.
Lutheran West (24-3) was the state runner-up in division II last
season and was the number one team in a statewide poll ranking schools.
Shelby held them to nine points in the fourth quarter and only three
over the first 7:28 of the quarter.
Gallaway says played tremendous defense and they made some shots too.
“It was our defense, for those four quarters that defensive effort
was incredible. We just flew
around. We got through screens,
we contested shots and we finished with rebounds.
That's what it's all about. Then
staying composed and making huge shots when we needed to, 7-9 from three are
you kidding me? That's awesome
and then 16-19 from the line, that speaks a lot about us as a group and
finishing the game down the stretch,” said Gallaway.
It appeared to this reporter that once Shelby took the lead, Lutheran
West looked rattled taking some ill advised shots and not making good
decisions in running their offense.
Gallway says they have adopted a next play mentality and that was a
big factor on Saturday. “That's
basketball, plays are not going to go your way, that's a guarantee.
If they made shots, we attacked them on offense and that next
possession on defense we have got the same effort and we even increase it a
little bit more. So, it's a
credit to our guys staying composed and being resilient, being relentless in
finding ways to get stops,” said Gallaway.
When Lutheran West got behind they had to try and go after the
Whippets with pressure and Gallaway says they thrive in those situations.
“We have a luxury to have some length of our guards, like 6’7”.
Traps don't affect us as much as some other teams.
I thought we did a good job retracing back to the basketball, being
strong the basketball and finding ways to get layups on the other end,” he
told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I think that helped a little bit
with our spacing. When we go on
runs and we take a lead teams have to go out and guard us a little bit more
and pressure us and we feel very confident in those moments to take care of
the basketball and even get free throws.”
Shelby made 16-19 charity tosses, Bruskotter was 15-16, he made one
with eyes closed.
The Longhorns made 6-19 threes, but especially in that fourth quarter
they had trouble getting to the rim. “Our
guys knew the scout (Saturday) and we knew percentage wise who were good
shooters were and we were going to say a little bit more attached to them.
We had a game plan with some of those. (Jayson) Levis and Fairley are
just really talented basketball players and we had a plan that we were
willing to live with some shots outside, but they do a really good job
attacking and penetrating gaps. I
thought stayed true to the game plan. I
mean they made a couple threes outside, but that's stuff that we were going
to give up. We talked about that
(Friday),” said Gallaway.
Shelby shot 55% (16-29) on the night, 7-9 on threes.
Bruskotter led Shelby with 27 points, Ramsey had 11, but both players
says it was a total team effort.
Bruskotter says this is a community basketball team, not a collection
of all-star players. “I think
one of the big reasons why is because we are so close and tight.
We've been in these situations before.
We've been playing together for so long.
A lot of schools haven't. (Lutheran
West) hasn't, they just get whatever from Cleveland.
So, I think that just helps us even more.
At halftime, I joked we were down like two.
We’re shooting good, the only three we missed was when I pulled up
from 35. We're just so
comfortable in these situations and we don't panic, we just lean on each
other,” said Bruskotter.
Ramsey says the Whippets eight seniors grew up playing basketball
together and they fight for each other.
“It’s more special that us eight seniors have been playing
together since we were the fourth, fifth grade and that's what makes it more
special. We're going up against
teams that get transfers, get kids from everywhere.
What makes it more special is we're going into a dog fight and the
guys beside us, who been together this whole time, that's what makes it
really special,” he said.
Published 3/16/24
© Swankonsports.com
Shelby
Outlasts Shawnee to Advance
Shelby built a 17-point first half lead and used a (10-2) spurt
midway through the fourth quarter to propel itself to a (59-50) win over
Lima Shawnee Thursday night in the division II regional semifinals at the
Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.
They will play Lutheran West (24-2) for a regional title on Saturday
afternoon at Bowling Green. The
Longhorns beat Toledo Central Catholic (54-30) in the first game on
Thursday.
Shawnee cut it to a one possession game in the fourth quarter, but
Shelby coach Greg Gallaway says they responded.
“I mean this is Sweet 16 basketball against a really good team.
Their coached extremely well and had a great team.
Becket (Berkte) is really special, he's a good player, they're going
to be playing in these games for the next couple years, I mean hands down.
Credit them coming out of halftime and making runs, but credit our
guys for stopping them. I just
thought at the right times we made those stops and we got buckets on the
other end. That's what we relied
on all year, the seniors on our team making plays down the stretch,” he
said.
Shelby started the game with a dunk by senior guard Casey Lantz.
They led (10-0) after another Lantz goal with 2:49 left in the first
quarter. They were up (18-5)
after one quarter.
Gallaway says this week they emphasized the importance of a quick
start. “That was our one of
our keys get off to a good start. We
did that against Lexington on Saturday.
We knew against a good team in a neutral environment like that's
something you have got to do and credit to our guys for getting off to a
fast start,” he said.
The Whippets (24-2) built their biggest lead of the night at (25-9)
after two Alex Bruskotter free throws with 3:29 to play in the half.
Shawnee coach Mark Triplett says they just dug too big of a hole
early against a quality opponent. “They're
really good at coming out and being the aggressors.
They get like 20 points a game in the first quarter.
We kind of preached to our kids all week and they come out and they
punch you. You have got to be
ready to fight. Unfortunately,
the first quarter has been our weakest quarter of the year.
Something I'm going to have to reflect on in the offseason.
How to start faster, that's been our worst quarter plus- minus wise
on the season and it's been their best quarter plus minus wise on the
season,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We got down 19-5 and
23-7 and that's a really bad place to be in any game, but especially against
a team like that. I thought we
really struggled with an offensive flow early on in the game and some bad
turnovers they get themselves going in transition off those bad turnovers.
They're too good to give them the easy buckets and we just gave them
too many easy buckets early on.”
Gallaway says they were able to get their transition game going in
the first half. “That's what
we've done well this year. We
like to run and (Bruskotter) does a great job getting the ball out of his
hands quick and Casey runs the floor well, Issaiah (Ramsey) runs floor well,
Brayden (DeVito) does too, Bryson (Baker) gets the ball out quick.
That's kind of one of our identities offensively.
No offense is usually good offense for us.
We made that statement early and it's nice when Casey can get it done
like that early and keeps us going,” he said.
It was (27-16)
Shelby at the half, but the Shawnee got back into it in the third quarter as
the Indians sophomore Beckett Bertke scored nine of his game high 41 in the
quarter. Shawnee got as close as
seven (38-31) with 2:42 to play in the quarter on a free throw by Alex
Goldsberry. It was (43-34)
Whippets after three quarters of play.
Bertke was just
getting started. He added 16
more in the fourth quarter. Shawnee
cut to (43-41) with 6:19 to play on a three by Bertke.
Shelby fans, who had been a party mood in the first half were
suddenly fearing that 90 minute drive home was going to as quiet as a
confessional in the Cleveland Browns front office.
However, the
game was decided during (10-2) Shelby run over the next 3:14, fueled three
driving layups by Bruskotter and two fast break hoops by Issaiah Ramsey to
put the Whippets up (53-43) with 3:02 left.
Gallaway says
they were able to find driving lanes and get to the basket.
“Down the stretch I thought Alex controlled the game really well.
We did a little bit different adjustment offensively with our
spacing. We wanted to attack
gaps. With them being down, we
knew they had to pressure us little bit and we want to attack those driving
lanes. Alex was able to finish
well at the rim and I thought we made that extra pass to get a lay up when
we needed to the fourth,” said Gallaway.
Bruskotter, a
candidate for Mr. Basketball in Ohio, finished with 17 points and 12
rebounds.
He said he knew
it was time in the fourth quarter to get more aggressive offensively.
“Going into the fourth quarter I think we had like a eight point
lead or something like that, so I just wanted to kind of control the game
and limit possessions for them. For
us to get long possessions with good movement and make them grind it out to
get a stop. Kind of use the
clock as our friend. Then when
they went on that run, cut it to two with like five minutes left.
Before that I was seeing gaps and driving lanes, but I was just
passing and just trying to get movement and waste a little bit of time.
Once it got to two I kind of figured that we needed to stretch the
lead out a little more and start attacking those driving lanes,” said
Gallaway.
Sophomore guard
Brayden DeVito added 13 and Lantz had 12, 10 in the first half for the
Whippets.
Gallaway says
this is a team that keeps trying to make plays.
He says they have a next play mentality.
“Relentless is a word that we talk about a lot in our program.
It's one of our core values. We
define that as a group as being able to overcome obstacles and the next play
mentality. We challenged our
guys. They went on runs and we
called time outs and regrouped. I
credit the resilience and the relentless mindset to our veterans.
We've been in this situation before, down 17 at this year and came
back. We've grinded out games on
the road. So, it wasn't a panic
mode for our guys because we've been in that situation before.
It's a credit to our veteran group to just bounce back when we needed
to,” said Gallaway.
Triplett says
they have been a team this season that has produced a number of comeback
wins, so he had confidence that they were going to battle back.
“The resiliency of this team, that has been us all year long.
These guys get mad at each other every single day in practice drills.
They just fight and complain about things and they argue with each
other and then we unite back when we get back into our varsity team stuff.
They’re brothers and brothers fight sometimes.
At the end of the day, they are so competitive that they just don't
know how to quit, it's not their DNA. They've
been a group, that like I said first quarter has not been kind of this this
year, but we've gotten ourselves down double figures I think in five or six
games in the first and second quarters of games.
I think five of those games we would come back and find ways to win
and they just they fight, they scrap, they battle,” said Triplett.
Beckett Bertke
had 41 points on 17-32 field goals, 3-5 threes and 4-6 free throws.
Triplett says he
couldn’t ask for any more from the sophomore.
“Anytime you talk about losing effort, it's not fun, but that was
one of the more impressive high school basketball games that I've ever
witnessed. A kid scores 41
points out of our 50. He scored
all 16 of our points in the first half and I think that that's a problem.
It wasn't designed that way. We've
had a lot of success the back out this season with getting three guys in
double figures and a fourth guy close to double figures.
Unfortunately, (Thursday) night we missed some shots at the rim and
missed some decent looks from the perimeter that I think some guys usually
hit for us. I think we had 14,
15 offensive rebounds. We just
really struggled to finish, obviously their length and size has a lot to do
with that. I think the
scoreboard, I think the last time I saw he had 41 and 12.
Are kidding me in a regional game against that team with that
caliber? He put us all on his
back and gave us a chance. Then
like our kids do, they rally around that, they scrap and they don't care who
scoring, they just want to win. So,
they're going to be force feeding him the basketball, set physical screens
to try to get him the ball in the post and he was sensational. I
mean I don't know what else to say,” said Triplett.
No other Shawnee
player had more than five.
Gallaway says
their defensive focus was centered on containing Beckett and they did an
okay early in the game of doing that with some pressure.
“We had a big focus on Becket.
We wanted to try to make things tough for him.
When I look at those shots that he made, I thought we did a good job
making them tough shots and that was our goal.
If you would have told me 41 in the box score before the game, I
don't think I would be this comfortable right now,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the game, “He's a special player.
We had a big focus on him. We
wanted to speed him up early. We
usually with us getting a fast start has to do with our defense, so we
pressured him a little bit early and we're able to get some steals and
turnovers and play in our style. So,
it's something that is part of our identity defensively and we wanted to
stay true to that.”
Published 3/15/2024
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Shelby
Must Rebound
Shelby tries to take the next step down the tournament trail on
Thursday night as they challenge Lima Shawnee in a division II regional
final.
The Whippets (23-2) are winners of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
and have put together a 17 game winning streak.
Shawnee (19-6) is runner-up in the Western Buckeye Conference to
Ottawa Glandorf. They have won
10 of their last 11, the only loss being (55-41) to O-G.
The winner will play either Lutheran West or Toledo Central Catholic
for the regional title on Saturday.
Coach Greg Gallaway says the Indians are really good and led by two
brothers who can play. “They
have got a really good team. They're
conference is extremely tough year in and year.
You just think of teams Ottawa Glandorf in there, Defiance had a lot
of recent success, Wapakoneta, Van Wert, just a physical league.
They've held their own, they’ve only lost one game this year in
that league and then they're non-league is extremely tough as well too.
So, they're battle tested,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They have
got a really nice group that plays really well together.
Led by their sophomore, 6’5”, Beckett Bertke and his brother is a
freshman and 6’6”, that's extremely talented.
Beckett gets 21 a game, he's going to present a lot of problems, he
is just very well-rounded, especially for a sophomore.
He does a good job, can score from deep, can score inside, can score
in the mid range, does it all for them, rebounds the ball extremely well.
So, it's going to take a big group effort from our guys to play sound
defensive basketball.”
Gallaway says they have played teams with height this year, but not
really teams with the versatility of Shawnee’s big guys.
“We've seen teams with height, even a couple teams in our league
that have some good length, so it's not going to be something that you've
seen for the first time, which is always good.
We're fortunate to have some athleticism and length too, but, it's
one thing to say a 6’5” wing that plays just down low.
Their 6’5” wing can play anywhere, bring the ball up the court,
can shoot outside and play inside. So,
that just makes those taller guys even more effective as a basketball player
when they have that versatility,” he said.
It was announced Wednesday that Shelby senior Alex Bruskotter is a
finalist for Mr. Basketball in Ohio this year.
The 6’7” senior averages 23.8 PPG, nine rebounds and six assits.
Gallaway says a
big key on Thursday night is going to be rebounding, plus he wants to get
off to a good start. “I think
something that we've really hung our hat on recently, and we kind of got
exposed against Mansfield Senior, is rebounding. I
think just five guys always presenting physical box outs and getting a team
rebound just to end a possession, I think that's huge for us.
Getting off to a fast start in a neutral environment is big because
we really feed off momentum and that's going to be something that right out
of the gate, we have got to have some energy and we have got to be ready to
go on both ends. I think you
want to stay true to who you are, so we're not going to lose what our
identity is and we want to try to do that for four consistent quarters,”
said Gallaway.
Published 3/14/2024
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Shelby
Looking Forward to Big Test
Shelby meets Lima Shawnee in a division II regional semifinal at the
Stroh Center on the campus of Bowling Green State University on Thursday
night.
Coach Greg Gallaway says with all of the hoopla associated with
making the regional tournament they have to remain focused on their goal of
winning. “We're just really
thankful to be one of the 16 teams left in the state still playing
basketball. That's really our
perspective right now. We're
thankful to still be playing and we're just trying to work this week and day
by day and making sure our prep is good and our guys are focused and loose
and just getting us ready for Thursday against a good Shawnee team,” he
said.
Anytime you make the sweet 16 there is a sense that this game is
different. Gallaway says they
want to remember to have fun on Thursday night.
“I thought Thursday when we played Mansfield Senior last week we
were a little tense. We noticed
that a little bit and in our warm ups and just talking to our guys
beforehand. It was definitely a
thing we wanted to spread across our team Saturday to be loose and we got
off to a better start Saturday opposed to Thursday.
It's simple to say have fun, but there's a lot of truth to it, that's
when we're at our best. When we
aren't thinking as much and we're just making reads and reacting and that's
what we try to emphasize as a group,” said Gallaway.
Shelby played Lima Shawnee in a regional semifinal in 2021 at Elida
under COVID restrictions. Shawnee
won (76-67) that night. Shelby’s
Alex Bruskotter did play in that game as a freshman.
Gallaway says these are two different teams.
“There's really besides kind of a storyline that media can say that
we played them in three regional games.
Other than that that's really the only relevance in it.
Both teams are far different even styles than what they were in
’21. One thing that is the
same is that both of us are here for a reason and Lima Shawnee is a really
good basketball team. They’re
coached really well and we’re really going have to play a complete game if
we want to keep playing for a regional championship Saturday,” he said.
The Stroh Center is an arena and Gallaway says it’s important that
they familiarize themselves with the court.
“The Stroh Center is really neat. We
were able to go there Sunday for our regional meeting.
I've been there before, but just like any new gym it takes time to
get used to and so we have got to make sure that the 30 minutes that we get
for warm up we got to use to our best,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “I think once we get settled in we'll feel a lot more
confident out. I will say our
guys really like playing in those environments though.
I know we are going to bring a big crowd. I
know Shawnee is going to be bring a big crowd.
We've had multiple games this year that have been similar, so I know
our guys are excited about that.”
We will have more on this match-up on Thursday on Swankonsports.com.
Published 3/13/2024
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Shelby
Downs Lexington in District Final
Shelby produced two crucial spurts and that was enough to down
Lexington (62-52) in a division II district final at sold out, standing room
only, “O-rena” at Ontario High School Saturday night.
The Whippets (23-2) will face Lima Shawnee in a regional semifinal
Thursday night at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.
The Whippets scored 14 of the first 19 points of the game fueled by
10 from district player of the year Alex Bruskotter and they went on to lead
(23-11) after the first quarter.
Lexington (22-3) took its first lead in the game at the 5:16 mark of
the third quarter (30-29) when sophomore Brayden Fogle laid it in.
Shelby came right back to take the lead on an Issaiah Ramsey score
and the Minutemen responded with another hoop from Fogle.
However, Bruskotter’s old fashion three point play put the Whippets
up (33-31) and led to another Shelby spurt.
The Whippets went on a (19-7) run to lead (50-38) with 4:12 to play
in the game and the Minutemen would never seriously threaten thereafter.
Shelby coach Greg Gallaway says those runs were started by way they
played defense. “It was huge,
we mixed some things up defensively to kind of get them out of rhythm.
Our zone worked really well to just throw things off.
We knew this game was going to be a battle of runs.
We made a run in the first, it wasn't a shock that they made it in
second, just stayed the course and came away with a win,” he said.
Lexington’s Scott Hamilton says they were able to battle back into
by halftime, down (26-20), but they didn’t really run their offense very
well all night and they weren’t getting good shots.
“We dug ourselves a pretty big hole the first half, we were down by
as much as 12, down six coming in. I
told the guys, I said we possibly played the worst half of basketball that
we had played in the last 10 games and we were only down six. So,
we wanted to kind of ramp up the pressure a little bit in the second half.
We just couldn't get some of the shots to fall and defensively they
did a nice job and they've got some nice athletic length.
There were no secrets here, everybody knew what everybody was going
to do. For us at the end of the
night, when we have 15 turnovers and nine assists and that’s not who we
are. I don't think we got the
ball reversed enough and we didn’t get enough wide open looks.
We weren't really attacking enough to get it to the rim,’ said
Hamilton.
Lexington shot 39% from the field (20-51) and Shelby made 45% (21-47)
on the night.
Back in December, the Minutemen beat Shelby (61-57) and Gallaway says
he thought they made some solid defensive adjustments.
“That was the key for us. They're
really good at the rim. We did a
couple adjustments defensively from the first time we played them that I
thought worked and it paid off and we rebounded the ball well,” he said.
Hamliton says the Whippets athleticism on the floor game them some
problems, plus they didn’t attack enough.
“Some of it has to do with their athleticism and their size.
They match up against us pretty well, but we did not isolate one on
one too well. I thought we tried
to avoid a little bit of the shot blocking instead of going after it and
maybe getting to the foul line. I
know the free throws were a little bit lopsided and I think that's a little
bit of us you settling for further away shots instead of just driving and
finishing at the rim,” he said.
The Minutemen were 5-13 at the line.
Shelby made 16-23.
Lex only has one senior in Elijah Hudson and Hamilton says their
youth likely led to some critical mistakes.
“The crowd was really good and we had a little trouble getting the
signal in every now and then, but that's to be expected.
At game 25 you should know what you're doing out there.
Maybe a little bit of it was just some youth showing through.
We were playing hard. I
thought we were pushing it a little bit.
We were trying to do a little bit too much at times.
Then as soon as I thought we started to get a little bit of something
like we wanted to we'd get a traveling call or we'd get a silly foul called
and just kind of deflate us a little bit.
Credit to the guys, I mean they kept battling, didn't give up, didn't
fold it or anything like that. We've
got only one senior, but we do have a senior and that's what I told the guys
we've got a guy in here that's never going to put on a Lexington uniform
again and that's really who we got to be thinking about right now,” said
Hamilton.
The Whippets on the other hand have eight seniors.
Bruskotter was a key contributor to the last Shelby team that went to
regional, ironically against Lima Shawnee, three years ago as a freshman.
Bruskotter paced Shelby with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but they also
got 13 from Ramsey, 11 from Brayden DeVito and 10 more from Casey Lantz,
that 54 of their 62 for the night. “We're
at our best when we have balance. That
was mindset going in, it's not one guy, not two, everyone on the on the
floor will be a threat and we had that attack mindset right from the tip,”
said Gallaway.
Shelby rallied to beat Mansfield Senior (60-55) in a district
semifinal on Thursday, but they got off to a slow start, trailing by eight
at the half (29-21) and not taking command until the fourth quarter.
Gallaway says they were focused on getting off to a better start on
Saturday. “Thursday we kind of
got off to a slow start, so we had a mindset to just go out and be in touch
with their energy on defense and that's going to translate to offense.
They bought into it and we were able to get a string of stops
together and resulted in buckets on offense,” he said.
Fogle paced the Minutemen with 13 points and 11 boards.
Gavin Husty had a nice game with 11.
Seven Allen had nine points for the Minuteman, but his only point in
the second half came on a free throw with 7:42 remaining in the third
quarter. He was quickly in foul
trouble.
Hamilton says he may have been trying too hard at times.
“I think he was pushing it. I
think he really wanted to come up with that pressure. I
think him and maybe one of the Shelby guys had a little conversation out on
the floor and that got him a little excited.
So, I think he was really pushing it and really wanting to have a
good game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “At times that can
backfire on you. I thought we
had a couple of guys that were maybe in a situation of just really pushing
it to try to make the shot when we needed a shot.
I thought our pressure was ramping up a little bit and then of course
we would give up an open layup or an easy look at the rim,” said Hamilton.
There was some jawing in the game, but Gallaway says that just makes
them play harder. “We thrive
off momentum and that's us and our guys love that.
We just had that attack mindset.
We're on the floor like crazy, just relentless is a word that comes
to mind,” he said.
Published 3/09/24
© Swankonsports.com
Shelby
Rallies Past Mansfield Senior
Shelby outscored Mansfield Senior (22-13) in the fourth quarter and
rallied to beat the Tygers (60-55) in a division II district semifinal
played at Ontario High School on Thursday night.
They will return to the “O-Rena” on Saturday night to face
Lexington, who beat Willard (59-57) in overtime in the second game.
Shelby coach Greg Gallaway says he knew it would be a war.
“Our district is just so, so tough and we knew at the end of
(Thursday) two really good basketball teams are not going to be playing
Saturday. So, we're familiar
with every team in our district. Obviously,
Mansfield playing them in January. We
knew they were going to throw everything at us.
We were fortunate to get a win over there on the road in January, but
we knew it was going to be a battle, we knew it was going to be a four
quarter game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I'm just so
proud of the way the guys, like these two, and the rest of our guys in the
locker room just stepped up in big moments and really turned the tide in the
second half.”
Mansfeld Senior held the lead for most of the first 27 minutes of
play. Leading by as many as
eight in the second half. Kyevi
Roane bagged a goal to put the Tygers up (37-29) with 2:55 to play in the
third quarter.
Senior High coach Marquis Sykes says they gave it all they had.
“They left it all out on the floor.
We gave it everything we had, everything we had and just came up a
little bit short. A play here, a
play there, a foul here, a foul there, a loose ball here.
They made the necessary plays, Shelby did, down the stretch to get
the lead. They capitalized at
the free throw line and that kind of summed up the second half for us,” he
said.
Shelby (22-2) took it’s first lead the second half when Issaiah
Ramsey converted two free throws with 5:17 left to put the Whippets up one
(46-45). Shelby went up five on
a basket by Karsen Homan and two free throws by Bryson Baker, but the Tygers
responded with a three by Ja’Ontay O’Bryant and a goal by Duke Reese to
make it (50-50) with 2:47 left in the game.
The Whippets then put together a key (6-0) run as Holman gave them
the lead on a layup, followed by a play when Brayden DeVito tipped away a
Tyger pass and found Ramsey streaking to hoop to put it in and Casey Lantz
gave the Whippets a (56-50) lead with 1:04 to go.
Mansfield Senior got as close as (57-55) on a jumper by Rashad Reed
with 2.2 seconds left, bit it was not to be as Ramsey added three more free
throws in the final 1.4 seconds.
District player of the year Alex Bruskotter had 11 points, eight the
second half for Shelby, but he was saddled with foul trouble all night and
played only 20 minutes. He
fouled out with :56 seconds to play.
He was spelled in the lineup by sixth man Homan, who had 13 points
and four rebounds.
Gallaway says he has been turning in those kind of performances all
year long. “I mean “Homie”
been awesome this year for us. He's
just a guy that any coach wants on their team.
He loves his role, he embraces his role, if he scores 10 points, he
scores two points, zero points he gives us that consistent energy and effort
every single time. He's so
contagious too with his energy when he's on the floor.
We get four guys that are just busting through screens playing
extremely hard. So, he's been
doing that all year, so it wasn't anything that was a surprise,” said
Gallaway.
Homan, who has been getting more playing time as the season has
progressed, says he just wants to do things to make the team successful.
“The reason I came out and played basketball and wanted to be part
of this team in first place was I know I'm not going to be the most skilled
guy, but I know I can control my effort and enthusiasm and I love playing
with the guys that I play with. Whatever
way I can make them play better is how I want to compete,” he said.
Shelby trailed (29-21) at the half and couldn’t get much done on
offense making just 8-24 field goals (33%), but Gallaway says they made
better fundamental plays in the second half, making 10-22 attempts
“When you try to play like two, three dribble combo moves against a
team aggressive like Mansfield Senior it's going to get ripped.
The way they were calling fouls early, they weren’t calling any.
I thought we did a much better job just entering it and going, not
thinking, making one move and go and then finishing through contact at the
rim. I think that was a big
thing. It wasn't even anything
we said at the half, it was just our guys playing smarter and playing off
two feet,” said Gallaway.
Offensive rebounding was a big part of the narrative on Thursday
night as almost any game involving Mansfield Senior usually is.
The Tygers totaled 18 offensive rebounds in the first half as they
dictated the game.
Sykes says that is something that they pride themselves on at
Mansfield Senior. “That's the
statement in our program. The
guys, especially first half, that was probably the difference in the game in
the first half. That's just
something that we will continue to build on and continue to do.
The first half of our season we weren't great on the offensive boards
and that was something we put a focus on the second half of the season,”
he told Swankonsports.com, “It helped us and it will continue to help us.
(Roane) had nine boards the first half alone.
At 6’1” he is playing against several guys that are 6’6”,
6’7”, 6’5” and that's a tremendous feat.
That just shows to his character and his basketball I.Q. that he
knows how to use his athleticism to make those kinds of plays.”
Roane ended up with 18 points and 12 rebounds, game his in both
categories. Ramsey led Shelby
with 15 and Lantz added 12.
However, in the second half Shelby only allowed four offensive
rebounds and Gallaway felt that was key to their performance.
“That's our number one key was team rebounding.
I don't even know what the number was at half, how many offensive, it
was a lot. Our adjustment at
halftime was like we need five guys boxing out and we held them to four
offensive rebounds in the second half and that was the difference,” he
said.
Published 3/08/24
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Shelby
Expects a Better Mansfield Senior
Shelby tangles with Mansfield Senior in a division II district
semifinal at Ontario High School on Thursday night.
The winner will play either Lexington or Willard for the district
championship on Saturday.
It will be the second meeting of the season between the two teams.
Shelby smoked the Tygers (73-55) at Pete Henry Gym on January 27.
Coach Greg Gallaway says Mansfield Senior will play a lot better on
Thursday. “We played them in
in January and we played them at their place. I
know a lot of teams are in that same situation in the tournament.
I think for, us our guys are familiar with their personnel, so it's
not really a lack of like not knowing who the opponent is, but you never
want to rely too much on the first meeting and what happened because you
know that you're playing another team,” he told Swankonsports.com, “With
just the way they continue to get better throughout their season and we're a
lot different too. So, one thing
that we do know for certain is Mansfield is a really good basketball team
and we're going to have to put together for a full game against them.”
The Whippets (21-2), the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, a
winner of the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large
school division, rocked Vermilion (76-40) to win a sectional title last
Friday.
Mansfield Senior (17-6) downed Bellevue (57-48) last Friday in their
sectional final.
Gallaway believes the Tygers are always well prepared for district
level games. “The way their
schedule built up towards the end of the season. I
mean that's the one thing about Mansfield is their non league schedule is
always really good. There are
teams like Trotwood Madison that was on there, like Lima Senior after us, I
believe. It just seems like they
always prepare themselves really well non-league to play in big games like
what we're going to see Thursday night.
So, we expect them to be better, we feel like we're a lot different
from the first time that we played them as well.
So, again you can't rely too much on what you saw the first time,”
said Gallaway.
It seems like the keys to beating Mansfield Senior are always
similar, don’t get overwhelmed by their pressure and hold your own on the
boards. Gallaway says that is
their goal. “That's a lot
easier said than done. It’s
kind of their identity and stuff that Mansfield teams traditionally always
do really well. They rebound the
basketball at a high rate and then they like to be really aggressive
defensively. They like to get
you out of your comfort zone to try to force turnovers and play in their
style. This team does that
really well, so again it's two things to say on paper, but it's two things
that are hard to execute again. So,
those got to be two keys for us going into Thursday.”
Published 3/07/24
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Perimeter
Defense Key for Shelby
Shelby, the outright champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
will be at home for Vermilion in a division II sectional semifinal on Friday
night.
The Whippets (20-2), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hammered Willard, the
co-champion of the “SBC” Bay, (89-67) last Friday.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they played an excellent, four quarter game.
“Our guys put together a complete game.
I was really proud of the effort.
Just a really good environment. A
game for both schools to be pleasing just entering tournament play.
So, again we're proud of the performance that we were able to put in
over at Willard, but we obviously have going to turn the page.
Now everyone's record really doesn't matter, so that's kind of our
mindset,” he said.
Alex Bruskotter, the district 6 player of the year, has 26 points
against Willard, but the Whippets also had very good games and scored a lot
too.
Gallaway they are striving for more scoring balance and that is going
to be important for them in the postseason.
“That's been a push that we've been sending to our guys just to be
more aggressive, especially offensively.
Have that ability to not be afraid to make mistakes kind of play, be
fearless out there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,
“Our guys have bought into that and it's shown.
The guys step up within their roles and have been doing a great job,
especially as of late. So, we're
excited about that and we want that to continue to be a factor as we move
into the tournament.”
Vermilion (6-16), out of that “SBC” Bay, has won two of its last
four games, and challenged Willard last Tuesday before falling (77-61) to
the Flashes.
Gallaway says they have some outstanding outside shooters and they
have to ready to defend that. “I
mean despite the record I think they're starting to figure some things out
these past couple games for them. They're
starting to play good basketball. They
have got some guys that really like to shoot.
So, I think one of our keys has to be really guarding the three point
line. Just from watching the
film it's not just one guy that's a threat, it seems like they have multiple
guys there, so we have got to do a really good job of making sure those
shots are contested,” said Gallaway.
Published 2/28/24
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Shelby
Must Make Willard Take Tough Shots
In a battle of conference champions as Shelby is up at Willard for a
non-league game on Friday night.
Shelby is the outright champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Willard will be no less than co-champ of the Sandusky Bay Conference
Bay Division.
With a (63-40) win over Marion Pleasant last Friday, the Whippets
completed the conference schedule unbeaten.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they are proud of that accomplishment.
“In the three years I've been here it's first time we've ever got a
chance to do that, so that's our first goal every year.
We want to win league title outright and we were fortunate to get
through the league without losing. A
lot of those games too were not easy. So,
I'm just proud of the way we handled adversity through our league and put
ourself in a good spot there at the end of the year,” he said.
Shelby (19-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division, is at Willard (18-3), #5 in the poll, on
Friday night. The Flashes beat
Vermilion (77-61) Tuesday to get at least a piece of that Bay Division
title.
Gallaway says they have great talent and it’s more than just Max
Dawson. “They're really good,
coach (Joe) Bedingfield does a great job getting his guys ready to go each
game. It seems like they're
peaking at the right time as well. Things
that jump out is obviously Max Dawson, just one of the better scorers
probably in the State of Ohio. He
just seems like he can find ways, multiple ways to see his shots fall,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They have got some nice
pieces that go along with him. Cam
Robinson, who's been playing varsity basketball for a long time, is an
incredible athlete getting 15, 16 a game.
Then it just seems like their role players are continuing step up
here lately. So, we're expecting
a great game. It's a rivalry,
our student section will walk there after school, the communities will pour
into Willard’s gym, the atmosphere will be great and it's just going to be
a really good game for both of us going in the tournament.”
Dawson averages 25 PPG and Gallaway says they can’t allow him to
get a lot of open shots. “Just
like any good scorer, good shooter, if they see one or two fall in early the
basket just continues to get bigger every possession.
So, our goal is just to make him take tough shots and doing that he's
going to make some of those tough shots, but we want to work our butts off
on defense. It can't just be one
guy that's working to make sure Max is getting those tough shots, it’s got
to be all five of us. So, our
goal is just to make sure he's not shooting them uncontested, he's going to
get some, but we want to make sure that we have a hand up for the
majority,” said Gallaway.
Published 2/22/24
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Shelby
Will Have to be Very Good
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, hosts Rossford in
sectional semifinal in division II on Thursday night.
After losing to Lexington last Tuesday, they beat Willard (58-38)
last Thursday in their last regular season game.
Coach Natalie Lantz says it was a nice bounce back win.
“I think it ended up being a great senior night for the girls.
They played hard, they played pretty darn well.
We got a lot out of our defense again. I
thought we distributed the ball extremely well.
Honestly, that's the type of ball that we need to see heading into
tournament. So, I felt like that
was a good finish to the regular season.
I tell you what, I really like Willard's team and I told Alanna
Bedingfield her team is so young, but they're so long and they're so
talented, it's going to be exciting watching them in the future because they
definitely have some talent there led by her daughter, of course, she's a
sophomore,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I was
really, really happy with the way we kind of bounced back from Lexington.
We're still not quite over the crud.
I have got a whole new batch of kids with it this week I think, but
trying to get over stuff, but it is what it is, and other teams are dealing
with the same thing, so we've got to find a way to battle though.”
Shelby (17-5) plays Rossford (7-15) on Thursday night.
The Lady Bulldogs did win their last game in beating Millbury Lake
(45-31) last week.
Lantz says they have to go out and play their game.
“I know they've got a pretty good player.
We've been watching some film looking for strengths and weaknesses.
Our game plan when it comes down to it is we've got to play our
basketball. We have to apply
good pressure, we have to move the ball.
We've talked to the girls about being purposeful and intentional with
their actions whether it's their cuts, whether it's setting a screen,
whether it's setting up a drive so that you're drawing the defense for your
teammate to get her open for a shot. I
think if we're intentional about those actions the overwhelming factor of
its tournament time and it's a one and done type situation can be kind of
minimized a little bit just focusing kind of on the task at hand.
So, I'm excited, I know the girls are going to get after it this
week. We've got four seniors who
want to have a tournament run. We
definitely have a tough road,” said Lantz.
It’s a 16 team district field and Lantz says this year it’s a
bear. “If we get by Rossford
there's a good chance we would have a Toledo Central Catholic.
They're definitely not a six seed, they could easily be a one seed in
our district, they're very good, they've got a lot of talent, a lot of
athletes. Then of course
Mansfield Senior and Bellevue. We
have a very, very tough district that I feel like honestly any of the top
ten teams can get out. I mean
they're really good. Anybody
could upset anybody on a given night, so I'm excited. I
love playing in this type of district atmosphere.
A lot of work for the coaches and players to be able to get a “W”
one night at a time in that type of environment and that type of competitive
district. That's all part of the
game and that's part of what it makes it special at tournament time,” she
said.
Published 2/21/24
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Shelby
Better be Better
Shelby will host Willard in a non-conference girls’ basketball game
on Thursday night.
The Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champions are coming off a loss
(53-43) to Lexington on Tuesday night.
Coach Natalie Lantz says their play was subpar in just about every
way. “We just flat out didn't
play well. I mean we didn't
defend well, we shot pretty terrible in general, we didn't take care of the
ball. We did have 21 steals and
we still put ourselves in the position down you know three or four where we
had a chance and then we just continued to make mistakes.
The crud has been running through the team and I just think our heads
weren't where they needed to be (Tuesday) night.
So, I think all in all it doesn't hurt us, but hopefully it just kind
of lights that fire and gets them back where they need to be, especially for
(Thursday) night and for tournament next week,” said Lantz.
Lantz says it will be good for them to back on the floor on Thursday
night. “They're excited, they
want to get back on the court and bounce back and put them in a positive
light before we hit tournament next week.
They'll go hard, they'll play hard (Thursday) night.
We had a super light practice (Wednesday) night, sent them home
early, asked them to eat healthy, drink well and just rest because that's
what their bodies need right now. There's
a lot of crud going around and it kind of struck us.
We just need to get healthy and come in fresh for (Thursday),” she
said.
Shelby (16-5), #2 in the Swakonsports.com girls’ basketball poll in
the large school division, plays host to Willard () on Thursday night.
Lantz says the Lady Flashes are improving and they are going to have
to return to form. “They're
young, they're very athletic, well coached and they're making progress
throughout the season. I think
they're going to be peaking here at the right time, so it's definitely no
light match (Thursday) for sure,” she told Swankonsprts.com on Wednesday
afternoon, “We've got to come in and play tough and have our minds in the
right space and make sure that we're playing and communicating well
defensively, executing offensively, and not forcing.
We've got to finish a heck of a lot better. I
mean you don't win ball games shooting like 20 percent from the free throw
line and missing 10,11 layups. We
have got to do a better job.”
Published 2/15/2024
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Shelby
Still Getting Better
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, plays at home
against Marion Pleasant in a conference game on Friday night.
They host Upper Sandusky in a non-conference game on Saturday night.
Last Saturday, they went to Ottawa-Glandorf to play Northern Lakes
Buckeye Division leader Findlay and they beat the Trojans (59-53) in a
varsity only, tournament like game.
Coach Greg Gallaway says it was a game they were looking forward to
all year. “It was a great win
for us. Our guys were excited to
play in that game. I remember
when we scheduled that in the fall and we found out that we're playing
Findlay, we had a lot of eager and motivated guys that the play that type of
game. So, for us to go over to
Ottawa Glandorf, a place that we were kind of unfamiliar with, and play in a
tournament style atmosphere against a really good basketball team without a
starter too. Brayden DeVito was
out for us the whole game with some sickness.
So, dealing with some adversity and to find a way to beat a really
good team was awesome. So, we're
really proud of our guys effort over at Ottawa,” said Gallaway.
Gallaway says they were able to take away a couple of things from
that big win over Findlay. “I
think of that game for something that tournament style atmosphere game when
the lights are bright and when you're playing a good team.
Our guys stepped up to the challenge and played good basketball, that
was one thing,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Then
another thing to go along with that game was it was more of a methodical,
slow paced game, a really physical Findlay team.
So, we knew we weren't going to be able get turnovers in the full
court because they were well coached team and they take care of the
basketball. So, we really had to grind out possessions in the half court and
I think our team showed a lot of growth in terms of just getting stops in
the half court and execute in the half court. So,
those are some of the bigger takeaways that we took from Findlay.”
Shelby (17-2,13-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays host to Marion Pleasant
(11-9,6-7) on Friday night. Shelby
had to rally from a 14-point second quarter deficit to beat Pleasant (57-50)
on January 12.
The Spartans have won four of five without injured leading scorer
Trey Booker and Gallaway looks for another good game.
“Coach (Ben) Snively does such a great job and obviously losing
Booker you can't replace a guy like him, but they've seemed to find ways to
still be competitive with the guys that they have.
They have some really good guard play and some guys that can shoot.
They gave us a lot of trouble at their place the first time we played
them. So, we're expecting this
to be a great game in our last league game for of the season, so we're going
to have to be ready to go,” he said.
Published 2/14/2024
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Shelby
Moving Forward
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, plays at home
against Ontario in an “MOAC” game on Friday night.
They play Findlay in a regular season tournament like game at Ottawa-Glandorf
on Saturday.
The Whippets (15-2,12-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, captured a fifth
straight league title with wins over River Valley (86-77) and Clear Fork
(91-45) last week.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they were able to check off a goal.
“That's our first goal here at Shelby to win a league title
outright. We were able to
accomplish that last week. We
still want to try to obviously finish the regular season and our two
remaining league games on the right note, but as far as just checking off a
goal it's always something to be proud of and really proud of our guys,”
he said.
Gallaway adds that the Whippets have been very focused this year and
they show good chemistry. “Our
guys put a lot of time in, especially this core group seniors, we’ve got
eight of them. They've been
playing with each other for a long time.
With that comes a development of their chemistry, their bond and
that's really an important part of it. Luckily
these past five years we were able to at Shelby it's been an expectation
within our league. So, they've
done a good job really making sure the rest of the people in our program are
held accountable for that,” said Gallaway.
Shelby is at home for Ontario (4-13,2-9) on Friday night.
The Warriors lost (73-36) to Marion Harding in a league play last
Saturday.
The Whippets won the first meeting with Ontario (87-54) January 4.
Gallaway says they will be ready for the Warriors.
“We played just after Christmas this year and that second time that
you play an opponent you always expect things to be different, so that's
something that we want our guys to make sure they get accustomed to whatever
they throw different at us. We
have got to make sure that we're ready for it and ultimately we have five
guys on the same page on the court. It's
a rivalry between us too, so our guys always get excited for that game.
I know they're looking forward to that and playing them at home
Friday,” said Gallaway.
Shelby meets division I Findlay (15-1), the co-leader of the Northern
Lakes, Buckeye Division on Saturday.
Gallway says it will be a great measuring stick.
“It's a really good team, that's why we put that game on the
schedule to really give ourselves a great challenge.
With the tournament draw being Sunday, it cuts off Friday, so this
game actually has no implication with that.
It's only going to be a positive for us,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday afternoon, “We have got to travel the Ottawa Glandorf to play
Findlay, who's a really good team. I
think they're like number six in the recent eight “AP” poll in the
state. They just have got a lot
of great talent. They have got a
great post player and that's something we really haven't seen much of this
year. So, we're excited for the
experience Saturday and again it's only going to be a positive for us moving
forward.”
Published 2/08/2024
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Shelby
Can Lock it Up
Shelby already has a piece of a sixth straight Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference crown and they can win it out right with a win at Marion Pleasant
on Thursday night.
If the Lady Spartans win, they will share the title this season.
The two schools shared it last year with River Valley.
Shelby (15-4,12-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, grabbed no less than a piece of
the title with a (70-36) win at Ontario last Friday.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they played really pretty well for the last
three quarters. “We did, we
started off a little slow, but once we got rolling, I thought it was a great
team effort, great team win,” she said.
Pleasant (17-3,11-2) set up their chance with a (58-36) win over
Marion Harding last Friday.
Lantz says they have the ability to effect the game on both ends of
the court. “They play really
strong both sides of the ball. They
have got a lot of weapons, they're a great defensive team, there are a lot
of kids that can score the ball on multiple levels.
So, I mean I expect this to be a tough game.
It'll be a challenge, but it's one I think that we can compete and
potentially take if we play well,” said Lantz.
Pleasant beat Shelby (52-40) on January 5 at Shelby.
Lantz says to get the win on Thursday night, they have to reduce
their turnovers, rebound the ball well and she says they have to play with
some confidence. “I think we
need to take care of the ball. I
think we need to keep them off the offensive glass.
I think we need to execute better than we did game one,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Definitely a couple of our
focuses right there. We need to
come in and play with energy and play confident.”
Published 2/07/2024
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Shelby
Has to Play Defense
Shelby can come away from the weekend as Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
champs if they beat River Valley on Thursday and Clear Fork on Saturday.
If River Valley beats them, the race is on.
The Vikings trail the Whippets by two going into the game on
Thursday.
Shelby smoked Mansfield Senior (73-55) in a non-league game last
Saturday at Pete Henry Gym.
Coach Greg Gallaway says a big spurt in the second quarter was key.
“I thought we put together a good game over at Mansfield against a
good team. I thought that the
start of the game was really back and forth in that first quarter.
Then the second quarter were able to kind of separate ourselves and
have a surge for us. I just felt
like the rest of the way we were able to maintain that that double digit
lead throughout the rest of the game and again put together a good four
quarter game on the road. I
thought we had some guys step up and play really well for us.
I thought our scoring was really balanced.
So, I think we're making the right steps, but I thought we did a
great job executing the game plan over at Mansfield,” he said.
Shelby (13-2,10-0), #2 in the Swankonports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, hosts River Valley (13-3,8-2) on
Thursday night. It’s a must
win for the Vikings. They beat
Marion Harding (75-65) last Friday to stay in contention.
Gallaway says River Valley scores in a number of ways.
“They’re really good and coach (Rodney) Brown has a lot of guys
that can score offensively for them. He
lets them play, as he should, because they have got guys that are very
skilled, make right reads, do a good job getting their feet set and they got
a lot of capable shooters. So,
when I look at River Valley as a whole you can't look at one or two guys,
you have got to look at everyone. You
see a lot of experience from some of their older guys there that have been
playing basketball seems like for four years.
It just seems like every time we play them it's going to be a battle,
so we have to be ready to go,” said Gallaway.
Both Alex Bruskotter of Shelby and Carson Smith of River Valley
average more than 20 a game are capable of some big numbers, plus both teams
have other scorers.
Gallaway says it is going to boil down to defense.
“I think there's a lot of similarities between us offensively with
pushing the pace, trusting our guys to go out and make plays, not running a
lot of sets, playing at a fast pace. Defense
is going to be a big key for us obviously if we want to win.
They have got a lot of capable shooters on the perimeter I think how
good of a job are we going to do making those shots tough,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “They're going to make some
because they have got great shooters that are going to make shots with a
hand in the face, but we just want to do a good job making sure they don't
have uncontested looks. We just
want to try to do our best to make those shots tough and then finishing each
possession with a rebound. So, I
think defense is going to be a big key for both of us.”
Published 2/01/2024
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Shelby
Can Smell it
Shelby can secure no less than a share of the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference title on Friday night with a win at Ontario against the Lady
Warriors.
Right now, they lead Marion Pleasant by one and Clear Fork by two in
the standings. They play
Pleasant, the only team to beat them in the league, next Thursday.
Tuesday night, Sophia
Long led a balanced Lady Whippet attack with 11 and they whipped Highland
(52-14) in “MOAC” play.
Coach Natalie Lantz says it was a team win.
“I think everybody contributed.
Once again, it was our defensive pressure.
We wanted to focus more on us and instead of worrying about what
other teams do right now. I
think it's time that we kind of dial in on what we do best and make sure
that we're in tip top shape come tournament time well,” she said.
In terms of the league, Lantz says they control their own destiny.
“It's in our hands right now. We've
got two big games left with Ontario Friday night and then Pleasant in
another week or so. We focus on
one game at a time. Ontario, I
know they've had some issues with some injuries and whatnot, but they're an
athletic team. They've got some
young talent and they're going to play hard.
Again, we've got to go in and really do what we do best defensively
and offensively. We have to keep
getting better,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “One
of the best things I think we did (Tuesday) night against Highland was
making that one more pass and it showed when we had 18 assists at the end of
the game. Eve (Schwemley) was
smothered all night, but she still had six assists for the game. Charlie
Niese still had five assists for the game.
I think almost everybody on the team had an assist.
So, it was pretty awesome just with selflessness and making that one
more pass to get great shots. If
we combine those two things together, we're going to be a tough team.
I think we can compete for a chance come tourney time into and first
and foremost come away with the “MOAC” title.”
Shelby (14-4,11-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Ontario (6-10,3-8) on
Friday night. The Lady Warriors
lost (66-39) to Willard in a non-conference game Tuesday night.
They lost (36-35) to Marion Harding in a league game on Saturday.
Lantz says they have some physical tools.
“They're big and they have some athletes, they have some skilled
players. I think they're working
hard, they're playing for each other, they're starting to compete with the
higher level teams and they're certainly not a team that you can overlook by
any means. So, I think there's
some things that we need to do really well.
We definitely need to keep them off the boards.
Against a big team, we need to make sure that we're boxing out
whether we're in a man or zone and making sure that we track down any loose
balls or long rebounds. Limiting
their looks at the basket, if they get one, we don't want them getting two,
three in one possession. We know
what we have got to do and we definitely have to dig down and work together
to get it done,” said Lantz.
Published 2/01/2024
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It’s
Defense For Shelby
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at
River Valley on Thursday and at home against Clear Fork on Saturday
afternoon in big conference games.
Last Tuesday, they lost (46-44) to Ohio Cardinal Conference leader
Mansfield Senior.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they did not play well early, but they
learned they could play with the Lady Tygers.
“I thought we got better as the game went on in that Mansfield
Senior game. We didn't play well
the first quarter at all. It
took us till about three minutes to go in the second quarter and we just
finally started clicking a little bit offensively and defensively in getting
the stops that we needed to. In
the third quarter, we came out and limited them to just a bucket.
Then we still topped them in the fourth quarter but just a little bit
too late, ran out of time. I
think it's a confidence builder for us.
That's a game that Mansfield Senior should probably win this year
with their experience and skilled athletes back.
I think now we know that we can compete.
I know if we play four quarters the girls understand that they put
themselves in a position to win a ball game like that.
So, a lot of growth that game. I
love the grit and determination for them to fight back.
Down 19 could easily given up, could have lost by 40.
Instead, we fight back and lose by two.
So, I like the resilience of this team and just the grit and the
fight they have in them,” said Lantz.
Shelby (10-4,8-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at River Valley (8-8,6-4)
on Thursday night. The Lady
Vikings beat Marion Harding (51-34) last Thursday and took the other
co-leader Pleasant to end before losing (34-32) the week before.
Lantz says they are playing really well.
“I think they're getting better as every team should you know.
We play at River Valley, which toughens the game a little bit more,
but it still comes down to we have to go and we have to execute on both
sides of the ball and make sure that we're communicating well and make sure
that we're boxing out. The big
thing that hurt us against Mansfield Senior was we let them get way too many
offensive boards off, way too many putbacks and then give up some transition
buckets, which is not normal for us,” she told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday evening, “Those are things that we've worked on and hopefully we
come out a lot stronger in the game against River Valley.”
Lantz says they will make up their game against Highland next
Tuesday. “We we're hoping to
make some changes against Highland last Friday night, but we got snowed out
that was supposed to be our military appreciation game and it will be when
we play on a Tuesday versus Highland. We're
still going to do our military appreciation, that's a special game for us,
our girls, our community military veterans.
First things first, we've got River Valley Thursday and then Clear
Fork on Saturday. So, we're
running a big schedule here over the next two weeks,” she said.
Clear Fork (11-4,7-2) trails buy just a game, but Shelby pounded them
(70-38) on December 19.
Lantz feels Saturday will be a tougher game for them.
“They're a good basketball team, we just played exceptionally well
that game. I think we put it
together on both sides of the ball, which when we do that obviously we're
pretty special. When it comes
down to just defense absolutely we can put ourselves in a position to win a
game like, but we really need to be executing offensively and take care of
the ball. I expect them to be
out for us. They're a good team,
like I said, they play hard, they defend hard, they've definitely got some
scorers. So, we've got to have a
good game all around, we've got to play four quarters, we've got to make
sure that we're on the boards there too and limit their shot attempts.
Basically, the kind of same game plan really for River Valley as it
is for Clear Fork. We have got
to go out and we have got to play our type of basketball and it starts with
our defense and rebounding,” said Lantz.
Published 1/24/2024
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Shelby
Has to Have Focus
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays at Highland in
a conference game on Friday and then plays at Mansfield Senior in a big
non-conference game on Saturday.
They now own two game lead over Marion Harding and River Valley in
the “MOAC” after a (61-44) win over Harding last Thursday followed by a
(71-54) win at Galion on Saturday.
Coach Greg Gallaway says it was a good week for the Whippets.
“It was two good league wins for us. Starting first against Harding
at our place, which we knew was going to be a battle.
They were right there behind us in the league as far as standings go
and they just have a really good basketball team.
I thought our guys did a good job from the start kind of setting the
tone on how we wanted to play. We
got off to a good start and we were able to maintain that throughout the
whole game. So, credit to our
guys. I thought we were really
balanced as far as our scoring went and that carried over to Saturday too.
I thought we executed really well offensively, one of the better
executed games. I thought we
moved the ball well, we made the extra pass and we figured out what is good
shot selection is for us and we got a lot of them.
So, I was proud of those two wins,” said Gallaway.
Shelby (11-2,9-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, is at Highland (1-15,0-9) on
Friday night.
The Whippets won the first game (74-21) on December 15 and Gallaway
says they have to have focus. “There's
no easy road games in our league. We
have got to go all the way to Highland.
That's a much improved team from when we played the first time.
We have got to try to find a way to put together a four quarter game
over there. So, that's first and
foremost and what's most important for us this week.
Then Saturday after our league game we get another opportunity to go
to Mansfield and play a really good team.
So, our guys got to stay focused as far as the game plan and execute
that on Friday and then Saturday morning we'll wake him up early and we'll
worry about Mansfield,” he said.
Mansfield Senior (11-3), #5 in our poll, beat Mt. Vernon (62-43) in
an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Tuesday night.
Gallaway says they have to play their game.
“They're really a good basketball team that's what stands out.
One thing about Mansfield every year is they're non league schedule
is phenomenal, so you know they're going to be battle tested. I
know they lost their last game it was going a really good Lexington team.
They bring a lot of guys back from previous years as far as guard
play goes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They seem
like they have a good system going right now and it's going to take a great
effort to go over to Mansfield and come up with a win.
So, we really have to try to find a way to slow them down offensively
and we got to find a way to get great shots on our end too.
We're looking forward to it and it's going to be a four quarter game
over at Mansfield.”
Published 1/24/2024
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Shelby
Hosts Harding in huge “MOAC” Game
It’s a pivotal game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Thursday
night as Shelby hosts Marion Harding.
Right now, the Whippets hold just a one game advantage on Harding as
we start the second half the conference double round robin.
Shelby kept the lead when they rallied from a (36-18) second quarter
deficit to beat Marion Pleasant (57-50) last Friday.
Coach Greg Galloway says they didn’t panic.
“It was a credit to our guys. Having
guys with experience and having eight seniors being down 18 is something
they've been through before. Just
really relying on the defensive end to get stops and to counter their runs
and credit to Pleasant they played really well.
I thought in the second half, we just did a good job being sound
defensively and that led to us getting buckets on the offensive end.
It was an incredible comeback as a team and we are proud of the way
that we took on adversity, especially when it hit us on the road at
Pleasant,” he said.
Shelby (9-2,7-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Marion
Harding (11-2,6-1) on Thursday night. Harding
beat Indian Valley (59-51) in a showcase game on Saturday at Ohio Dominican.
Gallaway says they have great depth.
“It's not just one guy, it's not two, they have multiple guys that
are all factors on the floor for them. They’ve
got some guys with experience, some varsity experience for seems like three
or four years now. When you
watch them on film now from where they were at the beginning of the year
they're only getting better. It
seems like guys that we even identified more as like a role player early,
granted we played them I believe our second game of the season, they're
turning into more of like a go to guy for them offensively.
So, they are a different team, they're much improved team, they're
well coached and we're expecting a four quarter dogfight at our place
Thursday,” said Gallaway.
In the first meeting Shelby won (41-29) on December 7, but Gallaway
says this will be a different game on Thursday.
“It just seems every time we play Harding it's always going to be a
battle. We're expecting them to
give us their best at our place and we can't expect the same thing too.
We're starting second half of the season in our league and teams are
going to make adjustments with what they do differently on offense and on
defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “There's going
to be some things, we're not going to just know what they're going to give
us Thursday night, but we got to be able to adjust.
If it's a new defense, a new wrinkle on offense, we have got to rely
on our communication and we have got to be sound on what we've done all
season. So, expecting it to be a
great test for us Thursday.”
Published 1/17/2024
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Shelby
Needs to Rebound
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference co-leader, plays at
Mansfield Senior, the Ohio Cardinal Conference leader, on Tuesday night in
what should be one of the better girls’ basketball games of the season so
far.
They are the top two teams in our coaches poll this week.
Mansfield Senior in the top position and Shelby second.
The Lady Whippets bounced back from a loss to Marion Pleasant the
week before to handle Marion Harding (54-34) last Thursday and crush Galion
(67-15) on Saturday in conference games.
Coach Natalie Lantz says things went according to plan.
“We got a couple nice wins. It
was a nice bounce back from the lost to Pleasant.
I think we had some girls step up and do a really good job.
Then Saturday against Galion, I thought the girls did a good job with
their pressure defense. Everybody
contributed and in a lot of different facets offensively and defensively, so
it was definitely a good one for the girls,” said Lantz.
Shelby (9-3), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division, is at Mansfield Senior (14-1), #1 in the
poll, on Tuesday night. The Lady
Tygers beat Richmond Heights (41-38) in a non-conference game last Thursday.
Lantz says Mansfield has a lot of depth and a lot of weapons at their
disposal. “They've got
experience this year. They've
got a lot of experience back, they're very skilled, they're very athletic.
Every kid on the court can score it.
They're very athletic and scrappy defensively, they're good at
anticipating passes. So, they're
a strong all around team,” she said.
There are a lot of things they must do if they are going to win the
game, but a big is rebounding, according to Lantz.
“I think we need to play strong.
We need to play confident. We
need to take care of the ball. We
have to make sure that we're talking on defense and rotating.
We've got to win the boards in order to probably come out with a
chance to win the game,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon,
“We also have to limit their looks at shots. If
they get one shot, we don't want to give them two or three.
So, I think we need to do a good job controlling the boards.
I mean that's a tough job in itself, as like I said, they're very
strong, they're very athletic, so you know that's going to be tough to
handle. I think if we take care
of the ball, we play aggressive, we play confident, we could put ourselves
in in a position to win.”
Published 1/16/2024
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Shelby
With Tough One at Pleasant
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays down at Marion
Pleasant on Friday night in a conference game.
Seems everyone is talking about the Whippets game on Saturday night
against Ashland, and why not? Shelby
wins (84-61) and senior Alex Bruskotter scores 53 points, 38 the second
half.
Coach Greg Gallaway says in the third quarter Bruskotter just caught
fire. “It was just an
incredible performance. I think
at half he had 15. We didn't
feel like we played our best half and then he was able to string some
consecutive shots together there in the third and he ended up having 25 by
himself in the third. I think he
had seven threes that quarter. It
was just one of those nights where you just sit back and you enjoy it.
Credit to him and the work he puts in and it was special to see,”
he said.
Gallaway says they did not run set plays to get Bruskotter the ball,
his points just came in their offense. “For
the most part we're not set heavy. We
trust our guys to make plays, make reads, when the balls in their hands we
want them to react and make plays. For
him it was a lot of times I thought we did a good job getting rebounds and
finding him in transition, not letting the defense be able to get set.
He just found his feet, got comfortable and got in a rhythm shooting
the basketball. So, it wasn't
anything we drew up. It was just
him getting his own, his teammates realizing it, and finding ways for him to
get those shots,” said Gallaway.
Shelby (8-2,6-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Pleasant (6-6,2-4) on
Friday night. The Spartans lost
(61-47) to Marion Harding in a conference game last Thursday.
They lost (51-44) to Buckeye Valley in a non-conference game on
Tuesday night.
Gallaway says they have excellent guard play led by senior Trey
Booker. “First off, I just
have a lot of respect for coach (Ben) Snively and the job he does at
Pleasant. They're always going
to be a well coached team and they have a lot of good players that go along
with that too. I just think
first thing that sticks out is their guard play and the experience that they
bring and that starts with returning first teamer the past couple of years
in Trey Booker,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “He's
just a really good player and has been one of the top players in our league
for this will be his third year now. So,
it starts with him, but then there's a lot of nice pieces to go with them as
well. They definitely present
some challenges with their guard play. We're
going to have to do a good job making them take tough shots.
Especially going on the road over at their place is never an easy
task.”
Published 1/10/2024
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Shelby
Has to Get Better
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at
Marion Harding in conference play on Thursday night.
They host Galion on Saturday.
They fell into a share of the conference lead with Marion Pleasant
when the Lady Spartans beat them (52-40) last Friday.
Coach Natalie Lantz says Pleasant got good shots and beat them up on
the boards. “I think Pleasant
played a fantastic game. They
had a great game plan. I don't
necessarily think they hurt us defensively, I just don't think we executed
the best and shooting 17% you're not going to beat many teams.
If you look back at last year's teams and who everybody has back. I
mean Pleasant has to be the number one pick for the conference title with
who they have back and their caliber of players and athletes.
I think (coach) Keriann Pratt, I mean she's a friend of mine, she
does a great job with that program and the girls. I
mean they were very patient offensively and they got some good looks on us
and they finished extremely well. The
disappointment for us was our rebounding.
It was kind of a self reflecting and soul searching weekend where we
just have got to get back to some basics and rebounding is one of those
things. It's just desire, it's
heart, it's determination. You
don't always have to be the tallest, the strongest, it's who wants it more.
To get to get killed on the boards like that is just not a good
thing. So, some things we talked
about,” said Lantz.
If they can get back to winning they can get another title, but Lantz
says they have to work hard at improving.
“We kind of self reflected as a team just to see what we have to do
better heading into round two to be able to put ourselves in a position to
come out with the title. I think
it's still within our grasp, but we've got to get better at some things.
Our defense has carried us and kept us in games.
There was just kind of a lot that you know played into the lost
Friday night,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We'll
definitely get better and we're definitely going to grow from it.
This team is competitive. They
want to learn, they want to get better, they do play for each other.
I definitely think as coaches we talk what can we do better and as
players they want to do the same. So,
I'm excited to see we challenged them and kind of put a theme for the rest
of the season that they have got to earn it.
I know they'll take that challenge to heart and work to represent our
school with pride.”
Shelby (9-3,6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Marion Harding (3-8,3-5)
on Thursday night. Shelby won
the first go round (72-43) on November 30.
Lantz calls Harding dangerous. “I
mean 9-3 at this point in the season is not bad.
I think our three losses are certainly winnable, but we've got to get
better at some things. I'll take
those losses and we have got to learn and get better at some different
things. We come out and do a
good job here round two then it's within our grasp and if we don't keep
adjusting and keep getting better and then we won't.
Harding is an athletic team, they've got weapons and if they put the
pieces together I think they could be a really good squad capable of
upsetting just about anybody. I
really like their point guard Aniya Mitchell. I
think she does a good job, she plays with a lot of energy and she's skilled
both sides of the ball. I think
if her teammates catch her fire and desire they're definitely a dangerous
team. We had a great practice
(Monday). We had a great film
session as well. We're going to
keep working and hopefully be ready when we head to Harding on Thursday
night there to the battle and get another “W.” said Lantz.
Published 1/09/2024
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Shelby
Has to Attack
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays host to second
place Marion Pleasant in a big game on Friday night.
The Lady Spartans are only a game back.
Shelby played a couple of games last week, losing to Smithville
(51-42) in the “Jingle Bell Jam” at Cedar Point and beating Sandusky
Perkins (50-33) last Saturday.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they showed improvement.
“I think we got better for sure.
We took a loss to Smithville, they're a good team, but our defense
for the first time this year kind of let us down. I
think it humbled us a little bit and got us back on track.
Then we went and played a really good Perkins, you beat both
Mansfield Senior and Bellevue. So,
I think we dialed back in and that was one of the best defensive
performances and just really doing a good job talking and moving while the
ball is in the air, backside help. So,
I think it was a step in the right direction and heading into this game
against Pleasant,” said Lantz.
Shelby (9-2,6-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large schools division, hosts Pleasant (11-1,5-1), #3 in
the small school poll, on Friday night.
Pleasant beat Buckeye Central (60-28) and Mt. Gilead (58-32) last
week.
Lantz says Pleasant does a lot of things.
“They have a lot of experience back, probably more so, like starter
wise, than any other team in the conference.
They move the ball really well, they're very aggressive defensively,
they run a lot of different defensive sets that we have to be prepared for,
they run a few different zone looks and they'll press full court, zone,
diamond, they're aggressive in their man.
So, I mean they're just a well balanced team.
I think they move the ball well.
They're certainly well coached. We
have got to be ready for them to come out and play their best against us,”
she said.
Lantz says they have to recognize what Pleasant is in and then attack
it. “We've seen a lot of
different defenses this year. We've
seen a lot of zone, which to be
honest that's what I would do against us because I don't think until the
last couple games I don't think we've performed real well against zone. That's
something that we've been working on a lot in practice in the reeds and how
to attack zones and how to recognize them better.
I think we're kind of the halfway mark and I'm really excited to see
how we continue to progress because I think we're getting better.
Our timing is getting better on certain cuts and offensive
movements,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “The
offenses we have are set for a lot of kids to attack not just one or two.
The more balanced we are as a team the better we're going to do.
I think that's one of the reasons Pleasant is so good too.
They do bring in one of the top players in the “MOAC” in Avah
Steele, but you got Emerson Williams and Oliva Pratt and (Whitney) Waddell,
they've definitely got a lot of experience back and you can tell. I
mean the girls play really well together.
So, as far as we go like, we just have to recognize what they're
bringing and continue to attack. We
want to do what we can do and not just worry about what they're doing.
So, if we play our game, I think we're going to be in it to win it
and if not it's going to be a struggle.”
Published 1/05/24
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Shelby
Looking for Open Shots
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, will make the short
trip to Ontario to play the rival Warriors in a conference game on Thursday
night.
Coach Greg Gallaway, also an assistant football coach at Shelby,
understands the rivalry with the Warriors.
“Just being 15 minutes apart from each other and it means
something. I know our guys look
forward to this game every year. It
is a rivalry game. It's going to
be a big league game for us. Both
communities will be there too. So,
we're looking forward to it. I
know our guys are too,” he said.
Shelby (6-2,5-0), #3 in the Swankonports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, will be at Ontario (2-6,0-3) on
Thursday night. The Warriors
beat Madison (68-60) in a non-league game last Wednesday.
They have not played a conference game since December 21 when they
lost (60-49) to Marion Pleasant.
Gallaway says you have to know where their shooters are because they
have kids that can make it. “They
have got some capable scorers. I
think that's what comes out, their guard play.
They have guys that are able to be a real threat behind the
three-point line. We have to do
a good job making sure those shots are contested. I
think that's going to be one of our big keys is to make sure that we account
for their shooters and then we play our style basketball,” said Gallaway.
Both teams like to push the tempo, but Gallaway says they have to
understand what a good shot is. “I
think some people think up tempo teams, transition teams are always just one
pass and shoot and score and that's not necessarily the case.
For us, we want to play fast, we want to play up tempo, but we want
to have good pace,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We
know like if we don't have early shots and we have got to work within our
half court game and we have got to keep our pace still in the half court.
So, I think that's sometimes a misconception with transition teams
and you still want to work for those shots and you don't want to just settle
for quick shots, you want to settle for quick but really good, great
shots.”
Published 1/03/2024
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Lexington
Gets Shelby Again
Lexington beat Shelby (61-57) in battle between the two best
basketball teams in North Central Ohio on Saturday night in Lexington.
It was the third time the Minutemen have beaten the Whippets in the
last calendar year. They beat
them in the regular season last year on Valentine’s Day in Shelby and in
overtime in the division II district tournament.
This time it came down to the final few possessions as you thought it
might.
Trailing by one, Lexington sophomore Brayden Fogle gave the Minutemen
the lead (57-55) with a nice post move from the right of the lane and added
a free throw with 1:38 to play.
Shelby’s Alex Bruskotter, a senior headed to Wright State, tied the
game (57-57) with two free throws at the 1:05 mark, but Lexington responded
again as another sophomore Dantrell Hughes laid it in with :42 left to make
it (59-57) Minutemen.
Again, Shelby was able to get the ball to Bruskotter, but he was
whistled for traveling. After a
time out, Lexington executed their press breaker and got a layup from Joe
Caudill with :10 left to put it away.
“I feel this win especially emphasizes that we might be sophomores,
but we are coming to play,” said Fogle.
He led the Minutemen with 21 points and nine rebounds, he was the
only Lexington player with double figure points.
Caudill and Seven Allen both had nine.
Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says there were a lot of plays
throughout the game that led to the victory for them.
“I think we're going to go back and watch this film and find out
that there are a lot of great moves, a lot of great actions, a lot of
misses, a lot of lost rebounds, but at the end of the night we're going to
celebrate this one without any doubt,” he said after the win, “For my
guys, my young guys stepped up, a strong team win against the veteran squad
with a division I committed player. We're
going to celebrate this one at the end of year there's no question about
it.”
Lexington shot 48% for the game (26-54) field goals, while the
Whippets were at 32% in making (19-60) for the game.
Shelby won the battle of the boards 42-31, with 13 from Bruskotter.
Shelby coach Greg Gallaway says they had a lot of chances to score
and didn’t cash in, plus had a defensive breakdown on that Lexington fast
break. “It's frustrating game
like that right down near to the end, especially when you think you had a
lot of missed opportunities out there, on both ends too.
I thought our movement sucked. Just
so many things that we have to get better. A
lot of missed opportunities offensively.
I know we didn't shoot a great percentage, 19-60, man that's bad, so
we have got to get better,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game,
“Something that really sticks out, at the end of the game we lose guys in
transition they get a layup and it's just a lack of communication and we're
better than that. That’s the
disappointing part because we have too many veterans in this group to be
held to that standard and not talk on the defensive end.
So, we just have got to get better, plain and simple.”
Most of the Shelby offense went through Bruskotter, who finished with
32 points on 10-23 field goals, many of which were tough looks, and 12 of 16
at the line.
Lexington’s only senior Elijah Hudson was saddled with foul trouble
for most of the night. He
returned for the final time with 6:31 to play, and his team up (47-44) and
fouled out at the 3:14 mark. Bruskotter
have the Whippets a (51-49) lead by converting both charity tosses.
Hamilton says he was proud of Hudson’s effort, especially his
defense on Bruskotter. “Elijah
got into some foul situation. He
had a tough assignment (Saturday) night.
He's my only senior and he stepped up and really took on that
challenge in guarding one of the best players in the area.
Just got a couple of silly fouls I thought.
When we called his number and brought him back in he did everything
he could. Just one of those
things you have got to give everything you can to the team and he's a big
part of this win no matter what,” said Hamilton.
Bruskotter is obviously the focus of what Shelby does on offense and
Hamilton says they tried to show him a lot of looks.
“That was what we were trying to do. We were going to mix it up a
little bit and we know he's very good at getting to the foul line and of
course he shot 16 of them there. So,
that was something that we were aware of and wanted to try to control a
little bit better, but like Elijah said he did a real nice job defensively
holding him to 32,” he said.
Could there be another meeting between the two teams in March?
Gallaway says maybe, but their immediate goal is to clean up their
play. “There's a chance, yeah,
but it's a non league game. We
get right back at it next week and we have two games.
We just have got to come with the mindset next week early that we
have got to get better,” he said.
Hamilton says with four sophomores playing a lot of minutes for them,
he thought it was a tremendous win. “In
my opinion and I know this kind of sounds cliche because we were at home and
everything, but with them and the number of seniors that they had returning
from last year and the talent that they had I really thought that we were
the underdog this year with so many new faces on the roster and playing so
many sophomores that lack varsity experience before this year.
Again, I give the credit to my guys, they stepped up big,” said
Hamilton.
Published 12/30/23
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Shelby
Thinking Defense
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays host to Clear
Fork in a conference game on Friday night.
They play at Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference leader, in a key
early season non-league game on Saturday night.
That one might have a lot to say about seeding down the road.
The Whippets beat River Valley (61-60) in an “MOAC” game last
Thursday. Alex Bruskotter
connected on two free throws with less than a second to play to provide the
winning margin.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they did what they had to do.
“Finding a way, I think was the big phrase from that night.
It's always tough going over to RV.
Every time that I've gone over there the past couple of years it's
just always been a battle. It
was back and forth the whole game, we went on our runs, they went on their
runs and we found a way there at the end to hit couple free throws at the
end to win. So, just a great
game,” he said.
Bruskotter was fouled before the ball was inbounded and sent to the
line for two shots. He made both
of his opportunities.
Shelby (5-1,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Clear Fork
(2-3,1-2), a winner of two of its last three, including a (66-41) whipping
of Northmor in non-conference play on Saturday.
Gallaway says the Colts are improved.
“Coach (Tim) Brafrord’s doing a great job over at Clear Fork.
I think right now they're just trying to you know find ways to keep
playing consistent. A win at
pleasant is just really hard to do. I
know they have played a lot of tough opponents in Lexington and Harding.
Their coming off a win a big win against Northmor.
It's going to be a big conference game for us.
We have got to be ready to go and we have got to get our guys dialed
in,” said Gallaway.
Lexington (8-0), #1 in our poll, has been outstanding so far
including wins over Ashland (88-54) and Ontario (84-46) last week.
Gallaway says they don’t have any weaknesses.
“Right now, I think they're kind of in a similar spot too where
they have a league game Friday and I think they play New Philadelphia, so I
know that's most important to both of us and you know when Saturday comes,
we'll worry about them. They have multiple guys that can beat you,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They have got a transfer
point guard from Madison that's really good in Seven Allen and they have got
a lot of guys that return from last year.
Their starting five all have varsity experience last year and their
bench is really deep too. So, I
think that's the one thing that sticks out with Lexington is it's not one
guy, it's not two guys, it's multiple guys.
So, you have got to be really sound in whatever defense that you're
in and you have got to try your best to make them take tough shots.”
Published 12/27/23
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Shelby
Must Make River Valley Take Tough Shots
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays at River
Valley in a conference game on Thursday night.
The Whippets lost their only game of the season so far when state
powerhouse Ottawa-Glandorf edged them (67-63) in a game played at Lima
Senior on Saturday night.
Coach Greg Gallway says they gave themselves a chance to win.
“We went down early in the in the first. I
think they outscored 17-9 and we just kept chipping away.
We're able to get a shot at there at the buzzer before half to get it
within three and then actually took the lead in the third.
Just back and forth game, physical game.
I was proud of the way we competed.
Obviously, there's things that we have got to work on especially as a
team, but we put that game on the schedule for a reason and we're going to
learn from it and we're going to grow from it,” said Gallaway.
Senior Alex Bruskotter, a Wright State recruit, had 36 against O-G.
Gallaway says they have some things to work on the improve.
“We were definitely able to see that and everyone knows what those
things are on our team. We have
got to be tougher and we got to keep moving forward.
So, again just really pleased with our effort and we want to just
keep making strides,” he said.
Shelby (4-1,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at River Valley (4-2,2-1)
on Thursday night. The Vikings
beat Buckeye Valley (70-53) on Tuesday night.
They lost to Marion Harding (63-57) in a league game on Friday night.
Gallway says they can’t let the Vikings, especially Carson Smith,
get open looks. “They're
really good. They're led by
Carson Smith, who's been playing since his freshman year and he keeps
getting better each year, just a scorer, can kind of score anywhere on the
court. We really have got to do
a good job making sure that he takes tough shots all night and we can't let
him get any open looks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon.
“Coach (Rodney) Brown just does a great job getting those guys ready each
year playing his style of basketball. They're
always battle tested with their non league and playing a lot of great
Columbus schools. Again, they're
just really, really good and we have got to be ready to go, especially over
at their place.”
Shelby won in double overtime at River Valley last year.
Gallaway says they have to be patient on offense.
“We play similar style with a lot of early offense trying to run.
We trust our players in making reads and making decisions.
Both teams aren't really set heavy offensively speaking, so very
similar styles. We really have
got to dive deep into personnel reports with them and make sure we're making
them take tough shots. Offensively,
for us we have got to do a good job working and being patient and getting a
good look,” said Gallway.
Published 12/21/23
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Shelby
Belts Clear Fork
Shelby took sole possession of first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference as they took Clear Fork to woodshed Tuesday night whipping them
(70-38) at Les Hauenstein Gym in Bellville.
The Lady Whippets raced to a (14-4) lead with 3:45 left in the first
quarter after a basket by Eve Schwemely.
They never trailed and the outcome felt all but determined from the
early stages. It was (36-18) by
halftime and the second half went no better for the Lady Colts.
Shelby (5-0) is all alone in first place in the conference.
Clear Fork shares second with Marion Pleasant, a game back.
The Lady Whippets shot better than 60 percent from the field and that
percentage was better than 70 percent for much of the night.
Shelby coach Natalie Lantz says she was happy with their play on both
ends. “I thought we did a much
better job on both sides of the ball (Tuesday). I was very happy
offensively. I think we did a
good job of moving the ball, making that one more pass, starting to attack
the gaps, which forced the defense to double in, which opened up another
player. I thought we did a nice
job of making that one more until we had that open shooter, that open layup.
It’s something we've been practicing.
We're not always going to hit as much as we did (Tuesday) night and
we haven’t until this game since our scrimmages,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “I'm really pleased and I think this
shows the girls hopefully what we're capable of doing on both sides of the
ball. I mean defensively, I
thought we did a good job with our matchups.
I think we played it the right way.
Clear Fork’s a good team. You
can tell the (Lillian) Weikle girl was moving a little bit slow with the
knee injury, but man is she a power inside to be reckoned with.
She's a vocal leader for them. I
mean she's a great presence, there's no better forward probably in the
conference than her. So, I was
pleased with how we defended, but at the same time I know she's not full
power yet either.”
Weikle hurt her knee in a game last Thursday against Marion Harding.
She played with a brace on Tuesday.
Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers says Tuesday Shelby was better than
them. “They played a really
solid game offensively. I
thought defensively they did some things that that we struggled against.
I told the girls you know after the game like sometimes that happens
sometimes you just go out and you get beat and you get beat handily by a
team that was better on a night and that just the way it is,” he said.
Clear Fork didn’t get very many clean looks and Lantz says they
were very fundamental on defense. “I
was happy with the way we talked. We
would hedge screens, we would switch when we needed, backside help after we
lost a few battles that way. When
they got the ball inside, I think backside help started to rotate and then
we were rolling from there. I'm
glad that these girls are doing a really good job adjusting on the fly.
I think we can build off this,” she said.
Shelby was (27-44) from the field on the night, that’s 61%, and
they weren’t just layups.
Lantz says they did an excellent job working for the good look.
“We have been needing that. Mal
(Gundrum) was out last game with an ankle and we didn't want to put pressure
on that knee since it was opposite, so we chose to hold her off until
(Tuesday) and she's still sore and we tried to limit her a little bit with
her time (Tuesday). We've got
some really nice shooters, it's just a matter of them taking the wide open
great shot versus an okay shot or a good shot and I thought we did a much
better job. We're going to hit
more when we're open versus when you have somebody in your face, those are
difficult shots. We did make a
couple difficult shots too on some drives.
Really happy with what the girls did (Tuesday) and their confidence.
This was definitely a really good team effort.
I thought all the girls contributed on both ends of the floor. I
mean we've had pretty solid 11 kids defensively, but offensively I think
they made really good decisions,” said Lantz.
It was balanced scoring for Shelby, Schwemely had 12 and Lexi Booker
10. Mel Blubaugh had 11 for
Clear Fork.
Sellers says when you play a team like Shelby you have to be at your
best and they weren’t. “They
shot really well. I thought that
we got out of position some. When
you have a team that can make shots like they can make shots and you don't
bring your absolute best you're going to get beat.
It's disappointing to do it at home, but we're still at 7-2, we have
a game Friday to go 8-2. Obviously,
for conferences isn't fantastic for us, but we get to go see everybody again
and hopefully when we play them next time we'll be ready,” said Sellers.
Published 12/20/23
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Defense
the Key for the Lady Whippets
Shelby travels to Clear Fork Tuesday night for a battle between the
co-leaders in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Both the Lady Whippets and the Lady Colts are both unbeaten in
conference play.
Shelby coach Natalie Lantz says the Lady Colts play hard and they
find the open player. “As
usual they're continuing to grow and get better as program.
They've got kids that play hard, their defense is legit, work really
hard defensively, they move the ball well. You
can tell that by all their kids average between like eight and 12 points a
game I think, so you can't just key in on one player.
They do a great job of moving the ball.
So, I mean it's going to come down to us making sure that we talk and
play good defense and stick to our game plan,” said Lantz.
Shelby (6-1,4-0), #2 in the first Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball poll in the large school division, beat River Valley (43-32) in
their last league game last Thursday. Clear
Fork (7-1,4-0), #3 in the small school division poll, beat Marion Harding
(49-37) last Thursday.
Lantz says Clear Fork gets up in you on defense and they have to
handle the ball. “We work
against pressure every day, especially because that's something that we like
to do as well. I've seen them in
man and some zone defense, see them trying to face off a player.
So, we're hopefully prepared for what we might see.
We just have to do a good job defensively, limit our turnovers and
execute as best as possible offensively to make sure that we're in a
position to win it at the end,” she said.
Then on Friday, the Lady Whippets host Ontario in an “MOAC” game
and Lantz says they have some special activities planned for that night.
“Over the holidays here we're hoping that a lot of alumni will come
home around the holidays and we would like to recognize past coaches and
players that have played here at Shelby and coached here at Shelby,” she
told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “This year marks 50 years of
interscholastic play for Shelby girls basketball.
We’re really excited to get people back here and excited about this
team. It's so important what was
established 50 years ago with Ellen Lawrence and her first team and they
just kind of build off that tradition and culture and we've done our best
job to carry that through as well.”
Published 12/19/23
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Shelby’s
Focus on Highland
Shelby hosts Highland in a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
on Friday night.
They play state powerhouse Ottawa-Glandorf on Saturday night in the
“Coach Q Classic” at Lima Senior High School.
Last Saturday, the Whippets (3-0,2-0) got off to a (13-0) lead and
went on to bury Galion (81-43) in “MOAC” action.
Coach Greg Gallaway says their defense got them going.
“I thought it was a collective effort from our guys on both ends. I
thought it started defensively, we were able to force some turnovers and
that led to the transition buckets. Then
we were able to just sustain focus on both ends the whole game.
I just think overall it was a great team win for us,” he said.
Highland (1-3,0-2) got their first win of the season on Tuesday night
when they beat Mt. Gilead (48-38) in a non-conference game.
Gallaway says the Fighting Scots are going to be physical.
“Coach Ryan Stover, obviously, we're familiar with him, he was at
Galion before Highland. I think
just with any team your first year it's going to take some time to get
things settled in, but they were able to get their first win this week and
you can see improvements each game with them,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Thursday afternoon, “I tell you what just on film, they play really
hard and they're going to be really physical and it's going to be a game
that we have to really work to get good buckets for us offensively.
Again, with coach Stover, just really respect him and I know he's
going to get his guys ready to go.”
Shely also plays a very good River Valley next week, but Gallaway
says their focus has to be on beating Highland first.
“Obviously, our league game is most important.
We have an opportunity to play Saturday against a really good team.
We want to make sure our focus is put on Highland Friday and then
when we wake up Saturday we can start worrying about Ottawa-Glandorf over at
Lima,” he said.
When it comes to O-G, a state runner-up last year, Gallaway says
it’s a tremendous opportunity for the Whippets.
“Anyone that knows Ohio high school basketball knows O-G and just
traditionally speaking they are one of the best programs in the state.
Coach (Tyson) McLaughlin just does a tremendous job over there.
They have got tremendous talent and we're just extremely thankful to
just be able to go over there and have that opportunity to play a team like
that Saturday. It's only going
to get us better when you look down the road for us.
So, our guys are excited for it and again just extremely thankful for
that opportunity,” said Gallaway.
Published 12/15/23
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Shelby
Looking for Good Stots
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays host
to River Valley in a conference game on Thursday night.
The Lady Whippets (5-1,3-0) maintained their share of first place
with Clear Fork by beating Highland (56-21) last Friday night.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they got a lot better shots in the second
half on Friday night. “I think
we got better as the game went on. I
really like our defense and how we're adjusting and moving and talking.
Obviously, there's things to grow on there.
Offensively, I think one of the difficult things is, probably for a
lot of coaches, especially high school level, is when you play super
aggressive defense. We want to
be aggressive offensively, we want to play fast, but at the same time we
want to be composed to work for really good shots,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I think we had some forces or some
quick shots that probably weren't the best shots early on in the game. I
thought the second half we made a really good adjustment and we were getting
some nice open looks. We knocked
down some threes and then got some layups to follow.
So, I was pleased with just how much they focused and learned and
improved through throughout the game. We
have got to keep doing that because we're going to get tougher and tougher
games as it goes.”
Lantz says the kids are accepting the roles that they need to play
and that is making them a better team. “The
way that we play I want everybody to be able to attack, so I think a lot of
times for some of these kids it's bigger and different roles than what
they've played in the past. We
want them to really work hard on their reads in practice so that in a game
it becomes more natural. I think
they're doing that as we go along here.
Sometimes kids try to do too much whereas if we can reel them back in
and get them to focus on one thing. Like
Sophia Long, we told her the one game, we're like we don't want you to focus
anything but on defense. Your
offense will come just focus on defense, we want you to lock this player
down and I think she takes that to heart and she's done a really, really
good job for us. So, sometimes
it's as simple as getting a kid to focus on one aspect of the game to not be
overcome by the whole game,” said Lantz.
River Valley (2-2,1-2) comes to Shelby on Thursday night.
The Lady Vikings beat up Marion Harding (60-31) on Friday night.
Lantz says they do a lot of things well.
“They are a good program. They've
got some aggressive guards, they've got some physical girls inside, they're
going to be aggressive defensively, they move the ball, they've got some
kids that can shoot the long ball and can finish strong inside.
So, I mean it's going to be a game we need to play tough, smart
defense, be aggressive at the same time and then offensively we need to
continue to grow and really work for a good shot,” she said.
Published 12/13/23
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Shelby
Wants to be Shelby
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference co-leader, entertains
Highland in a conference game on Friday night.
The Lady Whippets (4-1,2-0) lost for the first time this year when
Bellevue beat them (53-40) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.
Coach Natalie Lantz says Bellevue just shot the lights out.
“Yeah, I thought Bellevue was the better team that night.
They had to have shot 85% or better, even on contested shots, the
first half, which you know dug us a hole.
I thought we did a really good job of working our way back.
I think we cut it down to five at one point and then you get into a
fouling situation towards the end and that put us away,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “I'm pleased with the way we
fought back second half and I'm really excited really with the growth
potential of this team. So, I
would love to see them again maybe come tournament time, but they're very
good team. The film I watched,
even from the Clear Fork game they didn't shoot as well and unfortunately
they flipped the switch Tuesday night against us.”
Lantz says the players came in with an attitude improvement, which
put a smile on her face. “A
lot of learning, a lot of growth. I
thought we came in with our heads kind of all in the same place (Wednesday)
for practice and the girls did a really good job.
They dialed in going into another practice now before we play
Highland. I'm excited about you
know how far this team can go this year,” she said.
Highland (2-3,1-1) beat Cardington (42-31) on Tuesday night in
non-conference play.
Lantz says the Lady Fighting Scots really play as a team.
“They're young and they're they play hard they have some speed.
They're going to switch up some D's.
They play really good ball together, like you can tell they're a
close knit team, which I think can carry teams really far.
I think we still want to stick to our game plan and do what we do
well. So, that will be our main
priority and something that we're going to continue to focus on down the
road here. I'm excited to get
back on the court and see what growth looks like from Tuesday night to
Friday night,” said Lantz.
Published 12/8/23
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Shelby
to be Tested by Marion Harding
Shelby, the defending Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champ, opens
defense of its title on Thursday night at Marion Harding, a team that will
be in the mix this year.
The Whippets host Galion on Saturday night.
Shelby opened the season by pounding Madison (72-44) last Friday.
Alex Bruskotter had a triple double for the Whippets.
Coach Greg Galloway says he’s happy with how they played.
“We were really as a staff proud of the way our guys came out with
some energy against Madison. Reviewing
the film, there's definitely things that we need to work on as far as
execution goes both offensively and defensively, but as far as our guys
saying connected and playing together, we were really proud about that.
I think we ended up having 20 assists as a team, which is always a
great statistic to look at. It
was great film for us to in terms of moving forward and get better,” he
said.
Marion Harding also beat Madison in its first game, (57-42) last
Saturday.
Gallaway says the Presidents are loaded with very good players.
“They're really talented. They
bring back a lot of letter winners from last year's team and even a transfer
from Olentangy. It starts with
Marquis Long, their senior leader. He's
a first teamer last year in our league, he's just a really good scorer, gets
to the rim, and a great athlete. Then
after him they have a guy and Trey Cady and Braylyn Dyer that can really
fill up the scorebook,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon,
“I mean those three especially jump out to you that you have got to
contain them and you have got to make them take tough shots.
It can't be one guy guarding those guys, it's got to be five guys
thinking on the defensive end and making those guys really work for their
shots. Then they have other
pieces too. Coach (Jamie)
Pearson does a really good job as far as getting them to play his style.
We have got to go over there with the mindset to go out and compete
with Marion Harding.”
Gallaway says when you are the defending champion everybody has you
circled on their schedule. “We
feel that with anybody we play. Last
year, we went over to Harding and they beat us.
They played really well and were able to beat us at their place.
As far as defending a title talk, we don't we try not look too much
into that because it kind of goes away of our mentality in terms of just
attacking the opponent. So,
that's stuff that we have got to look at. We
have got to play our style basketball for four quarters,” he said.
Published 12/07/23
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Shelby
Has to Handle Harding Pressure
Shelby, one of the defending champions in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, will play its first league game of the season on Thursday night
at home against Marion Harding.
They play at Galion on Saturday in conference action.
They started the season with wins over Margaretta (43-32) last
Wednesday and Upper Sandusky (44-20) on Saturday night.
Coach Natalie Lantz says she was pleased with the start.
“It's good to walk away with a couple of wins.
Definitely good competitive teams, very good, quality wins I would
say, especially kicking off the season with Margaretta, real happy with the
way we defended. There's a lot
of work to do yet, a few things we'd like to tweak defensively and
offensively. We just need to do
a better job of getting things moving and making good decisions
offensively,” she said.
However, Lantz knows there is a lot of improvement that needs to be
done. “I've seen growth just
this week at practice as well. We're
excited to play Harding, they're an athletic group.
We're excited to pick up with “MOAC” play and work towards some
goals that we have set this year,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
night, “I think the biggest thing that we need to continue to stress with
the girls is that one play at a time, next play mentality.
I'm seeing some really good things, I'm loving our depth, and
everybody's contributing in one way, shape, or form and is helping us put
together hopefully a really, really quality team here this year.”
Marion Harding (0-1) lost (50-26) to Olentangy Berlin last week.
Lantz says they Lady Presidents have solid guard play and they are
going to press the Lady Whippets a lot.
“I think they have two really, really nice guards that are able to
you know handle pressure, they're nice shooters, one’s probably a little
bit better three-point shot, but they can both drive, they can the shoot,
which makes some nice versatile players, they're aggressive defensively.
So, I mean we're going to have our work cut out for us.
We need to be able to handle their pressure, we expect full court
pressure from them, some half court traps as well.
So, I think we're ready hopefully for their pressures and we just
have to go out and execute,” said Lantz.
Published 11/30/23
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Shelby
Must be Focused
Shelby, the defending champion in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
beings its season on Friday night by hosting the Madison Rams in a
non-league game.
There has been a lot of talk about how good the Whippets can be this
year with a lot of guys back from a team that lost to Lexington in a
division II district semifinal last year.
Coach Greg Gallaway calls it noise and he says they can’t pay any
attention to it. “That's that
we try to talk about, you can't control the noise and you have got to just
try to stay connected as a group. So,
that’s something that we really try to get dialed in as a team, just
staying connected with each other and really gathering thoughts with us
instead of people outside of our team. So,
it's tough, especially as a 16, 17 year old high school kid to not get
involved with that, especially with how much social media has grown.
It's going to be important for us to just stay worried about us,”
said Gallaway.
Gallaway says he has seen some good things in practice and the
players are pushing each other to become better.
He says that have to continue to work on becoming a better team on
defense. “Scrimmages are done
and we had scrimmages set up to hopefully show progression in our three or
four scrimmages that we had. We
feel that we're making the right steps, but we're still not where we want to
be and that's stuff that we're continuing to try to show more consistent
effort in practice, especially executing defensively,” he old
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “That's one of our big things
right now that we're trying to focus on is the team.
As far as our seniors and trying to help hold each other accountable.
That's something that we're really encouraged on right now and our
guys pushing each other at practice. So,
it's been really good to see.”
Madison lost a lot from year, including their top two scorers in
Jayden Jeffries to graduation and Seven Allen to a transfer to Lexington.
However, Gallaway says he knows they will be physical.
“We don't have any game film. Game
one is always hard in terms of prep, especially when you're just watching
scrimmages because you can't relate the two too much.
We know they lost some guys to graduation last year and to transfers,
but coach (Chris) Armstrong just does a great job with those guys every year
in getting them to play their style of play and playing hard extremely hard
and physical. So, we have got to
be ready for that Friday night,” he said.
Published 11/29/23
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Shelby
Faces Aggressive Margaretta
Shelby, the co-champion in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last
year, hosts Margaretta, the winner of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay
Conference, Wednesday night on the opening night of the girls’ basketball
season.
Other openers on Wednesday include Madison at Clear Fork, Mt. Vernon
at Ontario, Bucyrus at Marion Pleasant and Upper Sandusky at Van Buren.
You can follow those scores on our scoreboard page at www.swankonsportshosting247.com.
Shelby coach Natalie Lantz says she feels they are improving and she
their communication has gotten better. “I
mean I think you always see a big improvement in the first couple weeks, but
I like what I've seen in our group from the scrimmages. I
feel like we're moving the ball a lot better.
We're starting to talk and defend better,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Margaretta, they're returning on
a trip from the final four, in the state, so that I know they have a good
squad. They lost four really
think talented seniors, but I expect them to be basically picking up
momentum where they left off last year.”
Margaretta won a regional championship last season in division III,
but they graduated four outstanding seniors off that team, including Kylie
Leibacher.
However, Lantz stresses that Margaretta is still a solid team.
“I think Ray Neill is a great coach and he does a really good job.
They play aggressive they've got guards that can shoot or get to the
rim. They've got some length as
well. They're very aggressive on
the defensive end. So, I mean
we've got our work cut out for us,” said Lantz.
Lantz says when you face a team like Margaretta you can’t back
down. She says they want to
attack. “I mean you can in a
high pressure game you can you know back yourself into a corner or you can
attack it. Our goal is to attack
it. So, I think we have a good
game plan it's getting out there and executing,” she said.
Published 11/22/23
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Shelby
Has Great Chemistry
Shelby is the defending champion in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
and have the look of a team that going to be very good again this year.
Making it to the regional semifinal in football, the Whippets
didn’t have all of their kids in practice until last week.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they are used to that at Shelby and they
will deal with it. “Yeah, a
little bit shorter. Obviously,
we want our football team to have as much success and play as long as they
can in the fall and when we get our guys back we'll start working with them.
So, we had a little bit of delayed start compared to other schools
but it's okay, we're used to that here.
We just try to get our guys ready to go,” said Gallaway.
Shelby begins its season at home against Madison in non-conference
play on December 1. Their first
conference game will be the following Thursday, December 7, at Marion
Harding.
Gallaway says the extra week in the preseason this year is helpful
for the Whippets. “It helps
us. We got done playing on a
Friday and we got the majority of our guys back that following Wednesday and
we end up scrimmaging that Saturday. So,
just having three practices with like a full roster and then going to
scrimmage was a little bit difficult, but we're back in the routine with
practices and scrimmages. That
extra week was able to help us before we get ready for December 1st,”
he said.
So far, the team has had great chemistry, according to Gallaway.
“We have got we got eight seniors and that's really helped with
that process. We’ve got a
group that's just really connected and I think on and off the floor they
genuinely like being around each other, which is really important as far as
our chemistry goes. So, even
with the delayed start I think part of that transition being smooth has been
the eight seniors we have got and how close they are together,” he said.
Among those eight seniors is Wright State signee Alex Brushkotter and
second team all-MOAC picks Casey Lantz and Issaiah Ramsey.
Plus, Gallaway says they don’t have to do much teaching to do.
“We're very fortunate and those eight seniors, they're great kids,
they put a lot of time into basketball and within the offseason.
There it's not as much reteaching for us in the preseason, it's
getting our guys back into basketball shape and getting them with the flow
of you just transition back to the court,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday Afternoon, “We're fortunate to have eight seniors keeping our guys
accountable through our program from freshman up.”
Published 11/21/23
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Shelby
Wants to Play its Game
Shelby plays defending state champion Cleveland Glenville in a
division IV regional semifinal at Elyria High School on Friday night.
Last week, they outscored Van Wert (36-6) in the second half and
thumped the Cougars (71-41) in a quarterfinal game.
Sophomore quarterback Brayden DeVito threw for 425 yards and four
TD’s and ran for more than 100 more and a couple scores.
This season, the Whippets have been a second half team many times and
coach Robert Mahaney says they were able to do that again last week.
“I thought our execution offensively was awesome.
I thought our kids had a great week of preparation and stayed process
driven and did the things that they needed to and it showed on Friday night.
We were kind of like the team we've been all year, we're able to go
into halftime and calm down and kind of have a really good third quarter.
That's kind of been our trademark this year.
Just a team that is able to come out of halftime really take
advantage of the momentum and get things going our way.
I thought our kids did a great job with that scoring right out of
half and getting stop and getting another score and kind of putting things
back and letting our defense kind of pin their ears back and have fun and
playing fast. I thought our kids
did that and to credit to our kids they stay process driven and do a great
job of executing well when it matters most,” said Mahaney.
Shelby had more than 660 total yards against Van Wert.
Glenville (9-3) waxed Napoleon (44-7) last week to advance.
Mahaney says the Tarblooders have a number of gifted athletes.
He adds the formations they run are similar to other schools they
have played this season. “I
mean you're talking about the defending state champs and a team with really,
really good football players with you know 10 different kids with D-one
offers and all that kind of stuff. For
us there are some similarities, things that we can point to.
They play a 4-2 box, which we see in a lot of this year, they play
man coverage, which we've seen a lot this year.
Offensively, they run schemes that we've seen all year.
I think at the end of the day, they have some talent, but we just
have got to continue to do what we do and say process driven and take care
of ourselves and play Shelby Whippet football,” he said.
Glenville also has two state runners-up, and four semifinal
appearances to its credit. They
have produced many great football players, including Heisman Trophy winner
Troy Smith and Ted Ginn, Jr., the son of their coach Ted Sr.
However, Mahaney emphasizes they aren’t playing the Glenville
Tradition, they are playing the 2023 team.
“You can kind of see on film in my opinion, you can see the teams
when they're playing Glenville you get to see how teams react differently.
Teams that are in awe and the teams that go there to compete.
We want to be a team that goes to compete.
It's huge honor, it's a huge credit to our kids, that we're playing
in week 13 and so we want to take that opportunity and run with it.
To stay process driven, to continue to get better, to continue to
play for the guys in our locker room, and to continue to do all of those
kind of things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We get a
chance Friday night to extend our season.
To go out there and play four more quarters as a football team and
hopefully find a way to keep this season alive and keep our team going for
one more week. I think our kids
are excited for that opportunity. Our
preparation through two days has been awesome and I'm excited to see our
kids go out and compete.”
Published 11/08/23
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Shelby
Must Make Explosive Plays
Shelby, the co-champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, will
host the Van Wert Cougars in a division IV regional quarterfinal on Friday
night.
They advanced with a (40-0) clocking of Cleveland Central Catholic
last week.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were very good on both offense and
defense last week. “I thought
our kids did a great job of coming out and executing the game plan
offensively and defensively. I
thought defensively to get a shutout and in 2023 to get it in back-to-back
weeks. Our kids are playing
really well defensively and doing a really good job and we have to continue
to do that. Offensively, we have
got to continue to make plays and continue to get better up front.
If we can do those things then we have a really great opportunity
this Friday,” he said.
Van Wert has a history of beating teams from this area in the
playoffs. They got Sandusky
Perkins last season, Clyde and Port Clinton in 2021 and Bellevue and Shelby
in 2020 on their way to a state title.
Shelby (9-2) entertains Van Wert on Friday.
The Cougars beat River Valley (48-30) last week, kind of coasting in
the second half.
Mahaney says they do a lot of different things on offense.
“I think they're extremely well coached.
They do things really well offensively.
They will spread you out with their quarterback and throw the quick
screens and take shots over the top. I
think what they do offensively is awesome to watch.
I think defensively they challenge in coverage, they fly around and
get to the football and they're extremely physical team,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They're battle tested, they play a
really good conference. These
kids win playoff games, they've been a part of that.
Their seniors were freshmen on a championship team and a team that
was a regional finalist last year. I
mean they expect to get into the playoffs and they expect to win games and
so we have got to be ready to play a team like that.”
Mahaney says as usual the Cougars have playmakers.
“I mean you look at their quarterback this year, he's got almost
2,000 yards passing and 1,400 yards rushing. I
mean he's a really good athlete. He
was a really good running back for them last year.
Now he's taking over that position and done tremendously well.
So, he's going to get his touches, he's going to get his chances to
make plays. We have just have
got to try to limit the amount of big plays that they make.
We talked about it a lot through the year, but we want to win the
explosive play battle. I think
that'll be the big testament to the win Friday night because their offense
can create explosive plays and we try to create explosive plays offensively.
So, I think whoever can win that battle has a great chance to win
Friday night,” said Mahaney.
Published 11/02/23
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Shelby
Girls Have Great Potential
Shelby, the defending co-champion in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, has the talent to have another excellent girls’ basketball
season.
Veteran coach Natalie Lantz says they have some pretty high goals
they would like to accomplish this year.
“I think the girls have some lofty goals, but I think there's
certainly some goals that are within reach, but they also know that it comes
down to each and every day at practice and how hard we work to make
ourselves and our teammates better. Then
little by little doing our jobs once we finally get a chance to take the
court in game situations. So, I
really liked these first three days that we've had. I
think they've done a fantastic job. They're
working really hard and they they'd like to fight for another “MOAC”
title and push for the sectional and district title as well.
I like their goals. I
think they're achievable, but we've got a lot of work to do,” she said.
Lantz says they have four seniors on their roster, only two that
played last season when they went (20-6) for the year.
“I really like who we have back and a lot of it is girls that have
gotten some experience over the last year or two.
We will actually have four seniors, unfortunately only two of them
saw time last year. Mal Gundrum
got her knee one week into practice last year, so she was out as a junior.
We had looked for Mal to probably be one of our top players.
I mean she's just a great athlete, great vocal leader on the court.
So, Mal will be joining us back this year, which gives us player
number three. Then our fourth
senior this year will be Maggie Bogner, who has not played since middle
school. She got her knee as a
freshman and hasn't played since, but Maggie has a lot of just natural
intuitive play, especially at the point and guard positions.
So, we're really excited to get Maggie back on the court with us.
I think she's going to bring some versatility and some just
confidence at the point guard spot for us.
So, four seniors you know, two with good experience from last year in
Lexi Booker and Sarah Reiser,” said Lantz.
Lantz says they also have some underclassmen, led by first team
all-league selection Eve Schwemley. “We
have a slew of juniors that got really good time for us last year, including
Eve Schwemley, Sophia Long, Serena Ramsey, Charlie Niese and unfortunately
with Trinity Baker, she has a lot of guard experience for us and backup
point guard behind Demi Hipp, got her knee in July.
So, she'll be sitting and helping us coach and cheering on her team
from the bench this year. I'm
just hoping she recovers. We're
working through different things, but really, really like who we have back
and what their capability is,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday night,
“They've all grown. It's just
neat within other varsity sports they just become more and more confident as
they get older. Also in that
group, you have Lexi Mohn and you have Alyssa Niese.
So, we have a lot of veteran play back this year that have experience
at the varsity level. I think
that's a really good group to start with and then we have some younger kids
both in the freshman sophomore class that are really going to push us at
practice, which I really like,” said Lantz.
Published 10/31/23
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Shelby
to Face Aggressive Cleveland CC
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference co-champion, hosts Cleveland
Central Catholic in a first round playoff game in division IV on Friday
night.
The Whippets (8-2), #4 in the final Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, blanked Marion Pleasant (23-0)
last week to earn a share of the title with Ontario.
Coach Robert Mahaney says their defense was outstanding.
“I mean defensively it was our best game of the season.
I thought our kids did a tremendous job of coming out and executing
the game plan defensively and doing what they needed to against a Pleasant
team that does tons of stuff offensively.
I think it's a credit to our kids and our defensive coaches and they
did a great job. I thought
offensively at times we didn’t execute at a high level, but defensively
for four quarters we played extremely well and we're able to get our first
shutout in a long time,” he said.
It was the Whippets first shutout since they blitzed Willard (63-0)
on the third week of the 2018 season.
Cleveland Central Catholic (4-6) lost (45-0) to rival Cleveland Villa
Angela St. Joseph last week.
Mahaney says the Ironmen have speed on both sides of the ball.
“They have some running backs that are very good and they can take
small gains and make them into big plays.
So, we have got to make sure we're in there.
They like to get the ball out quick in the passing game, so we have
got to be able to defend that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
night, “Defensively, they like to fly around.
I would say it’s more about speed rather than having big bodies in
there. I mean they fly around
and get to the football. They'll
bring six, seven guys at times and we have got to make sure up front that
we're sound and trust our rules. Again,
as always, try to execute a high level.”
Mahaney says they have to execute better than they have at times this
year. He says they can’t get
themselves into down and distance problems.
“We’ve talked all week about just trying to be process driven to
do things the right way. We have
got to make sure that our negative plays or our bad plays we don't get five
yards behind the sticks or 10 yards behind the sticks.
We have got to continue to move the ball forward rather than going
backwards. We've had a bad
tendency at times when we get stagnant offensively of having penalties or
having big minus plays. We've
been fortunate enough to make that up at times, but now that we're in the
playoffs we have to make sure we clean everything up and try to execute the
best we can and try and do everything we can to find a way to win and keep
this season alive,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/27/23
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Shelby
With a lot of the Line Again
If Shelby beats Marion Pleasant on Friday night, the Whippets will do
no less than share the title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference and they
could win it outright.
Right now, the Whippets share first place with Ontario.
The Warriors play River Valley on Friday night.
Shelby created the tie when Whippets scored with less than a minute
to play on a hook and ladder play from Brayden DeVito to Casey Lantz to
Issaiah Ramsey. Then Ramsey
preserved the win with an inception in the end zone on the last play of the
game to beat Ontario (37-31) last week at Ontario.
Coach Robert Mahaney says it was about players making plays.
“I give a lot of credit to our kids.
They did such a tremendous job of riding the wave of momentum of the
game and at the end of the game finding ways to make big plays.
Offensively, we needed two big plays and got them and had a big
score. Had to drive almost 90
yards at the end of the game to get score and did it.
Then got a stop with our backs against the goal line. I
think anytime you can go out there and make those plays you give a lot of
credit to our kids and I’m proud of the way that they finished that game.
At the end of the day, it was a great high school football game.
Ontario did a great job. Their
kids are talented and they played well, they're coached well, they do a good
job. A week nine game with all
that on the line is all you could ask for and I was extremely proud of our
kids and how they handled it all,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (7-2,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, plays host to Pleasant (6-3,4-2) on Friday
night. The Spartans blanked
Marion Harding (36-0) last week. They
can share the title by beating Shelby and having Ontario lose to River
Valley.
Mahaney says this is a dangerous team that makes plays.
“First of all, they're extremely well coached.
Defensively, they do a lot of good things, they hustle, they get to
the football. They have got a
lot of kids that are athletic and get to the ball.
They do a good job there. Offensively,
they're extremely well coached. They
do a ton of stuff, they give you multiple formations in multiple playsets
and play action and this and that and they do a ton of stuff,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Their quarterback is a really good
football player. He kind of
drives the offense and he does a tremendous job.
They do a good job of scheming guys open and their kids make plays.
I think for us it’s going to be a great challenge.
We have got to be ready to come out and play four quarters on Friday
night.”
It is very important that the Whippets beat equally as engaged this
week as they were last week, according to Mahaney.
“I think when you look at, I think Pleasant is a really good
football team like we just talked about.
For our guys, we kind of talked about how we want this to energize
our program going into it. You
have a big game week nine let's use that to energize us going into week 10
with again everything on the line. If
we can find a way to win this week then we're able to be a conference
champion, which is what all the teams in the State of Ohio, that's what they
set out to do. If we can
accomplish that that’s what we want, but it's going to be a tough
challenge. We've talked to our
kids like we talk to them all year about being process driven and it's
stacking great practices on top of each other and let Friday take care of
itself and hopefully if we can do that it would be just an exciting time for
our kids and hopefully we can come out and execute the best we can,” said
Mahaney.
Published 10/18/23
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Whippets
Have to Make Explosive Plays
Shelby can move into a share of the lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference if they can win at unbeaten Ontario on Friday.
If Ontario wins, they take the title outright.
Last week, the Whippets (6-2,4-1) found themselves tied (14-14) with
Clear Fork in a conference game before pulling away to win (36-21) and keep
themselves in position.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they have been good at making halftime
adjustments. “I think that's
one thing throughout the season that we've have done a really good job of
coming out after halftime and kind of gaining momentum and seizing control
of the game. I thought we were
able to do that. Obviously,
there's some things we need to clean up still.
Good football teams grow week in and week out and we have got to
continue to do that. I think our
ability to go in at halftime kind of calm ourselves, refocus, make a little
bit of adjustments and come out in the second half and play well has been a
big key for us this part of the season,” he said.
Ontario (8-0,5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, is coming off a (34-0) win over Marion Harding
last week. The Warriors have
four shutouts this year.
Mahaney says they don’t have weaknesses on either side of the ball.
“I think when you watch them on film. I
mean they're good at every single position.
They don't have any weak spots. They
have a really, really good football team.
Like I said, they're solid at every single position.
They're big up front, they have skilled players that make a ton
plays. They have got a
quarterback that's one of the best quarterbacks in the area.
He is extremely dynamic and makes a ton of throws.
For us, it's going to be really a challenge to stop their offense.
In terms of them defensively, they've had like four shutouts, so they
play really good defense. It's
going to be a challenge for us on both sides of the ball.
Of course, sitting here in week nine and playing in a very meaningful
football game, we're excited for the opportunity,” said Mahaney.
Shelby’s offense has been very explosive this season, averaging
over 40 points a game this fall.
Mahaney says to make those kinds of plays this week, they must
execute very well. “I think a
lot of it comes down to the same keys a week in and week out.
They're extremely well coached and so we have got to make sure we do
our best to not beat ourselves. Make
sure we execute at a high level and not have any missed assignments.
We have to protect the football and make sure we don't give them any
extra opportunities. We have got
to create explosive plays,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night,
“We have got to find ways to break tackles, block to the whistle and just
do the best to try and give our playmakers opportunities to make plays.
Then up front, like I said, blocking to the whistle and executing.
They do a really good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and
controlling the run game with their front seven.
Their back four play extremely well in coverage.
Again, they just have a lot of really, really good football players.
All 11 on the field at all times, they're really, really good
football players that are extremely well coached.”
Published 10/12/23
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Shelby
Needs to Refocus
Shelby, now back a game in the standings in the “MOAC”, will play
at home against Clear Fork on Friday night.
They now trail Ontario, who they play next week, by a game.
River Valley got a big play TD with less than 10 seconds to play to
beat the Whippets (28-24) last Friday.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they have to learn from that result.
“I think we made some mistakes throughout the course of the game
and made some mistakes at the end of the game too.
I think it's just how things happen whether it's in life or whether
it's in football. We talked
about earlier in the season too, we have got to learn from those mistakes
just like in life. We challenge
our kids to come back (Monday) and we could get right back into being
process driven and understand because it's a new week, it's a new day.
We're going to turn the page and try to get back to trying to be
great every single day and stack great days together.
I thought our kids did a great job of that (Monday),” said Mahaney.
Shelby bounced back the last time they lost a game, (35-33) to
Bellevue on week three, and Mahaney says they do that same thing again.
“We had like 13 penalties for like 140 yards last week, so we have
got to learn to we can't beat ourselves.
We have got to make sure we're sound and disciplined and play some
better football. I think we can
do that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Like I said, we've
done this earlier this season. We
learned and matured and grew as a football team.
Obviously, last week didn’t go the way we wanted, but it is still
an opportunity for us to grow as individuals and as a football team and
that's what we have got to try to do.”
Shelby (5-2,3-1) entertains Cleark Fork, the defending league
champion on Friday night. However,
the Colts have lost six straight after a (35-7) pounding administered by
Marion Harding last week in league play.
Mahaney says they cannot take a win for granted.
“I think they're still a Clear Fork football team that plays with a
lot of pride and they play really hard.
We've have played Clear Fork every year since I've been at Shelby and
we know what they're capable of and know what those kids are.
They have some young kids that are getting a lot of experience and as
those kids get experience and the kids that they have been banged up get
healthier. I mean they're a good
football team that can do lots of different things as those kids get game
experience and get healthy. For
us, like we just talked about it, for us it's a lot about getting back to
what we need to do as a football team and individually.
Clear Fork is who we play, but we got to make sure that we don't beat
ourselves and get ready to play an “MOAC” game that over the years has
been very meaningful. We have
got to make sure we're ready to step up and kind of bounce back and be ready
to go for this week,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/03/23
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Shelby
Faces Up Tempo River Valley
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at
River Valley in a conference game on Friday night.
The Whippets share first with Ontario.
They play the Warriors in two weeks.
Quarterback Brayden DeVito threw for 248 yards and three touchdowns
in the Whippets hammered Highland (48-14) in an “MOAC” game last week.
Maybe more importantly, the Whippets held All-Ohio running back Dane
Nauman to just 60 yards.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were very good tacklers against a big
back. “I thought our kids did
a great job of executing the game plan, trusting one another and doing their
part defensively. Then we
rallied to the football and tackled at a very high percentage.
We were like at 91% when we broke it down, which I think was our best
game of the year. So, that was
exciting to see our kids rise to the occasion against one of the best
players in the State of Ohio. So,
anytime you can do that you're going to be pretty happy about it,” he
said.
Shelby (5-1,3-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, travels to River Valley (2-4,1-2) on Friday
night. The Vikings have scored
more than 40 points three times this season, including a (64-43) win over
Pleasant two weeks ago. However,
they lost (27-13) to Marion Harding last week.
Mahaney says their pass offense is very good, led by quarterback
Chase Ebert. “They throw the
ball really well. Their
quarterback is a difference maker. He
can make a lot of throws all over the field, he extends plays. They
give you different formations and different routes that can be difficult to
guard. Up front they pass
protect well. If you try to
stunt and do different things or twist, they do a good job of picking it up.
Even last week when they didn’t score many points, but I thought
their quarterback showed a ton of toughness,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday night, “He took a lot of hits against Harding and finished the
game and played strong and it spoke to him as a quarterback and the
toughness that he has. So, we
have got to be ready to go to River Valley, which is always a tough place to
play, and we're ready to play a ton of snaps because everything goes fast
and that makes the game long, so we have got to be ready to handle that.”
Now, the Vikings have given up some points this year too, some of
that due to the tempo that they play, and Mahaney says they give you a
number of different looks. “I
think their defense fires out and gets to the football. I
think their secondary does a good job of getting out in their coverages.
They have some long athletes that go up and make plays on the ball in
the air. They give you some
different fronts up front that can kind of challenge you and challenge the
run game. They like to load the
box and trust those guys in the secondary.
So, for us it's going to be identifying the front and trying to trust
our rules and making plays and when we get a chance to.
Again, I think they rally to the football really well and so we have
got to try to execute at a high level, block to the whistle and protect the
football and make big plays where we can,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/29/23
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Shelby
Has to Tackle
It’s a big game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this week as
the Shelby Whippets host Highland on Friday night.
Shelby shares first in the conference with Ontario.
Highland is a game back.
The Whippets outscored Galion (38-6) in the second half and blew out
the Tigers (62-36) last week. The
Whippets amassed 612 yards on total offense.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they did a good job responding in the
second half. “I thought our
kids did a great job of coming out after halftime and executing the game
plan and kind of wear Galion down and making some big plays when we needed
to and the third and fourth quarter. We
talked about it that night that we had some adversity right before halftime.
We had a turnover and they got a score and I thought the kids did a
great job of responding and scoring on that first drive, getting stop, and
scoring again and just kind of getting some momentum and finished the game
out strong,” he said.
Shelby (4-1,2-0) hosts Highland (4-1,1-1) in an “MOAC” game.
Highland beat Marion Harding (47-14) last Friday after losing (34-17)
to Pleasant in their first conference game.
Mahaney says Highland can throw it, but they want to run the ball
first and foremost. “I think
they definitely do want to run the football. I
mean they have the returning division V player of the year, the player of
the year in our conference and he's a really good football player and we saw
that first hand last year at their place what he can do when he gets
started. I mean he's a
tremendous football player. They’re
physical up front. I think their
quarterback has done really good job this year and he's able to beat you
with his arm and the receivers are making plays.
Offensively, they're really well-rounded, but again they're going to
run the football and especially when you have a player as good as their
running back, that's what happens,” said Mahaney.
When it comes to containing Dane Nauman, Mahaney says you must tackle
well and get a lot of players to the football.
“I think we have to do the best to try to win at the last
scrimmage. We have to be gap
sound, we have to make sure that we try to gang tackle as much as possible
to try to get as many guys to the football. I
mean we have got to win our tackling percentage.
We had to tackle at a high rate and try to do our best ability to get
him to the ground. When you're
playing as good a player as him there's no such thing as an ugly tackle.
We just have got to get him down by any means necessary.
Hopefully, our guys are up for the task,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday evening, “I think defensively we've done a great job through
five games and now we have to back end of this season and obviously a huge
challenge this week you know playing against one of the best players in the
state of Ohio. We have got to do
everything in our power to try to slow him down.
We know he's going to get a lot of touches, but we have to do
everything we can to slow him down and rally to the football and try to get
him down when we can.”
Published 9/20/23
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Shelby
Has to Stick it in
Shelby plays host to Galion in what shapes up as a huge game in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.
The Whippets (3-1,1-0) dominated 55 minutes of the game in hammering
Marion Harding (45-14) in “MOAC” play.
Harding scored a couple times near the end of the second quarter, but
coach Robert Mahaney says they came out and scored right away in third
quarter. “I thought our kids
did a great job of handling this adversity.
We didn't finish the first half like we wanted to, but they came out
of halftime and did a really good job of responding to that.
We talked about we need to get the momentum back and make some plays
to find a way to score and then get a stop and score again.
That’s exactly what we needed to do.
I think there's going to be tons of adversity throughout the season
and throughout life learning to handle that right now it is great for these
guys,” he said.
Galion (4-0,1-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, whipped Clear Fork (35-3) in an “MOAC”
game last week.
Mahaney says they have playmakers all of the field on both sides of
the ball. “They do a lot of
things well. I think coach
(Matt) Dick does a tremendous job of coaching those guys.
Offensively, they have got a lot of different guys that can make
plays. They give you a lot of
different formations and they're tough and physical up front.
One of the biggest and best offensive lines in North Central Ohio.
Gabe Ivy is a really, really good running back, the quarterback uses
his legs and his arm and they have got tight ends that can make plays and
receivers. So, I think
offensively coach Dick does a great job and these guys are really good kids
and they're senior heavy. They're
battle tested and they've been through some stuff,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Defensively, I mean their front
seven is extremely good. They
have good defensive lineman that can get after the quarterback and create
havoc with run game and then their linebackers fly around and get to the
football. Then they're back end
there does a really good job coming up.
I think offensively, defensively they're very sound football team and
that's why they had a big win last week.”
Shelby has a high octane offense, but Mahaney says to get on the
scoreboard consistently against Galion they have to be disciplined and avoid
turnovers. “I think that we
need to execute at a high level and I think we need to be sound up front.
Their front seven tries to create some chaos, they blitz and stunt
and change their alignments and do a bunch of stuff.
We have to stay rule sound, know what we're supposed to do in each
play and stick to it and not let some of the eye candy or all that kind of
stuff you know distract us. We
have got to stay disciplined and stick to our rules and try to make some
plays where we can. Then
obviously the biggest thing is we have got to protect the football and we
have got to find a way to score. When
we get close to the goal line in the red zone we have got to make sure we
get the ball into the end zone. That
was something that hurt us a lot last year, especially against these guys
last year. So, we have got to
make sure we find ways to get the ball in the end zone,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/15/2023
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Shelby
Has to Refocus
Shelby did not win the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title for the
first time in four years and they want it back this fall.
That pursuit beings on Friday night at Marion Harding.
They lost for the first time this year last week when Bellevue beat
them (35-33) in non-conference play.
Coach Robert Mahaney says he was really proud of the players effort.
“I thought our kids played extremely hard and gave us a ton of
effort and just the scoreboard didn't go our way.
I was extremely proud of our kids.
A lot of credit to Bellevue and the team that they and the coaching
staff that they have. We knew it
was going to create some adversity for our team.
When you have that first taste of defeat you know the bond is going
to be tested. I think our kids
have done a great job of responding. We
talked all the time about just trusting the process and buying into it and
the scoreboard, and all of those kinds of things, will take care of itself.
I think our kids did a great job of resetting on Saturday morning and
then this week and have done a great job of buying back into and getting
into practice and turning the page and getting ready for Marion Harding,”
said Mahaney.
In practice this week, Mahaney says the kids have had good focus on
what their goals are with the program. “Again,
we want to be process driven not result driven.
So, we have to make sure we get back into doing what we need to do
and that that goes for everybody from our coaching staff to our players to
everybody involved in our program. I
think our kids learned from it and now we're ready to move forward.
We talked about on Monday we need to have the best Monday possible,
the best Tuesday possible, the best Wednesday and then obviously (Thursday)
we have a great practice before we go play a game on Friday.
We have got to take care of the things that we can control and
hopefully we're teaching lessons not only for this season but for life as
they move forward into the future,” he said.
Marion Harding (1-2) smoked Newark (34-14) to earn their first win of
the season last week.
Mahaney says the Presidents are an improving team that has a lot of
good players on both sides of the ball.
“I think they they've grown a lot from each week. I
think if you look at their scores from week one to week two and then to week
three, they've grown a lot as a football team.
It’s a new coaching staff that I think is getting a lot out of
them. I think they're doing a
really good job and you can just see that by the growth that they've had
every week as a football team. Last
week, they had a big win over Newark and they did a lot of really good
things,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They have some really good players
defensively at all levels and some corners and DB’s that can really cover.
They do a good job offensively, I think their quarterback is one of
the best quarterbacks that that we're going to play this season.
He can make all the throws, he can run, he can do a lot of things. They
have a good scheme where they're going to spread you out and try to attack
you with something.”
Mahaney adds that traveling down to Marion on a bus is never easy and
they are going to need a solid effort to win.
“Going to their place. It's
a long drive for us. Just
watching the film, they were really excited to play at home last week, so we
have got to be ready to go there and be ready to play four quarters from
start to finish and find ways to score points and find ways to get stops.
Hopefully, in the end the scoreboard takes care of itself,” he
said.
Published 9/07/23
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Shelby
Takes on Stingy Bellevue
Shelby faces its toughest challenge of the season as they play at
Bellevue in a non-conference game on Friday night.
Last week, the Whippets punished Lexington (50-19) as sophomore
quarterback Brayden DeVito threw for 387 yards and accounted for five TD’s
against the Minutemen.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were able to make some big plays.
“We want to try and generate explosive plays.
We've done a really good job of that through two games and that's
something obviously we want to continue to do.
We feel like the team that can create more explosive plays has a
better chance to win the game in the end.
That's something that we try to win every week.
I thought our kids did a really good job of coming out and executing
the game plan offensively and defensively.
We had a couple of turnovers that we need to clean up it, but our
defense did a good job of responding. There
was some good learning that took place and hopefully as we get ready for a
really good Bellevue team we can take what we've done week one and two and
then get ready for week three,” said Mahaney.
Bellevue (1-1) beat Wauseon (26-3) last week.
Mahaney says Bellevue is tough and physical and they are well
coached. “Like every Bellevue
team that I have faced, they're extremely well coached.
Coach (Ed) Nasonti is one of the best coaches in the State of Ohio.
He does a tremendous job not only in season, but all season with
their strength and conditioning program and in season too with how they
manage, the formations they give you and defensively how sound they are.
They just do a really good job as coaches and then their kids are
extremely tough and physical and play Bellevue football.
They know what the standard is and they do a really good job of year
in and year out living up to that standard,” he said.
The Bellevue defense allows only about 130 yards a game.
Mahaney says they are outstanding on every level.
“I think they're very disciplined and well coached.
Their kids stick they don't get they don't bite up on things, they
make you earn it. I talked
earlier we've had a lot of explosive plays and they've only given up two
through two games. So, they do a
really good job of limiting explosive plays.
They run to the football and they gang tackle. Their
defensive line is tough and big. I
think defensive ends run really well and they have linebackers that are
really good. The (Jax) LaPata
kid is a extremely good linebacker. Their
defense gets sideline to sideline. Their
DB's are long and cover a lot of space,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday night, “I mean you you're talking about a defense from the front to
the back that has a lot of really good football players and then they play
extremely sound football. They
rally to the football and then they tackle really well.
So, I mean it's a challenge because you know that they're going to
stay very disciplined. There's
not a lot of x’s and o’s stuff that you can try to break down because of
how well they're coached and how well disciplined they are and so it's a
challenge for any offense, especially for us.”
Published 8/29/23
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Shelby
Faces Talented Lexington
Shelby plays it’s home opener on Friday night as they entertain the
Lexington Minutemen in a non-conference game.
In their first game, the Whippets (1-0) spotted Madison and early
score, but whipped the Rams (41-14) on the road.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were a physical team.
“I was really proud of our guys.
I thought all off season, all preseason, and obviously, through the
first week we challenged them to play for one another and to execute at a
high level, just trust the process, to be process driven.
I think our kids saw the results of doing that on Friday night.
We did a really good job of controlling all we can control trying to
be a physical football team and the running game and stopping the run.
Hopefully, we continue to do that throughout the season because it's
something that's has been a big emphasis for us up to this point it and
going forward it will be as well,” said Mahaney.
The Whippets likely have one of the best pass games in the area.
However, Mahaney says the want to be able to run the football too and
consistently. “I think that's
kind of what we want to try to do. We
can establish a running game and Skyler Winters, our tailback, had almost 90
yards and Brayden (DeVito) had almost 100.
So, with those two guys back there they give us some playmakers in
the backfield. Our biggest
emphasis has just been the offensive line trying to execute together and
play together and again trying to be physical.
I think there are times where you can be explosive and you can throw
the ball, but at the end of the day in high school football if you look at
teams that win consistently, it's teams that run the football.
We want to be a team that can do that when we need to,” he said.
Lexington (0-1) lost at the horn to Ontario (17-14) in their first
game.
Mahaney says the Minutemen have great athleticism on both sides of
the ball. “I think Lexington
is a really good football team. They
have talent all over the field. I
think their defensive line is explosive.
They have got some good experience too up there.
They have got kids that can make plays, linebackers fill well, their
DB's challenge receivers really well. I
think defensively they do a lot of things really well,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Offensively I think again they're
super talented. I mean they have
got guys all over the field that are explosive and can make plays.
They have got receivers. Seven
Allen and Branden Foggle are two of the best athletes in Richland County. We
have got to make sure we know where they're at.
I think like in they have running backs that are big and physical and
run hard. An offensive line that
is physical. Then they have a
quarterback that has played a lot of basketball for them.
He's a kid that is ready to take over and he's going to do a really
good job.”
The Shelby coach says they are going to have to be in good form if
they want to win. “In my
opinion that they got a lot of pieces and a lot of talent.
So, we have got to be ready to go Friday.
Playing at home for the first time we're going to have some extra
excitement, so kind of calm the nerves and get ready to play a really good
football team,” he said.
Published 8/23/23
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Shelby
Faces Some Unknowns
Shelby, hoping to return to top of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
begins the season on the road at Madison in non-league play on Friday night.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they have been getting better as the
preseason unfolded and he hopes that continues.
“I think we are taking some great steps as a football team.
To look at where we started off in May and through June and July and
then obviously the first part here of August I think we've gotten better
every day and have committed to trying to learn the little things and to get
better at those. I think you
just look at the two scrimmages and I thought there are things you wanted to
focus on each scrimmage and I thought our kids did a really good job of
honing in on those things and getting better from the first scrimmage to the
second scrimmage. Then you get to week one and obviously it's the first game
and it's the first time under the lights and all that kind of stuff.
Week one, there's a great learning experience as well.
We want to do whatever we can to try to find a way to win, but it's
going to be a great learning experience for us as a team.
Hopefully, we continue with the steps that we've taken each week and
we take another one on Friday night,” said Mahaney.
As well as you might have played in the preseason, Mahaney says being
under the lights for the first time when everything matters can be
different. “It’s the first
time under the lights, the band, everybody's there, students sections, all
that kind of stuff. I guess the
butterflies get the adrenaline going. At
the end of the day, you have got to remember that we're coaching 14 to 18
year kids and they're going to feel a lot of emotions that night.
A lot of times week one it's about calming them down and trying to
get them to focus on what they've done all through practice all year to get
them ready for that moment and still playing with energy to represent their
community and their parents and our team and all that kind of stuff. Week
one is fun because it's the start of the season everybody's excited snf it's
a unique game because we have got to calm everybody down and just try to get
them the focus. I think our kids
are excited for the opportunity, but we're going to learn a lot about
ourselves on week one,” he said.
Madison is coming off a one win season and has a new coach in Brent
Besancon, so Mahaney says there are a lot of unknowns with the Rams. “They
also had their second scrimmage cancelled because of the storms last week.
We've seen their first scrimmage against Clear Fork and they did some
really good things. They're big
and physical and up front. They
want to run the ball and did a good job of that and they want to stop the
run defensively. So, it's going
to be a really good challenge for us in the trenches on both sides of the
ball. So, that's going to be
good for us. I think their
quarterback is a really, really good football player. I
thought that last year with what he was able to do.
I think him coming back with the experience he gained last year would
be really good for them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I
think that the (Will) Kepple kid is also a really good defensive player that
flies around it gets to the football. So,
I mean they have a lot of pieces and we haven't seen a lot from them.
There's not a lot of film obviously with their new coach out there
and so we have got to be ready for everything on Friday night because it’s
an unknown. It adds to the
excitement I suppose like we've been talking about week one going against an
opponent and not really sure what you're going to see, so it builds some
excitement for us and for our kids.”
Published 8/16/23
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Shelby
Ready to Make Some Noise
It seems year after year the Shelby Whippets are playing good
football.
Now, last season at (5-6) was not one of their best, however, coach
Robert Mahaney says they are doing the kind of things in the preseason that
are going to make them a solid football team.
“I think right now our kids have done a tremendous job buying into
the process. I think so often we
worry about the results and all those kinds of things.
What we've really tried to do this summer is to focus on the little
things and be process driven and trusting in what we were doing every single
day and stacking the days on top of each other and I think our kids have
really bought into that. We
obviously know we have the end goals of you know winning games on Friday
night and doing all those kind of things, but we want to focus solely on
what we're doing that day, focus on the little things you know each day and
I think we've done a tremendous job of that.
Our kids have bought into that, our seniors have stepped into the
leadership roles very, very well. I'm
excited for these kids. We get
to scrimmage (Friday) morning. It's
our first chance to compete against somebody else this season against two
really good teams in Sandusky Perkins and Colonel Crawford, so I think it'll
be really good for us and we're excited for the opportunity,” he said.
Shelby has sophomore Brayden DeVito back at quarterback after
starting all but one game as a freshman.
Mahaney thinks he as the rest of the offensive has great potential.
“Being able to plan in the whole you offseason and then now our
offense and all those kind of things around Brayden and the experience he
gained as a freshman being able to start 10 games for us, playing the 11,
and to have him back. I can
honestly say again, talk about your process driven, Brayden had one of the
best offseasons, one of the best springs, played a lot for our basketball
team in the winter and did tremendous job for a very successful basketball
team. Then as soon as basketball
is over I mean he was there the next day in the weight room and has had a
great spring it has a tremendous job continuing to get better every single
day and working with our receivers and working with our quarterback coach,
coach (Gabe) Helbert, he's a tremendous job with Brayden,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “He played with a lot of these guys
last year and obviously having Issaiah (Ramsey) back is going to help him a
lot outside Casey Lantz, Nic Eyster, Myles Hall, Maverick Noel and all those
receivers as well have had a really, really good summer and we've had some
other sophomores step up so we're excited to see what they can do this
year.”
On defense, Mahaney says they have developed a trust and that’s
key. “I think we’ve got a
lot of guys back that have some experience playing for us and again our
defensive coordinator coach Jon (Amicone) does a great job of getting our
guys to buy into one simple philosophy and that is to do their job. I
think we do that we have to know what our job is on defense and then what
our job is to do. I think our
kids do a good job of trusting each other.
One of the biggest things we focused on this offseason was building a
better team bond cause defensive football is all about having a bond and
trusting the guy next to you. I
think our kids have done tremendous job of buying into that and playing for
one of another so far in the summer. Until
we see some live bullets (Friday) it’s just going to answer some questions
for us at some different key position battles we have.
I love our kids energy so far, I love our enthusiasm defensively and
I know I trust in our defensive coaches so I'm excited for our kids to get
out there and compete defensively,” said Mahaney.
Published 8/04/23
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Late
Rally Puts Ontario in District Final
It was like Ontario could smell a big inning, but not get the big hit
until sixth inning when they scored five times and went on to beat rival
Shelby (7-2) on Thursday evening in a division II district semifinal at
Fremont Ross High School.
They will return Saturday at noon to face Clyde, a (1-0) winner over
Bellevue in the first semifinal, for a chance to punch a ticket for the
regional tournament.
Shelby took a (2-0) lead in the bottom of the first when Eli
Schwemley walked, Camden Wheeler doubled and Alex Brushkotter singled them
both home.
There was no scoring until the top of the fifth, when Shelby starter
Landon Kennard walked the first two hitters.
A bunt by Colton Ramion loaded the bases.
Kennard then walked Jaden Leach with the bases loaded to force in a
run. Nic Eyster relieved for the
Whippets and struck out Gage Weaver, but Carter Weaver tied the game with an
excellent suicide squeeze.
Then came the fifth. With
two other Peyton Dzugan walked, Ramion singled and Leach walked.
That was followed two run hits by Gage and Carter Weaver and a RBI
single by Carter Walters.
Ontario had runners on third in the third and fourth and didn’t
score, but coach Mike Ellis says they came through, especially in that fifth
inning. “We felt like if we
could get runners on and get the defense moving, that's the biggest key get
the defense moving. I mean then
they can make bad throws, they can make errors and stuff.
So, I told them right from the start.
They're going to come out fast, but it's a long game, so don't get
upset, don't think about it and we just have got to keep plugging away,”
he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I'm very proud of them.
They never gave up. Each
inning, we kept making noise and it's like we got guys on maybe we didn't
score, but it’s like alright next inning we will get them on and we'll get
them in. So, I couldn't be more
proud of this team after everything we've gone through this year with ups
and downs.”
Shelby had beaten Ontario twice during play in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, but Whippets coach Jon Amicone says they are an outstanding team
that is getting hot at the right time. “Give
Ontario credit. First off, I
want to tip my cap to them. That’s awesome baseball team loaded with
talent and it seems like they're finally putting together.
They have to be reckoned with. I
can see them going far past the district,” he said.
Overall, Shelby pitching had six walks, three to the bottom third of
the order and Amicone says they just gave the Warriors too many chances.
“Our guys kind of lost strike and you can't do that against a
quality team. We continuously
walked the bottom of the order to bring up their guys.
It seemed like every time they had guys on the bases Gage Weaver or
Carter were up. We did it a few
times got away with it and it finally it bit us late in the game.
We just need to understand you can't help a good team like that,
especially when their studs are coming up,” said Amicone.
With the chances they had to get runs, Ontario was not producing, but
Ellis says they remained patient. “I
kept telling them to see more pitches, be patient up there, don't be
swinging at the first pitch and they executed.
We've been talking all year about execution and stuff and (Thursday)
the squeeze I think that got the guys really fired up. I
mean you have to give Shelby credit, they're well coached.
Jon (Amicone) does a tremendous job over there,” said Ellis.
Carter Weaver went the distance on the mound for the Warriors.
With game tied at (2-2), the Whippets loaded the bases in the bottom
of the fifth, but Weaver got Eyster to fly to center.
He then struck three guys over the next two innings.
Ellis says their pitching has improved.
“(Carter’s) a workhorse. My
pitchers at beginning of the year were young.
They threw some innings last year, but as the year has gone on they
have matured. You can see it now
late in the season. Even with
Dzugan pitching a one hitter against Sandusky. They're
where I thought they would be and that's what I'm hoping for,” he said.
Clyde beat Ontario (8-7) in a regular season game earlier this month.
Ellis says it will be a game where they need to play well.
“We have got Clyde. We
played them a couple weeks ago or so. We
have our hands full,” he said.
Published 5/26/23
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Shelby
Gets Upper Sandusky
Shelby, playing some outstanding baseball as of late, continued that
trend of Monday with a (6-3) win over Northern 10 Athletic Conference
champion Upper Sandusky in non-conference baseball.
Coach Jon Amicone says it was a good test for them.
“It was nice for Upper Sandusky, we already played them once this
year, to play them again and for them to want to play us.
We were very thankful for that. They
have had unbelievable season you know ranked in the state.
Our guys played extremely well (Monday) night.
We knew we were going to have to bring our “A” game because Upper
is a tremendous baseball team, so I was very happy with our play (Monday)
night,” said Amicone.
Amicone says Upper (22-3), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball
coaches poll in the large school division, has been able to score a lot of
runs this year and Monday night their pitchers threw well.
“You know top to bottom it’s a really productive lineup. Our
number one, Landon Kennard, went (Monday) night, but was on a strict pitch
count and once he got that pitch limit after the fourth inning we were able
to get Nic Eyster, our next pitcher, some work,” he told Swankonsports.com
after the win on Monday night, “To get our one and two some work going
into Friday’s game was really important to us.
We wanted to get some work for our bullpen for the week.
We wanted them to be hitting on all cylinders come Friday for our
tournament game.”
Shelby (16-7) will host either Madison or Willard in a sectional
final on Friday evening.
Amicone either of those teams will be a challenge for the Whippets.
“I mean Madison is playing as well as any team right now in the
area. They knock off Wooster and
I think the week before that they knock off Ashland.
So, they're playing really good baseball right now.
Willard has the pitching that can shut you down.
The Robinson kid has had a really good year for them as well as some
other pitchers that have had some really big, quality wins.
So, we know it’s tournament time.
We know we have to bring our best game Friday otherwise it will be
short tournament for us,” said Amicone.
Published 5/16/23
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Shelby
Handles Ontario
Shelby swept its series this week with rival Ontario in Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference play beating the Warriors (9-2) in action at Ontario on
Wednesday evening.
They beat Ontario (9-1) at their place on Tuesday.
Coach Jon Amicone says they got off to a good start offensively
Wednesday and that was a big key. “We
were able to have a really big inning early on in the game and that allowed
our pitching and our defense to kind of settle in,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night after the win, “We were fortunate
enough to the second inning to do some things offensively through our lineup
to produce some runs. When your
able to get that many runs early it really allows people to kind of relax
and just play the game.”
Amicone says if you can score some runs early in the game and get a
lead it makes everyone feel more comfortable.
“Especially early on in the game.
Our pitcher (Wednesday) night, Nic Eyster, did a great job pitching
with the lead. Once we got that
six run lead after two he really kind of bared down and started pounding the
strike zone with two different pitches.
He did a nice job of pitching with that lead and filling up the
strike zone and our defensive nice job backing him up,” he said.
Shelby (14-6,8-6) has won five of its last seven going into the
division II tournament next week, where the Whippets will play either
Madison or Willard in a sectional final.
Amicone says they preach the idea of getting better every day and the
kids have bought into that philosophy. “I've
been very proud of our guys effort in practices that we've had.
We run really competitive practices and we want to be playing our
best baseball at this time. Our
kids are really bought into the idea of getting better every single day and
it’s started paying dividends and hopefully we can continue to kind of run
that we've been on,” said Amicone.
Published 5/11/23
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Shelby
Does Damage to Clear Fork’s Chances
Shelby played the role of spoiler on Thursday as they beat Clear Fork
(8-3) in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play knocking the Colts two games
behind Highland with two to play.
Highland beat River Valley (9-4) to remain unbeaten in conference
play.
Shelby (11-6,6-6) got an RBI single from Elijah Schwemely and a
two-run double from Alex Brushkotter in the top of the third inning to make
it (3-0) Whippets. Kaden
Riddle’s run scoring single in the bottom of third made it (3-1).
Shelby put it away by scoring four runs on wild pitches in the top of
the seventh inning. The Colts
scored twice in the bottom half, but it was not enough.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says they took advantage of their
opportunities, something they didn’t do on Wednesday night.
“Our kids did a nice job of taking what they were given and really
pushing the envelope when we got opportunities to score some runs the kids
did a nice job of finding a way to do that,” he said.
Clear Fork (15-3.10-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches
poll in the large school division, coach Gabe Kennedy says Shelby did a
better job executing than the Colts. “Shelby
executed bunting the baseball and running the bases extremely well.
Kennard kept us off the base paths and did a nice job going after our
hitters. They put pressure on us
and we didn’t make the plays. Tip
your cap to them. The little
things they did right ended up being too much to overcome.
They are a good team and very dangerous for anybody left on their
schedule,” said Kennedy.
On the mound, Amicone says Landon Kennard turned in a solid effort in
what was a big game for both sides. “Landon
Kennard, our senior, did a great job. It's
the biggest game of the year and when you have big games like this you want
to be able to trust that senior to give him the ball and to lead your team.
That kid really bowed his neck for us and gave us really six strong
innings,” said Amicone.
It really looks like a wide open division II district and Amicone
says Thursday shows how good they can be.
“I think you always want near the end to be playing your best
baseball. So, for our guys to go
into Clear Fork and beat a team of that caliper and they're playing some of
the best baseball in the state in division II right now,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “Our young guys showed that they can play
with anybody when they are playing the game the right way.
So, hopefully we look at this as not only a win, but lesson on good
we can play when we're playing the game the right way.”
Published 5/05/23
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Clear
Fork Shuts on Shelby
Clear Fork remains a game back in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
race after beating the Whippets (5-0) at Shelby on a blustery Thursday
evening.
They remain a game behind Highland.
They play Scots twice next week.
They are scheduled to host Shelby on Thursday, but due to field
conditions there is a chance that game will again be at Shelby.
Coach Gabe Kennedy says again Kaden Riddle put them in position to
win the game. “Kaden Riddle,
another fantastic outing by him. He's
a senior captain and he gives us six shutout innings and he really gave us
an excellent effort. I mean that
kid played in the North-South All Star game for football over this past
weekend, so he missed some days of baseball.
He gets back to practice on Monday and he's ready to grind it,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night after the win over Shelby, “He
was obviously going to be our pitcher (Tuesday) and the game got cancelled
and pushed back, so he’s the guy (Wednesday) and he was he was ready to
go. That's just what we expect
from him, he's a bulldog on the mound. He's not going to have 12, 15
strikeouts a night. He makes
them put the ball in play and then our defense has been really good for us
lately.”
Shelby (10-6,5-6) coach Jon Amicone says they did not take advantage
of their opportunities Wednesday. “Clear
Fork made the most of the opportunities given to them, and we did not.
The great teams make people pay for giving them extra outs and Clear
Fork did that,” he said.
Kennedy says they got some clutch hitting and some pretty good
defense too. “We had some
timely hitting. It felt like it
took a while, but Ty Sellers has been a kid who has been working his butt
off for us and he had a huge two run single I think with two outs that
really helped us out. With Kaden
on the mound, I always feel comfortable that a couple runs is kind of all
you feel like you need sometimes. Ty
Sellers was great there. Defensively
Mason Samson made a diving catch in right field, if he misses that ball it's
an RBI triple. It's just guys
like that who are willing to throw their bodies out there to make a play for
each other,” said Sellers.
Clear Fork (15-2,10-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches
poll in the large school division, plays Shelby again Thursday and Kennedy
says it’s a game they need to win. “We
kind of approach every game like that. I've
said this before there are no days off in the conference.
There are no days off out of conference.
I mean at this point of the season your record is kind of what you
are. It's like we've got a
gauntlet the rest of this week, we have got Shelby (Thursday) and then
we’ve got Lexington on Friday and then next week we've got Madison.
Highland, Highland and then Fredericktown.
So, our kids want to play tough competition here we go, we're going
to have that,” he said.
Published 5/04/23
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Shelby
Downs River Valley
Shelby had only won one Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game in three
weeks, but they handled River Valley (7-1) in a conference game at Shelby on
Tuesday evening.
Coach Joe Amicone says it was a good, solid win for the Whippets.
“It was nice to get back on the right track.
Our kids really wanted this one.
They were very focused and understood what we need to do to get back
and winning track. So, it's nice
to see them kind of play the game they wanted to play,” he said.
There have been some injuries this season for the Whippets (7-5,4-5),
but Amicone says they are not going to use that as an excuse.
“Unfortunately, injuries happen and we understand that, but
regardless who's in the lineup or out on the field we expect our guys play
at a high level,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We have
great depth that's caused by our assistant coaches or coaching staff does
really nice job getting all players ready to go regardless of level.
We have got in some tough times, but that happens whether it's us or
another team, that's the way it goes, so we don't hide behind that and
that's no excuse for the way Shelby baseball is expected to play.”
Amicone says they turned to a veteran on the mound and he says Landon
Kennard turned in an outstanding effort.
“It was nice, Landon Kennard, our senior, was on the mound in kind
of a must win game. He did his
job through five strong innings using his fastball and offspeed pitches
effectively. He's a guy we're
going to lean on when we start to get into tournament play, so he did a nice
job of kind of keeping River Valley bit off balance.
Offensively, we got off to a nice start scored six in the first and
to be able to kind of coast our way through, but we understand that there's
some runs we left out on the field that we need to understand we need to get
in the future to be successful,” said Amicone.
Published 4/26/23
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Shelby
Shuts Out Norwalk
Shelby started its baseball season by shutting out the Norwalk
Truckers (7-0) in non-conference play Monday in the christening of the
Whippets new baseball field.
Coach Jon Amicone says they got quality pitching from four different
guys on opening day. “Really
pleased with our guys. We had
four pictures combined to throw the shutout, so our pitching staff there did
a really nice job of kind of limiting damage with runners on base and
throwing a lot of strikes for our team to keep our defense you know into the
game,” he said.
Amicone says they were able to get kids into scoring position by
playing a little small ball and taking advantage.
“I thought our guys did a nice job from top to bottom of our lineup
being really productive in our outs. They
only struck out four times all game, so even when we were getting outs, we
were able to move runners. I
thought we bunted it extremely well and we ran the bases well and that's a
testament to our kids,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night after
the win, “We spend a lot of time on base running, so when we see those
opportunities in games to either swipe a bag or take a base or get a dirt
ball read, we want to do it. I
thought the guys did a nice job of doing that.”
Shelby plays Marion Pleasant the next two days in their first series
in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Amicone says he thought it was important to get out on the field
Monday and play some baseball to insure they are ready to go Tuesday.
“I think that's why it's so crucial that we played (Monday). It
was cold out and windy and rainy and drizzly rain, but those at bats are
important, those situational defense and offense is really important for you
to get those live reps. It's the
way it goes and everyone in the conference is dealing with it and all over
Ohio. So, we must understand
that we have to be ready to go (Tuesday) and Wednesday,” said Amicone.
Published 3/28/23
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Shelby
With Less Experience
Shelby has enjoyed a lot of success in recent years on the baseball
diamond and they are looking to continue that this year with what will be a
less experienced lineup.
Coach Jon Amicone says they will be breaking in a lot of new kids,
but they have already shown some maturity.
“Our guys have been practicing really hard and we're going to have
a relatively young team. We
graduated eight seniors, including the guys like Marshall Shepherd, who
moved on to play baseball at Walsh, Blane Bowman, who was All-Ohio and
Jeremy Holloway, a first team all-league player.
So, we lost a lot of good players to graduation,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “That tends to happen, but I've
been very pleased with what we've seen so far from our young team.
They showed a lot of maturity over this offseason.
They put in the work and I think they realize now it's their turn and
they want to continue the legacy that some guys have built here.”
Something that is normal with the Shelby program, Amicone says they
have been using these cold days to work on fundamentals, something he says
is a big part of their success. “When
you get 30 degree weather, you're in the gym or you're inside. I
think that's when you can really work on those details. I
think that's an opportunity and that's what we tell our guys to work out
those little things that you can't do when your outside.
When you get this time outside, we really want to focus on the team
aspect, cut systems, getting our guys live BP on the field, but when you're
inside you can really focus on those little details that win or lose you
baseball games,” he said.
Shelby christens a new baseball field this spring and Amicone says
that is something all of the players and the coaching staff are pretty proud
of. “We're very fortunate, and
I hope, and I've seen so far that that our players really are fortunate and
they know it to be able to play on that field. That's
big thank you Scott Rose, that was his vision, the entire Whippet complex
was his vision, along with Tim Tarvin, our Superintendent, and the
board’s. They've done an
excellent job of updating all the facilities at Shelby.
It's something our players and our community should really be proud
of and our guys know what comes with that.
They're going to respect this new field and they're going to make
sure that you know it's as nice as possible,” said Amicone.
Published 3/15/22
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Lexington
Beats Shelby at the Horn
Lexington’s Alex Depperschmidt went the length of the floor to lay
it in at the buzzer and the Minutemen edged Shelby (76-74) in overtime
Thursday night in a division II district semifinal at Ashland High School.
The Minuteman (20-4) will play Sandusky (23-1) in the district final
on Saturday afternoon. The Blue
Streaks beat Mansfield Senior (84-75) in the first game on Wednesday.
“(Assistant) coach (Mason) Willeke always talks about it, how many
seconds left, how many dribbles you get.
Joe (Caudill) got a great rebound and I ran and the ball kind of came
to me and I drove and threw it up there,” said Depperschmidt.
Coach Scott Hamilton says he trusted his kids to make the play.
“That’s just one of those deals where you just kind of rely on
your seniors to make a play. We
were calling some simple stuff at the end and just try to let those guys
create a little bit. A couple of
times, we were asking just to put the ball on our seniors hands to be able
to do something well for us and rely on their experience and when it came
right down to it “Al” just kind of stepped up and went the full length
of the floor. Big rebound from
Joe Caudill too that kind of got us started.
Just a great effort, great game, great district semifinal. That's
what you want to play for,” said Hamilton.
Frankly, it was just the kind of tournament basketball game that any
fan would love, except those that support the team that comes up on the
short end, but that is why the call it “The Trail of Tears.”
Shelby (20-4) scored last nine points of the first quarter, six of
them by Alex Brushkotter, to take a (15-11) lead after one period of play.
Their led grew to five at (20-15) after a Max Hess score with 6:07 to
play until halftime, but Lexington took their only of the quarter at (24-22)
when Baden Forup scored with 3:57 remaining.
Shelby led (29-26) at the half.
The Whippets pulled away in the early stages of the third quarter
taking an 11-point lead (44-33) with 3:44 left in the quarter after a basket
by Bryson Baker. Again, it was
Brushkotter leading the way as he scored eight more during that stretch.
Lexington scored the last four points of the quarter and the Whippets
led (51-44) after three.
Lexington started the fourth with an (11-4) streak and Elijah Hudson
tied the game at (55-55) on a three with 4:55 on the clock.
Brushkotter immediately scored five straight points to put Shelby
back up (60-55) with 3:57 to play. Back
came the Minutemen and Forup tied it at (62-62) with 2:08 remaining.
His two free throws gave Lexington their first lead of the second
half (66-55) with :59 seconds on the clock.
Brushkotter put Shelby back on top with two charity tosses with :29.6
seconds remaining. Forup’s
goal in the post gave Lexington a (67-66) lead with nine ticks left in
regulation, Lexington freshman Brayden Foggle fouled Brushkotter on the
inbounds play, his fifth foul. Brushkotter
made his first free throw, he missed his second, and the ball with tipped
out of bounds and awarded to the Whippets.
They got off a final shot, but didn’t make it, sending the game to
overtime.
Brushkotter made to free throws with 2:37 left in overtime to give
Shelby a (68-66) lead, but he would then foul out on a charging call,
leaving the game with 37 points and 13 rebounds.
Hess scored twice for Shelby and Hudson and Moore scored a goal each
for the Minuteman and Moore added two free throws to leave the game tied at
(74-74) and the ball in Shelby’s hands, but Hess missed a shot with more
than seven seconds left and the final play then unfolded.
Shelby coach Gregg Gallaway says his kids gave him everything he
asked and more. “I think we
did everything that we were coached to do all week at practice.
We had a great prep week. I
thought our scout team did a great job getting us ready for this game. I
thought we made some adjustments from the first time they played.
It just came down to one play and sometimes it just doesn't turn out
in your favor. I'm just really
proud of our guys and the effort they put in (Thursday) night,” said
Gallaway.
Gallaway says Brushkotter was a warrior for them.
“His is a great player for us.
He got us in this position. It
was unfortunate that he wasn't there to finish it with us, but he left
everything out there. Along with
the points, he did a great job keeping their big off the glass, he rebounded
heck out of basketball tonight. I
mean he had 13 rebounds against the best rebounding team that we have
played. He just does so much for
us. We're happy especially happy
to have him another year,” he said.
Casey Lantz added 18 for Shelby and Hess 12.
Foggle, again just a freshman, led the Minutemen with 22.
Forup has 18 and 11 boards, Hudson 16 and Moore 13.
Depperschmidt had four.
Shelby is a team that really wants to push the tempo and at times so
did Lexington, but Hamilton says they had to be smart about it.
“There were a couple of times when I said on a change of possession
we have go to get up the floor we have got to go as quick as we can, but
there were also times when I said hey we're not going to make this a track
meet,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We didn't want to get
up and down the floor too much. We
still wanted to be able to run our half court stuff.
We were able to do that at times and got some key buckets for us when
we really needed a bucket. The
guys executed well and then the foul situations were not in our favor, so
that was something we had to deal with as well.
We told the guys everybody that was on the bench (Thursday) night
everybody that saw the floor you know you guys contributed in a big way.”
Lexington has been forced to defend some tremendous scorers in
tournament play in Brushkotter and Willard’s Max Dawson, who had 32 in the
sectional final last Friday.
Hamilton says they are excited to play Sandusky in the district
final. “Bruskotter is a tough
match, there's no question about it. We
see Dawson in our first game and then we see Bruskotter in our second game
and now we've got to you know district runner up player of the year for the
coaches association (DeMar Moore) in the district final, I mean you know
when are we going to get something easy?,” he said tongue and cheek,
“We're excited to be playing for a district championship again.
It's one of the things that is our goal every year to make it back to
the district and hopefully right now we're just surviving and moving on,”
he said.
Published 3/03/23
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Shelby
Has to be True to Themselves
Shelby plays Lexington on Thursday night in a district semifinal in
division II.
The winner plays either Sandusky or Mansfield Senior for a district
title on Saturday afternoon.
Now, some will say this a rematch of their regular season game on
Valentine’s Day, won by Lexington (66-59) at Shelby.
However, Shelby coach Greg Galloway says this is going to be a
different game in many ways. “Obviously,
our guys can talk about playing that game a couple weeks ago, but I think
myself, and I think coach (Scott) Hamilton as well, you don't look at that
game at all. I think both of the
teams are going to take that into consideration.
It's tournament time, I know that game was not that long ago, but
we're doing things different, they're doing things different, we can't
expect the same things to happen. So,
I don't think you can look at it too much in the depth because you know
again it it's tournament time. You
take wins however you get them and survive in advance, so I think honestly
the team that looks too far into that game that's something as a coach you
worry about,” said Gallaway.
Shelby (20-3) beat Ontario (70-47) for their sectional title last
week and the Minutemen (19-4) edged Willard (58-56) for theirs.
Gallaway says both teams are going to come out and do what they do
well. “I think both teams have
had a lot of success this year. I
think the one thing that both teams can talk about when they address this
game is they want to do things that they do extremely well.
For them, a lot of that revolves around their physicality and how big
they are,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I think
that's been a staple of their success this year is getting it down low to
their big guys and to the posts and scoring off offensive rebounds, second
chance points. So, that's going
to be something that they want to continue to do.
For us, we're going to try to do a lot of things that have been good
for us all year. So, I think
that's and there are going to be adjustments that are going to be made, but
I think one thing that both teams can say is they're going to stick to what
has got them to this point.”
Gallaway says certainly wanting to play fast is something they want
to do. “We want to play fast,
that's what has been a strength for us this year.
I think one thing with Lexington this year opposed to teams that
they've had in the past I think they are trying to get out and run.
They have got athletes that they feel comfortable running down the
floor in transition. So, it's
something that they don't feel necessarily uncomfortable with when it's a
fast-paced game. That's
something that we want to do. Like
we address every game, we want to control the pace and I think that's going
to be a big point emphasis for us looking ahead,” said Gallaway.
Published 3/02/23
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Shelby
Plays Ontario Again
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, takes on rival
Ontario on Friday night at Madison High School in a division II sectional
final.
Ontario (12-10) rallied from nine points down with 3:12 to play
Wednesday night to beat Clear Fork (62-59) to advance.
These two teams just played last Friday with Shelby winning (74-43),
but Whippets coach Greg Gallaway knows Ontario is going to make some
adjustments. “You see teams
play each other again in the tournament that met up in conference play, but
to play them back-to-back, you don't always see that.
So, it's definitely a tricky situation where we just prepped for them
last week and then we have got to prep for them again,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We're not going to see the same
team that we saw last weekend. For
us, we're going to make different adjustments and they're going to make
different adjustments. So, it's
still a big prep day for us here, but we have got to just stick to what we
do and we have go to make sure we're focused on detail.”
Ontario will be without Gage Weaver, who was thrown out of Wednesday
night’s game after two technicals and Braxton Hall, who did not play
against Clear Fork due to an ankle sprain.
Gallaway says the kids they will face won the game for Ontario and
looked impressive doing it. “No
matter who they have got on the floor we are familiar with their personnel.
Now obviously, I know they have an injury as well too and they're
trying to play different lineups and they might not be used to it.
Just watching them play against Clear Fork the other night for a
sectional semifinal game rally back eight, nine points with a couple minutes
left and to pull out that win. It
was very impressive to see and watching them click on both ends with those
guys that they had on the court. So,
those are the guys that we're going to see and they're going to come into
this game with a lot of momentum,” said Gallaway.
Gallaway says they have to be ready to Ontario to show them some
different wrinkles on Friday night. “As
coaches you look at things you did well in previous games, you look at
things you need to work on and then those are adjustments that you want to
make in your practice. So, I'm
sure just like we are trying to work on adjustments things that we can
improve on they're going to do the same.
So, that's why you can't look too much into it a game that you just
play and expect to see the same things because that's not realistic at
all,” he said.
Published 2/24/23
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Shelby
Faces Tenacious Norwalk in Districts
Shelby takes on Norwalk on Thursday night in a division II district
semifinal at Ashland High School.
The winner will play either Bellevue or Sandusky Perkins for a
district title on Saturday.
On this past Saturday night, the Lady Whippets played a strong fourth
quarter to pull away and beat Port Clinton (57-46) to win a sectional title.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they made some big plays when they had to.
“I think we played two solid quarters against Port Clinton.
I thought we got off to a great start and then we finished strong,
but we kind of kind of let down a little bit second quarter and the third
quarter. They made some nice
adjustments and I don't know that we responded to them as quickly as we
would have liked. What I like is
our girls stayed the course, stayed tough and finished strong.
They're a good team. Much
improved from the past couple of years.
They have got good leadership with their point guard DC Lanier, but
we were able to finish.”
Shelby (18-5), the co-champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
plays Norwalk (20-3) on Thursday night.
The Lady Truckers rallied from a double digit deficit to beat
Mansfield Senior (55-50) in their sectional final.
Lantz says they have an outstanding player in Brooklyn Davis and she
says they are tenacious, and that was evident on Saturday night.
“We got to stay and watch the whole Norwalk and Mansfield game and
we knew whoever we'd be playing is going to be a good team.
Our district is tough. We've
some obviously great coaching staffs and teams to go against and Norwalk is
a great team they bring a lot of energy,” she told Swankonsports.com on
Monday afternoon, “They've got some young guards, but they've got some
experience with the Brooklyn Davis inside.
She might not be a really huge post player or forward, but she
finishes extremely well, very aggressive, very strong defensively, great
footwork and plays off two feet inside, which you like to see on a on a good
forward. They're just a great
team, they move the ball extremely well, they move the ball fast and their
defense is tenacious.”
Lantz says they are going to need to have a very performance to win.
“It's going to be a tough game.
We've got to come in and for sure play 32 strong minutes or we're not
going to be able to come out on top in this one.
I can guarantee my girls are going to fight, as they always do, and
they're going to work hard for us and we just have to execute well both ends
of the court,” she said.
Published 2/21/23
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Shelby
Goes For Outright Title
Shelby already has a share of the title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference and they can earn it outright with a win on Friday at rival
Ontario.
If they lose, they might have to share it with River Valley.
On Tuesday night, the Whippets dropped a non-conference game (66-59)
to Lexington.
Coach Greg Gallaway says the Minutemen made the right adjustments in
the second half. “Tuesday
night, first off, it was just a great atmosphere.
We had a packed crowd here at Shelby.
Lexington brought a lot of fans.
It was two really good teams playing against each other.
Credit to Lexington, they step up in the second half making some
adjustments. We just didn't
execute down the stretch like we like to, but you we're going to learn from
it and again we got a big one Friday here,” he said.
Shelby (18-3,12-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, makes the short trip over to play
at the “O-rena” against the Warriors.
Ontario (12-9,8-5) lost its last “MOAC” game (58-31) to Marion
Harding last Friday. They lost a
non-conference game (49-44) to Bellevue on Tuesday night.
In the first meeting between the teams, Shelby beat Ontario (82-67)
at Shelby on January 13.
Gallaway says the Warriors have gotten a lot better since then.
“I think some things that stick out are the two brothers, the
Weavers, I think they're just drastically improved as the season has gone
on. Gage Weaver, I think is very
underrated in our conference. He's
a guy that can score inside, he'll bring the ball up for them and he just is
very versatile, really good rebounder and can guard one through five,” he
told Swankonpsorts.com on Thursday afternoon, “Then his brother Carter has
just improved a lot this year just being a long, athletic wing that finishes
really well at the hoop and also rebounds the ball extremely well.
So, I think first going it starts with stopping those two.
Then they have got a bunch of guards that have the ability to stretch
the floor and shoot, so we have got to make sure that we locate shooters and
we're able to contest shots.”
Gallaway is sure with all that is riding on this game, he is not
going to have to fire up his players. “If
we have got to get our guys ready to play this game that's not what you want
as a coach. We want your guys to
be ready to go for a game to clinch an outright league title on the road.
It's a rivalry game too, it's a 15 minute trip from Ontario to Shelby
and it's just always been great games since both schools have joined the “MOAC”.
So, we're expecting a four quarter battle over at their place
and hopefully our guys are ready to go,” he said.
Published 2/17/23
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Shelby
Faces Lexington in Tournament Opener
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference co-champion, opens
tournament play with a division II sectional semifinal matchup against
Lexington at Edison High School on Thursday night.
The Lady Whippets smoked Ontario (72-39) last Thursday to secure
their share of the title.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they are heading into the tournament with
some momentum. “We've been
working really hard going against the zone and I think the girls did a much
better job versus Ontario attacking. With
Lexington you see a lot of 2-3, you see a lot of zone, which makes sense
with their with their height and length.
They also play some man, so we've been working really hard to prepare
ourselves for anything we might see here coming up coming up in the
tournament,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I like
our focus and intensity of practice. So,
Lexington's a good team, their record is completely deceiving.
I think they've got talent, they've got athletes, and they play
physical. So, we have to come
out and just be ready to tough it out and execute well.”
Shelby (17-5) beat Lexington (5-17) 51-45 in overtime at Shelby in a
non-conference game on January 17.
Lantz says they didn’t shoot very well that night and they need to
get better shots and more shots on Thursday night.
“We took a lot of shots that we're capable of knocking down and we
didn't finish as well that game and that quite frankly made it a pretty
tight game. So, we've been
working on our shots, we've been working on our shot selection, we want to
take the best shot available and then really work hard on the boards.
I think if we do a good job that and we finish well then we can come
out on top. If not, we've got to
put more emphasis on our defense and getting us extra opportunities,” said
Lantz.
Lantz says every team wants to get a good start in tournament play
and that includes them. “It's
our goal to really, really get a strong start and take control from the get
go. I think that gives us more
confidence going in. I mean a
strong start, obviously, I think any coach you talk to wants to have strong
start, but I think we saw a better start against Ontario and I'm hoping we
can carry that into to tournament play,” she said.
Published 2/15/23
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Shelby
Can Get a Piece of “MOAC”
After their big win over River Valley last Saturday, Shelby can
clinch no less than a share of the title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
with a win at home over Clear Fork on Friday night.
They play at Upper Sandusky in a non-league game on Saturday.
Coach Greg Gallaway says that winning the league was a goal they
established before the year began. “Our guys at the
beginning of the year put in a goal individually and it was pretty
consistent among everyone that they wanted to win a league title.
If we want to not share it with anyone we have got to take care of
business Friday against a much improved Clear Fork team,” he said.
Shelby (16-2,11-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays host to Clear Fork
(6-13,2-10) on Friday night. The
Colts lost two tough ones in the league to Pleasant (71-68) on Thursday and
Marion Harding (61-53) on Saturday.
Shelby won the first meeting (84-52) on January 5, but Gallaway
believes they are a better team now. “When
you look at their last three games they lost their last three games, but
they've been competitive with every single one of them and it was against
quality opponents too,” he told Swankonports.com on Wednesday afternoon,
“They lose by eight to a really good Harding team, they take Ontario to
overtime and they lose to Pleasant in a three point game.
We're going to see a different team than we saw in January at their
place. A team that feels more
comfortable around each other. They're
starting to get more comfortable playing together I'd say and then they are
just really physical. We have
got to match their physicality and be able to be up to that test Friday.”
Shelby is a team that has excelled at pushing the pace of the game
and Gallaway says that is what they want to do again Friday.
“That's the style that we like to play and teams have tried to slow
us down a lot this year. Our
biggest goal offensively is to try to still play at our pace even though
teams are trying to slow us down. We've
been seeing different defenses here the second half of the season with
different zone looks. Still, we
don't want our guys to settle down and just play the half court style that
other teams want us to play. So,
that's the big point for us executing Friday night is us playing our
pace,” said Gallaway.
Published 2/09/23
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“MOAC”
Title on the Line for Shelby
Shelby can earn at least a share of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
girls’ basketball title with a win at home over Ontario on Thursday night.
Right now, they share the top spot with River Valley and Marion
Pleasant. The Lady Vikings
have already clinched their share with a (76-15) crushing of Galion on
Tuesday night. Pleasant will
play Marion Harding on Thursday.
Shelby could have won the title outright, but they lost (53-51) at
Clear Fork last Friday.
Lady Whippets coach Natalie Lantz says they gave it all they had, but
they faced a lot of obstacles. “I'm
proud of my girls for the way you know they fought and came back and took
the lead against Clear Fork. I
mean couple somewhat controversial calls, or no calls, and that that can
impact the game, but all said and done there's a lot that we can do better
as well. So. now we're focused
on the Ontario and our last home game, senior night, and getting the job
done,” said Lantz.
Shelby (16-5,10-3) plays at home against Ontario (9-11,7-6) on
Thursday night. The Lady
Warriors have won their last two games by razor thin margins in beating
Pleasant (29-27) and Marion Harding (39-38) last Friday.
Lantz says Ontario will show them a lot of zone.
“I think they've nailed down their zone defenses and they do a nice
job defensively. Our job is to
come down and play great defense and give ourselves extra opportunities off
our defense,” she said.
Lantz says they have seen their share of zone this year.
She says it depends on how their shooting that night.
“It just depends. When
we're hitting, they tend to drop out of the zone pretty quickly, but if
we're not then they're going to stay in it, which is smart.
We do the same thing,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
evening, “We've seen a variety of different zones and pressure defenses,
half court, full court, we've seen man. We've seen just about it all this
year, just a matter of which team runs what.”
Published 2/08/23
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Shelby
Wins Double Overtime Thriller
Shelby takes a one game lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference as
they edged River Valley (75-73) in double overtime in a tough, physical game
on Saturday night at River Valley.
Alex Brushkotter gave Shelby a (71-70) lead with 1:39 to play in the
double overtime period with a basket and Issaiah Ramsey laid one in after a
steal to make (73-70) Whippets with 1:23 left.
River Valley came right back as Carson Smith drilled a three to tie
it (73-73) with 1:03 left. The
final margin was provided as the Whippets converted two of four free throws
in the final :42, one by Ramsey and one by Casey Lantz.
Whippets coach Greg Gallaway says it was like they survived a war.
“We knew we were in for a four quarter battle here, but then we
realized it wasn't four quarters, it took a couple more overtime periods.
It's a credit to what coach (Rodney) Brown does here with the culture
and just always those guys are competitive every game that they play.
We knew it was going to be a great game. I'm
just so proud of our guys for being relentless,” he said.
The Whippets (16-2,11-1) made some physical plays in the fourth
quarter and the overtime period, a couple by Lantz, who scored all his 17
points in the second half and overtime.
Brushkotter tied the game (67-67) with :35 left in the first overtime
with a twisting layup and foul shot.
Gallaway says they got the ball to the right people in the right
spots, plus they made a defensive adjustment in taking off the press.
“We made the right plays at the right time, especially late in the
game and that's the thing I'm really proud of our guys.
We fought adversity a lot (Saturday) night,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “I think we were down 15 at one point in
the second half and our guys just kept fighting back.
We kind of took off our press a little bit and just wanted to rely on
our half court defense and I thought our guys bought into that.
It was a physical game and I thought our guys were just able to make
some big plays when we needed it.”
River Valley (14-5,10-2) built 15 point lead (51-36) with after Chase
Ebert’s goal with 1:37 to play in the third quarter, but they couldn’t
put the Whippets away. Still
down eight (61-53) with 4:37 to play in regulation, the Whippets outscored
River Valley (9-1) to send the game to overtime.
The Vikings were just 2-9 from the free throw line in the fourth
quarter and overtime and that was costly.
River Valley coach Rodney Brown says they made the plays to get to
the line, but they couldn’t covert when it counted.
“We were trying to slow it down and value possessions trying to
take care of the ball, didn't want to take any dumb shots.
I thought we did a pretty good job of that.
We were able to get fouled. We
were able to have the guys we want to go to free throw line, go to the free
throw line. They just they just
didn't go in. It's one of those
things where that's a fixable thing. I
mean these guys shoot free throws all the time and we have certain rules
with our free throws. It's not
like it's something that we don't do every day.
I said maybe this lights a fire under us.
This makes you mad and makes you want to work harder,” said Brown.
The first four quarters were a series of runs by each squad.
Brushkotter, who finished the night with a game high 25 points,
scored the Whippets first seven as they took a (7-2) lead, but the Vikings
can right back with (16-3) run to close the quarter up (18-10).
River Valley took a 10 point lead (24-14) on a Carson Myers field
goal with 4:19 to play in the second quarter, but the Whippets responded
with (12-2) run, punctuated by two threes by freshman Brayden DeVito to tie
the game at 26. However, River
Valley ended the quarter with their own (6-0) run, including a couple of
baskets by Ebert to go up (32-26) at the break.
It was (37-32) River Valley with 5:15 to play in the third, but the
Vikings put together a (14-6) run to establish the (51-36) lead, as five
different plays scored during that flurry.
Gallaway says his kids never gave up.
“We have got some really tough kids on our team and that's kind of
one of our motos to be relentless. Whatever
is thrown at us, I mean that's basketball, every team is going to go on
different runs and our guys just stayed the course stayed one possession at
a time and they fought back,” he said.
The “MOAC’s” leading scorer Carson Myers (21.9 ppg) really hurt
the Whippets early in the interior, scoring 14 points over the first 13
minutes, but Shelby held him to only one hoop over the final 27 minutes.
Gallaway says they tried to not allow him to get the ball on the
block. “He is such a great
player. We can only try to do so
much against Carson Myers, but he leads our league and points and rebounds.
We tried to just make him catch it as far away from the block as
possible because if he catches it so deep by the basket, it’s two points
every single time. So, I thought
we did a better job forcing him to catch deep, outside of the paint the
second half, and us making him take tough shots,” said Gallaway.
Ebert was huge for the Vikings with 22 points and Carson Smith added
17.
River Valley was the team that had the final shot at the end of
regulation and both overtimes.
Brown says they executed what he wanted done, but the ball didn’t
go in. “We ran some different
stuff that I drew up that we don't normally run trying to get you know some
advantages. I thought we did a
decent job there at the end of regulation and didn't get a (bad) shot it.
It wasn't a great shot, but he kind of got off balance when he went
to catch it and it put him off balance to shoot it,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the game, “We had the two with Carson Smith and
Carson Myers involved in it. It
was who we wanted to get the ball. We
didn't do a good job of getting Myers the ball in the fourth quarter and
that's on me. Shelby, they're
great basketball team and that was a great basketball game.
I mean double overtime for the league title. It
just stinks that we're not the ones celebrating.”
Shelby must beat Clear Fork next Friday and Ontario the following
Friday to wrap up the undisputed title.
Gallaway says defensively they communicated well in those critical
possessions late in the game. “I
mean they had the last possession like at the end of each period. Our guys
just stayed connected and man that shot sure looked like it was going in
there in the corner too, but just credit to our guys just staying the course
and finishing the game off,” he said.
Published 2/04/23
© Swankonsports.com
Shelby
Defense Will be Stretched
Shelby and River Valley meet in a crucial Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference game on Saturday night at River Valley.
The Whippets and Vikings share first place in the conference.
It was another offensive explosion for the Whippets on Wednesday
night as they drilled Highland (87-53) in a conference game.
Alex Brushkotter had 32 points in three quarters for the Whippets.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they really got it in gear in the second
half. “I was really pleased
with our guys and the effort that they displayed for four quarters. I
thought we really got settled in the second half especially.
Credit Highland, I thought they had a lot of energy right from the
start and I thought we got settled in a little bit more in the second half.
We're able to make some shots and again just proud of the collective
effort from our guys,” he said.
Shelby (15-2,10-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at River Valley (14-4,10-1), #5 in our poll, on Saturday night. They beat Marion Harding (61-45) on Thursday night.
The Whippets won the first matchup (70-56) on December 20.
Gallaway says the Vikings has a couple of guys that can really score.
“I think it just has to do with their depth.
It's not just one guy, it's multiple guys for them.
It starts with their senior Carson Myers and their junior Carson
Smith. They both have had a
great year. I think Carson
Meyers is leading our league in points at around 22 a game and he's just a
handful,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “He is able
to do it at the rim and is a threat on the perimeter and also I think he
just really good on the on the glass, so we definitely have a challenge with
him. Then Carson Smith is the
reigning player of the year in our league, who it's such a great three-point
shooter that we're going to have to make sure that we know where he's at.
So, it's not just one, it's not just two, they have got multiple guys
that can score and it definitely puts us at a challenge defensively.”
With what the Vikings can do, Gallaway says it forces them to cover a
lot of things. “I think they
like playing at an up tempo pace too. So, when they're able to space five
guys on the perimeter it definitely puts us in binds defensively were
driving lanes are open. So, our
guys have got to do a good job knowing personnel and making sure we account
for all their threats offensively,” said Gallaway.
Published 2/03/23
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Shelby
Plays For a Share
Shelby can secure a share of a fifth straight Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference girls’ basketball title with a win at Clear Fork on Friday
night.
On Tuesday night, they downed Upper Sandusky, of the Northern 10
Athletic Conference, (56-51) in a non-conference game.
Coach Natalie Lantz says it was a quality win for them.
“We had multiple players step up, which was great.
I think we had good ball movement.
I think we were aggressive defensively and really tried to limit
their touches. When we when we
had a slip on defense they made us pay.
That's a really good team. They
have strong guards and strong posts, so really good inside, out game and
they pass the ball very well. So,
I think that was a great test in helping us prepare both for Clear Fork,
Ontario and then down tourney road, so very pleased with the win last
night,” said Lantz.
Shelby (16-4,10-2), plays at Clear Fork (12-7,8-4) on Friday night.
The Lady Colts are coming off a (42-32) win at Marion Harding on
Saturday night in league play.
The Lady Whippets held a 14 point third quarter lead in the first
game between the two on December 29, but they had hold on for dear life to
get the win (48-46) at Shelby.
Lantz says Clear Fork is going to come out and pressure and they
going to play hard to the end. “They're
a good team, they're very aggressive, they're going to press and pressure
you from start to finish. They're
never going to back down no matter what the score is,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It's a game where we need to
stay focused, bring a lot of energy, make sure that we take care of the ball
and have good ball movement. Then
on the other end, we need to sit down and play good defense.
Switch where we need to and make sure that we wall up on their
drives.”
Shelby teams know what it takes to win titles and Lantz say they have
to go out there Friday and be at their best.
“I know this team is capable of it, but obviously we have to go out
and preform. We're really
excited to be in the position to come away with the fifth consecutive title,
but we have got to get out there and play some good basketball on Friday,”
she said.
Published 2/02/23
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Shelby
Edges River Valley; Takes First Place
Shelby is in position to win its fifth straight Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference title as they made a furious fourth quarter rally to beat River
Valley (40-38) on Saturday night.
That win combined with Ontario’s upset of Marion Pleasant (29-27)
has left the Lady Whippets along in first place by game over River Valley
and Pleasant with two games to play. Shelby
plays at Clear Fork next Friday and hosts Ontario on February 9.
Eve Schwemley canned two free throws with :18 left to give the Lady
Whippets a (39-38) lead and after River Valley missed a three point attempt
and Shelby secured the rebound, Charlotte Niese split a pair with :05 left.
The Lady Vikings missed about a 30 footer at the horn.
Shelby (16-4,10-2) trailed by as many as eight in the fourth quarter
(37-29) with 3:02 to play after Brooklyn Moser cashed in for the Lady
Vikings. They went some full
court pressure and coach Natalie Lantz says that was effective or them.
“As flat as we were playing I know it was a gamble, but we had to.
Boy the way these girls stepped up and just took it on, they took it
head on, and you know we got a steal and got a bucket and I think that
encouraged them. Then you just
saw a little bit of intimidation, I don't even know if it's intimidation,
because we came back on them last time too and obviously we didn't get the
win last time,” she told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I mean that
was really an incredible comeback, incredible winning in the fourth quarter.
I mean kudos to River Valley they held us to one point in the third
quarter. With their defense they
switched it up a lot. They ran a
couple different zones and man. I
felt like we worked pretty well against the man early on but, we just didn't
win value basketball enough. We
forced some passes and things like that.
Big credit for to our kids not giving up.
When we play with energy it's pretty exciting, when we don't it's
very flat and not pretty which and we saw obviously that in third quarter
especially.”
River Valley (15-5,9-3) didn’t help themselves either.
In addition to the turnovers, they missed the front end of two one
and one opportunities in the final :45 of the contest.
Coach Tim Chiles says they didn’t value the basketball enough in
that pivotal fourth quarter. “We
turned the ball away too much late, missed some free throws down the
stretch. They came out and hit
us early and got ahead (7-0). I
told our girls, I'm very proud of the fact that we continue to play.
Battled back and got the game where we wanted, had the lead but, we
just turned the ball over too much late.
We're a veteran team, we shouldn't be doing that, but it is what it
is. They're very athletic,
they're good, they have a great tradition here.
I think that's kind in the end the homecourt advantage.
They had a big crowd, cheering, little pressure, it just kind of got
to us. We've got to be better
than that. Like I told the
girls, we learned from this and we move on, we prepare for the tournament
and try to make a run in the tournament,” said Chiles.
Shelby took a (7-0) lead in the first three minutes of the game.
They never trailed in the first half, leading (12-7) after the first
quarter and (23-16) at the intermission.
However, the third quarter was all Lady Vikings.
Moser gave them their first lead with a three (25-24) with 2:25 to
play the third. They held Shelby
to only one point in the third quarter and held the lead until the Schwemley
free throws with :18 to go.
Shelby held the advantage on the glass and Lantz is proud of how her
kids kept fighting all night. “We
have to, we're not necessarily big. Brooklyn
Moser, I mean she's a great player, and obviously they're playing without
Halle Snyder, who I think is the glue, I mean she's just such a great
athlete and the kid was averaging like 11 or 12 boards a game, she's just a
great player and she's their vocal leader.
So, I thought what they did in kind of fighting back in the third
quarter. We just looked flat, we
didn't come out. We always
strive to win the first three minutes of the quarter and then push past that
and we sure didn't do that. It
took us a long time and honestly they held us to five points until there was
like two and half minutes left in the fourth quarter. Definitely
the change of pace defense I think helped us.
We had the right group in defensively that made some big plays. I
mean obviously Audi (Albert) made some big plays.
Charlie Niese made some fantastic plays.
A huge credit to a couple sophomores stepping up.
Eve Schwemley knocking down two free throws to put us in the lead and
then Charlie at least getting one of the two,” said Lantz.
Albert has six points in that fourth quarter for Shelby.
Cliles felt going to the zone in the third quarter changed the
momentum for them. “We lost
one of our best defenders and rebounders couple games ago to a knee injury,
so we have to mix things up. We've
had zones in, we switched between two of them, but we haven't been playing
them a lot. So, we were able to
get into that and I thought our girls did a good job of mixing them up
between the two and then playing some man here and there to just to give
them different looks because once they get comfortable seeing something they
figure out how to attack and get looks,” he said.
The “MOAC” race, now between three teams, has been close all
year, and Lantz likes the competition. “They're
a good team. Coach Chiles and I
were talking about before the game. We
don't necessarily have these big standout players like our conference has
had in the past. We have really
good teams and that's why you're seeing kind of this back and forth.
I mean I think there was a four way tie for first at one point.
They're just good teams and they play hard and they play well
together. I'm just proud to be
part of that group and proud of these girls for not giving up, that was
great, that was fun,” she said.
Published 1/28/23
© Swankonsports.com
Shelby
in a Share of Lead
Shelby is in a three way share of first place in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference with River Valley and Marion Pleasant.
They play at Highland on Thursday and then host River Valley on
Saturday in “MOAC” games.
They got a big non-conference win over Buckeye Central, the Northern
10 Athletic Conference leader, (56-46) on Monday night.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they were really good on defense and they
rebounded well too. “I was
very pleased with the way we played for the most part on Monday. I
thought our defense did a really nice job. I
thought Trinity Baker stepped up and did a great job on Siesel and we did a
good job really limiting their looks and not giving them too many second or
third chances at the bucket. It
started with our defense. Offensively,
we got off to a little bit of a slow start.
We missed a couple bunnies and a couple close proximity shots.
Right off the bat down (10-2) and then we just slowly worked our way
back in it and took the lead and then they took the lead back by one at
halftime. I felt like we were in
a good spot. We had a good
second quarter. Third quarter I
thought we came in and did a nice job. We
withstood a little bit of a run from them in the fourth quarter and finished
strong. It was really just an
all around good team effort,” said Lantz.
Shelby plays at Highland (3-13,2-9) on Thursday.
They beat the Lady Scots (59-26) on December 15.
Lantz says they have to be ready to play every night, including
Thursday. “Every game is a big
game right now because if we take it one game at a time, one play at a time,
one possession at time, we have the opportunity to come out on top and get a
fifth championship and if we don't it can go the other way. I
think our girls are focused and they want to get it done, so now it's just a
matter of us executing and making good decisions offensively and really
talking and playing good defense. The
hustle and toughness I think makes a big impact on our play and if we
continue to do that I think we put ourselves in a position to be successful
for the rest of the season,” she said.
Shelby (13-4,8-2) plays at home against River Valley (14-4,8-2) on
Saturday night. River Valley won
the first meeting (48-43) on December 17.
To win this time, Lantz says they need to shoot better at home than
they did at River Valley. “I
felt like we were out of sync quite a bit that night and we just let them
out tough us a bit first half. I
think if we played two halves like the second half we come out on top in
that game. I don't think we had
a really good shooting night, so that was one of the things that we talked
about we didn't shoot well against River Valley there and we didn't shoot
well against Pleasant and those were two losses that I thought could have
been wins,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We sat
down as a team and discussed how do we beat these teams when we're having an
off night like that. It's not
just one or two people off. it’s
the whole team is off. How do we
find a way to win those games. We
talked about kind of overcoming some of that type of adversity and what we
need to do to stay focused. Part
of that was just being more controlled and a little bit more disciplined
offensively and hopefully get ourselves better shot selections.
Pass up good shots for great shots.
I think you saw that against Buckeye Central and it paid off for us.
I'm hoping to continue to see that and just build off that for the
rest of the season.”
Published 1/26/23
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Shelby
Needs Better Offensive Execution
Shelby, now having fallen into a share of the top spot in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at home against Galion in a conference
game on Friday night.
Marion Harding, now a game behind Shelby and River Valley, throttled
the Whippets (64-48) in conference play last Saturday.
It was the Whippets first league loss.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they did not react very well to the defenses
that Harding showed them. “We
knew we were in for a tough test over at Marion Harding, a really good team
that's playing really good basketball right now.
A team that's really challenged I'd say with their non league
schedule and their opponents that they're able to get.
We just did not execute well over at their place, especially on the
offensive end. I think they
threw some different things at us defensively and we didn't adjust well.
Thankfully, we've got a full week to practice this week and try to
fix some of those things that we struggled at over at their place
Saturday,” said Gallaway.
He says they need to find ways to run their half court offense so
they can get the shots that they want. “I
think offensive execution is something that we need to get better,
especially in the half court. Being
able to just adjust on the fly because that's basketball.
Different teams are going to throw different things at you,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “So, as a team we have got to
do a better job recognizing what other teams are in offensively and
defensively and then having good flow. That's
something we did not have Saturday. So,
obviously, once we get later in the week we'll start prepping more towards
Galion, but these first couple of days we want to just try to fix some of
the things that we struggled at as a unit.”
Shelby (13-2,8-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Galion
(6-9,3-7) on Friday night. The
Tigers lost to Clear Fork (62-54) Saturday afternoon in a conference game.
The Whippets won the first matchup (78-31) on December 10.
Gallaway says they have to control the Galion guards.
“I think it starts with their with their two guards and (Elijah)
Chafin and (Cooper) Kent and we have to do a great job of guarding the
perimeter. They have got some
guys that can that can score in a hurry that are shooting beyond the
three-point line. So, I think
that's going to be one of our emphasis is we got to make sure we guard the
perimeter well. We were able to
do a decent job the first time I'd say at their place, but they're going to
throw different things at us and we have got to make sure we adjust and we
have got to be ready to go Friday,” said Gallaway.
Published 1/25/23
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Shelby
Working on Getting Better
Shelby, a game back in the race in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
plays at Galion in a conference game on Friday night.
They are tied with Marion Pleasant a game behind River Valley in the
conference standings. They lost
last Thursday to Pleasant (37-32) in a conference game, but rallied to drop
Marion Harding (64-34) on Saturday.
They beat Lexington (51-45) in overtime on Tuesday night in a
non-conference game.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they have been really working hard on
finding a way to win when they don’t make a lot of shots.
“It was another off shooting night for us. It was something after
losing at Pleasant and shooting the ball pretty horrific that we sat down
and we talked on Friday about how do we do better?
When we're that completely off and not wanting this to happen
again what do we have to do to be able to fight through and win a game? The
girls wrote a lot of great things on the board.
We talked about each and everyone how we could accomplish it.
I'm really, really proud of how hard they played and they stood their
ground,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “One of the
biggest things was going against a huge team like Lexington, a very physical
team, tall team, good rebounding. We
had we had to rebound, we had to control the boards, and we had our best
rebounding game of the season. We
had 37 rebounds and without that, without extra opportunities the basket we
don't get to overtime and we don't get to win that game.
So, extremely proud of how hard they played and every single girl
contributed in some way or another during that game so very, very proud of
them.”
What jumps off the page is the dedication the Lady Whippets have when
comes to getting better, not every team has that, not even the talented
ones. Lantz says her kids want
to win. “I love the passion
that these kids have and they're very driven to be the best team.
Sometimes to the point where they're too hard on themselves.
That's where our job as coaches is to pick them up and encourage them
and to keep them focused on the next play.
They did a good job of doing that and that's why I think we walked
away with the win,” she said.
Shelby (11-4,6-2) plays at Galion on Friday.
They beat the Lady Tigers (94-20) the last time they played back on
December 9.
Now, Shelby will play River Valley again next week, but Lantz says
that game won’t have the same meaning if they don’t keep winning.
“We're not in the position to overlook anybody.
Obviously, when we have off shooting nights it's a bear to get
through and it shows great adversity and challenges us as to how are we
going to get through this and how are we going to come away with a win.
We want to work on ourselves. We
want to work on ourselves defensively. We
want to work on our patience offensively.
We've been taking some good shots, open shots, but I think we can get
better. So, we want to work on
breaking the defense down a little bit more.
So, there's definitely some things that we can look at internally
that I think helps us throughout the remainder of the season,” said Lantz.
Published 1/20/23
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Shelby
With Two Tests
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays a couple of
conference games this week as they host Marion Pleasant on Thursday and
travel to Marion Harding on Saturday.
Right now, the Whippets, winners of 12 in a row, lead River Valley
buy a game in the conference standings.
They outscored Ontario (82-67) last Friday to maintain that lead.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they got off to a good start.
“We did a good job coming out the gates and having some energy
right from the tip, that was one of our goals going into that game and our
guys brought some energy right away. Ontario
fought back and it ended up being a good game.
I just thought our guys did a good job countering their runs and
playing together as a team,” said Gallaway.
Shelby averages over 70 points per game, but it their first game with
Pleasant (5-6,3-4) the verdict was (46-43) Whippets on December 2.
Gallaway says they want a quicker tempo this time.
“That is going to be one of our points of emphasis going into that
game is to play at our pace. The
first time we did not play at our high, up tempo pace and that's a big
credit to coach (Ben) Snively and the job that he does with those guys.
They're a well coached team. They
have some experience from last year. They
have got a premier player in our league in (Trey) Booker.
We have got a great challenge Thursday,” he said.
Shelby (12-1,7-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Marion Harding
(9-4,5-2), in third place in the conference, on Saturday.
Shelby beat Harding (74-54) on December 8.
Gallaway says the Presidents are going to be more willing to run with
them. “Harding does a great
job every year. They're really
outside of our league they're battle tested and with their non league
schedule they're able to get some great division I opponents in the Columbus
area. They're playing good
basketball right now,” he told Swankopnsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,
“It's more of our style I'd say in terms of that up tempo style, so as a
fan it would be a fun game to watch because you're going to see two teams
getting up and down the court. It
is just always hard to play over there at Harding.
So, we have got ourselves two great challenges this week.”
Gallaway says one thing for sure is they are going to need to keep
Harding off the offensive glass. “That's
going to be one of our big keys definitely with Harding.
They're relentless on the boards.
They crashed the glass maybe better than any team that we play
throughout our schedule. So, we
have got to make sure we have five guys getting physical boxouts,” he
said.
Published 1/18/23
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Shelby
Has to Play Perimeter Defense
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, is at home for rival
Ontario in a conference game on Friday night.
On Tuesday night, the Whippets went to Wooster and knocked off the
division I Generals (78-63) in non-conference play.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they did a good job battling adversity.
“I was really proud of our guys effort (Tuesday) night.
We still are kind of banged up a little bit.
We have got two starters out and to go on the road over to Wooster
against a division I team, a team that's very competitive and good, I
thought our guys executed well and we're able to get a good non league win
for us,” he said.
The Whippets are still without a couple of starters.
Gallaway says there is no clear timetable regarding their return.
“We're still kind of going day-to-day and we're hoping it's not
long term. It’s just some
sickness going around and some guys are recovering,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We just want to make sure we're
not rushing to get guys back on the floor.
We'll make sure they're 100 percent. So,
obviously we miss them right now but we just want to make sure we're doing
their recovery process the right way and we want them back at 100%
healthy.”
Shelby (11-1,6-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, winners of 11 in a row, play host
to Ontario (5-4,4-2) on Friday night. The
Warriors lost (62-52) to undefeated Lexington in a non-conference game
Tuesday night.
Gallway says Ontario played very well Tuesday night.
“I'm very impressed from watching them on film, especially
(Tuesday) night playing toe to toe with Lex, who hasn't lost all year.
They're doing a lot of good things.
I'd say from just being here at Shelby and just from this area and
since being at Shelby, I see it's always been a great matchup between the
two schools. So, we’re looking
forward to it and expecting it to be a great game at our place,” said
Galloway.
Ontario possesses a number of outstanding perimeter shooters and
Gallaway says they are going to need to make those shots difficult for the
Warriors. “I think that's
going to be a priority for us to make sure we guard the perimeter well.
It's not just one guy, they have got multiple guys that are able to
shoot it well from deep. So,
understanding where shooters are at and locating them playing to our style
of defense is going to be huge for us Friday night,” he said.
Published 1/12/23
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Shelby
Locks Horns With Pleasant
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at
Marion Pleasant, a game back, in a conference game on Thursday night.
River Valley, the other co-leader, plays Thursday night at Clear
Fork, who also trails by a game.
Lady Whippets coach Natalie Lantz says this should be an excellent
matchup. “I think Pleasant
looks really good right now. They've
continued to improve throughout the season. I
think they're stronger offensively than they were the first time we played
them. So, we've been working
really hard on the types of pressure that you could expect to see out of
them. We really have to take the
control the pace of the game, make it more our style than play into their
style. We really have to take care of the ball.
They're physical, they're aggressive, they're very good.
I think they have some of the top defenders in their in their zone
press, whether it's full court press or whether it's half court.
They're doing a great job. Huge credit to their staff for pushing
them and getting them better and better and more disciplined,” said Lantz.
Pleasant beat Mid-Buckeye Conference leader Loudonville (43-34) on
Monday night in a non-conference game.
Lantz says they are a very dangerous team.
“They’re a really good team.
They could take down anybody on a given night.
I think we've improved quite a bit as well.
So, it could be a really good game. I'm
excited to play in their new gym. I
went out there for the boys game it's so nice and I know they're excited
about their new facility. I'm
excited for the girls to play up there,” she said.
Shelby (9-3,6-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
poll in the large school division, plays host to Marion Pleasant (11-3,5-2)
on Thursday night.
The Lady Whippets won (38-32) back on December 1.
Lantz says they want a quicker tempo this time.
“We would like that. I
think we had a lot of unforced turnovers the first time we played them. I
mean they did force some, but a lot were on us.
We still have some games. I
don't think we're completely consistent yet, but we're getting better,”
she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Like I said valuing
basketball. We want to play a
little bit more up tempo and that is not what their defense pushes you
towards. I mean they want to
push you into you know a trap and whatnot, but at the same time we've got to
control the pace of the game. We
don't want to play too slow that plays into their hands, so we've been
working on in practice on what we can do well to beat them.”
Published 1/11/23
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Shelby
Fights Off Ashland
Shelby, playing without two starters, held off Ashland (71-65) in
non-conference play on Saturday night at Shelby High School, posting their
tenth win in a row.
The Whippets took a (7-5) lead on a Casey Lantz jumper with 1:53 to
play in the first quarter and lead (17-13) after the first.
Over the first 4:32 of the second quarter Shelby outscored Ashland
(10-5) to take a (29-18) lead after a Brayden DeVito three.
Without starters Issiah Ramsey (sick) and Bryson Baker (injured) the
Whippets cashed on 24-45 field goals (53%) and 11-21 threes (52%) on the
night.
Shelby coach Greg Gallaway says they had some kids step up when
called upon. “We knew we had a
starter out going into the game and then kind of an unexpected turn the day
of the game, we got another guy out and I thought our guys stepped up and
played against a good basketball team that's really been challenged all year
in their league and their non league games.
We knew it was going to be a tough test and I thought we had guys
step up and replace our two starters and it was a good team win,” he said.
Ashland (3-9) has been rebuilding this season with three freshmen
seeing significant minutes for them this year, but they kept battling.
They went on a (12-0) run to start the third quarter, fueled by five
points from freshman Gabe Baith to take (35-34) lead 5:16 to play in the
quarter.
Arrows coach Jason Hess says they competed with a very talented
Shelby team. “I'm super proud
of our kids effort all night long. We
were down double digits in the second quarter to a much more talented team
and a much bigger team and our kids just kept fighting and kept competing.
We started the third quarter and were able to get the lead by one.
I thought we had a stretch, there about a minute or two at the end of
the third quarter, where they were able to pull back ahead by four or
five,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Then that stretch
there in the fourth quarter where I think they hit about four threes in a
row, it seemed like. We were
trading twos for threes and that just doesn't work when you're behind.
Overall, I mean we can't fault our kids effort and I'm super proud of
how hard they played and competed the entire night.”
Shelby (10-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division, took the lead right back on a hoop by Max
Hess (36-35) with 3:34 to play in the third.
Baith, who led Ashland with 21 points, tied it at (38-38) with 3:02
to go in quarter, but Shelby outscored them (6-0), four of those points by
Lantz, to lead (44-38) after three.
Gallaway says that third quarter spurt was key.
“Alex (Brushkotter) even got his third foul and we had to take him
out too. We had guys step up and
were able to counter that run. I
think they went up one and we were able to make a basket that next
possession and then kind of sustained that lead making some big shots late
in the game,” said Gallaway.
The Whippets led by 11 (65-54) in the fourth quarter, after two free
throws by Hess with 2:09 to play. Hess
had two threes in the first 4:30 of the final quarter and DeVito added
another one.
Hess and DeVito both finished with 21 points on the night to lead
Shelby scorers. Lantz added 13
points, Alex Brushkotter, the Whippets leading scorer was saddled with some
foul trouble, has 12.
Gallaway says Hess and DeVito both turned in tremendous performances
for them. “I think from three
they shot the ball really well. I
think they were eight of 14 from three, just with those two.
That's the fun part about our run.
We have got going is we have new guys stepping up and are able to
fill in a role. I'm just proud
of their efforts,” said Gallaway.
Ashland’s leading scorer Grayson Steury scored 18 points, but Hess
says they had number of other kids that played very well.
Plus, despite a size disadvantage, they won the rebounding battle
(35-17), which pleased Hess. “I
thought Nathan Bernard and Gabe Baith, two of our freshmen, probably played
their best games of the year, which is really encouraging to see.
Now, it's just a matter of kind of being consistent with that type of
effort and scoring on both ends of the floor.
The other thing that I was really proud of is how hard we crashed the
offensive glass against a team that was much bigger than us and we were able
to outrebound them on the offensive glass it's really saying a lot for how
hard our kids were to beat,” said Hess.
Published 1/07/23
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Shelby
Will be Ready for Ontario
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at
Ontario in a conference game on Friday night.
The Lady Whippets share first place with River Valley, a game in
front of Clear Fork and Marion Pleasant.
They outlasted Clear Fork (48-46) in a conference game last Thursday.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they did a lot of good things to build a
double digit lead, but they kind to their foot off the accelerator.
“It's a good win, a win by one point is a good win. I
think for where we are in the season right now, I'm happy to walk away with
that win. There's a lot that we
can improve on yet. We have got
to get better at finishing our bunnies and I think we were making strides
third quarter and maybe took our foot off the gas a little bit.
Some of the unforced turnovers I think we need to button up a little
bit. Clear Fork is a team, the
same as Bellevue, they're going they're going to force some turnovers, but
it's the ones that are unforced that we need to start limiting and doing a
better job of that. So, a great
win. Clear Fork’s doing a
really great job. They pressure
you from start to finish and then they hit. I
mean they let fire there, especially second half and made a nice run at us.
I'm really pleased that in a tight game situation with the way our
youth handled the end of the game,” said Lantz.
Shelby (8-3,5-1) plays at Ontario (4-9,2-4), now coached by Tracy
Braxter after a mid-season coaching change, on Friday night.
The Lady Warriors fell (46-43) to Wynford in a non-conference game on
Tuesday night.
Lantz says they have to compete with Ontario in the paint.
“I think they're athletic they work hard.
Obviously, they have some bigs inside that do a great job on the on
the boards. So, our goal will be
to give them a lot of pressure and limit the number of rebounds that they
get offensively especially. We've
got to do a good job on the inside game and making sure we keep them out of
the paint as much as possible,” she said.
Shelby has won four “MOAC” titles in a row, so Lantz says they
understand other teams are going to come after them.
“We've talked about that almost on a daily basis that we're going
to have the target on our back. We've
built up this program. We've won
four straight conference titles and we're going for a fifth this year and
right now we're sitting in good position, but a lot of work to be done. We
just tell the girls you have to expect that every team is going to play
their best against us. So, we
need to play better than their best in order to win,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We do that by making sure that
we take care of the little things that impact the game in a great way.
Part of that, like I said before, is limiting our turnovers and
making sure we really value the basketball.
Another thing finishing the shots that we should hit and making sure
we do a really good job on the boards, winning the 50/50 balls.
It's the little things I think that make a really big difference and
being able to achieve our next goal.”
Published 1/05/23
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Up
Tempo Okay With Shelby
Shelby, the leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays on the
road at Clear Fork in a conference game on Thursday night.
They host Ashland in a non-conference game on Saturday night.
The Whippets own an eight game winning streak after running past
Mansfield Senior (86-73) in a non-conference game last Wednesday.
Coach Gregg Gallaway says they had a lot of guys play well in that
game. “It was a good team win.
I thought we just had a lot of
guys play impactful minutes for us that it was just a well-rounded game in
terms of our guys with production. Definitely
a good note to end the 22 year. So,
just really proud of our guys,” he said.
Shelby (8-1,5-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Clear Fork (4-7,0-5) on
Thursday night. The Colts beat
Loudonville (60-52) on Tuesday night in non-conference play.
Gallaway, also an assistant football coach at Shelby, says he expects
Clear Fork to be physical and the valley is never and easy place to play.
“I know they got a new coach this year and I think it always just
takes time to get adjusted to a new coach and a new system, but they're
doing a lot of good things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “They have got a lot of good athletes.
A lot of guys that we saw on the football field in the fall.
With how successful they were they have guys that know how to win.
We're expecting it to be a physical game.
It's just always so tough to play over at Clear Fork, so our guys
have got to be ready to go for that challenge and be able to put a good
performance with a big league game for us.”
Clear Fork has said they want to play at an up tempo pace.
Well, Shelby has averaged 77 points a game over their last seven.
Gallaway says pushing them pace is their game plan, so they are
certainly okay with that. “That's
the pace that we want to try to play at.
We like to try to avoid those 35 point games because usually that
doesn't end too well for us. So,
we want to try to dictate the pace with us playing up tempo and I know they
like to do that a little bit as well. So,
I think it's going to be a very high scoring game which will be good,”
said Gallaway.
Published 1/04/23
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Shelby
Downs Mansfield Senior
Shelby won their eighth straight game on Wednesday night when they
raced past Mansfield Senior (86-73) in a non-conference game played at
Shelby High School.
The Whippets (8-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, trailed by one (16-15) after the
first quarter, but grabbed the lead in the second and never looked back.
Coach Greg Gallaway says defense and rebounding were key for them.
“We knew it was going to be a tough four quarter game against a
really good team. I thought our
guys just kind of pulled away after the first quarter.
I think we got a little bit more settled in on both ends getting some
stops and key rebounds and we needed to and then getting good shots.
I was proud of our effort all night.
We had a lot of guys step up. We
had a starter kind of go down in warm up, just wasn't feeling well and I
thought we had a lot of guys step up in his place and again just really
proud of the collectiveness and the team effort,” said Gallaway.
Alex Bruskotter is one of the better plays in any division in this
region and he proved that again on Wednesday night.
He had 35 points, 11 rebounds and four assists form his point guard
position.
Mansfield Senior tried to physical with him, but Gallaway says he
reacted well to it. “He's a
great player, I thought he did a good job.
I think part of their game plan was to be physical with him and to
make it tough for him to bring it up, he is our point guard, but I thought
he did a good job with his composure playing at our pace.
Not forcing too much when they sent two guys at him, he did a good
job giving it up. Then we had
other guys step up,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Alex is
our leader, he's done that all year and he's just a unique player.
At 6’7” he does a lot for us with passing with handling the ball
and then he's a good defender too. So,
I'm really pleased that this effort.”
Max Hess had 13 and Casey Lantz 11 for the Whippets.
Nathaniel Haney led the Tygers with 17.
Mansfield Senior (6-2), #4 in our poll, is a team that wants to get
on the offensive glass, but Gallaway says they held their own on the boards.
“That's part of their identity is just how relentless they are on
the offensive glass and our guys matched that.
I thought they did a good job trying to match the physicality, get
box outs, and then going up in high pointing and chinning it.
Also, when you do get a rebound they're always there trying to claw
that ball out. I thought our
guys did a good job being strong with the ball after possession of the
rebound. So, I was very proud of
that aspect,” he said.
Published 12/29/22
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Shelby
Must Handle Clear Fork Pressure
Shelby won Tuesday afternoon in the “Jingle Bell Jam” at Cedar
Point and they play at home against Clear Fork in a battle for first place
in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Thursday night.
The Lady Whippets beat Medina (59-43) on Tuesday.
Coach Natalie Lantz says played tough defense and rebounded well
against the Battling Bees. “It
was a great win. Watching some
film on Medina they're tough. They've
got good size. They've got a
phenomenal player in one of their sophomores guards that can get to the rim,
can shoot well from behind the arc and she plays spicy defense.
Just with their size advantage, we knew some keys were really playing
tough and trying to be strong on the boards and doing the little things
there and staying composed offensively and I think for the most part we did
a really good job at both,” said Lantz.
Shelby (7-3,4-1) plays at home against Clear Fork (6-3,4-1) on
Thursday night in a Conference play. The
Lady Colts smoked Fredericktown (61-29) in a non-league game on Tuesday
night.
Lantz says Clear Fork is guard oriented this year and they have a lot
of kids that can score the ball. “Clear
Fork is a nice program and they're more of an all guard look this year.
I think defensively just the lower scores to their games are a
testament to the defense that they're putting out this year.
So, another game that we're really going to have to do a good job
taking care of the ball,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon
after the win over Medina, “They have got multiple kids on the floor that
can score at anytime. So, it's
just going to take a really good defensive effort from us and a really good
composed offensive game as well. Clear
Fork is doing a great job. I
think they're getting better every year.
Well coached and the girls respond really well to (coach) Scott
(Sellers) I'm excited it's a big game, it’s a big “MOAC” game.”
Shelby and Clear Fork share the “MOAC” lead with River Valley,
who plays at Highland on Thursday.
The Lady Whippets are at home and Lantz says they have to defend that
home court. “You always want
to get the wins, especially on your home court.
I think we've done a good job of that last few years and it is
a big, not only is it a big game, but it is on our home court, so we want to
hopefully take advantage of that,”
Published 12/28/22
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Shelby
Coming off Big Win
Shelby, coming off a huge win over River Valley in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference on Tuesday night, will play a team West Virginia in a
holiday tournament at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University on Thursday.
On Tuesday night, they took the outright lead in the conference with
a (70-56) win over River Valley.
Coach Greg Gallaway says the kids played well.
“It was a good win. I
think it was one of our best all around team efforts.
We got contributions from a lot of guys.
We were just very pleased as a staff, especially on the defensive end
in getting settled in the second half and coming out with some energy.
So, yeah a big league game and just really proud of our guys,” he
said.
Gallaway says they did a good job in making things difficult for the
Vikings scorers. “I thought we
did a good job finding their scorers in the second half.
River Valley has got a bunch of threats offensively and especially in
junior Carson Smith and I thought we did a good job making him take tough
shots in the second half. It
wasn't just one guy it was there's multiple guys communicating and when you
play good teams like River Valley you want to just make them take contested
shots. They are going to make
some of them, but that's stuff that we can live with.
I thought our guys did a good job making their shots on the offensive
end tough,” said Gallaway.
Shelby (6-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division, plays Linsly, a school from Wheeling,
West Virginia, on Thursday.
Gallaway says this will be a fun test.
“We are heading over to Mount Vernon Nazarene for a holiday
tournament. We were able to do it last year.
We don't know too much about them.
We have got some film on Linsly, but I think just when you look at it
it's going to be a good experience for our guys to be able to play in a very
competitive game with a team outside of our area and our district and to go
play at a neutral site,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “A
great atmosphere and a great facility over Mount Vernon and play a day game.
So, it’s a new experience for a lot of our guys.
It's one of those games like we're prepping for one day so it's not
going to be the most extensive scouting report, but we have got to just do
what we do and hopefully we can go out on a good note for the holidays.”
Published 12/22/22
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Shelby
Getting Transition Game Going
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, will play
at Highland in a conference game on Friday night.
They share the lead with River Valley.
They play the Vikings next Tuesday.
They held off Willard (80-72) in a non-conference game on Tuesday
night. There were five Whippets
in double figures. Max Dawson
had 43 for the Flashes.
Coach Greg Gallaway says the played very well.
“I was just really proud of our guys effort.
Willard-Shelby is a big game, especially between the two schools and
it's a game that we haven't gotten a while at least since 2017.
So, our guys are excited to play in that game and I'm just really
proud of that from the first quarter throughout the whole game.
The Dawson kid had an unbelievable game and he's one of the better
guards, maybe the best guard that we'll play all year.
What he did was very special out there and just a lot of credit to
him and the staff, but very proud of as our coaching staff on the effort we
displayed,” said Gallaway.
Shelby has averaged 77 points a game over their last three games.
Gallaway says they are starting to play at their pace.
“That's that's the pace we want to play at.
I think our guys are starting to figure out you know the speed and
the transition game that we want to play at offensively and how our pressure
on defense kind of leads to that stuff that we weren't able to do the first
couple games of the year. So,
our guys are getting into that rhythm on the pace of play that we want to
play. They're doing their best
to control it. So, really proud
of them switching those gears for us on both ends,” he said.
Shelby (4-1,3-0) plays down at Highland on Friday night.
The Scots (2-3,0-3) have lost their last three, including (51-37) to
Marion Harding in a conference game on Saturday night.
Gallaway says he looks for the Scots to try and slow the pace down
against them. “Highland will
be a tough game for us in our league and we have no easy road games in our
league. They are going try to do
the opposite, they're going to try to slow us down try to get us out of our
comfort zone and running the floor. So,
we have to do our best to try to play at the pace that we want to,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They have got some
returning guys from last year, a couple starters.
Brock Church is a guy that can really shoot well from behind the arc.
I think he's one of the leading guys in our league with in terms of
three-point percentage. A guy
like Dane Nauman had an incredible fall on the with the football team as a
running back. He is a physical
guy that we have got to make sure we account for and they even got some
freshman there helping him out. So,
they're well a coached team and we have got to find a way to go over there
and have some energy right away.
Published 12/16/22
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Shelby
Has to Play Good Defense
Shelby, the defending champion, and alone in first place in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, will host the Highland Lady Scots on Thursday
night in a conference game.
They play at River Valley, a game back, on Saturday.
Last Friday, the Lady Whippets (4-2,3-0) demolished Galion (94-20) in
a conference game, making 10 of 15 three point shots.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they are starting to find their rhythm.
“I think it has been a matter of us losing some players early and
starting to get some back. It
just takes some time to get your continuity and your confidence and try to
find the groups that play best together on the court.
So, I’m really pleased with our effort against Galion.
We did a lot of things right, we took care of the ball.
Its hard to do against good teams, but sometimes it is even harder
against teams you don’t expect to be one of your bigger contenders,” she
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Galion played really hard,
but I think we did a really good job of forcing them into tough situations
and a lot of that came in half court situations and not pressing situations.
So, I’m really happy with our start and our energy for four
quarters. I think we did a
really good job of drawing two and kicking to the open man resulting in wide
open shots. We were able to
knock down the shots. We shot it
really well from the floor, which I think is great, especially for those
younger kids.”
Highland (0-7,0-3) lost (34-31) to Marion Harding on Friday in an
“MOAC” game.
Lantz says they have to keep improving things they have been working
on. “They are another well
coached team. They have been
without a player for a little bit, maybe injured and she is starting to come
back. I look for them to be a
competitive team and something where we just have to come in again and keep
working on our game, keep working on taking care of the ball and valuing the
possession and hopefully getting a lot out of our defense,” she said.
River Valley (3-3,2-1) is another of the contenders in the
conference.
Lantz says they have play sound defense and get on the boards.
“They rotate a lot of kids and they will press a little bit, they
will play a little man, they will play a little bit of a half court zone, so
things we have seen in the past. Their
kids are strong, they are tough, mentally tough and play hard.
They definitely have got some good shooters.
A couple of their kids are top scoring leaders in the “MOAC” in
the early season. I think it's
going come down to us playing good defense making sure that we communicate
and get our rotation right and not giving them second looks because they've
got some kids that if they missed if they get the rebound that second time
is going in, so we've got to really do a good job on the boards,” said
Lantz.
Published 12/14/22
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Shelby
Wants to Play Faster
Shelby, the defending “MOAC” champion, will be at home for the
Marion Harding Presidents in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Thursday
night.
They play at Galion on Saturday night.
They tipped-off the conference portion of their schedule last Friday
with a (46-43) win at Marion Pleasant.
Coach Greg Gallaway says they were happy with the win, but really it
wasn’t the kind of game they want to play.
“We are always happy to go away with a win, especially on the road
in our league. So, first off,
just really proud of our guys to be able to go over to Marion Pleasant and
get a good league win for us. One
that was needed. Obviously,
there are still some things to work on.
Ideally, we don’t like to play at that tempo,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We usually try to get the score up
and little but. That is part of
our identity offensively and defensively is to get the game going up and
down, so that is something we are still trying to do.
We don’t like playing in the 40’s.
There were still a lot of good takeaways.
We saw a big jump from game one to game two.
We just to improve day by day and game by game.”
Gallaway says if want to create an up tempo game that has to happen
on both ends of the floor. “I
think a lot people think it is just offensively pushing the ball, but we
want it to start with our defense and our pressure, not only in the half
court, but the full court and get teams out of their comfort zone and try
and force turnovers for us to play at that tempo.
So, it is on both ends. Our
defense to bring that intensity and that pressure and offensively, we want
our guards to push they ball out front and guys to run the floor,” said
Gallaway.
Harding (2-1,1-0) is coming off a win in the conference last Friday
as well. They beat Galion
(72-57) in their league opener.
Gallaway says again they are an athletic team.
“They had some key players that graduated last year, but they still
have a lot of great athletes and returning guys.
They are fitting right in with their system and what coach wants them
to do. It is going to be another
great challenge in our league Thursday night, so we have be ready to go,”
he said.
Published 12/07/22
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Shelby
Girls Play at Always Good Bellevue
Shelby plays at Bellevue is a girls’ basketball non-conference game
on Tuesday night.
These are two of the most traditional girls’ basketball powers in
this part of state, although both are less experienced than they have been
in recent years.
Shelby (3-1) downed Marion Harding (45-32) in a game in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference on Saturday night.
Coach Natalie Lantz saw improvement in a lot of areas and some things
they did very well. “We have
some younger kids starting to step up and feel more comfortable in their
roles. Our defense was much
better. I think we valued the
basketball a lot more. We had seven or eight unforced turnovers out of the
13 to 14 that we had for the game. We
nearly cut our turnovers in half, which was a step in the right direction.
We still didn’t hit our shots, but I thought we did an awesome job
on the boards. We got 12
offensive rebounds. We have some
girls that just play hard, which I like, but we also have to be under
control and make good decisions offensively,” she told Swankonsports.com
on Monday evening, “I am really proud of that win.
Harding is a nice team. They
are not one to be overlooked for sure. They
are young and they have some really nice guards.
#1 Anyia Mitchell, she is going to be a really nice player.
She is good on both ends of the court.
It was a step in the right direction and now we have to it up to
another level as we head to Bellevue.”
Bellevue (3-2) lost a “SBC” Lake game to Sandusky Perkins (54-43)
on Saturday afternoon.
Lantz expects to see the same kind of Bellevue team that they have
always seen. “Bellevue is just
a great program period. A lot of
times they just reload and go. They
do have some young players that are learning, but you are going to see the
same aggressive Bellevue defense with tons of traps.
A few different defenses switching back and forth, but they are all
aggressive. I have seen many
games when they press the entire game. A
couple of games they switch it up with a half court trap situation, just for
a change of pace. They are good.
They have a lot of weapons offensively.
They have some size in their 6’2” freshman.
She is going to be a dynamic player.
She moves her feet well on defense and attacks.
I think the (Hailey) Rees girl has improved tremendously.
She has a great outside shot and now she is doing a great job getting
to the basket as well,” said Lantz.
To win on Tuesday night, Lantz knows they are going to have to play
well. “We are going to have to
be firing on all cylinders again. Making
sure we talk, making sure we rotate well and get our second and third
rotations on defense to be able to compete and come out with a win,” she
said.
Published 12/06/22
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Shelby
Ready for Improved Pleasant
Shelby, the defending champion in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
begins defense that title on Friday night at Marion Pleasant.
The Whippets (0-1) lost (67-53) to Mansfield Madison in their first
game, but coach Greg Gallaway says has done a good jog working on correcting
some faults this week. “It has
been a good week for our guys. We
were able to work on some of deficiencies that we had against Madison and
kind of come together as a team and really work on those deficiencies in
practice. I thought our guys did
a good job keeping each other accountable and trying to get better with
those things and those details,” he said.
Gallaway says they have been working on two things in specific.
Being more efficient running their offense and playing better team
defense. “Offensively for us,
we really want to, and we really didn’t do a good job of moving the ball
with purpose. When we had the
ball, we thought we moved without any intention with our cuts and with our
screens. Just making sure all of
actions offensively have purpose. When
we are dribbling the ball, we are dribbling with purpose.
So, that was a big emphasis this week and our guys were able to fix
those through the practice week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
afternoon, “Then defensively, just playing as a unit.
We really got into a bind of one person buying into what we wanted to
do on defense instead of five people. So,
that collectiveness on defense is another thing we have to work on.”
Pleasant (0-1) lost in their opener (49-46) to Fairbanks in
non-conference play. A game they
were to have Tuesday against Mario Elgin was postponed.
Gallaway says the Spartans have tremendous guard play.
“Pleasant is a much improved team from last year.
They bring back an all-league guard in Trey Booker.
A kid that was a sophomore last year and really had a great season.
I think he was about 15, 16 points a game.
Looking at him on film he is even more improved.
Their guard play is really solid with him and another junior in Wiley
Smith. They just do a good job
controlling the tempo and they play well off each other.
So, we have ourselves another great challenge here for game two and
our first league opponent at their place.
So, we have to come ready to go,” said Gallaway.
Published 12/02/22
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Shelby
Working on Weaknesses
Shelby is getting ready to defend its title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference.
It begins this Thursday at home against Marion Pleasant.
They earned an outstanding win over one of the “OCC” favorites in
beating Mansfield Senior (53-47) on Saturday.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they showed some patience and will to win
against the Lady Tygers. “That
was a great win for us. We still
have a lot to work on. We kicked
the season off playing some really good teams.
Talking to (coach) JeVar (Hudgens), I told him watching film that his
team is much improved, much more disciplined this year.
Their second line of their 2-2-1 press, they really do a nice job.
The players are much improved and composed.
So, we knew it was going to be a tough one coming in,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We had several more unforced
turnovers than I would liked. We
knew we were going to have some because they are very athletic and they
anticipate passing very well. I
think by the end I was very pleased by the composure at the end of the
ballgame with some young guards.”
Lantz says the Lady Whippets (1-1) continue to deal with some injury
issues, but the win on Saturday helped to build some confidence for them.
“Audi (Albert) played really well, she toughed it out on a sprained
ankle that happened in the second half and we were able to come out on top.
I think free throws were good for us.
We shot 75 percent, 15 for 20, which isn’t bad, especially early in
the season. I think it was a
confidence builder heading to "MOAC” play against Pleasant on
Thursday,” she said.
Pleasant (1-1) lost to Fairbanks (51-31) last week and beat East Knox
() on Monday night.
Lantz says the Lady Spartans will be a challenge on Thursday and they
will need to be prepared. “They
are well coached. She does a
great job there. I think their
program is getting better and better each year with her at the helm.
I think this week we need to continue to work on some of our
weaknesses and get prepared for Pleasant.
I think it is a game that is winnable, but we have to be playing and
firing for four quarters and we definitely have to take care of the
basketball and value the basketball a little better,” said Lantz.
Published 11/29/22
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Shelby
Looking Forward to Madison
Shelby plays at Madison on Friday in the traditional non-conference
meeting with the Rams to open the season.
It’s game week and coach Greg Galloway feels they have done a solid
job of getting ready for that opener against the Rams.
“I think our guys have had a good preseason.
In the four scrimmages we had our players did a good job on being
coached up and improving each scrimmage.
I think they are confident and I think they are just excited to play
game one. You get to practice
against your own guys a lot in the preseason, so they are just excited to
play against someone other than themselves.
So, they are really excited to play,” said Galloway.
Shelby has had really good success in about every sport in recent
years and Galloway says that is because they are hard workers.
“I think our school district does a good job with multi sport
athletes. Their success can
usually go from season to season depending on what sports they play.
I think the one common denominator we have is our kids just work
really hard and they love to prefect their craft in each individual sport.
I am lucky to coach those guys,” he said.
Galloway is also an assistant football coach at Shelby.
Galloway says Madison will be a good challenge for them.
He says they can’t allow Jaden Jeffries to go off on them.
“It is a great game one opponent for us and Madison.
A game that has been played a long time between these two schools.
Coach (Chris) Armstrong has done a great job over there developing
this being year two with those guys for him,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday afternoon, “His guys do a good job of being coached up well on
offense and defense. They really
buy into what he wants to do. So,
we are going to play a really well coached team.
When you look at them, I think it starts with their senior returning
player, I think he was special mention All-Ohio last year in Jaden Jeffries,
who really hurt us in game one last year.
He can do a lot for them.”
Published 11/24/22
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Shelby
Finding Out What They can do
Shelby won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title last season and
they have some guys back from that team, but they also will have some new
players in significant roles.
Some put the Whippets again at the top of the list of favorites for
the conference title.
Coach Greg Gallaway says the team has looked very good in the
preseason. “We have a good
first couple of weeks of preseason practice and scrimmages.
I have been very pleased with our group this year.
We lost some great seniors last year, but I think our guys that we
got back and guys that have stepped into new roles and taken on that
challenge and gotten off to a great start so far for us,” he said.
The Whippets have a scrimmage on Thursday with Tiffin Columbian and
St. Mary’s Memorial and then Saturday versus Mt. Vernon.
Gallaway says it is chance in those scrimmages for players to get
used to their new role and what they have to do to make the team successful.
“It is the time for guys to jump into those new roles and for us as
coaches to evaluate and see what makes the most sense for our season this
year. We have returning starters
back from last year. Even though
the played a lot of games, a lot of minutes for us their roles have changed
drastically in terms of just being a leader for us and being those guys that
has experience last year. We are
still figuring those out, but our guys are doing a great job buying in to
what we are doing as coaches,” said Gallaway.
Shelby starts its season they day after Thanksgiving against Madison.
December 2 is their first “MOAC” game at Marion Pleasant.
Gallaway says this week they are going to be working a lot on how to
get better defensive rotations. “I
think when you look at execution right now in scrimmages and practice it is
not going to be perfect just because we are so early in the season.
So, I think that is going to be something that continues to take time
for us to sink better offensively and defensively,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I would say the biggest thing
that I have noticed is that our guys that are new to the varsity this year
trying to figure out those rotations, especially defensively and just
getting caught up with the speed of the game.
I would say that is the thing that we are still working on and
working towards as a team.”
Published 11/17/22
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Shelby
and Margaretta Square Off Friday
Shelby and Margaretta, two teams that were in the regional tournament
last year, face each other in the premier game on the opening night of the
girls basketball season on Friday night in Castalia.
Shelby, the division II district champ and defending Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference champion, lost a lot to graduation, but coach Natalie
Lantz says they have shown a lot of improvement this month.
“I think we are definitely getting better.
We are seeing some of our younger, less experienced sophomores are
improving tremendously. I think
we have good senior leadership. There
are definitely some things I would like to see us do a little bit better,
but I really like the direction that we are heading,” said Lantz.
Lantz added that they are just excited to get out in front of their
fans. “They are very excited.
Just coming in every day and working really hard for us.
The prep that goes into it. It
is just a nice reward, if you try to look at it that way anyway, it is a
nice reward to get to game night and go and play and see how much we have
improved here in the preseason. Obviously,
we are starting off with a tough one,” she said.
Lantz says that Margaretta, last year’s division III district
champ, is loaded and this year and has one of the best players in the area.
“I expect to see just a really tough, well rounded, well coached
team. They have a ton of
experience back headed up by Kylie Leibacher, who is committed to Ashland
next year. The caliper of their
guard play is very good. Maybe
some of the best that we will come across this season.
So, it is going to be interesting,” she told Swankonsports.com,
“There is not a whole lot of film right now to watch.
They lost Devyn Eisenhauer, their size last year.
Kylie Leibacher can play inside or outside, she is just a very nice
well rounded player. Very
strong, nice shot and good defender. I
expect them to be a good three point shooting team, have guards that can get
to the basket. I would expect to
see some aggressive defensive play and a good transition team.
So, we are going to have to be firing on all cylinders on Friday.”
Published 11/16/22
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Shelby
Girls Reloading
The Shelby Lady Whippets are coming off an outstanding season last
year and expecting more of the same this season.
They won their fourth straight title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference and advanced to the regional tournament last season.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they have a group of players that play
really hard, especially on defense. “I
am really excited with what we see with this year’s group.
I know we lost three tremendously talented players and they are all
playing college basketball right now, but our freshmen and JV teams both
went undefeated last year. I
just think it is because they play tenacious defense, they are very
hardnosed players and they have great work ethics.
I think that is learning from the older kids and the culture we have
established and you will continue to see good things from us this year,”
said Lantz.
Lantz says at Shelby the girls know they have to play defense.
“We like to think we get a lot off our defense.
It showed a lot the last few years especially.
The girls have really bought into playing hard on both ends of the
court and moving the ball well, hitting the open player for the shot,
passing up good shots for great shots. I
was excited the first scrimmage. Definitely
a lot to work on, but we saw some really, really good things,” she said.
Now, coaches are perfectionist, the good ones are, and Lantz says
they need to talk more on defense than they have early in the preseason and
keep working on new things they have introduced.
“We have to talk a little more on defense.
We are trying a couple of different things defensively just to kind
of add on to what we have been doing. We
saw some really good things form it, but we also need to work on some
different rotations with different things that people might throw at us
offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Another
thing offensively, is just getting into some continuity.
Against man defense, we are looking to do a better job of reading the
defense this year and get strong attacks to the backet and hopefully open
some outside shots for each other. Those
are all things that are attainable if we work on fixing a few things.”
Published 11/01/22
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Shelby
Plays Unbeaten West Holmes in Playoffs
Shelby plays at Ohio Cardinal Conference champion West Holmes on
Friday night in a first round playoff game in division IV.
The Whippets (5-5) got in as a #15 seed this year.
They lost (35-28) to Ontario in game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference last Friday.
They held a (28-14) lead with 8:23 to play in the third quarter, but
allowed the Warriors to score three times to take the win.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were plagued by the same issues that
have been hurting them all year. “I
thought our kids played extremely hard.
We had some things that have hurt us throughout the season continue
to hurt us, especially in big moments down the stretch.
We had some missed assignments and some poor execution at times and
turnovers. You credit Ontario,
it is a football team that is well coached, and they were more physical than
us. They were able to run the
ball really effectively at us and that is a credit to them and what they
were able to do. Our kids fought
all of the way to the end. We
had the ball with a chance to tie it, we just came up short.
We fought hard and I was proud of them for that,” said Mahaney.
Shelby had also allowed Clear Fork to run for 400 yards on week nine.
Mahaney says the players have to trust each other more.
“A lot of it is we still struggle with our assignments and trusting
the guys around us. Some of that
is we have to get kids to buy in. If
you go back and look earlier in the season when we played some good defense,
we were able to buy into doing our jobs and trusting the guys around us and
I think we have kind of gotten away from that.
If we can get back to that hopefully we can have some success.
Also, we have to be able to match some physicality.
It is something that we have to be able to stress to our kids again
to be able to stop them when we play against an extremely good West Holmes
team with an extremely good tailback,” he said.
West Holmes (10-0), the #2 seed in region 14, and #1 in the
Swankonports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, has won
28 of its last 30 games, including (49-14) over Mt. Vernon last week in
“OCC” play. This season they
have averaged 51 points a game.
They have an excellent tailback in Sam Williams-Dixon, but Mahaney
says they have a lot more than just him.
“We were talking about it in our coaching staff meeting (Sunday)
night that they would be a really, really good football team without him and
then when you add him they are an exceptional football team.
That is why then are third in the “AP” poll and second in the
Martin RPI. They are just a good
football team that can run the ball, they have a quarterback that can pass
the ball, and they have receivers that can go make plays and their line is
big and strong and physical,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night,
“They have all of pieces of a really, really good football team.
We know what we are up against. We
are lucky, there are some teams that don’t get to play this week, but we
do. We have to take advantage of
this as a football team and try and go out and enjoy this week together and
on Friday, try and play the best that we can.”
West Holmes beat Shelby last season in a regular season game (51-14)
and Mahaney says hey have some familiarity on what to expect.
“We saw how good they were last year.
They were a really good football team.
I think they lost in the final four.
They brought a lot of guys back from that team.
We know the different things they like to do.
They will move Sam Williams-Dixon all over the field and we have to
be ready for that. They are a
really, really good screen team in my opinion seeing it live and seeing it
up close,” he said.
Published 10/24/22
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Shelby
Must Have Focus
Shelby hosts rival Ontario in a week 10 game important for both teams
playoff hopes in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.
Both teams will get in the postseason if they win, however, both
could be out with a loss.
Last week, the Whippets were taken to the woodshed by Clear Fork
(61-19) in an “MOAC” game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they made way too many mistakes to compete
with a team like Clear Fork. “I
think you give a ton credit to Clear Fork and coach (Dave) Carroll.
They are really good football team.
We had some really bad possessions offensively to start the game.
We didn’t handle the pressure that they brought very well and that
put us behind. Defensively, we
didn’t play and we just kind of let things snowball.
We had some good drives right before halftime and right after
halftime and then we had a kickoff return for a touchdown.
Other than that, we kind of let things get out of control.
Those kids of things happen and it teaches a lot of valuable life
lessons and known greater than for our kids this week.
We get a chance to go out and play a big game for us against Ontario.
We have to be able to bounce back and get ready for this week,”
said Mahaney.
Shelby (5-4,3-3) plays at home against Ontario (5-4,2-4) on Friday
night. The Warriors crushed
Marion Harding (28-6) last week. It
was their second win in a row after four straight losses.
Mahaney says Ontario does some good things on defense.
“I think Ontario is a good football team.
They do some stuff offensively that is really good and defensively
they fly around and get to the football.
I think coach (Aaron) Eckert does a really good job at Ontario and
they have some really good football players.
I think their defensive line is really good.
They are big and physical. They
can get to the football and put some pressure on you.
Their linebackers flow to the football.
They are able to play a lot of man coverage and switch off coverage
and do some different things,” he said.
Mahaney adds the Warriors can spread you out on offense and make you
defend a lot. “Offensively, I
think they do a lot of really, really good things.
The Miller kid at quarterback is a really, really good quarterback
and they can stretch the ball down the field and receivers that can go make
plays. Obviously, the two
running backs are really good. Their
offensive line is big and physical. They
are going to try and be physical with us.
For us it is going to be a really good challenge on both sides.
We are playing our last game at home for the season and looking
forward to the opportunity,” said Eckert.
Shelby has an opportunity this week and Mahaney says they must focus
on what is in front of them. “I
said this earlier, but I think this is a great opportunity for our kids.
With last week it is a chance to put all of that in the past.
We have talked all week that we could try and not live in the past or
we could complain and complain and do some other things.
We just want to narrow our focus to right now in this moment and put
everything that we have each day and get ready to beat Ontario,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I think it’s a great lesson in life
too when things aren’t going the way you want, narrow your focus and get
moving in the right direction to achieve that next goal.
For us, it is to send our seniors out with a win in their last game
at home. It is going to be a
tall task against Ontario, who is coming off two wins.
If either team wins they probably punch their ticket to the
postseason. To play a meaningful
game on week 10 is pretty exciting.”
Published 10/19/22
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Shelby
Plays Deep Clear Fork
Shelby, coming off their best performance of the season, will be down
at Cleat Fork to face the Colts, co-leaders in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, in a conference game on Friday night.
Last Friday, the Whippets (5-3,3-2) demolished the River Valley
Vikings (37-20) in a conference game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they produced their best overall effort
last week. “I think when you
look at offense and defense together it was probably our best performance of
the season. Our kids responded
extremely well, especially after losing that tough game to Galion and
Highland, to come out and play a really good River Valley team that has an
extremely good quarterback. For
us to play defensively, the way we did and offensively to execute at a high
level. We talked last week after
the game about how important that turnovers where for us and we were able to
limit those two zero and were able to have success doing that and hopefully
that is something we can build off going forward against a really good Clear
Fork team this week,” said Mahaney.
Clear Fork (7-1,5-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, beat Marion Harding (35-0) last week.
Mahaney says Clear Fork is very good on defense, especially their
defensive line. “I think Clear
Fork is an extremely good football team.
It starts with coach (Dave) Carroll, who has done a really good job
at Clear Fork for a really lone time. We
knew that they are going to be prepare.
They do a lot of different things really well.
They are extremely good in the trenches.
Their offensive and defensive line is really, really good,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “The Riddle kid is as good a kid as
we have played against this year. That
is why he has some D-2 offers like Ashland because he is a really good
football player. He is their
leading tackler as a defensive lineman and that again show how good he is.
Behind him defensively, they have linebackers that get to the
football and db’s that are really good tacklers.
We have to make sure that we are sound and execute offensively.”
Mahaney says the Colts have a lot of playmakers on offense.
He says they are very deep. “When
they have the ball, they have a lot of different weapons.
They quarterback, Victor Skoog, is really good, and they have a lot
of receivers and running backs that they can get the ball too.
When you look at the stats every week, they don’t necessarily have
people on the top of it, but they have a lot of guys right in the middle of
the pack. That speaks to how
much depth they have as a football team,” he said.
In order to beat Clear Fork, Mahaney says they can’t have a bunch
of turnovers and other mistakes. “The
same key that has been for us all year.
Take care of the football and win the turnover battle.
In the stats, I think they are plus eight in turnovers for the year
and we are minus 12. Obviously,
that is something we have to get better at.
Hopefully, if we can win the turnover battle, that will help us.
Offensively, we to continue to not beat ourselves with penalties and
not have as many missed assignments as possible.
Defensively, we have to continue to tackle.
We have to make sure we take care of the little things and continue
to get better every day,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/13/22
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Shelby
Has to Have Discipline on Defense
Shelby tries to break a two game losing streak as they play at home
against explosive River Valley in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on
Friday night.
The Whippets in their attempt to defend the league title now trail
Clear Fork and Highland by two games.
Last week, they were tried with Highland early in the third quarter,
but lost (44-20) to the Scots.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they have way too many turnovers and on
defense they didn’t tackle very well.
“I thought we did a really good job of battling back in the third
quarter. The same things that
were why we were in a hole got us again.
Just a lack of execution offensively. When you turn the ball over
five times you are going to struggle to win.
You give Highland credit, they traded those turnovers into points.
We had some errors on our own and they were opportunistic.
They have the best running back I have coached against in a long
time. Dane Nauman made us pay.
We were out of position and he made people miss.
He is a very good running back. If
you can’t tackle at a high level against a good running back, he is going
to make you pay and that’s what he did.
That has been our challenge to our kids all week, the small things
are the big things,” he said.
Shelby (4-3,2-2) plays host to River Valley (5-2,3-1) on Friday
night. The Vikings have won
three in a row after a (48-11) thumping of Marion Harding last week.
Mahaney is the latest “MOAC” coach to applaud the talents of
Vikings quarterback Cayden Shidone, which are numerous.
“It all starts with their quarterback.
I think Cayden Shidone is as good as there is in high school
football. He can make every
throw on the field, he can throw from every arm angle.
He can run the ball as well. When
you look at his stats, he has over 2,300 yards passing and over 800 yards
rushing. He is a heck of a
football player. He has really
good receivers too that can make plays for him and an offensive line that is
playing really well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night,
“Also, he makes plays with his feet. He
extends plays and keeps his eyes down field.
When you have a quarterback like that and receivers that they do and
what they do offensively with their scheme they are willing to throw the
ball all over the place. When
you can do that and be explosive you can score a lot of points.
For us defensively, the last two weeks have been some setbacks.
It is going to be a really good challenge to get back after it and
challenge ourselves to go against a really good offense.”
Shidone can truly throw it all over the field, but Mahaney says he is
equally dangerous when he gets out of the pocket.
“When we talk about runners in our conference, he is right there at
the top. He is an extremely good
football player. You worry about
the coverage, put when things break down and he has the ball in space now
you are in trouble too because with what he can do with his legs.
It’s a tough challenge and they are coached extremely well.
They do a good job with their scheme and they put you in some binds.
They love to be in empty or quads and do some things and you have to
adjust and then all of the sudden you get one on one with a receiver and
they can make you pay. The you
get a live box and Caden Shidone can run it and hurt you.
So, we are excited to be back at home and play in our stadium as we
get closer and closer to it being done.
It is going to be a really good challenge for us on Friday night,”
said Mahaney.
Published 10/07/22
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Shelby
Has to Defend the Run
Shelby had a 15-game Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference winning streak come
to an end last week and they need to return to their winning ways on Friday
night as they play at conference co-leader Highland.
Galion ran the ball for more than 300 yards in beating the Whippets
(34-27) last week.
Coach Robert Mahaney says their execution on both sides of the ball
just wasn’t good enough. “I
thought last week our kids played hard.
I have never questioned our kids playing hard, but I didn’t think
we executed very well. I think
when you look at the game you give Galion a lot of credit.
They took advantage of a lot of our mistakes.
We fumbled the ball in the end zone and they were able to score on
it. Offensively, we had almost
500 yards of offense and stalled inside the red zone three times and came
away with zero points. Defensively,
we had some missed assignments,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
night, “You give Galion a lot of credit, their offensive line is very
good, very physical, their running back is very good, and they were able to
make us pay. For us we are going
to try and take it as a learning experience.
When you don’t execute at a high level, that’s what can happen.
We have to be able to turn things around because now we face a really
good Highland team this week.”
Shelby (4-2,2-1) plays at Highland (4-2,3-0) on Friday night.
The Scots outscored Marion Harding (42-28) last Friday to remain in a
share of the “MOAC” lead with Clear Fork.
Dane Naumann leads the conference in rushing with over 1,000 yards
already this year, but Mahaney says the Scots are more than just him.
“When I looked at their stats, he had 120 carries and the next
person had 12 or 15 or something like that.
The ball is going to go to him and he is a special kid.
He is very physical and fast. When
he gets going, he is very hard to bring down.
Their fullback also is an extremely good football player and he does
a very good job of leading he the way. When
they in the “I” and he is at fullback and the tailback is behind him
they are a very dangerous football team.
There very sound everywhere else.
Their offensive line is very good, their receivers make plays when
they need to and their quarterback does a good job of running their offense.
So, defensively after allowing 300 yards on the ground it will be a
really good challenge to jump right into the fire and face one of the best
rushing attacks in our conference,” said Mahaney.
In order to win, Mahaney says they have to do a better job in the
trenches than they did last week. “We
did some really good things against Galion, but we had some big mistakes and
Galion took some huge opportunities made some explosive plays.
Our front seven has to do a better job of playing team defense and if
not, Highland will make us pay as well.
They are extremely well coached and do things the right way.
We have to make sure we can do the little things right.
That has been our biggest emphasis this week is to do the little
things right and executing at a high level.
Hopefully, if we can do that, we will have our chance Friday to go to
Highland and be in a ballgame,” he said.
Published 9/28/22
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Shelby
Must be Ready for A lot
Shelby, one three leaders in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, will
be on the road Friday night to play the Galion Tigers in league action.
They share first place in the conference with Clear Fork and
Highland.
Last Friday, the Whippets (4-1,2-0) dominated the Marion Harding
Presidents (33-3) to pick up their first win ever at their new football
field, opened just this year.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were very good on both sides of the
ball. “I thought our kids
played really well. Defensively,
we put everything together. They
got a field goal because of the turnover by our offense, but held them to 10
total yards. Anytime you can do
that defensively, you are playing really well.
Offensively, I thought we did a good job of creating some explosive
plays and even sustaining drives here are there.
We settled for two field goals in the red zone.
I would have liked to have seen us execute a little better down
there. Overall, I thought our
kids did a really good job of coming out focused and executing the game
plan,” he said.
Galion (2-3,1-1) lost at Clear Fork (36-10) last week.
They didn’t score a lot of points, but had more than 300 yards of
total offense.
Mahaney say do a
lot of different things on offense and defense.
“Galion is an extremely well coached team.
They did some really good things offensively and defensively.
On both sides of the ball, they are really good in the trenches.
Their offensive and defensive lines are really good.
Offensively, they run behind those guys and do some different things.
Their running back is really good and the quarterback when you key on
him can make plays. They do a
good job of making you defend everyone on the field.
They are really good up front and we have to be ready to answer that
challenge,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “Defensively,
they are sound in their coverage. They
like to create a lot of havoc by blitzing different guys.
They are really aggressive. We
have to make sure we are ready for that.
They are trying to create havoc and chaos.
We are going to try to do our best to know our rules, know who is
supposed to go where and try and execute that.”
Galion has run the ball successfully the last two weeks and Mahaney
says they do a good job of making you make adjustments defensively.
“They are a really good rushing offense.
Their offensive line is very good, very dominate at times, so it is
going to be a really good challenge for our guys.
Again, I think the back does a really good job.
They do a good job of scheming and formationing.
As you adjust to their formations, they have a good answer to go back
against your adjustments. I
think they are well coached and really good up front.
Again, the back is explosive too.
They have a little bit of everything offensively.
That is what makes them a tough task, you have to be able to be ready
for everything they do,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/19/22
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Shelby
Returns Home; Wants to Make Mark
Shelby will host the Marion Harding Presidents in a Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference football game on Friday night.
They opened defense of their “MOAC” title with a (34-6) pasting
of Marion Pleasant last Friday night.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they made some plays on both sides of the
ball against Pleasant. “I
thought our kids did a good job of bouncing back and handling some early
adversity and coming out and playing some really good football.
If you take away the broken pass play that they had our defense
played extremely well. Then our
offense was able to find some rhythm and create some explosive plays in the
run game and over and over again in the pass game.
I thought our kids did an excellent job of executing the game plan
and coming out and playing hard for four quarters.
Going to Pleasant, it’s a long bus ride and our bus left 40 minutes
late. We got there and it took
us a while. Our kids did a good
job of coming out and settling in and playing a really good football
game,” said Mahaney.
It is their second game at their new turf football field and Mahaney
says they want to brand this as theirs.
“We talked to the team about that (Wednesday).
You are only guaranteed so many opportunities to play high school
football in general, especially our seniors, they are winding down.
You only get five home games. We
had one game at Skiles, then we had the Bellevue game, and we only have
three home games left in this new stadium.
We want to get that first win and obviously Harding is a great
opponent for us. We have to be
ready and execute at a high level, but we are excited for the opportunity
that presents itself on Friday night,” he said.
Shelby (3-1,1-0) entertains Marion Harding (0-4,0-1) on Friday night.
The Presidents lost (35-7) to Galion last week.
Mahaney says Harding will be tough to deal with in the trenches and
they must contain the big play. “Harding
does some things really well. Their
quarterback is a really dynamic football player.
He can throw it, he can run it. Their
running back is extremely fast. Their
“O-line” is big and physical. So,
they have a lot of explosive weapons offensively and we have to try and do
everything in our power to limit explosive plays and make sure we can make
them sustain drives,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night,
“Their defense is going to give us multiple looks and we have to be able
to trust our rules, trust our assignments up front, execute in our passing
game with our blocking schemes and also the runs game as well.
So, it will be a good challenge for our guys up front.
We need to continue to grow up front, so it will be a good test for
us. Then our skilled players
have to make plays whether it is our running backs or our receivers or our
quarterback. We have to generate
some explosive plays that are going to allow us to score touchdowns and give
us a chance to win Friday night.”
Published 9/15/22
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Shelby
Meets a Pretty Good Pleasant
Shelby, the defending Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference football champ,
begins its defense of that title at Marion Pleasant on Friday night.
The Whippets (2-1) suffered their first loss of the season last week
when Bellevue beat them (24-9) as quarterback Jax LaPata ran for 236 yards a
couple of scores.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they just didn’t execute well enough to
beat a good team like Bellevue. “Obviously,
we meet a very good team in Bellevue that is well coached by coach (Ed)
Nasonti. We needed to play at a
high level and execute. We
turned the ball over four times it is just going to be hard to beat a really
good football team. Now, I will
say our kids played extremely hard with great effort.
I thought we matched the physicality.
If we play at a performance level we need against a team like
Bellevue, but we just didn’t execute.
So, we need to take that performance level into league play I’m
excited by what this team can do moving forward,” said Mahaney.
In fact, the Whippets have won the last three “MOAC” football
titles, but Mahaney says this is a different team after they graduated a lot
of players this summer. “We
have had some success in the conference, but we graduated a ton of seniors
and a lot of guys that played JV for us are playing varsity this season.
Our quarterback hadn’t played a single snap of varsity before this
year. We have a lot of learning
that we have done to get to this point.
I am excited about where the football team is at this point after
three weeks. Right away, we go
to Pleasant that has tons of tradition in the “MOAC” and they have had a
ton of success. I think coach
(Kevin) Kline is a really good football coach.
So, we are going to be pushed right away in our first “MOAC”
football game,” he said.
Pleasant (1-2) is coming off a (20-13) loss to Whitehall-Yearling
last week in non-league action.
Mahaney says the Spartans are very good on defense.
“Defensively, I think they are a very sound football team.
They do a really good job against the run.
If you look at the three teams that they have played they have
stopped the run. Even North
Union, a really good football team, threw for five touchdowns against them.
They forced North Union out of what they wanted to do.
They bottled up Wynford, they shut them out.
Whitehall just made some explosive plays against them.
They have been really good defensively against the run,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Labor Day, “That is something we have been trying to
work on as a football team to establish a good run game, so that will be a
challenge for our guys up front and our backs.
Offensively, they have some different guys.
The running backs run hard. Their
offensive line fires off the football and the same with their defensive
line. They play a big nose guard
that plays the two gap and some defensive ends that get up field and
penetrate. For us we just have
to be able to win in the trenches. If
we can do that, I think we will find ourselves in a ball game on Friday
night.”
Published 9/06/22
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Shelby
Has to React Against Bellevue
Shelby christens a brand new football field on Friday night as they
host one of their more traditional rivals in the Bellevue Redmen in
non-conference play.
Last Friday, they dominated Lexington (53-21) in a non-league game at
Lex.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they did a lot of good things on both sides
of the ball against the Minutemen. “We
did a great job defensively. Really
bottled them up. We let them
have a couple big, explosive plays in the second half.
We have to clean that up, but overall, I thought our defense did a
great job and gave us a chance to win. Then
our offense was able to make some plays.
We were able to get into our passing game a little bit.
Our quarterback (Devito) threw for over 400 yards and we had a
receiver (Ramsey) for over 200. We
had some kids make some plays for us. It
was a big step. You want to grow
from week one to week two and hopefully we were able to do that and continue
to take steps as a football team,” he said.
Bellevue (1-1) fell last week to Canfield (28-12) in non-conference
action.
Mahaney says the this is a typical Redmen football team that does
everything you expect form them. “This
is an extremely well coached team. Coach
(Ed) Nasonti does a great job with what he has built over there at Bellevue.
They are going to out formation you, be extremely physical, and they
are going to play fast. We have
to be ready for that. We have to
make sure we are sound in our rules defensively, solid in our formation and
we have to be tough up front in the trenches and be ready to battle.
We have told our kids to expect to play four quarters, 48 minutes and
every single play because that is what it is going to take against Bellevue
because they are tough and physical and it’s going to be a dogfight for
us. We have to be ready.
This is our toughest challenge yet to meet the physicality of a team
like Bellevue,” said Mahaney.
Bellevue likes to play with a quick tempo and Mahaney says they have
to be ready to handle that. “What
they try to do offensively is try to get you to misalign with all of the
formations and all of the things that they do.
Our kids have to think a lot to make sure they are lined up right.
Now all of the sudden Bellevue is running their base plays, but they
have us out of position or got us thinking instead of just playing football.
On the flip side, their defense is more of base look, but they fly
around and get to the football because they are able to think and play fast
and react and that is what makes them so challenging,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They push you defensively with what
they do offensively and then defensively they are very sound and fly around
and get to the football. They
are a typical Bellevue team that wants to beat you up and gain yards and run
and take it right at you. It is
going to be our toughest challenge to try and step up and compete.
It’s a new stadium, so there is a lot of excitement, but we have to
be locked in and focused on the game.”
Published 9/02/22
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Shelby
Takes on Dangerous Lexington
Shelby takes its act to Lexington to face the Minutemen in a
non-conference game on Friday night.
They got a field goal at the horn from Casey Lantz to be Madison
(10-7) in the last game ever to be played at W.W. Skiles Field last week.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they found a way to get it done.
“I thought our kids were gritty and found a way to win.
It was an emotional night for our team, probably some added pressure
and some different things and I thought our kids handled it well and played
extremely hard. That is what we
asked them to do for four quarters is to play extremely hard and I thought
we did that. It was a great
moment to see our kids,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We
didn’t play great offensively, but we had three drives that were really
successful. To have a 13 play
drive at the end of the fourth quarter to win it.
I was proud of our kids for finding a way to do that and establish
some things that we can take from that and build and move forward this
week.”
Mahaney says turnovers is one thing they must clean up this week.
“I think offensively one of the big things is we had three
turnovers. We have to take care
of the football. Those are drive
killers. We had penalties that
were drive killers as well. I
think offensively we have a lot of little things.
I think too, we went to a freshman quarterback in Braden DeVito that
played really well, but he just needs reps at the varsity level.
There are going to be things that he is going to struggle with
throughout the season. He is
going to give us some explosive plays, but he is also will be some things he
hasn’t seen before and we jut have to get him experience,” said Mahaney.
The Shelby coach says they were great on defense last week, but they
can still tackle better. “Defensively,
I thought we played a really good football game last week.
To hold Madison to seven points and 110 yards, I thought our kids did
really well and executed a game plan at a high level.
We had some missed tackles, so that is something we want to sure up
and get ready to go for a really good Lexington team,” he said.
Lexington lost last Thursday (21-17) at Ontario in its first game.
Mahaney says their offense is potentially explosive.
“I think their offensive line plays with a lot of fire and gets off
the football and came out and get you. Offensively,
behind the line they have some explosive running backs.
They had an explosive 97 yard run at the beginning of that game.
They have a quarterback that is really good on his feet and a great
athlete. Then they have
receivers that can go up and make plays.
They showed all of those possibilities.
We have to do our best the limit their explosive plays and make them
try to sustain drives,” he said.
On defense, Mahaney says Lexington will give them a variety of looks
and try to get after them. “Defensively,
they bring a lot of pressure, they mix up their coverage, they challenge in
man coverage a lot and it going to be a good challenge for our receivers to
be able to win against man. I
think they do some really good things. It
is going to be their home opener coming off a tough loss, so we know they
are going to be hungry to get after it this week.
So, we have to make sure we travel, it will be our first time
traveling this year and make sure we are locked in an ready to go.
We feel it is a great rivalry and we have to make sure we are ready
to compete at a high level this Friday,” said Mahaney.
Published 8/24/22
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Last
Time at Skiles Field for Whippets
Shelby will play its last football game at Skiles Field on Friday as
they host the Madison Rams in a non-conference game.
The rest of their homes games will be played at a new turf field near
the high school.
In their two scrimmages this year, coach Robert Mahaney says they
have been inconsistent. “I
thought we did some really good things against Norwalk and I think we did
some really bad things. I thought the film was very beneficial to us and
there are some things that we can learn a lot from.
They did some things that we weren’t really ready for.
They played a little bit differently on offense than we were ready
for. Overall, our kids competed
and that’s what we want to do. That’s
why we like to scrimmage Norwalk,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday
evening, “Coach (Todd) Fox does a good job and for us it’s a good
learning experience to get us ready to go against Madison this week in a big
game in our community with a lot of things going on.
I think our team has done a lot, but I also feel like this game got
here really fast. There are a
lot things we have to clean up this week.
Over the last two years everybody is still trying to figure out the
short, condensed preseason and we are right there with them.”
Shelby has not yet decided on a starting quarterback, but Mahaney
says that will likely happen on Monday.
“We have a pretty good feel about what we are going to do about
that position, but we still have some kids that played really well in the
scrimmage and some kids that didn’t play well.
I think we have to continue to evaluate that position throughout the
entire season. I think we are
getting closer and obviously we will have a decision by Friday and probably
sooner than that so we can get our stating quarterback the reps that he
needs. We are meeting as a staff
(Monday) morning and that will be one of the issues we address.
All of these kids have done a really good job all summer long of
buying in and doing what they need to do.
We feel confident in their ability,” said Mahaney.
Shelby has not lost to Madison since 2014, but the Rams have a new
head coach in Scott Valentine.
Mahaney says he and Valentine are very good friends and Scott has
already had an impact on the Rams program.
“We have seen them scrimmage twice.
I know Scott Valentine personally, he is a great guy, a great mentor
to me, and helped me along with a lot of stuff we did last year.
It was stuff he had done and we met in the off season and now to go
against him is kind of a crazy thing. I
thought seeing them scrimmage against Firelands and the growth they showed
against Perkins was a ton. They
had gotten so much better in just a week and I expect them to get better
again going into this week. They
are well coached, not just coach Valentine, but the guys that he has got,
their assistant coaches do a good job. I
think their kids at Madison have bought in.
I think they believe in what coach Valentine is doing and we have to
be ready,” said Valentine.
As far all the hype with the last game at Skiles field, Mahaney says
they must focus on the task at hand. “For
our kids it is going to be a crazy week and crazy game.
We understand that it is the last game at Skiles Field and there is
going to be alumni and tailgates and all this different kind of stuff for
one more game down at Skiles, but we have to make sure we focus all week and
lock in and come out and execute against a very much improved Madison
football team,” he said.
Published 8/15/22
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Shelby
With Decisions to Make
Shelby has been the mean mistreater in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference since joining the league and they are looking to continue that
trend this year.
The Whippets graduated a lot of talent, including their quarterback
and a couple of really good receivers, but coach Robert Mahaney says this
year’s senior class is stepping up. “I
think our kids have done a great job of taking what we have done in the past
and building for this year. We
have some guys with experience from last year’s team.
Our seniors have been part of three championship teams, but obviously
this team is going to look different and we have some guys that don’t have
is much varsity experience,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night,
“We have 10 seniors that have bought in and had a great off season
starting in the winter and through the spring to the summer.
They are excited for their opportunity to lead this team and I am
excited to see them do that. I
think our underclassmen have done a good job following those seniors.
I think we are in a good place. We
had a decent scrimmage last Saturday. Hopefully,
we can continue to build and be ready for Madison week one.”
Last week in a three way scrimmage, Mahaney says they made some
fundamental errors and they are going to have to clean those up.
“There are some fundamental things that we have to do a better job
with, just blocking and tackling and knowing our assignments.
Perkins and Toledo St. Francis were two good quality opponents for
us. I thought we competed
extremely hard for the whole scrimmage and got a lot of reps in.
If we can clean up some of the mental mistakes and sure up our
fundamentals I feel we have a chance to be successful.
Obviously, we know Madison is going to be much improved.
Scott Valentine is one of the best coaches in this area all time.
He is going to have his team ready and we have make sure we are ready
as well,” said Mahaney.
Shelby has had a run of great quarterbacks with Brennan Armstrong and
Marshall Shepherd.
Mahaney says they have not settled on a quarterback this year.
“We have had a competition since Marshall (Shepherd) graduated.
We have had three kids that have stepped up into that role.
A senior Landon Kennard, a junior Casey Lantz and a sophomore Nick
Eyster. All three of them have
done really well, they have had a great summer.
We keep waiting to see one of them separate, but all of them have
done really well. We are going
to wait and see how this scrimmage goes against Norwalk on Friday and let
them continue to build. I think
the good news I think people in Shelby were worried that we didn’t have a
quarterback, but I feel confident in all three guys that we have,” he
said.
Published 8/10/22
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Shelby
Dedicates Win to Memory of Fan
Shelby dedicated their (8-6) win over Lexington in a non-conference
baseball game on Tuesday evening to the memory of former student and big
Shelby Whippet fan Noah Sheaffer.
The 24-year-old passed away on Monday.
He was known as the Shelby Whippets #1 fan for his love of Shelby
Athletics. He earned a sixth man
award from the basketball program.
As far as the game itself is concerned, coach Jon Amicone says it was
a solid win for them, especially with tournament starting this week.
“We apricate Lexington hosting us.
I got with coach (Kevin) Morrow and we both wanted to play a game
before our games on Friday. They
are always a quality team. We
really wanted to find some competition to get us ready for Friday.
It was a big win for us. Our
guys fought back. It turned out
to be a pretty good game for us,” he said.
Amicone says he believes the players are continuing to have a good
approach at the plate. “I
thought our guys did a really nice job of putting the ball in play and
competing in the box. It was
nice to get some younger guys in. We
were able to get some pinch runners in and practice our tournament lineup.
We dress a lot of guys for the tournament in hopes we can get them in
whether it be a pinch runner, pinch hitter or defensive replacement.
We tried to play this game as if it was a tournament game, so a lot
of guys got some quality reps,” said Amicone.
Shelby (15-6) will play either Clear Fork or Mansfield Senior, who
play Wednesday in a sectional semifinal in Bellville, in a division II
sectional championship game on Friday at Shelby.
Amicone says it terms of how much who want to play and who want to
pitch in preparation for the tournament is a judgment call.
“I don’t there is a right answer.
I think all teams are different and all years are different.
I was hoping we would be able to get in another game before Friday,
but it just didn’t happen,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night,
“So, we will do some stuff in practice (Wednesday).
We will try to do an intersquad.
Have some of our younger guys throw to our guys so they can continue
to see live pitching. There are
so many variables, it goes by team and it goes by year.
At the end of the day, it is who comes to play on Friday and who is
ready to compete.”
Published 5/18/22
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Shelby
Beats Ontario Again
Trailing three different times in the game, Shelby rallied and beat
Ontario (10-7) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Wednesday evening
in Shelby.
The win knocked Ontario out of a share of first place in the
conference. Highland beat Clear
Fork (12-2) to secure the outright title.
Both Shelby and Ontario stand a game back, but the Warriors have two
more “MOAC” games to play this week.
They didn’t win a league title, but Shelby coach Jon Amicone says
he was very proud their efforts. “I
told our kids after we got the Highland news there is nothing to be ashamed
of. Obviously, we didn’t’
reach our goal. That was a gutsy
two weeks by our team,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I am
extremely proud of them. We made
our bed and we have to lie in it. In
my mind we continue to get better and we have to continue that going into
the tournament. We know we are
going to have a tough first game next Friday.”
Ontario (12-5,8-4) began the week with a one game lead, but lost
Tuesday (5-2) to Shelby and without ace Ryan Chapman available Wednesday the
Warriors sent four pitchers to the hill.
Jacob Barabani started and went the first 3 1/3 innings allowing
three earned runs on three hits. He
was followed by Carter Walters and game three runs on three hits over an
inning and a third. Eli
Stankovich also went 1 1/3 innings giving up two runs on three hits.
Braxton Hall got the last out of the sixth for the Warriors.
Ontario coach Mike Ellis says it was a tough loss, no question.
“It was an up and down game. Our
pitchers, we felt like they threw strikes.
They won, they scored more than we did.
It’s just tough to lose, especially this way.
We just have to regroup and get ready for Marion Harding
(Thursday),” he said.
Overall, Ontario hurlers walked 11 Whippets and hit two more.
Ontario took a (1-0) lead in the top of the first when Gage Weaver
reached on an error and scored on a single by Colton Ramian.
Shelby tied in their half they loaded the bases on two hits and a hit
batsmen and the scored on a RBI groundout by Luke Shepherd.
Ontario took a (3-1) in the third on an error, walk and a couple of
hits, including a RBI single by Ramian.
Shelby went back in front with a four spot in fourth on a two-run
single by Luke Shepherd and a RBI Texas Leaguer by Logan Green, and it was
(5-3) Whippets after four.
Ontario chased Shelby starter Landon Kennard with five straight hits
in the fifth and run scoring single by Drew Yetter and two-run hit by
Barabani. Enter Shelby reliever
Jeremy Holloway and he slammed the door.
“He was the player of the game for us.
He is a senior leader. He
takes the mound with a one run deficit with guys on base and they don’t
extend the lead. That was
crucial in our game and it allowed our offense to stay in the game and
continue to play our game and score some runs,” said Amicone.
Holloway only permitted one run on four hits over the final three
innings.
Shelby retook the lead with three in the fifth on a Warrior error and
three walks to make it (8-6) Shelby and they scored twice in the sixth on
back to back doubles by Holloway and Marshall Shepherd.
Luke Shepherd added an RBI single and it was (10-6) Whippets.
Shelby added nine hits to their walks and hit batsmen, so the
Whippets had a lot of traffic on the bases.
Amicone says his offense had a good day.
“Our kids did a really nice job against some tough pitching.
Our kids did a nice job of barreling up the baseball.
We have to clean up some base running things.
I was really proud of our lineup’s ability to score runs,” he
said.
Ontario plays Marion Harding on Thursday and Clear Fork on Friday in
league games and Ellis believes they will be ready to play.
“I think after they get a good night’s sleep.
I always tell them the thing about baseball is it’s the next day,
you have another game. I’m the
same way. It will be hard to
sleep. I’ll get up and it’s
a new day and we have Marion Harding. Give
Shelby credit, they are a good team. Jon
does a good job over here,” said Ellis.
Published 5/12/22
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Shelby
Closes to Within One
This is the final week of regular season and the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference could still end in five different ways.
A key was Shelby’s (5-2) win over Ontario on Tuesday combined with
Highland’s (6-2) win over Clear Fork.
Ontario and Highland share first place with Shelby a game back.
The same two matchups are set for Wednesday.
Ontario must still play Clear Fork on Friday.
On Wednesday at Ontario, Shelby got another solid pitching effort
from Marshall Shepherd and three RBI from Alex Brushkotter in their key win.
Brushkotter opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first and
the Whippets tacked on three more in third on RBI singles by Marshall and
Luke Shepherd and Brushkotter to make it (4-0) Whippets after two and half
innings. Ontario’s starting
pitcher Ryan Chapman helped himself with a two run homer in the fourth
making it (4-2), but the Warriors could get no closer.
Brushkotter provided an insurance run with another RBI hit in the top
of the seventh.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says their understood there was no room for
error. “We understood going
into this week what we had to do to give ourselves a chance for a league
championship. It is nice to get
off on a good foot, but we understand the challenge is still in front of us.
We have a hungry team to play (Wednesday) in Ontario,” said Amicone.
Ontario coach Mike Ellis makes no excuses, he says the best team
Tuesday night won the game. “Shelby
was the better team (Tuesday). They
were aggressive at the plate and Shepherd was good on the bump.
Their defense made the plays. I
have to give them credit they are a good team,” he said.
Amicone says the early runs the Whippets were able to produce was key
for them on Tuesday. “It was
important for us to score early to give “Shep” a little breathing room.
Anytime you go up against a pitcher the caliper of Chapman runs are
going to be hard to come by, so we really wanted to try and scratch a few
across to give “Shep” some easy innings.
Getting that lead early was key for our team,” said he said.
It comes down to this, if Ontario (12-4,8-3) wins Wednesday they can
do no worse than share the “MOAC” title with Highland.
If Shelby (12-6,7-4) wins they also need Clear Fork to upset Highland
to create a three way share of the title.
Amicone says he is exceptionally proud of the way his kids have
responded this year. “That is
why we play. For us to be in our
last league series with a least a chance to win a championship is why you do
it. I was very proud of our kids
after starting slow this season they could have folded,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday, “They could have started
working for the tournament, but they did a good job of understanding the
goal and the mission to do everything they could to give themselves a
chance. Obviously, we want to do
everything we can to win. I
can’t say how proud I am of this team with how they started and where they
are now.”
Published 5/11/22
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Shelby
Stays in it; Drops Clear Fork
Shelby beat Clear Fork for the second straight day, this time (12-2)
in six innings in Shelby on Thursday evening on a night weather wise seemed
more like Seattle in the winter, something we have gotten regrettably used
to in 2022.
The win keeps Shelby within two games of first place Ontario, the
Colts drop three back, with three to play.
Clear Fork (9-7,6-5) took a (2-0) lead in the top of the first on a
single by Luke Schlosser and after a sacrifice, an RBI single by Jared
Scott. Scott later scored on a
wild pitch by Landon Kennard. They
would not cross home again.
Shelby made it (2-1) in the bottom of the first on an RBI single by
Luke Shepherd. Thy took a (3-2)
lead in the bottom of the third on RBI hits by Luke Shepherd and Alex
Brushkotter off Clear Fork starter Kaden Riddle.
Shelby left two runners in scoring position in the third, but they
would score five times in the fourth to break it open a two-run hit by
Kennard, and RBI ground out by Luke Shepherd, a bases loaded walk to
Brushkotter. A Clear Fork error
and some defensive miscues led to the big inning and the beat down was on.
Shelby added four more in the sixth to finish off the win.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone liked the way his team responded to the
early deficit. “That was
really nice to see, that is kind of what we talked about after the game.
How proud we were getting in that whole 2-0 right off of the get go.
Clear Fork had the momentum. Really
proud of our guys and how they came back,” he said.
Clear Fork coach Joe Staab says he team folded when the Whippets were
making their comeback. “We
have to compete for a duration of seven innings if we are interested in
having the rest of the season be a success as well as a deep run in the
tournament. Mentally (Thursday)
we were very weak,” he told Swankonsports.com right after the game,
“When the going gets tough we have to find a way to be mentally tougher.
We have to find a way when we do make a mistake to get the next play.
When something doesn’t go well offensively, get the next at bat.
Playing entirely better as a team.”
Clear Fork’s outfield defense was not up to par and as a team they
had three errors and a number of plays that were not made that could have
been.
Luke Shepherd had three hits and three RBI for the Whippets.
As team, Shelby totaled 11 hits.
Amicone liked their approach at the plate.
“Our kids did a really nice job.
We were hitting fastballs in fastball counts and those are things
that we preach. We did a nice
job of moving runners, of bunting and stealing.
It was a really good job offensively of our guys doing what they are
supposed to do,” he said.
Other that some miscommunication that led to an infield pop dropping
between three players, the Whippets were pretty clean on defense.
“Our defense did a really nice job behind Landon.
Landon didn’t have his best stuff, but he battled for us.
Looking back at his outing, I thought he had a very competitive
outing even thought he didn’t have his best stuff.
He did a really good job of getting some soft contact here and there.
They are a good hitting team. We
knew we couldn’t make any mistakes or they would make it hurt,” said
Amicone.
Clear Fork plays second place Highland twice and “MOAC” leader
Ontario once next week.
Staab says they better be more focused.
“It has been an up and down season which is dealing with mental
toughness. The definition of
mental toughness is consistency. So,
we haven’t been very mentally tough this year, which is the reason why we
have been very inconsistent. When
we play very well, we can hang with anybody in the area.
When we don’t play very well, we can get beat by anyone in the
area,” said Staab.
Shelby (11-6,7-4) plays Ontario next Tuesday and Wednesday and
Amicone says the look forward to the challenge.
“It’s a good rivalry, just like we have a rivalry with Clear
Fork. In Richland County, it’s
good baseball, good coaches and good players.
It’s that friendly rivalry. We
need to bring our “A” game. They
are having a tremendous season. They
have some really good players and good coaches.
We need to come ready to play,” said Amicone.
Published 5/06/22
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Shelby
Outduels Clear Fork
Shelby scored a run in the first and made it stand up as the Whippets
beat Clear Fork (1-0) on Wednesday evening at American Legion Field in
Bellville.
Both trail first place Ontario by two games.
The Warriors game Wednesday with Marion Harding was tied and
suspended due to darkness. Shelby
plays Ontario twice next week. The
Colts have a make up with Ontario and play Highland twice next week.
The Scots trail Ontario by one.
Yes, it’s like trying to figure out a riddle.
Blaine Bowman doubled in the bottom of the first and scored on a RBI
single by Jeremy Holloway and Marshall Shepherd threw the shutout for the
Whippets.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says it was a tremendous pitcher’s duel
between Shepherd and Clear Fork’s Jared Scott.
“We were very fortunate it was a really good baseball game.
The pitching was really good. Marshall
Shepherd has been our guy the entire year much like Jared Scott has been
Clear Fork’s guy. If you
wanted to see good pitching in North Central Ohio, you should have been at
that game because those were two guys that really battled each other and
really fought for their teams,” said Amicone.
Clear Fork coach Joe Staab says both teams played outstanding
baseball. “It was a great
competitive game. Shelby was
able to manufacture a run and made plays behind great pitching.
We played well enough to win. We
pitched a great game and our defense played well enough behind him,” he
said.
Amicone says it always a key for them to score first, especially when
Shepherd is pitching. “We were
lucky enough to get one across in the first inning.
That is really key for us. We
want to score first when we are on the road and we were able to do that and
at least give “Shep” some comfort early on in the game.
Our defense really did a nice job of getting some key outs that were
crucial allowing Marshall to go the distance,” said Amicone.
Clear Fork nearly tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, but the
Whippets threw out Luke Schlosser at the plate as he tried to score from
first on a double by Kaleb Hollar.
Amicone says it took perfect execution by the Whippets.
“Our relay system did a really nice job.
Ball in the gap and a runner on first.
If I am the third base coach, I am pushing the kid home too.
We had a good relay. The
communication was excellent and that was led by Blaine Bowman, our catcher.
He is our communicator when the ball is in play.
He saw the whole field and was communicating that with our shortstop
and then Alex Brushkotter made a really nice throw to get him at home,”
said Amicone.
Shelby (10-6,6-4) hosts Clear Fork (9-6,6-4) on Thursday.
Amicone says it’s a must win. “You
have two teams that are in that must win mode, quite frankly.
The “MOAC” is kind of a wild race this year.
It seems like anyone is beating anyone, so it is still anyone’s
game. Clear Fork is going to
come ready to play. Joe Staab is
going to have those dudes ready and we are going to have to bring our
“A” game (Thursday),” he said.
Published 5/05/22
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Shelby
Edges River Valley
Shelby got past River Valley (9-8) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
game on Tuesday evening to stay in touch with the conference leaders.
The win kept the Whippets in striking distance in the league as they
trail co-leaders Highland and Ontario by two games.
Highland destroyed Galion (17-2) and Ontario beat Marion Pleasant
(5-2) on Wednesday.
The mercury didn’t get above 45 degrees and it was windy again
Wednesday, but coach Jon Amicone says you have to deal with it.
“It was another cold day out there for both teams.
You just have to battle through the weather.
Every team is dealing with it in North Central Ohio.
You don’t want to use it anytime as an excuse, any type of reason
why you don’t preform. At the
end of the day, it is all about throwing and catching.
When you simplify the game that way good things will happen.
I thought our guys did a good job (Wednesday) night dealing with the
atmosphere,” said Amicone.
Shelby lost (1-0) to River Valley on Tuesday and they have played a
lot of close games this year. The
beat Highland (7-6) last week.
Amicone says the way they approach the game leads to those kinds of
results. “We are very
comfortable playing in those types of games.
The things that we preach and we really work on in practice will lead
to close games. We try to put a
lot of pressure on our guys in practice with situational type baseball,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “That way when we get into
games and these pressure packed situations the game can slow down for our
guys. They are very comfortable
playing in those situations. We
have a lot of seniors that play for us.
It doesn’t bother our guys at all.
We understand there are 21 outs in a game.”
A longtime sports axiom is you can’t think, you must react.
Amicone says that is true and he believe the Whippets (9-5,5-4), #4
in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division,
do a good job with that concept. “We
spend a lot of time, as I mentioned earlier, with situational baseball.
That is the way we work in practice.
With different situations, I think the more times you see those plays
defensively and offensively the game can slow down for you.
I think the way you prepare to play the game can help you be more
reactionary, instead of thinking about what is going on.
I think as long as you prepare for those types of situations it can
really help your guys when it comes to game time,” he said.
Published 4/28/22
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Shelby
Beats Highland in Nine Innings
Luke Shepherd singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth
inning and Shelby beat Highland (7-6) in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference action
on Thursday evening in Shelby.
Highland drops back into a share of first place in the “MOAC”
with Clear Fork and Ontario, who also have two league losses.
Shelby, Pleasant and Marion Harding are all one back.
After losing (6-0) to Highland (7-4,4-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com
baseball coaches poll in the large school division, on Wednesday, Shelby
coach Jon Amicone says they knew it was a must win.
“Our players knew that going into the game.
Our leaders, Blaine Bowman and Marshall Shepherd, they wore it.
They told the guys this is a must win game and they put that pressure
on themselves. That is what big
time players do, they understand circumstance.
We made our bed as far as the league goes, so we knew it was a must
win. I really apricate them
understanding the situation and playing hard for us,” he said.
Amicone says Luke Shepherd delivered a big hit for them in a clutch
situation. “With two outs and
a runner on third Luke Shepherd did a great job for us.
He got a lot of big hits for us (Thursday) night.
It was the ninth inning and both of us were running low on pitching
and we needed that hit. It was a
great baseball game. It was one
of the best I have ever been part of,” he told Swankonsports.com after the
win, “We were fortunate to get that win against a first class team like
Highland. It was just huge for
our program. I can’t say
enough good things about the Highland program.
I am just extremely impressed with how they good about their
business. Getting Highland in
the “MOAC” is a huge win for the league as a whole.”
Highland coach Donnie Kline says it was a tough loss, but they still
control their own destiny. “What
a fun game to be involved with. We
are obviously disappointed to lose, but Shelby had a really good ball team.
They are disciplined and well coached.
They made a few more plays and that is why they won.
We told the boys they needed to keep their heads up, they played
well. Going nine innings with a
team like Shelby is going to make us better in the long run.
From a league standpoint, we still control our own destiny.
From a season standpoint, these types of games make a team stronger
and we hope that is where it will help us in the long run,” said Kline.
Shelby threw their ace Marshall Shepherd on Wednesday, but Amicone
says they had some other kids step up big.
“Landon Kennard, who has kind of stepped up to be our two, did a
really nice job for us. He got
us through six innings and Jeremy Holloway and Alex Bruskotter went the
final three. All of our pitchers
did a really good job. It seemed
like Highland had a lot of traffic on the bases throughout the game and our
guys were able to get the big out when we needed it,” he said.
Shelby (7-3,4-3), #5 in our poll, is scheduled to play host to
Lexington on Friday and travel to Edison, the “SBC” Bay leader, on
Saturday in non-conference games and Amicone says they just want to get on
the field. “Everybody wants to
play and all of the coaches I talk to say the same thing.
Let’s just get out on the field and play the game.
We were very fortunate to be able to pick up a game on Saturday.
It is nice to be able to play (Friday) and Saturday.
We just want our kids to play. Enough
with the practice and hitting the ball inside.
These kids have really worked hard, as have all the kids in North
Central Ohio, and they deserve to play, so hopefully we will get the weather
to do that,” said Amicone.
Published 4/22/22
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Highland
Takes “MOAC” Lead
Highland took sole possession of first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference after a (6-0) win over defending champion Shelby on Wednesday
evening in Morrow County.
Clear Fork fell a game back after a (7-3) loss to Marion Pleasant on
Wednesday. Shelby is now two
back.
Highland coach Donnie Kline says they got a strong effort on the
mound from Blake Jodrey. “The
boys played really well. Shelby
is a very balanced and very compete team.
They are well coached and hove athletes everywhere.
It looked like it might be a game where we struggled early on,” he
told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Blake Jodrey, the senior, was on
the mound. He had the bases
loaded in the first inning, worked out of it, and went the distance and only
allowed two hits the entire game. He
pitched very well and the defense did well behind him.
Just found a way to score some runs.”
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says they couldn’t get anything going
against Jodrey. “I thought
Jodrey was sensational. He had a
good two pitch mix that kept us off balance the whole game.
He was in control from start to finish.
You have to tip your cap,” he said.
It was the first loss of the season for Shelby starter Marshall
Shepherd.
Kline says they were able to get in some good counts.
“That kid is a stud. The
boys have a lot of respect for Marshall Shepherd.
He does a fantastic job. They
were really impressed with his pitches and how he threw them.
We just got some plus counts where we could get on base a little bit
and we barreled some baseballs up. Overall,
Marshall Shepherd is the best pitcher we have seen all year and we have seen
some good ones,” said Kline.
If it doesn’t rain too much on Thursday, the two teams are supposed
to play again this time in Shelby.
Kline says you have to be ready every time you take the field in this
league. “This league is a lot
of fun and anybody can beat anybody, which we have seen already.
After every game we have parents and players running to their cell
phones to check out scores and see who is doing what.
It is a league where you can’t take a night off and if you do you
will probably pay the price for it,” he said.
Published 4/21/22
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Shelby
Earns Win Over Harding
Shelby got an important win in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play on
Thursday evening when they downed Marion Harding (9-3) in a game that
started on Tuesday.
The Whippets lead (5-0) in fourth inning going to play on Thursday.
They couldn’t finish the game Tuesday or play at all on Wednesday
due to the weather.
Coach Jon Amicone says you must have to be focused mentally.
“That is the battle you have with Ohio high school baseball.
It is what it is. To get
back and get a good league win after dropping the previous one was really
key for us to get back on track,” he said.
Mario Pleasant had beaten the defending “MOAC” co-champs (5-2)
last Wednesday.
Amicone says they had guys in the batter’s box doing what they were
supposed to be doing. “A lot
of them did a really nice job of being productive.
Whether it is the top of the order getting the big hit or the bottom
of the order moving runners. We
did a nice job bunting and moving runners and putting as much pressure on
their defense as we could,” said Amicone.
Starting pitcher Marshall Shepherd came back to finish what has
started on Tuesday and gave up no eared runs.
However, Amicone says they must do a better job fielding the
baseball. “Marshall is our
guy. He is going to go the
distance for us and finish what he started on Tuesday.
He gave up three runs and all of those runs were unearned,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “You can’t do that against teams and
expect to be successful all year long. So,
we know we have to clean that up that defense for us to be successful over
the long haul.”
Published 4/07/22
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Shelby
Blanks Pleasant
Shelby got an outstanding performance from Marshall Shepherd Tuesday
and the Whippets shutout Marion Pleasant (5-0) in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference opener for both schools at Shelby.
The Whippets shared the “MOAC” title last season with Ontario.
Highland beat the Warriors (4-1) and Clear Fork belted River Valley
(9-2) while Marion Harding downed Galion (5-2) in other conference games
played on Tuesday.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says Shephard is a leader who wants the
ball. “Marshall Shephard was
our pitcher and he is our guy, he’s our ace.
He is an awesome kid, wonderful teammate.
He is the quarterback, stud basketball player, and he is the same for
us. He threw a complete game, 77
pitches, eight strikeouts, he is everything you want in an ace.
He wants the ball and he wants to go the distance.
It’s comforting as a coach when you have that kind of guy that
wants to be the leader of team,” said Amicone.
They didn’t get a lot of hits on Tuesday, but Amicone says the
Whippets found a way to get some runs on the board.
“Our guys did a nice job throughout the lineup manufacturing runs.
The big hit eluded us there were sometimes when we could have had
some more runs. It was one of
those games when we kept leaving runners on base,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Near the end of the game we started
to bunt a little more and started to have more protection at bat in the
bottom of our lineup and we were able to push a few across.
That is just the way it goes early in the season.
The bats are kind of playing catchup to the pitching and you just
have to find ways to manufacture runs and I thought our lineup did a nice
job of that.”
Shelby plays at Pleasant on Wednesday.
Amicone says they know they are going to have to be ready to play
again. “You don’t really
want to start your first couple of games with league games, but that is the
way the weather unfolded for us like many teams in the “MOAC” it was the
cards we were delt. We
understand that Marion Pleasant is a really good team.
It was a really clean game for game one for both teams.
Both teams pitched well, I thought both teams played defense really
well. It was really clean.
We know we are going there and have a battle on our hands,” he
said.
Published 3/30/22
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Defense
the Key for Shelby
Shelby shared the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title last year and
the Whippets have a solid baseball program, however, they will be more
inexperienced this season.
Coach Jon Amicone says they have some terrific ballplayers back, but
they are also looking for some guys to fill roles.
“We have been very fortunate the last few years to have talented
baseball players. We are very
fortunate to bring a few guys back that I think can help us.
We have been hit by some things our of our control with some injuries
and some other issues. We have a
young team coming back besides guys like Marshall Shepherd, who was an
all-league player for us last year, Blane Bowman, who was an all-league
player, we will break in a lot of starters at key positions,” said Amicone.
Amicone says scrimmages and practice are going to be key for them
this year. “To try and find
the right pieces this is a big time for the evaluation process.
Every single day we go in their with a plan and really put as much
competition as we can at key positions.
We give the guys equal opportunities to win key spots.
It’s a really key time for evaluation for us,” he said.
During spring training, Amicone says they need to find players that
can do the job up the middle of their defense.
“That is the ultimate goal is to have that competition, especially
at those key positions. We
really highlight the catcher position and centerfield.
We want to strong up the middle.
We really put a lot of pressure on those guys that have those spots
to continue to work and hold those spots.
We kind of tell the guys it’s not your position, you are just
renting it. The rent is due
every week. They know if they
are in key spots, they need to improve and continue to get better every
day,” said Amicone.
Amicone says they spend a lot of time every day in practice on
defense. “That is what we
value here. That is what we have
lived on since we came in the program eight years ago.
We want to be really good defensively.
We are going to spend the majority of our practice working on our
defense. If you come out to
Shelby baseball and watch practice for two and half hours, I think you would
be stunned by the amount of time we put into defense,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Hitting is obviously very
important and pitching is probably the key of course, but we are going to
put a lot of emphasis on defense. If
we don’t play defense well enough in games, we are going to lose.
We are okay with that going in, so we put a lot of time on
defense.”
Published 3/16/22
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Shelby
Meets Skilled Hartley
In 1992 Johnny Carson was still hosting the “Tonight Show” and it
was also the last time the Shelby Lady Whippets were in a regional final.
They play Friday night against Columbus Bishop Hartley in a division
II regional final at Mansfield Senior High School.
By the way, current Shelby coach Natalie Lantz says was a player on
that team that lost in the state final in 1992.
On Tuesday night, the Lady Whippets beat Copley (35-33) in regional
semifinal. Sophie Niese
penetrated down left side of the lane and found a wide open Audi Albert, who
laid it in with :02 left to provide then winning points.
Coach Lantz says they executed the play perfectly.
“The girls did what we asked them to do.
They executed extremely well. That
was something we had put in probably about a month or so ago to use in a
situation if we ever needed it. That
was one of the options off of it. The
reason it worked was because they were face guarding Olivia Baker, so we
wanted Olivia to set the screen for Sophie and the only person that would be
in position to help would be Audi Albert’s girl.
So, if Audi Albert’s girl doesn’t help Sophia gets a layup and of
the girl helps than Audi gets a layup. Every
kid did their job. They executed
the play like it was drawn up and we made the bucket,” said Lantz.
Lantz says when it came to the full 32 minutes, they weren’t at
their best, but they did a lot of good things.
“It was not our best game by any means, but I think our full court
pressure worked really well and caused some turnovers to get us some extra
opportunities that we were able to capitalize on.
The other thing was our half court zone defense when we were in that
a little bit in the second half caused them a little bit of an issue.
They were a very, very good team and it just came down to executing
the play at the end,” she said.
Shelby (27-0) takes on Bishop Hartley (18-6) on Friday night at Pete
Henry. Hartley beat Toledo
Central Catholic (47-45) in overtime to advance.
Lantz says they have outstanding guard play and a solid big too.
“They have one of the best point guards I think I have seen.
She does a great job on hand offs and using on ball screens and off
player screens. She has a real
nice shot. She is going to
score, she is going to score at some point.
Our goal is to try and limit that, which I think every team has tried
to do this season. So, she is a
really nice player. They have
another small guard that can shoot the three ball as well.
She hit a few the other night and is pretty consistent on her outside
shot,” she told Swankonsports.com, “They have a 6’3” girl going to
Ohio State for volleyball on the inside.
They have two other players that play good defense.
It’s going to be a tough game, but I think is we do some things
right the way we want to pressure and execute offensively I think we have a
good chance of coming away with a win.”
Lantz says the girls understand they whole Shelby community is behind
them. “It’s exciting.
The girls understand what this means not only to our program, but our
school and our community. We
have had awesome support all year and more and more people keep coming out
and it means a lot to us. We
want to keep representing Shelby in a positive way.
The girls are competitive they want to get the next win.
Being the first time to the regionals since 1999 and the first time
to a regional final since ’92. We
really excited with where we are at, but we still have work to do and we
want to come out and get a win on Friday,” she said.
Published 3/04/22
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To cover tournament basketball
Shelby
Faces Regional Test
Shelby takes on Copley in a division II regional semifinal on Tuesday
night at Pete Henry Gym at Mansfield Senior High School.
The winner has a meeting with either Toledo Central Catholic or
Columbus Bishop Hartley in the regional final on Friday night at Mansfield
Senior.
It is Shelby’s first regional appearance since 1999.
They have had a really solid program, but have lost to Bellevue or
Willard or Perkins at the district level.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they are not happy with just the district
title. “I 100 percent know the
girls are not satisfied. I
don’t think that has ever come into play because their goal is not just
regionals they want to get on and have the best season they can have.
We have gotten knocked out by Bellevue, Willard, Norwalk, Perkins.
There are a lot of good teams in our district.
The competitiveness is great and that is what kind of builds us and
gets us to where we are today. Just
striving to do better and be better. We
have a great district. A very
competitive district. A lot of
times whoever gets out of the district has a chance to really well,” said
Lantz.
Copley (16-10) beat the Laurel School (30-28) in their district final
on Saturday.
Lantz says they are better than their record.
“Obviously, we have been watching quite a bit of film on them and
they are a really good team. You
can’t think that a record depicts what kind of team they are.
They play almost all division I schools.
They play in a very tough conference.
They are really well balanced. They
have a nice point guard. The
girl that is kind of running their five spot is a pretty good point guard
herself,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They have
great ballhandlers. They have a
lot of offensive weapons. They
put a lot of pressure on the ball. They
run a couple of different zone sets defensively.
So, we have to go out and play a really, really good game, a composed
game and do what we are good at.”
Being out of this area, Lantz compared Copley favorably to some other
schools they have played this year. “They
do remind us of a couple of teams that we have played in their style and
just in the talent and skill they have on the court at all times.
Most of that is with good ballhandlers, kids that are able to take
the ball to the hole. They have
a couple of really, really good outside shooters.
So, we have faced several teams like that in Buckeye Central,
Margaretta, and Perkins, and Bellevue, who can shoot like that.
They have awesome guard play. So,
there are definitely teams that we have played, but they are a little bit
different. They are flat out a
really, really good team,” said Lantz.
Published 3/01/22
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To cover tournament basketball
Shelby
Advance to First Regional in More Than 20 Years
District player of the year Sophie Niese scored 18 points and Shelby
beat Clear Fork (57-33) to earn the division II district title Saturday
evening at Ashland High School, it’s their first since 1999.
After a competitive first quarter Bekah Conrad gave Clear Fork a
(10-9) advantage with her stick back with :30 to play in the quarter.
Shelby would take a lead they were never surrender (14-12) on a Sarah
Reiser three with 5:42 to play in the half.
The lead got as high as 15 points (28-15) after an Alexis Booker
basket with :45 seconds to play in the half.
A (9-0) run by Shelby punctuated by an Eve Schwemley goal gave the
Lady Whippets a commanding (42-22) lead with 2:46 remaining in third
quarter, erasing all doubt.
Shelby (26-0) will play Copley in the regional semifinals on Tuesday
night at Mansfield Senior High School.
Lady Whippets coach Natalie Lantz says defense was the difference for
them. She felt they did a good
job oof limiting the touches of Conrad, Clear Fork’s leading scorer on the
season. “I was thrilled.
We knew it was going to come down to how we handled defensive
pressure. We gave Sarah Reiser a
very big task (Saturday) in fronting Conrad. With Haylee (Baker) not being
able to be in there full time. We
weren’t sure of we were going to give her a couple of minutes or not.
That energy she brings and to see her back on the court was
fantastic, but Sarah Reiser did an exceptional job of just making Conrad
work a little harder,” she told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Her
length is good, Sarah is physical and she hit a couple of big shots for us.
I think our guard pressure is where it was at.
We wanted to make sure they had to work to get the ball in to her.
I think our guards did a really, really nice job.
Everybody stepped up at one point or another.
It was just a great team effort.”
It was the third time Shelby beat his team this season and Clear Fork
coach Scott Sellers says the Lady Whippets have great talent.
“They are just really good. They
have a division III basketball player that could be division II that can’t
play and yet they still have two kids on full rides playing in division II
next year. Beyond those two they
have two freshmen that can ball. Albert,
the junior, she is going to be a stud. They
are well coached and we conditioned. Credit
to them, they are awesome. They
deserve this win because they worked hard for it,” said Sellers.
With Shelby doubling Conrad most of the game, Clear Fork did not get
many perimeter shots to fall. Sellers
they the Lady Whippets were able to get some good close outs.
“Maybe they just played really good defense too.
I think it’s a little bit of that.
It’s hard to blame it on the stage.
We have played in three big games now, so I don’t think you can
blame it on that. I think their
pressure got to us even on our shots. When
you face that pressure and you get beat continuously by them you have a
couple of doubts. They just play
really good defense. I don’t
know if it’s the shooting. They
defended us really well and deserved to win,” he said.
Niese dominated the game from her point guard position in finding
teammates for easy opportunities or making shots herself.
Lantz says she was outstanding Saturday.
“We weren’t sure if they were going to try a 2-3 (zone) against
us or not or man. If they went
man, we were going to try and utilize Sophie a little more on screen and
rolls and that paid off in a really big way for us.
They just didn’t have answer to her,” she said.
Niese is not Shelby’s leading scorer on the season, but Lantz says
she stepped up big time. “(Saturday)
she needed to score and she tends to do that when we need her to.
She is a very unselfish player and she is going to get all of her
teammates involved. She just did
a great job of taking control and taking the shots she needed to take,”
said Lantz.
Niese did lead the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference is both assists and
steals this year.
Olivia Baker added 12 and Audi Albert 11 for Shelby.
Conrad and Pacey Chrastina both had 13 for the Lady Colts.
Chrastina scored her team’s first seven points.
Clear Fork finished (21-5) this year, tripling their win total from
last season and Sellers says this season was a big step forward for the
program. “They have two or
three kids that are the best basketball players in Richland County and it is
tough to overcome stuff like that. I
thought we played hard. We
played the right way. The kids
get on the ground, they dive, they hustle, they are not cheap players.
I am super proud of how hard they compete.
They know how to win the right way and they know how to lose the
right way and that is what we are trying to do at Clear Fork,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the game, “I think it is very important to our
coulure that they can do that. Listen,
we have five losses this year. Three
of them are to the best team I have seen, one is to Pleasant, who is in the
regional semis, and one is to a really good River Valley team. You
take a generational team like this out of the equation and we are
potentially getting to the sweet 16 this year.
Again, they are a really good basketball team.
They deserve to be cutting down the nets right now.”
Lantz feels they did a very good job executing the game plan they put
together for the district final. “I’m
just so proud of the girls. They
are capable of doing it. We told
them before the game that they are going to give us all they have got.
We have to want it more. We
have to want those 50/50’s. We
have to get those rebounds. We
want to win the boards. We have
to come down and take smart shots on offense.
Some of them weren’t always smart, but at the same time I am glad
we were being aggressive. Just
had a good feeling, very confident, especially with Haylee and Demi (Hipp)
out this game. Two good,
experienced leaders on the court and ballhandlers, which is huge.
I think our girls stepped up in a big way.
It is so special for them to realize it is one thing about dreaming
it, but is another to achieve it and they worked hard and they wanted it,”
said Lantz.
Published 2/26/22
© Swankonsports.com
Shelby
Has to Limit Turnovers
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, meets resurgent
Mansfield Senior in a division II sectional final on Friday night at Bucyrus
High School.
Mansfield Senior destroyed Galion (93-45) on Wednesday night in a
sectional semifinal.
The Whippets (19-3), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Mansfield Senior
at Pete Henry Gym (64-61) on January 25.
Coach Gregg Galloway says they are familiar with the Tygers.
“We were lucky to play them as a non conference matchup earlier in
the season. We are fortunate
that some of our guys are familiar with their personnel.
There are a lot guys that our guys are familiar with after playing
them earlier in the season in a great game,” he said.
Mansfield Senior (6-15) led that game (45-27) at halftime.
Galloway says Friday they have to play like they did in the second
half. “It was the tale of two
halves when we played them the first time.
They jumped on us early and executed tremendously in the first half
and made a lot of shots. It
seemed like the roles were kind of switched in the second half,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We were able to get stops and we
were able to execute a lot better offensively.
We knew it was going to be a four quarter battle when we played them
the first time and that is what we expect (Friday) night over at Bucyrus.”
After losing 10 in a row, the Tygers have won their last two plus,
last Friday took Ohio Cardinal Conference champion Ashland to overtime
before losing (79-74) in an outstanding game.
Galloway says Mansfield Senior is at its best.
“As coaches that is our goal. We
want to be playing our best basketball right now at the end of February and
the beginning of March and hopefully play our best basketball of the season.
They are playing their best basketball now.
They executed great the other night against Galion.
They are playing really well as a team.
On both ends they are clicking. It’s
going to be a great challenge for us,” he said.
When it comes to keys to winning Friday night, Galloway says they
have to have excellent transition defense and limit their turnovers.
“We have to stop their transition.
They like to play fast and we half to make sure we do a good job
getting back on defense and limiting those transition layups.
Offensively, we gave to take care of the basketball.
They did a good job pressuring Galion the other night forcing 30 plus
turnovers. They are going to be
aggressive up in the passing lanes. We
have to make sure we are strong with the basketball and we limit those
turnovers,” said Galloway.
Published 2/25/22
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Shelby
Plays Perkins in the Districts
Unbeaten Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, locks
horns with Sandusky Perkins, the co-champ of the Lake Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference, in a division II district semifinal at Ashland High
School on Thursday night.
The Lady Whippets (24-0) have overwhelmed two tournament opponents in
Tiffin Columbian (60-32) and Galion (66-21), but coach Natalie Lantz knows
things are going to get tougher now. “They
have some really nice skilled players. They
are a couple of nice shooters. They
have a nice shot blocker inside. It
is going to be important for us to play some to play some good
basketball,” she said.
Perkins lost in the district semifinal last year to Bellevue and lost
in the district final to Willard the year before.
Lantz says this a very sold program.
“It is a good program and it has been for a really long time.
They have always a been a basketball powerhouse.
They were a little young last year, a couple of those kids are
sophomores this year, then junior, senior, so they have more experience.
They are playing well as a team.
They are very aggressive offensively.
Defensively, they are all over the place.
They trap hard and try and take away the next pass.
It is just going to be important for us to handle the pressure and
take care of the ball and make the reads and make good decisions,” said
Lantz.
Against good teams you can’t be thinking about a bad play that just
happened, but Lantz says you have to learn from it.
“You can’t linger on, but you have to learn from and understand
we did this well against this team and we have to build off of it or if we
make this mistake, we need to fix this and do it better the second time.
You definitely don’t want to linger on something, you have to push
forward,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “There have
been many obstacles, there have been many challenges to overcome this year.
I think our girls have handled it really well.
It’s important to play fearless, play confident, be aggressive,
just have each other’s backs and play on the court together.”
Shelby has played its last couple of games without first team all
district six selection Haylee Baker (12.5 ppg), who has been out with a
partial tear in the in her “ACL”, but Lantz says they have been able to
rise above it. “There has been
times when we have had good competition and at the same time we were kind of
beating ourselves and to be able to come out on top and continue to move
forward like we have it just shows the competitive spirit and the closeness
and the will to win, that drive, that passion to win, and do whatever it
takes to do that whether your role is to come in and play great defense,
rebound, or drive to get your teammates open, whatever that might be, if
they do their jobs then we have a really good chance of coming out on
top,” said Lantz.
Published 2/22/22
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Shelby
Can Claim Title
Shelby has the opportunity to win an outright boys’ basketball
title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with wins over Ontario on Friday
and Highland on Saturday.
Right now, they lead River Valley by a game in the conference
standings.
Coach Gregg Galloway says it’s great to have something to play for.
“We are happy with where we are at.
Our first team goal is to win a “MOAC”.
We are fortunate to be in position to accomplish that this week.
We know we have two tough tests this week with Ontario at our place
that is playing some really good basketball and on the road at Highland
Saturday,” said Galloway.
Shelby (17-3,11-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against the Ontario
Warriors (8-13,7-6) on Friday night.
Galloway says they Warriors are definitely improved.
“They are playing some really good basketball right now.
I think it begins with the production they get from their senior
point guard Darian Delbrugge. I
think he kind of gets them going both offensively and defensively.
He is going to be a big priority for us to stop Friday night,” he
said.
Shelby beat Ontario (78-50) on January 14 and they were able to make
their transition game effective.
Galloway says they have to do that again.
“We try to emphasize as much as we can that we want to play fast
and speed teams up and that is going to be a big focal point for us both
Friday and Saturday. We have to
get stops on the defensive end and have to push the ball.
That is our strength and we want to play to our strengths,” said
Galloway.
Highland (8-12,4-8) lost to Shelby (77-42) at Shelby on December 17.
Galloways says they have not been as good a team on road.
He says they need to get off to a better start.
“We played them earlier this season and they have some really good
guard play. Their length causes
a lot of problems too. They
match up pretty well to us. We
have to do a good job to get energy from the start over at their place,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “That has been a
struggle for us this year with some road games is finding a way to have
energy right from the tip and trying to string four consistent quarters.
That will be a goal of ours when we go over there Saturday, how can
we have some energy from the tip.”
Published 2/17/22
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Shelby
Opens With Columbian
Unbeaten Shelby, the winner of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
title, plays Tiffin Columbian, of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay
Conference, in a division II sectional semifinal at Bucyrus High School on
Wednesday night.
Shelby is one of two teams we cover to finish the regular season
undefeated, Waynedale of the Wayne County Athletic League is the other.
Coach Natalie Lantz says it is because of focus and hard work.
“I am extremely proud of the girls.
It only took us 49 years to get here.
It is a tough thing to do and I am incredibly proud of the girls for
staying dialed in and staying focused and buying into just working on the
little things and the “W’s” will come and they have done a great job
of that all year long,” she said.
Shelby, the top seed in the district, did not take the bye.
Lantz says they didn’t want to sit around waiting to play.
“When you think about it, we finished the season last Thursday and
it would been more than a week off. We
didn’t want that week off. I
think we do a better job when we are in game mode.
It would been almost a week and a half off.
So, we wanted to keep playing. We
got a good win to finish up the season on Thursday versus Ontario.
Had a good practice Friday and gave them the weekend off and back at
it again (Monday). So, it was
our preference. I like us in
game mode. We are kind of dialed
in and have our practices and hit the courts for game time.
It made sense for our team this year,” said Lantz.
Many times with an unbeaten team it is difficult to figure out if
they are improving. Lantz says
this one is. “Sometimes you
have a great start to the season and get little bit complacent.
I have been really pleased with these girls.
They just keep their foot down. We
have had a few quarters where and there where I feel like it was not our
best effort or our best defense, but when we put our foot down, we do a
great job. We have improved.
We have gotten more disciplined offensively.
I think we have done a better job moving the ball in tight defense.
There are things we have improved on and are still improving on.
We haven’t peaked out yet. There
are good weeks of basketball ahead for us and we have to take care of
business every day,” said Lantz.
Shelby senior Haylee Baker will not play against Tiffin or in a
sectional final against Galion with a partial tear in her “ACL.”
She has not been ruled out for the districts next week.
Columbian (4-17) finished at the bottom of the Lake Division
standings.
However, Lantz says they have some players.
“They play hard. They
are in a tough conference. The
girls hustle. They have a couple
of kids that average double figures and close to double figure boards and
they are long. They have some
good length to them. So, we have
make to sure we do a good job of boxing them off and trying to limit them to
one look. We definitely want to
get some pressure on their guards, so it makes it difficult for them to move
the ball and get good looks,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday,
“Really if we play our pressure defense and make sure we execute against
their zone. They will throw a
few different zones at you and they will try a couple of different full
court pressures at you. So, we
are going to be prepared. We are
watching film to make sure we are prepared and know what we might see on
Wednesday.”
Published 2/15/22
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First
Place Shelby Must Have Focus
Shelby is now alone in first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
conference standings with three conference games to play, including at Clear
Fork on Friday night.
They play Ontario and Highland next week.
They took the lead to themselves on Saturday night with a (72-65) win
over River Valley. The Vikings
trail by a game.
Coach Gregg Galloway says they need to continue to focus on improving
and not be satisfied. “We were
able to watch the film against River Valley and I thought our guys did a lot
of good things. We knew that was
a big game and I thought our guys answered and played extremely well, but
watching the tape there are still a lot of things we can improve,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “A couple of things we struggled
with in the first half such as locating their personnel and not playing
collectively as a team. That is
stuff we watched on film this week. I
thought we grew a lot from the film session.
So, we know from here on out we know every conference game will be
big. We are happy with where we
are at, but we have a lot of work to do.”
Shelby (15-3,10-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll, plays down at Clear Fork (0-18,0-11) on Friday night.
The Colts lost (76-45) to Marion Harding on Saturday night.
Galloway says they have to be ready for the Colts, who have gotten
better. “I now coach (Steven)
Bechtel when I was a player in the “OCC” when Clear Fork was still in
that league when I was at Ashland to now being in the same conference
coaching. He always does a good
job getting his guys ready to play. I
know record wise they aren’t having a great year, but their guys are going
to be ready to play and they are much improved from when we played them the
first time. So, we have to be
ready to go over they place and ready to answer what they throw at us,”
said Bechtel.
Frankly, Clear Fork doesn’t have anything to lose and Galloway says
they could try and do a number of different things.
“We have to be ready for anything.
I mentioned to our guys that we have to go out and play our style of
basketball and have to play hard over at their play place and create some
energy. It’s always a tough
place to play over at their high school.
We have to find a way to have energy through four quarters,” he
said.
Published 2/09/22
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Whippets
Take “MOAC” Lead
Shelby outscored River Valley (13-4) over the game’s final 3:48 and
they downed to Vikings (72-65) to take the lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference to themselves Saturday night.
Alex Bruskotter scored nine of his team high 22 points during that
final rush.
Shelby (15-3,10-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, now leads River Valley (11-6,9-2)
and Marion Harding, who beat Clear Fork (76-45) Saturday night, by one game.
They have Clear Fork next Friday, Ontario on February 18 and Highland
February 19.
Coach Gregg Galloway says they know they still have basketball to
play. “We knew this was a big
one (Saturday) night, but we still have three big “MOAC” games left.
Our first team goal here at Shelby is to win a “MOAC” title.
So, we are going to enjoy this one, but get back to work next week
and work towards that title,” he said.
River Valley led by as many as six in the third quarter (38-32) after
a Carson Smith hoop with 7:02 left in the quarter, but Shelby would take
lead (45-44) after Andre Hill’s basket with 3:15 to play in the quarter.
Nobody led by more than three until Shelby’s final push.
River Valley coach Rodney Brown is proud of his team’s effort, but
says they can never make the big shot in that final quarter.
“We played extremely hard (Saturday) night.
I am very proud of them. We
battled to the end. We
couldn’t get anything to go there late.
We forced a few shots. We
could never distance ourselves in the third quarter.
We let them hang around and they are good.
They hung around and took the lead,” he said.
The Whippets took a lead (64-61) they would never relinquish on a
Bruskotter three with 2:22 to play. Carson
Myers would muscle one in to cut it to one (64-63) with 1:51 left.
After Bruskotter made two free throws, Marshall Shepherd stole the
ball between the circles on the River Valley end and raced down the court to
score on a layup with 1:17 to play and give his team a five point (68-63)
lead.
“It was a big play. Marshall,
I thought did a great job defensively. He
is kind of one of our guys that we can hang our hat on with defense this
year. He guards a lot of the
other team’s best players. I
thought he did a great job, along with Jeremy in the first half, on a very
talented player like Carson Smith. That
steal was big and we were able to capitalize on it and finish the game
out,” said Galloway.
Brown says it was a great athlete making a big play.
“The hand off up top, obviously, we didn’t handle it the way we
wanted to. He made a good play,
he is a great athlete, a three sport guy, he made a great play and then we
couldn’t recover and get back. The
big one to me was the three with about 1:34 left that he missed and we
didn’t get the rebound, that was a big one, and we foul them and they go
to the line, that was a big one too. There
are lots of points that you can pick out, but you want to pick out the ones
late,” said Brown.
Bruskotter then put it away by making four of four free throws in the
final 50 seconds.
Shelby made 10 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter and Galloway
says they did good job in the second half of getting to the charity stripe.
“As a team we are shooting a great percentage from the line this
year. We always talk about when
we look at the opponent’s attempts and our attempts we are able to see who
the aggressor is too. They had
five more attempts than us the first half and we were able to beat them the
second half and get to the rim and get to the line,” he said.
Hill added 21 points for the Whippets.
Issaiah Ramsey added 12. Smith
led everybody with 27 after not scoring the game’s first nine minutes.
Shelby led (19-10) after the first quarter, but River Valley took the
lead (20-19) after a Jevin Beard basket with 6:38 to play in the half.
They led (36-30) after the intermission, but could never pull away.
Galloway says keeping them within sight was key.
“I think we have to give a lot of credit to them, they are a great
basketball team. Offensively,
they have a lot of guys that contribute and be productive with points.
We were up 19-10 after one and we knew they were going to go on
runs,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We just talked to our
guys, how are we going to respond to them?
Obviously, we don’t want to give up 26 points in a quarter.
We were able to settle in at halftime and change some things
defensively and get stops when we needed to an pull out a win.”
Published 2/05/22
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Hustle
Plays Important For Shelby
Shelby lays claim to an undisputed Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title
with a victory over Clear Fork on Saturday afternoon.
They lead Clear Fork and Marion Pleasant by three games in the
standings.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they are close to accomplishing some goals,
but they know there is work to do. “That
was our number one goal this season was to get another “MOAC” title and
of course we want to get that outright.
The second part of that goal is still obtainable.
We have some tough games coming up to go undefeated in regular season
and goal three is to make and a long tournament run.
I think we are doing the things to get there, but we have to be
prepared for the competition that is going to come in front of us with Clear
Fork, Pleasant and Ontario,” she said.
Shelby (19-0,11-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Clear Fork (17-3,9-3), #2
in our poll, on Saturday afternoon. The
Lady Colts beat Knox Morrow Athletic Conference champion Cardington (60-48)
on Tuesday night.
Lantz says Clear Fork’s guard play has improved and Bekah Conrad is
tough to guard in the post. “It
is the same as before. They are
a much improved team. They have
been improving throughout the season. They
have really nice guard play. Their
guards are getting better and better as the season goes on.
With Conrad they have a nice inside out game, it’s hard to defend a
6’5” girl even jumping to reach the stretch of her reach.
So, we just have to do our best to defend and put pressure on the
ball and try and limit her touches inside and really play our game and
execute,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Make sure
we are doing a better job executing and pushing the ball in transition when
we have those opportunities take advantage of them.
Just play our game and it starts with our defense.”
Shelby dominated Clear Fork (78-48) on December 30.
Lantz outlines what they have to do in order to get the win and claim
that outright title. “I think
they played really well against us the first time.
We had some good transition opportunities that we were able to
capitalize on. When we did
execute in halfcourt situations we were getting looks that we wanted.
Just our hustle plays helped us out first time and we won the boards,
so I’m sure that is something that coach (Scott) Sellers is going to be
stressing this time to make sure they do a better job on the boards.
We have got to go out and keep our hustle and win the 50/50’s and
do our jobs in all aspects,” said Lantz.
Published 2/04/22
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Shelby
Needs Good Start
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays the
other leader, River Valley, at home on Saturday night, but first they must
travel to Highland for a “MOAC” game on Thursday night.
Last Friday, the Whippets dominated the fourth quarter and beat
Galion (80-67) in a conference game.
Coach Gregg Galloway says they turned the tide with defense.
“To credit Galion, I think in our league they are one of the more
improved teams from the start of the season until now.
I think they have some nice guards.
They are able to do a lot of things offensively that can hurt you if
you are not going to be disciplined defensively.
We are still looking for that game where we can play four quarters
with consistent great effort on defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday afternoon, “I would say over the last three games we have had a
good second half defensively, but we are still looking for the game were we
lock down defensively for four quarters.”
Shelby (14-3,9-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Highland (6-10,3-7) on
Thursday night. The Scots lost
(57-40) to Marion Harding on Friday night, but they have won three of their
last five.
The Whippets won the first meeting (77-42) on December 17, but
Galloway says they are clearly better now.
“One thing for sure is they are very well coached.
We were able to get one at home against them earlier this season, but
they are a much improved team. They
have had some good wins recently and it is going to be a great challenge for
us to go over to there place for the first time with them joining the league
here this here to go over there and get a big win,” he said.
River Valley (11-5,9-1) plays at home against talented Marion Harding
on Thursday before they play the Whippets.
Galloway says they have great balance in their lineup.
“One of the things that stands out is just how balanced they are.
I think they have three or four guys in the starting lineup that are
capable every night of scoring in double digits.
It’s hard to defend a team like that.
You can’t put all of your emphasis on one or two guys.
They have four guys and even a guy off the bench that are capable
scoring 10 points a night. So,
we have to do a good job of playing sound defensively against them and try
to play to our strengths against River Valley,” said Galloway.
The Vikings handed Shelby a (59-48) loss on December 21, the Whippets
only league loss.
Galloway says they must have a better start to the game than they did
that night if they expect to win. “In
that first game against them we didn’t come out of the gate like we wanted
to against them. They outscored
us 21-5 in the first quarter. So,
that has to be an emphasis. We
can’t wait against a good team to starting looking to do what you want to
do offensively and defensively. We
have to have some energy from the start and we have to stay together as a
team and try and get a four quarter game against them.
We know it’s going to be a four quarter game against them, it
always is,” said Galloway.
Published 2/01/22
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Perimeter
Defense Big for Shelby
Shelby, in a share of first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, plays at Galion on Friday night in a conference game.
The Whippets share first place with River Valley and they play the
Vikings next week.
On Tuesday night in a non-conference game, the Whippets rallied for
17 down (45-28) at the half to beat Mansfield Senior (64-61) for a nice win.
Coach Gregg Galloway says they just kept battling.
“Against a really good team we knew it was a four quarter battle
going against Mansfield, especially at their place.
I thought our guys did a good job responding after not such a good
first half coming out and chipping away,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday, “I think we got it to seven after the third.
We were able to get stops when we needed to late in the fourth and
put away with a win. It was a
great team win and I was just really proud of our guys with the shift they
had in the second half.”
Sure the Whippets had to score points, but Galloway says their play
on defense was the key when they allowed the Tygers only four field goals in
the second half. “We talked at
halftime being down 17 we weren’t going to come back in one or two
possessions. We had to really
lock down on the defensive end. They
made a couple of adjustments with their personnel and I thought our guys did
a good a job adapting to that. The
big thing was just playing team defense and getting rebounds and we were
able to do that,” he said.
Shelby (13-3,8-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Galion (3-10,2-7) on
Friday night. Galion beat Clear
Fork (73-55) in a conference game last Saturday.
They have started to score more points.
The Whippets won the first meeting (77-40) on December 11.
Galloway says the Tigers are improved and they have to do a good job
of closing out on their shooters. “From
when we played them earlier this season, they are a much improved basketball
team. They have three or four
guys that are shooting a good percentage behind the arch.
We have to do a good job (Friday) night of finding their shooters,
locating their shooters, and close out with high hands and making sure those
shots are contested on the perimeter. It
is going to be a big conference game for us, especially at their place and
our guys have to rise to the challenge,” said Galloway.
Published 1/28/22
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Fourth
Quarter Surge Gives Shelby Big Win
Shelby outscored Marion Harding (24-17) in the fourth quarter and
downed the Presidents (63-54) Saturday night at the “Doghouse” to remain
in a share of first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with River
Valley.
The Vikings beat Ontario (65-39) on Saturday.
Harding drops a game behind the leaders.
With Shelby leading (39-37) entering the final quarter, the Whippets
and Presidents traded punches early in the quarter with Harding taking a
(44-43) lead on a three pointer by Caden Jones with 6:26 to play in the
game. However, Shelby responded
with a key (8-2) run started by an Alex Bruskotter hoop and punctuated by a
free throw by Bruskotter with 3:00 left giving the Whippets a (51-46)
advantage. Shelby would stretch
the lead to as much as (60-49) on two more Bruskotter charity tosses with
:26 to play.
Harding led by many as five (29-24) with two free throws by Jones
with 4:30 to play in the second quarter.
Shelby coach Gregg Galloway says they did a much better job in the
second half of keeping Harding out of lane.
“We track some different game goals each game about the paint touch
battle. In the first half they
were plus 12 in paint touches. So,
that was an emphasis in the second half to keep them out of the paint.
Offensively, we want to win the paint on that end.
I thought we did a good job containing some of their drivers.
They are a great team and we knew it was a battle, a four quarter
game. I was just really happy
the way we responded in the second half,” said Galloway.
Harding coach Jamie Pearson says Shelby made some halftime
adjustments that game them some problems.
“They did some things to bug us.
We have had a bad run. Every
team has those now between COVID and injuries and a lot of other things.
We are down some guys, not to make excuses because I am a big next
man up type of guy. They had a
good game plan for us and they were able to bug us a little bit, so give
them a lot of credit,” he said.
Shelby (12-3,8-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, made 26 of 32 free throws on the
night and 14 of 18 in the fourth quarter, Bruskotter made of 8 of 10 in the
quarter.
Galloway said the reacted well to the physical nature and kept to
their game plan. “It was the
most physical game we have played all year.
It was a huge “MOAC” game for us.
We had a game Thursday night and we wanted to focus on that, but we
knew we only had one day to prep for one the biggest games we played all
year. Our guys did a great job
of keeping composed and sticking to the game plan.
It was a great second half. I
thought we made the adjustments we needed,” he said.
Shelby pressed either in the half or full court forcing some
turnovers, but Pearson says they handled it well.
He says they played shorthanded.
“We have no problem with pressure all season.
It was a tough week for us. We
played Tuesday and came back Thursday. When
you are playing a game with league title implications you would like to have
more than one day of practice, but hey, they were in the same boat,” he
told Swankonsports.com after the game, “For us it was a little more
challenging because we are missing some guys.
Give them all of the credit, they made the plays at the end and we
were able to do that.”
Bruskotter led three Whippets in double figures with 24, Issaiah
Ramsey added 16 and Andre Hill 13. Wesley
Stokes led the Presidents with 22, but was only one for three on dunks, and
Riley Keeran with 14.
Harding played without C.J. Temple, who leads the “MOAC” assists
and steals this year.
Shelby plays Mansfield Senior (4-10) at Pete Henry on Tuesday in a
non-conference game.
Galloway says the way the game that was played Saturday night should
help them on Tuesday. “It was
definitely help us. When we look
at next week, we are going to play a very similar team when it comes to
athleticism in Mansfield Senior. I
think it’s a good game to prepare for that game.
We have another league next week (with Galion.)
We just have to keep building game by game.
I thought our guys did a nice job (Saturday) night,” he said.
Published 1/22/22
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Shelby
Wants to Pick up Intensity
Shelby remains unbeaten on the season, but that doesn’t mean they
can’t get better. They will
strive to do that as they host Galion in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game
on Friday night.
The Lady Whippets beat Lexington (60-35) in a non-conference game on
Wednesday night.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they did some good things, but there were
also things they need to work on. “I
thought (Wednesday) night was a good night for us, especially against a team
that outsizes us at pretty much every position.
We saw some things that we definitely need to work on,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It was a flat night for us,
shooting night for us. We
changed some offensive sets and we were able to get some extra opportunities
at the bucket. Definitely things
to work on if we want to make a run this year.”
Shelby has been successful on most nights running their offense.
Lantz says they want to be flexible and be able to do a lot of
things, but most of their stuff is built around a motion concept.
“I like to run just a basic motion offense, but we do have some
quick hitters and some sets that we run.
If they work, we are going to keep running them and if they don’t
we are going to go back to motion based on reads.
That’s one of the most important parts of the game that you are
able to read the defense out of a motion set and then good things are going
to happen,” said Lantz.
Shelby (15-0,8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
poll in the large school division, plays at home against Galion (4-10,0-7)
on Friday night. Galion lost
(62-20) to second place Clear Fork last Saturday.
The Lady Whippets won the first matchup (60-18) on December 10.
Lantz says the Lady Tigers are better than when they saw them six
weeks ago. “They are
improving. They are a team that
is working hard. (Coach) Shani
(Rush) has them doing the right things.
They have a couple of kids that are really able to score it and they
do a nice job on the boards. We
have to come out and bring better energy and intensity than we brought the
last few games. Looking to pick
the tempo up a little bit here,” said Lantz.
Published 1/21/22
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Shelby
Starts Second Half on League Schedule
Shelby shares the lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with
Marion Harding and River Valley entering the second half of the league
season this week.
They travel to improved Pleasant on Thursday and host Harding on
Saturday.
They beat Ontario (78-50) on Friday night in the last game of the
first round.
Coach Gregg Galloway says they got their transition game going.
“That was one of the focal points that we expressed to the team
before the game that we wanted to run from the start and I thought our guys
did a good job of extending pressure on defense and turning that into
transition baskets on offense. So,
our guys did a good job adjusting to that throughout the course of the
game,” he said.
Shelby (10-3,6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Pleasant (5-7,3-4) on
Thursday night. The Spartans
have won three of their last four.
The Whippets won the first meeting (67-37) on December 3, but
Galloway expects a much better game this time.
“They are improving every game and it is going to be a game,
especially over at their place, it is going to be a great test for us.
One thing we talked about after the Ontario game is that concluded
the first half of our league games in the “MOAC” that everybody we
played in that first round is going to be improved and they are going to be
ready to go. So, it is going to
be a great challenge for us Thursday over at their place,” said Galloway.
Marion Harding (7-5,6-1) beat Pleasant (71-46) in a league game last
Friday. They lost (40-39) to Big
Walnut in a non-league game on Tuesday night.
Galloways says the Presidents are athletic and will try and play
fast. “They are a great
basketball team. It’s no
surprise that they are 6-1 in our league right now.
They have some great athletes. They
are going to try and extend their pressure in the full court and run
transition, a very similar style to us,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “They have a couple of guys that I would say are some
of the best athletes in our league. They
have a great point guard too. They
have been able to control the tempo all year.
So, it is going to be a great test for us.
It’s a home game for us and we have to be ready to go.”
Galloway says Harding scores in spurts and they must contain that
ability. “I know there have
been some games when they have been down double digits in the game and where
able to come back and win. They
are able to score in spurts. Whatever
your lead is you can’t feel comfortable at all.
We have to be strong with the basketball and make all of the right
passes and we have to take care of their pressure,” he said.
Published 1/19/22
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Shelby
Wants to be Quick but Not in a Hurry
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at
Ontario in a conference game on Friday night.
The Whippets (9-3,5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, shares first in the
“MOAC” with River Valley and Marion Harding.
On Tuesday night, Wooster, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, rallied
to beat Shelby (63-55) in a non-league game.
Coach Gregg Galloways says their offensive execution was lacking.
“We knew Wooster was going to bring an experienced, athletic team
over to our place (Tuesday) night an unfortunately we weren’t able to
answer the call. We had a lead
going into the second half. Execution
wise offensively we did not do a good job.
Something we really have to focus on this week going against Ontario
is figuring out ways to get efficient shots and finish strong at the rim.
With the percentage that we shot (Tuesday) night we are not going to
win many games, especially against a good team like Wooster,” said
Galloway.
Shelby is at the “O-Rena” on Friday night to face the Warriors
(4-7,4-2) in league play. Ontario
lost (69-38) to Marion Harding in an “MOAC” game last Thursday as part
of a four game losing streak.
Galloway says Ontario has been playing very well on defense all
season. “Coach (Tim) Mergel, I coached against him when he was at Madison
and I was at Ashland, I don’t have anything but respect for him.
He always gets his guys to play extremely hard and buy in, especially
on the defensive end. They have
done a good job this year of containing teams and making teams earn their
points,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We have a
good test at their place. It’s
always hard to play at Ontario. So,
we have to be focused here these next two days at practice.
We have a big one of at Ontario on Friday.”
Shelby prefers the tempo to be fast, but Galloway says they need to
be under control too. “That’s
what we want to. That is when we
are most efficient on both ends of the floor when we can make it a past
paced game. We are going to try
what we can do to get the game going up and down because we have struggled
at times when we have played in the halfcourt this year.
That’s going to be a focus to try and push the game tempo up.
We have to be able to control the pace too.
We have to be able to take care of the ball even though we are
playing at a fast pace,” he said.
Published 1/13/22
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Shelby
Keeps Rolling
Shelby has been the best girls’ basketball team in North Central
Ohio so far this season, but we are only halfway through the year.
There is still a lot to accomplish.
Last week, they beat previously unbeaten Buckeye Central (71-55) in a
non-conference game on Tuesday and then took Ontario to the woodshed (76-14)
in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Friday.
Shelby leads Clear Fork and Marion Pleasant by two in the conference
standings. They host Pleasant on
Thursday and travel to Marion Harding, three back, on Saturday.
Many of Shelby’s games have been blowouts, but coach Natalie Lantz
says they have been making sure the girls are focused on improving their
games. “We are doing our best
at keeping everybody engaged. We
talk to them every day about working hard and making each other better at
practice, so that when we get to game day we are prepared to go hard.
We talked about (Monday) again at practice what we need to do to be
successful,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We got all of the
teams first round in “MOAC” play, but what do we have to do to raise the
bar notch in our level of play? So,
it is something the girls are committed to working really hard at practice.
We are preparing best for what we might see here in the second
half.”
Shelby (13-0,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
poll in the large school division, hosts Marion Pleasant (5-5,4-2) on
Thursday night. The Lady
Spartans (40-37) on Saturday.
Lantz says they will offer a challenge.
“They are a good team. Their
coach has been there a couple of years now.
She is really doing great things with them.
They are improving a lot. They
are a very disciplined team. They
have a nice inside, out game. They
are playing pretty aggressive defensively.
They are getting some wins and I think they are only two games back.
So, they are in contention potentially if we don’t do our job.
So, we are expecting a tough game from them this time,” said Lantz.
Shelby beat Pleasant (47-31) on December 2.
That represents the closest league game for the Lady Whippets this
season.
It’s on the road for Shelby on Saturday as they visit Harding
(6-4,4-3), a team they beat (71-41) on December 4.
Lantz says Harding is a team with potential if they are at the top of
their game. “Harding has had
some ups and downs this year, but they are one of those teams that can be
completely lethal. They have
some great players. They have
great potential. I think if they
commit to playing hard all of the time, they could be a really successful
team too and they could pull an upset. It
is one of those weeks for us especially that we to take seriously, take each
game seriously, take each day at practice seriously and keep working to get
better,” said Lantz.
Published 1/11/22
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Shelby
Working to Return to Form
Shelby, one of four co-leaders in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
will be at home for Clear Fork in a conference game on Thursday night.
They play at Ashland, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, on Saturday.
The Whippets lost (63-57) at Willard in a non-league game last
Wednesday.
Coach Gregg Galloway says their defense was a little lacking.
“It was disappointing, but they are a really good team and we knew
that going in, especially playing over at their place.
We talked about trying to keep those two guards in front of us the
whole game and I thought we did a good job at times, but there were times
when those made some plays and made some shots on us and it kind of hurts us
in the long run,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We
didn’t start out the game with the defensive urgency that we wanted to and
it kind of bit us as the game went on. Our
guys did a good job fighting back, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough.
Credit them, they are coached really well and they are going to win a
lot of games this year, they already have.
Luckily, we are in the new year and we can fix some of those problems
coming into this week.”
Shelby (7-2,4-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Clear Fork (0-9,0-5) on
Thursday. In their last game,
Clear Fork fell to Fredericktown (57-48) in a non-conference game last
Wednesday.
Galloway knows the Colts will be well prepared.
“Obviously, they have struggled a little bit this year, but one
thing with playing in the “OCC” when I was at high school and then
coaching at Ashland and being around coach (Steven) Bechtel, I just know he
does a great job. Just really
respect and what he has done with that program at Clear Fork.
I know he is going to get those guys ready to go Thursday night.
It’s going to be a great opportunity for us with another “MOAC”
game and we have to definitely improve on a lot of things that we struggled
with last year. We have talked
about it is a new year. We have
to get better as a team and get back to Shelby basketball,” said Galloway.
Galloway knows with the logjam in the league a win over Clear Fork is
very important. “We are not
looking ahead or anything by any means.
We take every league game very serious.
We have just talked to our guys that this another opportunity
Thursday to get back on the right track.
We have to worry about one game at a time and hopefully that will
help down the road,” he said.
Ashland (7-3) welcomes the Whippets on Saturday night.
The Arrows were belted by Mansfield Senior (78-51) in an “OCC”
game on Tuesday night.
Galloway was an assistant at Ashland under coach Jason Hess.
He thinks it will a very good matchup.
“I think it will just be a great game.
I think we play very similar styles in terms that we both like to
play at an up tempo pace. Being
able to coach over there with Jason (Hess) I have nothing but respect for
him. It was the best three years
when I was there. I know the job
he does in getting his guys ready to go each game.
It is going to be a great challenge for us, especially on the road
over at their place. It’s
going to be another great opportunity for us on Saturday,” he said.
Published 1/06/22
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Two
Unbeatens; Shelby Hosts Buckeye Central
Shelby entertains the Buckeye Central Buckettes in a non-conference
girls basketball game between unbeaten teams on Tuesday night.
The Lady Whippets (11-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, have played top level
teams like Margaretta, Bellevue and Trinity in non-conference game already.
Coach Natalie Lantz says that makes them a better team.
“We have tried to schedule a lot of tough teams this year.
For one, I think that helps us push through “MOAC” play compete
and work to get better and second it helps us prepare better for tournament
time. So, we have played a lot
of really good teams this year. It
is really exciting to have a lot of tough teams in our area that we can play
and compete. There are a lot of
great coaches and great programs out there and we are just fortunate to play
some this year,” she said.
Buckeye Central (10-0), #1 in the small school poll, beat Bucyrus
(58-34) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game last Thursday in their
last outing.
Lantz reminds they have been winning without their best player in
Claudia Pifher and they have been playing excellent full court defense.
“They are undefeated without probably their best player in Claudia
Pifher. So, when she starts
playing it is going to be even tougher, that just gives them another guard.
They have really stepped up their play.
They have a balanced attack and some other players are stepping up
for them. They are
successful,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “I like their
defense. They will trap at
times, they will run a little zone press every now and again, so we
certainly have to be ready (Tuesday) for some pressure and make sure we are
doing a good job defensively talking and rotating on their shooters.”
Lantz says they have been executing pressure defenses well this
season too when the situation calls for it.
“That’s our thought process too.
We like to press, we like to pressure.
Defense is king and we want to make sure we are doing a good job
defending, especially good players. I
think we have the kids to do that. It
comes down to who you play as well. When
we played Trinity if we pressure them full court that is something that
plays into their game and we didn’t want them to get set and comfortable
in their game and force them into a halfcourt game.
Sometimes it just comes down to strategy.
We will be prepared (Tuesday) for Buckeye Central and we just have to
go out and execute.”
Published 1/04/22
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Shelby
Dominates Clear Fork
It didn’t take Shelby very long to demonstrate who the best girls
basketball team in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference is so far this year,
about four and half minutes, as they ran to a (12-0) lead and went on to
trash Clear Fork (78-48) on Thursday night at Les Hauenstein Gym.
Junior Audi Albert scored six points in that stampede out the gate
and the Lady Whippets (11-0,6-0) never looked back in taking an (18-9) lead
after one quarter.
In was more the same in the second quarter, after Clear Fork’s
Lilly Wortman scored to cut it to (18-11), the Lady Whippets went on another
(12-0) run to lead (30-11) with 3:24 remaining in the half after a Sophie
Niese basket. It was (39-21) at
the break.
Any hope of a Lady Colt rally in the second half was derailed early
with a (12-2) run to begin the third quarter that gave Shelby a (51-23)
advantage and things were all but over.
Shelby coach Natalie Lantz says they played well together and they
were able to score inside and on the perimeter.
“I am pleased with the way that we just played mentally tough
(Thursday) night. We were a
little bit off on some things. It
was a physical game. I liked the
way we stayed composed. I
thought our defense was really good. I
thought we did a really good job of attacking the basket and hitting the
open man so we could get layups. We
had a lot of layups and we hit some nice outside shots,” she told
Swankonsports.com after the game, “It was good teamwork, I guess that’s
what I’m most proud of. When
the girls work so hard and they are tired and they call to come out.
It was just good unselfish play and good teamwork, so very proud of
them.”
Clear Fork coach Scott Sellers says they wanted to pressure Shelby
and give them a different defensive look and that didn’t work.
“We had a plan coming in and we tried to execute it, they just have
good basketball players. Haylee
Baker, I don’t know how many she had, she was fantastic.
We did the best job that we could possibly do on Oliva Baker and she
still had some points. Sophie
Niese is the best point guard we will probably see.
Those three and a deep bench and a good game plan.
It is probably the first time this year we have gotten out hustled.
All in all, it is a good learning experience for us too.
We are a young team, an inexperienced team and that is always good
for a program,” said Sellers.
Neise had 20 points and five assists, Haylee Baker added 16 points
and eight rebounds and Oliva Baker gave the Lady Whippets seven points and
three steals. However, Shelby
also got 18 from Albert and seven from Mallary Gundrum.
Lantz says that was good balance and that is a spot of growth for
them. “We have girls that
getting more and more confident as the season goes on and some of it is
experience. Those experienced
players just keep playing up to their level, which is really exciting and
bright for the future. So, we
just have to keep staying after it during practice and keep getting better
every day,” she said.
Sellers says they tried to make some other players beat them, but
Shelby took advantage of that. “You
pick your poison. You can play
off somebody like Haylee Baker, but she is an outstanding shooter or you can
go up and pressure and she can go around you and she did a lot of that and
did some really good things. So,
again great game by them. It’s
great for our program to learn from things like that.
We are still 10-2, whether it is three points or 30.
I take a lot from coming in here and getting run over like that.
I think you can look at a lot of positives too,” he said.
Niese was tremendous for Shelby, she handled the Clear Fork pressure
with only one turnover, Shelby had 15 as a team, but most of them came when
things had been decided. Lantz
says she gets them into what they want to do.
“We have a really good point guard, an excellent points guard.
I think one of the top point guards in the state in Sophie Niese.
She is going to be a great point guard at the next level.
That helps handling the pressure and just the confidence.
We have a lot of guards and a lot of experience that can handle the
ball and they keep getting better and pushing each other in practice.
When you practice against somebody like that you going to be good and
you are going to be okay when you get pressure,” said Lantz.
Another difference was at the free throw line.
Shelby was 17 of 22 (77%), while Lady Colts were 6 for 20 (30%) for
the night. The Lady Whippets
were also 28 of 52 from the field (54%), 5 of 11 on threes.
Shelby has been in a lot of big games, for many of Clear Fork’s
players, this was their first.
Sellers says you could tell. “It
was for sure. They played two
years ago in the “Classic in the Country”, went down there as
sophomores, those three kids, and they didn’t have the best experience
down there. They have went
through those pains of being run off the court.
You can tell that coaching staff and those kids learned from that
disappointment they have had in the past and they applied those in the off
season,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Going down to Bellevue last year in
what was a close game and the disappointment there.
They rallied around that and got better.
I think they are a blueprint for what you do right as a program.
So, nothing but respect from us.
They are just a really good team and they deserved to win.”
Clear Fork (10-2,4-2) was led in scoring by Bekah Conrad with 16 and
Annika Labaki with 12.
Lantz says the Lady Colts are an up and coming team.
“They have done a phenomenal job.
The culture of the program. Those
girls played extremely hard the entire game and they battled.
They were basically face guarding three of our girls.
It is good for us to see that type of pressure and I think it is a
step in the right direction for that program it is only going to make them
better in the future,” she said.
Published 12/31/21
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Shelby
Looking to Defend First Place
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays at second
place Clear Fork in a conference game on Thursday night.
The Lady Colts trail by a game, but Shelby has not been seriously
challenged by any team in the conference so far, their closest game being a
16-point win over Marion Pleasant.
Olivia Baker had 17 points and sister Haylee added 16 as Shelby beat
Garfield Heights Trinity (58-42) Tuesday as part of the “Jingle Bell
Jam” at the Cedar Point Sports Complex.
Coach Natalie Lantz says their really got on the offensive glass
hard. “After the first couple
of minutes I think we settled down and our defense took over and we did a
really good job of talking and rotating.
One of the things I think won us the game and extra possessions was
just steals and forced turnovers, but we only gave them three offensive
rebounds for the game, which is huge,” she told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday evening, “So, obviously when we are getting the defensive
rebounds and not giving them multiple shots at the basket that really helps
us get more opportunities at the basket.
So, we were pretty excited about that.
We had scoring from many kids, which I think made us a little more
difficult to defend. On defense,
we buckled down and did a really good job.”
Shelby (10-0,5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Clear Fork (10-1,4-1),
#2 in the poll, on Thursday night. The
Lady Colts edged Fredericktown (50-47) in a non-conference game on Tuesday.
Lantz says Clear Fork is much improved, especially their guard play.
“I think they are a much improved team from last year.
Their guards have improved their play tremendously.
They still have Conrad inside and nobody in our area matches up
height wise with her. With their
guards picking up their game they have some outside shooters that do a nice
job knocking down threes. They
have some kids that are aggressive and get to the basket.
I like the way they sit down and defend and keep you in front of
them. They run some trapping
defenses. So, they are a much
improved team and I am looking forward to a good matchup (Thursday)
night,” said Lantz.
The Lady Colts have emphasized the press this season and Lantz says
if they see that Thursday, they will be ready.
“That is something that we practice for.
I think we have three of the top guards not just in our area, but in
our district. I think composure
is something we have gotten better at this year in limiting turnovers.
We had our most against Trinity and they were very aggressive,
athletic team. I think we had
several unforced turnovers, some uncharacteristic turnovers, but that was
something we talked about and worked on (Wednesday) in practice.
We will be ready to handle the pressure from Clear Fork,” she said.
Published 12/30/21
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Shelby
Defense Will be Challenged
Shelby heads north a little bit Wednesday night to face the Willard
Flashes in a non-conference boys’ basketball game.
The Whippets (7-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, picked up their first loss of the
campaign last week when River Valley beat them (59-48) in a Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference game last Tuesday. They
did respond with a (64-56) overtime win over Granville at a tournament
setting at Mt. Vernon Nazarene.
Coach Gregg Galloway says they got off to a very poor start against
River Valley. “From the game
at River Valley there are definitely some things we have to work on and one
of those things is how we start a game.
We were down 20-5 after the first quarter and it was just hard to
catch back up. Our guys did
fight to within six in the second half.
I was proud of how our guys competed, but it was just too much of a
deficit early in that game to come back against a good team.
I thought we did bounce back really well against a good team in
Granville over at Mt. Vernon. It
was a good, team win going into the holidays,” said Galloway.
Willard (5-2) won a couple of games last week, beating Edison (58-35)
in Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game on Wednesday and then downing
Carey (56-46) in non-league play on Thursday.
Galloway says the Flashes have great guard play.
“They are a really good team and it is going to be a great
challenge to us at their place. They
are led by their guards, especially their senior guard in Trey Paxton.
He does a lot of great things for them on both ends of the floor.
Offensively, he has the green light just about anywhere and he
deserves it too because he has a quick trigger and if you give him any space
that shot is going up and he makes it. So,
we are going to have to do a great job on him,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday afternoon, “Also, their sophomore guard (Max) Dawson does a
great job maintaining the offense and getting great looks.
We know when we play great guards like them they are going to make
shots, we just want to have a hand there to contest and make them earn
everything.”
Galloway says they have to know where those Willard guards are at all
times. “I think it is just
knowing tendencies and knowing we have to have high hands on close outs and
making sure we are disrupting any shots that go in rhythm for those two with
how well we can shoot the ball. I
think we have to have five guys dialed in too, we have to know where they
are at at different times. We
will have matchups, but there will be different times when other guys have
to guard them. It is key for the
five guys in the floor to know where those two are at, so we play good team
defense,” said Galloway.
Published 12/29/21
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Shelby
Girls Play Longtime Rival Willard
Shelby, in first place in the girls’ basketball standings in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, will host Willard in a non-conference game on
Thursday night.
Shelby and first place and have been a part of a lot of stories about
all sports over the last couple of years.
Lady Whippets coach Natalie Lantz says they have had a nice run of
athletes and leaders. “It has
been a nice couple of years here. We
have had some really good kids, good athletes go through.
I think one of the most important things is we have kids with a lot
of support at home and parents that are supporting the programs here and I
think that makes a big difference. Greg
Galloway had done a great job with the boys this year.
Football had a fantastic season.
I give a lot of credit to this year’s senior class when it comes to
football, baseball and basketball for the boys and there some really
talented girls in this class as well. I
think it comes down to leadership. They
are leaders and quality athletes and phenomenal students.
I think that just makes a big difference in the culture for any
program. We are just lucky to
have that with a lot of our programs right now,” said Lantz.
Shelby (8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division, beat River Valley (64-32) on Saturday.
Lantz says they got into some foul trouble, but their defense rescued
them. “I think we learned from
our mistakes in the first half. We
were playing a little too much defense with our hands and not moving our
feet very well and put ourselves in foul trouble.
River Valley was down with a couple of injured players and that makes
a big difference for them missing Brooklyn Moser inside, with that they have
some talented guards on the outside. When
you have a big presence inside as well that is really difficult to defend.
It does hurt them a little bit not having her and that can change the
dynamics of a game, especially when we have three or four starters setting
the bench in the second quarter,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday
evening, “That can impact the fluency of the game.
Credit to our kids, who stepped up in a big way defensively.
We might not have been as productive offensively that quarter, but
they stepped up defensively and kept the game where it needed to be.
In the third quarter, really pleased with how hard our girls,
especially defensively, we moved our feet and turned our defense into some
points on the other end and finished the game strong in the fourth quarter.
I give a lot credit to just the mental toughness of our kids.”
Willard (1-5) has struggled for one of the rare times in recent
years, but Lantz knows coach Barry Pfahl will have his team prepared and
ready to go. “They are a solid
program and they are well coached. I
know their girls are going to come and play hard, compete and battle the
entire game. We have to be
prepared as we would any other night. We
just have to do the little things right and make sure that we are moving our
feet still putting the pressure on defensively and converting on the
offensive end by being patient and making good choices when it comes to our
shot selection. Coach (Barry)
Pfahl is a great coach and I can’t say enough about him and how he gets
his kids to play hard and be strong fundamentally.
We are going to be ready for a good game,” she said.
Published 12/21/21
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Shelby
Faces Test With River Valley
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader Shelby is at River Valley to
tangle with the second place Vikings in conference game on Tuesday night.
Shelby remained perfect on the season with a (77-42) destruction of
Highland in conference play on Friday night.
Coach Gregg Galloway says they did a very good job of scoring in
transition. “I thought our
guys played really well and they knew the importance of another “MOAC”
game and I thought we did a lot of good things offensively and running
transition and finding ways to space the floor and get layups.
I was really proud of our guys effort they played hard for four
quarters,” he said.
Shelby (6-0,4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at River Valley (4-3,3-1)
on Tuesday night. The Vikings
just lost their first conference game Friday night when Marion Harding got
them (53-51) in overtime. The
Vikings surrendered a significant second half lead.
Galloway says River Valley is balanced and can do a lot of things
offense. “It is going to be a
great challenge for us Tuesday, especially going to their place.
It seems to be a over the last couple of years a great league game
between Shelby and River Valley, so we definitely have a great challenge
ahead of us. They have a lot of
guys that can score the ball. They
score the ball in a variety of ways from the outside and the inside,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “It’s not just one guy, they
have four or five that can score. They
have been battle tested this year with some very tough non-league games.
We are just very excited for this opportunity on Tuesday,”
Galloway says they have to play great team defense against River
Valley. “We have to have five
guys dialed in defensively. We
have to know where their shooters are at all times.
They are able to space the floor and shoot outside, but they are able
to play off the dribble too. That
presents challenges for us where we have to close out with high hands, so
they are not shooting open shots. We
have to be ready off the bounce and that just speaks to what they do
offensively and how well they are coached.
Those guys can really score,” said Galloway.
Shelby likes to force the tempo and Galloway says they are going to
try and do that again Tuesday night. “We
want to do what we do offensively and we like to run in transition and if
that is stuff that even anther team is comfortable with that style we are
still going to do that because that is what we do at the end of the day.
They do a good job running in transition they have guards that can
push it. When they need to, they
are really balanced offensively. When
they need to slow it down they can get a good shot in the half court.
It is going to be a game of who can control the pace I think,” he
said.
Published 12/20/21
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Conference
Leader Shelby in Action
Shelby, the leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference girls’
basketball standings, plays at Highland on Thursday night and at home with
River Valley on Saturday in conference games.
Shelby (6-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, leads River Valley, Clear Fork,
Marion Pleasant, and Marion Harding by a game.
Lady Whippets coach Natalie Lantz says it is a competitive league.
“There is definitely some tough talent out there and we just have
to be prepared every night. Every
team has to be prepared because everybody is going to bring their “A”
game looking to upset each other. So,
it’s a good one,” she said.
Highland (1-4,1-2) lost to Harding (52-38) on Saturday.
They are new to the league this year.
Lantz says they have a quality big kid in Emma West and some guards
to go around her. “We watched
some film on them and they have a nice inside presence and they also have
some guards hat can do some damage. A
couple of guards that are really aggressive defensively, so we need to make
sure that we are handling pressure and taking care of the ball (Thursday)
and making sure we are defending inside and box out and get the rebounds.
Just doing a lot of little things well.
Taking care of the ball, staying composed and handling pressure,”
said Lantz.
River Valley (5-1,2-1), #2 in our poll, is coming off their only loss
of the season (56-48) to rival Pleasant on Saturday.
They play Marion Harding on Thursday.
Lantz says this will be big test for them.
“Their coach does a really good job with them.
They have one of the top players in the conference in Hannah Logan
(20.8 ppg). She is athletic.
She can score inside and out and then she kind of spearheads their
defense as well,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “So,
again it will be about staying composed and playing our game making sure we
are playing good defense, talking, moving the ball, making sure we get the
best shots each time and taking advantage of our opportunities.
It will be another test for us. Hopefully
we are going to pull through with a couple of “W’s”.
Published 12/16/21
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Shelby
Wants to Beat Lexington Down the Floor
Both Shelby and Lexington have played five games this season and won
them all. Somebody gets their
first loss on Tuesday night the Whippets travel to Lexington to take on the
Minutemen in non-league play.
The Whippets (5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, won a pair of Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference games on last week when they won at Marion Harding (64-61) on
Thursday and buried Galion (77-40) on Saturday.
Coach Gregg Galloway was pleased.
“I was just very proud of our guys.
In both games they competed hard for four quarters.
We were able to get two key conference wins,” he said.
In the Harding game, Galloway says they had to dig deep and they were
able to do it. “I think we
were up eight at the half and in the second half they made some runs and I
think they go to down to one at least three or four times.
The guys did a good job of answering back with a key basket or a key
stop. I thought our guys just
played extremely hard for four quarters and I am just extremely proud of
them,” said Galloway.
Lexington (5-0), #2 in our poll, won a couple of close ones last week
too in beating Mansfield Madison (53-50) in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game
and New Philadelphia (51-49) in double overtime in a non-conference game.
Galloway says the Minutemen are really talented, especially in the
post. “They are playing some
really good basketball right now. Coach
(Scott) Hamilton does such a good job getting those guys each year and
utilizing their strengths on both ends.
They have two great posts that present a lot of challenges for us in
Hudson Moore and Baden Forup,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday,
“Moore is such a physical kid. He
is able to play outside and inside and play in the post as well.
Forup, I think, is listed at 6’7”, but he is a great athlete and
plays like he is 6’9”. We
have a lot of challenges in front of us (Tuesday) night.
We have to make sure we step up to the challenge.”
Moore averages (12.4 ppg and 7.00 rpg) and Forup is at (14.6 ppg and
7.8 rpg) for the Minutenen.
Lexington has been playing great defense, especially in the halfcourt.
Galloway says they want to beat that defense down the floor.
“One of our strengths is getting down the floor.
Collectively as a team they play such good halfcourt defense.
They have their bigs that are able to switch off on some of our
guards. Part of our strength
offensively is to run in transition. We
would like to speed them up (Tuesday) night.
We have to step up to that challenge,” he said.
Published 12/14/21
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Shelby
Wants to Spread it Around
Shelby plays on the road for the first time this year as they visit
Marion Harding for a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Thursday night.
They host Galion in a conference game Saturday night.
The Whippets, the defending “MOAC” champion, routed Marion
Pleasant (67-37) in their conference opener last week.
Coach Gregg Galloway says the players gave consistent effort and they
had balanced scoring. “I was
very pleased. Opening in
“MOAC” play last week we said we have to come out and play right from
the tip and I thought our guys did a good job of playing for four quarters.
I was really happy to see about 10 guys score in the game too, so we
did a good job sharing the basketball. Some
of our guys off the bench played really well too,” said Galloway.
Shelby (2-0,1-0) plays down at Marion Harding (1-1,1-0) on Thursday.
The Presidents demolished Galion (68-29) last Friday.
Galloway says the Presidents are going to be athletic and aggressive.
“They have a really nice team.
They return a lot of guys from last year’s team. We anticipated
them to be on top of the “MOAC” this year too.
So, we have our hands full on Thursday,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday, “They are going to be a really athletic team.
They are going to get out and guard in the full court and we have to
take care of the basketball in you want to be successful against these
guys.”
Galloway says they have to avoid a bunch of turnovers and be
assertive. “We have to be
strong with the basketball first. We
can’t play with it by dribbling. We
have to make one hard move and go. We
have to handle their pressure. We
can’t have one guy, we have to have five guys doing that for us,” he
said.
Galloway is seeking balance. He
says that makes you a lot harder to defend when you have five guys that can
do things. “That is something
that we talk a lot about as a team. We
have an unselfish group. It
could be anyone’s night. As an
offense, we want to have five guys that can be threats for us.
We want to find ways to get great shots within our offense and that
could be anyone of those five guys on the floor,” said Galloway.
Published 12/08/21
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Shelby
Begins Defense
Shelby, the defending champion in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
hosts Pleasant to its first game in attempting to defend that title on
Friday night.
Last week, they beat Mansfield Madison (78-60) in a non-league game.
It was a good performance, but coach Greg Galloway says they can
clearly get better. “I thought
we did a lot of good things last Friday against Madison.
We talked about a list of things we did well and things we needed
improve and the list that we need to improve definitely exceeds the other
list. We have been working this
week to take care of the basketball, looking to push the ball.
It’s the “MOAC” opener this week, so we had a good week of
practice,” he said.
Shelby has been dominating the last couple of years in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference, but Galloway says that means nothing on Friday.
“We have had that conversation with our captains and some of the
leaders of our team just because we won an “MOAC” title last year
doesn’t mean anything go into this year.
Obviously, we lost some great players from that team last year.
Our guys realize that we have to show up every week and take a new
challenge with every “MOAC” opponent.
I think our guys are doing a good job of focusing on one game at a
time,” he said.
Pleasant (0-2) lost on Tuesday night (51-40) to Marion Elgin in a
non-conference game. They have
shot less than 30 percent in both of their losses.
Galloway says they get good shots and some night they are going to
make a lot of them. “They have
some really nice guard play. They
have a guard in Wiley Smith that is a sophomore.
I believe he was a second team All-MOAC selection last year and he is
a really good guard and he has a great shot.
When he is rhythm he is going to knock down that shot,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We have to do a great job on him.
We know they have some other sophomores, some young guys that are
playing a varsity role this year. So,
they do a good job moving the basketball and getting great shots
offensively. We definitely
defensively have to stay locked in make sure the shots they are taking are
contested.”
Published 12/03/21
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Shelby
Squares off with Margaretta
Shelby and Margaretta two of the very best girls’ basketball teams
is this area will meet on Monday night at Shelby High School in a key early
season non-conference matchup.
The Lady Whippets won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last year
while Margaretta was the runner-up in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay
Conference. Both are favored to
win their conference titles this year.
Shelby (1-0) opened their season last Tuesday with a (70-27)
destruction of Ashland, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, in a non-conference
game.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they got better as the game went a long last
week. “Yeah, I think it was a
good win. I don’t know if we
were just over excited in the first half it was a little bit sloppy, but we
pulled it together in the second half. We
had a nice second half and kind of pulled open a little bit more, which was
great. It was great to get out
there and a get a win for the first game,” said Lantz.
They shared the “MOAC” title last season with Marion Harding and
they play the Lady Presidents for the first time on Saturday, so it is a big
week for the Lady Whippets.
Of course, there are bigger crowds this season due to no limitations
on attendance at games.
Lantz says her players are thrilled to be playing in front of more
fans. “They love it.
The kids are just so excited to have fans back this year.
Just the energy they bring. The
girls are proud to show them how hard they have been working.
They want to represent our school and community with pride.
So, to be able to have fans back this year means the world to
them,” she said.
Margaretta (1-1) beat Toledo Christian (64-57) last Tuesday and then
lost to division I Fremont Ross (51-47) last Friday.
Lantz says they are an excellent team with an outstanding player in
Kylie Leibacher. “Margaretta
is a great program. They have
great coaches. They probably
have the best player we are going to see all season.
She has good height, she is strong, she is athletic and she finishes
inside and out. It is a mismatch
nightmare for most teams,” she told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening,
“They are very disciplined. They
have some shooters. They play
really hard and disciplined on defense.
They move the ball well offensively.
They know how to isolate Leibacher.
They have another 5’11”, 6’0” girl in (Devyne) Eisenhauer.
She shoots the ball well outside and gets open inside.
So, we definitely have our work cut out for us (Monday), but our
girls have been working really hard and they are ready.”
Published 11/29/21
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Shelby
With New Look
Shelby is a combination of youth and experience this season as they
get ready to start the season at home on Friday night against the Madison
Rams in non-conference play.
Greg Galloway, who is an assistant football coach at Shelby and was
an assistant basketball coach at Ashland, is the Whippets new head coach.
Galloway says they have improved going into game week.
“One of our mottos for practices, scrimmages, and games is just to
get better each day. We knew it
wasn’t going to be perfect in the preseason by any means.
I think our guys are doing a good job of tacking those steps each day
and building for game one,” he said.
Shelby returns quite a few kids that were key contributors to a team
that won a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title and earned a regional berth,
but with the graduation of their two top scores, Galloway says those
returners will be accepting new roles. “A
lot of those guys played meaningful minutes last year, but their roles are
changing drastically this year. We
are asking them to do a lot more, which is okay,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It is going to take a little
bit of time, especially after the scrimmages and once we get some games
underneath us to figure those roles out and really shine in those roles.
Our guys are unselfish, which makes things really easy for us as
coaches. We feel like we have a
lot of guys that can step up and given night and give us those numbers in
terms of production on both ends of the court.”
Madison also has a new coach in former assistant Chris Armstrong.
Galloway says he knows the Madison players and they are going to
offer up and a challenge for the Whippets.
“I am familiar with Madison because I coached at Ashland the last
three years and they have always been a tough league opponent for us when I
was at Ashland. They always have
great athletes and they are always coached extremely well.
We have our hands full this Friday.
They return three starters form last year in Zehner, Brooks and
Jeffries, and two of those guys averaged over 10 points a game last year.
So, they have experience coming back.
We know they are going to get out and guard full court and
offensively they are going to look to push it.
It is something we have to be ready for.
We have to some good prep before Friday,” said Galloway.
Published 11/25/21
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Shelby
Featuring Depth
Shelby, the defending champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
plays its first girls’ basketball game of the season on Tuesday night as
they play at Ashland against the Lady Arrows.
Coach Natalie Lantz says her players have come together very well and
are ready to start the season. “It
was a little challenging at times because we had some injuries during our
preseason. I’m not sure we had
everybody for all our scrimmages. Just
this past week we have been able to put everybody together.
It’s coming together nice and I am 100 percent positive they are
ready for (Tuesday) night,” she said.
With injuries they have experienced, Lantz says that has helped them
develop some depth and that is going to help them a lot this season.
“We saw that over the summer with some injuries and other kids
going on vacations and what not. We
had a lot of younger kids step up and play some big minutes in important
roles and we are seeing that here this preseason, so we are really excited
about the depth that we have,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
evening, “The kids that come off the bench just flat out compete.
We have some skill, we have a lot of improving to do, but there is a
lot of potential there and it could make for a special season, but we are
going to have to go out and do our jobs night by night.”
Ashland (0-2) has had a rough start to the season.
They lost twice this past weekend to Norwalk (40-28) on Friday and
Loudonville (69-44) on Saturday in non-conference games.
However, Lantz says they have the kind of players that can balance
the floor with their skills. “They
are building their program back up under coach Renee Stimpert.
She is doing a great job with them over there.
They have a nice inside, out game.
They run a couple of posts and have a couple of kids that can shoot
the ball. So, we are just going
to have to play some solid defense on them and make sure we are rotating and
box out against their bigs and execute our game plan,” said Lantz.
Published 11/19/21
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Shelby
Reassembling the Pieces
Shelby, the defending Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, and
division II district champion, has a lot of new this year, but a lot of
experience too.
First, they have a new coach in former Ashland assistant Greg
Galloway.
He says they have been making good progress during the preseason.
“It has been a good first couple of weeks of practice.
We just got all of our football guys back last Thursday.
So, as a full team we have three total practices with 100 percent of
our guys. So, we are still
learning, but we are making the right strides.
The guys are buying in and trying to get better every day,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We have had some scrimmages and
were able to watch some film and try and pick on some of those things we
struggled with in those scrimmages early so we can be ready to improve those
before game one.”
With a lot of points lost with the graduation of top scorers T.J.
Pugh and Cody Lantz, Galloway says they have spent a lot of time determining
roles for this year’s team. “You
graduate Pugh and Lantz who had over 40 points combined last year.
We do have seven lettermen from last year’s team.
So, the biggest transition this year is some of those guys that
played last year their roles are going to change and it’s adjusting to new
roles find ways to best help us succeed as a team.
We are still learning those roles and still identifying those roles
too as we are getting rotations down. But
they are doing a good job,” he said.
Shelby’s first game is next Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, at
home against Mansfield Madison. Their
first league test is also at home on December 3 versus Marion Pleasant.
Before those games, Galloway wants to see better communication,
especially on defense. “One
thing that we have expressed as a priority with our staff is our
communication. We want to be a
team that talks a lot on both ends of the floor, especially defensively.
We feel we can resolve a lot of our defensive rotations and stopping
ball and guarding off the ball with our talking.
That has been one thing that we have really emphasized these first
couple weeks of practice and scrimmages and is the one thing we want to
continue to improve is just our communication,” said Galloway.
Published 11/18/21
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Shelby
Going to Pressure
Shelby has won or shared the last three Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
girls’ basketball titles and they are hoping to contend for a fourth.
They open the season on November 23 at Ashland in non-conference
play.
Their first “MOAC” game is at Marion Pleasant on December 2.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they are sort just getting all of their kids
together, but she has seen some good things on the court already.
“I have been really happy with what we have seen so far.
I mean we have a lot of work to do, but we have done some good
things. We have a couple of
players injured and a concussion to go along with that.
So, down three and we have a couple just joining us from cross
country,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “They
participated in the state cross country meet over the weekend, so super
proud of them. So, just excited
to get all of the parts and pieces back together.
It has given a lot of kids the chance to step up and show where we
will be able to use them this year. I
really like the effort and the energy that I’m seeing.”
Lantz says on defense this year, they want to force the issue.
“Things have been going really, really well.
I am really excited about what we are seeing.
It could be a special season. Like
I said, there are things we have to work on.
We are working on playing super aggressive defense.
We have to be composed and work for the best opportunities on
offense. So, it’s coming,”
she said.
When they are forcing the issue on defense at the same time, Lantz
says, they have to be patient on offense when a good shot is not available
right away. “If we have the
correct rotations and we are working on applying pressure defense without
reaching, obviously that is what we want to do.
The key is if we play fast on defense we need to be able to pace
ourselves and slow down to work for the best opportunities on offense if we
don’t get something in transition. We
want to a great shot in transition and if it isn’t there we need to set up
and be patient,” said Lantz.
Published 11/09/21
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Shelby
Versus Clyde: Round Three
Shelby and Clyde are playing for third time in as many years in the
division IV playoffs, each as won twice, and Friday night will be the rubber
match so to speak as they lock horns in the regional quarterfinals at Clyde.
Shelby coach Robert Mahaney says he has great respect for Clyde and
if they can play them in the playoffs that must mean they are doing pretty
well too. “I think that speaks
for us at Shelby that if we are playing Clyde in the playoffs then you know
we are doing some good things, doing some things right.
We talk about the tradition they have had and the success that coach
(Ryan) Carter has had in his time at Clyde.
Obviously won a state championship two years ago.
I think he is as good a coach as there is in the area.
For us to play them three years in a row means we are doing some
things right. They are a really,
really good football team, so for us to be playing them, the last two years
have been in the regional semifinals, this year is a round earlier.
For us it means we are doing some good things in the program and
hopefully we can continue to keep doing good things,” he said.
Michael Daniels 1,054 yards rushing and 18 touchdowns this year for
Clyde, but Mahaney says he is far from their only option on an offense that
averages 350 yards a game. “We
were looking at the SBC stats (Monday) and when look at it (Michael) Daniels
has over 1,000 yards rushing, which is really good for a high school running
back. Jaden Cook, their
quarterback, is incredible. He
is the leading passer in the “SBC” Lake Division.
Brady Wilson, their receiver, is really, really good.
You talk about a trio, a big three, those three statistically are
really good. On film, they are
really good and their offensive line is outstanding.
They have other receivers and other backs.
Offensively, they are balanced because they have good players
everywhere and they do a good job of running the ball.
The Cook kid the best quarterback we have seen all year.
So, it is definitely going to be a big challenge for us,” said
Carter.
Cook has thrown for 1.998 yards and 19 TD’s this year.
Wilson has 41 catches for 803 yards and five scores.
On defense, Mahaney says, Clyde is just as good if not better on that
side of the ball. “Their
defense is an incredible high school defense.
I think it starts with the defensive line, which is the best unit I
have seen. They have 36 sacks as
a team. A lot of them of come up
front. Remington Norman in my
opinion is the best defensive lineman I have coached against and somehow, I
have got to coach against him three years in a row.
He does such a great job of using leverage.
He has a whole arsenal of moves he can use.
He is extremely difficult to block, especially one on one,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “They are good because they can get
pressure with their front four and their back seven drop and play their
style of coverage. Their MIC
(Dillon Overmyer) is also really, really good.
He is the leading tackler in the Lake Division.
He does a great job of defeating blocks and avoiding blocks and
getting on tackles. Then again,
their secondary is very sound. A
lot of their receivers play in that back end for them and they are really
good.”
Mahaney says they are going to have to play really well if they are
going to win. “As a team they
are really sound and you don’t see any weaknesses for us to have a chance
we have to play really well, execute at a high level.
Hopefully, we get some lucky breaks.
They are a really good football team that is extremely well coached,
so they are not going to give us anything, we are going to have to earn it.
It is going to be a dogfight for us on the Friday night,” he said.
Published 11/02/21
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Shelby
Going to be Shelby
Shelby has a unique challenge this week.
They play Clear Fork at home for the second week in a row, this time
in the first round of the division IV playoffs on Friday night.
Last week, they buried the Colts (49-19) to win an outright Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference title as quarterback Marshall Shepherd threw for 344
yards and three TD’s.
Coach Robert Mahaney was impressed with his team.
“I thought our kids came out with a great mindset.
I thought we executed as well as we have all year offensively.
Then defensively, it took us a drive to get settled in and thought we
played really well defensively as well.
I thought our kids were really excited for the opportunity to win an
outright conference championship. That
is something we have been talking about since June.
The opportunity to win three in a row.
That doesn’t happen very often throughout a lot of schools and
through our own history of Shelby. I
thought our kids came out and kind sized the opportunity and probably played
the best football game we have played all year against a really good team
and a really well coached team. We
are really proud of our kids and glad they able to do what they did on
Friday night,” said Mahaney.
Shepherd also burned Clear Fork running the ball from the QB spot
with 110 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
Clear Fork tried to so some things that haven’t been tried against
the Whippets this year and Mahaney says they adjusted really well to what
they had seen. “I thought we
did a great job when they showed us some different fronts and different
coverages that we hadn’t seen. They
tried to disguise some blitzes and do a lot of different things and I
thought our kids did a great job of just playing assignment football.
We know our receivers Blane (Bowman) and Andre (Hill) are really good
and they did a good job of adjusting to the coverages when they ran their
routes. Marshall (Shepherd) does
a good job,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “What I was
most proud of was our offensive line, who did a really good job of playing
assignment football and understanding what their rules were. Even
if there is another guy standing there, there is going to be another guy,
especially against that U.F.O. front that they were running against us.
I was really happy with our offensive line with the way they adjusted
and the way they played. It was
great for those guys to go out there and see all of those different looks
and execute the way that did.”
With Clear Fork throwing everything at them last week to see if
anything would stick, Mahaney says they plan to come out Friday and just
play Shelby football. “I think
it is a very unique situation where we can kind of assume what their
adjustments are going to be. We
can practice against something that we think we are going to see or we
haven’t seen. I think you just
spin yourself in circles trying to figure all of that.
The really fortunate thing is with the offense that we run we feel
like we have a pretty good idea about some of the things we are going to
see. There are only so many
things you can do to it. Obviously,
Clear Fork gave us some new looks. After
last Friday, I don’t know how many new looks there could possibly be.
I think our kids have done a great job adjusting all year.
When we take care of the football and we execute and limit penalties
we have been really good offensively. We
could spin ourselves in circles trying to figure out what adjustments and
little changes they are going to make, but we just want to be able to
practice against defense that we could see and then go out there and try and
execute and try and take care of our own business.
For our seniors this is the last time they are going to play at
Skiles Field, so we want to really embrace that moment and play as best we
can,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/28/21
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Shelby
Wants to Keep that Trophy
Shelby with a win at home against Clear Fork on Friday night wins an
outright Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference football title for the third year in a
row.
They set up that chance with a (47-20) whipping of River Valley last
Friday as Marshall Shepherd threw seven touchdown passes.
He has 47 for the season.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they did a very good job of responding to
the loss to West Holmes and came ready to play and got a good start.
“We wanted to come back after what happened against West Holmes.
An opportunity to play another game and get that taste out of our
mouths. I thought the kids did a
good job of going over there and starting fast.
We knew there was some weather coming in and we wanted to get a lead
then be able to handle that adversity. We
did a good job of that. We
executed and came out 21-0 at the end of the first quarter.
Then the weather came and honestly, I thought we did a good job
handling that. Our kids came out
in the second half and put the game away.
Against our JV defense they put up a late score, but I thought even
when those guys came in, they played really hard and did what they needed
to. I think it was definitely a
great night for the kids. It was
a good bounce back win that we needed. We
were able to get a share of the league title and now we go out and try and
win it outright this week,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (7-2,5-0) host Clear Fork (6-3,4-1) on Friday night. The
Colts had am 11 point lead with 4:00 to play last week, but lost to Marion
Harding (23-21) and fall out of a share of first place.
Mahaney is impressed with their play on both sides of the ball.
“I think Clear Fork is a really good football team.
I think Dave Carroll is a great football coach and you can see that.
They are always tough. They
are always physical. They also
execute very well. They are
extremely well disciplined. Their
defense is one of the best ones we have seen.
They like to keep everything in front.
They are really sure tacklers. Their
defensive line is really good. They
have a couple of defensive linemen that are really, really good.
They switch up some things and they do a good job of game planning
and taking away what you like to do. So,
it’s going to be a big challenge for us offensively,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “For us defensively, they always find
new formations and new ways to attack the defense that they are playing, so
we have to be ready for that. They
have really good football players. Their
offensive line is really solid. Their
quarterback does a great job he is really efficient.
He does a great job running their offense.
They have a lot of different guys they can get the ball to.
All five of their skilled players are all pretty good.
So, they do a good job of spreading it around.
So, we have to make sure we are covering all of those guys and
covering the whole field on Friday night.”
Clear Fork likely has one of the best defensive lines in the area and
have been sound in stopping the run. They
have given up some pass yards, but Mahaney says do a very good job finding
ways to limit the pass too. “I
think they do a really good job of adjusting.
They played River Valley and they kind of changed up their defense.
They played a lot of cover 2 man and against Harding last week they
played a lot of cover 2 man. It
is hard to defend against those teams that pass.
I think they do a great job defensively of adjusting, so we have to
be ready for those adjustments. Again,
I think they are well coached and they are sound.
They are not going to make a lot of mistakes.
We are going to have to earn it.
We have to protect the football, limit turnovers and try and make big
plays when we can,” said Mahaney.
The Shelby coach says having part of the title is nice, but they want
it to themselves. “We told our
kids on Monday that we want to be greedy.
We want win the conference outright.
We won the last two outright. We
would love to make a third one outright.
I think our kids are preparing to do that.
We are excited to play at Skiles in the last regular season game week
10. We feel that if we are able
to get a win then we will host a playoff game in the first round, but we
have to take care of business. There
is a lot to play for on Friday and I think our kids are excited for that
opportunity,” he said.
Published 10/20/21
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Shelby
Must Contain River Valley Quarterback
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, travels to
River Valley for a conference game on Friday night.
They share first with Clear Fork and will host the Colts next week.
Clear Fork plays at home against Marion Harding on Friday night.
Last week, in non-conference play, Shelby turned it over five times
and lost (51-14) to unbeaten West Holmes.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they made a lot of mistakes last week, but
they have learned from them. “We
turned the ball over a lot. We
made a lot of mistakes offensively. Had
some bad breaks defensively. With
that you are not going to be successful.
I thought our kids did a great job of using that film and trying to
be better. We are going to use
that as fuel. We are not going
to look back anymore. We are
just going to keep moving forward from this point.
I thought our kids did that. I
think it helps that we are playing a really good River Valley team with a
lot on the line as far as the “MOAC” and conference championship hopes
and all over that kind of stuff. I
think we did a great job learning from last week.
I also thing we have done a great job putting it behind us and
getting ready for this week,” he said.
Shelby (6-2,4-0) is at River Valley (5-3,2-3) on Friday night.
The Vikings lost (56-40) to Marion Harding last week.
Mahaney says River Valley can hang some points on the board and have
an excellent quarterback. “They
are very talented. I think
Caydin Shidone is one of the best quarterbacks in our conference.
I think he is very good. He
can make all of the throws on the field.
He is good with the screen. They
have kind of built their offense around him and you can see why.
He is a tremendous football player.
I think Karson Lang at receiver is their all-time leading receiver
and he is a really good football player.
They try and get him the ball in different ways and he makes you pay.
They also have a lot of other receivers that are doing a good job,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Like I said, Caydin is a special
quarterback. He does good things
with his feet and he is able to keep his eyes downfield and make a lot of
plays. They are going to put us
in some tough spots and it is going to be a challenge for us.
We like to throw the ball a lot, but we really haven’t played
another team that throws the ball like them, so I think it will be a really
good challenge for us.”
Shelby’s Marshall Shepherd has thrown for 2,912 yards and 34 TD’s,
both league bests. Shidone is
second in both categories with 2,431 yards and 20 scores.
Shidone is also third in the conference in rushing yards with 554
yards and 11 TD’s.
Mahaney says he gets those yards in a number of ways.
“They do a really good job of defining some different formations
with some quarterback counters. Then
going in empty and letting him run. Like
I said, he has really good pocket presence, moves around on his feet and
extends plays. He will take off
when he needs to and he also extends plays and makes throws.
They are going to try and scheme our defense and find ways to run the
football with him and also when plays break down we have to make sure we can
get to him and also stay in coverage. He
is a really good football player, so defensively we have to make sure we do
our assignments to the best of our ability,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/15/21
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Shelby
With Marquee Matchup with West Holmes
Shelby, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, hosts West
Holmes, the leader of the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Friday night in a much
anticipated contest.
Shelby (6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the large school division, beat Galion (37-7) in a “MOAC” game on Friday
night.
Coach Robert Mahaney felt they were solid on defense and improved in
the running game. “I thought
we did a great job defensively to hold them to seven points.
I thought offensively we did a good job of establishing the run game
throughout the middle of the game and through the end of the game we were
able to run the ball. We had 179
yards rushing, which is definitely the must we have had all year.
So, that was good to see. We
still made plays through the air like we have all year,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “We had kind of a slow start.
We are still turning the ball over in the red zone, which is
something obviously we have to get better at still.
We did a good job defensively responding, playing 11 guys as a team,
and were able to get a 30 point win over as team as good as Galion and a
player as good as Hanif, I thought we did a good job.”
West Holmes (7-0), #1 in our poll, beat Lexington (27-10) on Friday
night in an “OCC” game.
Mahaney says they are unbeaten for a reason.
“They are just extremely well coached.
They are physical. On
defense, all 11 guys fly around and get to the football and make tackles.
They are just really sound in coverage.
Offensively, They have a lot of different playmakers.
Sam Williams-Dixon, their tailback, is a really good football player,
he is special. They quarterback
is really good, really efficient. Their
fullback-tailback, the other guy that they use, #5, does a good job.
They have receivers that go up and make plays.
All of the way around the board they are well coached.
They have a guy at every position.
There is a reason they are 7-0 and it sticks out in film that they
are pretty darn good,” said Mahaney.
West Holmes quarterback Noah Clark leads the “OCC” in passing
yards and touchdowns and they average 38 points a game, however, Mahaney
says they are excellent on defense too.
“I think their defense is really good.
They have 11 guys that understand the scheme and where they are
supposed to be. They do a good
job of playing team defense. They
do a good job of running to the football and tackle.
You don’t see a lot of yards after the catch against them because
they do a good job in coverage and running to the ball.
They are pretty sure tacklers. Their
defensive line, linebackers and dbs are all good tacklers.
For us offensively, as a team that likes to get yards after the catch
it is going to be a big challenge for us against dbs that are good tacklers,
sure tacklers,” he said.
It is week eight of the season and Mahaney says they need a game like
this right now. “There is a
reason they are 7-0, they are a really good football team.
We have got two big games after this in the “MOAC” with River
Valley and Clear Fork. So, it is
going to be a good test for us. Let
us know where we are and what we need to get better on before those games.
Hopefully, things go the right way with playoffs after that.
It will let us know where we are at and what we need to work on.
In general, when you are playing a 7-0 team, or 6-1, there is going
to be a good atmosphere. I think
Skiles Field will be ready. I
know our kids are going to be excited to play in a game with a lot of eyes
on it,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/04/21
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Shelby
Plays Dangerous Galion
Shelby, who shares first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
with Clear Fork, is at home for the Galion Tigers in a conference game on
Friday night.
Last week, they beat Marion Harding (38-12) despite committing four
turnovers in the game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they must do a better job of ball security.
“Obviously, that was a big emphasis for us in practice this week to make
sure we are protecting the football and doing a lot of little things right.
When you are driving the ball into the red zone you have make sure
you can finish it. When you get
inside the five yard line we have to find ways to put the ball in the end
zone not turn the ball over and give the other team extra chances.
I thought we did a good job defensively rallying to the sudden change
and making plays to get off the field. For
us this week taking care of the football and protecting it.
You can’t do anything in football, you can’t score without the
ball. We have to protect it, so
that was a big emphasis this week in practice,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (5-1,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, averages more than 40 points a game.
Marshall Shepherd has thrown for almost 2,500 yards and 30
touchdowns. Andre Hill and
Blaine Bowman are the two leading receivers in the league.
Hanif Donaldson of Galion (3-3,1-2) leads the conference in rushing
with 841 yards and nine scores.
Mahaney says they have to know where Donaldson is at all times.
“I think Galion is a really good football team.
I think they do a lot of things right.
They want to run the football and they do a good job of that.
Hanif Donaldson is one the elite athletes in this area.
Definitely one of the best athletes in the conference.
So, we have to make sure we can find ways to stop him.
They do a good job of lining him up in different positions,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “On top of that, I think their
offensive line is really good. The
quarterback is developing into a really good football player and the other
guys around him are developing too. They
have done a good job defensively of growing every week.”
Galion lost to Clear Fork (36-21) last week, but they threw for more
than 300 yards.
Mahaney says they must defend both the run and pass.
“Coach (Matt) Dick has always had a pretty balanced offense.
They like to run the ball, but they also have the ability to throw
it. I think defensively we have
to be able to defend both. For
us it is going to be find where Hanif is at and how we are going to adjust
and do different things. At the
same time, we have to make sure we are defending the whole field.
Like I said, their offensive line is really good.
It’s up to defensive line and linebackers to get their run stopped
and also our dbs have to be able to cover because they are not afraid to
throw the ball and take some shots.” Said Mahaney.
On defense, Mahaney says Galion will blitz a lot and they have to be
ready to pick that up. “I
think defensively they fly around and get to the football.
They like to bring a lot of pressure, so we have to make sure up
front we are talking and communicating and finding where that pressure is
coming and designing our protection and make sure we can pick it up,” he
said.
Published 10/01/21
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Shelby
Faces Big Play Marion Harding
Shelby, in first place in the “MOAC”, plays at Marion Harding in
a conference game on Friday night.
Last week, they demolished Marion Pleasant (49-14) in a “MOAC”
game.
Shelby scored early and often on Friday night, leading Pleasant
(28-0) after one quarter.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they really emphasize getting off to a
quick start. “That is
something that we always preach and build the momentum and try and take
advantage of some early opportunities and I think our kids have done a great
job with that all year. We
preach it all the time in practice, preach it in meetings, game planning and
all of those kinds of things. It
is something we want to be really good at.
We have done a good job coming out and establishing what we want to
do offensively and defensively as well.
Last week, we jump out to a 28-0 lead at the end of the first quarter
and we were able to just play from there.
Our kids did a great job putting us in that position and finishing
the game out,” he said.
Quarterback Marshall Shepherd thew six more TD passes last week
giving him 25 for the season.
Shelby (4-1,2-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, plays at Marion Harding (3-2,1-1) on Friday
night. The Presidents blocked a
punt that led to a safety and the lead and went on to beat Galion (24-15)
last week.
Mahaney feels they execute well on both sides of the ball.
“I think Marion Harding is a really good football team.
They have a lot of guys offensively to get the ball to.
Brady Wink does a really good job of finding different guys, going
through his progressions. They
do a great job running crosses across the field and making you run with
their athletes. They have some
really good receivers and a back that is good and they are big up front.
Our defense is going to have their hands full,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Defensively, they have three of the
top six tacklers in the “MOAC” at linebacker, so we have to be ready to
block those guys. Their front
does a good job of eating up blocks. We
have to travel down there. I
think there are a lot of things that we are going to be challenged with this
week and we have to go out and execute the best that we can.”
With the athletes that Harding has, Mahaney says the have do a solid
job tackling and understanding that sometimes they are just going to give up
a play. “We have to do our
best tackling and tackling in space and that is going to be a big challenge
for us. We have to do a good job
of keeping them in front of us and not let them pick up too much steam up.
The one thing defensively they have some really good receivers, some
big targets that can go up and make plays on the outside.
Their quarterback, and their offense, is okay with throwing some jump
balls up and sometimes we are going to lose those.
So, we have to be able to rally and accept the fact that we are going
to allow some big plays because at the end of the day the score on the
scoreboard is going to be what matters most.
So, we have everything in our ability to keep them out,” said
Mahaney.
Published 9/21/21
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Shelby
Wants the Ball
Shelby, the defending Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, got
their defense off on the right foot and now they play their first home
conference Friday night against Marion Pleasant.
The Whippets (3-1,1-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, beat Ontario (35-7) last week.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they took what the defense was giving them
on offense and did a good job up front on defense.
“I thought our kids did a great job coming out in an away game
opening conference play and executing at a pretty high level.
I thought we could have been a little more efficient on offense at
times. Ontario tried to keep
everything in front of them, but we did a good job of methodically marching
the ball down the field and taking advantage and being accurate in our quick
game and getting the ball out in space and making some plays.
We did a good job up front,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday, “Defensively, I thought we did a good job for three quarters
really making them earn it and our defense played a heck of a game.
I think for us and the week we had with all of the injuries and being
banged up and all of those kinds of things for us to go out there and
execute the way that we did to open conference play we were pretty
pleased.”
Pleasant (1-3,1-0) won for the first time this year when they scored
in the final minute to beat Marion Harding (27-24) in a “MOAC” game.
Mahaney says they turned to the power running game last week and it
proved effective. “I think
that win is going to be big for them. It’s
a big rivalry game for them to beat Marion Harding.
Harding had got them the last two years.
For coach (Kevin) Kline to get his first win against Harding is a
confidence builder for them. They
kind of changed some things they did going into the Harding game and it
really worked for them. They
just hung their hat on being more physical and running the ball right at you
and it worked for them then, so that is what we are preparing for
defensively. We are going to be
up for a tough task. They have a
really good fullback and an offensive line that fires right at you.
They run some wing-T stuff. We
have to make sure we are sound defensively make sure we are doing our
assignment. Defensively, they
did a good job. They like to
keep everything in front of them and come up and make tackles.
We have to be able to take what they give us and make some plays out
in space,” said Mahaney.
Mahaney says they must be fundamental up front on defense or the
Spartans are going to keep the ball away from their potent offense.
“It is going to be a good challenge for our front seven, our
defensive line and linebackers. They
run some misdirection in the backfield.
We have to make sure we read our keys and do our job and win at the
point of attack. We have to win
with our hands and our shoulders are taking on blocks the little things that
are going to matter this game because they are okay getting three, four
yards at a time, but that is going to be a first down.
They are going to try to eat some clock, so we have to do our job
defensively to get them off the field,” he said.
Published 9/16/21
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Shelby
Kicks off League Play Against Rival Ontario
Shelby, the defending Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, play at
Ontario on Friday as they begin defense of that title at Copeland Field.
In a thrilling game last week, the Whippets (2-1,0-0) lost 45-40 to
Bellevue, their old Northern Ohio league rival, in a non-conference game.
The Whippets led (34-25) after three quarters and had a chance to win
until the very end when Bellevue quarterback-defensive back Deegan Horn
intercepted a Marshall Shephard pass in the end zone.
Coach Robert Mahaney says turnovers and defensive mistakes were
costly for the Whippets. “We
knew going into Bellevue and playing in that environment it was going to be
a great football game. Our
kid’s effort was there. We
just made too many mistakes. We
turned the ball over three times, had some big, missed assignments on
defense. You make those mistakes
against a well coached team like Bellevue they are going to come back and
hurt you and they did. Credit to
our kids, we fought all of the way to the end,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Sunday evening, “We had the ball at the four yard line with a chance to
win the game with 30 seconds left. Our
veteran quarterback made a throw late across the middle that was almost a
touchdown, but their DB made a heck of a play to intercept it to end the
game. It was two really good
football teams with a lot of tradition.
It was a great way to restart the rivalry, we just wish we were able
to make that play and end up on top.”
Ontario (1-2,0-0) after scoring only nine points the first two weeks,
beat Smithville (21-14) last week in a non-conference game.
Mahaney says the Warriors have gotten better each week and they are
going to be fired up to play them. “I
think they are steadily getting better each week.
You look at their improvement from week one to week two and week two
to week three when they made that jump and got the win last week against
Smithville. They are extremely
well coached, coach (Chris) Miller does a great job, he gets the kids to
play hard. It is our local,
little rivalry game right down the road from us, 10 minutes, so we know they
are going to come with a lot of energy and be ready for us.
So, we have to pick our heads up.
We look forward to this week and getting ready after what happened
last week. They are going to
come after us. Offensively, they
are doing some good things that are going to put us in a bind
defensively,” he said.
Shelby went unbeaten in last year’s shortened regular season, but
Ontario gave them their best game until they lost in the regional final,
losing (28-14) to the Whippets.
Mahaney says they are a different kind of offensive team this year,
one that will look to run more. “I
think they are trying to find different ways to run the ball.
They did a good job against Smithville.
Week one, I think they were trying to figure out who they were.
They did a good job rebounding and played Highland tight and then got
the win against Smithville. Obviously,
they had really good athletes last year.
A quarterback that was really good, really good receivers, and they
graduated a lot of that. They
have some young kids and they are trying to figure out who they are, but
again the getting better every week. So,
I think they are going to try and find ways to run the ball and take
advantage of what you give them offensively.
They have a similar mindset that we do offensively.
They are going to be ready for us on Friday night,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/06/21
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Shelby
Excited to Play Bellevue Again
Shelby plays at Bellevue in one the premier high school football
games in the area on Friday night.
Both longtime members of the now defunct Northern Ohio League for 70
years.
Last week, Shelby (2-0) played an outstanding game in beating
Lexington (45-28) in non-conference play.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they executed very well on both sides of
the ball. “I thought we did a
great job of coming out and executing the game plan.
They were really good on offense and ran the ball well and
defensively we played great defense and did our job and were able to hold
them down a little bit. I
thought offensively we did a great job of making plays.
Marshall (Shephard) played great at quarterback and our receivers did
a really good job of making plays when they could and our offensive line did
a great job of pass protecting. If
we execute like that, we are going to be really successful, but we are going
to have our hands full Friday night for sure,” he said.
Shephard threw five more TD passes.
He has nine for the season.
Bellevue edged Edison (21-14) last week as Deegan Horn rushed for 130
yards for the Redmen.
Mahaney says they are good all over the field and their players are
well coached. “They are good
at everything, there is no doubt about that.
Coach (Ed) Nasonti is one of the best coaches in the state and we are
going up to their place, which is a great atmosphere for high school
football. We have to be ready
for that. They are extremely
physical, they are extremely well coached, they run the ball extremely well,
their front seven on defense is really, really good, and their db’s are
good at keeping things in front of them and make plays when they need to.
So, without a doubt this is the best defense that we have played and
we have to be ready for that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday,
“Offensively, it is going to be the most physical team that we have played
up front they are really good, their backs run hard, their quarterback runs
hard. They do everything they
can to out formation you and we have to be able to adjust.
Again, read our keys, play team defense, and do our jobs.”
Bellevue is one of the temples for high school football and Mahaney
says not only are the Redmen as excellent team, but you also must handle
playing at “BAF”. “It’s
a great atmosphere. Bellevue
loves high school football, they love their team, and I think we are just as
excited. It’s an old rivalry
from the “NOL” that dates back for a long time.
For it to get renewed for this week three non-conference game I think
both communities are excited. We
have taken two years off, my first two years here at Shelby, and I am
excited to just be part of this game. When
you talk to people in our community they are excited.
It’s a game that has a lot of rich tradition in Shelby.
We know we are going up to Bellevue and it’s going to be physical
and it is going to be a great atmosphere that we have to be able to handle.
We know it’s going to be a great test and we have to play with our
“A” game, but that’s what you want to do before you start conference
play is play a great opponent and that is exactly what we are going to do
with Bellevue,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/03/21
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Shelby
Will be Tested at the Point of Attack
Shelby will be at home Friday night for the Lexington Minutemen in a
battle between two teams that looked very good last week.
The Whippets blasted Madison (55-6) and Lexington whipped Ontario
(45-0) in week one action.
Shelby coach Robert Mahaney says they did a lot of things well, but
he was particularly impressed by their offensive efficiency, play on special
teams, and their team defense. “I
thought we did a great job playing team defense.
All 11 guys doing their job. We
played well in special teams. We
made some plays on punt return and had some really short fields to work with
offensively. I knew we could be
efficient in the pass game, but we completed 80 percent of our passes and
that’s really high. If we can
keep up that number it is going to be extremely high for the year.
I thought we were really efficient with the ball, special teams
played well, and we played a really sound defensive game,” said Mahaney.
Lexington was dominate last week and Mahaney says on offense they can
do a lot of things. “They are
extremely well coached, they are physical, they try to get after you, their
offensive and defensive line fire off the football, they have high motors, I
feel like they never stop moving, they play low with great leverage, we are
going to have our hands full in the trenches for sure.
They have great athletes offensively.
The Berry and Green kids are phenomenal running backs, a great
one-two punch. Cole Pauley is a
really good quarterback and can make all of the throws on the field,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “There is a reason he is a scholarship
athlete, you can see that on film. He
has the arm talent to really hurt you. We
have to play sound defense with all 11 guys doing their job. We have to make
sure we do our best to stop the run and try get pressure on them when they
are trying to throw the ball. Defensively,
they fly around and get to the football, so offensively we have to be able
to execute really well.”
To keep Lexington from lighting up the scoreboard, Mahaney says they
have to be able top slow down a very good run game.
“Obviously, their run game is the staple of their offense.
They have iso, the zone, the stretch, the power, the inside, outside
zone, they run the ball really well, again the offensive line fires off
extremely hard, extremely low and they move their feet.
They probably have the best one-two punch of backs I have seen in a
while in Berry and Green. They
are really fast and really hurt you with big plays if they find a seam.
So, they want to run the ball until you stop them.
That is the sign of a good physical football team.
We have to really step up defensively, play as a unit, do our job,
and trust the guys around us and rally to the football the best we can,”
said Mahaney.
Published 8/25/21
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Shelby
Wants Quick Start
The highly touted Shelby Whippets begin the season on Friday at
Madison against the Rams in non-conference play.
During the preseason camp this year, coach Robert Mahaney says he
feels they have had some kids step up. “Obviously
camp can be a grind. The kids
are working on our own craft and sometimes you get stale until that first
scrimmage is held. I thought
camp this year was super long with all of the days in June and July.
That was weird because once August got here it felt like it went
really fast. I thought overall
preseason camp wise our kids did exactly what we wanted them to.
We developed some depth in some different positions.
We had some kids step up into starters roles that we needed to.
Now, it’s exciting to see all of the hard work not only in camp,
but also in the weight room all season, finally pay off this Friday
night,” said Mahaney.
Madison has struggled in recent years, but Mahaney feels, based on
the film he has seen, they are improved.
“I think they are extremely well coached, well motivated, I think
their coach does a great job. I
think they are big and physical and can pound the ball. The
Brooks kid is one of the fastest kids in the state, so we have to be ready
for that. Defensively, they do a
really good job of flying around and getting to the football.
So, we have to be ready to go because I think they are a really good
football team and we have to make sure we come our clicking on all
cylinders,” he said.
Madison has some big guys up front and Mahaney believes they are
going to try and run the ball against them.
“I think their offensive line does a really good job.
They can run some heavy sets with one wide receiver and two backs and
a tight end on the wing or even two wide receivers with two backs and a
fullback. They are going to be
in some heavy personnel and they are going to try and run the ball behind
those guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I think defensively
their defensive line does a great job controlling the line of scrimmage, at
least in the two scrimmages that we saw.
I think they are much improved up front and those guys are playing
really well right now. It looks
like they are playing with a lot of energy.
For us up front, particularly offensively, it will be a really good
challenge for our guys to start the season.”
On Friday night, Mahaney says they need to grab the momentum right
away in this game. “At the end
of the day we are playing high school football with 14-18 year old kids and
momentum is extremely important and getting things started off right can
help that. It is something we
preach at Shelby to start fast and try and take advantage of things early
and I think that is something we have got to do.
We struggled in our second scrimmage against Norwalk coming out flat.
We have challenged our kids all week to be ready to go at that
opening kickoff. That is
something we have really worked on this week,” he said.
Published 8/20/21
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Whippets
Expect Success
Shelby has been in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference for only two
years and they have won two football titles.
They also advanced to the regional final in division IV last year.
Expectations remain high for the Whippets, who begin their season
August 20 at Madison.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they lost some really talented kids to
graduation, but they also return some kids that can play a little bit.
“I think we have some really good pieces coming back that got
battle tested. It was a
shortened regular season, but then they went on and made it all of the way
to the regional finals and played in four playoff games.
That is going to help us down the stretch of this season.
We have a lot of skill coming back starting with our quarterback
Marshall Shepherd and Blaine Bowman and Andre Hill at receiver and Connor
Hinkle and all of those guys coming back.
We had a seven on seven summer league and a seven on seven at
“AU”. Our skilled players
are right where they need to be to be successful,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Pass game wise I feel real confident.
Run game wise, obviously we graduated Owen (Fisher), who was the
career leading rusher at Shelby and we graduated three of our starting
offensive linemen and that is area we have to get better.
We have had some linemen step up and we have already had some
injuries. We have some young
guys that have to grow up really fast. With
the season starting August 20th we have to grow up really fast up
front.”
Mahaney says on defense, it is much the same.
“Defensively we bring some good pieces back and we just need our
kids to buy in and do what they need to do and do their job.
If we can do that, I like the team that we have.
Obviously, we graduated a really good senior class and we need guys
to step up and I am confident we have guys to do that,” he said.
Mahaney says they need to work hard for the next several weeks to
become better in the trenches, something that takes time.
“Kids have been playing catch or running around or running the
football their whole life. Everybody
wants to do that, so it is kind of a natural thing.
Understanding to body position and how to play in the trenches and
how to fight is not natural. I
think that is why it takes some kids a while to figure it out.
You always have those special kids that figure it out right away and
you have to play as a unit too. Those
five guys have got to get used to playing together and feel the guy next to
them in double teams and zone stuff and all of those things they have to be
able to work together and that takes time to jell,” said Mahaney.
As far as those expectations, Mahaney says that is something he is
comfortable with and so are the kids. “When
the job came open two years ago that is something I was excited for.
We know there is always going to be pressure.
This town and this community has a lot of tradition and they want to
be successful and it pushes our kids to be successful.
We aren’t going to get things handed to us and that is not type of
team or community that we are. We
are going to work for what we get. I
think our kids are excited to go out there, especially after last year.
It was such good year, but with the restrictions we didn’t get a
lot of people into the stadium. I
think these kids have a chance to play for our community and our kids are
excited for it. They have been
working hard. The long summer
with the unlimited days it is stuff we have never done before.
With a shorten August I thought we had to do that this summer, so we
will kind of see how it works out, but I know our kids are excited to get
after it,” said Mahaney.
Published 7/28/21
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Shelby
Guarantees Share
Again, it came down to the seventh inning between rivals Shelby and
Clear Fork, just like it had the night before, and again the Whippets came
out on top in beating the Colts (8-7) and claiming no less than a share of
the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title.
Shelby staked itself to a (6-2) lead after a four run fifth
highlighted by three run double by Jeremy Holloway and an RBI single by Alex
Brushkotter.
Clear Fork, however, would battle back and score five times in the
top of seventh scoring on a hit by pitch, a force, and a balk, followed by
an infield hit by Drew Lind to tie the game.
Ben Blubaugh would give the Colts a (7-6) lead with an RBI single.
Shelby would have the last at bat.
Luke Shepherd walked and Tanner Hartz pinch ran for him and took
second on a wild pitch, third on a sacrifice fly and scored to tie the game
on a passed ball. Brushkotter
drove in the winning run with a single.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says the Whippets in that last inning not
only proved they had a determination to win, but also to be good teammates.
“It was not the way we drew it up.
We knew Clear Fork wasn’t going to go down without a fight.
You have to tip you cap to them down four runs, a lesser team would
have packed it up. Clear Fork
strung some hits together and took some walks and took the lead on us.
Our guys did a really nice job responding.
When we came in from the inning it was more about picking up our
pitcher than anything else. I
love to see our guys, one pick up our pitcher, they knew he was hurting.
It was more about picking him up than winning the game.
That was good to see as a coach,” said Amicone.
Amicone says two freshmen stepped up big for the Whippets Wednesday
night when the pressure was on. “Luke
Shepherd was a hero (Tuesday) night and (Wednesday) night drew the walk to
start the inning. We pitch ran
with Tanner Hartz, a freshman, that is why he was on the varsity roster
(Wednesday) night was to pinch run. He
did a really nice job and was able to go to second base on a wild pitch and
scored on a passed ball,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “He
did a really nice job in not blinking in the biggest game of the year to
give us an opportunity. Scoring
that tying run for us, he showed some fearlessness.
The bottom of the order did a really nice job.
It ultimately came down to Alex Brushotter, the freshman, he got a
good pitch to hit, put a good swing on it and was able to serve up a single
and score the winning run.”
So, Shelby (20-2,10-2), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches
poll in the large school division, is tied with Ontario, who beat Marion
Harding (5-1) on Wednesday, for the lead in the “MOAC”.
However, Ontario (12-9,8-2) must still play Pleasant on Thursday and
finish a game with Clear Fork that is tied in the 12th inning.
Amicone says he would be happy to win the title outright or to share
it. “Quite frankly, like I
have said all year, we made our bed and we have to sleep in it.
We took care of our responsibility and we are proud of our guys for
that no matter what happens or how it shakes out.
Our guys should be very proud of being able to win 10 straight league
games after starting out 0-2 in the league.
A lesser team would have given up and kind of coasted through the
season. Our guys refused to do
that. Our guys took the
challenge every league game since then to put a good product on the field.
It is a testament to them to be willing fight through some adversity
early on in the year,” said Amicone.
Published 5/13/21
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Shelby
Get Huge Win over Clear Fork
Shelby needed a win Tuesday to stay in first place and they got it
edging Clear Fork (4-3) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game at American
Legion Field in Bellville.
They are tied with Ontario for first place in the conference.
Clear Fork drops two back. Ontario
beat Marion Harding (2-0) on Tuesday.
Shelby scored twice in the top of the seventh to break a (2-2) tie
and then stranded two Colt runners in scoring position to end the game.
Whippets coach Jon Amicone says it was a well played high school
baseball game and they were able to come up with some clutch plays.
“I thought it was really clean and crisp on both ends.
I think that was two really good teams there that were scratching and
clawing for every out and every run. I
think that is about as good as high school baseball gets,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “Obviously, we were very fortunate at the
end that Luke came up with a big hit for us and his brother Marshall in the
seventh kind of bowed his neck and got two really big outs with the tying
run on third. Those two kids are
big time and you need your big time players to play and they a nice job of
closing the game out for us.”
Mareck Albert pounded a solo homer over the centerfield fence in the
first inning to give Shelby a (1-0) lead and it stayed that way until the
fifth when Alex Bruskotter singled and scored on a squeeze by Blane Bowman
making (2-0) Whippets.
Clear Fork scored in their half of the fifth when Kaden Riddle
doubled and scored when two out fly ball off the bat of Ben Blubaugh was
dopped and the tied it in the sixth when Kaleb Hollar walked, advanced on
two wild pitches and scored on a ground ball by David Ballinger.
In the top of the seventh, Doran Steele had one out single, Bowman
walked, and Marshall Shepherd was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Luke Shepherd came up with a two run single up the middle to give the
Whippets a (4-2) lead.
However, Clear Fork wasn’t done.
Blubaugh walked with one out in the bottom of the seventh and Luke
Schlosser was hit by a pitch. Jared
Scott then ripped a double down the leftfield line to score Blubaugh and put
runners at second and third still with only one out.
Marshall Shepherd then stuck out Hollar on a 3-2 pitch and got
Ballinger to fly to right to end the game.
Clear Fork coach Joe Staab was proud of his team’s effort.
“Our boys came out and battled (Tuesday).
Jared Scott was an absolute bulldog on the mound.
We found ways to put the ball in play and compete offensively when we
needed to we just didn’t get that big hit and that is where we fell short.
We rallied as a group and competed really, really well.
We just came up a little short against a good team,” said Staab.
Colts pitcher Jared Scott went six and two thirds and struck out 10.
Luke Shepherd had struck out twice in three trips before delivering
in the seventh. “I liked his
approach. He jumped on the first
pitch, I think he was looking for something specific and he got it and
didn’t miss. It was really
good job by him being ready to go when he got to the box, not taking any
pitches, and really stepping up for his team,” said Amicone.
Marshall Shepherd allowed juts five hits, walked one, and fanned nine
for Shelby in going the distance.
Amicone says he got the two biggest outs of the season in the
seventh. “He is our number one
for a reason. Once those two
guys got on, his pitch count was getting up and we decided as a coaching
staff that we were going to stay with our guy.
He got us to this point so far. You
could sleep the night win or lose with that kid on the mound and we went
with it. Marshall had our back
and his teammates back and he got the biggest two outs of the whole
season,” said Amicone.
Clear Fork (9-12,5-4) plays at Shelby (19-2,9-2), #1 in the
Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, on
Wednesday.
Staab says they want to play spoiler.
“They are a good ballclub. We
have a good team when we can show up and play at our best potential, which
is what you have to do. We are
out of the league race, but we still play with pride and the biggest pride
right now is trying to knock somebody else out of the league race.
That’s what out goal is. Out
goal is to show up and compete and finish out the rest of the season getting
ready for next week,” said Staab.
The Whippets have won their last 19 baseball games going into
Wednesday, but Amicone says they are not taking anything for granted.
“We have always told our kids you have to take care of yourself and
that’s what we have been doing since the first two early losses.
Not looking at the scores and just taking care of yourself and things
will work out well for you. I
told our guys get ready for a dogfight (Wednesday).
Joe is going to have his guys ready to go, so we know we will have
our work cut out for us,” he said.
Published 5/12/21
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Clear
Fork gets Outright Title
Clear Fork rallied to beat Shelby (7-5) on Monday and earn an
outright Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title.
They scored four times in the bottom of the sixth inning to break a
tie and take a (7-3) lead and survived a couple of Shelby solo home runs in
the seventh to remain unbeaten in the conference.
It is Clear Fork’s 11th conference title in the
“MOAC” and the Ohio Cardinal Conference since 2003.
Head coach Jeff Gottfried, who has been there for all of them, says
it never gets old. “You
cherish those opportunities that you get because they don’t always come
around. Kudos to our team.
They just battled. They
have battled all year long. There
is just so much confidence and belief in that dugout right now.
It got 3-3 and nobody panicked. It
was just keep on playing. It is
just a seven inning game, sometimes eight, sometimes nine.
Our kids are going to play to the end,” said Gottfried.
Clear Fork (18-7,11-0) scored in the bottom of first the when
Courtney Palmer walked, stole second and third and scored on Hallie
Gottfried’s sacrifice fly. Palmer
homered to open the third and Ashtynn Roberts doubled and scored on an RBI
hit by Renee Anders. It was
(3-0) Lady Colts and Roberts sailed through the first four innings not
allowing a hit and striking out four.
However, there was not quit in the Lady Whippets.
Megan Grass blasted a three run homer in the fifth to tie it at (3-3)
and put the Clear Fork crowd getting ready to celebrate on edge.
Coach Samantha Martin says her team has been improving.
“I have been telling them from the very beginning if we work
towards being error free, I feel we are just as good as any team.
We are young. Basically,
I have been preaching every day try to be error free.
The past umpteen games we are getting closer and closer to that and
seeing better and better results,” said Martin.
Like championship teams do, Clear Fork responded by scoring four
times in the bottom of the sixth. Anders
began the uprising with a leadoff double.
She would score on likely the biggest hit of the game when pinch
hitter Maddi Dion ripped a one out double to right center.
Gottfried says Dion has been red hot.
“The ball looks like a beachball in her eyes right now.
She had a big day on Saturday. Had
a big end to last week. She has
confidence and we have confidence in her.
That’s what I’m taking about, it’s our entire team.
It’s more than the nine starters.
There are some kids that don’t even get in the ballgame and they
are just as big a part of what we are doing as the kids that play every
inning of every game. They are
loud, they are vocal and they are always into it,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the game, “Certain kids, maybe on other teams, may
set in the dugout and pout because they are not in games, but she knows,
always be ready. It might be
coming into pitch, going into pinch hit and Maddi had a big hit for us.”
Kylie Belcher reached on an error, scoring Grace DeWitt, who had run
for Dion. Reghan Barker doubled
in a run and Palmer singled in another to make (7-3) after six.
Shelby (9-15,4-7) again made it interesting when Kendal Parsons and
Sadie Smith hit solo home runs off Dion, who had relived Roberts.
Martin says they have some pop this year.
“We definitely have some girls that can put some power behind it.
We have struggled sometimes with timely hits, but (Monday) night it
seemed like we had some timey hits that we needed as well,” he said.
Gottfried says he told the players when Shelby was making its
comeback that nobody was going to cut them any slack.
“I told them between innings. You
guys are so tight, you can’t drive a nail in there.
You have to relax and just play.
I said this game, it’s just a game, it really doesn’t mean
anything, but it is the atmosphere that you are going to see for the next
week. If you don’t think
everybody is going to give you their best shot, they are going to.
Shelby knew what they were coming in against.
They wanted to knock us off, but our kids rose to the occasion,” he
said.
Clear Fork has had a number of all state players in Gottfried’s 22
year career. He says this year
is all about team. “I just
think the togetherness, the chemistry that is there.
We don’t have great, great players, but we have a great team, and
that is the mark of this club. We
have had better players in the past, don’t get me wrong, we have some
very, very good and talented players, but it takes the whole unit.
The girls were asking me (Monday) how may home runs we have hit and
we upped it by one (Monday), but they thing is we have seven different girls
that have hit home runs. In this
place it is not hard to do, you saw ball fly out a little bit (Monday).
Every kid trusts each other and they trust the process,” said
Gottfried.
Published 5/11/21
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Shelby
Has done its Part… So Far
Shelby has moved into a share of first place with Ontario in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference standings, a game in front of Clear Fork.
The Whippets (14-2,6-2), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches
poll in the large school division, have won six straight conference games
after losing their first two to Ontario by one run each in extra innings.
They play river Valley (7-9,3-5) Tuesday and Wednesday, weather
permitting, and Clear Fork next week.
Coach Jon Amicone says they knew what their assignment was going to
be and they have embraced it. “Our
guys have one a really nice job accepting the challenge.
Walking an uphill climb that we did to ourselves.
We are really proud of our guy’s efforts so far.
They didn’t bat an eye. We
made our bed, but we didn’t sleep in it.
Our guys did a nice job responding to that.
We still have four more games to go.
We have to approach every single game like it is do or die because at
this point to accomplish the goals we want it really is,” he said.
When it comes to winning the title, Amicone says it has been kind of
like the tournament, they knew they had to run the table.
“That is kind of what we have preached to our guys.
Our guys have done a really nice job of responding to that.
We had it very clear to them after the games with Ontario that to
accomplish our first goal we are going to have to play a perfect season
within the league,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Our guys have
to come up to the challenge and have strung six wins together, but we have
two more teams to play that are extremely talented and we will need to catch
a few breaks here and there. Our
guys have done a really nice job accepting this tough challenge.”
Shelby has gotten excellent pitching this season Marshall Shepherd,
Blaine Bowman and Alex Brushkotter are all in the top five in the conference
in ERA when stats were last reported last week.
Amicone says his guys have given the team a chance to win.
“Marshall Shepherd and Logan Green and the guys on our pitching
staff have done an excellent job giving us a chance to win.
Ultimately pitching is the name of game, especially in high school
baseball. Those guys have done a
really nice job and we have really good relief pitching, guys like Jackson
Moore, Lanny Kennard, and Alex Brushkotter.
We kind of lean on those guys. Hitting
comes and goes, but as long as you have that good pitching it is going to
keep you in every single game,” said Amicone.
Published 5/04/21
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Shelby
Keeps Pace in the “MOAC”
Shelby earned another important win in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference on Tuesday as they went to Galion and beat the Tigers (8-2) to
stay a game behind Ontario.
The Warriors beat Clear Fork (11-5) on Tuesday.
Coach Jon Amicone says its important to win on the road in the
conference and he likes to get the first game of that two game series.
“It kind of keeps us in the hunt as far as the “MOAC” goes
playing a really good team at Galion. On
the road, it is always good to get that first win because in our league we
play back to back. We play them
again (Wednesday) pending weather and we are looking for the sweep.
It is always important to get that one because it kind of takes the
pressure off, but we know we will be in a battle the next time we play
them,” said Amicone.
Shelby (11-2,5-2) is scheduled to host the Tigers (8-5,4-3) on
Wednesday, but it looks like the weather might be a real problem with snow
falling in the early morning hours of late April.
Amicone says they got an excellent start out of pitcher Marshall
Shephard on Tuesday that put them in control of the game.
“Galion top to bottom is a really good team.
They do a lot of little things right defensively and have a really
solid lineup. We got a really
good effort out of Marshall Shepherd, obviously he is supposed to be our guy
this year. He had a number one
type start for us. He went six
strong and held them to one run. We
able to extend the lead in the sixth and were able to go to the bullpen,”
he said.
Marek Albert, Shepherd and Luke Shepherd all had two hits for the
Whippets and both Shepherds had two RBI.
Shelby erupted for five runs in the sixth inning and Amicone thought
that was key in their win over Galion. “Our
kids did a really good job of extending.
That is something we talk about in our offensive philosophy is
extending the lead and how important that is when we do have a lead to keep
taking on runs. We were able to
open it op a little in the sixth and score five and the top of the seventh
push one across, which I thought was huge,” he told Swankonsports.com
after the win, “It all goes back to being on the road too.
When you are on the road and they get that last at bat you have to
keep extending the game. You
don’t want to be the guy that gets walked off, so all of those late runs
are extremely important, not only for the psyche of the team, but just
knowing you have a little insurance because you don’t want to be walked
off.”
Published 4/21/21
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Shelby
Downs Harding; Climbs in “MOAC” Race
Shelby has drawn to within a game of lead in the competitive Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference after a (10-7) win at Marion Harding on Wednesday
evening.
In other conference games, Galion beat Clear Fork (2-1) and River
Valley handed Ontario its first conference loss (10-7) at Ontario.
Right now, Ontario leads Shelby, Clear Fork, Galion and Marion
Pleasant by a game in the conference standings.
Shelby had beaten the Presidents (10-0) on Tuesday.
Coach Jon Amicone says the Whippets did what they had to in order to
win the game. “I was very
proud of effort (Wednesday) night, it was a very gritty win and that what we
told our guys after the game. There
were a lot ups and downs, a lot of lead changes.
You give Marion Harding a ton of credit.
After the game (Tuesday), they came back (Wednesday) and they were
full of confidence and played extremely well,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday, “We were very fortunate to get some big hits at the end of
the game and that gave us the lead. They
had the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh.
They pushed one across, but we were able to go to Blane Bowman and he
was able to shut the door on them.”
Amicone says they got some big performances on Wednesday form some
kids that were forced into unfamiliar roles and they were ready.
“We have kind of gotten hit by the injury bug and some guys needed
to step up in our lineup and they did a very nice job.
Luke Sheppard comes a hits cleanup for us and has three hits and four
RBIs. The bottom of our lineup
did a really nice job with production. We
were able to push a run across late in the game running two bunts, we bunted
a runner over to third and ran a squeeze to get him home and that was from
our seven, eight and nine hitters to get that run across.
I was really proud that we found a way to score runs, especially in
those really close games,” said Amicone.
Amicone says it takes a lot of focus to be able to make those little
plays that end up winning you games in the end.
“You work on things and doing it in practice, but doing it in the
game when the pressure is on is two different things.
I was really proud of Doran Steele, our ninth place hitter to get the
bunt down and run the squeeze and run it well.
It was a big run late in the game to tack on another one and give our
pitchers a little bit of breathing room and a bit of comfort late in the
game. Those runs that extend
leads are really key in high school baseball to put pressure on that other
team to score more than one or two runs late in the game in kind of the name
of the game,” he said.
Published 4/15/21
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Shelby
Gets Needed Win
Shelby got the win they needed to have to stay in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference race as they doubled up Marion Pleasant (14-7) on the
road in a conference game on Tuesday evening.
The Whippets scored 11 runs in the first three innings, including six
in the third. It was the third
time this season they have scored at least six runs in an inning in a league
game.
Coach Jon Amicone says it was a huge win for them.
“We made our bead and we had to lay in it.
We have an uphill battle to climb.
It was good to get that first step.
Now, it’s about us trying to piece wins together when playing those
league teams. The was a big step
because it was the first step for us,” he said.
Shelby (4-2,1-2) had 14 hits on the day, four of them by Marshall
Shepherd, the starting pitcher, and three by leadoff hitter Blaine Bowman,
who had two doubles and scored four runs.
Shepherd drove in four runs. He
also went five innings to get the win, giving up eight hits and striking out
nine. He threw 95 pitches, 63
for strikes, which was better than his outing last week against Ontario.
Amicone says they are getting in good counts at the plate and driving
the ball. “We did a really
nice job of having production at the plate.
We are having good approaches, the mental side of the game, we are
hitting fastballs in fastball counts and that is what we are trying to
preach and talk to our guys about,” he said.
Shelby made three errors on the day and Amicone says that was a step
in the right direction. “The
bottom line is you have to be able to field the baseball.
We are not doing that at a very good rate right now and there are
things we need to continue to work on. The
biggest difference (Tuesday) night was we didn’t let it snowball,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We had an error in the first
inning and against Ontario it just kind of snowballed from there.
(Tuesday) night I was really proud of our guys to fight back after
that error let in a few runs and showed a little more resolve.
It showed me that they are willing to fight back a little bit.”
You have to be able to play bad hops on high school fields and
Amicone says you have to have solid mechanics.
“I think if you take the right mechanics of a ground ball and get a
good read on it that should kind of take that out of it.
Ontario always has a beautiful baseball field and we take pride in
our field too. I thought we did
a better job (Tuesday) of the mechanics of taking ground balls, taking them
off the left eye and having good glove angles.
Those little intricacies that not a lot of people talk about.
Our guys did a really nice job of that approach of doing the little
things to field the ball properly,” said Amicone.
Published 4/07/21
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Ontario
Earns Two, One Run Wins Over Shelby
In a battle between two of the favorites in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, the Ontario Warriors came away with two, one run victories over
rival Shelby (11-10) and (12-11) on Wednesday, both in extra innings.
The first game was picked up in the eighth inning after it was
suspended Tuesday due to darkness.
Ontario coach Jeff Fisher is quick to credit his rival for the
challenge they presented his Warriors. “I
was really impressed with Shelby. Their
lineup up and down were tough outs. They
competed on the mound. They had
good stuff, they are athletic and that made us very susceptible to the big
inning. (Tuesday) putting up a
three spot and six back to back and then coming back from a huge deficit
(Wednesday). We are up 9-2 and
they get nine runs in the fourth and here we are again.
So, hats off to them for these ball games that brought really early
in the season a lot of different situations that hopefully can prepare both
of us for games going forward,” said Fisher.
Ontario led both games by seven runs after three innings, but the
Whippets battled back to tie or take the lead.
Shelby Coach Jon Amicone says they just got too far behind a good
team. “Very frustrating two
games. We dug ourselves too big
a hole to climb out of and you can’t do that against good teams like
Ontario. I love the resolve we
saw from our players, but we are not into moral victories at Shelby and at
the end of the day we lost. So,
it’s time now to get back to work and string some wins together,” he
said.
Fisher says they were not as consistent as they needed to be in their
play. He says they did some good
things to get the lead and then let it get away from them.
He says some of that is youth. “There
are so many unknowns, blame it on last year in part, but blame it on our
youth too where no lead is safe with it being early and trying to stair step
some the pitch counts going forward. Most
importantly not knowing how guys and going to handle varsity outings,” he
told Swankonsports.com after the wins, “We have had some hiccups and we
have had some really good looks and then maybe a mixed bag where you come
out and look really well and you come out later and things get away from
you. We have got to develop and
element of consistency where we get a lead and we keep it.”
Fisher says they are learning early what they have in terms of
pitching and they got some good performances against Shelby.
“I think going into the season we knew that we had a luxury with
what you would call a staff. We
have a couple of guys that we kind of pigeonholed in the middle relief zone
and with starters just throwing them out there are se what sticks, but we
just didn’t know what the quality would be, especially early and it has
been inconsistent. To bookend it
getting two wins in the same day with (Ryan) Chapman coming back from
Saturday and locking down and saving that ball game, or winning it, but it
felt like a save and then Peyton Dugan’s outing was fantastic for his
first night in a varsity uniform getting a “W” for us,” said Fisher.
Published 4/01/21
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Good
Culture at Shelby
Shelby has a goal in mind every time they take the diamond this
season and that is to play extra hard for their former teammates that
didn’t get to play at all last year due to the pandemic.
They begin that task when they travel to Willard for a doubleheader
against the Flashes on Saturday.
Coach Jon Amicone says they players are excited to play and they have
a goal of honor last year’s year seniors.
“You can see that every day and see the kids enjoying it,
especially the kids last year that were juniors and sophomores, who had big
aspirations for last year’s team. They
got to watch those seniors heartbreak and share that with them.
We have a saying that we are playing for seven guys this year,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have the number seven
written on all of our practice plans when the guys come to practice and when
they see that number they understand there were seven seniors last year that
didn’t get that opportunity. So,
our guys in the back of their minds know they are playing for something a
little bigger this year.”
When is comes to what he has seen on the field so far, Amicone says
his kids want to win and that is most of the battle.
“We are learning and it’s a maturation process.
When you lose a year, you are playing with a lot of guys that
essentially were JV in 2019. The
one thing I can say about our guys is they compete.
First and foremost, that’s what we want our guys to be is
competitors. They care about
winning and they care about doing things the right way and we can learn from
that. We can learn from our
mistakes and we can approach things the right way.
As long we keep that mindset everything else will take care of
itself,” he said.
Shelby plays its first Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference games on Tuesday
and Wednesday against the rival Ontario Warriors.
The Whippets won the league in football and boys’ and girls’
basketball.
Amicone says they have a really good culture right now at Shelby.
“It is a good culture and it is good to see, we have been very
blessed. I teach in the district
and it’s a great school district, we have wonderful kids that really enjoy
playing sports. I think first
and foremost not only are they good students, but sports is important to
them. There are a lot of
distractions for kids today and I think our kids at Shelby, both boys and
girls enjoy the friendships, the relationships they have with the coaches
and their teammates and that leads to winning when you have those kinds of
things,” said Amicone.
Published 3/26/21
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Shawnee
Fourth Quarter Spurt Does in Shelby
Lima Shawnee outscored Shelby (19-4) over the game’s last six and
half minutes and rallied to beat the Whippets (76-67) in a division II
regional semifinal at Elida High School on Thursday night.
The Indians (24-1) will play Akron Buchtel, a (68-51) winner of
Toledo Central Catholic in the first semi, on Saturday afternoon for the
regional title.
Shelby (20-4) had taken its first lead of the game (54-53) after a
Morgan Shepherd baseline jumper with 2:54 to play in the third quarter.
Grant Hiatt scored the first five points of the fourth quarter and
Shelby led (63-57) with 6:46 to play, but they made only one field goal the
rest of the way, that coming on a stick back by Andre Hill.
After a time out after the Shepherd goal, Shawnee switched to a box
and one defense focusing on T.J. Pugh and limited him to just two free
throws the rest of the way.
Coach Mark Triplett says they had to find a way to slow down the
Whippets. “This is a team that
is as relentless with the pressure and the tempo as we have seen.
They are really, really good. So,
they made that run and went up by six and it was kind of gut check time.
We were in this exact spot last year when we had an opportunity taken
from us. It’s the fourth
quarter and you are down six and this basketball team looks really, really
hungry. We just talked to the
guys about what we are most comfortable doing.
We talked about the box and one that would allow us to collect
ourselves on the defensive end and make them shoot over the top of us as
long as we are getting rebounds and we are out in transition,” he told
Swankonsports.com after the win, “We have talked a lot about getting back
to this chance and we said, here we are, we are down six with six minutes
left and they are not going to give you and inch, so we have to find a way.
We just rallied around each other and I think we ended the game on an
19-4 run, so really, really proud of them.”
Shawnee led (29-16) after one, as George Mangas scored 18 of his game
high 39 points in the first quarter.
Whippets coach Nathon Loney says they didn’t play well early in the
game. “We spotted them too
many points early on. That was a
difference maker in the first half. We
spotted them everything there early on.
The kids fought hard, the seniors fought their butts off.
I can’t be disappointed with their effort (Thursday) night.
There were a few calls down the stretch that were very questionable
that were big time game changers. Some
of our kids didn’t play as well as they would have liked to, but that is
part of being on this stage. You
have to show up and preform at the highest level every night possible,”
said Loney.
Triplett says they have been forced to rally before this season, like
in their last regular season game against Lima Senior, who plays for a
division I regional title against Cleveland St. Ignatius.
“I could sense that they were tired.
I could sense with their body language that we were going to have to
dig deep and find a way here. We
have been in that situation. Just
a couple of weeks ago we are at Lima Senior and we were up most of the game
and they run and take a lead on us. It’s
a situation that you would rather up by 15 in the first half put them away,
but they are too good. We knew
they were going to make a run and we have to find a way on the defensive
end,” said Triplett.
With that six point lead, Loney says they tried to shorten the game a
little, but had too many turnovers at a key time.
“We went up six and we wanted to run some time off the clock and
make them guard us in space. We
didn’t take care of the basketball when we needed to,” he said.
Shelby had 13 turnovers for the game.
With the Indians going on that box and one, Loney says they got some
open looks, but they were unable to convert with same kind of regularity
that they have this season. “They
went box and one, but as soon as you set a ball screen, they were coming to
trap also. Our guys had hit
shots earlier on in the year for us got timid down the stretch and we
didn’t make shots and we didn’t shoot the three ball particularly
well,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I think we were 5-27 and on the year
we shot 44 percent as a team. So,
we didn’t hit shots down the stretch.
T.J. has had trust in his teammates all year long.”
Especially in the first and fourth quarters, Shawnee got a lot of big
plays from a lot of kids and Triplett says that is what you have to get if
you are going to win games like at this level.
“At the end of the day I have never seen a coach step on the floor
and make any plays for himself. Our
guys did what they do best and they just came together and found a way.
It was pretty simple, find a way to go 1-0 and that’s all we talked
about doing. It didn’t have to
be the prettiest thing in the world and it certainly wasn’t at times, but
a lot of that credit does to Shelby,” he said.
Mangus also had 10 points in the crucial fourth quarter run.
A lot of his points come on run outs where he takes off for the
offensive end relying on his teammates to get the rebound.
His basket and free throw with 5:21 left gave Shawnee a lead (64-63)
they would never relinquish.
Loney says the Indians do a very good job executing.
“He is good at it, that is taught.
That is not something that he just does, they teach that and that is
what makes them successful. They
are very good at that. We made a
switch and put Marshall Shepherd on him.
I bet if you go back and watch the film and look at the run out
points compared the points scored in the half court, it’s unreal.
I told Marshall, you did a heck of a job guarding him.
I can’ t be more proud of Marshall and how he preformed,” he
said.
Mangus also gets a lot of points in the half court by posting up and
getting the ball on a lob. Triplett
says they have used that all season and believes Shelby did a good job of
defending that action. “That
backside lob is something we have had a lot of success with.
Credit Shelby because I thought they did a really nice job of taking
that away several times and created some transition opportunities in
transition. Just getting ball
reversal at times and getting ourselves that extra pass and making their
defense rotate just a little bit gave us some opportunities on the inside as
well,” said Triplett.
Pugh nearly matched Mangus in point production as he got 32 points in
his final game for the Whippets. “That
kid is really good, he is big and athletic and strong and relentless in
getting to the basket. He
averages 25 a game and you don’t do that by accident.
Cody Lantz is really good too. We
knew those guys were going to be the ones that would have to step up and
hurt us. We had just enough
stops down at the end,” said Triplett.
The transition game has been a big part of the Whippets success this
season, but they forced only 10 Shawnee turnovers with their press and the
Shawnee had 27 transition points, 13 in the first half and 14 in the second,
compared to 12 for Shelby. “Early
on it wasn’t very good. That
is what got them a lot of points, but we switched and went full court man it
was a huge difference. I feel
like it helped us a ton. That is
what got us back in the game was out full court man pressure,” said Loney.
Published 3/12/21
© Swankonsports.com
Shelby
Not Backing Off
Shelby is team that has lived on bringing pressure and creating tempo
and that is what they are going to try and do when they meet Lima Shawnee in
a division II regional semifinal on Thursday night at Elida High School.
The Whippets (20-3) won their district title last week without being
seriously challenged. Coach
Nathon Loney says they are very confident right now.
“We are playing pretty well as a team and that leads to confidence.
That is part of being successful is having confidence.
I am pretty happy with how the kids are carrying themselves right now
and how they are playing,” he said.
Shawnee (23-1) beat two fellow Western Buckeye League foes in
Defiance (56-38) and St. Mary’s Memorial (65-52) in their district games
last week.
Loney describes them as very disciplined.
“I was talking to my assistant coaches and I told them they kind of
remind you of an old school San Antonio Spurs team with Tim Duncan and them
back in the days. They are very
disciplined, they are very fundamental, they don’t do anything special,
but what they do, they are very good at.
They don’t do anything out of the box of crazy like that, but like
I said, what they do they are very good at.
They don’t ever make mistakes.
They play with a very high basketball I.Q.,” said Loney.
George Mangus (31.3 ppg) had 26 points in the Indians win over St.
Mary’s Memorial and he had 57 in a regular season game against Trotwood
Madison last month. He was
division II player of the year last year.
However, Loney believes the Whippets have a match for Mangus.
“George Mangas is a tough matchup and we are going to have to do a
good jog containing him, but I think we also have chance to have a kid be
the player of the year in division II also.
They are going to have to match T.J. (Pugh) also.
It is going to be a tough matchup game for both teams,” he said.
Pugh (25.6 ppg) is the district 6 coaches association player of the
year this year.
Since Loney took over last season, the Whippets have featured the
same approach each and every time out.
Loney says that will continue. He
says they don’t fear Shawnee like other teams.
“We are going to do what we do.
We have been successful with it all year.
I think that is one of the weaker points of Shawnee’s game is
nobody pressures them because everybody is scared of them.
That comes when you have kicked everybody’s butt for the last year
and a half, almost two years, that comes with tradition and that comes when
people hear the name Lima Shawnee they have themselves tabbed as beat before
they get off the bus,” he told Swankonsports.com, “That is not the case
with us, we are going to do what we do.
We are going to come out and pressure them full court.
The one advantage they have is their size and strength and
physicalness, but I like our athleticism and speed to go with our strength
and physicalness. I think we
have what takes to match them, it is just going to be if we can put it
together for four quarters.”
Published 3/10/21
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Shelby
Advances to Regional With Win Over Norwalk
Shelby raced to a (21-12) lead after the first quarter and never
trailed in beating Norwalk (64-44) in the division II district title game on
Saturday night at Ashland High School.
Cody Lantz drilled a three and added a layup with 6:22 to play in the
first and Norwalk called time out after the Whippets took a (10-2) lead with
4:48 in the first on a T.J. Push basket.
The Whippets were running the floor and that is what the scouting
report said, according to Shelby coach Nathon Loney.
“That was exactly what we needed to do was set the tempo from the
get go. We had a really solid
first quarter again, but really Saturday night I think it was the second
quarter that was more impressive. We
really turned the pressure up the second quarter and got the ball rolling
pretty good,” said Loney.
It quickly became (30-15) with 4:36 to play in the half after a
three-pointer by Jeremy Holloway. The
lead grew to as much as 21 at (38-17) on a Pugh hoop with :23 seconds left
in the half.
Norwalk had 10 turnovers in the first half and Loney says they
expected to make their pressure a factor.
“That is to be expected and that is what we want to do.
Our defense leads to our offense.
When you are getting steals like that and it leads to easy layups it
is hard to compete with,” said Loney.
Norwalk (17-9) was co-champion in the Lake Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference. Coach Steve Gray
says they lacked confidence in their play.
“We didn’t play our best game (Saturday) night.
They are very talented. They
are long, they are athletic. We
just didn’t play with the confidence that we needed to be successful,”
he said.
Pugh had 18 points and Lantz 16 for the Whippets, but everybody
contributed.
Loney points out the play of Andre Hill.
“Andre hit some really big shots for us.
I can’t credit Andre enough for his defense though.
Last year, we had Grant Gossom and this year with have Andre Hill.
Eventually somebody is going to say are they ever going to get rid of
that guy. Andre was so good, I
can’t praise him enough with how good he was defensively.
Not only, him but everybody. Our
defense was suffocating that first half,” he told Swankonsports.com after
the win, “Everybody was buying in and diving on the court for loose balls.
That’s what it takes to win this game if we want to give ourselves
a chance to win next Thursday it is going to have to go up another notch.”
Shelby (20-3) will play Lima Shawnee (23-1) in the regional semis on
Thursday night at Elida High School.
Norwalk was in the regional tournament two years ago and they have
accomplished a lot on and off the floor.
“All we wanted to do was get it to the fourth quarter and put some
pressure on them and see how they reacted.
Think about this, (Garrett) Chapin has played in 104 games, started
104, we have been to three district championships, we have won two league
championships with these kids. So,
we have a lot to be proud of. We have an excellent group of kids.
Our top seven are National Honor Society kids and I think that is
pretty neat,” said Gray.
Loney says he and this team have been able to take the Shelby
basketball program to new heights. “I
know to me and the kids it is huge. The
community is starting to see some success out of the basketball program.
I know Shelby is known as a football town, kind of like where I grew
up, Danville was the same way, a football town, now they are starting to see
some success in the basketball program.
I can’t say enough about our athletics as a whole at Shelby,”
said Loney.
Published 3/06/21
© Swankonsports.com
Shelby
Speeds Past Huron
T.J. Pugh scored 16 of his game high 26 points in the first quarter
and Shelby raced to a (28-10) lead and never looked back in blasting Huron
(75-49) in a division II district semifinal on Wednesday night at Ashland
High School.
They return Saturday night to face Norwalk, who beat Ontario (66-62)
in overtime in the second semifinal, to play for a district title and a
berth in the regional tournament.
Shelby scored the first six points of the game and lead (10-2) with
5:10 to play in the first quarter. It
was (20-5) with 2:59 to play in the first after a Cody Lantz old fashion
three point play.
Whippets coach Nathon Loney says their goal was to get a good start
the game. “We really wanted to
make a statement for our first quarter compared to last game.
Last game we struggled a little bit in the first quarter.
We played very nervous. I
preached to the kids that you have to come out with your foot on the gas.
They took it personal they had a very good first quarter, a pretty
good first half, I didn’t like our defensive energy there toward the end
of the second half, that is something we will have to work on.
The kids kind of got lazy there, when you have a first half like you
did it’s kind of expected, I hate to say that, but with the way kids are
right now it is hard to keep their minds tracked on the same style we
played. The first quarter I was
pretty happy,” said Loney.
The lead grew to 20 at (33-13) after a Cody Lantz field goal with
6:48 to play in the half. The
lead stood at 17 (45-28) at the half. It
never got closer than 22 in the second half.
An honest Huron coach Bobby James says they didn’t have the
personnel to stay in the game with Shelby.
“We just didn’t have a horse that could keep them in front.
We are not very good at zone. We
tried it a couple of times this year and we just aren’t any good at it.
Our only hope was to keep (Pugh) out of the lane and make him kick it
and then their guys miss threes. We
weren’t good enough physically to keep him out of the lane.
We are just a group of kids that tried to come together and play
hard. I never have to tell them
to play hard, I am proud of the way we are,” he told Swankonsports.com
after the game, “I told them in (the locker room) I have had a lot of good
teams and this is the first time in D2 that I have gotten to a district.
We have gotten to the regionals a couple of times in D3, but never in
D2. So, I was very happy with
them. Shelby is a heck of a
team, they are a handful. All of
them, they know their roles. They
were ready to go and they were just physically better than we were.”
Lantz chipped in with 19 points for the Whippets.
Shelby continued to get into the lane and make shots or at least
create havoc with resulted in an easy opportunity.
Loney says it is something they have been working on.
“We have been working on our four out and one in offense a little
bit. The Vermilion game they
kept going underneath. I said,
T.J. we work on that shot everyday pulling up with that shot off that screen
and you don’t shoot it, why is that? He
said, I’ve got you this game coach and I think he hit it three times in
the first quarter. He and Cody
did a very good job of bringing that energy that first quarter,” he said.
After watching film, James said he thought the only way they would
have a chance was to spread the floor and try to get some open three point
attempts. He says that plan
failed. “That was kind of like
the game plan. We wanted to
spread them out and try and beat them off the dribble and try and slow the
game down a little bit. In the
first quarter as you could see that worked out pretty well for us.
That was a great game plan Bobby, that is what I said to the guys on
the bench, this is a hell of game plan you came up with.
I thought maybe if we dribbled in and jump stopped and kicked and got
it to our three point shooters because that is what we are a three point
shooting team, if we could knock those down.
Realistically, we would have to have played the best game we have
ever played and then we had to play better than the best game we have ever
played and then we probably needed to recruit before this game and go
play,” said James.
Shelby gets a chance to avenge a district semifinal loss to Norwalk
last season on Saturday night.
Loney feels they are playing pretty close to their best right now.
“I feel like we are playing pretty good basketball right now.
We are so much better defensively than we was a month ago even.
The Huron coach and I talked afterwards and he said you guys are just
so physical and big and strong and it just hard to match.
I think we did a good job off using our physicality (Wednesday) night
and our size. I’ll tell you
what that Vermilion game woke up the physicalness in us.
They were super physical and they have some big strong kids.
Our kids knew that if we didn’t come and play physical it was going
to get rough. It brought out a
different character in our kids and I like to see it, especially right
now,” said Loney.
Published 3/04/21
© Swankonsports.com
Get all of the tournament scores right here
Shelby
Expects Tough Game with Huron
Shelby, the outright Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, takes on
Huron on Wednesday night at Ashland High School in a division II district
semifinal.
The Whippets (18-3), the number one seed in the district, took out
Vermilion last Friday (71-36) in a sectional final.
Now, in the districts for the second straight year, Shelby coach
Nathon Loney says things get tougher. “I
think that is a factor every night from here on out.
You are in the second round of the tournament, district semifinals
now. Especially with COVID and
the way things have been everybody has kind of had a hit or miss night.
I kind of said that abut Huron, it is kind of hard to know their M.O.
because they start out early in the year and they get beat by Ontario by 20
and then they turn around and beat Norwalk by 20, you know,” he told
Swankonsports.com, “We have had nights when we have played really good and
really bad. Any given night it
is possible for anybody to beat anybody, so there are no easy games from
here on out. That’s what I
explained to the kids at practice from here on out the games just get
bigger, harder and better competition.”
Huron (11-6), out of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference,
beat Clear Fork (57-51) in a sectional final on Friday night.
Loney says they don’t do a lot of things, but what they do, they do
very well. “Their style of
basketball is very simple. They
don’t do anything out of the box or anything like that.
They do what they are capable of doing and they do it really well.
They run a four out, one in offense primarily and they are really
good at it. One thing I noticed
about them is they like to shoot a lot of threes.
They don’t have very much size, but the kids that they have on the
floor rebound extremely hard. That
is something that we have to make sure we keep under control is their
rebounding. For not having much
size, they do rebound the ball at a really high rate,” said Loney.
Basketball is a game about matchups and Loney says they will have a
height advantage and they have to make that be a difference.
“They don’t have a whole lot of size, so I think we kind of have
an advantage matchup wise, especially having two 6’6” kids in our lineup
and a 6’4” and having a couple of 6’5”, 6’4” kids coming off the
bench. So, I think matchup wise
we have an advantage, but like I said they have kids that play with a lot of
heart and passion so that makes up for size.
When you don’t have size, but you play with heart and passion that
is unmeasurable,” he said.
Published 3/03/21
© Swankonsports.com
Get all of the tournament scores right here
Shelby
Plays Physical Vermilion
Shelby, the number one seed, and outright champion of the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference, hosts Vermilion, of the Lake Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference, on Friday night in a sectional final in division II.
The winner of the game will play either Clear Fork or Huron in the
districts next week at Ashland High School.
After beating Marion Pleasant (113-65) in a conference game last
Friday, coach Nathon Loney declares the Whippets (17-3), #3 in the final
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, ready for the tournament. “I
think we are right there. We
played pretty well against Clear Fork, the game before Pleasant, and we
played very good against Pleasant also.
I think our defense is playing really well right now.
That has all started up from in getting very good guard play from
Andre Hill on the defensive end. Since
we have lost Grant Hiatt and moved Andre into the starting lineup and Andre
is figuring out his role we have really started to turn up the defensive
pressure,” he said.
When players have to except a new role due to an injury on the team
it can be rugged at least at first, but that is not the case with Hill,
according to Loney. “I think
Andre as really embraced that role. I
think he was more than ready when his time came.
We played very good minutes for us even when he wasn’t a starter.
That has really transferred over and he has become more aggressive
offensively since he became a starter,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday, “He is shooting the ball at a very high percentage right now.
I actually just got our league stats back the other day and Andre is
shooting 52 percent from the three point line.
I think he is 26 of 48 or something like that.
He is shooting the three point ball at a very high rate for us.
He has really stepped in and embraced that role as a starter.
He was ready. He is
playing with a chip on his shoulder with a little bit of fire.
You have to love it when kids are playing with that kind of
energy.”
Vermilion (8-13) up ended Lexington (50-41) in a semifinal game on
Tuesday night.
Loney says they Sailors are physical and can be a handful in the low
post. “In tournament play you
are allowed to go scout, so I got to go watch in person.
I am more of an in person type. One
thing I took from there is their post play is very physical.
They have two good sized post players.
One goes like 6’4” and one goes like 6’5” and they are big,
strong, physical kids. If you
don’t front the post and play behind them, they will punish you.
They do a nice job of running high, low action.
So, if you don’t put clamps down on that post play it could be a
very good ballgame on Friday night. They
have a nice guard in Jack (Wells). He
is a very good guard. He does a
lot of good things. He handles
the ball. One thing I think we
are going to have to take advantage of is getting the ball out of his hands
and make somebody else handle it. I
think that is going to be one of our biggest keys to make somebody else
handle or pressure,” said Loney.
Published 2/25/21
© Swankonsports.com
Get all of the tournament scores right here
Shelby
Wants to be Aggressive
Shelby, the top seed, and co-champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, plays Mansfield Senior, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, in a
division II district semifinal on Thursday night at Ashland High School.
The other district semi at Ashland features Bellevue against Sandusky
Perkins, two teams out of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
The Lady Whippets (16-4) beat Port Clinton (69-49) for a sectional
title in their home gym last Saturday.
Coach Natalie Lantz says it was a business like performance.
“I felt it was a good win. I
don’t think it was our best game, but I think we did some things really
well that we can build off of. Of
course, it was pretty cool to be able to host a sectional championship game.
So, it was great to win on our court one last time, especially for
our seniors, and now we get to travel, and be prepared for the next
round,” she said.
Mansfield Senior (10-8) beat two members of the “MOAC” to win a
sectional title in Clear Fork (53-48) and Ontario (45-31) last week.
Shelby beat Mansfield Senior (63-34) on January 5, but Lantz says
they are much improved since then. “They
are young and that is something that coach JeVar (Hudgens) talked about. We
really think they will be the team to beat, especially in a couple of years
when those kids get even more experience.
They are very unselfish. They
pass the ball well. They play
aggressive defense. There is not
one averaging 20 points, there are a bunch of them averaging six to eight
points a game, so they are all versatile scorers and work together really
well,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “So, we definitely
have to be ready because they are one of those teams that could beat teams
like us and others that just aren’t ready.
If we come out and we play soft, then it is going to be a battle.
If we come out and play really well, we can come out on top.”
Lantz says the Lady Tygers will get after you on defense and when
they have the ball, they are going to hard to guard in the post.
“I think they are deceivingly quick and I think they anticipate
well in their full court press and in their 2-3 zone or their man, whatever
they decide to play. We have
been watching film on them and we feel like we have a good idea of what to
expect. I do feel like we
matchup pretty well. They have
some bigs that finish well inside, so obviously that is always a concern for
us when we come up against some girls that are strong and finish well down
low. So, we just have to be
ready to play our game and stay composed and move the ball and be
aggressive. I think if we do
those things it is going to be a good game for us,” said Lantz.
Published 2/24/21
© Swankonsports.com
Get all of the tournament scores right here
Shelby
Attempts to Rebound Versus Pleasant
Shelby closes out the regular season at home on Friday night against
Marion Pleasant in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game.
They became outright conference champions when they kept their foot
on the pedal for 32 minutes and embarrassed winless Galion (98-40) in
conference game last Saturday.
However, they lost for the first time in the league on Wednesday
night when River Valley beat them (71-68) in game that was to be played on
Tuesday, but was snowed out.
Coach Nathon Loney says they did not play with the focus required and
were just not very good. “The
kids knew that they had wrapped up that league title, I think they were
still kind of happy and excited by that.
They just had the mindset that we already have the league wrapped up
and when beat them once and they just didn’t show up with the right
attitude on (Wednesday) night. We
played pretty bad for most of game. For
about three or four minutes we played really well in the first half, but
other than that it looks like the Wooster game all over.
Everything that could go wrong, went wrong (Wednesday) night,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We just was not mentally
focused and ready to be there and you could see that in a lot of our kids
faces. I think they kind of took
their eyes off that goal of finishing up that year undefeated in the league
and they were starting to focus a little on the postseason.
At that point we still have two games left.
I keep preaching to the kids that every day matters and every play
matters.”
Despite, the negatives mentioned by the coach, the Whippets had a
real chance in the last minute to win the game.
Loney adds that free throw shooting was part of their downfall too.
“I told our kids at the end of the night, even as bad as what we
played, we still had a chance to win. If
we make free throws we win no matter what.
We were 9-22 at the foul line. We
shoot 74% from the free throw line on the year.
T.J. (Pugh) and Cody (Lantz), two of our better free throw shooters,
both shoot 84%, were a combined 7-14 at the line.
When that happens you are not going to win close basketball games.
As bad as we played, we still give ourselves a chance to win if we
would have capitalized when we needed to,” said Loney.
Shelby (16-3,10-1), #3 in the Swankonports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, entertains Marion Pleasant
(8-12,4-7) on Friday night. Shelby
won the first meeting (66-51) on December 21.
This game was originally supposed to be played January 21 but was not
because Shelby was quarantined the day before due to a positive COVID test
of one of its players.
Pleasant has three of its last four, including a (46-28) win over
Galion last Friday. Loney says
they better be ready this time. “I
have preached to our kids that (Friday) night is definitely not one you want
to overlook. I think coach (Ben)
Snively does a great job with them. He
does a very, very good job with the talent that he has and does a lot of
good things with those kids. He
is going to game plan and prepare for us and give us their best shot and we
have to be ready for that. If we
ain’t ready for that there is a chance we could beat (Friday) night
too,” he said.
There will be a special tournament edition
Of “Out of Bounds” this Saturday
From 10 PM to 11 PM
On Swankonsports.com
Outright
“MOAC” Title Within Shelby’s Grasp
Shelby can clinch an outright title in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference with wins this weekend over Clear Fork on Friday and Galion on
Saturday, both at home.
It would be their second straight “MAOC” title.
They put themselves in that position with a (68-53) win at Marion
Harding on Monday night.
Coach Nathon Loney says they were outstanding on defense in the
second half. “We definitely
played a really good second half. The
first half they competed right with us and played right with us.
I think that is a little to do with our conditioning.
I think we are in pretty good shape now since quarantine we are
starting to get our legs back underneath us and get in game shape.
I was very happy with our kid’s defensive performance the second
half at Marion Harding. The
third quarter we didn’t give up a field goal.
They scored one point in the third quarter and it was on a free throw
and total in the second half I think we held them to three or four field
goals,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “The only way they
could score was at the free throw line.
We had some undisciplined fouls there in the fourth quarter that let
them get some free throws in. The
score showed it to be a much closer game than it was.
We stretched it out to 20 a couple of times.
Overall defensively, we played really, really well in the second
half.”
Shelby (14-2,8-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Clear Fork
(6-12,3-8) on Friday night. The
Colts lost (50-41) to Ontario on Tuesday night.
In their first meeting, Shelby won (77-64) at Clear Fork on January
9.
Loney expects a much better performance by his kids on Friday.
“We are going to have to be very disciplined and rebound the
basketball. They are very
physical. I think we are going
to have to take advantage of the athleticism difference there.
We are a little more athletic than them, so we are going to have take
advantage of that part of the game. The
biggest thing that hurt us the first time is we left shooters wide open the
first time we played them. I
think they hit 12 or 13 threes at their place and that comes back on us
making undisciplined mistakes. I
think we are a lot, a lot, better defensively the first time around than the
first time we played them. So,
hopefully we bring a very good defensive performance and show what we are
capable of doing against them,” said Loney.
Galion (0-17,0-9) lost (76-24) to the Whippets on December 18.
Loney says they want to make that title theirs this weekend.
“If we win Friday and Saturday, we win the league title outright.
If we win just one of the two we clinch a share.
The number one on our goal list was to win our league.
We have a chance to secure that this weekend.
Saturday is also senior night, so if we could cap off a great senior
night with back to back wins and secure a league title that would be awesome
for our senior class,” he said.
Published 2/11/21
© Swankonsports.com
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Saturday
Lady
Whippets can Get Back into First Place
Shelby trails Marion Harding by a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference standings and they host the Lady Presidents on Tuesday night.
A win moves them into a share the conference lead.
However, there are a number conference games to play yet as Shelby
has played only eight conference games, that would leave four, including the
Harding game. Shelby also plays
at Pleasant on Wednesday, hosts River Valley on Thursday and plays Pleasant
again next week.
After returning for a quarantine last week, Shelby lost (54-40) to
Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion Buckeye Central on Wednesday and
had to rally to beat Clear fork (42-40) in a conference game on Thursday.
Coach Natalie Lantz says it looked like they hadn’t played in a
while. “We definitely looked a
little rough last week and the girls know it.
They said if we play like that against Harding we are going to get
our butts kicked. We looked
really lackadaisical, especially on defense.
I don’t know how we were somehow ahead of Buckeye Central at
halftime. Defense is something
we key on and our usually pretty darn good at.
We just weren’t talking and moving and rotating right, but again it
was right off quarantine. We go
back to back nights and play Clear Fork, so not a lot of time to adjust
obviously. I thought we did a
really good job defensively in the second half, we held them to 10 points,
three in the fourth quarter. I
thought we adjusted really well. Olivia
Baker did an excellent job on Conrad. Then
Sofie Niese is a point guard, who is 5’5”, 5’6”, she had 15 points
and 10 rebounds. Who needs
6’5” when you have Sofie Niese, right?” said Lantz.
Shelby (11-4,7-1) hosts Marion Harding (15-3,9-0) on Tuesday night.
Harding handed the Lady Whippets their only conference loss way back
on December 17 (41-38) in a game that included a controversial end to the
game.
The schools are tied for #5 in our latest Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division.
Lantz says they are going to have to play very well if they are going
to win this time. “After that
Clear Fork game, we came into the gym the next day for practice and we
really got after it on defense and our intensity level and our focus was
there, so I think we are headed in the right direction.
It will be interesting to see if we can come out play our best game
and really do what we know how to do and that’s play good defense, play
good team ball, I have a feeling we are going to be in it to win it at the
end,” she told Swanonsports.com on Monday night, “If we don’t, they
are capable to putting up some big numbers.
They have Ariyah Douglas, they have the best player in our conference
right now, I think that is pretty safe to say, in my opinion.
They have a nice inside out game with Steinman-Ross.
Nicole Flock does an excellent job driving and getting to the basket.
If she gets to the free throw line, she is going to knock those down.
They have a good sophomore shooter.
They play aggressive defense and they get up and down the court, so
we are going to have to be ready to play our game, to stay focused and do
the little things right.”
Douglas leads the “MOAC” in scoring at (17.9 ppg) and assists
(5.1 apg) this season.
Shelby has won the last two conference titles, in fact, the December
loss to Harding is their only loss ever in conference play.
Lantz says they look forward to big games, especially in February and
March. “It started with
Buckeye Central last week, even though we were just coming off quarantine.
I talked to coach Kaple and said we need this game.
This is what prepares us if we are coming out of quarantine or have
10 games in a row under our belt. You
want to play good teams that’s what makes you better and prepares you for
tournament time. We have our
work cut out for us this week. Our
focus right now is on Marion Harding. We
play Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, so there is no break, there is no time to
adjust. We are going to be
playing with a lot of heart. We
are just going to have to gut it out and play together and do a lot right
here the next few days,” she said.
Published 2/09/20
© Swankonsports.com
Keep up on the scores Tuesday night
On our scoreboard at www.swankonsportshosting247.com
Shelby
Faces Tiffin Calvert
Shelby, the leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at home
against Tiffin Calvert, a tri-leader in the River Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference, on Friday night.
This was a game that was just added this week in the year of COVID.
On Wednesday night, the Whippets handled Upper Sandusky (76-61) in a
non-conference game.
Coach Nathon Loney was especially pleased with what they did on
defense against the Rams. “We
definitely played a pretty good game on Wednesday night.
I was very happy when we left there.
Pretty much from halfway through the third quarter to about two
minutes left in the game we were up by 20 plus.
We shot the ball really well as a team.
We played really good team basketball.
Our defense is finally starting to click and get to where we want it.
That was the biggest thing that I was very, very happy about was our
team defense. I think we forced
19 steals total for the game, that is what we had us at.
Anytime your force somebody to 19 steals you are going to give
yourself a very good chance to win basketball games.
I was very happy with our effort as a whole.
Pugh had 22 and Lantz had 20 and we had Holloway and Andre Hill with
10 apiece. Things are starting
to click at the right time and I am very happy about that,” said Loney.
With the talent of T.J. Pugh (24.5 ppg), the leading scorer in the
“MOAC”, Loney says other kids are getting open looks because Pugh
attracts attention and then he is able to get them the ball.
“What Upper did Wednesday night was run a lot of double teams at
T.J. and he finished the game
with nine assists. After the
game T.J. came up to me and he said, coach see what happens when they run
doubles at me, I can pass too. That
is one thing that T.J. is very gifted at, he is not only a very good scorer,
but he is a very good passer also, sometimes people don’t see that because
they see the scoring so much out of him.
There is a reason has is averaging almost five and half assists a
game now too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “We shoot
the ball very well as a team right now.
We just got our league stats back earlier this week and we are
shooting 42 percent from the three point line as a team.
Anytime you shoot that well from the three point line as a team you
are going to give yourself a chance to be successful.
Not only are we shooting 42 percent as a team, but we have six guys
in the top ten in the “MOAC” in three point percentage and all six of
those guys are over 40 percent. That
is pretty awesome and a pretty good stat to be happy about.
Pugh and Lantz can both score the ball pretty well, but we also have
guys around them who can score like they can and shoot the ball.
It puts your team in very good places to be successful.”
Shelby (12-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division, welcomes Tiffin Calvert (13-3), who
shares the River Division lead with Old Fort and Sandusky St. Mary’s.
Loney says this is a very good team they are playing.
“They are a well coached basketball team.
I know coach Otterbacher a little bit when I was at Ridgedale.
I actually took over the year after he left Ridgedale.
I spoke with him a little bit whenever he was in the school.
He is a great guy and does a very good job with his program.
They are a very physical basketball team.
That is one of the reasons why I happy to be playing them at this
time. They are physical, they
get after you. They have Siefert
and he shoots the ball very well. He
is kind of a mismatch problem even with us and our size and everything.
With him being at 6’3” and can shoot the ball as well as he does.
He does a lot of good things for them.
He attacks downhill very well. He
is not a super quick guy, but he does attack them rim well.
He is going to have to be a guy that one of our bigger guys matches
up with and have to contain him. If
you don’t do a good job with him and hold him down they are very good.
If you don’t hold him down and contain him he is going to give them
a very good chance to win the basketball game,” said Loney.
Published 2/05/21
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Shelby
Girls Back in Action
Shelby, in second place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at
“N10” leader Buckeye Central on Wednesday and at league foe Clear Fork
on Thursday after not playing since January 19.
Like almost everybody else, the Lady Whippets have been affected by
the COVID-19 virus. They have
been paused three times, but coach Natalie Lantz believes they have handled
it well. “I am really pleased
with the way we have taken this challenge on and really stayed focused and
come ready to play best we can for different situations.
We were got hit hard early in the season with a couple of quarantines
and then of course when Shelby City Schools went ahead and suspended all
athletic events for two, two and half weeks.
We get back and we get rolling and we go down again quarantined,”
she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The good part is out girls have
stayed healthy through all of it, the varsity girls have stayed healthy.
Knock on wood, I hope they continue to stay healthy.
They fight back and they come to practice.
That first practice back they are ready to roll.
It was awesome to have a contact practice (Tuesday) to prepare for
and get ready for Buckeye Central (Wednesday).”
Shelby earned the top seed in the division II district tournament
that starts in a couple of weeks. Buckeye
Central did the same in division IV.
The Lady Whippets (10-3), #5 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, visits Buckeye Central
(15-1), #4 in the small school poll, on Wednesday night.
Buckeye is coming off a (59-33) win over Upper Sandusky last Tuesday.
Their last two games have been postponed due to either COVID or the
weather.
Lantz says Buckeye Central with their depth of talent is very hard to
guard. “They are really well
coached. I think Abe (Kaple)
does a really good job with them. They
have three really experienced guards that do a nice job.
They are all able to drive, penetrate, dish, shoot, so we are going
to have to do a really good job controlling the perimeter game.
Then they have some really good role players in their forwards.
They are a nice team they are very fundamental.
They have some good shooters, they distribute the ball very well.
They play good help side defense.
We are going to have to bring it on both ends of the court,” said
Lantz.
Clear Fork (7-11,3-5) lost (63-42) to unbeaten Loudonville on Tuesday
night in a non-conference game. Shelby
beat them the first time they played (77-42) in January 14 at Shelby.
Lantz says the Lady Colts have the potential to spread the floor with
their personnel. “We played
them, what, two and half weeks ago now.
They have a nice inside, out game.
They have some kids that can knock down the perimeter shots, they
have some fisty guards defensively. Conrad,
who is 6’5”, she doesn’t even have to jump and you can jump your
highest and you still won’t get it. So,
we have a good game plan going into Clear Fork as well.
Just as you would expect if they are still rolling we are going to
have to step up our game back to back nights,” she said.
Published 2/03/21
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Shelby
Downs Norwalk
Cody Lantz scored 24 points and Shelby outscored Norwalk (11-2) over
the last four minutes to come away with a (59-42) non-conference win at
Norwalk on Saturday.
Could it be a preview of a second straight matchup in the district
tournament? Norwalk eliminated
the Whippets in the division II district semis last year after losing during
the regular season.
After being in quarantine since January 19, Shelby coach Nathon Loney
was pretty pleased with the performance.
“For our first game back out of quarantine I was very happy.
The kids played with good energy, good effort.
I was kind of worried about or conditioning, that is one of the big
things that plays into our game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the
game, “For the most part it was pretty well.
We shot the ball well. They
made things tough on Pugh and we had other guys step up (Saturday) night.
It’s always nice when you have other kids in your program that can
do that.”
T.J. Pugh, Shelby’s leading scorer (25.5 ppg) had 15 points, Grant
Hiatt added seven, Brazure Roberts six, Andre Hill four and Jeremy Holloway
three.
Lantz canned a three with 5:04 to play in the first quarter to give
Shelby an (11-8) lead in the game and they never trailed again.
It was a fast paced first quarter with Shelby leading (22-16) after
one.
Lantz scored seven points in the second quarter and Shelby led
(35-26) at the half. It was a
low scoring third with the Norwalk outscoring Shelby (9-8) and the Whippets
leading (43-35) after three.
Norwalk (9-7), the co-leader of Sandusky Bay Conference Lake
Division, made it interesting in the final quarter as point guard Will
Gehlhausen made one of the two free throws to cut it to seven at (43-36)
with 7:04 left. However, Shelby
responded with a Lantz basket and a Hiatt three to make it (48-36) with 5:42
remaining. But, the Truckers
wouldn’t go away as Garrett Chapin and Ian Minor converted field goals to
make it (48-40) with 4:26 left. Norwalk
only scored two points the rest of the way.
Coach Steve Gray says they just couldn’t make the big shot and they
had some open looks, making just 38% of their attempts for the game.
“We picked a heck of a time not to shoot the ball.
We were getting wide open looks, especially from the three.
If we make three of the ones that we took and were open and our good
shooters were taking them, we had a chance.
We cut it to seven. We
were one possession away from making them feel us.
We could never hit the big shot that allowed us to do it,” said
Gray.
Lantz (15.1 ppg), though, seemed to make big shot after big shot.
Loney says he did the job and he believes as a team they played with
intensity on defense. “Cody
played well. He had a very nice
game. He was four for four at
they foul line and had seven two’s and two threes.
Our kids were a little bit frustrated, they thought they were doing
things. They played with great
intensity defensively. There
were so foul calls that were in their favor, that’s all part of the game,
you have that everywhere you go. We
are going to keep that defensive energy and that defensive effort up.
To hold Norwalk to 42 points, you are doing pretty well,” said
Loney.
Shelby (11-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division and the leader of the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, forced 20 Trucker turnovers and Loney feels they caused some
havoc with their half court pressure. “With
our run and jump, Grant Hiatt and Andre Hill do a nice job of putting ball
pressure on their guards and get them going really fast in one direction and
we send somebody to half court to come and trap them.
I think they did a really good job of that (Saturday) night,” he
said.
Norwalk, who has played very well on defense for the last six weeks,
doubled Pugh much of the night, especially when he got the ball in the post.
Gray was happy with how they defended, but he says they had too many
turnovers and didn’t make enough shots.
“You know, he had 15 points, they had 59 points as a team.
I think both of those are acceptable.
We had to do two things better. We
had to take care of the ball a little bit better and I never anticipated us
shooting like that. We haven’t
shot that bad in a long, long time. It
was a good game for us in terms of getting us ready for a big three weeks
coming up. We have some tough
games and Shelby made us better,” said Gray.
The Truckers play Clyde on Tuesday and Sandusky on Friday in Lake
Division games.
Shelby is set to play Lexington in a non-conference game on
Wednesday. They do not play an
“MOAC” game until February 8 at Marion Harding.
Published 1/30/21
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Shelby
Faces Norwalk on Saturday
Shelby, the leaders of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays
Norwalk, co-leaders in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, on
Saturday night in Norwalk.
It was the Truckers that eliminated the Whippets in a district
semifinal last season.
Right now, Shelby is in quarantine after a positive test on their
team and will not emerge from that quarantine until Saturday, the day of the
Norwalk game.
Coach Nathon Loney says this is not a contact tracing situation but
does involve a varsity player. “We
actually had a kid that tested positive.
We had a positive case on the team.
We had a kid develop symptoms right after we played Ontario and a
positive case came later in that week and we got shutdown,” he said.
Shelby beat Ontario (65-53) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on
January 15. Their last game was
January 18, a (61-51) loss to Olentangy, but the player in question did not
play in that game.
Additionally, Clear Fork who played Shelby on January 9 was informed
of the situation, but not placed in quarantine.
With they way things have operated in Ohio this school year decisions
have been left up to local authorities and has led to a variety of different
plans.
Loney explains how the quarantine has affected the Shelby program.
“We are actually not full go going back to practice.
We are going to enter the Norwalk game on Saturday without a full go
practice. The way our school
rules are, we go 10 days in quarantine and the 10th day you can
go four days of practice, but you have to have a mask on for the full
practice and your kids have to be six feet apart for the whole practice.
So, basically what we are doing right now is a bunch of individual
skill work. We are basically
placing kids at a basket and you are shooting and rebounding by yourself and
a lot of ballhandling and conditioning right now,” said Loney.
Shelby will be playing Norwalk without the benefit of a full
practice, but Loney says when looking at the whole picture that was the best
course of action. “There is
definitely a little bit of a concern going into the Norwalk game, especially
because Norwalk is one of the top teams in our district and they are very
solid this year. They have a
very good coach, so absolutely there is a little bit of concern.
With the way things are right now we are only going to get to play 19
games. We are struggling right
now finding three extra games, so right now with the way our schedule looks
we are only going to get 19 games. Do
you risk not picking up that game if you do have to cancel the Norwalk game
and take another game away from these kids and they only get to play 18
games or if you happen to slip up and take a loss,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I talked about it with my coaching
staff just a little bit and these kids have worked their butt off all year
long if we happen to slip up and take a loss to Norwalk I am not going to be
mad, I’ll be disappointed a little bit.
I would rather these kids get to play every game they deserve instead
of taking a game away from the kids just because we have a quarantine.
I would rather see my boys get something close to their full
schedule. So, there is a little
bit of concern, but you have to take and give a little bit, especially right
now due to the way things are. With
the times we are in right now. Like
we have talked before it is a day to day basis, you never know what is going
to happen, you are never promised tomorrow.”
Shelby (10-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the large school division, plays at Norwalk (9-6) on Saturday night.
Loney describes the Truckers as an experienced team that plays very
well as a unit. “Obviously,
they are very disciplined. They
have the (Garrett) Chapin kid that has been playing under Steve (Gray) for
four years and the (Will) Gehlhausen kid that has been playing under Steve
for four years. So, they have a
very disciplined point guard and a very good four man.
Anytime you have a veteran point guard, you are going to be pretty
solid just because just because of having a veteran point guard that has
played under that coach and knowing what he wants year in and year out. They
shoot the three okay, they rebound very well, they have very, very good team
chemistry. They play very good
team basketball together. So,
that is going to be the biggest thing you have to match is when you have a
group of kids that play that well together it definitely takes a team effort
to make sure you get that win,” said Loney.
Published 1/28/21
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Shelby
Back in “MOAC” Play Against Pleasant
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, plays at home
against Marion Pleasant in a conference game on Thursday night and then
plays at Marion Harding on Saturday night, again in league action.
Right now, they lead River Valley by two games in the conference
standings.
It was just their second loss of the season on Monday night, when
Olentangy beat them (61-51) in a non-conference game.
Coach Nathon Loney says they missed some shots they should make, but
the big thing was they were playing without leading scorer T.J. Pugh.
“It was a tough game for us (Monday) night.
It always makes a big difference for teams when you are minus your
best player, your top scorer on the team and not having T.J. (Pugh) on the
floor hurt us. You take 26
points a game off anybody’s team it is going to make things different and
more difficult. We were in a
position to win, we had a chance to win, we were down four with a 1:05 left.
We were 10-20 from the foul line, so when you shoot 50 percent from
the free throw line in tight games you are not going to give yourself a
chance to win. On top of that,
we missed some uncontested, easy layups in transition that we normally
make,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “You have to make big
plays like that in big games. I
was very impressed with Olentangy, they had some nice athletes and they are
well coached, very disciplined, very strong and physical, so it was a good
game for us to play and I was proud of our kids effort and our heart and
pleased with how we responded to not having T.J. on the floor.”
Loney says he is confident that Pugh will be back in the lineup when
they play Pleasant on Thursday. “He
will be back this week. He was
just having a few issues. We
plan on having T.J. back on Thursday is the plan right now.
That was just a one game thing not having him there.
We plan to have him back Thursday to say the least,” he said.
Shelby (10-2,7-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, entertains Pleasant (4-9,1-5) on
Thursday night. The Spartans
dropped one to Marion Harding (36-34) last Saturday in conference play.
In the first meeting between the two Shelby won (66-51) on December
21 at Pleasant.
Loney says they have to do a better job of controlling the tempo this
time. “They are going to want
to slow you down and limit every possession and we are going to pick up the
pace and play fast. That is one
thing we did very well on Monday night without T.J. being there, I was very
impressed with how our tempo was even without having T.J. there we scored a
lot of transition points. The
first time we played Pleasant, we did not control the tempo very well, we
let them slow it down way too much. I
think our defensive tempo is very, very much better right now than it was
the first time we played them. We
were pretty good defensively (Monday) night for the most part, I was very
happy with our kid’s defensive effort Olentangy just hit a lot of tough
shots. So, if we bring that same
intensity on Thursday night, I think we are going to be pretty well off,”
said Loney.
Published 1/20/21
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Shelby
Needs Better Defense
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader Shelby visits Ontario to play the
Warriors for the second time in two weeks on Friday night in conference
play.
Right now, Shelby leads Ontario and River Valley by two games in the
conference standings. The
Whippets have not lost a conference game since February 6, 2019 when Ontario
beat them at the O-Renea.
Last Saturday, the Whippets and Clear Fork were tied (55-55) going to
the fourth quarter before Shelby put it away and won going away (77-64) for
the win.
Coach Nathon Loney says his goal was to get a lot of kids minutes
against the Colts. “I played a
lot of young kids. The whole
second quarter I played three freshmen, a junior, and a senior.
I was just running rotations in and out of there and get everybody
some playing time and get some younger guys some minutes that are going to
be valuable to us down the road in later games.
It’s good for them to get that varsity experience.
Alex Brusketter hit a couple of big threes for us in that second
quarter. They played quite a bit
throughout the game in the third and fourth quarters.
The start of the fourth quarter we came out and went on 14-0 run and
that was big for us,” said Loney.
When Shelby (9-1,6-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com basketball coaches
poll in the large school division, played Ontario (8-4,4-2), #5 in that
poll, at their place on December 31, Loney was unhappy with their overall
performance in a (65-60) win over the Warriors.
He says they have to play better defense this time and force Ontario
to guard them inside. “We have
to be much better defensively and execute our game plan the whole game
instead of just in the second half like we did against them.
When I talked to you after the first Ontario game, I told you that I
expected (T.J.) Pugh and (Cody) Lantz to play a little more of the inside
game and they didn’t do that in the first half, but they came out and did
their job in the second half doing that,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday, “We definitely have to do that the whole game and be aggressive
going to the rim. Our defense
has to be much better than it has been.
It took some strides and showed some bright spots.
I think we are going need to be much better the second time around
than we was the first time.”
In the first meeting, Ontario led by two after the third quarter and
cut a Shelby lead to just two with 2:42 left in the game before losing.
Being the second meeting of the season, Loney expects the Warriors
are going to come out and try and do some different things this time around.
“I would say they will make some adjustments.
Joe (Balogh) wasn’t happy with how they played at our place, so
that’s what good coaches do, they make adjustments and change things up to
get a different outcome. He is
one of the best for a reason, so he is going to make adjustments to try and
make that happen,” he said.
Published 1/12/21
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Lineup
Changes Help Shelby
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader Shelby plays a pair of conference
games this week as they host River Valley on Thursday and play at Clear Fork
on Saturday.
They lead River Valley and Ontario by a game in the conference
standings.
Monday night, they downed Marion Harding (77-63) in an “MOAC”
game.
Coach Nathon Loney says the second half was the difference.
“We played very well on Monday.
We have definitely made strides in the last couple of games.
I feel like each night we have taken steps in the right direction and
started to put some of the pieces together.
I think before 2:40 left and I subbed my starters out we were up 20.
It was definitely a very good win for us there on Monday.
When we went in at halftime, we were down two, so it was a big
turnaround in the second half. The
crazy thing was we played well in the first half, but Harding anything they
threw at the rim went in. They
shot the ball very well. I think
in the first half they were eight of nine on three pointers, so they had 34
points at the half and 24 of the 34 was off threes,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “So, they played well, they were a tough
matchup. I think they are going
to surprise some teams in the league. Their
coach does a very good job with them. They
do a nice job of shortening the possessions so we couldn’t push the ball
in transitions and score a lot like we want to.
They do a very good job of executing in their half court offense.”
Shelby (7-1,4-0) entertains River Valley (5-6,4-1) on Thursday night.
Loney says the Vikings have a couple of very good scorers.
“They are a tough match also. They
have a lot of varsity experience. They
returned all their starters from last year.
They have two kids that can score the basketball at a very high
capacity. Ethan Bell and Dylan
Johnson both can fill it up very quickly.
Ethan does a good job of scoring at all levels, he shoots the ball
well from the three point line, he gets to the rim, and he shoots free
throws. The Johnson kid shoots
the three ball very well, so they are going to be a tough defensive match
for us and that has been our focus the last three days of practice, if we
are great defensively we give ourselves a very good chance to win on
Thursday night,” he said.
Clear Fork (3-3,2-2) will host the Whippets on Saturday in conference
action.
Loney says this is a tempo game, they want to play faster and he says
some personnel changes are going to help them do it.
“They are going to play pretty similar to the way Marion Pleasant
played, slow the pace down and really make you execute.
They want to keep you under 50 and we want to score over 70.
It will come down to if we execute well with our pace.
That is one of the biggest things I have been happy with over the
last two games is our offensive pace. Since
moving T.J. Pugh to the point guard spot and Grant Hiatt to an off guard
spot our pace has picked up tremendously.
T.J. just brings that extra speed to us and Grant does an excellent
job of getting up the sideline in that two guard position to run our
sideline fast break. The flip
was very good for us. We scored
77 against Harding and 80 against Senior High.
So, that is definitely the pace we want to play at, we want to move
the ball at that pace. It is
going to come down to if we can bring that consistently on Saturday
night,” said Loney.
Published 1/07/21
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Shelby
Grabs First Place
Shelby is now all along in first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference after they made six of nine free throws in the final 23 seconds
and outlasted Ontario (65-60) on Thursday afternoon in Shelby.
T.J. Pugh and Cody Lantz combined for 37 points as the Whippets
(5-1,3-0) rallied from a two-point deficit (40-38) after three quarters.
They took the led for good on a Lantz old fashion three point play
with 7:08 remaining.
Shelby coach Nathon Loney felt it was a good bounce back win for
them, but thinks they can play much better.
“It was good to get back in the winning track after getting our
buts kicked at Wooster the other night.
We needed that one at Wooster. Would
have liked to have won it. It
was nice to take it on the chin like that and bring us back to reality and
get these kids to realize they are not invincible and they are able to be
beat. We didn’t play anywhere
near what I want us to play, but we picked up a win.
Like I said, it’s good to get back on the winning track,” said
Loney.
Ontario (7-2,3-1) never went away in that final quarter cutting the
Whippet lead to one twice, the last time on a Zach Mccriristall hoop (45-44)
with 6:03 left and two (54-52) on Gage Weaver basket with 2:42 on the clock.
Warrior coach Joe Balogh says they played with great effort and did
an excellent job executing the game plan.
“I am not disappointed in the effort of our kids at all.
We talked about the things that we could control, which were the
energy we played with, the effort we played with.
We talked about next play mentality and I thought we went to the next
play. We missed some shots at
the rim and if they go it makes a big, big difference.
As we have said before many times, you don’t win the league in the
first round. We have a chance
here in two weeks to try and come back with them, but have to continue to
progress as a basketball team,” said Balogh.
Loney said going into the game they had to get the ball moving in
transition. “That is what we
have to be great at. I just got
done telling the kids, we were along ways from what I expect us to be in our
transition, but even as slow as we played, I think we did hurt them in
transition quite a bit,” he said.
Pugh has eight his 20 in the fourth quarter, but Balogh feels they
did a good job defending him. “He
is good and you can’t take away everything from him.
I think overall I think we made things very difficult for them
offensively. They didn’t get a
lot of easy baskets. They hurt
us a couple of times with postups, but I’m not going to complain about our
kids effort,” he said.
Lantz had nine of his 17 in the fourth.
Both Pugh and Lantz fouled out in the final minute of the game.
Griffin Shaver topped the Warriors with 14 markers.
Loney says they did an outstanding job of limiting is looks.
“That was our goal from the get go we wanted to face guard him and
make everything he shot hard. We
had worked all week with Isiah Ramsey, the freshman that came off the bench
and face guarded him quite a bit. We
worked on him face guarding T.J. all week.
I told him if you can face guard T.J. you are going to give Shaver
all he wants. I just told him I
don’t think Shaver scored a bucket on him,” he told Swankonsports.com
after the game, “For the most part everybody did their job of face
guarding him. Now, the other
kids have to join in and join the party and guard because we let other kids
score. They shouldn’t have
been getting the easy buckets that they did and that kept them in the game.
We had multiple chances to stretch it out to double figures and we
were forcing other kids to score, but we weren’t competitive in guarding
their other players.”
Kolten Kurtz added 13 for the Warriors.
Shelby’s biggest lead was a pair of six point leads in the final
minute of the game.
Shaver is a career 1,000 point scorer, but Balogh says he Warriors
have a number of guys that contribute. “We
are not about one guy. It’s
really about eight guys and we got great effort our of all of them.
They all made plays and that is how we are going to play.
We are going to share the basketball and we are going to find open
guys. We did a really good job
with that (Thursday). Again, it
goes back to we missed some shots at the bucket.
I think Kolten had a three that would have tied it that was halfway
down in and came back out. It’s
part of playing on the road. We
just have to continue to work and see if we can get better in the second
half of the season,” said Balogh.
Ontario hosts Shelby on January 15.
Published 12/31/20
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Shelby Needs Mental Toughness
Shelby and Ontario were the best two teams in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference last year and they likely are again this year.
They meet for the first time Thursday afternoon at Shelby.
Both are unbeaten in conference play.
In fact, Shelby lost its first game of the season Tuesday night
(79-52) to unbeaten Wooster of the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Coach Nathon Loney says they ran out of gas.
“We played a decent first half.
We played a really good first quarter.
It almost looked like about halfway through the second quarter we got
fatigued and tired. I take
pretty good pride in our conditioning program and everything and it’s
tough right now with the COVID stuff. We
have games stacked on top of games, so you have no time to condition right
now. We have been working on
getting better on little things that we need to get better at and we
haven’t been able to put time into conditioning like we usually do.
When we started up playing again on the 18th against
Galion, we had two practices and one full go.
We haven’t had any time to condition and that really hurt us
because when we got mentally and physically fatigued, we crumbled.
We turned the ball over, we didn’t rebound well.
Wooster is very solid, they are very disciplined.
I would really like to get them back at the end of the year and play
them again, it would be nice if we could, but you want and you don’t get
sometimes. They were a very
solid matchup,” said Loney.
Shelby (4-1,2-0) hosts Ontario (7-1,2-0) on Thursday afternoon.
The Warriors beat Kenton (69-46) in a non-conference game on Tuesday.
Loney says Ontario brings a different kind of challenge than they
have had lately. “What we have
seen against Wooster and Lima Senior, we are not going to see against
Ontario. Wooster and Lima Senior
both bring a way different team than Ontario does.
Wooster is very big and very athletic and strong.
They are a match of us. They
matched up great with us, same with Lima Senior.
Ontario is a little bit different matchup.
They don’t have the size that we have, but they do have a lot of
veteran players, they return a lot of experience.
They are going to be very solid and well coached as usual.
It’s going to be different game.
They are not going to be able to match us like Wooster and Lima did,
so they are going to have to bring something different to the table and Joe
(Balogh) does a really good job of doing that.
I am expecting something different out of them and I’m not really
sure what it is not getting to scout much, so it’s hard to tell,” he
said.
Loney says they need to make their athleticism be a factor in the
game. “That is how we wany to
play with anybody is we want to force turnovers and force the pressure.
Honestly, we did a nice job of that the other night at Wooster for
the first quarter. We went a
little bit of 2-1-2 action and full court pressed and early on in the game
we forced Wooster into a lot of unforced turnovers and they made some bad
passes out of it and they took the shots we wanted.
We got them to take quick shots.
For the first half of the second quarter we did that as well and the
first half of the third quarter. When
we got tired things got really bad. We
are going to have to fight through that fatigue part and a little mental
toughness is going to have to set in,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday evening, “These are 16, 17-year-old kids and there is no room to
be tired when you are young. You
can be tired when you are older. So,
they are going to have to fight through that.
That is always our goal for anybody we play to use our athleticism
and our height advantage. I feel
our bigger guys are our more athletic guys.
That is something we are going to have to use tour advantage.”
Published 12/31/20
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Shelby
Back After Refining
Shelby has been cleared to play basketball and the Whippets return to
action on Friday night at Galion against the Tigers in Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference action.
They also play talented Lima Senior in Lima as part of a holiday
tournament on Sunday.
It has been three weeks since the Whippets have played a game and in
two of those weeks they could not practiced together.
Coach Nathon Loney says it was tough going through that, but feels
they came out of it accomplishing some things.
“The time not being in the gym was pretty rough.
Not only was we shut down because the county being purple, we were
also on quarantine due to a positive case in the program, so not only was we
shut down through the county we were quarantined.
It was tough on me and it was very hard on the kids also.
I have kids texting me all of the time, what can we do?
I stayed in very good contact with our kids.
While they were quarantined, they were doing a lot of at home
workouts. I had kids outside on
the streets running when they could. Just
doing things among themselves trying to stay in shape and keeping the
results they got from the weight room and everything and doing pushups or
anything they could,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening,
“Finally getting back to practice there last Friday was nice even though
we were only allowed to, basically like the summer, we were working in pods,
only like two per pod. It
wasn’t fun at a point, but it was also good for us because there was a lot
of much needed stuff. We worked
a ton of skill work stuff, a ton of shooting drills, not only that because
we got a lot of conditioning in there for a few days.
You can only do so much skill work and shooting there for a while.
It also helped us get back in shape a lot quicker than we would have
normally because we could only focus on a few certain things.
The last couple of days we got to go in pods of five, so we got to
work a lot of 5-0, no defense, we got to work on a lot of our offensive
stuff with no defense. A lot of
little, fundamental stuff that we needed to work on.”
Shelby (1-0,0-0) is down at Galion (0-5,0-3) on Friday night.
The Tigers were hammered by Lucas (72-28) in a non-conference game on
Tuesday night. They have not
scored more than 35 points in their last four outings.
Loney says they are not at full strength.
“I am pretty sure they are still missing probably their best
player, which would be the Payne kid. He’s
their point guard. He is who
they rely on getting the ball up the floor for them and he is probably their
best scoring option also. I am
pretty sure he is still out, I think he had an ankle injury, which you hate
to hear. They are in a hard spot
right now, they have a lot of young kids playing,” he said.
The Whippets play unbeaten Lima Senior (4-0) on Sunday and Loney says
they are going to have to be top form for that one.
“I am just happy our kids can play.
I just want to see improvements from what we did in the first game
against Madison. We won by 20
against Madison, but I still wasn’t very happy with our performance.
The kids know the standard is much higher than that.
Going to Lima Senior on Sunday, we are going to have to come out and
work on a lot of fundamental, basic staff and get our act together really
quick before we go to Lima on Sunday,” said Loney.
Published 12/18/20
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Shelby
Girls Trying to Stay Positive
The high school girls’ basketball season started three and half
weeks ago and the Shelby Lady Whippets have played only one game and they
won’t play again until next week.
They have been hit on all sides by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Right now, they are trying to keep their heads above water, which
isn’t easy.
In their only game they lost the Saturday after Thanksgiving (56-48)
to very talented Margaretta.
Coach Natalie Lantz was very proud of the effort against the Lady
Bears. “It is going to be
challenging this year, but our goal is to but ourselves in a situation to be
as successful as possible. We
were quarantined for a week, had three days, and then played Margaretta and
you know what, we competed. Skill
wise I don’t think we were where we wanted to be, but really pleased about
how hard we played and pulled within two after being down 16, I believe.
So, we went on a run and had them on their heels.
We were just tied and mentally exhausted from making that run.
Some mental mistakes there toward the end cost us, but really pleased
with the effort,” she said.
Now, the Lady Whippets are not scheduled to play again until December
17 against Marion Harding in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game.
Lantz says given the circumstances, they will do all they can to be
ready when tipoff comes. “We
are kind of going to go into the same situation.
We are quarantined again for two weeks.
Part of that is our local health department, I know there are a lot
of cases of COVID right now in Shelby. We
have to do our best hopefully we will have three days next week before we
can play again against Marion Harding on Thursday.
It is what it is, we have to do the best we can.
My assistant and I have been talking, this will have to be our best
coaching job ever to keep our girls mentally and physically and emotionally
ready game by game,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon,
“There could be a lot of times this year when we have back to back games.
We could have four games in one week, but our goal is to get our kids
playing, our goal is to keep our kids in shape, so when we take the court we
are not going to get injured when we take the court because we are not
conditioned. We have sent
workouts out. We are going to be
on zoom Monday through Friday from 3 to 4 specifically to do core workouts,
running and sprints just to keep our core and our cardio up.
Not everybody has hoops at their house, so that is where it gets
challenging. When you are
quarantined you are not supposed to be leaving your house, so we are hoping
we can get ballhandling and stuff like that in.
We just have to do our part and get our girls and prepared as
possible for this crazy season.”
With Richland County going purple last Thursday it seems every
district is handling it differently, some are playing games, some are not,
some are practicing, so our not. Lantz
says they are doing all they can to keep the team healthy.
“In some regards it is a pretty unfair advantage, but at the same
time I’m glad they are allowed to play then than they are allowed to play.
I feel very confident in my girls that our girls have been keeping
pretty tight to our bubble. We
have not been around a bunch of people other than our team and our
individual families. I won’t
lie, myself and both of my sons have tested positive for COVID.
My boys are both coming out of the anguish, that’s what took are
varsity boys and our freshmen, JV boys down.
Honest to God I haven’t been around anybody other than my team and
my family. It is probably an
asymptomatic thing where you are around somebody and didn’t know it.
So, we have to do our best to keep our kids healthy and stay in a
pretty tight bubble and give ourselves the best opportunity to play.
The teams that are able to do that and play, keep playing because
they could be in our situation further along the road.
Hopefully we will get a nice span in where we will continue playing.
At practice, I am going to do what I can to spilt JV and varsity, so
that is JV goes out varsity doesn’t and if varsity goes our JV doesn’t.
We will have to see what we can do as the season progresses.
We will have to think outside of the box a little bit, be creative,
in order to keep our kids engaged and confident and positive about this
season,” said Lantz.
Published 12/08/20
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Shelby
With Big One Against Ontario
Shelby won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last season and Ontario
finished second, two games back, they play each other in Shelby on Friday
night in the opening game of the conference schedule.
The Whippets also travel to Ashland to play the talented Arrows on
Saturday night in a non-conference game.
Last Friday, they beat Madison (70-49) in a non-league game.
Coach Nathon Loney says they did some good things last week, but they
need to talk more on defense. “The
biggest thing we have to get better at this week is our defensive
communication. We lost track of
their guards too much on Friday night against Madison and gave them the
opportunity at easy scores, they got great looks at threes, luckily they
didn’t knock any down and we definitely can’t do that on Friday or
Saturday night because Ontario has great shooters and so does Ashland, so
that is the biggest thing we have to be better at,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Offensively, we picked it up in the second
half. It was nice to see T.J.
(Pugh) get things going there in the second half and he did a great job of
getting his teammates involved and we hit some outside shots and I think we
hit eight three pointers and that was good to see.
I think that is going to be our bright spot this year compared to
last year. We are much better
shooters on the floor this year compared to last year.
Last year, we had really good athletes, now we have good athletes and
shooters. That is going to be
something that definitely helps us.”
Shelby (1-0,0-0) hosts Ontario (1-0,0-0) on Friday night.
The Warriors are coming off a (64-43) win over Huron last week.
Loney says this is not your typical Ontario team.
“From what I have seen so far, I saw they had 10 people score.
They are playing a lot of guys and rotating a lot of guys.
You know Griffin (Shaver) and Kolten Kurtz are going to be their top
two guys. They have a nice
addition in the two post players they have.
They are playing a little bit faster than they normally do.
Usually a Balogh team you don’t see a super pace out of them and I
think they are trying to do that right, especially with them rotating more.
They are faster and they are different than they were in the past,”
said Loney.
It’s way too early in the season to call this a must win for either
team, but it clearly is an important game.
Loney says he likes to be tested early in the season.
“A lot of coaches like to have their tough games late and get them
ready for tournament, but I like to have them right here at the beginning of
the year also. It kind of shows
you where you are at and gives you and idea of what you need to work on and
if you happen to come out of these games with losses you are definitely
going to take good things from it. Nobody
likes to lose. I hate losing
more than I like to win. There
are going to be great things to take form this either way.
Definitely having these two games early will tell us a lot,” he
said.
Ashland hammered Norwalk (82-51) last Friday and they looked very
impressive. Loney says as luck
would have it they a lot like Ontario. “It
is nice having Ontario on Friday night before them because things we are
going to do with Ontario are going to be very similar to what we do with
Ashland because in my mind they are very similar.
Ontario has Shaver and Ashland has the Denbow kid.
They both have similar games. They
have a nice mix with everything. They
get to the rim well, they shoot the jumper well, they shoot the three well.
The Stewart kid that shoots the three very well is kind of a spot up
shooter and the Kurtz kid is very similar.
Ashland has the White kid in there and kind of reminds me of the
Payne kid a little bit. They are
very similar, so it’s nice to have them back to back because you are kind
of going to be doing the same things both nights,” said Loney.
Published 12/02/20
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Shelby
Has to Play Its Game
Shelby, the defending champion in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
will begin the season on Friday night against the Madison Rams, of the Ohio
Cardinal Conference, in non-conference action.
There will be no junior varsity game.
Coach Nathon Loney says so far the varsity team has been able to
avoid many of the problems associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
“So far it has been pretty good for the most part.
Luckily, we haven’t had an COVID issues for the full team, right
now or JV and freshman squads are quarantined, but the varsity has been good
and clear. We have been
fortunate that is has not taken out the whole team yet, no to say there is
not a chance of that happening down the road because I think at some point
and time everybody is going to have to fight that battle.
Right now, for the most part we have been very fortunate.
We have still been working hard and making the most that we can for
what we have right now,” said Loney.
Loney says Madison can do some things and they need to be able to
make it difficult on the Ram guards. “I
haven’t got to see a whole lot on them.
As far as I know, their first scrimmage was just (Monday) night with
Tiffin and I got to see a little bit, but not a lot.
I know they have the Brooks kid back and he can shoot it pretty well
and he is long and athletic. For
the most part I think they are just running other guys through there to find
the best combination to work with right now.
The biggest thing for us to be successful on Friday will be based
solely off of guard play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night,
“I think our guards are going to have to make everything super hard for
their guards. I think they
struggle a little bit at the guard spots and I think that is where we are
going to have to take advantage the best we can.
If we allow things to be easy for their guards, they are capable of
making it a good ballgame. I
have been paying attention to some of the sportswriters in the area and they
seem to think that Madison is the sleeper in the area and I think I can get
on the board with that. If you
don’t put pressure on their guards, they will keep you in the game.”
Loney says this year they must always play to the best of their
ability and that starts on Friday night against Madison.
“That was one of our downfalls last year.
I heard a lot around the area that people questioned us because when
we played teams that were lower tiered teams we didn’t perform as well.
We struggled playing down to the level of our competition, so if we
don’t come out and do what we are coached to do and execute well we will
allow them to make it a ballgame because that is what we have been known
for. So, that is one thing we
have been stressing and preaching to our kids that we can’t do that,” he
said.
Published 11/25/20
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Shelby
With Very High Expectations
Shelby was outright champion of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last
year and they return a lot of that roster this year, so expectations are
high for this coming season too.
Coach Nathon Loney says they have shown some good things in the
preseason so far even though they have not had their full roster.
“So far we have had a very good first few weeks of practice.
We had a scrimmage Saturday with Crestview, definitely wasn’t a
scrimmage we wanted, but with the times right now, we are kind of trying to
stay close to home and do what we can, so we scrimmaged Crestview and it
went very well. Saw a lot of
very good things on Saturday. The
first two quarters we played pretty well.
The first two quarters combined we put up 45 points, so it was very
nice to see the scoring like it was. Like
I said, we played very well. After
that I played a lot of young kids and got some younger kids some varsity
experience. We don’t have our
football guys back in full force right now, so they didn’t play a whole
lot on Saturday. Cody Lantz is
still getting his feel under him and Marshall Shepherd and Andre Hill, so we
are still getting them back in the flow of things.
Basically, we just played our guys that have been working out most of
the preseason here and we have seen a lot of good things out of them,”
said Loney.
Swankonsports.com has learned that the State of Ohio is unlikely to
cancel or delay the basketball season, which starts for Shelby on November
27 at Madison, but instead will allow that to be a local decision.
There is will be a 10 PM curfew, so all games need to be finished by
that time.
Loney has been telling his players to live for today.
“Everything is so different right now.
You are basically living on a day to day basis.
You never know what is going to come tomorrow.
So, that is one thing that we keep preaching to our kids is that
tomorrow is not promised. With
the way this stuff is at any point and time you can get yanked out of school
and pulled through contact tracing. At
any point in time you have to live each day like it is you last day of
practice and you never know what tomorrow is going to promise you,” he
said.
Shelby was (18-6) last year and lost to Norwalk in the division II
district semifinal.
Loney predicts they will have the two best players in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference this year and they are going to be bigger and stronger
than ever before. “I have very
high expectations with our boys as they do also.
We return T.J. Pugh and Cody Lantz, arguably the two top two players
in the “MOAC” and on top of the that we have Jeremy Holloway coming
back. Jeremy had a very nice off
season. Jeremy has grown quite a
bit and is standing at 6”6” right now, so he has grown two inches since
last year. All of our kids have
put on some nice weight in the weight room.
I preached last year that I was a very big believer in the weight
room, but we kind of took it to the next level this year,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I collaborated with our strength coach and
he has done a great job of working with our kids.
I truly believe our kids our twice as big and strong as they was last
year and that is going to make a huge difference on the basketball floor for
us. T.J. put on some very nice
weight also, so we have some nice strong kids for a very good basketball
season coming up. We have some
nice young guys coming in. We
have a 6’5 freshman that has shown some nice minutes for us already as the
season is very young here and Andre Hill, Marshall Shepherd and Grant Hiatt
has shown some very promising things for us, so we are looking forward to a
very big season this year.”
Published 11/18/20
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Shelby
Opens With Margaretta
It’s a pair of defending conference champions on Saturday night as
Shelby opens the girls’ basketball season at Margaretta in non-conference
play.
Shelby won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last season, while the
Lady Bears won the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Lady Whippets coach Natalie Lantz says the COVID-10 pandemic has
already effected a lot of teams and their preparation for the season and it
will affect them too. They have
to be ready to deal with it. “It
has effected a lot of teams. Margaretta
has been quarantined for a couple of weeks, their whole team, so they have
missed out on some scrimmages, we have missed out on some scrimmages that
have gotten cancelled due to teams being quarantined or a positive test on
their team. It is likely going
to happen, whether it is this week or next or throughout the season, that we
will be missing players or we will be quarantined at some point. I
think it is just a matter of time. I
think it is important this year that we have to be flexible and work hard
and prepare our kids the best possible way for any possible scenario,”
said Lantz.
Shelby (22-2) a year ago, losing to Willard is the division II
district tournament, has talent that is returning.
Lantz says the key is improving every day.
“The way I look at it is are we improving scrimmage to scrimmage or
day to day and I feel like we have. I’m
seeing some good things and I’m seeing some things that we still need to
work on. There are a lot of
little things that we need to be able to do right and do very well in order
to be successful this year. We
have some talent,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We
have some speed, but we also need to make sure we are doing the little
things whether it is boxing out, making sure we are getting some stops on
defense, pushing the ball, making smart passes, taking the best shot instead
of taking the okay shot. So, a
lot of these things will come together and they are going to impact the game
greatly. The better we do on our
end, the better our team will do when it comes to outcomes.”
Margaretta (24-2) lost in the regional semifinal last year in
division III and Lantz says they are going to be very good again.
“Eric and Ray are great coaches and they really get the most out of
all of their players and their team. They
play hard and they are extremely aggressive on both ends of the court, so
that is what we are preparing for. They
don’t just rebuild, they reload every year.
They have just a really great program, so we have to prepare our kids
the best we can to be ready for that. If
we play our best and they play their best, it’s going to be one heck of a
ballgame,” she said.
Published 11/17/20
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Shelby
Wants Another Title
Shelby is entering its third girls’ basketball season in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference and they have yet to lose a conference in
winning two outright conference titles.
Their goal is to win a third.
Of course, like everyone else they are dealing with the COVID-19
pandemic, which as you know began at the very tail end of the basketball
season last March. I know, it
seems we have been struggling with this since the days of politicians in
powdered wigs, but it has only been eight months.
Lady Whippets coach Natalie Lantz says they are just trying to have a
good time getting better as players because that is what they always do. “All
we can do is get in there and coach and have fun with the kids and try and
follow the rules to the best of our ability.
We are just thankful right now that we are able to get in the gym and
are able to play,” she said.
The current schedule says Shelby is to open its season at home
November 20 against Madison and then travel to Margaretta on November 21 to
face the Lady Bears, defending champions in the Bay Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference.
Lantz says they are improving as a team during this preseason.
“We are making progress. We
are making some adjustments again this year according to the players that we
have. Really excited with the energy and the intensity that they have
brought. They are smart kids,
they work hard, they play well together.
I saw a pretty big improvement from first scrimmage to our charity
game that we had (Tuesday) night against St. Paul, so that is always good
from a Saturday to a Tuesday with how much we adjusted,” she told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I was really excited about that.
The girls are catching on, they are still learning.
We have a lot of work to do on rotations and boxing out, we are
small, so we have to do all of the little things right and do them very well
in order to get the wins that we want to this year.”
Shelby has been forecasted by many as the favorite for the conference
title again and Lantz says that is where they want to be.
“I like that because these girls are working really hard.
They all have the same goal, the same passion, and they want to bring
home another great season, another championship and push further in the
postseason tournament, God willing we can get there.
I like what they bring into practice everyday and the way they are
working and retaining and listening to all of us coaches and to their
teammates it is helping us progress,” said Lantz.
Published 11/12/20
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Shelby
Hosts Explosive Van Wert
Undefeated Shelby is at home for Van Wert, of the Western Buckeye
League, in a division IV regional final on Saturday night at Skiles Field.
It’s the fourth time in 126 years of Shelby football that the
Whippets have played in a regional final.
Their only win a regional final came in 2017 when they beat Bellevue.
That team was led by current University of Virginia quarterback
Brennen Armstrong.
Last week, the Whippets avenged a loss in the playoffs last year by
beating Clyde (28-14) in a regional semifinal.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they played very well on both sides of the
ball. “I thought our kids did
a great job of stepping up to the challenge in playing a program like Clyde,
who is extremely well coached and well disciplined and extremely physical
and extremely battle tested playing in the conference they play in.
I thought our kids did a great job stepping up.
Offensively, we came out and executed really well, scored 21 points
in the first half. I thought the
score right out of halftime was big to get it up to 28.
Then our defense did what they needed to and played really well.
Our defensive line did a great job establishing a new line of
scrimmage and controlling their run game and our linebackers helped with
that too. To hold them to 67
yards rushing, I thought that was a really good job by our defense.
Our db’s made just enough plays to hold them in check.
Our D-line got pressure. Offense
and defense, I thought we played really well against a very good team,”
said Mahaney.
Van Wert (8-1) beat Sandusky Bay Conference champion Bellevue (41-22)
last week in a semifinal play. The
Cougars made a lot of big plays and were aided by four Redmen turnovers in
the game.
Mahaney describes the Cougars are battled tested.
“I think Van Wert is another really well coached team.
They are also extremely battle tested.
They are coming in at 8-1. Their
conference is just as good as the “SBC” Lake if not better playing
Wapakoneta, St. Mary’s Memorial, Kenton and Ottawa-Glandorf, it is a
really tough conference. They
have a quarterback that is really, really good, the best player we have
played all year, there is no doubt about that.
He has 46 total touchdowns, 28 in the air, 18 on the ground.
He can make every throw on the field and then he can run around and
make a bunch of plays with his legs,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday night, “They do a great job offensively of finding numbers.
If you are going to take away the quick screens, they will beat you
over the top. If you unload the
box, they have a quarterback that can run it.
Defensively, they fly around and get to the football.
There is a reason they are playing in the regional finals and is
because they are an extremely good football team.”
Van Wert quarterback Owen Treece has passed for over 200 yards in
eight of his nine games this season.
Mahaney says they respect Van Wert and the things they can do, but
they are a very good team too. “I
have talked to our kids all week from Monday up to this point that we have
to go out and play four quarters, 48 minutes, and play Shelby Whippet
football. There is a reason we
are in the regional finals and we have to make sure we don’t beat
ourselves. We just have to go
execute and stick to our game plan and do they things that we do well.
We don’t need to play out of body.
No one needs to go out there and be a superhero on Saturday night,
everyone needs to collectively do their job.
The good thing is we are playing at home, so we will have some
familiarity and we will be able to get into our normal routine, our pregame
meal, our pregame walkthrough, going over the Skiles on the bus.
Everything is something we are used to and this is our eighth game at
home and we have got the routine of this and obviously we are not taking a
long bus trip. I think playing
at home is really going to help us out,” said Mahaney.
Published 11/06/20
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Shelby With Playoff Rematch With Clyde
Shelby and Clyde have arrived at the same station they did last year,
the division IV regional semifinals, Clyde rallied to win the game last year
and eventually the state title. The
Whippets hope for a different result Saturday night when they host the
Fliers at Skiles Field.
In a game that was over early, Shelby (8-0), #2 in the
Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division,
pounded Oberlin Firelands (49-26) last Saturday in a quarterfinal game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says their play in the second quarter on both
sides of the ball led them to success. “I
thought our kids did a great job of coming out and playing Shelby Whippet
football for four quarters, 48 minutes, every play.
Defensively, we let them have a big play at the very beginning, but
offensively we answered, and then we got things rolling defensively.
It was 14-10 at the end of the first quarter and then in the second
quarter we played some of the best football we have played all year
offensively and defensively, there were a bunch of stops, and we get a pick
six, and offensively to score. Do
a quick two minute drill right before half.
I was proud of our kids to come out in the second half and kind of
pound the ball in the third quarter and for Owen (Fisher) to break the
career rushing record. It was a
really good night for Shelby football. It’s
an exciting time and we are excited that we get to keep playing,” said
Mahaney.
Clyde (6-3) scored with about a minute to play to Huron (28-21) last
week to advance in the football tournament.
Mahaney says the Fliers have a winning culture.
“It starts with coach (Ryan) Carter, who is one of the best coaches
in the State of Ohio, there is no doubt about that, and you can just tell by
watching them on film how well they are coached and how disciplined they are
as a football team. The things
they do offensively by scanning the field, using tempo, and out formation
you to death. They also have a
culture of toughness, there is no doubt about that,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Clyde is just a tough, physical
football team that is going to play the whole game no matter what the score
is, whether they are up at halftime or down at halftime, they are going to
play the game all of the way through. You
see the culture and you just want to emulate that in you own program because
of the way their kids play. Offensively
and defensively they are just a really good football team.”
Clyde is first in the “SBC” Lake in total offense and Mahaney
says that is because they can run and pass equally well.
“They are really well balanced.
I think they are 60/40 run, but that is the sign of a good offense
when they need to run the ball they can.
Their quarterback is a really good athlete and they have receivers
our wide that can make plays. Their
offensive line is physical and they do a great job.
They do a great job of taking what the defense gives them getting to
the line, scanning, and then seeing what they want to do and using tempo to
help with that too. They do a
great job of doing that and formationing you and taking advantage of what
they can do whether it’s in the pass game or the run game, they are just
going to take what you are giving them,” he said.
Shelby led last year’s playoff game (21-7) at the half, but Clyde
outscored them four TD’s to none in the second half to win (35-21) and
advance.
Mahaney says they know more about Clyde this year, but their goal is
to play their game. “We have
talked about this being a new year and a new team.
Obviously, we saw them up close and personal last year.
We have seen that culture, the toughness, the physicality, that Clyde
plays with. I think that helps
us, we are not going to be surprised by it this year, but I think it’s a
new season with new kids on both sides.
For us it just trying to be who we are, to play our game the best
that we can and try and focus on us and focus on a great week of preparation
against a very, very, very good opponent.
To see them again it just speaks to how well coached they are year in
and year out, Clyde is always going to be at the top of this region.
We definitely have our hands full,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/29/20
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Shelby
Meets Run Oriented Firelands
Shelby, unbeaten on the season, plays host to Oberlin Firelands in a
division IV regional quarterfinal at Skiles Field on Saturday night.
Leading only (13-10) at the half and (19-13) in the fourth quarter,
the Whippets got a defensive touchdown and pulled away down the stretch to
beat Rossford (32-13) last Saturday in a second round game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says the Whippets (7-0), #2 in the
Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, were
sloppy in the first half, but then put things together.
“Credit to Rossford they are a really good football team.
They have two scholarship kids on their football team, a really big
lineman, and a really, really good receiver, who is the best athlete we have
seen. So, they are a really good
football team, well coached. We
came out pretty sloppy offensively. We
had five possessions in the first half, three turnovers and two touchdowns,
so it was kind of ourselves beating ourselves, so we have to do better,
clean that up, going into this week. The
good thing is the way we have been playing well at the end of the season we
really haven’t had to play a game in the second half, especially into the
fourth quarter, so for us to handle a little adversity and be battle tested
down the stretch is a good thing for us and hopefully it will help us down
the road here,” said Mahaney.
Shelby has gotten Marek Albert, one of the best defensive linemen in
the area, back from a broken collarbone and Mahaney says he is a difference
maker. “Marek played his butt
off, there is no doubt about that. You
could see it from the first snap all of the way to the end.
He was able to get into the backfield and wreak havoc and keep their
quarterback under pressure all night. The
biggest play of the game when we got a strip sack in the end zone and were
able to recover it and go up two scores and kind of put the game away.
Marek blows up two offensive linemen and a back and frees up Nate
Zehner coming on the backside and he strips him and Caleb Baker falls on it.
That is the strength and depth of our line.
Marek is really going to help us going forward.
He is a team player and captain and he is somebody we are really
happy to have back,” he said.
Firelands (7-1) rallied to beat Napoleon (21-20) in its second round
game last week. They have three
times scored more than 50 points this year and have four shoutouts to their
credit. Their only loss comes
(40-14) to unbeaten LaGrange Keystone.
Mahaney says they are good on both sides of the ball.
“They are a really good football team.
At this point in the regional quarterfinals it is going to be really
good teams form here on out, we know that, and we are excited for the
opportunity. Offensively, they
have some really good receivers and a good quarterback, good running back, a
good offensive line. They run
the ball about 75 percent of the time, so they are going to challenge us
that way. They just have some
really good football players, they are well coached,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Defensively, they are really good as well.
They have some really good defensive linemen that fire off and get
after the football, their linebackers are aggressive and their db’s cover
and lock down receivers. This is
where the normal playoffs would start and this is exactly what this type of
game this is. We are 7-0 and
they are 7-1, so it’s going to be a really good football game at Skiles
Field on Saturday night.”
Against a running team like Firelands, Mahaney says it is going to be
important for their defense to get off the field and get the ball back to
their explosive offense. “It
is going to be a challenge for our defense.
Our defense has done a great job in my opinion week in and week out
adjusting to different schemes, whether we play Lucas or Ontario or River
Valley or Rossford last week, run versus pass heavy teams.
We have done a great job of adjusting what we do up front and on the
back end as well. So, it’s
another challenge for us this week against a team that wants to run the
ball, we haven’t seen that since Lucas.
This will be a good week for us, a good challenge.
Our kids are excited to still be playing with all the craziness and
especially to still be playing in the playoffs,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/20/20
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Shelby
Hosts High Scoring Rossford
Unbeaten Shelby makes its playoff debut on Saturday night when they
host Rossford in a second round game in division IV at Skiles Field.
The Whippets (6-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll
in the large school division, are the second seed in the region and received
a bye in the first round.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they were able to polish some things and
maybe more importantly continue to get healthy.
“I thought it went pretty well.
Our big challenge as a coaching staff was we wanted to find ways to
mentally push our kids to get better. We
have done a good job all year of getting better, so we wanted to continue to
do that. Our kids did a good job
of responding to what we asked them to do.
Sometimes lost in the grind of the season, you are so worried about
the opponent and what they do, you kind of lose time or lose track of
working on things that you need to work on.
Some things with individual position groups and different things that
you can work on and we were able to do that. The
big thing for us to is we were able to rest up and get healthy, get
everybody back, and we are excited to start the playoffs this week,” said
Mahaney.
Rossford beat Wooster Triway (44-34) in a seesaw first round game
last Saturday.
Mahaney says they have a lot of weapons on offense.
“I think Rossford is a really, really good football team.
They have a quarterback that is a sophomore that has a super strong
arm and makes a lot of throws. We
have seen him throw it 55 yards in the air.
They have two really good outside receivers, a really big offensive
line. Their one receiver last
week had eight catches for 260 yards and five touchdowns in a first round
playoff game. So, we have go, to
be ready for him, he is a good football player,” said Mahaney.
On the defensive side of the ball, Mahaney says the Bulldogs have the
best defensive line he has seen all year.
“Defensively, they are big up front, in my option probably the best
D-line we have played all year, so we are going to have our hands full up
front. They like to stunt and
blitz as well, so it’s going to be a challenge for us trusting our gaps,
trusting our responsibilities and keeping our eyes up.
They play man coverage and challenge your receivers a lot, so we have
to be able to win on the outside. Like
I said, the are a really good football team and I think Saturday will be a
really good football game,” he said.
Rossford has shown the ability put up some points and score quickly
with that passing attack and Mahaney says that puts stress on them on both
sides of the ball. “When you
play a really strong offense obviously this first thing you want to do is
get your defense prepared to play as well as they can.
That is something we have been lucky to do each week this six week
season we have done a good job defensively kind of limiting what an offense
wants to do and try to force them to do something else.
It will be a good challenge for us this week.
It’s a really high scoring offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday night, “It is going to put pressure on our offense.
They are such a good offensive football team we have to make sure
when we have a chance to score, we do it.
Make sure we take care of our possessions and don’t give them a
short field or don’t give them too many possessions.
We have to do everything we can offensively to go out there and
execute and play together and do what we need to do.”
Published 10/15/20
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Saturday
Shelby
Faces Excellent Passing Game
Shelby leads River Valley and Ontario by a game in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference standings heading into week seven, the last week before
the non-postseason playoffs, and the Whippets host River Valley on Friday
night.
A win and it’s an outright conference title for Shelby, right?
Well, maybe or maybe not. Like
every conference we cover except for the Sandusky Bay Conference there is
another game to be played after the playoffs it that is possible.
Swankonsports.com has been told that if Shelby leads by two games
after Friday it’s over, that means the Whippets win and Pleasant beats
Ontario. If not, the conference
wants those games played if at all possible.
Last week, Shelby (5-0,4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football
coaches poll in the large school division, beat Lucas (37-7) and coach
Robert Mahaney says after the first drive their defense was able to settle
in against that double wing, double tight offense.
“They came out and they kind of did their thing on offense and
drove the field on us and got seven points up on the board, so it was 7-7,
but I think after that first drive our defense kind of settled in and kind
of picked up on their keys and saw what they needed to see.
They need to see that live going against that offense, you need to
see it live before you get it down pat and trust your keys.
We held them to like three first downs after that first drive.
It was a great atmosphere. Lucas
is well coached and a really good football team.
They are extremely physical, which is good for us to see in week five
and prepare us for conference championship game this Friday,” said Mahaney.
River Valley (4-1,4-1) smoked Marion Harding (41-7) last week in an
“MOAC” game.
The Vikings Cayden Shidone leads the conference in passing yards with
1,190 and TD’s with 13. Mahaney
says that offense presents some challenges to them.
“They have a really good quarterback.
He is only a sophomore. He
does a really good job of throwing the ball down the field.
He has an extremely strong arm, so they take advantage of that in two
ways. One, they throw quick
screens, they get the ball on that perimeter really fast because he can
throw it out there. Secondly, he
is able to stretch the field vertically.
He is able to make some throws down the field that we really
haven’t seen yet this year, so he is really going to stretch us that way.
They also have some really good receivers, big, tall, long receivers
that make good plays for them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday,
“The good thing about their quarterback is he is not gun shy either.
He is willing to take some shots down the field and squeeze in some
balls and try and take advantage of the one on one opportunities.
Really, defensively we have our hands full.
It is the exact opposite of what we saw last week.
So, we have to make the adjustment and get ready for this week.”
On defense, Mahaney says the River Valley is very athletic and will
show them a lot of different fronts. “You
can tell they are well coached and they have some really good players.
Copper Graham and Carson Klingel are two kids from last year that are
back this year and doing really well for them.
As a whole they are just really athletic and strong kids that fly
around and get to the football. It
is going to put some stress on us offensively, so we are going to have
adjust to that. They have some
athletic guys, so they can play some different fronts, so we have to make
sure we know our assignments up front. When
we do well offensively it is because our line plays well and we know what we
are doing an execute to the best of our abilities,” said Mahaney.
Shelby got the second seed in division IV, region 14 and will get a
bye in the first round before playing either Wooster Triway or Rossford.
There is an option to play a regular season game next week, but
Mahaney says they want to take the week off.
“We have a lot of bumps and bruises and actually some pretty good
injuries. We are going to take
that bye week to try and get as healthy as possible.
We have River Valley and we have told our kids to leave it all out
there on the field and then we have two weeks before the next game to really
recover, rest and get ready for it. That
is the good thing about having a good season and I don’t think we need to
force any games at this point. We
will finish the season off against River Valley and get ready for the
playoffs and take week to get healthy,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/02/20
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Shelby
Has to Attack
High school football fans have circled Friday’s date on their
schedules since before the revised season began figuring it to be an
outstanding matchup and that is exactly what we have on our hands as Shelby
hosts Lucas on Friday night.
Both are unbeaten through four games.
The Whippets (4-0,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches
poll in the large school division, are in first place by themselves in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference standings and the Cubs have already beaten
three “MOAC” teams in Clear Fork (18-15), Ontario (28-21) and Marion
Pleasant (35-21) over the first four weeks.
Last week, the Whippets whipped Galion (42-6) as Marshall Shepherd
threw four TD passes and Shelby held an potentially explosive Galion offense
to just over 100 yards of total offense.
Galion’s lone score came late in the game.
Coach Robert Mahaney was pleased with their execution on both sides
of the ball for the most part. “I
thought we did a great job against Galion.
We came out fast and kind established the way we want to play
offensively. Made some big plays
in the pass game and also ran the ball really well.
We probably could have been more efficient in the running game, but
overall it was a good day offensively. Defensively,
we held a really good Galion offense to 106 yards of offense.
We are pretty proud of that. We
just have to continue to get better defensively with some of the injuries
that we have had. This week is
going to be a huge test for us and we have to be ready for this week,” he
said.
Owen Fisher ran for 714 yards in game against Pleasant three weeks
ago, establishing a school record.
Lucas (4-0), #1 in our small school poll, blasted Troy Christian
(42-0) last week.
For the few football fans that don’t already know, Lucas runs the
double wing, double tight offense.
Mahaney says their goal is to get as many blockers are possible to
the point of attack and then the back finds his way through that maze of
bodies. “The first thing is
coach (Scott) Spitler does such a good job of getting that team ready to
play and focusing in on their game plan and the way they are going to run
their offense. They do a great
with that. Obviously, he has
built a great program at Lucas. A
lot of teams in the area were trying to get to the program he has built
because how long he has been there and the job he has done.
Offensively, with what they want to do in running the ball and trying
to find as many different ways to run power and get as many lead blockers as
they can to attack you,” he told Swankonspots.com on Wednesday, “It’s
definitely going to be a big challenge for us.
It is something we haven’t seen.
You add in how good their running backs are with Sauder and Barrett.
They are both really good running backs.
Their quarterback does a good job.
Their offensive line is big and aggressive and do a great job of
creating a new line of scrimmage.”
If you watch Lucas play it can be very difficult for officials to
tell if the play is over or not and many times a Cub running back will
squirt out of the back of the mass of humanity and race to the end zone.
Mahaney says they want to be aggressive and get that ball carrier to
the ground. “Playing against
that offense at Mapleton when Plymouth ran it, they try and create that big
scrum and the running back keeps his legs moving and they can break out of
that pile and make big plays out of it.
It’s a fine line because you have to make sure they are on the
ground and you want your kids to play to the whistle, but you also don’t
want the refs to not extend plays too long just because they are in a big
pile. You want your kids to play
hard and fast and through the whistle, but you also want to make sure kids
are protected. We are out here
to protect the kids. It is an
interesting thing when they go into that big scrum.
We have to do whatever we can to get them down,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/24/20
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“MOAC”
Leader Shelby Challenges Galion
With a one game lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference and two
conference games to play before the playoffs, you want to say if the Shelby
Whippets win at Galion on Friday night they secure no less than a share of
the title, but wait a second it’s not that easy.
Trying to figure out this football season is more difficult then
being handed a rubik’s cube, blindfolded, and then being expected to solve
the puzzle is less than 60 seconds.
It is not a simple answer because Shelby does not play Clear Fork
this season. Or maybe they
don’t. The teams would have to
option to play after their playoffs runs are over, well, if they want too.
Shelby (3-0,3-0) belted Marion Harding (49-17) last week in a
conference game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says the playes did what was expected of them.
“I thought our kids did a great job sticking to the game plan.
Executing for four quarters, 48 minutes, every play, and that’s
what they ask them to do. We
have talked about all year as a football team about taking a step from good
to great. That is kind of what
we ask them to do every single week. Great
teams come out and they play hard and execute every week and that is what we
need to continue to do as we get deeper into “MOAC” play,” said
Mahaney.
Galion (2-1,2-1) rallied from 10 points down in the fourth quarter to
beat Clear Fork (20-17) in double overtime last week.
Mahaney says they are an explosive team with great athletes.
“They are a really good football team.
Coach (Matt) Dick does a great job over there getting his kids fired
up and scheme wise they are very good as well.
Their quarterback (Wilson) Frankhouse is really good and does a great
job extending plays being able to see the field downfield, scrambling, and
does a good job with his legs as well. Hanif
Donaldson is probably one of the top two, three athletes in the “MOAC”
if not the most athletic kid in the “MOAC.”
He’s a really good football player that we have to be able to slow
down to the best of our ability,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday,
“He is a great athlete with extreme speed, so we have to be ready for
that. They have those two guys
leading their offense. Defensively,
they fly around like their hair is on fire and get to the football and do a
really good job of tackling. So,
we have our work cut out this week.”
Mahaney says when it comes to Frankhouse, they do not want to let him
get outside of the pocket because when he does, he is really dangerous.
“He is really good outside of the pocket.
They do a good job of designing plays to get him outside of the
pocket and also when plays breakdown he gets outside of the pocket and makes
big plays with legs and his arm. We
have to do everything within our power to keep him inside the pocket and try
to keep him a little more uncomfortable in there.
He’s a great football player, so we know he is going to make plays.
We just have to try and contain him and try and keep plays in front
of us. Make them snap the ball
as many times as we can. If we
keep him inside, we feel we have a shot to slow him down, but they are a
really good offense,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/15/20
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Shelby Can do it a lot of Ways
Shelby, the “MOAC” co-leader, finds itself at home on Friday night, to entertain the Marion Harding Presidents in a conference game.
Last week, they put up 41 points in the first half, and went on to outscore Marion Pleasant (54-26) to secure their second win in as many tries this season.
Owen Fisher established a school record 412 yards rushing and scored seven touchdowns for the Whippets.
Coach Robert Mahaney says it was a team effort. “The first quarter was kind of a track meet. It was 21-13, we were up, and then we were able to pull away, our defense was able to buckle down and made plays the rest of the game to kind of keep them in check. Pleasant is a really good football team. Austin Shaffer is one of the best players in our conference, there is no doubt about that. We knew they were going to be able to find ways to score. We just had to kind of buckle down and do our job defensively. Then offensively, we were able to get Owen going to have a night like I have never seen before, 14 carries for 412 yards. Those are just stats that sound like you are playing a video game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “He did a great job, but really our offensive line did a great job as well and our receivers down field blocked. Everybody kind of bought in and sacrificed. The receivers weren’t getting the ball, but man they were blocking their butts off. It is something as a coach you can be proud of. The kids were getting excited. Hopefully, it can kind of propel us into this week.”
Now, if defenses want to stack the box, Mahaney says they can throw it too like they did against Ontario week one when Marshall Shepherd threw for more than 230 yards. “I think Ontario did that week one and that was why we were able to throw the ball and be very successful in the pass game. I think we can do that if that is what teams are going to do if they are going to try and load the box and put us in bad situations I think we can still get creative and try to find ways to get the ball to Owen. He is a really good receiver out of the backfield. We also have very good receivers. Our starting receivers we feel very confident with, so if teams are going to load in, we trust our quarterback Marshall (Shepherd) to make the decisions that he needs to. I don’t think we are ever going to have to pound our head against the wall. We are never going to be a team that is going to call run after run. We are going to try and take what the defense gives us. If they loosen up we can find ways to run it and if they tighten up we will find ways to throw it,” said Mahaney.
Marion Harding (0-2,0-2) lost to Galion (30-6) last week in a conference game.
Mahaney says they are dangerous if they can clean up their turnovers. “They are well coached. I think coach (Jarrod) Slater does a really nice job. I think they are big, athletic, physical. If you go back and watch the film, they are really turnover prone offensively, but really it’s a lot of bad breaks. A lot of balls that bounce off receivers hands and go to the defense, a lot of bad breaks. If they get rid of those breaks they are a really good football team and that’s the team we have to prepare for, a team that is going to execute, so we have to be ready defensively to do our job and slow them down. If you look at the Pleasant film, they are explosive and make plays when they take care of the football. Defensively, they do a good job of getting to the football. We have to continue to execute, find ways to do things with the ball, block, and hopefully if we can do those things it will be a good Friday for us,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/10/20
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Shelby Expects Battle from Pleasant
Shelby, the defending champion in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, is on the road at Marion Pleasant in a conference game on Friday night.
Both won their “MOAC” openers last week.
Shelby scored three times in the first quarter and went on to beat Ontario (28-14) last Saturday.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they need to better at taking advantage of their chances. “I thought we did a good job coming out and playing with some excitement and building a lead and playing well defensively and offensively we executed really well. Then after those three scores, we had three other times we inside the five yard line and didn’t score. We had two turnovers and a turnover on downs. Those are things we definitely have to clean up, especially as we get really to play a really, really good Marion Pleasant team,” he said.
Marshall Shepherd threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns last week against Ontario.
Mahaney has an interesting observation on the improvement of teams this season due to the lack of scrimmages and other preseason work. “Normally when you have scrimmages, you usually have three scrimmages and we only had one and then played our first game, I think there is going to be growth anytime you go against somebody else. It’s just going to be a little bit different in my mind because after scrimmages in the summer you are able to focus just on yourself and focus on the mistakes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday. “It’s going to be a little bit different this year as the same time you are learning it is game week, game preparation, and all of that kind of stuff. So, you are still going to see a lot of growth. I think teams are going to look way different from week one to week six, but I think it is going to take time.”
Pleasant rallied to beat Marion Harding (42-28) last week. They ran for almost 400 yards in the process. Quarterback Austin Shaffer ran for 209 yards and four scores himself.
Mahaney says they are explosive, but the Spartans can drive the ball too. “They are just extremely well coached, they are physical, their quarterback Austin Shaffer, an All-Ohio quarterback, he’s a great football player, he gets everything done for them, the running back is physical. They ran for 390 yards last week against Marion Harding. They are explosive, but they are also disciplined and are able to get four or five yards a pop and move the ball down the field. Their defense flies around like their hair is on fire and gets to the football. They are a really, really good football team. Coach (Aaron) Cook does a great job, so we have to be ready for a battle on Friday night,” said Mahaney.
Pleasant has the ability to score quickly and make big plays. Mahaney says they must tackle well. “Tackling is a very big fundamental in football and it’s going to be huge for us on Friday night. The Shaffer kid at quarterback, and the running back, are both guys that like to bounce off tacklers. If we get a chance to stop them at the line of scrimmage or right around there, we have to be able to make that tackle. That is something that we preach to our kids all of the time, but especially this week. We have to wrap up and make a sure tackle,” he said.
Published 9/04/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comDefending “MOAC” Champ Shelby Faces Athletic Ontario
Shelby wants to make it two for two. Two conference football titles in as many years in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. That task begins Friday night at home at W.W. Skiles Filed against the Ontario Warriors.
Second year coach Robert Mahaney thinks the Whippets are rounding into shape. “It’s going to be here no matter what. It’s been weird off season, but I think our kids have done a great job of working hard and putting themselves in position. We obviously would have liked to have had more scrimmages. We scrimmaged Norwalk this past Friday, which is obviously a good football team, and coach (Todd) Fox does a great job with his guys up there. It showed us some things that we need to work on and hopefully we can do that and try and make a big leap from our scrimmage to our first game against a well coached, really good, Ontario football team,” said Mahaney.
Mahaney believes having that scrimmage last Friday against Norwalk was very important. “It was something that we needed as a football team. To go through all of July and August without going against somebody else without the competition, without getting the blood flowing a little bit, going against yourself, it’s just not the same. So, I think going against somebody else was a huge advantage for us in getting us ready for the season,” he said.
Ontario is in the second year of the Chris Miller era. Last season, Shelby won pretty easy (42-7) at Ontario, but this year Mahaney says the Warriors have a lot of weapons. “They make a lot of big plays. We saw their scrimmage film against Crestview and they made a lot of plays over the top. They have a lot of speed and some really good athletes and they are really well coached. They do a lot of good things on offense and defense. They tackle well. Like I said, they have playmakers all over the field on offense. So, we have to be ready to play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They are going to spread us out and try and get the ball to their athletes in space. We have to be ready to tackle in space and we have to make sure we keep everything in front of us. They have a lot of speed outside, so we have to make sure we keep them in front of us. Offensively, we have to execute. That is something we struggled with against Norwalk. They are a good defense too, so we have to put ourselves in position to execute and sustain long drives and make some big plays.”
Shelby and Ontario are maybe five to 10 miles from each other and Mahaney says this should develop into a pretty good rivalry, it already has in basketball. “I think geographically it makes a lot of sense. We have talked to our kids about that a lot. They were part of the “NOL” for a little bit. Obviously, Galion and Shelby have a lot of history too. I think Ontario with where we are at right now, both in Richland County, I think it makes a lot of sense to be a rivalry as well,” he said.
Published 8/25/20
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Shelby Still Working Out the Kinks
Shelby won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference football title last season and lost to eventual state champion Clyde in the second round of the division IV playoffs.
They expect to be pretty good again this season. Well, if there is a season that is.
We find out for sure on, hopefully, on Tuesday.
Whippets coach Robert Mahaney says they keep waiting and hopefully Tuesday is the day. “We have waited. It seems like every week he is going to make an announcement Tuesday or Thursday, Richland County going back and forth, back and forth, and he keeps wanting to wait till gets closer. It’s Tuesday and people play soccer games on Friday. I mean he really waited until the last second. We have heard he is going to have good news, have some return to play protocols that we are supposed to follow. They have sent out an email to AD’s about certain things. Hopefully, we get a good announcement on Tuesday. The work we have put in since June 1 we get to capitalize on that next Friday against Ontario,” said Mahaney.
The Whippets are scheduled to open played in the “MOAC” next Friday at home against the rival Ontario Warriors.
Now, if the season starts next week, the next question that begs is, what happens if a player is infected with COVID-19? So, far the answer to that question have been a two week quarantine. Mahaney says during the season that could mean two forfeits. “That is definitely not an ideal situation. That is not what you want. I think the good things about it, and maybe was part of the decision, is even if you have to take those two weeks off and forfeit you still have a chance to make the playoffs this season. At some point if we are playing games and we have to miss two games or whatever happens the chance for us to get to play any games this season with everything going on we will be excited about and something we have to be ready to do,” he said.
Shelby certainly has the talent to be very good again this season, but Mahaney say they have looked a little rusty and they need to iron things out. “I think we have a chance to be a really good football team, but we have a lot of things we have the shore up. We would have loved to have a couple of scrimmages. We should have two under our belt right now. We have had some inter-squad stuff, but we are still waiting to see how things go against another opponent. I think we are a little sloppy right now, we are not executing at our highest potential. I think going against each other for so long the kids get a little sloppy just in their play and how they are executing. So, hopefully once the season starts I think things will start to pick up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “To me if you watch that preview scrimmage teams are really trying to figure themselves out, especially getting used to the operations of the game. I think that is going to happen week one, even week two, so I think it is going to take teams a long time to get situated and I think you are going to see some really good football weeks three and four. That is when teams are going to really start clicking. Normally, you see the growth between week one and week two, but you are going to see it a lot later this season.”
Published 8/18/20
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Shelby Baseball Looking Good
It’s baseball season at Shelby and it could be a very good baseball season too for the Whippets, but only time will tell.
Coach Jon Amicone says he is very happy with the mental approach of his team during high school spring training. “I have been very pleased with our mental aspect of the game. When you are inside most of the time you can run through your bunt coverages and your first and third defense. We can kind of get on our board and work our cut system. I was very pleased taking what we learned on our board, going through our diagrams and working on our cuts and finally getting outside onto our field, I thought our kids did a really nice job of being where they were supposed to be. At this point, we still have those physical mistakes that we are working through. Some throwing errors and some fielding errors. There will become a time when we get outside more. Our mental aspect, I am very pleased with our focus,” said Amicone.
Shelby won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference in football and boys’ basketball. Amicone says this can be a very baseball season too if the players put team first. “It has a chance to be. I think we have to take in those same type of things that those teams did. Those teams really bought into the team concept. There were selfless players on each of those teams. If our kids buy in and take on the role of being selfless and putting that team in front of themselves we could put ourselves in a chance to win it all, but in the “MOAC” it’s so talented with Ontario, Clear Fork, Galion was a young team last year, and those Marion schools. First and foremost, we have to buy in to the team concept first and we do that we will give ourselves a chance,” he said.
This season has another week for preseason camp and Amicone says that will benefit all of the programs in the area. “I think the longer your get your guys and get them used to baseball whether they are coming from wrestling or basketball or swimming. If they are pitching getting their arm and their throwing progression to try and get their pitches up. Just seeing the baseball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We spend a lot of time with our guys when they get to us just tracking the baseball, just tracking bullpens. They stand there and get their foot down and their load on time. We spend a great deal of time just seeing it out of their hands. Baseball is a thing that use just have to do over and over and over again to try and perfect it. I think the longer kids have to work on those types of things the better overall product we will see on the field.”
Published 3/12/20
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Norwalk Rallies Past Shelby for Semifinal Win
Norwalk held high scoring Shelby to just 19 second half points and edged the Whippets (62-58) in a division II district semifinal at Mansfield Madison Middle School on Wednesday night.
The Truckers (18-7) will play Upper Sandusky (23-1) for the district title on Saturday afternoon at Madison.
Tailing by six at the half (39-33) Norwalk coach Steve Gray says they had to make some defensive adjustments. “I thought defensively we had to change some things up. In the first half we gave them too many open threes and they hit six of them. Some people we didn’t think could shoot it quite as well knocked some down, so we had to go out and guard them and I thought a pretty good job,” said Gray.
Norwalk took their first lead in the game since late in the first quarter when Garrett Chappin converted an old fashion three point play and the Truckers led (46-45) with 7:23 to play in the game and they never gave the lead back to Shelby once they secured it. However, the Whippets (18-6) didn’t go away and they never tailed by more than five the rest of way cutting the deficit to one three times in the games final five minutes, the last time at (59-58) with 1:10 left on a three by sophomore Andre Hill.
Shelby coach Nathon Loney thought they got quality looks in the second half, but just didn’t finish them. “The biggest thing was we didn’t finish layups. We got a lot of nice looks at the rim. I said Physicalness would be the difference maker in the game and it showed there in the second half. The first half we finished at the rim and we rebounded the basketball pretty well and in the second half they kicked our butts on the offensive and defensive boards. We had a lot of nice looks in the paint that we didn’t finish,” said Loney.
Any coach you discuss the Truckers with talks about their physical play and Gray says they like mixing it up. “We are big and strong and we don’t mind mixing it up a little bit at both ends of the floor,” he said.
Shelby got a rebound and had the ball with less than a minute to play and ran more than 30 seconds off the clock as the Truckers stayed in a zone. When the Whippets attacked Norwalk point guard Will Gehlhasusen made likely the biggest defensive play of the game when tipped the ball away from Shelby’s Johnny DeVito, won the scramble for the ball and got it to Chapin with 9.0 seconds left. Chapin spilt one of the two free throws and Norwalk led a (60-58) advantage.
Loney says his players did not execute what he was calling for them to do. “The plan was to stand there at half court because I knew they weren’t going to come out and guard us. We wanted to dribble down to about 15 seconds and I had one timeout and I was going to use that timeout. Johnny (DeVito) I think he was thinking of getting it in T.J’s (Pugh) hands there for a second and I was yelling, Johnny hold the ball we are going to get a timeout here. I hate to kick the kids when they are down, but we have to recognize mistakes,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I told them in the locker room that undisciplined plays throughout the game really hurt us. It’s a one point game there. We got a rebound with 50 seconds and we wanted that last look. An undisciplined play put of in a bad position there.”
Shelby had one last chance, but after rebounding Chapin’s miss and bringing the ball quickly down the floor in an attempt to find an open player they were whistled for an over and back violation. Chapin then converted two charity tosses for the final outcome.
There was a less of a hectic pace to the game in the second half and Loney says the Truckers handled their traps better, but they still got turnovers. “They were much better. We still got the turnovers we wanted, but when you don’t finish layups, you don’t see those. We had to win the turnover battle and I would say we probably won the turnover battle, but we didn’t convert into offense like we needed to,” he said.
Chapin had 18 points and 15 rebounds for Norwalk, Garrett Obringer added 14, backup post Ian Minor had 13 and Gehlhausen was huge for the Truckers with 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds from his point guard position.
“I thought Will Gehlhausen was unbelievable, something like 10 assists, eight rebounds. I told the kids for us to win Will had to be our MVP and (Wednesday) night he was. He doesn’t even like point guard. He is helping one of the young kids get better over the summer and he can go back to wing. He likes to catch and shoot,” said Gray.
Loney said earlier in the week that they would have to win the battle on the boards to advance and they did not, Norwalk won it 38-25 on Wednesday night. Gray says his kids are tough. “We just have tough kids and they compete. We talk about grinding it out. I thought (Wednesday) night we grinded it out, especially in the second half,” he said.
Norwalk again meets Upper Sandusky, on a 23 game winning streak, for the district title and Gray says they will need to be at the top of their game. “Winslow does a great job with them. Think about what he has accomplished with missing some kids. This is the first time I have seen Upper really. Their guards are strong, they are athletic, they are thick and guard like heck. We have to play a great game to win,” said Gray.
Published 3/05/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Must Rebound; Play Fast
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, takes on Norwalk, the runner-up in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, on Wednesday night in a division II district semifinal at Mansfield Madison Middle School.
The Whippets (18-5) walloped Clear Fork (87-67) in a sectional final at Willard on Friday night.
Coach Nathon Loney believes it was their best overall effort of the season. “I think it was probably the best game we have played this year honestly. In terms of putting together for full quarters and being consistent offensively and defensively, definitely it was the best all around game we have put together,” he said.
Norwalk (17-7) edged Huron (49-46) in their sectional final last week.
Shelby beat Norwalk (57-55) on December 10 in a non-conference game.
The Truckers played better the second half of the season and they have won nine of 10 coming into Wednesday night.
Loney says they are doing the same things, they are just doing them more consistently. “I’ll be totally honest there isn’t much difference than what there was before, they are just doing what they are capable of doing back then. When they played us at home that night, they didn’t do anything different then then they are now. I think now they are just way more consistent than what they were,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They showed glimpses of being really good there early in the season. They would have a down game here and there and we had some down games too, you know. I think they are way more consistent now. I think their kids have all figured out their roles and accepted their roles and embracing them.”
One of the strengths of the Truckers is they are a very physical team, according to Loney. “They are a very, very physical team. They are big also. They have a lot of very, very good size to them. The physicalness of their game is one of their strongpoints and something they like to use to their advantage and they do a very good job of that,” he said.
Shelby has some size too and Loney says one of the keys to a win is they have to compete on the boards with Norwalk and he says they need to make this an up tempo kind of game. “We have got to win the rebound battle. If we win that battle we are going to give ourselves a chance to win. Definitely playing our pace. We can’t let them slow us down. We still have to play our fast paced, up tempo game. We are going to look to get after it defensively. We are going to trap quite a bit like we did Friday night. Johnny DeVito did a very, very nice job for us Friday night pushing the ball in transition. That’s is also going to be a focal point of how much success we have on Friday night,” said Loney.
Published 3/04/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comDefense the Key for Shelby
Shelby locks horns with Willard in a division II district semifinal at Ashland High School on Thursday night.
The winner will play either Bellevue or Willard of a district championship on Saturday.
The Lady Whippets (22-1) beat Lexington (67-42) on Saturday night to earn a sectional title.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they played together and they played really good defense against Lexington. “I was really proud of the way the girls played great team ball. They were very aggressive attacking the basket. They stepped up their defense, especially against the two big players Stover and Coleman from Lexington. So, very proud of way they stepped up and got a good win,” she said.
Shelby won their second straight outright Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference championship this season. The Lady Flashes were runners-up in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Willard (19-4) overwhelmed Mansfield Senior (51-11) to win their sectional title last Saturday.
Lantz says Willard has all of the elements of a very good team. “There is a lot good about Willard. They have some very talented players. They are well coached. They have continued to improve throughout the season. They are a very strong defensive team. They have got good size, they are big on the boards. They hurt us on the boards the first time around. It is going to be an exciting game (Thursday) night,” said Lantz.
Shelby beat Willard (59-52) in double overtime at Shelby on December 17.
Lantz says it going to boil down to defense and who can make the tough shots. “I think in some ways we are similar. I think we both have some strengths and maybe weaknesses. They sure don’t have many. It is going to come down to strategy and playing a good defensive game and making sure we make each possession count on both ends of the court,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We both have the capability of playing up tempo and we both have the capability of working that half court game as well. Really, it’s going to be who plays the best defense and who does the little things the best and puts the ball in the bucket.”
Published 2/27/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Has to Be Physical With Clear Fork
Shelby, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference champion, takes on Clear Fork, a team out of their own league, on Friday night at Willard High School in a division II sectional final.
Shelby had won 17 of its first 20 games, but lost twice last week to Mansfield Senior (66-59) in double overtime on Tuesday and Lexington (71-53) on Friday night.
Coach Nathon Loney was disappointed in the lack of focus and effort against Lexington. “Friday, we didn’t play anywhere near our best basketball. Tuesday night I was very happy with our toughness against Senior High. We were a few execution plays away from winning that game against Senior High in regulation and a few execution plays in the overtime. If we make free throws we win that thing in regulation too. The kids took that one personal, took that one pretty hard. Friday, I think they just overlooked Lexington. I preached and preached and preached and they kept talking tournament, tournament, tournament,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I said fellows we still have one more game and it’s a big game and it is going to be great preparation for tournament play and we have take that one serious. We didn’t take it as serious as I hoped we would, but we have had three good days of practice here. The kids are locked in and focused. They know if they don’t bring their best basketball game they are capable of getting beat by Clear Fork. I went and watched Clear Fork (Tuesday) night and they played well.”
Clear Fork (9-14) had a 13 point lead after the first quarter and went on to pound Galion (72-52) in a semifinal matchup.
Loney says they hurt Galion on the glass and he says they must match the Colts physicality on Friday night. “The biggest think both times we played them was matching their size. We don’t have the size that matches with them well. The (Merritt) Burgholder kid and (Ethan) Delaney is big. They both rebound hard. That was one of their big keys to winning (Tuesday) night was I think early on n the first half against Galion I beat they scored 10 times off second or third shots just because of offensive rebounds. They had their way with Galion on the offensive boards and it resulted in points every time. Galion forced the into the shots they wanted them to shoot and then they didn’t rebound and they game them another look and another look sometimes and it was converted into scores pretty easily there. That is going to be the biggest key matching their size. They are very physical for their size and we are going to have to match that. That is going to be one of the keys if we want have success against them,” said Loney.
Shelby beat Clear Fork (59-51) on January 9 at Shelby and (76-68) on February 8 at Clear Fork. Two relatively close games considering the discrepancy in records.
As the higher seed, Loney would like to get off to a quick start, but he knows the Colts won’t go away. “I have been preaching all week about making a statement. I don’t think Clear Fork is going to crumble and roll over. They have some kids that are pretty good and they don’t want to be done. It is not going to be a fact of getting out to a 15 point lead early and they are going to crumble. If we get out 15 and get lazy, they will battle themselves right back in the game. Especially with Brennan South and Delaney, those two kids can score pretty well. They shot the ball very well (Tuesday) night. I think they made 12 or 13 threes as a team. When you shoot the ball that well you are capable of getting back in any game just by hitting some shots. This is a game we have to take personal and execute on all the little things, disciplined execution is what I call it,” said Loney.
Published 2/27/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Meets Lexington in Girls Sectional Final
It’s a battle between conference champions on Saturday night as Shelby faces Lexington in a division II sectional championship game at Monroeville High School.
Shelby, #2 in our final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title for the second year in a row. Lexington was the winner of the Ohio Cardinal Conference championship.
Coach Natalie Lantz says this was a special season for the Lady Whippets. “I am really pleased with how we have finished the season. 21-1 that is the best record in the regular season in Shelby girls’ basketball history. So, really excited with what these girls have accomplished. I think we have had a really good week of practice so far,” said Lantz.
Lexington (15-8) beat Clear Fork (38-33) in a semifinal game on Tuesday night.
In a meeting during the regular season, Shelby beat Lexington (46-14) way back on November 26.
However, Lantz says this a lot better Lady Lex team they will be facing on Saturday night. “Playing Lexington, they are a different team than when we played them in the beginning of the season. (Gabby) Stover is playing now. So, they are physical, they are athletic. They play a strong man defense. They might put a little bit of pressure. So, we just have top be prepared and play our ballgame,” she said.
Many of Lexington’s wins have been low scoring, sort of grind out wins. Lantz says this game needs to be at a quicker tempo. Plus, she believes the little things are going to be key. “They are a physical team. They play hard, they are good on the boards. Stover sees the floor really well. She is a good passer. It will be important for us to play our pace, play our tempo. In the half court set make good decisions,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “The little things will make a big impact on the game. Get back on defense, box out, releasing and getting the ball, getting after every loose ball, making sure we are in help side at the right time, moving when the ball is in the air rather than chasing. So, if we do a lot of little things on defense and turn around and convert offensively I think we will come out on top. If we are not doing the little things, it is going to be one heck of a battle.”
Published 2/20/20
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Shelby Has to be Tougher
Shelby closes its regular season on Friday night against another team from the Ohio Cardinal Conference as they are at Lexington to face the Minutemen.
On Tuesday night, they lost (66-59) in double overtime to Mansfield Senior in a non-conference game.
Coach Nathon Loney says they didn’t make the clutch free throws they needed to and they weren’t tough enough. “It was a great game. It was a tournament like atmosphere. It was a tough, physical game. Personally, it was my style of game, for my kids, not so much, my kids are still getting used to that physical play. In my eyes being tough, what I explained to them (Tuesday) night, is not going out and fighting somebody, or anything like that, being tough to me is making free throws when it counts and making layups when it counts. If we make free throws on (Tuesday) it doesn’t even go to overtime. One of our best free throw shooters that we wanted at the line was 7-15, not 100 percent sure what we was for the game as a team, but when you have one player 7-15 you are not going to shoot that well from the foul line either. We weren’t tough (Tuesday) night. I will say we competed our butts off,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think (Tuesday) night we competed better than we have in any other game. We had kids that went out and tried to do everything they could to help the team and compete. So, that was a good sign to see our kids have that type of competitiveness in them going into tournament play is huge. One positive I gave the kids after the game is if that was the Shelby team from the first five, six games we would have tucked our tails and got beat by 20 and that shows how much we have grown and how much tougher and competitive we have gotten since the beginning of the year.”
Shelby (17-4) is at Lexington (12-9) on Friday night. The Minutemen beat Mt. Vernon (54-47) in overtime in an “OCC” game last Friday and lost to Ottawa-Glandorf (68-52) in a non-conference game on Saturday.
Loney says they are going to forced to deal with a lot of the same things they did on Tuesday night. “They are going to be just as tough and physical and whatnot. They will be a little different than Senior High speed wise. Senior High has a lot of speed and athleticism and that definitely makes them a lot different than Lexington, but Lexington is going to give you that same toughness and physicalness, especially with Kaydan Berry playing the guard spot. He is going to get after it. I’m sure that’s who they will match on T.J. (Pugh.) T.J’s going to be in for a long night again if he is not going north and south instead of east and west, which he was doing a lot on (Tuesday) night. It’s going to be a tough match again. I love the “OCC” style of play. They game was different than we saw all year (Tuesday) night and I loved it, especially going into to tournament play here, that’s huge for us,” said Loney.
Lexington has been described as methodical and the Whippets are not that. Loney says they are going to have to control the tempo of this game. “It is going come down to who does a better job of controlling the tempo. Another big factor for us (Tuesday) night was Johnny DeVito fouling out with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter. Johnny did a very, very nice job of keeping us poised and doing a good job of getting us in an offensive set and making us be patient in our offense and getting us the good looks that we got. Every time Senior High would cut it to one or two, we would answer and stretch the lead back out to five or six. When Johnny went out of the game I moved T.J. to the one spot an T.J. struggled quite a bit at the one spot, so that is something T.J. is going to have to work on as an individual in practice the next couple of days. If (Tuesday) night wasn’t an eye opener with Johnny DeVito and how important he is to his team, I don’t know what more he has to see. He come to me (Tuesday) night after the game and told me it was hard setting on the bench watching that. He felt like he let everybody down. I think is was great for the kids to see that. We are going to need Johnny on the floor to control that tempo. When Johnny was one the floor, he did a very good job of pushing the ball in transition and that’s how we scored so easy. We got a lot of scores out of transition and that was all with Johnny on the floor at the one spot. It Johnny is not on the floor it could be another struggle for us. It is going to come down to the tempo game,” said Loney.
Published 2/20/20
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Shelby Wants Unbeaten League Slate
Shelby has already clinched an outright Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title and its next goal is to complete the conference schedule unbeaten.
They can do that by winning at Galion on Friday night.
The Whippets won the league outright with a (86-79) win over River Valley on Monday night.
Coach Nathon Loney says the win was very satisfying. “It’s a great feeling for me. It’s great seeing the excitement in the community. The excitement of the kids after the game. Shoot, I think we were in the gym for an hour after the game was over with everyone taking pictures and cutting down nets and all of that. It is a great atmosphere to be part of. I couldn’t be more thankful for the position I am in. I have great kids. The coaches around me are great. My assistant coaches, I have a closer bond with them than I have ever had. Very thankful for the opportunity I am in and the community and everything,” he said.
Shelby (15-3,11-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Galion (2-17,0-11) on Friday night. The Tigers are coming off a (72-47) loss to Lucas on Wednesday night. Shelby beat them (75-47) on December 21.
Galion is paced by Isaiah Alsip (22.2 PPG) the leading scorer in the league. Loney expects that he is going to be extra motivated on Friday night. “Galion I think I saw they played Lucas (Wednesday) night, they got beat, a tough one. Alsip is 100 some points away from breaking the school record, so I have a feeling he is going to be letting them fly on Friday night and that could make it tough on us. So, we have to go there with the mindset of it doesn’t matter who we are playing we have to go there and be our best and play our best basketball in order to close out this deal and finish the league 12-0,” said Loney.
Shelby’s T.J. Pugh is the second leading scorer in the conference (22.0 PPG,) but Loney says his job on Friday night is to contain Alsip. “That is one thing we did the first time we played him. We made everything tough for him the first half. Even the buckets he got were very contested. We let T.J. Pugh guard him and T.J. did a great job. That is probably the best defensive game that T.J. has put together this year. We are going to go with T.J. again on him. That is what we have been challenging T.J. with here the last couple of weeks. If we want to have a shot at making a deep tournament run T.J. Pugh is going to have to be as good defensively as he is offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “He has proven night in and night out that he can score in different ways. He is shooting the basketball well right now and playing with confidence. He has the capabilities of being just as great defensively when he puts it together. In order for the Shelby Whippets to have a good tournament run T.J. is going to have to be just as good defensively and that is going to start Friday night.”
Published 2/14/20
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Shelby Hands First Loss to Bellevue
In a possible district final preview, Shelby outscored Bellevue (11-2) over the game’s final 3:37 and handed the Lady Red their first loss of the season (56-43) in front of a packed house at Shelby High School in a non-conference game played on Tuesday night.
Both teams are now (20-1) on the season. They could meet again in the division II district final, but Shelby likely will need to beat a very good Willard team, who they defeated in double overtime in December, to reach that that final.
Bellevue played Tuesday night without All-Ohio guard Casey Santoro, who was suspended for one game after she pulled Norwalk’s Oliva Ward down by her hair in a game on Saturday.
Shelby took a (23-11) lead with 2:51 to play in the second quarter after a three pointer by Emma Randall.
“We had a nice lead in the second quarter and we got in foul trouble and I thought we got a little tired and we were trailing them on their cuts and quite frankly we didn’t have the legs to after the ball like we needed to and they have that tough mindset and getting second opportunities and put themselves right back in the game,” said Shelby coach Natalie Lantz.
Bellevue closed the half on a (12-3) run to make it (26-23) Shelby at the break.
Bellevue took a (36-35) lead with 2:41 left in the third quarter on a hoop in the lane by Cory Santoro.
“In the third quarter they took the lead and I was really proud of our girls, they stayed composed and we fought back and we made some big plays and some big rebounds and a steal, I think, and we were able to convert at the other end and just little by little we started to expand that lead in the fourth quarter and were to put the hammer on the nail and polish it off,” said Lantz.
The Lady Whippets would go on an (8-0) spurt to take a (43-36) lead after three quarters.
However, Bellevue wouldn’t go away, they trimmed the lead to (45-41) on Gabby Turner’s three with 3:37 to play. The Lady Red has rallied late to beat teams like Willard and Margaretta this season wearing teams down with their constant defensive pressure, but it wouldn’t happen this time.
“They are a fantastic defensive team. They create a lot of opportunities offensively form that defensive pressure. Thy are hard nosed players and they are going to give their all for 32 minutes. So, this was an opportunity to stay composed against a great team. I thought they made some great adjustments after halftime. They ran a nice isolation with Cory Santoro and Gabby Turner and it hurt us a little bit and they took the lead. Once we able to make a defensive adjustment I think we slowed that down a little bit,” Lantz told Swankonsports.com after the win, “They are loaded defensively and they have some great offensive threats as well. So, we really needed to be on our best defense if we wanted to finish off the game. I think the girls stayed composed. We knew they were going to make buckets, we knew they were going to make a run, that’s what good teams do.”
Bellevue coach Kory Santoro says his team kind of ran out of gas.
Randall paced Shelby with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Cory Santoro has 22 foe the Lady Red.
In regards to the possible district rematch, Lantz sys they know they have to get better. “I am very pleased with how the girls played and stayed composed, but there is definitely room for improvement. I think we have time and now we have some experience after playing a tough team like Bellevue. I hope we have that second chance to play them again. We will work hard and continue to improve and hopefully be ready for that one too,” she said.
Published 2/12/20
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At
www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Earns Piece of “MOAC” Title
Shelby earned no less than a share of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title this season after beating Clear Fork (74-68) in a conference game on Saturday night at Clear Fork’s Les Hauenstein Gym.
It the first title of any kind for the Whippets since 2011. They can lay claim to their first outright title since 1999 on Monday what then host River Valley. Ontario, who beat Marion Harding 62-44 on Saturday night, tails by two games.
Jackson Lewis came off the bench to drill seven threes and score a career high 21 points for the Whippets. “Jackson has had the ability to shoot the ball all year long. He was just like that all through scrimmages. All year long us coaches called him a zone buster. Coach Henry give him that nickname at a scrimmage. We were at Licking Valley, I think. Morgan came out in a 2-3 zone and he hit five in a row in five straight possessions. After the quarter, the head coach from Morgan come up to me and said, remind me to tell everybody don’t run a zone if you ever play Shelby. He has had the ability to shoot like that all year long. He has the green light no matter what. He is one kid we will say let ‘em fly. Jackson is a volume shooter, but when he gets hot, he gets going,” said Shelby coach Nathon Loney.
Clear Fork coach Steven Bechtel says their scouting report identified Lewis as someone that would come in the game to shoot the ball, but they didn’t think they would see this kind of a performance. “It was shooter in the scouting report, but just playing those percentages. I think he was 9-39 on the year. Unfortunately for us, he found the basket pretty big for himself,” he said.
The Colts played some 2-3 zone on Saturday night, something they have done all year, and Loney says they took advantage of it. “I have been waiting for a lot of zone for that reason to get Jackson in there and get shots up. There were a couple of times he got looked off and I was upset about it. When he has the hot hand get it to him and let ‘em fly. We got a zone against us and he knocked down some shots, T.J. (Pugh) knocked down an outside one, Johnny (DeVito) did, Cody (Lantz), so we shot the ball well from the three point line,” said Loney.
Pugh, the second leading scorer in the conference (21.7 PPG) had 20 for the Whippets.
Brennan South, playing in his last game at home, led the Colts with 18. Bruce Swainhart put together a major contribution off the bench with 10.
Loney says they were not at full strength Saturday night missing their best defensive player in Grant Gossom. “I told these guys I don’t care if we win by one or 15 (Saturday) night because we are without Grant (Gossom.) Anytime you take a team’s best defensive player off the floor, I don’t care who you are playing, you are going to struggle. Grant’s at home with Influenza B, so to pick up a win without him, especially against Clear Fork, I think Clear Fork is one of the most scariest teams in the league all year long because when they put a game together, they are hard to beat and they proved that a couple of times this year,” said Loney.
Shelby took an (8-0) lead with 4:59 to play in the first quarter after a hoop by Pugh. They led by as many as nine (12-3) in that first period.
Clear Fork cut it to three (27-24) after a Brady Tedow bucket with 4:17 to play in the second quarter, but the Whippets would go on a (9-3) run to take a (36-27) lead with 2:25 left in the quarter after back to back threes by Lewis. They led (39-32) at the break.
Shelby (14-3,10-0) took their biggest lead of the night (55-38) with 3:31 to play in the third after a three from Johnny DeVito. Cleat Fork cut to 11 (62-51) after three quarters.
Clear Fork (8-11,4-7) would get as close as five (62-57) after a three by South with 6:35 to play in the game. Again, Shelby would spurt and go up 10 (69-59) on a Cody Lantz basket with 3:24 left. The Colts made their final push cutting it to (69-62) before Lewis put the dagger in them with his last of seven threes to put Shelby up (72-62) with 1:49 to go.
Loney says they good never quite put the Colts away until the final minutes and says everyone should not expect them to blow everyone out. “I kept looking at coach (Todd) Kehres and said, man, we have stretched it to 16 or 15 a couple of times and just made uncharacteristic plays and let them back in the game. As soon as the game got under double digits to six, seven, eight and we turned it back on and stretched it out to double figures again,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “That has been the story of us all year long. We have had big leads against multiple teams this year and we let them cut it close at the end. Everybody expects us to skip steps and go from being mediocre to great and you don’t go that. You have to win the close ones before you start blowing people out by 20 every night.”
Bechtel says his kids gave it all they had, but that Lewis three kind of put it out of reach. “We made a run. We cut it to seven (69-62) and I just remember Lewis hit another three down there and that was just kind of the breaking point right there. I congratulated him, he stepped up and did exactly what he needed to do to help them win the basketball game. Hats off to them for at least sharing the league,” he said.
This is Loney’s first season as the Whippets coach. This is after a two-year stint at Ridgedale of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference where he had an overall record of (12-35) for the Rockets. He replaced Troy Schwemley, who took the assistant principal’s job at Shelby. He was (183-112) in 13 years as the Shelby coach.
Loney says this has been a great season so far for everyone concerned. “For the team it is huge, especially in my first year here. The kids have talked about all year long. A new coach, young coach, everybody discredited me because I come from Ridgedale. My first year at Ridgedale I won one game, but the second year there we won 12 in an outmatched league. My second year there we got a home tournament game and won two tournament games. So, for me to get that program to there, but discredited me just because they seen my record. I told these guys from day one that we were going to be good this year. They questioned me at times. We started out the season 6-0 and they started saying they believe a little bit. For me I love it, but I love it more for the kids,” said Loney.
Published 2/08/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comIt’s Title Week for Shelby
With one win this week, Shelby clinches a chare of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title, with two and they win it outright.
They play host to River Valley on Thursday and play at Clear Fork (8-10,4-6) on Saturday.
After winning 13 of their first 14 games, the Whippets lost (78-73) to Willard and (67-63) in overtime to Ashland last week in non-conference games.
Coach Nathon Loney says last week was tough to take for the team. “The one at Willard was tough. Obviously, there were things we would have liked to have gone differently, but you can’t control that part of it. We have a lot of building blocks from the Willard game to go forward with. We put up a very impressive first half there, but the second half we weren’t good enough that we needed to be to win. On top of that we dropped an overtime game on Friday night to Ashland. Starting out 13-1 and dropped two in a row, that’s every coach’s nightmare, you don’t ever want to drop two in a row, especially one in overtime. The game on Friday I have to say we a bit of a hangover from the Willard loss. The kids were still feeling sorry for themselves after that. We have to get back to our ways. We took some steps backwards on Friday night against Ashland. Again, I would say it had a lot to do we were still feeling a little bit down and sorry for ourselves from that loss to Willard on Tuesday,” said Loney.
Shelby (13-3,9-0) hosts River Valley (10-7,5-6) on Thursday night. The Vikings are coming off an (81-75) loss to Marion Harding last Friday. The Whippets won the first meeting (71-61) on January 3.
Loney says a big key is they must be disciplined on defense. “They don’t mind running. They play at a pretty fast pace. One advantage I think we have is we rotate a few more players than they do. So, that is one of the biggest things we are going to have to take advantage of. They play the fast style of play. One thing about them is they would rather settle for threes than twos. We are going to have to be very disciplined an know where shooters are. The first time around we got in trouble the first half by helping out of the corners when Bell would attack and we were leaving Dylan Johnson wide open in the corner for wide open, uncontested threes. That really got us in trouble in the first half. We made that adjustment at halftime and we came out in the second half an River Valley really struggled scoring when we stopped helping out of the corners and giving up uncontested threes. That is going to be a point of emphasis on Thursday night,” said Loney.
When it comes to the “MOAC” title, Loney says that has been a goal of theirs since last summer. “Me and my coaches have been preaching the last two days at the practice that they need to understand the importance of Thursday night. If we win on Thursday night, we will clinch a bare minimum of a share of the league title, which hasn’t been done at Shelby since 2011. So, it will be the first time in nine years since a conference title has been one. So, that is something we have been stressing everyday at practice. We have to be locked in and focused on the big picture and picking up that win on Thursday an clinching a share of the league title,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “If we do that, we have to finish out with Clear Fork and Galion. As long as we win one of those last two, we will clinch a league championship outright. We want to finish out unbeaten in the league, that’s one of our team goals. The important focus right now is Thursday. We have said from day one that was the goal to win a league title. My seniors that played football this year won a league championship and they want to go out with a league title in basketball and have it in their resume.”
Published 2/05/20
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Shelby with a Learning Experience
Shelby lost a tough one on Tuesday night at Willard and now are preparing for a non-conference home game on Friday night against the Ashland Arrows.
The Whippets had a 23-point first half lead at Willard in a non-conference game, but the Flashes would rally and win (78-73) in an instant classic.
Shelby coach Nathin Loney called it a tale of two halves. He says a number of things went against them in the third and fourth quarters. “The first half was as close to flawless as it could be. What we did in the first half is what I have been telling people all year we are capable of doing. We were great in transition. We didn’t shoot a lot of three pointers, but we were very affective. I think we were five of eight on threes in the first half. We scored 51 points and only made five three pointers and that is saying a lot about how fast we played. Very happy with that part of the game. We have to be able to consistently do that for four quarters. We have been on the other end of this deal coming from behind to win, we have done it twice, we did it to Norwalk and Ontario, and it’s a great feeling, but (Tuesday) night wasn’t such a great feeling when it happens to you. A little bitter taste left in their mouth. The kids are upset, there were some things they could have done better (Tuesday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “There are some things I could have done differently (Tuesday) night. We ran doubles on Parrott the whole first half. At halftime, Gossom said, coach we don’t need to run doubles, and I believed him, Grant is my senior leader and I have faith in him and he did well at it. I won’t say this was the difference in the game, but there were a couple of questionable calls there early on, but it definitely changed the way we got to guard in the second half. You never want to blame referees for losing, but when you get beat 17-4 on the foul ratio in a half alone it is not going to do you any favors. They shot 38, 36 free throws, something like that, and 24 of them were in the second half. We were 8-12 and they were 26-36 at the foul line. That was definitely the difference maker was the free throw line. They kicked our butts at the foul line.”
Down three with :18 remaining in the game, Loney was called for a technical foul after slamming his fist on the scorer’s table. He says he let his emotions get the best of him, but he feels his team received a bad call at a bad time. “There were some things that I could have done differently. They made an over the back call on Jeremy Holloway late in the game. That is by far the most bogus call of the whole game, I’m just being on honest. You have to make contact for an over the back call and I don’t care where you are, who it is, how you are refereeing, if a kid does not make contact on a box out, it is not an over the back. Jeremy flat out, out jumped the kid, he went and got the ball before him. That kid came underneath, got the ball, and they tangled up for it. It should been a jump ball and it’s our ball again down four. I lost my cool in that part of the game and I apologized to the kids in the locker room and I am going to make things right at practice. My rule is when coach gets teed up coach does some running and conditioning for his mistakes also. I have to get better in that aspect. That was definitely a game changing time in the game when that happened. Not only do the kids have some things they have to get better at, but I have some things I need to work on also as an individual,” said Loney.
Shelby (13-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Ashland (5-10) on Friday night. The Arrows lost (62-52) to Lexington in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Tuesday night.
Loney says the Arrows have outstanding guard play. “They have very, very nice guard play. I really, really like the way they play as guards. Don’t get me wrong I love my kids and what we have to work with, but if there were some other guards in the area that we could pick up, I would pick them up in a heartbeat. Just because of how they play and I like their style. If you let them get open looks at the threes, they are very capable of beating you by 20 and it doesn’t matter who you are playing. When those three are on they are deadly. We have seen that in a couple of game films. I have seen the game film against Clyde. If you let them get looks at threes, they are going to hurt you. We could be in for taking two losses in a row if we don’t come prepared to play,” he said.
Published 1/30/20
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Shelby Wants that Title
Shelby clinches an outright Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference girls’ basketball title for the second year in a row if they can beat second place River Valley at home on Saturday.
They lead the Lady Vikings by two games with two to play.
They gave themselves that opportunity with a (77-27) whipping of Galion on Friday night in a league game.
That came after their only loss of the season (99-25) to Berlin Hiland on January 20.
Coach Natalie Lantz says that loss gave them some extra fire in practice. “They really got after it in practice. I think our intensity level picked up a lot after that Hiland game. It was not that we weren’t working hard, but we needed to put it in another gear. I think with that intensity and that effort level and pushing each other more at practice it is able to help us continue to improve leading into tournament time,” said Lantz.
Shelby (16-1,10-0) plays host to River Valley (13-4,8-2) on Saturday. The Lady Vikings beat Pleasant (54-35) on Saturday. In the first meeting between the top two teams in the league, the Lady Whippets won (62-60) at River Valley on December 27.
River Valley has the league leading scorer in Alexis Stephens (18.3 PPG) and Lantz says they have a very experienced lineup. “River Valley honestly is the most experienced team in the league. They have five or six seniors, five seniors start for them. They have the leading scorer in the “MOAC” in Alexis Stephens. She sat out last year with a knee injury,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They are a nice well rounded team. They are aggressive and confident. So, we definitely have to be ready when go play them on Saturday.”
Lantz says they teach sharing in their program when comes to be unselfish with the basketball, but she says in this case, when it comes to an outright title, they want to be greedy. “You always want to win it outright, you don’t want to have to share it. I think that is the only time we tell the kids to be greedy about something. Dream big and then work hard and earn a title. I think we are in position this year that we can do that. We definitely have to finish the last two “MOAC” games strong,” she said.
Published 1/29/20
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Shelby Doing More Things
Shelby enjoys a two game lead over Ontario with four conference games to play and the Whippets seem to be getting better as we are now in the second half of the season.
They host Marion Harding in a “MOAC” game on Thursday night and travel to Bellevue (3-10) for a non-conference game on Saturday night.
Shelby beat Marion Pleasant (59-48) in a conference game last Friday and coach Nathon Loney says they were out to prove a point. “At Pleasant Friday, we took a little different route. Everybody has been on my case. Everybody was saying we were just relying on our fast break and our transition in our offense. So, Friday I wanted to prove a point. We go to Pleasant and we played slow and ran an offense every possession almost. We executed very well in our offense, but we missed some easy shots early on that we have to make. So, I proved my point to my kids that we can run an offense when we need to, but we are going to continue to play fast and that’s what we are going to live on. We have a two game lead in the league right now, so we are going to continue with what is working until we struggle,” said Loney.
So, the Whippets were efficient in running their half court offense, but Loney says he would still like to operate against a zone, which they have not seen. “We were talking about Clear Fork and they came out and never ran a zone the whole game. I am still waiting on someone to zone us because I want to see how we would do against a zone just for the fact that I need to know what to prepare for. We really need to get better against a zone, but nobody has done it yet. The few times we got zoned in scrimmages, I think when we scrimmaged Morgan down at Licking Valley in that one quarter alone we hit seven three pointers. So, I was hoping someone would zone us to see if we still have that rhythm in us, but it is yet to happen,” he said.
Shelby (11-1,8-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays host to Marion Harding (7-6,5-3) in a conference game on Thursday night. The Presidents beat Galion (54-50) in a “MOAC” game last Friday and then lost (55-48) to Watkins Memorial on Saturday night.
Shelby won the first meeting (53-43) on December 19. Loney says he wants to get off to a better start on Thursday night. “They have some very good athletes. The one guard is a very nice player, he does a good job of controlling the offense for them at times. He does a good job of attacking the rim. They don’t have a lot of strength in outside shooting other than the (Mitch) Meyers kid that shoots it well outside. Other than him they don’t shoot it very well, but you do have to expect them to because they will make some shots down at the end that are key. I shouldn’t say hard to guard, just different,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday. “At times if you don’t respect them form the outside at the three point line they will hit shots, but they do a very good job of attacking the rim. So, we are going to have to very disciplined in that. We definitely have to get a better start than we did at Harding because we came out of the gates pretty slow. I think in the second half we outscored them like 32-15 or 32-18, something like that. So, we definitely had a very good second half, but we have to put together a full game like that.”
Published 1/21/20
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Shelby Must be True to Itself
When Shelby has played its game, they have proven to be very hard to beat.
They have a two game lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference standings with five games to play.
Coach Nathon Loney says they are pleased, but not satisfied. “We are very happy right now, but the biggest thing we keep preaching to the kids is we can’t get content. We have to keep working hard. Each day is another battle. Now, that we have a two game lead on everybody we have the target on our back big time so everybody is going to give us the best versions of themselves every night,” he said.
Shelby (10-1,7-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Marion Pleasant (6-8,2-5) on Friday night in a league game. Pleasant beat Marion Harding (53-49) in overtime in their last conference game on Saturday night.
Loney says this game is about them following their game plan. “They are very disciplined and well coached. Coach (Ben) Snively does a great job. They don’t push the pace too fast. So, one again it is going to be based off of if we come out and do what we are supposed to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “That was the tale of the game Saturday night against Ontario. I was asked what adjustments we made at halftime and we didn’t make any adjustments. It is hard to make adjustments when you don’t do what you are coached to do in the first half. We did not do anything close to what we were supposed to do in the first half. The second half we came out and did exactly what we have been doing all year long and it was the difference maker in the game. If we let Pleasant dictate the tempo right out of the get go we are going to find ourselves in a battle again.”
Shelby won the first meeting between the two teams (55-46) on December 13 at Shelby. Loney says both teams have improved since then. “They are playing better. I watched a little bit of the film from the Harding game and they are definitely playing better basketball right now. It is going to be a little different game, but I think we are much better now than we was when we played them early in the year also,” he said.
Published 1/15/20
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Shelby’s Dramatic Comeback Overcomes Ontario
Grant Hiatt’s stick back at the horn punctuated Shelby’s (17-8) fourth quarter run and gave the Whippets a thrilling come from behind (63-61) win over Ontario and two-game lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference standings over the Warriors.
The Whippets (10-1,7-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, have now beaten Ontario twice this season and own a two-game lead over the Warriors (7-3,5-2) with five league games to play.
Shelby called timeout with 13 seconds left and they were able to get the ball to T.J. Pugh, who took a shot with about four tics left and the ball was rebounded by the Hiatt, one of the smallest kids on the floor, and his layup attempt hit about every part of the rim before falling through.
Coach Nathon Loney explains what they were trying to do. “Our original play was to get a screen for T.J. and for him to catch it outside, hold it for 1,000 one, 1,000 two and Johnny (DeVeito) was going to go set a ball screen for him. I think he had it his head from the get go that he was going to take two dribbles and take the shot because that is what an aggressive offensive player like T.J. does. We have always told him if you miss it somebody is going to rebound it. It just happened to be Grant Hiatt. It landed in his hands. I didn’t think that thing was going to go down. It used every party of the rim. It didn’t work exactly like we wanted, but when you pick up a win when your down 19 you have to be happy,” said Loney.
Shelby took its first lead of the game (58-57) on a field goal and free throw by Cody Lantz with 4:42 remining in the contest. Griffin Shaver responded eight seconds later to give the Warriors back the lead (59-58) in front of a near capacity crowd. DeVeito tied with a free throw with 3:39 left and gave his team the lead (61-59) when he converted a steal into a basket with 2:51 left. Shaver tied it (61-61) with 2:34 remaining. The Whippets ran more than a minute off the clock, with Ontario showing only token man to man pressure, before setting up the final shot.
Ontario led by as many as 19 points (50-31) with after a three pointer by Shaver with 3:52 remaining in the third quarter.
Coach Joe Balogh says they were not a very smart basketball team and didn’t handle the ball or take smart shots like a veteran team should have in the final quarter. “We didn’t take of the ball, that’s all it came down to, we did not take of the ball. Our decision making was god awful. We should be a veteran basketball team. We should be able to make better decisions and we just panicked. Give Shelby credit for their fight to come back, but we became a really stupid basketball team. We were just not very smart. We didn’t handle pressure at all. Shelby continued to fight and their pressure turned us over and put themselves in position to win the game,” said Balogh.
Pugh and Lantz both had 21 markers for the Whippets and Pugh, who had 14 of his in the second half, was really pretty lucky to play in the game, according to Loney. “T.J. walked into the gym he was so sick he didn’t even go through the walk through. His parents have been feeding him vitamin-C and everything for the past 24 hours. He wasn’t even a practice (Friday.) To come out and preform like that on a high level on a big stage being sick like that, you have to be proud of him for doing that,” he said.
Shaver had a big night for the Warriors with a game high 29, 20 of them coming in the first half. Loney says they did a much better job on him in the second half, led by the defense of Grant Gossom.
He says down 19, they never gave up. “We preach and preach that. When you play at the pace we play you can never be down too much and not have a chance to come back. We like to play full court pressure defense and get after it. Anytime you can force turnovers. A lot of that credit goes to Grant Gossom. He did a heck of job the second half on Griffin (Shaver.) I don’t know what he finished with, but he couldn’t have scored double figures in the second half. That all started with Grant Gossom,” said Loney.
Balogh says they didn’t get the ball enough to Shaver when it counted in the fourth quarter. “We just didn’t do a very good job of getting the ball back to him or him getting the ball in his hands and getting us in our stuff. When the ball wasn’t in his hands in the fourth quarter, we weren’t very good. So, we have to do a better job of coaching that and taking care of it and be a lot smarter with basketball down the stretch,” he said.
Published 1/11/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comKey Week for First Place Shelby
Shelby leads the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference standings by a game over Marion Harding and Ontario heading into action this weekend.
They host Clear Fork on Thursday and then second place Ontario on Saturday at their place.
Last Friday, the Whippets pulled away in the second half to down River Valley (71-61) in a conference game.
Coach Nathon Loney says they just had too much depth for the Vikings. “It is going to be hard for teams to match our style of play just because we rotate so many kids. They did a good job of it the first half, but then they got tired and fatigue set in. We rotate 9, 10, 11 guys night in and night out. It’s hard to match that style of play consistently for teams. It was a very good game and they did some things we actually struggled with in the first half and we made some adjustments at halftime. The adjustments were big. We stretched the lead out to 13, 14 a couple of times and we were in control from the third quarter on,” said Loney.
Shelby (8-1,5-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Clear Fork (4-7,2-3) in a conference game. The Colts lost to Marion Harding (66-55) in “MOAC” play last Friday. They beat Loudonville (60-21) in a non-conference game Saturday.
Loney expects and really hopes that Clear Fork will show them a zone defense. “From most of the film we have been watching they are running a lot of zone. I am actually excited to see some zone. I have been waiting for teams to zone us and see what we can do. We are not a great shooting team by any means, but I want to see how we do against a zone. We are going to have to be good against a zone come tournament time. I am excited to see a zone. I’m not guaranteeing we are going to see a zone, but I think we will see one because that is what they have been running on the majority of their film,” he said.
With a big matchup with Ontario looming on Saturday night, Loney says they must keep their focus on Thursday night against a Clear Fork team that can be dangerous. “They are going to do some things well. The South kid is the returning player of the year in the district. So, obviously he is able to score pretty well and consistently. The Delaney kid is a nice little pair with him and then you throw the Tedrow kid in there. So, that is a nice 1, 2, 3 punch. They have been inconsistent some, but I’ll tell you what it scares me playing them on Thursday night, especially before Ontario on Saturday. I don’t want the kids to overlook Clear Fork thinking about the Ontario game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have been preaching, preaching, and preaching on keeping focused on Thursday. Thursday is another game we have to be ready for and be prepared for. My assistant coach tells the kids we have to be 1-0 every day. Don’t look forward to anything. You goal is to win the day. They are not a team you want to overlook.”
Ontario (6-2,4-1) comes calling on Saturday night. The Whippets won at the O-Rena (77-68) on December 7. Loney says no one expected them to even compete with Ontario in the first game and he knows the Warriors will be out for revenge. “I’m not 100 percent sure, but I would say the gym is going to be packed on Saturday night. Not only because of the fan base, but there are a lot of people in the area that want to see that rematch. We came out in the second game of the season and beat them at their place. They kind of have a bitter taste in their mouth about that. They are going to want to come here and beat us at our place. I know at the beginning of the year everybody kind of had Ontario as the hands down favorite. That’s all I heard around the area that Ontario was going to be the favorite and nobody could beat them and what not. We kind of went in there that first game and beat them, so anytime that happens, especially with coach Balogh, he does such a great job, and he has his kids ready to go. They have the Kurtz kid and the Shaver kid rolling pretty good right now. So, it is going to be a pretty good matchup here on Saturday night,” said Loney.
Published 1/09/20
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Must be Tough, Physical
Shelby suffered it first loss of the season on Saturday night and they need to fix some things going forward if they are going to improve as a basketball team.
They travel to Clyde for a non-conference game on Monday night.
Upper Sandusky kind of beat Shelby at its own game in downing the Whippets (76-66) on Saturday night.
Coach Nathon Loney says they missed too many easy shots and didn’t get back on defense. “It was our first loss. In my book there is never a good loss, but you can’t be mad about losing to Upper. I know they are playing good basketball. I think they have won six in a row now and obviously they are well coached. Coach Winslow has done a good job ever since he has been there. He has that program right where he wants it. You can’t be disappointed, but what didn’t play anywhere near our potential,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “We were very bad defensively right off the get go. We struggled getting back in our transition defense. We gave up eight run out points in the first two minutes. You have to limit Upper Sandusky to give yourself a chance to win. On top of that, we left a lot of points off the board again with missed layups. I talked to my coaches (Sunday) and I think we need to change a couple of things and raise the standards of practice when it comes to layups and whatnot. Put a higher premium on that. Get the kids to understand the value of what it means to make those big layups in crucial games.”
Shelby (6-1) is at Clyde (1-1) on Monday night. The Fliers handled Ashland (76-57) on Saturday in non-conference action. They got a late state to their season due to a state championship they won in football.
Loney says Clyde is tough to beat with their press, especially in their own gym. “Once again, another well coached team. We have to go right to Clyde after playing a tough Upper Sandusky team on Saturday night. You always know going to Clyde that he can expect them to be big and strong and physical, so we are going to have to be ready for that. I have never been to Clyde, but my assistant coaches have told me that they have the smaller gym and they are going to go with their traditional 1-3-1 and spread it out and make that floor as tight as possible,” he said.
Another thing, Clyde is going to be physical and Loney says they have to match that or face losing again. “I am actually heading to the gym (Sunday night.) We have six, seven, eight kids that want to get some shots up. We are struggling shooting the ball right now as a team and if we are going to beat a zone (Monday) night we are going to have to make some shots. I threw out a group text message to my kids through our school account and got them all lined up and we are going to get in the gym and get some shots up. We are going to have to be physical (Monday) night. It is going to be a game where you are going to have to throw the pretty and flashiness out the window. We are going to have to be strong, tough, and physical if you want to win,” said Loney.
Published 12/30/19
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Shelby and Upper With Similar Philosophies
Shelby continues its solid play as the Whippets, unbeaten on the season, host Upper Sandusky on Saturday night in a non-conference game.
The Whippets posted two more wins in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last week as they beat Marion Harding (53-43) on Thursday and Galion (75-47) on Saturday.
Coach Nathon Loney says they had to rally on Thursday in the second half, but on Saturday they had it in high gear. “We definitely rallied at Harding. We were down 14 midway through the second quarter and I think down 10 going into halftime. We made a very, very big comeback. I think we outscored them 37-15 in the second half. So, a big rally for us. Saturday we a great game for us. We played well in all aspects of the game of Saturday. The kids had a good time, had a lot of fun, and did a lot of great things on Saturday. So, a good weekend doubleheader you could say for the Whippets,” he said.
Shelby (6-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Upper Sandusky (5-1) on Saturday.
Loney, familiar with the Rams from his days at Ridgedale, says they have a similar approach to the game. “Obviously, coach (Jeff) Winslow does a great job with them. They have a lost of guys that can play, so definitely a tough task this Saturday in Shelby. I think we matchup with them well. We both play the fast paced game. They like to press a lot and they score a lot off of turnovers, so they are similar to us in style,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, “I would say they are going to try and slow us down some obviously. So, we are going to have to very efficient in our half court sets against them. That is going to be the key to a lot of our success right now because I think everybody is going to try and slow us down.”
Loney says there are going to be a lot of great matchups on the floor. “They have Vent and Young that are very good along with Cameron McCreay. They have three tough matchups there, but on the other hand they are going to have to match T.J. Pugh, Cody Lantz and Johnny DeVito. I think it is going to be a heck of a basketball game at Shelby High School on Friday night,” he said.
Published 12/23/19
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Shelby Has to Have Killer Instinct
Shelby is unbeaten the season, but certainly not satisfied.
They play at Marion Harding on Thursday and at home against Galion on Saturday in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play.
Coach Nathon Loney says they have a lot of getting better to do. “We still have a long ways to go before we are anywhere that I want us to be,” he said.
Loney says they have to play better as a team. “Right now, the biggest thing I am preaching to these kids is doing it together. We are not all on the same page defensively. Offensively, we show at times we are all on the same page together, but it’s not a full game. We are not putting together a full game of that. The biggest thing I am preaching right now is we have to do this as a team. We have to do our one-fifth every night. We don’t have to worry about what everybody else is doing. Who is there watching, what other schools are there scouting. Just quit worrying about all of the side effects and what is going on outside of our basketball community right now and just do what we do,” said Loney.
Shelby (4-0,2-0), #3 in the first Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, visits Marion Harding (2-1,2-0) for a conference game on Thursday night. Harding downed Galion (61-49) on Friday night.
Loney says the Presidents don’t want to play as fast as them. “They are obviously well coached. They like to show it down, they don’t play very fast. They don’t rotate a whole lot players, so they are not very deep on their depth chart and we have to use that to our advantage. We are still rotating 10 and playing a lot of kids. That definitely has to be to our advantage. We have got to make sure we are very disciplined defensively. I have been preaching and preaching about us getting better defensively,” said Loney.
It has been a good start for the Whippets, but Loney says they must continue to build on leads and they aren’t doing it. “I was not very happy after our game Friday night against Pleasant. We went out there in the third quarter and built an 18 point lead and is dropped way down and we ended up winning by 10, so I am never happy when that happens because you want to continually build that lead. In third quarter we did a lot of things that I want us to do. We played fast. We were great in our transition offense, our defensive pressure was awesome, we turned it up in all aspects at the defensive end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “After we built that 18 point lead the kids thought we are cool coach we have and 18-point lead, we have this taken care of. I was never at any point worried, like the Norwalk game, I was a little worried, I’ll be honest. Never got worried in the Pleasant game, but still you don’t want to be content just winning by 10, especially when you are one of the top tier teams in the league and you are expected to win by more than that.”
Published 12/19/19
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Shelby Edges Willard in Double Overtime
Haylee Baker scored 16 points and Sydnie Seibert added 15 and Shelby outlasted Willard (59-52) in double overtime in a non-conference girls’ basketball game played on Tuesday night in Shelby.
Shelby coach Natalie Lantz says they had some ups and downs, but they made the plays when they needed to down the stretch. “We had a couple of good runs. In the fourth quarter we were up nine at one point and I felt like we had a chance to take care of the ball, put the game away. I think we showed our youth. There are a lot of great teaching moments during the same (Tuesday) night. We just didn’t make the best decisions at times, which put the ball back in their hands and they scored and got back in the game and tied it and sent it to overtime. We go into the first overtime and we are up two and they are forced to throw the ball long and we put them at the line and (Kalli) Sowers makes both of her free throws and we are into double overtime,” she told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We went back and forth in double overtime. We were up two and made some defensive adjustments and Sydnie Seibert fronted (Presley) Feltner and just made a huge play. We had the help side defense from Haylee Baker. We got the deflection and got the ball and pushed tempo and went down and scored which gave us a four point lead. From there we had confidence and the kids just made really good decisions, which allowed us to take the game.”
Shelby (7-0), #2 in the first Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll of the season, is still unbeaten on the season. Lantz knows they beat a very good team. “There were a lot of big moments from a lot of kids and that’s what it took to put a team like Willard away because they are very talented all of the way through. (Cassie) Crawford is a heck of a basketball player. Feltner is hard to stop inside. (McKenna) Stevens had a great game. (Layla) Dials is a super point guard and Sowers plays super defense and she is able to step out and hit the three. Their starting five is second to none. We had our work cut out for us (Tuesday) night,” she said.
Crawford led Willard (4-2), #4 in our poll, with 18 points. Stevens added 11.
These two schools are no longer in the same league, but they could meet again in the postseason tournament.
Lantz says her team gutted it out Tuesday. “I think there are some things we did well at times and there are definitely some things we need to work on, but I’m sure coach (Barry) Pfahl feels the same way. He is such a great coach and those girls play hard for him and I really respect him and what they are trying to accomplish. They have been playing super. I know they didn’t have their best shooting night, but there are definitely a lot of things we can do better too and make better decisions. I tell you what, I am super proud of these girls and they never backed down. We went down by a point once or twice, but we didn’t lose our edge and fought back and took the lead again and finally finished strong,” said Lantz.
Published 12/18/19
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Stays on Top in “MOAC”
Shelby led (11-5) after the first quarter and they never looked back in beating Marion Pleasant (51-29) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game played on Thursday night in Shelby.
The win keeps the Whippets, the defending league champions, in a share of first place in the conference with River Valley. The Lady Vikings blasted Clear Fork (66-30) on Thursday.
It as a balanced attack for Shelby as Oliva Baker had 11 and Emma Randall 10 for Shelby. Six other Lady Whippets scored in the game. Randall and Selene Perez each had six rebounds.
Coach Natalie Lantz says defense was the difference for Shelby. “I think this was a great team win. We got off to a really strong start an it started with our defense and gave us some transition opportunities and really just made some smart plays on offense to get us a quick jump and we kept it. Very pleased with our momentum to start the game,” she said.
Shelby won every quarter Thursday night and Lantz was happy with how they were able to build the lead. “In a couple of other games, we might have gotten complacent and not really put the pedal to the metal so to speak. (Thursday) night we played great defense. I think they are a really good shooting team. If they give time to get a shot off they are just going to bury it on three point shots,” she told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They are a very good shooting team on film we have reviewed and games we have seen. I think Pleasant is a good team and that was a good quality win for us, but it started with our defense. We got in some early foul trouble and we had some people step up off the bench. That really helped us. Their play and the team’s intensity.
Shelby (5-0,2-0) will play at Marion Harding (2-1,1-1) on Saturday. The Lady Presidents belted Galion (77-25) on Thursday. They finished second behind Shelby in the conference standings last season. Pleasant beat Harding in overtime (52-50) on Saturday.
The Lady Whippets have changed their offensive approach this season with a more guard oriented offense and Lantz says the girls believe in what they are doing. “I think the girls are really buying in. They want to get another “MOAC” championship this year. It was great to see their big energy and momentum to start the game and its just kind of carried through. I don’t think we ever really let down the entire game. It was really fun to see them play hard throughout the game,” she said.
Published 12/13/19
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Shelby Has to Control Tempo
Shelby can certainly put points on the board and Tuesday night, the Norwalk Truckers are going to try and slow them down, it will be interesting to see who controls the tempo because that team will likely win the game.
On Saturday night, Shelby bested Ontario (77-68) in their first Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game this season. They host Pleasant in their first home “MOAC” game on Friday.
Coach Nathon Loney says they were able to get their fast break going really well on Saturday night against Ontario. “We let them hit a three right off the get go, but I think other than that we pretty much led the whole game. They tied it up at some point during the second quarter and then we had an answer for them on the offensive end and then we capitalized and made some big defensive stops and took the lead going in at halftime. From there we never really looked back. We were in control most of the game. Anytime we made any offensive mistakes, we made up for it on the defensive end. I had a lot of kids step up and play some big minutes for me on Saturday night. That was a big game changer for us,” said Loney.
Norwalk (1-0) played for the fist time this season in beat Mansfield Madison (55-43) on Saturday evening. They come to Shelby (2-0) on Tuesday night for a non-conference game.
Loney says Norwalk has some talent again. “Once again another great coach. They are going to be well coached. I have gotten to know Steve (Gray) just a little bit. Over the summer we went to a shootout at Norwalk and communicated back and forth a little bit. My assistant Todd Kehres is good friends with Steve, so they talk back and forth. I know they have a post player that is very, very good, very talented and skilled,” he said.
Tempo might be very important in this game. Norwalk is not going to want to run the same kind of pace as the Whippets. Loney says they are going to have to play their game. “That is our game right now playing fast tempo. We don’t take a lot of time to score. Everything we do offensively is two or three passes and then we want the best look possible or if we come up the floor and it’s a catch and we rip through and go score I am completely content. I like our fast pace and how much we are scoring,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “I think in both games we have scored 77, so it is going to take a lot to slow us down. When somebody does it we are going to have to get very disciplined in our offensive sets, but I think we are capable of doing that. I think Norwalk is going to try and slow us down a little bit and control the tempo of the game. We can’t let them dictate that, we still have to do what we do and do it well.”
Published 12/09/19
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Shelby Opens “MOAC” Against Guard rich Ontario
Shelby won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title in football this year and we will start to see if they are a factor in basketball this winter as they visit Ontario for the conference opener on Saturday night.
The Whippets tipped off the campaign last Friday with a (77-68) win over Mansfield Madison in non-conference play.
First year coach Nathon Loney says they were able to get a lot of players into the game. “I think we were up 27 at one time, something like that. We did a lot of good things to build that lead. I played with rotations a little bit in the fourth quarter, I can take some of that blame why the lead got cut in half. We were rotating a lot of guys in and out. I think we ended up playing 13 or 14 guys there on Friday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Prior to the fourth quarter, we had already played 12. I rotated a lot of guys in and out just giving them the feel, letting some kids get a little bit of varsity basketball experience. We still have a lot of little things we can improve on and we have been working our butts off this week trying to get ready and prepared for Ontario.”
Ontario has not played a game as of yet. They open the season in league play on Friday night at Clear Fork.
Loney says that can make it difficult to figure out what to expect from the Warriors. “As of right now all I have on them is some scrimmage film an that’s about it. It’s hard to tell how good anybody is in scrimmages. There were times that we looked like we were going to be All-American in scrimmages and at times it looked like we might be the worse team in the area in scrimmages. It’s hard to get feel for somebody just seeing a scrimmage. I am definitely going to make my way over to Clear Fork on Friday night there and get a feel on them and get to see them in person,” he said.
Ontario returns a lot of kids, especially guards, from a team that won a division II sectional title last season. Loney says good, experienced guards make any team tough. “We played them this summer in a summer league at their place. Guards are huge. When you have good guards that know the game well and have great basketball I.Q. and coachable kids like they have it is going to make the game tough. He has got that in a couple of those kids there. The Shaver kid is very well coached and very disciplined kid and he does a nice job at the guard spot. The Kurtz kid and Corbin. I think they have a kid coming back who has been out with “ACL” surgery and hasn’t played in a little while in Chance Mott, so he is going to be a difference maker for them also,” said Loney.
Published 12/05/19
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Shelby Going to Push the Tempo
Shelby has a new head boys’ basketball coach in Nathon Loney and they are looking to play a lot of kids and kick the pace of the game into high gear.
They host Mansfield Madison in their first game of the same on Friday night in non-conference play.
Loney says the team has shown a lot of improvement in November. “We opened up in our first scrimmage against Fredericktown, a smaller school, and we did a lot of things that I wasn’t happy with. We never lost a quarter and you can never complain about that. We weren’t anywhere that I wanted to be,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We just had our last scrimmage this past Saturday with Licking Valley, Morgan, and Columbus Academy. I left there feeling very, very comfortable with what we accomplished though the preseason.”
Shelby is getting a lot of kids playing time and Loney says everybody is accepting their role on the team. “In all of our scrimmages we have been rotating 10-12 kids throughout. We have a lot of kids that are playing and getting solid minutes right now. Everybody is accepting their role very well and everybody is realizing what they have go to do for us to be successful,” he said.
There is going to be a lot of full court pressure in the Whippets game plan this season. Loney says they have been scoring a lot of points. “We have been playing full court man all preseason through all of our scrimmages and playing fast. I think in all of our quarters that we are playing and if you took all of our points and if it was from every quarter of our scrimmages we are averaging almost 20 some points a quarter,” he said.
When it comes to Madison, Loney says they are going to be athletic and they have a terrific scorer in Tyler Tackett. He looks for a competitive game on Friday night. “We have a little bit of film on them. I talked to a couple of coaches that scrimmaged with them. I have a very close relationship with coach Sheldon at Colonel Crawford and they scrimmaged them about a week ago and he helped me out and got me some film. We know a little bit about them. They have one kid. He can fill it up in a heartbeat, his last name is Tackett. They are very solid with athletes. They have a lot of good athletes. I think it is going to be a good matchup and a good first game for us,” said Loney.
Published 11/27/19
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Check out our scoreboard at
www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Changing Game Plan
Shelby won the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference title last season and they have a good chance to defend that title this season, but they are going to go at it a different way.
Coach Natalie Lantz thy are going to be much more guard oriented than they were a year ago. “I think we are getting there, we are improving I think everyday at this point, which is what we want, it’s early in the season. We have done a lot of changing up from last year to go along with the players and the skill set that we have this year. Last year, we some players that played inside for us and gave us more of a forward look and we quite frankly don’t have that this year. So, we are looking to change things up a little bit and change pace. They girls have had to adapt to that. They have had three weeks now and I think every week they have gotten better. It has just taken us time to develop that chemistry and not be so robotic offensively when we get into a half court set,” she said.
When it comes to defending that title, Lantz says it is something they are capable of, but they are going to have to show consistent improvement. “I certainly think it’s possible. I definitely there are definitely some teams that can compete for it, but I think if we play to our potential we continue to jell and improve and peaking at the right time I think there is a chance of us walking away with repeat title. That is definitely a goal of ours this year. I think this team does have big potential,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “There are some things we need to work on and do really well. After losing 400 rebounds for the season and losing players like Bailey Walter and Cee Cee Gurney, they just did a great job inside of us last year. We have to rebound and everybody has to do their part, so that has been a big focus for us here in the preseason and it will continue to be a focus for us since we have a little bit of a different look and more of an all guard look.”
Shelby travels to Mansfield Madison to open the season on Friday night.
Lantz says Madison is going to be very athletic and they are going to be aggressive on defense. “I think Madison is really well coached. Brian (Davis) does a great job with them. They are extremely athletic. They are coming off a fantastic soccer season. Congratulations to the Lady Rams. What an awesome year. We are super proud for them coming from this area and representing this area so well and their school and community in getting that far. So, excited for them. They are quick and they have some good shooters and they are very aggressive defensively and I expect we will see a lot of that on Friday. We don’t know much other than that. We played them early last and then we watched them play in the tournament last year. We saw a vast improvement form when we played them to watching them in their postseason play. So, I expect them to come in and be more confident versus when we played them last year. It is definitely not a team we can overlook by any means. I think they are scrappy and aggressive and confident, so we are just going to have to be in our toes,” said Lantz.
Published 11/19/19
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Shelby Plays Battle Tested Clyde
Shelby tangles with Clyde in a division IV regional semifinal in Tiffin on Saturday night.
Last week, Shelby (8-3) outscored Edison (17-0) and grabbed a (31-21) win over the Chargers to advance.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they kind of settled down and handled Edison’s triple option better in the second half. “Our kids kind of stepped up. In the first half we let them have 21 points. We were able to come in at halftime and really didn’t make a lot of adjustments, but just focused and went over the base things they needed to do and understand. They kind of calmed down a little bit. There is a lot of excitement playing in a playoff game, especially at home. Just kind of get them in at halftime and calm them down and make sure they understand what they are doing and let them go out and play in the second half. Our kids really stepped up to the challenge in the second half. Then we made some plays offensively and were able to find a way to win,” he said.
Clyde (7-4) plays in the toughest conference in this area in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, which put five of its six members in the postseason.
Mahaney says they know Clyde has played a very tough schedule. “We have been telling our kids they are battle tested and there is no doubt about that either. In this area that is the toughest football conference around. You are talking about Norwalk and Sandusky, Tiffin Columbian, Clyde, Bellevue, all five of those schools where in the playoffs and Sandusky Perkins is a good team too. Those six teams in that conference are really, really good and Clyde played with every single one of them tough,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They almost beat Norwalk, going for two in overtime, lost by seven to Columbian, played Sandusky close, beat Bellevue, beat Perkins. When you look at the games they have played and the teams they have played against we know that they are a really good football team and played against some of the best teams in this area, that’s for sure.”
Clyde can throw it, quarterback Ryan Lozier threw three TD’s last week, but Mahaney says they like to feature the power run game. “That’s what they try and do. They try to out formation you and try and get your defense in some difficult positions. They move around at the line of scrimmage and try to get you to jump and check to something they like. That’s a tough task because you know they are trying to get numbers. They have a back that is tough and physical and a couple of wingbacks that they try and get the ball too that are fast. Their quarterback is very serviceable, he does a really good job and is a really good football player. We have to be able to defend not only the run, but the pass as well,” said Mahaney.
Now, Clyde has allowed some points at times, by Mahaney says they are aggressive on defense and they will show you a lot of looks. “What I see in their defense is how aggressive they are and how fast they fly around to the football. Their D-line is long and athletic at every position. They use their hands well and their leverage. They also do a good job in the secondary or mixing up coverages. It could be two, three, four, it could be zero. Their linebackers are really good at coverage and also very good at stopping the run. Just a well coached, solid defense,” he said.
Published 11/14/19
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Shelby Faces Edison and the Triple Option
Shelby, the undisputed champ of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, is at home for Edison, the runner-up in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, on Saturday night for a regional semifinal game in division IV.
The Whippets earned an outright title with a (35-25) win over Clear Fork last Friday.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they have pretty much been in playoff mode for the last two weeks and he hopes that helps them on Saturday night. “We have talked to our kids if you go back to week nine, we have tried to have a mindset that after the Galion game and the Lima Central Catholic game to each week is almost a playoff week. Against River Valley we had to win to keep our conference championship alive and to keep the playoffs alive and we were able to pull out a win there. Playing Clear Fork at home, what a great game that was, but again we had to have the mindset that if we wanted to keep playing we had to win that game and if we wanted to win the conference we had to win that game. We were able to find a way to win and win the conference and now make it to week 11. Hopefully, the fact that we have been in the mindset the last two week helps us now on week 11 where everybody that is playing it is win or go home. That mindset should really help us,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (7-3), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Skiles Field against Edison (7-3) on Saturday night in a 4-5 matchup in region 14. Edison is coming off a (41-20) win over Huron.
Edison, of course, runs the triple option and coach Mahaney says they run it very well. “Coach Hall over there does a really good job. I remember being a student at Ashland University and he presented on their triple option at Edison at a clinic. For me, now it is kind of cool to go against him this capacity. He is a really good coach. We have to play sound defense. We have to know our responsibilities and make sure we are doing the right things,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We need our defensive line, which is coached by Nathan Craig, to do a really good job. They have to make sure they do their jobs and know who has the midline guy, everybody has to know their responsibilities and who has the pitch and who has the quarterback. They do such a good job with it. The fullback is a really good football player, so we have to do a good job to stop him and slow him down.”
Edison is one of the few teams that runs the triple option and Mahaney says it is tough to prepare for because it is a formation all its own. “I think it is difficult to prepare for. It is something different. When play against a team that is a zone read there are similar kind of tendencies, but it is so much different because it hits faster. They are so physical and good with it as well. It is definitely a new challenge. I know since we play Saturday and get an extra day that will help our preparation for them, but at the end of the day they are a really, really good football team that executes the triple option really well. There are a lot of spread offenses and they want to spread you out and ways to get the ball out in space. The triple option may not be a spread, but it still gets the ball out. You have to be able to defend the veer, the fullback and then the quarterback and the pitch man, so there is still a lot. That is similar to what a lot of spread offenses will do with the zone read and the option and the bubbles off of it. It is a really tough offense to defend,” said Mahaney.
Published 11/07/19
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Shelby’s Goals are in Front of it
Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Shelby Whippets share first place and have a good chance to make the playoffs with a win over Clear Fork at Skiles Field.
The Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference has the wildest race around here. Shelby and Galion lead Clear Fork and Marion Pleasant by a game. Pleasant hosts Galion on Friday night. So, the league could end in one of three ways with either Shelby or Galion winning the title outright, those two schools could share it with wins, or it could end in a four way tie.
Shelby won because of their defense last week as they stuffed River Valley (17-7) to stay on top in the “MAOC.”
Coach Robert Mahaney says they did what they had to do to win the game. “To be able to rely on our defense to get some stops and then be able to eat some clock and take advantage of what we could offensively I think that speaks to our ability to adapt as a football team and our character in trusting in what we need to do. They did a really good job of kind of eating clock offensively and trying to keep our offense off the field by getting first downs and moving the chains. We were able to kind of bend, but not break defensively, which really helped us. Offensively, we were able to make enough plays to win the game,” said Mahaney.
Being able to play a game for all the marbles on week 10 is the reason you play football, according to Mahaney. “That is what we kind of talked to our kids about. To be playing week 10 for a chance to share the conference championship and a chance to make the playoffs is why we do what we do. It is why in the summer we show up in the mornings and lift and run all through June and July, and our camp days where we stay in a hot dorm. All of those kinds of things. The two a days in August,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Now, we get to a point on week 10 and everything has led you to this point. It’s exciting for the kids, it’s exciting for the community. It is going to be stressful, but it’s going to be an exciting time. It is going to a great high school football game. Clear Fork is a really, really good team and coach Carroll does a really good job. I think it is going to be an exciting game.”
Shelby (6-3,4-1) plays host to Clear Fork (6-3,3-2) on Friday night. The Colts sliced up Marion Harding (55-20) last week to give themselves a chance to get a piece of the title. They have won it outright the last two years. Quarterback Brennan South threw three scoring passes last week and ran for three more.
Mahaney says they hope they can contain South. “Like I said they are really well coached. Coach Carroll does a good job kind of adapting the game plan each week to put his kids in position. Then obviously their quarterback. Brennan South is a really, really good football player. He can beat you with his arm, he can beat you with his legs. He is one of the best players in our conference, there is no doubt about that. So, we have to be able to try and contain him. We are not going to stop him. He is too good of a football player to shut down. Hopefully, we can slow him down and give ourselves a chance,” said Mahaney.
On defense, Mahaney says they Colts are going to show you a lot of different things and maybe something they haven’t shown yet. “Defensively, they adjust and try and take away what you do. So, it is a challenge to find ways to move the football and run the ball and try and take advantage of some things because they are really sound in coverage as well. They do those things well and they have a quarterback that is always going to give them a chance win to win,” he said.
Mahaney feels a couple of scores isn’t going to be good enough to win Friday. He says they need to create some lanes for Owen Fisher, the second leading rusher in the league this season. “They are too good offensively for us to rely on just grinding out a defensive win. So, we have to find some ways to score offensively and hopefully our kids can do that. We have some young guys playing up front with some injuries and stuff. Hopefully, we can find some ways to run the ball and get Owen Fisher going and if we can do that it should be a decent night for us. We will kind of see what happens. At the end of the day we are going into week 10 playing a meaningful game for our conference and playoffs and it is an exciting time,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/29/19
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Shelby Must Handle River Valley’s Physicality
Shelby, a co-leader in the competitive Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at River Valley on Friday night in a key game.
Right now, Shelby and Galion have on loss, River Valley, Marion Pleasant and Clear Fork have two. Only Ontario and Marion Harding have been eliminated from the race.
Shelby lost (55-41) to Lima Central Catholic in a non-conference game on Friday night.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they played a really good football team and they never gave up. “They are a really good football team that is coached really well. They have a running back that played one of the best games I have seen. He ran for over 300 yards and had over 100 yards receiving and six touchdowns. I made sure to go up and shake his hand afterwards. Those are the types of games that really build a good name for that kid. I just think you have to tip your hat and give credit. They are a really good football team with some good players,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The thing I am proud of is I thought our kids fought. We were down two possessions at one time and clawed our way back and made it a one possession game and they got the touchdown to make it 55-41 and that kind of sealed the game. We fought really hard and some of the lessons we learned and the tings we learned about our football team will help us to kind of close out the “MOAC” and help us finish strong.”
Shelby controls its own destiny in the conference and Mahaney says that is a pretty good thing with two weeks left. “Obviously, these last two weeks are going to be really tough for us, but we control our own destiny and as a football team that is all you can ask for at this point going into week nine. We have to make sure we lock things up and learn from these last two weeks and get ready for a really, really good River Valley team,” he said.
Shelby (5-3,3-1) is at River Valley (6-2,3-2) on Friday night. The Vikings pounded Marion Harding (36-12) last week.
Mahaney characterizes them as a physical run team. “They are very big and very physical. They have some really big backs that they like to pound at you and a buck sweep to kind of get outside with those kids. Their fullback is a really, really good football player and we have to be ready to tackle him and make sure we are playing our assignments and making sure we get 11 guys to the football every play,” he said.
On defense, Mahaney says the Vikings have great pursuit and they have to be able to be very good at their blocking schemes. “They fly around and get to the football. They play with a little bit of confidence and a little bit of swagger and you can see that with the way that they play. So, we have to be ready for that and we have to be ready to execute up front, which has been off and on for us. Obviously, this is a big week for us on week nine to make sure we are playing really well against a good physical team. We have to also make sure outside we can make plays and block. We have struggled the last couple of weeks in blocking on the perimeter and against them we have to make sure we do that. If we can do that we can create some space for our ballcarriers and try and make some plays,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/22/19
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Shelby Has to Learn From Last Week
Shelby fell into a share of first place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with a one-point loss to Galion last week.
They host Lima Central Catholic in a non-conference game on Friday night.
The Whippets got the ball down inside the 10-yard line in the final 30 seconds last week, but couldn’t punch it in a (13-12) loss to Galion in conference play.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they have to use it as a learning experience. “I think we are using that as a stepping stone for these last three games. There are a lot of things we would like back. Defensively, I thought we played really well and gave ourselves a shot to compete. Offensively, we had a lot of miscues. We had two touchdowns called back, missed two extra points. We had a chance at the end and just wasn’t able to execute down the stretch,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I just think for us I have talked to the team that we have to take this as a learning experience as much as its stings. Hopefully, it ill put us in position to play a really tough Lima Central Catholic team this Friday in a non-conference game and then finish the conference strong in our last two games with River Valley and Clear Fork.”
Mahaney says he hopes they can benefit from what they have learned from the loss. “I think sometimes when you pull out a win and you are doing bad habits you don’t really think about it. You think, oh, we still won, and your bad habits can kind of persist. When bad habits happen in a loss I think it brings more attention and more focus and you figure out the difference between winning and losing is those bad habits and we have to get to work and fix those,” he said.
Shelby (5-2) entertains Lima Central Catholic (6-1) in a non-league game on Friday night. The Thunderbirds only loss was (49-45) to Lima Senior on week one of the season. They have scored less than 40 points only once this year.
Mahaney says they run a different offense with a number of quality athletes they will have to defend. “They run a very good offense. It is kind of like a wing-T. It is more like a flex Jet kind of offense. They have some really good running backs that they get the ball to out in space with a lot of jet sweeps and do a good job of running jet power and jet iso off of that. They are really going to challenge us in the run game. The line up in a heavy box, which we haven’t seem a lot of, so there are going to be some adjustments. They have the athletes to make some really big plays and they have been scoring a lot of points. It is going to be a really good test for our defense this Friday,” said Mahaney.
After the loss to Galion last week, the Whippets dropped to number 10 in their division four computer region. Mahaney says they need to make up a little ground. “For us setting at 5-2 with three weeks left, we have three tough teams left and things start this week with Lima Central Catholic and we have to kind of handle our business if we want to make the postseason. So, that starts definitely this week. It’s a game where we need to come out and kind of right our wrongs from last Friday and put the season back on track where we want it to be,” he said.
Published 10/15/19
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Shelby Has to Contain Explosive Galion
Shelby leads three teams by one game, including Galion, in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference standings and they host the Tigers in a game with a lot of implications on Friday night at W.W. Skiles Field in Shelby.
A win by the Whippets pretty much knocks Galion from the race. A Tiger could create as much as a four way tie for the lead.
Last week, the Whippets pounded Marion Harding (49-7) to take command of the league standings.
Coach Robert Mahaney feels they are getting a lot better. “I think we are taking that step week to week. I talk to the team when you are playing week seven and the game is as big as it is this week and you taken care of business up to this point the only way can do that is get better each day and each week and I think we have. We have improved each week up front in understanding what we are trying to do offensively and defensively and where we are supposed to be and rules and all of that kind of stuff. We are taking steps with that every single day. I think we are improving. I think that showed last week when we came out and played well against a good Marion Harding team,” said Mahaney.
Shelby (5-1,3-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Galion (5-1,2-1) in a “MOAC” game. Galion lost (31-21) to Clear Fork last week for their first loss of the season.
Galion has to top quarterback in the conference in passing yards in Wilson Frankhouse and the top three receivers in Isaiah Alsip, Kalib Griffin and Hanif Donaldson, all with more than 20 catches. Alsip has six for scores.
Mahaney says they are hard to defend, but that is what they need to do. He says they can’t allow a lot of big plays. “They are extremely explosive. They have some really, really good athletes and a quarterback that does a good job of getting them the ball. He does a good job of extending plays with his legs and keeping his eyes down field and making plays and they are good up front too. They have a lot of different weapons at receiver they can get the ball to and they are all really, really good football players,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “That is something we have been stressing about trying our best to try and limit big plays. We are going to try and contain them. They are too good to think we are going to shut them down. So, we just have to do our best to try and limit the big plays. The most important play in football is the next play and we have to be able to respond when they make their big plays.”
Galion is a team that blitzes a lot and Mahaney says they have the athletes in the secondary that allow them to take chances. “They are a very aggressive team, but you are able to do that when you have the athletes they do in the secondary. They are able to keep everything in front of them and move their D-line, slant and angle them and blitz their linebackers, which they like to do a lot. They are trying to create havoc and create chaos up front and try and disrupt your offensive line and their rules and all of that kind of stuff. It is going to be very important for us offensively, especially up front to make sure we are sound we our rules and where our eyes need to be against the linebacker blitzes, it is going to be tough for us,” he said.
Shelby with a win improves their chances of winning the league and making the playoffs. Plus, Mahaney says you can’t forget the rivalry factor. “For us it is a big game in the conference and a big week for us, but it is also 116 meeting between Shelby and Galion. It is a rivalry that dates back to the “NOL.” The first game was played in 1894. So, you are talking about a big rivalry game that is going to be renewed this Friday night. The communities for both sides are going to come out. There is going to be a lot of energy. It is homecoming for us. There are a lot of things to get distracted with. A lot of things to build up a lot energy and emotion. I think we have to do a good job of controlling that and harnessing that and make sure we don’t try to do more than we need too. Do your job, do your assignment, trust the guys around you, don’t try and do something over the top. Just stay who you are and play Shelby football,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/11/19
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Shelby Takes Act to Marion Harding
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference co-leaders Shelby and Galion meet next week in a big showdown in the conference, but before that the Whippets travel to Marion Harding for a road test on Friday night in conference play.
Shelby throttled Marion Pleasant (54-33) last Friday at W.W. Skiles Field for their fourth win in five starts this season.
Owen Fisher ran all over the Pleasant defense and coach Robert Mahaney says they were able to catch the momentum in the final quarter. “We spotted them 13 points within the first three minutes. We battled back and made some plays and handled adversity really well. It was a back and forth game. They went up, we came back, they got back up on us, and we were able to make plays down the stretch. We pulled away in the fourth quarter with three touchdowns. It was a good day offensively. Defensively, they made some really good plays. I don’t think we played bad, I just think they made some good plays. It is going to be a learning experience for us going forward,” said Mahaney.
Again, the Whippets showed great offensive balance last week led by quarterback McGwire Albert. Mahaney says they are set up to take what the defense gives them. “Especially our running back had a big night, but also our quarterback ran the ball really well and he also threw the ball for 270 yards. I think we had really good balance. We really try to preach to take whatever the defense gives us, whether that is running the ball or throwing the ball. We are going to do whatever we can to put our kids in the best position to succeed,” he said.
Shelby (4-1,2-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Marion Harding (2-3,1-1) on Friday night in “MOAC” action. The Presidents dropped one to Galion (42-18) last week in a conference game. They had beaten Pleasant (38-35) the week before.
Mahaney is particularly impressed with running back Dandre Ayers. “Their running back is a really, really good football player. We saw that when we were getting ready for Marion Pleasant too. We watched the film when they beat Pleasant, which was a big win for them, and they showed the potential that they have. We have to do everything in our power to get ready for a very good team, which is really big up front,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have a lot of athletes as well. They do a good job of throwing the ball and running it to. So, I think it is going to be a really good test for us traveling there. I think it will be a really good game on Friday night.”
This is the first season Shelby is participating in the “MOAC” in football and Mahaney says there is a lot of new this fall. “It is a whole new experience for everybody involved. Especially when you start talking about conference games. Those are games you are used to or stadiums that you are used to, but for us being in a new conference it is all going to be new. It is exciting, but you would also like some familiarity. For us that will come, obviously, over time. We know the teams in the “MOAC” and how good it is and how good it has been. We just have to be ready to go to Harding. We know it is going to be a really good game,” said Mahaney.
Published 10/01/19
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Shelby Faces Pleasant and Their Physical Run Game
Shelby entertains Marion Pleasant, a couple of storied football traditions, in a game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.
The Whippets won their first ever game as a member of the conference last week in whipping Ontario (42-7) last Friday.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they did a lot of things well. “I thought we played really well. Offensively, we were able to make some big plays and take advantage of some of the coverage things that they gave us. The big thing was we were able to execute, which was a good sign. Defensively, I thought we played our butts off the whole entire night. Our defensive line was able to control the running game and get after the passer, which was capitalized by Marek Albert having six sacks on the night. To his credit, he played a heck of a game. The other guys did their jobs too allowing him to have that kind of night,” said Mahaney.
He says it was a total team effort on defense led by defensive coordinator Jon Amicone. “I have never seen anybody get six sacks. It’s a credit to the secondary, a credit to the linebackers, and the defensive line because Marek was able to get one on one matchups because of how good our other defensive linemen are. Coach (Jon) Amicone was calling blitzes and stuff to get everybody in position to make plays and Marek was able to do it all night,” he said.
Shelby (3-1,1-0) plays host to Marion Pleasant (3-1,0-1) on Friday night. The Spartans lost (38-35) to Marion Harding last week. They have scored a bunch of points this season, but they have also given up a lot.
Mahaney says this is a team that wants to be physical and run the football. “You are talking about a team with 22 “MOAC” titles. Obviously, they are a team that is always towards the top. Always competing for championships in our conference. They are extremely physical. They are coming off a loss to a rival in Harding, so we know they are going to want to get that taste out of their mouth. They are going to have a little extra fire for us this week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The running back is the career leading rusher over there and he is a heck of a football player and we have to be able to stop them. Their running back is the number one rusher in the conference and their quarterback is the third. So, really we have to be able to stop both of those guys. Their offensive line is good too. They are definitely a team that is going to line up and run the ball at you and we have to do everything we can to slow them down.”
Patrick Blubaugh is Pleasant’s all time leading rusher and he leads the conference is rushing yards this season.
Mahaney says they are going to do their best to contain him, but he is going to get his yards. “He is a really fast kid. So, if we an box him in and kind of get into the backfield and make some plays and slow down and try and get a lot of hats to the football is about the best we can ask our defense to do. We know he is going to make some plays here and there even when we are playing well. That’s just how good of a football player he is. We just have to try and limit those plays,” he said.
Published 9/25/19
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Big Plays a Key in Shelby-Ontario Game
Shelby makes its debut in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night as they make the short trip to Ontario to face the Warriors.
They lost for the first time last week when Big Walnut knocked them off (21-14) in a non-conference game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they had chances to win that game. “Watching the firm and talking to the kids we understand that. I think there are a lot of lessons that we learned, little things that are going to make us a better team. I think we are at a point now where we are going to use that as kind of springboard and launch ourselves into “MOAC” play and hopefully be able to get after Ontario this Friday,” said Mahaney.
With league play starting this week, Mahaney says the games become more meaningful right away. “When you walk into gyms you see banners for conferences and leagues and now we are starting to play for those. So, I think it does kind of get things going. For us, playing Ontario, right next door, is a good way for us to start “MOAC” play. I think our kids are excited and ready to go,” he said.
Shelby (2-1,0-0) is at Ontario (2-1,0-0) on Friday night in “MOAC” action. The Warriors outscored Black River (55-29) last week after a loss to Lexington (47-21) and a win over Highland (28-7) the first two weeks.
Mahaney says they have improved a bunch on defense and have a lot of weapons on offense. “I think Ontario is a very, very well coached team. I think coach (Chris) Miller does a really good job over there. A lot of people will point to their Lexington game week one, but I have always thought, and you hear it all of the time, the biggest growth of a football team is between week one and week two and you can see that on film. Obviously, Lexington did some things against them, but the next two weeks they play Highland and Black River, two really heavy rushing teams, that they were able to slow down and stop their rush. I think for us it is going to be finding ways to run the football and do the job defensively of taking that away,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Offensively, we have to limit their big plays. It’s an offense that spreads the ball around. They do a good job of attacking you at various places on the field at the same time. So, we have to do a good job of staying true to our assignments, reading our keys, and then tackling because they are going to get the ball in space and make us tackle.”
Both teams have lived on big plays this season and Mahaney says that is going to tell the story on Friday night too. “For us on both sides of the ball when we look at our goal sheet. Defensively, we want to limit big plays and if we can do that we will give ourselves a chance to compete. It is just tough. It is tough for offenses to have 10, 15 play drives anymore, so if we can limit them and try and make them do that it is going to be good for us defensively. Offensively, we struggled all year having to make long drives, so it would be really good for us to make some big plays, some explosive plays, and get our athletes out and let them run. That is kind of our goal offensively,” said Mahaney.
Published 9/19/19
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Shelby Must Adjust Again
Shelby has been able to adjust to the strengths of the teams they have played and they will have to do that again as they travel to Big Walnut on Friday night for a non-conference game.
Last week, they were able to take the Lexington running game away and beat the Minutemen (42-14) to improve to (2-0) on the season.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they did a great job with their assignments. “We were able to make some big plays offensively. We were able to take advantage of some one on one matchups with our receivers and able to win there. Then defensively after they ran for 500 yards against Ontario it was really something we wanted to work on to stop. We wanted to make them bounce everything and we were able to do that up front and that was a credit to those kids and the way they played. We kind of made them pass more than they wanted to. It worked out really well for us,” said Mahaney.
The Shelby coach says again this week they are going to have to improve and adjust. “You want to get better not only week to week, but day to day as a football team. We want to improve day to day and week to week. Obviously, Lexington gave us some challenges with their defense and the type of defense that they play really challenged us offensively. So, for us to be able to adapt and adjust was just going to help us in the future when we see he same defenses or when we have to win those match ups again. The obviously, going into this week against Big Walnut, this game is going to be a really big challenge for us because now we have to be able to adjust and adapt again and hopefully we can do that,” he said.
Shelby (2-0) at Big Walnut (1-1), who is coming off a (48-20) shelling of Buckeye Valley last week.
Mahaney says Golden Eagles are going to force them into quick decisions. “Offensively, they do a lot of good things. They are a big run pass option team and they put us in binds. If we don’t do our assignment and we get greedy defensively they are going to take advantage of it. They throw to ball really well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Defensively, they fly around. They have some kids with really, really good motors and jump in out of fronts defensively. We have to be able to adjust on the fly and make sure we know our base rules and how that applies to different defensive fronts. The big thing is we have to get better, so it comes down to how well we are playing and how well we can execute.”
Published 9/13/19
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Shelby Defense to be Challenged by Explosive Lexington
Shelby did a lot of good things in a win last week over Madison, but there is still a lot that needs to be sharpened as they host Lexington in their home opener on Friday night at Skiles Field.
Shelby pounded Madison (50-20) last week after falling behind (14-0) early in the game.
Coach Robert Mahaney says they need to be better on special teams and their run defense must be improved. “I think there are some things that we definitely need to work on. Obviously, we are going to work on our kickoff return team and make sure we shore up those kinds of things. We allowed two on side kicks to happen in the game. Defensively, there are some things we need to tweak and adjust, especially going into a game against Lexington, who just ran for a whole bunch of yards against Ontario. We have to shore up those things before we face Lexington,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Offensively, we never got to a fourth down, so that is a good sign that we played well, but at the same time we had a turnover and some other little things that we have to shore up. So, overall we did some really good things, but definitely some things we can learn from.”
Mahaney says it is kind of like a perfect storm to be able to produce a good win and still have things to work on in practice. “Obviously, walking out of week one with a win is much better than a loss, but to have some things that we can actually work on is good. It’s a game that should help us move forward into week two and then further into the season,” he said.
Lexington blasted Ontario (47-21) in its first game as Kayden Berry rushed for more than 300 yards to establish a Lexington single game record.
Mahaney says they have to do something to contain that running game. “Kayden Berry I think broke the school rushing record for a single game. He is a really, really good running back and something we are going to have to prepare for, we are going to have to slow him down. That’s what they like to do, they like to run the ball. When they need to, they will kind of throw some deep passes here and there, only if they have to. Kayden is really good back, but the other backs they have too are really good. They are strong and physical. Their left tackle is a very good football player, that’s why he has the offers he does and he is going where he is going. So, we have to be ready for that as well. They do a good job defensively too. We know it is going to be a really tough task,” said Mahaney.
On defense, Mahaney says Lexington sort of forces you to take chances to move the ball. “Playing that 3-3 stack that they are really good at. They don’t have Cade Stover, but they are still really, really good defensively. They put you in tough situations. They are very aggressive in their coverages. They try and keep as many guys in the box as possible. You have to take your shots and you hope you can connect. That is how they want you to do it. They are going to force you to take your shots and try and win some matchups they think they can win,” he said.
Published 9/03/19
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Whippets Have to Stop Madison Run
Longtime non-conference rivals Shelby and Madison lock horns at Startek Stadium at Ram Field on Friday night in a non-conference game.
It will be the first regular season game for Robert Mahaney as the Shelby head coach.
He says the kids are really excited to be under the Friday night lights for the first time. “I think our kids are super excited, especially when you are playing a rivalry game week one against Madison right across town. For us to get out there week one and to play them the kids are excited, the community is excited. With the coaching change too the people in the community are excited to see what we are going to look like. How we are going to be different. I definitely think there is big excitement for this game,” he said.
Will the Whippets be different schematically? Yes, a little bit, especially on offense, according to Mahaney. “I think defensively coach (Jon) Amicone, who was the defensive coordinator the last three years, has stayed on staff and he is doing a phenomenal job with our defense. So, defensively we are going to stay very, very similar to what they were. Maybe a few thoughts and opinions from me here and there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Offensively, we are going to be similar, but yet different in multiple ways. We are still going to be a spread offense. We might throw it more than they have in the past. It depends on whatever that defense is going to give us. I don’t have any problem throwing it 60 times a game or running it 60 times a game just depending on what the defense is going to give us. We are going to try and put our kids in the best position to make plays.”
Madison has only won three games in the last three years. Mahaney says they are improved and they are going to feature the power running game. “I think they are very much improved. I think coach (Dave) Stupka is doing a really good job over there. The numbers are back up. They are excited. We saw them in a scrimmage and they were flying around yelling an getting excited for football, which is a great thing to see over there. We know we have to stop the run. That is Madison’s “M.O.” and it has been for a long time. They are going to try and run the ball right at us. We have to do everything in our power to stop it. If we can do that and we can make some plays offensively it is going to give us a shot on Friday night,” he said.
When it comes to the power running game the defense has to win the line of scrimmage to stop it. However, Mahaney says that is really the case on any Friday night. “It is a little different look for us than going against ourselves. We are more of a spread team. So, when you see a team that is going to throw three backs and double tights at you it is different. In high school football in the State of Ohio you have to be able to stop the run if you want to be good on defense. That doesn’t matter if it is a spread team or a wing-T or wishbone or whatever you are going against if you can’t stop the run you are going to struggle defensively. I think this is a good challenge for us week one to see a different look. They are going to come right at us and we have to be prepared,” said Mahaney.
Published 8/29/19
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Shelby Hopes to Learn More Friday
Shelby opens up the regular season in a week’s time as they face Mansfield Madison in the first game of the Robert Mahaney era as the Whippets head coach.
They play Norwalk, a final four team in division three a year ago, in their final scrimmage on Friday.
Mahaney feels like the Whippets are making strides toward that opener next week. “I felt like we have such a long time and it’s like oh man the game is next week and you think did we do this? Did we do that? Are we prepared for different situations and scenarios that can happen in a game? You know at the end of the day with the way our kids are working right now we will finish out that last prep that we need to and I feel like we are going to be ready for week one,” he said.
At the beginning of camp, the Whippets offensive line had some inexperience, but Mahaney says they have been steadily improving. “They are doing well. Last week, we scrimmaged Perkins and it was a good scrimmage for us. They brought a lot of pressure and it was good for our young guys to kind of see that and understanding blitzes and holding to their assignments and doing things the right way. I think it was a great learning experience for us, so I think going into this Friday when we have Norwalk, which will be a great scrimmage for us to really show us where we are at and that offensive line to build since Perkins. We want to see in our scrimmages the first to the second to the third that we are taking steps and hopefully we will do that (Friday) night,” said Mahaney.
Norwalk is the favorite to win the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference and they will give the Whippets a stiff test. Mahaney says they need that as they prepare for Madison. “We didn’t prep for Norwalk. We are really just worried about ourselves, that’s the big thing. We have an idea what we are going to do week one against Madison, we want to start the season off right,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “At the same time, we know we are going against a good football team (Friday) night, so we want to make sure our kids have at least an idea of what we are going to do and what we are going to see because they are a good football team and it’s a good test for us. We are excited to really get out there and go against somebody else. It has been a long preseason, so these three scrimmages have been nice, they kind of break it up and you go against a different color and it will prepare us for next Friday against Madison.”
Published 8/23/19
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Shelby Good, Needs to be Better
Shelby is entering a new league in football and they have the horses to make some noise too in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
They have a new coach too in former Mapleton boss Robert Mahaney.
He likes what he sees early in the preseason. “I think we are coming around really well. We had our first scrimmage last Friday against Tusky Valley. It was a long drive for us, but we came out and played really well. Offensively, we were able to move the ball, especially in the air we did really well. The routes are coming together. We are kind of finding the windows and finding the gaps that we are teaching our kids to do and they are doing a good job. I thought we blocked really well up front too and they created some good lanes for us. It is only a matter of time to they figure it out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The offense is similar to what they have done in the past, but it is a little different. So, me and them getting on the same page has gone well. Defensively we are playing really well. I thought we did well in the scrimmage and ran to the football, controlled the line of scrimmage, the secondary we were in the right spot all of the time. That is all you can ask for at this point to make sure they have got their assignments and they are doing it full speed. Hopefully, we can build off that success we had last scrimmage when we play Perkins this Friday in a scrimmage and continue to get better.”
The Whippets have athletes on their roster and on offense and Mahaney, known as sort of an offensive guru at Mapleton, thinks they can do a lot of good things with the ball. “I think we have the athletes to throw it a lot, but I also think we have some really good running backs to run the ball. I think McGwire (Albert) can run the ball too at the quarterback position. So, I think we are going to have balance. I have always thought whatever the teams are going to give us defensively. If they are going to load the box, I think we have the athletes to throw it. If they are going to spread it out we have the backs and offensive line. We are continuing to grow up front with those guys and how we are playing now. If they are going to spread it out and try and stop the pass then we are going to try and run it. I think we are balanced and have a lot of different guys that I think can hurt defenses and try get everybody the ball,” he said.
With two and half weeks to go before the opener with Madison, Mahaney thinks they need to especially get better on the offensive line and at linebacker. “There are a lot of little things that need sharpened here in the preseason. We have to get better up front. We have some young guys playing there. They got a little bit of a taste last year, a little bit of experience, but we need them to continue to develop. Our linebacker corps needs a little bit of work. We have a couple new guys and another that moved position to mic linebacker. He is doing a great job leading the defense at mic, but everyone is in a new position there. We definitely have to grow. At this point, we want to get better at tackling. Tackling wins football games. We have to do everything in our power to tackle. Obviously, blocking too. Offensively, we want to block at receiver and offensive line. Those are things we are trying to focus on and groups that we think really need to step up to the challenge,” said Mahaney.
Published 8/13/19
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Shelby Boys’ Track Claims State Title
The Shelby Whippets boys’ track and field team won the division two state title last weekend at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at The Ohio State University.
Having won the regional title the week before, coach Chris Zuercher says they knew the possibility was at least in the cards. “That has a great ring to it. It has been a great season and we knew we had the pieces to the puzzle to do it this past weekend and we did. It has not been an easy season. I am glad it is over, but it sure was fun,” he said.
The Whippets finished with 57 points, 51 of them coming from an outstanding group of distance runners. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, of the PAC-7, finished as the runner with 42 points.
Zuercher says it was a truly a team effort by the Whippets. “We had quite a few events down there. Our sprinters are much improved over the last few years and the 4x100 was down there and things didn’t go that well for them with the exchange, but they are improved and they brought a lot of energy to this team. Uriah Schwemley with the high jump and he knew what he needed with his points. The distance guys, absolutely, it was a team effort,” said Zuercher.
Schwemley finished third in the high jump, clearing 6’6”.
This distance group was record setting as Blake Lucius, Caleb Brown, Samuel Logan, and Sam Swanger won the 4x800 meter relay. Brown swept the 1,600 meters, in 4:18.97, and the 3,200 meters, in 9:36.16. Meanwhile, Lucius took the 800 meters 1:53.60. Logan was third in the 1,600 and fourth in the 3,200 meters.
Zuercher confirms their performance has now set the standard for distance events in Columbus. “Those distance guys made history this past weekend. It was the first time there was a distance sweep, it had never been done before. It is also the most points any distance squad has scored at state, which was 51 points,” he told Swankonsports.com, “The confidence, so many of those distance guys from racing in New York City or in Kentucky, Cincinnati. A lot of those guys were broken up during the year and they were racing in different locations to be ready for this past weekend.”
Published 6/04/19
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Shelby Edges Norwalk in Good District Game
Shelby got past Norwalk (3-2) in a division two district semifinal game on Thursday afternoon at Sports Force Park in Sandusky.
Next for the Whippets are the Vermilion Sailors on Friday at Sports Force Park, who is hosting its first tournament action this spring.
Shelby scored twice in the first and the Truckers tied it (2-2) with single runs in the first and second.
It stayed that way until the fifth when Shelby scored on a Blaine Bowman leadoff single, a Norwalk error, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI single by Blaise Caudill to give the Whippets the (3-2) lead.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says it was a very good district game that was played well by both sides. “It was a really clean game. It went pretty quick, it was crisp, both teams played really well. There were no errors throughout the entire game. Both teams bunted real well and moved runners,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It was really clean from start to finish with both pitchers throwing strikes and being efficient with their pitches. When you have no errors it makes the game go fast and clean. We were fortunate to make a couple more hits when we needed them.”
Caudill also started the game for the Whippets an threw six strong innings. Zach Hartz came into the work the seventh and get the save. He struck out two and retired the side in order. That was the same strategy used by the Shelby coaching staff in their sectional win over Ontario last week.
Amicone says they did a good job handling Norwalk’s small ball game. “We spent the majority of our practice working on different bunt defenses and bunt variations. We wanted to be fully prepared to execute those plays. Our boys did a nice job of taking what we did during practice this week on to the game and it paid dividends for us,” he said.
Shelby (14-10) finished sixth in the tough Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, but Amicone says they have played their best baseball over the last three weeks. “That is really all you can ask as a coach is to have your kids playing at their best at the end of your season. It is a testament to our kids to continue to work and develop even when things weren’t going well in April. I think it speaks volumes about the competitive nature of our guys. I am extremely proud of the way they have continued to work and played the game hard and the right way. They bought in and they gave themselves the opportunity for a district championship,” said Amicone.
Vermilion (21-6) and champions of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, beat Bellevue (8-7) in nine innings on Thursday to make the district final.
Amicone says they have all the ingredients of an excellent baseball team. “They are extremely talented. They do a lot of things well. They hit well, they field well, and they throw well. They are the two seed and the definitely have the guys. They have a lot of guys that are going to play college baseball. They bring back a lot of guys. They are a senior laden class. They are very impressive to watch. We will have to play our “A” game to give ourselves a chance,” said Amicone.
Published 5/24/19
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Shelby Downs Lexington; Prepares for Top Seeded Ontario
Shelby routed Lexington (11-4) in their opening round softball tournament game in division two on Tuesday evening and will now advance to play at number one seed Ontario on Friday.
Norwalk beat Mansfield Senior (7-4) and will play at Madison and Vermilion run ruled Tiffin Columbian (11-1) and advances to play at Upper Sandusky, both of those games are also May 10.
The Lady Whippets (6-15) have not scored double figure runs since April 17 and coach Natalie Huggins says it is good to get those bats going. “It is good to put more than 10 runs on the board, shoot, it is good to put more than five runs on the board a lot of times. We actually got down 2-0 in the first and were down until the bottom of the second then we tied it up and exploded later on in the game. Definitely always a good thing to put 11 runs on the board,” she said.
Lexington took the early lead in the game and had beaten Shelby (4-2) as part of the MVD Classic in Ashland in April and Huggins says they had to dig down deep and find something. “A big credit to our girls because we lost to Lexington earlier in the season. We had a couple of kids on spring break in Europe. It was an early morning game and we had just played Crestview the night before in a late night game. I think we had a little bit of the tireds in us,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “It would have been easy for us to get down 2-0 and start thinking oh no we are down to a team that has beat us already. I big credit to our girls for gut checking and answering back and getting back in the ballgame and then taking the lead.”
Shelby is at Ontario (12-3), #3 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday. The Lady Warriors won both games played in the “MOAC” this season.
Huggins says both sides know what the opponent is all about. “We know what we are getting into. In the tournament the higher seeded teams are the higher seeded teams for a reason. Ontario is very good as are all of the top seeded teams. We played a game against them and we lost 5-3 at Shelby and then we also know we went to Ontario and got run ruled. We know exactly what is coming, they know what’s coming. The best team will win on Friday,” said Huggins.
Published 5/08/19
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Shelby Boys’ Track Doing Well
Shelby is fielding one of the area’s best boys’ track and field teams this season, led by a talented and deep group of distance runners.
Coach Chris Zuercher feels with the improvement of their sprinters and throwers this is a pretty good Whippet team overall. “So far, pretty solid. We are really happy with our distance guys. Our distance crew has been really solid, but this year our sprinters have really improved and that has been great. Uriah Schwemley in the high jump is returning state champion. He has had a really rice year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Our throws have really improved with the discuss and Caleb Hinkle in the long jump has had gone in the upper 21’s. We are a lot more of a complete team this year than we have been in a few past years.”
Zuercher says sickness has been an issue with the distance runners this spring, but they have just so much depth on the squad. “In cross county I would say things went pretty easy for us, this spring has been really opposite. We have had the flu go through with the guys with high temperatures and we have guys still getting healthy. We have had to use the depth. Caleb (Brown) has been one of the lucky ones, knock on wood, he is one of our few guys all season that has avoided all of the various things that have gone around the team and he is looking really strong,” said Zuercher.
Brown won the 3,200 meters at the Mehock Relays and finished sixth in the Eastern Relays in Louisville, Kentucky, a couple of weeks ago.
May is championship month in track and field with the league meets and the district, regional and state meets. Zuercher says you try and peak at the right time no matter what your events are. “Weather I think helps a lot in track. When it gets warmer you see faster times. For distance guys you are definitely trying to peak at the late part of May. The temperatures kind of hinder the distance guys because we don’t want it as hot as the sprinters want it. When it is warm the sprinters are really able to get things going and the distance guys, we want it a little more cooler. Depending on the caliper of athlete and where you want them to have their best performance of the year,” said Zuercher.
The Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference meet in May 7 and 9 at Marion Harding High School.
Shelby is new to the conference, but Zuercher knows who is the team to beat. “Galion and Ontario are both really strong programs. I know the Galion coach well and they are strong. Coby Fox is a great athlete and he can do so many things for them. They are going to be a big challenge for us. Galion has won quite a few leagues in the past and I think they are defending “MOAC” champion. They will be gunning and they are a strong team. They are the team to beat in the “MOAC,” he said.
Published 5/01/19
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Shelby Nips Perkins
Shelby won its third straight game on Monday evening as they dodged the rain drops and beat Sandusky Perkins (7-6) in a non-conference game.
They play Buckeye Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday in “MOAC” play. They trail league leader Clear Fork by two games with four to play. They play River Valley in their league series next week.
Coach Jon Amicone says they are staring to play with some confidence and that’s a good thing. “Our kids are playing with a lot of confidence and it is really nice to see them play that way. We struggled early on in the year and had a little rough patch in the middle. The guys are just fighting and clawing and trying to play as hard as they can and it seemed like things weren’t falling our way,” he told Swankonports.com after the win, “It is good to see our kids playing with some confidence, a little giddy up in their step. They are playing really hard for us right now.”
Perkins had the winning run in scoring position when the game ended. Amicone says Zach Hartz was able to put out the fire. “It is kind of crunch time. They had runners on second and third, they had the go ahead run on second. Those are men maker type games one way or another. We lost a couple of those against Clear Fork early on in the year, so it is nice to see our kids grow, to see us be able to complete games now. Zach Hartz came in an got the save for us, did a nice job closing and throwing strikes. He got the big out when we needed it most,” said Amicone.
Perkins shares the lead in the Lake Division of the “SBC” and Amicone says that was a good win to get, especially with the tournament draw coming up on Sunday. “They are having a really good season. Coach (Chris) Walton does a really good job up there. They play really good in the “SBC” and play in a tough conference. It was a good, quality win for us. It was senior night and we were able to get all of our seniors in. All of our seniors contributed, it was just a good all around night for our guys,” he said.
Published 4/30/19
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Shelby Knocks Off Galion
Shelby helped to throw the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference baseball race into chaos on Tuesday by beating Galion (7-3) on the road.
Galion, Clear Fork and Ontario now share first place in the conference. Ontario beat Clear Fork (6-2) on Tuesday.
Whippets coach Jon Amicone says they did a nice job in all three phases of the game. “We go into Heise Park, which is always a difficult place to play against an unbelievable team that is rolling right now and we were able to string some hits together. We got a really good outing from Blaze Caudill. He did a nice job mixing up his pitches and kept a good hitting team off balance for the most part and we were able to back him up defensively,” said Amicone.
Amicone says Caudill has stepped up and become the ace of the staff this year for Shelby. “Blaze has been a workhorse. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. When we need a win and have lost a couple in a row, he has come in and really been our guy. Our defense plays better when he is out there. He has really took on that leadership role with Hunter Hoffman out. We were waiting to see what guy stood up and with no doubt it has been Blaze Caudill,” he said.
Shelby (7-7,4-5) trails the conference leaders by two games and will host Galion (12-3,6-3), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, on Wednesday in the rematch. Amicone says their goal is to just get better every day they are on the field. “That is the thing we are preaching to get better every day. Obviously, last week we didn’t play the way we should have and we lost a couple of games that you learn some tough lessons on, but I was very appreciative of our guys focus (Tuesday) and their ability to bounce back after being challenged last week. They came in and played the game the right way and hard and I was extremely proud of them,” he said.
The City of Shelby was struck by a tornado on April 14. Amicone says it has affected every part of the Shelby community, including the baseball team. “Our community did an unbelievable job coming together. That is the one thing that I think about Shelby more than anything when disaster strikes, whether it’s a flood or a fire or this case a tornado our community really comes together,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We have a player that has some damage to his house, lost his garage, lost host roof, the house is probably going to be totaled and he is not going to have a place to live for a while. Our guys kind of came together and we let him know we are going to be here for him for what he needs. It is a great family. I was just proud of our kids to let him know we are going to be there for him no matter what.”
Published 4/24/19
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Shelby Rallies to Beat Bellevue
Shelby scored four times in the top of the eighth inning an beat Bellevue (10-6) in a non-conference baseball game played at Bellevue on Thursday evening.
Coach Jon Amicome says his kids came out in the eighth and had the right approach. “Our kids came out in the eighth inning and put some good at bats together. It showed a lot character from our kids. We had a lead going into the bottom of the sixth and we gave up the league. We were able to hold a runner at third base with two outs in the seventh. That us something we weren’t able to early on in the year. We gave ourselves a chance to win. I love the approach of our guys in the eighth inning in throwing a couple of good hits together. We ran the squeeze for an extra run. We did a nice job of having some productive outs,” said Amicone.
Shelby (7-5) has won four its last five games and five of its last seven and Amicone believes they are growing as a team and maturing as this season goes on. “The kids have really bought in to the coaching staff and the things we preach and the pillars of our program, which is defense and pitching. It is a testament to the kid’s work ethic,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening after the win, “Obviously, at the beginning of the year there were some games that there were some mental lapses and you could see some of the youth of our team, but our guys never shied away with the competitive nature that they have. It is starting to pay dividends right now. We are very proud of our kids.”
Defense is the key for the Whippets and Amicone says they work hard at getting better at that part of the game. “When your get out on the diamond you can go over a lot more things than what you can do in a gym. You go over your relay system. You just get a better grasp of everything on the field and our kids have done a nice job with that. We want our program to be based on defense. When you hear Shelby Whippet baseball the first thing we want people to say is that is a good defensive team. We are not playing that caliber yet. We want to build our program around playing solid defense, team defense. The kids continue to work at it and hopefully one day we will get there,” he said.
Published 4/12/19
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Shelby Gets Past Pleasant
Shelby continues to show improvement as a baseball team as the outlasted Marion Pleasant (8-7) on Tuesday in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play, getting the last out with a Pleasant runner in scoring position in the bottom on the seventh inning.
Coach Jon Amicone says the Whippets made some mistakes, but they found a way to get things done. “We told the kids after the game you would rather win ugly than lose pretty. Winning is just so hard in baseball to not enjoy a win when you get it. We addressed that after the game and we told the kids we were proud of them, apricate the win you got (Tuesday) night, just know going forward that you can’t afford to make those types of mistakes and expect to win consistently,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night after the win, “We were very fortunate (Tuesday,) but we were very pleased with our kids’ effort. They played extremely hard from the first pitch to the last pitch. Mistakes were in there, but they continue to work hard and compete.”
Amicone says he isn’t sure this is a game they would have won even a couple of weeks ago. “I think you need to learn from your mistakes. We lost two heartbreakers to Clear Fork early on in the season, both by one run, both in the seventh inning. (Tuesday) night we had that same kind of game going on. They had the tying run on second base with two outs in the seventh and we were able to make the play to end the game and that is what you want to see as a coach. Your kids learning and your kids thriving and making the play may they didn’t make early on. As a coaching staff we are really proud of our kids to see that kind of growth from a couple of weeks ago,” said Amicone.
Shelby (5-5,2-3) plays host to Pleasant (5-6,2-3) in the rematch on Wednesday.
They trial tri-leaders Clear Fork, Galion and Buckeye Valley by two games.
Shelby was very young and inexperienced at the beginning of the season, but Amicone says they continue to grow and you have to do that while playing games that count. “You are learning on the run. Before our game (Wednesday) we are going to spend a little more time working on a couple of things that we see as big issues. That is what you have to do, you have to use your time efficiently and correct the mistakes you can correct. Once the season starts, you are just learning on the run and correct those mistakes as you go,” he said.
Published 4/10/19
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Shelby Handles Ontario
Blaze Caudill scattered four hits over six innings and the Shelby Whippets picked up their first ever Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference baseball win Tuesday in beating rival Ontario (8-1) in a game played in Shelby.
Ontario scored first in the top of the first when Avery Fisher singled, stole two bases and scored on a wild pitch. However, Shelby responded right away with two of their own in the bottom of the first on RBI hits by Evan Bogner and Caudill. They added three in the third on another RBI hit by Bogner, plus a run on a wild pitch and sacrifice fly. An Ontario error led to another run and (6-1) Shelby lead in the fourth. Two more Whippet runs came home in fifth on a two run single by Marek Albert.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says Caudill came out Tuesday with a purpose. “The best pitchers on every team, you have a guy you can trust to stop the bleeding. It was a must win for us after dropping three straight. Blaze came in with the attitude, he told me before the game that he wanted to go the whole game. Ultimately, his pitch count got way too high for that, but pitched six great innings for us. He was able to throw his curveball for a strike, his changeup for a strike for strike, and once he was able to throw three pitches for strikes he had a good game for us,” said Amicone.
Brady Greenwood struck out two and closed the door with a scoreless seventh for the Whippets.
Four of the Shelby runs came with two out and Amicone says those clutch hits were the difference. “That is something we really preach to our kids are two out runs and what they do for momentum in a game. When you get the two out hits and a run that momentum is all yours and when you give them up, you feel deflated, so they are extremely important in a baseball game. They are about as important a stat that you can have when you play the game,” he said.
After the first Ontario couldn’t get anybody past second base until the seventh.
Warriors coach Jeff Fisher says Caudill kept them off balance and their three pitchers couldn’t throw strikes and were constantly behind in the count. “I think hats off to Shelby. I think the kid (Caudill) commanded the ballgame mixing his pitches and kind of keeping us off balance and defensively they made plays. Our issue (Tuesday) was we weren’t throwing enough first pitch strikes,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We went 3-2 on a lot of batters, the pitch count goes up, they get the ball moving and you find yourself giving up some runs. We have to figure things out instead of us walking seven and striking out seven. We want to strike out seven, but make them earn it offensively.”
Ontario (2-2,1-1) hosts Shelby (3-3,1-1) at their place on Wednesday and Fisher they have regroup after losing their last two. “You always go in every day thinking you want to get better. So, we have to regroup. We have to fix some things here. We have to make sure we throw strikes. When we get an opportunity as an offensive player, we have to get our pitch and hit it,” he said.
Amicone says they need to come in with the same kind of confidence and energy that they had on Tuesday. “We lost two tough games against a really tough Clear Fork team and those were heartbreaking. Ultimately, you can’t look back and think what might have been, you have to keep moving forward. I was proud of our kids going up against an unbelievable team like Ontario and put together the performance like we did. Obviously, (Wednesday) Ontario is going to be ready and we have to be ready to go with them,” said Amicone.
Published 4/03/19
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Shelby Softball Belts Norwalk
Shelby got out the lumber out, or I should say the aluminum, as they blasted Norwalk (19-3) in a non-conference softball game on Monday afternoon.
Coach Natalie Huggins says that her team certainly has the potential to put some runs on the board like they did on Monday. “It is something we knew was there. We almost did the same thing against Lima Bath the first game of the season where we scored 17. Definitely something we know we were capable of, but hit a little road bump playing Clear Fork that last couple of games. If you look at the runs we have scored in all five of our games it adds up to a pretty hefty total. So, we are very pleased offensively,” she said.
They host Ontario (2-0,2-0) Tuesday in the first of back to back games in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
The Lady Whippets (2-3,0-2) have shown they can score runs and Huggins says they can do it in a variety of ways. “It is a combination for sure. I know our stats would say we are a power team. We have a freshman that has hit four home runs already. She is sitting there with five singles and four home runs on the year. I know that if I ask us to lay down a bunt we could do that as well in fact we did that (Monday) night,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday night after the win, “We laid down a suicide squeeze to get us going at one point in one of the early innings. I had no qualms about calling it and about my runner getting there. I just know the time we had spent on the short game as well.”
Offense is one thing, but Huggins says to be consistently successful they have to be able to playing better defense and get improved pitching as well. “We still have some things to work on pitching and defensive wise. I am a big believer that pitching and defense wins varsity softball games. We still have some things to work on,” she said.
Published 4/02/19
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Norwalk Downs Whippets
Norwalk picked up a non-conference baseball win on Monday by beating the Shelby Whippets (7-3) at home.
They play Bellevue and Clyde the next two days in Lake Division games in the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Coach Wes Douglas says he was happy to get the game in and very happy to get the win. “At 12:30 (Monday) afternoon, our outfield still had snow on it, but it went away and we got the field ready. Heading into two big league games, Bellevue and Clyde, the next two days, I was really wanting to get our guys into a game situation (Monday.) We not only got it in, but we played well enough to win. Now, Bellevue and Clyde come to two the next two days to open the “SBC,” said Douglas.
Shelby (2-3) didn’t play well in any facet of the game, according to coach Jon Amicone. “We did nothing to earn that win. We were beat in every phase of the game, hitting, defense, pitching, base running, coaching, it didn’t matter. The Whippets didn’t do enough to win, plain and simple,” he said.
The Whippets play Ontario Tuesday and Wednesday in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference games.
The Truckers didn’t really tear the cover off the ball, but Douglas says they forced the Whippets to make plays on defense. “We are still not in a good grove, but we are putting the ball in play. We cut down on our strikeouts the last couple of games and forced the issue a little bit. Our small ball has been affective. We have forced the issue there on the bases and making them field there early in the year I have found is a pretty good formula more times than not,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “I think we struck out three times (Monday) night and forced them to throw it across a couple of times and they didn’t make the plays. That opened the flood gates for us sandwiched around a few hits. Luke Weaver, our pitcher, gave us six and third (Monday) night. He is our number three pitcher we feel. So, it was a good day all around.”
Pitching depth is something you need to have to be successful, especially in the Lake Division, and Douglas thinks they have some. “We will see how good are one and two are against some pretty solid clubs. We have always felt our depth here at Norwalk is a big reason we can win some non-league games and when games get backed up. We don’t have that 12, 14 strikeout guy very often, but we have a lot of guys that can throw strikes, field their position, hold runners, and give us a chance we think. That is what Luke Weaver did,” he said.
Bellevue (3-1,1-0) beat Tiffin Columbian (2-0) in a division game behind Keegan Ray.
Douglas knows they are in for a challenge against the Redmen. “I would say over my 23 years, we are probably short end of that. They have had a great program for a long time. Andy Dennings does things the right way over there. We are looking for a great game (Tuesday.) I think we are pretty evenly matched with everybody in our league. It just depends on who plays the best on any given day. Our guys are feeling pretty good. They are gaining some confidence. We started three freshmen (Monday) night. They all stepped up, along with the rest of our guys. I think we are ready to open the league,” said Douglas.
Published 4/02/19
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Clear Fork Scores in the Seventh Again to beat Shelby
Brad Johnson’s two out, two run single in the top of the seventh inning gave Clear Fork a (6-4) win over Shelby in another hotly contested Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Wednesday.
They had beaten Shelby (10-9) on Tuesday, scoring in the seventh to win. “Fortunately enough, we have a few guys that are rallying together. We have gotten three wins that haven’t been too pretty. We have to keep battling. We have to put together seven quality innings of baseball,” said Clear Fork coach Joe Staab.
Cayden Flynn walked and A.J. Blubaugh got an infield hit to start the seventh and they came home on Johnson’s game winner. “He did a really good job stepping up. He had a big hit (Tuesday.) He hadn’t been too great at the plate (Wednesday,) but stuck with it and had a focus in the seventh inning came up with a big, clutch hit for us,” said Staab.
Clear Fork scored three runs in the top of the first inning, two unearned, but Shelby batted around in the second to take a (4-3) lead. The Colts tied it (4-4) in the fifth when Flynn scored on a ball it by Dylan Jewell, headed to Heidelberg next year to play college baseball, and then booted by the Whippets.
Whippets coach Jon Amicone says to lose games like this are tough, but he knows his team will respond. “It is about as brutal as it gets. You lose with two outs in the seventh two nights in a row it is a tough pill to swallow. Like I told our guys after the game (Wednesday) I am extremely impressed with their competitive nature and how focused they are and two games does not make a season. We didn’t execute,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We didn’t execute the bunt in the sixth. Three unearned runs against a Clear Fork team you are just not going to win. Clear Fork eventually with their bats is going to get you. When you think Clear Fork, you think offense. I was proud of Blaze’s (Caudill) effort. He threw a lot of strikes for us and competed extremely hard, but they just got that one extra hit, just like (Tuesday) night.”
Blubaugh came in in the fourth to relieve starter Mitch Dulin and kept the Whippets off the scoreboard the rest of the way. He fielded Shelby bunts twice in the sixth and threw runners out at third base, defusing a possible Shelby rally. He struck out the last two batters of the game. “We have four seniors that are very talented on the mound. We are going to look to them in these conference games and look to develop some other guys and get them some innings. We are going to have to ride our horses in the conference,” said Staab.
Errors hurt the Colts on Wednesday, especially in the Whippets big second inning and Staab says they have to fix that. “We are near 20 errors in three games. We have to do a better job of taking care of the baseball. Coach Amicone did a great job, he has a great program and a great team. They brought the game to us both games. When you set back and play on your heels and not take the game to them the game doesn’t work out in your favor. We have to do a better job of playing seven quality innings of baseball,” he said.
Maybe the best part of the Colts so far has been their resiliency. “We are still competing late in the game even when we are behind. If we are able to play better baseball and have better defense behind good pitching we will be on the better side of things,” he said.
Published 3/28/19
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Clear Fork Takes Another one from Shelby
Clear Fork had 19 hits and scored in every inning and they hammered Shelby (16-4) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference softball game played Wednesday evening at Shelby.
Ninth place hitter Kaitlin Wuertz had five singles, Maddy Wine had four with three RBI and leadoff hitter Carson Crowner had three hits, two of them doubles, and four RBI of the Lady Colts.
Clear Fork scored six runs in the first two innings and coach Jeff Gottfried says they were able to keep the pressure on. “Looking back at the scrimmages last week, I wasn’t sure we were going to score five in any game and we have been in double digits all three games. I told the girls in the circle there when you score runs every inning it is hard for a team to come back. It is just constant pressure. The crooked numbers make it stand out too. We have gotten a good start. We have won two in the conference and that is the most important thing. We told them we have to finish off the week. We have two more games to keep getting better every day,” said Gottfried.
The Lady Colts scored eight runs in the last three innings.
Shelby (1-3,0-2) scored twice in the second and cut the deficit to (6-3,) but coach Natalie Huggins says they are going through some of the growing pains that young teams do. “It just part of the growing pains we are going through right now. We have underclassmen up the middle. We have an underclassman behind the plate. We don’t have very many kids in the same position that we did last year. Clear Fork is a great team, they are a perennial powerhouse, we know that. We knew we were going to face a great team,” she told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We weren’t thrilled when we got our schedule and found out we were going to open the “MOAC” with them. That’s fine, we want to face top competition. To be the best, you have to beat the best and we didn’t beat the best (Wednesday) night. Hats off the Clear Fork, Jeff and Kerri always have them ready to play. We are alright, we just have to work through some things and grow up a little bit.”
Before the season started Gottfried felt he had three pitchers he could turn too and two saw action of Wednesday. Maddy Wine started the game and went two innings and was relieved by freshman Ashtynn Roberts who went the final five innings, giving up only three hits and struck out seven. “Maddy started the game out and they saw her for about five innings (Tuesday.) So, I felt early on they were on her. Ashton is going to keep the ball down a little more and she did (Wednesday) night and got some good ground balls. She pitched really well for a freshman,” said Gottfried.
Clear Fork (3-0,2-0) hosts Highland Thursday and Lexington on Friday in non-conference games. Their league series next week is against Buckeye Valley.
Gottfried says they have to grow too. “Just everything. Defensively, we have to communicate a little better on things. We have misjudged a few fly balls here and there. The biggest thing is getting ahead in the count. We pitched behind in the count a few times and we got hit hard. The kids know that, the most important pitch is strike one. They are having fun, but don’t give any at bats away and just keep working at the craft,” he said.
Published 3/28/19
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Shelby Softball Expects to be Better
Like every sport at Shelby outside of football this school year it has been a new world with the school entering a new league and that includes the Lady Whippets softball teams.
The “MOAC” has the reputation for being strong in softball too.
Coach Natalie Huggins says the Lady Whippets are working hard to be competitive. “We have a lot of kids that are working extremely hard. We are competing for positions. We had a scrimmage last week. We have another one (Tuesday.) We have a good core group of returning letter winners and new kids. Just a good mix right now. We like what we are seeing. We pride ourselves on hard work and we are seeing that right now,” said Huggins.
Will this be a Shelby team led by its pitching or its offense? Huggins says they still need to find that out. “To be determined. Last year, I know we could put a lot of runs on the board, but we also gave up all kinds of runs. Not to compare to last year’s team because we feel we are a pretty different team this year and are much improved and are shooting for a better record this year. I am really looking forward to seeing what the identity of this team is,” she said.
One thing Huggins knows for sure is and that is it is going to be a day in and day out battle in the “MOAC.” “The Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference is a bear softball wise. Very comparable to the “SBC” and what we found ourselves in last year. Very traditionally strong programs like Clear Fork and River Valley. You have recently hot Galion and Ontario is always a good program,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I don’t know a ton about the Marion teams, but I know Pleasant is very good as well. That is not to discount Marion Harding or Buckeye Valley, I just don’t know much about them. I do know we have ourselves in a bear of a softball league and are looking forward to competing day in and day out.”
Published 3/19/19
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Shelby Will be Young at the Start
Shelby is going to be a young baseball team entering a new league this season and they are excited with the opportunities they have in front of them.
Coach Jon Amicone says they will have a lot of new guys in the lineup when the season starts March 23 at home against Willard in a non-conference doubleheader. “It will be a learning process for most of our kids. We are going to break in seven new starters defensively and eight new starters to our lineup. We have got mature quickly. We have had some very good practices. I love the focus of our guys. They are taking on the challenge of being this young team. Some guys run from it and I am proud our guys have kind of taken that head on. They have worked extremely hard getting themselves ready for the season,” he said.
With young kids at the varsity level, Amicone says sometimes they don’t know where they are quite yet. “I always think back to that Marlins-Yankees World Series. That Marlins team was just too dumb, they were playing the Yankees back in 2003, and they found a way to beat them. Our kids just enjoy playing the game. First and foremost, they love playing. They have good strong relationships with each other. I think more importantly they just like playing with each other,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “That is a big step for us as coaches. We can use that as far as motivation. We will make practice plans going into the season and we will just lean on each other. We are going to make mistakes with each other. We are going to get better with each other as well.”
Entering the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, Amicone knows there is going to be strong competition in the league, but they are excited to get it going against a new bunch of schools. “The “MOAC” is about as good as it gets. We are joining a league with two teams that played each other in a district championship game last year in Clear Fork and Ontario. I know both of those teams bring a lot of guys back. Pleasant always has tremendous baseball in the Marion area. Phil Jackson at Galion is one of the best coaches around. It is a tremendous league when it comes to baseball. A lot of parity top to bottom, but that is the way it should be. You should be leagues that are tough. We are in the fight to win, so it should be fun,” said Amicone.
Published 3/13/19
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Shelby Has to Slow Vermilion Down
Shelby faces Vermilion for the second straight year in the division two sectional finals this time on Friday night in the first game at Bucyrus High School.
It didn’t look like the Whippets (12-11) were even going to be in this game as they were down seven with just over a minute to play on Tuesday night before rallying to beat Sandusky (61-59) in the end.
Coach Troy Schwemley says his team showed a lot of character. “That is one of those where we were up three in the fourth quarter with maybe about three minutes to go and were really doing a lot of good things and the next thing you know everything went wrong and we were down seven with I think 1:20 left and at that point our guy really showed just toughness. Cody Lantz hit a three, Tanner Stevens hit a three. We got some defensive stops. We got the ball inside with about 15 seconds to go and missed a good look, but Grant Gossom came in with a tip in and Uriah made two free throws an Cody made a free throw and we found a way to win. Really that last minute for the up and down season that we have had I thought really showed a lot of toughness and character out of our guys,” said Schwmely.
Vermilion (17-5) is the co-champion of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference. They have lost three of their last four games coming into Friday night.
Schwemley says they have a lot of guys that can get the ball in the basket. “They have multiple guys that can score, but it starts with Mason Montgomery, who gets around 20 points a game and they do a lot of good things in getting him good looks. It is not just him, Jonah Pheil and Seth Hurd are guys that can score. Jonna is averaging around 14, 15 a game. Reese Miller is averaging around 10. They have got multiple guys that can score,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They really do a lot of good things. We played them last year in the sectional finals and we played them tough there and came up a little short. Even though we don’t play them in the regular season I feel like we kind of see them a little but, we have a had a pretty good last two days of practice getting ready for them. We have to make some shots and defend, but I think its is a good matchup for us.”
Vermilion beat Shelby (53-47) in a tournament game last year.
Tempo could be a factor here. The Whippets are not a team that is methodical at all, but Schwemley says they need to make the Sailors play a little slower than maybe they want to. “They are a team that seems like they have been able to play at different speeds. They can play fast, they can play slow. A little more up tempo is what they prefer, but they do a great job running some half court sets when they need to. For us, the key is being efficient on offense. If we take care of the ball, we get good looks and we knock some shots down and it is easier for our defense to get back. I think that is key for us as far as controlling the tempo and then defending. They are guard oriented, but they have posts that are affective inside. It is really a game I feel that controlling the tempo is going to be key,” he said.
Published 3/01/19
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Defense and Rebounding Big For Shelby
Shelby faces longtime rival Willard in the girls’ division two district semifinals on Thursday night at Galion High School.
The winner plays either Bellevue or Tiffin Columbian for a berth in the regional tournament on Saturday.
Shelby, the winner of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, got a big scare from Lexington in the sectional final last Saturday. They outlasted the Lady Lex (52-48) in overtime to advance.
Coach Natalie Lantz says it was a physical game and they perhaps didn’t react as well as maybe they should have. She says no matter the situation they have to play their game. “It was not our best performance. We missed a lot of opportunities. I think Lexington came out and played a great game. They wanted that win. They were very strong on the boards. You learn a lot of different things. Calls in that game and no calls in that game. It was a very physical game and my girls had to learn to compose themselves in situations. That is one of the things we talked about. I saw comments posted on both sides about officials after the game and I know people were welling at the officials on both sides. They don’t fight for Shelby and they don’t fight for Lexington,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Shelby has to do what we do best and Lexington has to do what they do best and play their game and we have to play our game. We missed a lot of layups and we missed a lot of open shots, which is a little uncharacteristic of our team, but it is a situation that I think we can learn and take it into the next game. When you are missing the buckets like that. I think there were some things that was can learn and build from.”
Shelby (21-2) plays Willard (19-4) on Thursday night, they finished #2 and #3 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll and have been nipping at each other’s heels since the days of Ellen Lawrence and Barry Phahl, who currently serves as an assistant to Willard coach Jon Dawson.
Lantz says Willard has one the best players in the whole area in junior Cassidy Crawford. She says Crawford is the kind of kid that can score from anywhere. “They have one of the top players in the district in Cassidy Crawford. She is averaging over 20 points a game. She is a very strong rebounder, likes to drive, likes to get to the basket and has a nice outside shot. Number one, we have to somewhat contain her. Is she going to score? Absolutely, but you want to do what you can to contain. They are huge. They have a very tall line up,” he said.
Willard beat Shelby (57-50) in a regular season game that was played on January 29. Crawford had 21 points and 14 rebounds in that win went over the 1,000 point plateau. Willard, with that height, outrebounded the Lady Whippets 33-19 in the regular season game.
Lantz says the can not let that happen on Thursday night. “We need to be able to do our best to box out and take care of the boards. Defensively, we need to give them one shot attempt and not five on a single possession. We have our work cut out for us defensively. If we do a lot of the little things, I think we can put ourselves in position to win the ballgame,” she said.
Published 2/28/19
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Shelby Must Handle Sandusky Pressure
Shelby faces Sandusky in a first round tournament game in division two on Tuesday night at Bucyrus High School.
Shelby (11-11) has won three of its last four games, including a (75-68) win over Galion in their final game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this season on Friday night.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they have kind of battled back to respectability after what has been an up and down season. “Really about four games ago really just tried to finish the season strong. We talked about one game at a time and understanding even for us at that point just getting back to .500 was taking care of the rest of our season and at tournament time everybody is back to 0-0, but you can’t wait until then to hope to be playing well. I think we did those things. We won three of our last four. We played Norwalk fairly tough at times. Now here we are playing a Sandusky team that is also playing good basketball right now,” he said.
Sandusky (14-7) has won five of its last six, the only loss in that time came to Lake Division champion Norwalk (54-38) 10 days ago.
Schwemley says they have three guards that are affective scorers and they are going to be very aggrieve and try and attack you on defense. “They have multiple guys that can score, they are very aggressive, they pressure you on defense. I think you start with their big three is Tahj Staveskie, Dylon Jones and Jayden Greene, those are their three main guys when it comes to points per game, but it is not just those three,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Everybody plays hard and Simpson is very active and there have been stretches where he has scored double figures in games. They are a team that is relentless. They know their roles. If they don’t shoot it then they are looking to rebound it and find a way to score. They are a team that pressures you on defense and is relentless on the boards.”
Once they break the Sandusky pressure, Schwemley says they can’t relax, instead they are have to look for good shots and score. “What comes with that is if you can handle the pressure typically you can get some good looks and that is kind of what we are counting on going into this. Working on handling the pressure making them defend and making Sandusky extend their offensive possessions. They are not a team that wants to control the tempo from a standpoint of with a lot of ball possession. They want to be aggressive of the offensive end and on the defensive end the same. If you can handle those two things and control the tempo I think we can get good looks. You have got to convert because if we can it also helps on defense,” said Schwemely.
Published 2/26/19
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Shelby Has to Respond Better
It has been a roller coaster ride for the Shelby Whippets this year, more so than many teams in North Central Ohio this season.
They hope to be able to be more consistent in their final regular season home game against Galion in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play on Friday night.
They beat River Valley (65-59) in conference game last Friday and then tested talented Norwalk before falling (57-44) on Saturday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says the Norwalk game was an example of them not bring able to step up when the other team turned the screws. “We were down one at halftime and I think we came out and took the lead right away in the third quarter. Norwalk took a time out a couple of minutes in and really turned up the intensity. I think at those moments we just have to do a better job of answering,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “When I look back at so many games throughout the season that seems to be the common thing when the other team picks up the intensity it seems we don’t answer it with whether it be offensive shot selection to get some finishes and then also doing the job on the defensive end by blocking out and limiting them to one possession. That’s was really what the difference was in the second half it really seemed like Norwalk had countless second opportunities and you can’t give a great team like those second opportunities.”
Shelby has been hurt by injuries this year too, especially the loss of Hunter Hoffman for the season, one of the team leaders in a number of statistical categories. Schwemley says they are still trying to find ways around that. “We feel like going into our final game that the season hasn’t quite gone the way we wanted it to. I don’t think anybody understands how valuable Hunter Hoffman was to our team. That was game four and we have got to have other guys continue to step up. We have had good moments. We want to finish the season and have a chance to go .500 in this big final home game and then Sandusky will be Tuesday,” he said.
Shelby (10-11,6-7) plays at home against Galion (8-12,3-9) on Friday night. Galion beat Buckeye Valley (66-63) in their last conference game last Thursday and they beat Crestline (76-66) in a non-league on Tuesday night. In the first meeting between these teams Shelby won (69-60) on January 3.
Galion’s Isaiah Alsip scored 15 points in the final minute of the Buckeye Valley game and Schwemley says they have to find a way to contain him without forgetting about the other Tigers. “Hs is just a dynamic player. To score that may points against a good Buckeye Valley team, a team that has been competitive during the season, it takes a special player to do that and he has that kind of zone that he can go to. So, we want to limit him and make sure he gets very low percentage shots. The other things is, and going back to our Norwalk game, I think sometimes we got to focused on Haraway and forgot to do our job on everybody else. We did a pretty good job on Haraway holding him to 11, but we didn’t do the job on everybody else. It will be the same in our Galion game. We have to do a good job of limiting him, but we still have four other guys we have to take care of and shut down as well,” said Schwemley.
Published 2/21/19
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Shelby Girls Start Tournament With Vermilion
Shelby, the winner of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, opens up tournament play with a first round game in division two on Wednesday night against Vermilion at Bucyrus High School.
The Lady Whippets (20-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has won their last four games.
Coach Natalie Lantz says she likes the way her team is heading going into the tournament. “I am pretty pleased with how the girls have come together and have been preforming offensively and defensively here lately. I still think there are some things we can work on and get better at, but that is a good thing. You don’t want to peak too soon before tournament hits, but I like the direction that we are heading going into tournament,” she said.
Vermilion (6-14) out of the Bay Division of Sandusky Bay Conference comes in as the number 12 seed in the division two tournament.
Lantz says the Lady Sailors have some pretty good inside players that they will have to deal with. “I think they are a team that plays hard together. They’ve got some height inside and they have got some nice talent inside, athletic post players and they have some kids that can shoot the ball. We have to be able to defend inside and making sure we are getting nice strong box outs and get rebounds to control that side of the game and making sure we are getting good inside out looks offensively and try and get good steals and be able to secure some offensive boards when we need to. We just have to be able to execute and be on our game,” said Lantz.
When you are the favorite in the game you want to get off to a good start, but Lantz says you have to be consistent too. “You always want to get off to a strong start, I think that is important. You want to make sure you carry good energy into the start of the game. If you get the lead you want to continue to put the foot on the gas and stay strong the entire game and play a good, strong four quarters. That is always our goal, but sometimes that doesn’t happen. Sometimes there is a little bit of a letup,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Our goal is to get the girls prepared. The girls are excited. I feel like they have relaxed a little bit. They are playing hard, they are playing good team ball, which I like. I love that they get excited for each other even on the little things, on a deflection, on a good rebound, or a block or something like that, not just on a score. The girls are having fun and they get excited for each other and I think that is a sign of good team chemistry.”
Published 2/19/19
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Shelby Wildly Up and Down
To try and figure out the Shelby Whippets can be compared to trying to solve the rubik’s cube or so it would seem.
They play at River Valley in a “MOAC” game on Friday night.
After two not very good performances early last week, the Whippets emerged to beat Buckeye Valley last Friday (67-54) in an Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game.
They had lost to Marion Harding (37-35) on Monday and Ontario (45-31) on Wednesday in conference games.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they did do some pretty nice things on Friday against the Barons. “The last seven days, the last week were a grind. We went to Ashland and lost in overtime, had a couple of possessions down the stretch and could have won that game. Turn around and go to Harding on Monday, and that was just a grind, but we had a lead late in that game. Wednesday was just not pretty. We didn’t go a lot of things well at Ontario. Then we responded well to beat a Buckeye Valley team that had beat some teams in the league and has some very good talent,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “So, I was definitely happy with the way the week finished and hopefully we can build on that. I went into Friday thinking regardless this week is going to be over win or lose, but I definitely I thought we did a lot of good things and hopefully we can get a little momentum and learn from that.”
Schwemley is a graduate of River Valley and he admits games against them are a little different. “We played them last year and it is kind of interesting some familiar faces. I went and scouted River Valley-Galion (Monday) night and they do a lot of good things and they won that game at that point River Valley’s only league win had been against us,” he said.
Shelby (9-10,5-7) lost to River Valley (6-13,2-10) on (67-66) on January 11 in what was the Vikings first conference win this season.
Schwemley says the Vikings are much better than their record and their players should already understand that. “They have really played teams tough. They have some really good guards and their guys are solid. Kenney, their five man, is a double-double type of guy. He runs the floor and has solid moves. They are really a good team. I remember the first time we played them, saying guys don’t underestimate this team. They have been in a lot games they just haven’t been able to finish. I think they have played Clear Fork twice, both tines really tough. They are a team in going there we are going to have to do a lot of things well. It is getting to be that time of year when we want to be playing well. They are definitely a very good team that we have to respect and they beat us the first time,” said Schwemley.
Published 2/12/19
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Mahaney Likes Pressure of Shelby Job
Robert Mahaney is the latest to take on the job as Shelby football coach in one of the most tradition rich football cultures in North Central Ohio.
He was named to the position last week and spoke with us live on “Sports Saturday” this past weekend.
He comes to Shelby after a successful tenure at Mapleton in the Firelands Conference. He replaces Erik Will, who resigned after last season. Will had coached Shelby to the regional finals in 2016 and 2017.
Mahaney says to leave Mapleton it had to be the right kind of job and he found that at Shelby. “I knew with what we had done at Mapleton, the relationships, the kids, it had to be the right job, it really did,” he told Swankonsports.com on Saturday, “ Going through the process I definitely feel Shelby is that job, whether it starts with the kids there or the administration and the tradition obviously that Shelby has and the football community that it is and the town that supports it. I just feel that professionally and for my family it is definitely the right move to go to Shelby.”
It will be a different kind of atmosphere at Shelby than Mapleton, where they had not had a winning year in more than 20 years before Mahaney, but he says he likes the pressure to win. “I think that is what makes it exciting. Expectations are great and that is what you want as a football coach. To be there and have everyone come out on Friday night and sure that does create expectations. The kids get behind that and rally. I just think it is a great opportunity,” he said.
Mahaney was successful in taking the Mounties, his record was 35-30 in six years there, out of the repeated cycles of losing into a real small school power. One of the real success stories of the last decade. He says he is proud of the kid’s accomplishments at Mapleton. “The last six years we made the playoffs three times and did a lot of really, really good things on offense. Last year, we had our first division seven offensive player of the year at quarterback (Logan Pharmer) and that is exciting. There are a lot of things that I look back that we are proud of and that’s not just me. I told our kids I never scored a touchdown and I never made a tackle. The kids did that stuff and those are things they should be proud of and continue to build on now that I am at Shelby,” said Mahaney.
Norwalk St. Paul’s legendary football coach John Livengood, a Firelands Conference rival, always had good things to say about Mahaney, calling him a very imaginative young offensive mind. Mahaney says that makes him feel really good. “Especially with John when you think of all things he has done at St. Paul. I can promise you I am glad we don’t play them at Shelby with their style of offense and what they do and how they control the game. To hear those things from John being a young guy really means a lot,” he said.
Published 2/05/19
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Shelby Has to be Aggressive, yet Patient Against Harding
Shelby wants to continue to build some momentum as it heads for the postseason tournament and they get two more chances this week against Marion Harding and Ashland.
In likely their biggest win since early December, the Whippets downed second place Marion Pleasant (64-58) in overtime last Friday night.
Coach Troy Schwemley says it was a win that they needed and that they played well in a lot of areas to earn. “It was definitely a much needed win. I thought we did a lot of good things. There are still things we are working on. I felt a lot better about how we played together and our rotations. We got quality minutes out of a lot of people. Not just starters, but guys coming off the bench and I think that was something we were really looking for,” he said.
Shelby (8-7,4-5) plays at Marion Harding (5-10,5-5) on Thursday night. The Presidents lost to Pleasant (58-43) on Tuesday night in a league game. They beat Shelby (42-40) on December 19.
Schwemley says Harding is patient and will look for a good shot in their offense. “If you think back to that first game it was a very low scoring game. Harding really does a good job of defending and will play slow, they will work for good shots, whether it is something that happens early in an offensive possession or six, seven, eight passes in they are willing to work the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I look back and I think it was one of those where now that we are starting to play these teams a second time around hopefully that is helping. There were so many unknowns. We got smacked in the mouth a little bit the first time around, so I hope we are a little more prepared for our games and have a little more intensity. This is a league game and we have to have that intensity going into Harding Thursday night.”
Harding has not scored more than 58 points in game this season. In only five of their 15 games have they gotten 50, so they want a slower tempo. Schwemley says when you face them you have to be aggressive and take advantage of your opportunities while remaining patient. “When you look at their scores, most of their scores in the 40’s or low 50’s and even some 30’s, that is what they want. I look back to our first game and it might have been 4-4 after the first quarter, something just really strange. We got a little bit careless defensively, they hit a couple of shots. In a low scoring game every possession is so important. You have got to stay aggressive, but patient. Don’t turn the ball over and don’t take quick shots that really just play into what they want,” said Schwemley.
They play Ashland (11-5) of the Ohio Cardinal Conference in a non-conference game on Saturday night.
Published 1/30/19
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Shelby Wants to be the Aggressor
Shelby maybe needed some time off and they got it, along with everybody else, over the weekend courteously of Mother Nature, who dumped a foot, or more, of snow over northern Ohio.
They hope to get warm as the temps do this week.
Shelby’s game with Ontario was cancelled on Saturday night.
Coach Troy Schwemley says it gave them a chance to kind of catch their breath before returning to practice on Monday. “That is something everybody is dealing with. It was actually nice to have a weekend. Saturday everything was cancelled, so there were no games, no games to scout. Just kind of, for us, a chance to regroup hopefully physically and mentally, coaches and players. We got back to work (Monday) and got ready for our next game,” he said.
The Whippets have lost their last three games, including (62-58) to Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader Clear Fork on Thursday night.
Shelby has played the last month without the services of 6’7” senior Hunter Hoffman, who was injured in a game against Ontario on December 13. He had a knee brace on and was not in uniform last week.
Schwemley says his return is uncertain and he adds they are still working on ways to replace what Hoffman was giving them. “That is still yet to be determined. He is still going through some things. There have been times we thought we were close to having him back and it just hasn’t happened. Until then we have to do things that he did for us so well as far as being a rim protector or blocking shots when sometimes we got beat off the dribble or something like that, rebounding, high percentage shooting. Just all of the things that Hunter did bring to us we have to find a way to overcome and make up for,” said Schwemley.
Shelby (7-7,3-5) plays host to Marion Pleasant (11-2,6-2) in a conference game on Friday night. The Spartans won the first meeting (62-50) on December 15, that would have been the first game Hoffman was out of the lineup for the entire game. Pleasant beat Northmor (57-41) in a non-conference game on Monday night.
Schwemley says they have to be more consistent against Pleasant and he wants his team to dictate the action more. “I think last time we were tied at halftime and I thought we did a lot of good things in the first half and then it seemed like their pressure wore us down. In the second half we had one of those bad quarters that seems to kill us. When you look at our typical night it seems like we have that bad quarter here or there and can’t overcome it. We have to play four quarters,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have to for some degree both offensively and defensively we have to be more of the aggressor. We talked about that (Monday) night as far as we have to be the one pressuring the other team, whether it be from a defensive standpoint or offensive. I feel like in a lot of games we are just adjusting to what the other team is doing, rather that making the other team adjust to what we are doing.”
Published 1/22/19
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Clear Fork Holds Off Shelby
Clear Fork maintained its two game lead in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference as they held of a vigorous Shelby rally and beat the Whippets (62-58) on Thursday night at Shelby High School.
The Colts held as big as an 18 point lead in the first half (37-19) on a Jared Schaefer basket with :12 to play until halftime, but the Whippets came out of the locker room on fire and scored 15 of the first 20 points of the third quarter to cut their deficit to (42-34) with 2:25 left in the quarter after a Uriah Schwemley goal.
Thing got even more interesting in the final quarter as Shelby tied the game at (49-49) after Tanner Stephens scored with 4:09 to play. They took their first and only lead on a Schwemley hoop (53-52) with 3:04 left in the contest.
Clear Fork (11-2,8-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, responded each time. After the Whippets tied them game Jay Swainhart buried a three out of the left corner. Then after Shelby took the lead, Brennan South took the inbounds pass and went coast to coast in just over 10 seconds to give the Colts a lead (54-53) that they would never relinquish.
“We had to be gutsy. We had to show a lot of poise. We had some veteran leadership that really stepped up. Jay (Swainhart) hitting that corner three. Brennan (South) taking it coast to coast a few times, hitting some free throws, and getting those key rebounds and that type of thing,” said Clear Fork coach Steven Bechtel.
South, who was deadly for the perimeter, finished with 21 points for Clear Fork. Schaefer added 12.
T.J. Pugh had 21 for the Whippets, 13 in the second half, as the Whippets really hurt Clear Fork in the paint, especially with A.J. Blubaugh on the bench with four fouls.
Bechtel decided to go with a 2-3 zone and it worked pretty well for the Colts. “I think they were doing a great job of getting it where they needed to. (Pugh) is an exceptional talent. We went to a 2-3 to try and mix them up a little bit. I know they hit a couple of threes there late. We wanted to change the momentum and we were able to rebound out of that at the end,” he said.
Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says they talked in the huddle about how to execute against the zone. “With our guard oriented lineup it takes a lot of the things we like to run away. I tried to run something for Uriah and T.J. inside, but it is probably not as affective as we like it. That is something that we have to be interchangeable and be able to run a couple of things with different personnel. That was a good switch by them,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Out of that timeout when we hit that three, I think Uriah said they are going to be in a zone and I said just execute it and run it. You can still screen. For the most part you can still run your same plays against a zone, you just have to shift the way you run them. We kicked it out to Grant and he drilled a three. That was one of those moments when, hey, we might have figured something out.”
Gossom’s three with :28 seconds left cut it to two (60-58,) but the Whippets could get no closer as Schaefer scored on a break away for the final basket.
Clear Fork looked very sharp in the first half of the game, leading by as may as 19 an holding a double figure lead for the entire second quarter. Bechtel says they were able to get a lot of open shots. “We want the ball reversal, we want people moving, we want the ball moving, and it does create easy or open looks and we were fortunate to knock those down early,” he said.
Shelby (7-7,3-5) has lost it last three, but Schwemley felt a lot better after the second half and feels they have something to build on. “Pound of the effort. We have to find a way to win a game like that to try and build our confidence a little bit, but we were more positive in the locker room and personally I feel better with how we battled in the second half,” he said.
Clear Fork holds a two game lead on Marion Pleasant, who rallied to beat Galion (61-54) in overtime on Thursday night.
Bechtel says he knew Shelby would make a run at them and he is proud of the way his kids responded. “Shelby is a great program, all of the rich tradition, all of the years they have won over here. I told them at halftime we were going to get their best in that second half and we had to really go out and be gutsy and just step up and play the way we are capable of,” he said.
Published 1/18/19
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Shelby Needs to Regroup
After a loss to River Valley last Friday, Shelby is now out of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference race, but they are clearly good enough to help determine who wins the league.
They play two of the contenders this week. They host first place Clear Fork on Thursday and play at rival Ontario on Saturday.
After losses to River Valley (67-66) on Friday and Willard (67-58) on Saturday in a non-conference game, coach Troy Schwemley says they had a heart to heart talk on Monday. “We had a good practice (Monday.) We had a little conversation. I encouraged the players to talk too on things they think we need to do better. Coaches talked and players talked. I think you have to be careful with talk though, you have to have actions and fixing things. Both of us need to do a better job. As coaches we need to keep finding ways to get things done. When it comes down to it if we aren’t doing things right on the floor it comes right to me, but I am also trying to get our players to except some accountability for that. Taking some responsibility for things we are trying to do and make some corrections and fix some things,” said Schwemley.
Shelby (7-6,3-4) is at home for Clear Fork (10-2,7-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Thursday night. The Colts beat Marion Harding (57-35) last Friday.
Schwemley says the Colts just have so much balance. “It is the second round and things have not went the way that we thought they would. It’s a chance for some redemption. It starts with Clear Fork on Thursday, a team we lost to and they are undefeated right now in the league. It is an opportunity, but they are a very good team. They play together, I think that is one thing when you look at them. I don’t know if there is just one guy that you look at,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They have multiple guys that average double figures. South is double figures, Schaefer is in double figures, Blubaugh is in double figures, and Seifert is right there close. They have four guys that are close to averaging double figures. They are just a team that plays together. Nobody cares about individual stats, it seems like they just care about team success.”
Shelby plays at Ontario (5-5,4-3) on Saturday night. They beat the Warriors (66-55) on December 13. Schwemley says it’s another opportunity against a good team. “It’s another opportunity. It’s a team we did beat the first time around. That seems like a long time ago, it really does. I talked to the guys, five days ago we felt pretty good about ourselves and we dropped two games over the weekend and things seem pretty bad right now. You get a chance to play another game. We have two games this weekend and we have to get ready for them and at any point you can find some positives and hopefully we are going to do that,” he said.
Published 1/16/18
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Willard Runs Down Shelby
Willard outscored Shelby (48-22) in the second half and they rallied to beat the Whippets (67-58) in a non-conference boys’ basketball game at Shelby on Saturday night.
The Flashes (8-3) came out in the third quarter just like their nickname would suggest outscoring Shelby (26-9) and tying the game at (45-45) after three on Brevon Polachek’s basket at the horn.
Shelby took a brief six-point lead to open the fourth quarter (51-45) on back to back threes by T.J. Pugh and Cody Lantz, but Willard kept the momentum and took a lead they would never relinquish (52-51) on a field goal by Cooper Parrott with 4:41 remaining in the game.
Willard coach Joe Bedingfield says they made some defensive adjustments at halftime and they were able to get out on the break a little bit. “I think defensively we adjusted some things. We started out with a little bit of triangle and two and we were standing around a little bit. I thought we rebounded the basketball and got out in transition a little bit. We played as a team on the defensive end of the floor. I heard guys communicating. A lot of pieces were working. We tend to play a lot more guys than that, but things were kind of clicking, so we decided to say with that group,” said Bedingfield.
Davon Triplett scored 24 of his game high 26 points in the second half.
Bedingfield said he told Triplett to just have some and he told the whole team that he believed in them even though they were down 17 points (36-19) at the half. “He was huge. It’s the end of the semester and there were a few things going on in his life outside of basketball. I said this isn’t geometry, it’s basketball, have some fun. I know we were down 17 points, but I told the guys at halftime we are getting great looks, and I really believe in you guys, the second half those shots are going to fall an if we communicate with each other, we are going to win this game and they believed,” said Bedingfield.
Triplett, who transferred to Willard from Crestline before the school year, has learned that the OHSAA has approved his appeal and he will be able to play the entire season for the Flashes.
Cooper Parrott added 20 for the Flashes.
Shelby (7-6) looked outstanding in the first half in making perimeter shots and getting to the basket and getting scores from seven different players. However, coach Troy Schwemley says the second half was a microcosm of what their year has been like. “We talked about moments when we have to pick up the intensity. (Friday) night we are up three with three minutes to go and we didn’t rise up to get the stops. It was a great first half (Saturday) moving the ball, working together making extra passes. Seven different guys scored and then in the second half it completely melted down,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We went back to all of those bad habits that we have had when we don’t have that mental focus. We are trying to fix it. That is the frustration of this season, you look at the first half and go that team looks like they are pretty good and you look at the second half and that can happen in any second.”
The Whippets were paced by Uriah Schwemley and Tanner Stevens with 13 a piece.
Shelby hosts Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference rival Clear Fork (10-2,7-0) on Thursday night and rival Ontario (5-5,4-3) on Saturday and Schwemley says they need to decide what kind of team they want to be. “We play games next week. We can feel sorry for ourselves all we want and that is what we did in the second half. We feel sorry for ourselves when we don’t get a call or things don’t go right. At this point we have to come together and wok together, be coachable, or this is going to be a long rest of the season. I guess we have two choices fix it and do the things that work or not and it is going to be a long rest of the season. I hope we fix it. It was a very frustrating night, congrats to Willard, they did a great job and came out with great intensity in the second half and we just didn’t answer,” said Schwemley.
Willard trails Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division leader Vermilion by two games in the standings after the halfway point and would seem to be an emerging factor in the division three tournament.
Bedingfield says this can be a jumping off spot for them. “We have talked about playing four quarters and we played two (Saturday) night, but the other two weren’t so bad. They just made some shots. This is one that can be a spark in our season. We can look back to where it kind of started for us. Hopefully, we can say that. The kids have to believe we have to get better and hopefully, we will,” he said.
Published 1/12/19
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Shelby Has to Slow Down River Valley
Shelby is back starting to play better basketball again as they take a four game winning streak into a home game with River Valley on Friday night in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play.
The Whippets beat Galion (69-60) last Thursday and Buckeye Valley (73-65) on Saturday in conference games.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they are doing what good teams do. “I feel like we have been playing much better basketball. We have really been focusing on teamwork, making extra passes, working together, being aggressive. There is a fine line between aggressive and selfish. I feel like we are getting closer to figuring that out. The Buckeye Valley game our first three, three and half quarters was really some of the best basketball we have played. We are starting to get healthy again. I think we are headed in the right direction and there are a lot of positives right now,” he said.
Shelby (7-4,3-3) is at home to entertain River Valley (4-7,0-6) in “MOAC” play on Friday. The Vikings lost two more close ones last week, dropping games to Pleasant (62-53) on Thursday and Marion Harding (53-48) on Saturday.
Schwemley says these guys have been in just about every game they have played this season and they look to really push the pace. “They run the floor really well. For them I think it starts with their center A.J. Kenney he is averaging 20 points a game. He runs the middle of the floor. He is a high percentage scorer inside. We have to stop him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Their guards do a good job of pushing the ball up the floor. Ethan Bell is the point guard. He is averaging seven assists a game. That is a lot of assists and 16 points a game, those two kind of get things going for them. You look at their games and they lose by two to Clear Fork, they lose to Ontario by eight, they lose to Pleasant by nine. They have lost to Harding by five, they lost to Buckeye Valley by two. Even though they are 0-6 in the league when you look at their games they are right there. It is the game we have been talking about getting ready for. We have to be prepared for them because I really think they do a lot of good things.”
This is Shelby’s first year in the conference and Schwemley says they have found it to be very competitive. “I think there was some uncertainly going into the “MOAC,” what’s it going to be like? The environments have been great environments and the games have been competitive games. Every night it seems you get on the bus and check some scores and typically the scores have been close ballgames and that is what you want in a league. It’s the end of the first round. After River Valley we will have played everybody once. For us it would be nice to get to 4-3. We are playing good basketball right now. We have Willard coming in on Saturday. It’s a big double weekend for us. I feel like if we continue to improve, but we have a tough weekend,” said Schwemley.
Published 1/10/19
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“MOAC” Leader Shelby Hosts Clear Fork
Shelby, the leader of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, plays at home against Clear Fork, the seventh place team, in an conference game on Thursday night.
Their only loss of the season is to powerful Bellevue and coach Natalie Lantz says she is really happy with how her Lady Whippets are playing through the first half of the season. “We got a couple of wins over the holidays. Just really pleased with how the girls on responding and working and their will to improve and play good team ball,” she said.
However, Lantz says they still need to improve in a lot of areas if they are going to be the team they have the potential to be. “We have a 10-1 record and we are getting wins, but there are a lot of areas where we can improve. We still haven’t seen more than two quarters of basketball, good basketball for us, in a game yet this year. That is encouraging, we have room to improve, and we have played some good teams. I think if we pull together and work hard. I know when the time is right and peak at the time of the season that we need to be,” said Lantz.
Shelby (10-1,7-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays Clear Fork (1-9,1-6) on Thursday night. Shelby beat the Lady Colts (66-38) on December 1.
Lantz says really this game is about showing improvement. “They are an athletic group. They can run and they play pressure defense. They play a lot of zone. We will be prepared no matter what they bring to the game. We have to execute on our end regardless of how they played or what they did the first time around,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have to focus realizing game by game, especially “MOAC” teams that every team has improved, not just us. So, we want to improve more than they did and come into each game more focused than the other team and with more drive and motivation to come out on top.”
Published 1/09/19
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Shelby Not Looking Ahead
Shelby is still on the edge of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference race, but they really aren’t thinking about that now.
They do play two conference games this week at Galion on Thursday and at Buckeye Valley on Saturday.
Last Saturday, they produced one of their biggest wins of the season in downing previously unbeaten Upper Sandusky (69-67) in a non-league game.
Coach Troy Schwemly says that win was a big confidence builder for the Whippets. “I thought the Bellevue game we did some good things, but I didn’t think it was one of those games when we really played well. We just kind of played good enough to win. The Upper game from the standpoint of challenging us, we were down as much as 15 in the third quarter, we had really struggled in the second quarter. It was kind of one of those moments when we started to respond and we battled back and found a way to get a very difficult road win against a very good team that doesn’t lose many games. Upper has won a lot games and I thought it was a good moment for us to hopefully build on and hopefully keep things going in the right direction,” said Schwemley.
Shelby (5-4,1-3) is at Galion (3-5,1-3) on Thursday night for an “MOAC” game. The Tigers broke a three game losing streak by beating Cardington (67-43) in a non-league game on Saturday.
Isaiah Alsip is the second leading scorer in the “MOAC” scoring more than 18 game, with a high of 40. Schwemley says he presents a problem for them. “A guy like that you have to be careful with because if you give him too much attention and you still have to defend everybody, but also a guy like that you have to give a lot of attention. He can put up a lot of points and make difficult shots and really keep them in games. We definitely want to do a good job limiting his looks and pressuring him and them as a whole. It is a game where over New Year’s break it is hard to get some consistency, so we are trying to keep building on what we were doing. It’s out next game, we are playing on the road. We would like to go there and put forth a good effort,” said Schwemley.
Clear Fork leads the league and the Whippets trail them by three and Schwemley says they are not even thinking about the league right now, just getting better. “You look at it and we are 1-3 in the league right now, so we just have to chip away one league game at a time. We can not afford to lose another one, but I think after our Harding loss I remember telling he guys listen you are not going to hear me talking about the league in a long time, because at this point we just have to try and go one league game at a time to try and right the ship there. Maybe if we take care of things we can give ourselves a chance, but we are 1-3 right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “So, it is just about trying to take care of the Galion game and then we go on the road Saturday at Buckeye Valley, which again is a new experience for our guys. It is a team that has played very well and is very capable. These next two league games could give us a chance to get to 3-3 and really get things rolling, but one game at a time and it starts with Galion.”
Shelby High School senior Lindsey Gies is in a Columbus hospital facing a serious illness. Galion students on Thursday night will be wearing yellow, which is Lindsey’s favorite color, to show they are thinking of her and her battle.
Published 1/03/19
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Looking to Continue to Grow
Shelby has been forced to play without two of their key players the last couple of weeks, but hopefully they will have them back this weekend as they entertain Bellevue on Friday night and at Upper Sandusky on Saturday night.
They nearly knocked off talented Mansfield Senior is the 419 Challenge at Ontario High School on Saturday night, losing (50-44) to the Tygers have taken the lead with less than two minutes to play.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they did a lot of good things, especially in the second half against the Tygers. “I felt much better about the little things we did and the way we battled. I felt we started to play a little better team basketball together. Hopefully, we can take the things that were good from that game. We hung around, we hung around and we took the lead late. We wanted to finish a game like that. They are a great team, but I thought our kids really battled. Hopefully, we can take the good things and learn from our mistakes and apply it to our games this weekend,” he said.
Hunter Hoffman and Nick Amstutz have not played the past three games for the Whippets, they may be back this weekend, but Schwemely says their other players have worked hard to make up the difference. “Unfortunately, that is just part of sports. You just can’t anticipate those things. For us I know with Hunter and Nick it seemed like everything we had worked on involved having at least one of those guys in the game. Not having both of them it took a lot out of us to even to be able to run things. I thought we did a good job of kind of regrouping. As coaches we did a good job of kind of putting our personnel on the floor to work together,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I thought that definitely showed in that Mansfield Senior game and now we have a couple of more practices under our belt, so hopefully we can clean those things up. We told our kids that anytime you are in this kind of thing you have to fight through it. I hope that is the attitude we keep having and if we do that we can find a way to get out of this.”
Bellevue (2-3) may be without their leading scorer in Trey Ruhlman, who didn’t play in a (76-67) loss to Vermilion last Saturday.
Shelby (3-4) travels to Upper Sandusky (7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division Saturday night. The Ram are coming off a couple of wins in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference last weekend, beating Ridgedale (82-59) on Friday and Buckeye Central (76-49) on Saturday night.
Schwemley says the Rams have had the confidence to win close games too. “They are a very physical team. They pressure, they have multiple guys that can score. They have found ways to win close games. They have a three point win against Colonel Crawford and a one-point win against Carey. Sometimes those are the big difference games. They are team that down the stretch in close games they have found a way to win. Hopefully, we can have a positive Friday night and I think that will helps us with our chances on Saturday night,” said Schwemley.
Over years of course, Shelby has had a lot more experience playing these two schools than most in their new league, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. Schwemley says they have something special planned for Friday night. “It is kind of like old league time. Oddly, I feel more comfortable knowing what these teams do than some of the teams that are in our league now. We are going to honor the ’99 district champion team Friday night against Bellevue. We have only had two teams win a district and that was the last one, Coach Scrucci’s ’99 team. It should be a fun weekend,” he said.
Published 12/27/18
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Mansfield Senior Outlasts Shelby
Mansfield Senior made nine of 10 free throws in the last 1:29 and they got past Shelby (50-44) in a game in the 419 Challenge at Ontario High School on Saturday evening, three days before Christmas.
Shelby took the (42-41) with 1:42 to go in the game, but the Tygers would get four straight stops and added seven of eight free throws, four by Quan Hilory and three by De’Zion Taylor to put the game on ice.
Mansfield Senior coach Marquis Sykes says they stepped up when they were called upon. “We need those kinds of hard core, grind them out defensive style games. We have had a couple of runaways these past few weeks. It was necessary for us to get back to the grind in a situation where we had to get some defensive stops, some rebounds in traffic and the go to the other end and make some free throws. Our guys did that and I proud of them for that. They made the winning plays (Saturday) night,” said Sykes.
Mansfield Senior led by as many as 12 in the first half (23-11) after a hoop by Hilory with 4:40 left in the second quarter.
Shelby is down two starters to injury in Hunter Hoffman and Nick Amstutz, both are expected back after Christmas, and coach Troy Schwemley says they made a lot of mistakes early and where kind of on the verge of falling out of the game. “We talked about no moral victories. I also talked to the guys about the theme going into the night was don’t beat ourselves. If we lose to a very good Mansfield Senior team, we are down two starters. If we lose to them just because they beat us, I can live with that,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I felt like the first half and a few minutes of the third that was still the message, stop beating ourselves, the careless turnovers, and things like that, but as the game progressed we started to do the little things.”
Shelby tied the game (36-36) on TJ Pugh’s two free throws with 4:30 left in the contest, but Hilory, who led all scorers with 22, made his only three of the game to give the lead back to the Tygers (39-36) with 3:36 left. “We are up one with about two minutes to go. Hilory, he went 1-3 from the free point line, but he hit that big three deep, just right of the key, I think we had just tied it and then we foul him twice in the last two minutes. I told the guys don’t let a great player like Quan Hilory there beat you by giving it to him on the line. I’m proud of the guys effort. I felt like we might have found some things. Hopefully, and apply it to next week,” said Schwemley.
Shelby took its first lead (40-39) of the game on Uriah Schwemley’s goal with 2:47 on the clock and again went on top (42-41) with two Pugh charity tosses with 1:42 to play. However, Mansfield Senior would lock down on defense and make nine of 10 at the line.
Pugh, a transfer from Seneca East, led the Whippets with 13.
Sykes says when you are in games like this you must make your free throws if you are going to win the game. “That is part of making winning plays is going to the free throw line at the end of the game and making those free throws. We have had years in the past where in those kinds of situations where we missed three or four in a row and then we give up and offensive rebound and a guy makes three and we lose. When you go to the other end and make those free throws it makes it a little easier,” said Sykes.
Mansfield Senior was cold from the field, shooting less than 40 percent for the game. Sykes says they had problems with the Shelby zone. “Their zone gave us some issues. We haven’t seen a lot of zone this year. We did work on some this week. We figured with them being down a few guys they would probably play some zone and it gave us a lot of problems, so we will watch the film and get back to the drawing board and get guys in the right spots where they can be affective against the zone,” he said.
Published 12/23/18
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Shelby Fighting Adversity
Shelby started this season like a rocket ship, but lately they look like they have run out of fuel.
They have lost three of their last four games, including two “MOAC” games over the last week to Marion Pleasant (62-50) last Saturday and Marion Harding (42-40) on Wednesday night.
Coach Troy Schwemley says on Wednesday night they just struggled like a duck in desert to score the ball. “We seemed to struggle offensively. We only gave up 42 points and normally when you the other team scores 42 points you like your chances, but Harding is very methodical and they do a good job of running offense and very stingy on defense. We came back in the fourth. We were down quite a bit and came back with a shot at the buzzer to win it, it was just short. Our guys showed a lot of fight. There were some good things from it, but in a low scoring game like that and we ended up with 15, 16 turnovers. That is the difference in the ball game,” said Schwemley.
Plus, the Whippets have been saddled with injuries. Two starters, Hunter Hoffman and Nick Amstutz, did not plat against Harding. Schwemley says those are guys that are important to the Whippets. “Hunter Hoffman and Nick Amstutz didn’t play. You look at those two guys and they are starters for us. Hunter is one of those stretch players that can shoot the three from the perimeter and score inside, rebounding wise, and he is a rim protector and things like that. Nick also has a nice outside touch. He typically hits a three or two a game and finds some other points here and there, rebounds for us. So, it was one of those games when we knew we were facing some adversity. We were close to finding a way to win, but we just came up short,” he said.
Shelby (3-3) plays Mansfield Senior (5-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, at Ontario High School on Saturday. The Tygers have won their last five in a row, including a (74-54) win at Ashland last Friday.
Schwemley says they are going to need a tremendous team effort. “We are going to have to continue to play without those two. We are going to have to work hard to overcome that. It is just one of those things where other guys are going to have to step up. We need everybody to play a little bit better. You look at Uriah (Schwemley) leads us in a lot of things as far as points and assists and rebounds. T.J. Pugh can put up some points for us. Grant Gossom, Tanner Stephens, those guys are just going to need to step up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are not going to replace Hunter and Nick. They are going to have to play together. We are going to have to find a way to overcome a little adversity against a very good basketball team.”
Published 12/21/18
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Shelby With Another Tough Week
After losing to Clear Fork last week, the Shelby Whippets face two more of the better teams in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this week as they host Ontario on Thursday and travel to defending champion Pleasant on Saturday.
Clear Fork downed them last week (54-48) on Friday night and coach Troy Schwmley says the Colts just outplayed them. “When I think back to the game, just watching film, and looking back, we were up 18-12 in the second quarter and just had some breakdowns defensively. We didn’t get back and Clear Fork does a nice job running the floor. That second quarter kind of turned the game because we went in with a six-point lead and the next thing you know we are down four at halftime. So, that second quarter kind of turned things. I thought Clear Fork did a great job. They had active hands and had a lot of steals, so we had some empty possessions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We talked to the guys about we didn’t deserve to win that game. We felt like Clear Fork out hustled us a little bit. We need to do a better job executing against different defenses. That’s coaches included when we say something like that we are definitely responsible as well. Just a lot of things we need to do better.”
Schwemley says the loss last week makes the games this week really important. “We are disappointed it was the first league game. We have a tough stretch to start the league with Clear Fork, Ontario, Pleasant right off the bat. So, we can’t afford to dig ourselves a hole. We have got to bounce back and find a way to battle against Ontario on Thursday night,” he said.
Shelby (2-1,0-1) is at home for Ontario (1-0,1-0) on Thursday night. The Warriors beat Marion Harding (59-46) last Friday in their first game of the season.
Schwemley says this is a typical Ontario team coached by Joe Balogh. “I think the first thing that stands out is what you would expect from coach Balogh’s teams. They play great pressure defense. They play hard. They work well together. They run a variety of sets. They make good decisions. The (Griffin) Shaver kid can hit from anywhere. They have other guys that can score as well. It is going to be a game where we have got to defend, take care of the ball, get high percentage shots just like any game,” he said.
The Whippets head for Pleasant (1-0,1-0) on Saturday night. Schwemley says he has not dug that deep into the Spartans yet. “I know we play Pleasant Saturday and I will get to that on Thursday night. Right now, 100 percent of our focus is on Ontario and preparing for them. Also, it comes down to us becoming a better team. It is still early in the season, three games in for us, and there are still some things we are trying to fix from our own standpoint. We are preparing for Ontario and working on the things we need to do, but it is an important week and if we could take care of these two games it helps us have a chance. You don’t want to get down two games right away off the start. It’s one game at a time. Hopefully, we take care of Ontario and get ready for Pleasant as well. I hear good things about them. They return three very good players, so that is going to be a tough task going there on Saturday night,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/12/18
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Shelby Must Focus on Getting Better
Shelby got off to a great start last week, but the Whippets must still concentrate on getting better.
They play in their first ever boys’ basketball game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday at Clear Fork.
Shelby beat Mansfield Madison (83-61) last Friday and rallied to beat Lexington (69-57) on Saturday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they were good, but they can be better. “It was a good start the opening weekend going to Madison and winning them coming back the next night and getting a win against Lexington. We learned a lot about ourselves, but there are a lot of things we have to get better at. I don’t care if we are 2-0, 1-1, or 0-2, I think everybody is in that mode right now that there are things that first weekend you need to get better at and improve on,” he said.
The Shelby coach says they can not be satisfied by how they played last week. “That has kind of been our theme of the week not being content with where we are at and working hard to improve. We are going into a new league and it starts (Friday) night at Clear Fork. We have to be focused on that game. Clear Fork does a lot of good things. With their guard play they can get hot from the three point line. They are a team going into last week that only had a week and half of practice. They are a team that is going to improve with another week of practice. We have to get better and have great intensity going into (Friday) night’s game,” said Schwemley.
Considering some of the other schools in the league you would think Shelby would have some more familiarity with Clear Fork, but Schwemley says that isn’t really the case. “I don’t think we have played Clear Fork in a game since 2011-2012 and it kind felt like has it been that long? I know we scrimmaged a little bit here and there over the years. We haven’t ran into each other much lately, so it is almost like facing a new team. Obviously, I am familiar with coach Bechtel,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We know some of the guys, but there are a lot of things we don’t know. They were fortunate that they had another game last weekend and they got a win. They have two games under their belt, which I think is the right thing to do. Now, they are focused on their next game just like we are.”
The Colts lost to Lexington (66-49) and beat West Salem Northwestern (72-59) last week.
Clear Fork has a number of guards that can score and Schwemley says that will put pressure on their defense. “We have talked about the fact they guards can get hot. I think it probably starts with the South kid, but Siefert can get hot and Swainhart. When I saw them you can see that there are guys there that, and not just those guys, that can shoot the three. That is just something we have go to defend, but not at expense of going by people and giving up easy baskets,” he said.
Published 12/07/18
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Wants to Attack Ontario
Shelby plays host to Ontario in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference girls’ basketball game on Thursday night.
The Lady Whippets have won all three of their games so far, including a (66-38) win over Shelby in their last outing on Saturday.
Coach Natalie Lantz is pleased, but cautious. “I think we are off to a good start. We need to be prepared every game,” she said.
Shelby is yet to allow more than 41 points in game this season and they have been solid in their man to man defense, still Lantz says they have to continue to build on their range of defenses. “I have been very pleased with our man defense. We really haven’t had to go to a whole lot other than that. That said, I would like to be able to switch up our defenses and have that same confidence that I do our man,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have been working really hard so when that situation arises that we can switch up our defenses and making sure we are getting the same amount of stops, deflections, and hopefully force some turnovers. So, that is a goal.”
On the other hand, Lantz says on offense they have been very good, but there is still room to be better. “Game by game I think we have been doing a better job of really working the ball offensively and getting the looks that we want. Obviously, we are three games into the season, Ontario will be our fourth, so we still have a lot of growing to do offensively, but I’m very pleased with the steps we are taking,” she said.
Shelby (3-0,1-0) hosts Ontario (0-1,0-1) on Thursday night. Ontario lost their first and only game (54-38) to Marion Harding last Friday in conference play.
Lantz says Ontario does a lot of things they need to contain and on defense they are very aggressive. “Marion Harding is a very athletic and physical team. We have played them in years past in scrimmages. So, to open up with them as their first game I am sure Ontario had its hands full. Ontario has got some shooters. They have some really strong ball handlers that are aggressive and take the ball to the hole. So, we are going to have to be on our game defensively. Their defenses they like to trap, whether high or low, so we have to take care of the ball, and be able to move the ball and hit the open gal and attack when we have number opportunities,” she said.
Published 12/06/18
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comThere are constant updates on game nights
Shelby Ready to Compete
Shelby is going to have some knew experiences this year starting next week when they begin play in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, leaving behind their traditional “NOL” rivals, but this week will be a comfort zone as they play longtime non-conference opponents Madison on Friday and Lexington on Saturday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says one thing he knows this week is his kids are eager to get out there and play for real. “We will know more once the outcomes get here and you see how the kids rise up for that moment. Just going to the (Lexington-Clear Fork) game (Thursday) night was just exciting to see kids competing. Form our standpoint we have made the adjustments we feel make us ready for this opening weekend. Your team is going to change and kind of develop its character throughout the year. You see what you are made out of their effort and how they compete,” said Schwemley.
The Whippets are going to be one of the bigger teams in the area this year with no starter shorter than 6’3” and some experience too with Uriah Schwemley, son of the coach, and Hunter Hoffman, both a big part of the Whippets the last couple of years.
Shelby is at Madison on Friday night and the Rams return less than 10 points from last year. However, Schwemley says the Rams make up from that with a lot of effort. “They are going to give great effort, that is what sticks out to me watching them is their effort. They pressure hard and play hard. They look to create some things defensively as far as trapping and rotating and trying to create some easy baskets,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “It is easy to try and score with the ball in your hands. We talk about finding other ways to score without the ball. That’s offensive rebounds and just finding ways to make contributions. Watching Madison that is what sticks out to me is they play with such great effort.”
The Whippets will be at home of Saturday, with the varsity game starting at 6:30, due to Ohio State and the Big Ten Championship Game, for the Lexington Minutemen (1-0,) who beat Clear Fork (66-49) on Thursday night.
When you think of Lexington you are likely to think of Cade Stover, Mr. Football in Ohio first, but Schwemley says they are more than that. “They are just so solid at every position. Their guys make good decisions. You can just see that their guys have high basketball I.Q’s. They have different guys handling the ball. They complement each other really well. They know each other’s strengths and play to their strengths. That is what impressed me watching them. It is not just one guy, but every guy kind of playing to whatever his strength is and working together. That is what you need to have to have a successful team,” he said.
Published 11/30/18
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Shelby With Some Unknowns
Shelby will return some familiar faces to the basketball floor this season, but the guys wearing the other uniforms are going to be somewhat unfamiliar to the Whippets.
They are in a new league, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they are working right now to find out what they are good at. “We have five returning lettermen. We have guys that have played well together before. You are still trying to figure out personnel groupings and who plays well together. You always add some news faces to that mix. Every year you go into a plan of things you want to do. I think you are willing to make some adjustments around what your strengths are. Try to focus on the strengths, but also improve the weaknesses,” he said.
When it comes to the preseason, Schwemley says you have an overall plan of what you are trying to accomplish, but sometimes you have to be ready to adapt when it comes to the preseason too. “There are definitely things you are working on. You have to look at the bigger picture. You try and schedule opponents that are going to help prepare you for your games. Sometimes that is difficult when you are playing a lot of teams it makes scheduling scrimmages challenging. Depending on who is still playing football affects things. There are all kinds of factors that go into that. You are going into your scrimmages with kind of an agenda and depending on who you play sometimes helps those things or sometimes you realize there are things you need to work on and get better at,” said Schwemley.
When it comes to the “MOAC,” Schwemley admits there are going to be a lot of things to learn. “When you look at the teams in it, we are pretty familiar with Ontario. Clear Fork we have seen, whether it be scrimmages or postseason and things like that and Galion, but after that it gets a little bit interesting when you have teams like Rive Valley, Harding, Pleasant, Buckeye Valley, it is a new situation where there is not a lot of familiarity with some of those teams,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I know last year I went to Pleasant on a Thursday night to watch Ontario play, but other than that I don’t know a whole lot about Harding, Pleasant, Buckeye Valley. We did play River Valley non-league, so from that standpoint we are a little bit familiar, but there are going to be a lot of new faces and getting to know some tendencies. When you coach against certain teams long enough, I think coach Balogh and I probably have multiple pages of scouting reports on each other. Some of these teams we do not know a lot going in.”
Published 11/15/18
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Shelby Shooting for Title
Shelby was chosen as the coaches association’s division two champion this fall and now they get a chance to prove it on the course on Saturday when the state cross country meet is contested at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, in southern Licking County.
The OHSAA was forced to postpone the meet last was originally scheduled for last Saturday due to wet conditions, some would call flooding, at the track.
Shelby coach Chris Zuercher says it did force them to change their training methods a little bit. “We have been training hard and we really didn’t start to back off until last week a little bit, so once we heard the news Thursday afternoon we changed things up and went a little harder into the weekend. If we had to have a delay I glad we had it we these guys,” said Zuercher.
Shelby finished in the top 10 in last year’s state final and they won the division two regional on October 27 at Tiffin. Zuercher feels they are used to this kind of pressure. “They have the experience. They have raced in a lot of big pressure events and they have handled the stress really well. We hope to do well this weekend,” he said.
Caleb Brown finished second at Tiffin, just behind Kyle Johnston of Lexington, and teammate Sam Logan was three seconds behind Brown in third place. Blake Lucius ended up seventh at the regional level.
It is a sport of strategy and Zuecher lays out what they would like do on Saturday. “Our top two, Caleb Brown and Sam Logan, in that top four, five, which is great. Then our number three, Blake Lucius, if he could be ahead of Akron St. Vincent/ St. Mary and Woodridge’s two, things we look really good for us,” told Swankonsports.com on Thursday.
Published 11/09/18
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Shelby Girls Getting After it
There is a lot of enthusiasm associated with the Shelby girls’ basketball program so far this season and practices have been pretty competitive so far for the Lady Whippets.
They had their first losing season in more than decade last winter, but they appear to be ready for a comeback this year.
Coach Natalie Lantz they have some hard workers, but they have fun too. “From day one they have come in and they are working hard and they are competitors and they are really pushing each other at practice. A lot of great hustle. A lot of smiles, they are working hard, but they are having fun. So, I am seeing some great chemistry right off the bat with these girls. Just really excited about the energy that I am seeing,” she said.
Lantz feels her squad has good chemistry and she says they are pushing each other to get better as players and a team. “We are a week and a half, almost two weeks in and the girls are working hard and we are doing a lot of skill development and just working on the chemistry and knowing where each other is on the court offensively and defensively and little by little you can see kids stepping up and pushing each other to become better and stronger and realizing the different assets of each kid and how they are going to help and contribute to the team,” said Lantz.
Shelby begins the season with a non-conference game at home on “Black Friday” night November 23 against the Madison Lady Rams.
After a year in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, the Lady Whippets are in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference and their first league contest will be at Clear Fork on December 1.
Lantz says the new league is going to be a new experience. “Our job as coaches is in getting the girls prepared for a new league. There are only a few teams that we have played in the past as far as our conference goes. So, we are going to have our work cut out for us when it comes to scouting and scouting reports this year,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We will work hard and do the job on our end to have our girls prepared game by game. I know our girls are already to doing their best preparing our own game and what we want to accomplish game by game.”
Published 11/08/18
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Shelby Wants to End Season on Positive Note
The Shelby Whippets are not going to have the kind of football season they envisioned, but they can still salvage something from it.
If they beat Vermilion this week they will finish as a .500 ballclub.
They lost last week to Oak Harbor (35-0) and coach Erik Will says it was just a situation where they made too many mistakes. “The nice things is this week we get Tyshaundre Hall back. He was out this season just because of some grade issues dating back to last year, so it will be nice to get him back. He will be a welcomed addition to our offense. We actually did get a little going on the run early, we just weren’t able to sustain. Right now, the single biggest thing that is hurting us is we have really stupid penalties at times where you can’t do it. We will have a six yard run and then we have a hold, so we are looking at first and 20 or second and eight and kicks us back to second and 18. It puts you in a situation where you become very predictable. Those are very big things and we need to do a better job this week and see if we can get a win week 10,” said Will.
Shelby (4-5) plays at Vermilion (3-6) on Friday night in a non-conference game. The Sailors beat Edison last week (36-35) on a fake extra point late in the game. That win broke a six game losing streak.
Will says their defense has been suspect this season. “You watch them on film. The number 4 kid is a really good athlete. A matter of fact we call him their Uriah (Schwemley.) They play him a lot like we do Uriah. They move him all over and try anyway possible to get him the ball. The kid that is playing quarterback is not too bad, he is a younger guy, he is going to be good. It is tough to replace a kid that has been a starter for several years like the Heard kid was. He obviously made the go from an offensive standpoint. They have a couple of nice little athletes. If you look they are scoring points they are just getting beat because of that defensive side a little bit. They are capable. Their coaches are saying the exact same thing that we are saying to our kids this is a winnable game this week, so we have to be ready,” said Will.
Will says this will be an important game for them in terms of heading the postseason. “This is kind of like college and this is kind of like a bowl game. That is how we have to look at this. You are not playing in the playoffs for a state championship, but you are playing in a bowl game. You can still go into the off season on a high note. The best we can do is 5-5 and we will take that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Yeah, 5-5 and you are not going to be able to say you were winners, but you are also not saying you are losers. This is a huge game for us because we want to go into the off season on a positive note. Our theme this week is get back home, let’s get this win, get back home, get healed up, and attack this off season.”
Published 10/24/18
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Shelby Still Trying to run it
Shelby has done a good job throwing the football this season, but their lack of a running game has been costing them in a lot of cases.
They host Oak Harbor in a non-conference foot ball game coming up on Friday night.
The Whippets held a one-point lead at halftime last week (14-13,) but it was all Port Clinton in the second two quarters and the Redskins whipped them (36-14) last Friday.
Coach Erik Will says they just couldn’t get anything going in the second half. “They did a nice job executing in the second half. I really like the way our kids came out to play. Unfortunately, there is the second half we weren’t able to keep things even or even win the second half. They were just able to make more plays than we did. You have to give Beau (Carmon) and his staff and his kids a lot of credit they did a nice job. They are still trying to compete for that league title. We have to get back to the drawing board,” he said.
Will says they certainly going to try and resurrect that running game over the last two weeks of the season. “The disappointing this for us is, we have tried different personnel groupings and we have even tried different formations and different types of scheme things, are we have just not been able to get that run game going. When you have to throw the ball 25 to 30 times a game just because you can’t get any movement it really puts you behind the eight ball. I have broken it down this year and we have really only had two games where we have been able to run the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have four wins, but only two games where we were to actually run the football. In Ohio high school football, especially this time of year when that weather changes and it starts getting more damp and more precipitation and that grind of the season, you have to be to run the football. As a coaching staff that has been a head scratcher and disappointment. There has been no stone left unturned to try and get that run game going, but we have another week to try.”
Shelby (4-4) hosts Oak Harbor (7-1) on Friday night. The Rockets are coming off a (24-7) win at Edison in a Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game last week. They stand fifth in the division five playoff region.
Will says the Rockets are going to come to town with winning on their mind. “They are really good. Their running back and their quarterback are their two best combo guys we have seen this year. Their quarterback is a really good athlete. Their running back runs well. Their only loss is to an undefeated team (Genoa) in their own region. So, they are playing really, really well. Just off film they really pop off both sides of the ball. Their lines are very physical. They have home playoff aspirations. We are not contributing to a league title for them they have revenge on their mind. They want to come back and get us after last year. They are really in the same position we were last year,” he said.
Published 10/16/18
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Shelby Making Plays Again
Shelby broke a three game losing streak with a win over Edison last week and this Friday night they travel to Port Clinton to meet the Redskins.
All of the Whippets games this year are non-conference games. They have left the Sandusky Bay Conference, but they have not yet joined the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference in football, that comes next year.
Shelby beat Edison (33-7) last week and coach Erik Will says they began to play with confidence again. “Well, I think our kids were just playing with more confidence. We had a good week of practice. We didn’t turn the ball over. We were able to get out to an early lead. Defensively, our kids did a nice job with their option responsibilities. I thought that was good for our defense, it kind of got us healthy there as far as our responsivities. We were kind of able to make them throw the football. They threw for a decent amount, but a team like Edison wants to run the football, so if you can take that away it gives you a chance to win the football game. It was kind of nice for our kids to compete and on the end of the night be on the positive side of the scoreboard,” said Will.
Will says they have been concentrating more on the mental side of the game and that is giving the players more confidence. “That mental part is just as important as the physical. If the kids feel like they can make plays the physical part will follow. The kids came in an executed the game plan well. There wasn’t anything that they hadn’t seen on film, which was nice,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We were able to throw the ball well, still didn’t run the ball like we would like to. This year we have really had a hard time consistently running the football. We continue to make a conscious effort to do it. It looks like throwing has been the way of the Whippets this year.”
Shelby (4-3) plays at Port Clinton (4-3) on Friday night. The Redskins are coming off a (47-10) win over Vermilion in a Bay Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Will says they have some good athletes and they are aggressive on defense. “They are very well coached. They have some athletes. They have a little slot that is really, really fast. Their quarterback is a lefty with a strong arm. Offensive line is big and does a nice job. They give you multiple formations and different looks. Defensively, they are very aggressive. They kind of run a 4-3 or 4-2. They will go to a three man front. They are kind of like Huron, their secondary is very quick. They will let you catch some balls underneath, but they attack like sharks as soon as the ball is caught. I think they are one of the more athletic teams that we have played. It is absolutely going to be a challenge,” said Will.
With the athletes the Redskins have they have made some big plays. Will says they want to force them to drive the ball to score. “You have to play the percentages. In high school, if you can make a team go seven, eight, nine, ten plays the chances of them getting in the end zone goes down drastically, but if you are giving up those big hits that we were just eluding to you really put yourself behind the eight ball. It is also demoralizing. You play some decent defense then give up a long play on third. You are lined up right and you have a blown assignment it makes the whole operation look bad. When you do that it gives them confidence and it kills your confidence, so that is something we have to guard against,” said Will.
Published 10/11/18
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It’s a Confidence Issue for Shelby
Shelby is carrying a three game losing streak into their matchup with the Edison Chargers on Friday night at Skiles Field.
Shelby had won 18 regular season games in a row until Bellevue beat them (45-28) three weeks ago, followed by a (49-0) shutout by Norwalk, and a (42-7) loss last week at home to Huron.
Coach Erik Will says right now they are dealing with a confidence problem. “They played really well and got out to an early lead. We are playing a lot of young guys right now and like a lot of teams have been hit with the injury bug here a little bit. In our linebacking unit we have one starter there and a sophomore and a freshman playing. They are gaining valuable experience and reps, but it is just tough when they are going against a school the caliber of Huron. Huron obviously is playing really well this year and they were able to take advantage of that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Offensively, we have injuries over there, but we are just not executing well right now. It is one of those things were we just aren’t playing with confidence. When you don’t play with confidence, you don’t expect to make plays. Whereas the last three years our kids played with confidence where they expected to make plays. I think our kids are almost playing with the mentality of what is going to happen next instead of who is going to go out and make the play. We are just trying to tweak and alter than mindset.”
Injuries have also been a concern for the Whippets, but Will says they just have to have guys step up. “Huron is very, very good, Edison is solid. Edison has injuries too. They have a couple of key injuries on their line and in their secondary as well. The bottom line is guys have to make plays and coaches have to do a good job of putting people in position to make plays. That is that very tight dance that we do as coaches and players do as players. It is a results based business. They last three weeks we have played Bellevue, who is progressively getting better, Norwalk is one the better teams in the entire area, and Huron is going to be a playoff team. So, we played three really good teams that did what they were supposed to do. Unfortunately for us, especially the last two weeks, we haven’t competed at a very high level,” he said.
Shelby (3-3) plays host to Edison (3-2) in a non-conference game on Friday night. The Chargers lost last week to Port Clinton (28-14) in a Bay Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Edison runs that triple option, but Will says they can throw too and the Whippets need to understand that. “Just from a defensive standpoint we have to be very good on lining up correctly. Everybody has a responsibility and then you have to be disciplined. This what people don’t understand about the option they are going to hit you with the veer, hit you with the midline, hit you with the veer, hit you with the midline, and they are going to throw something over top. Your secondary can’t get sucked up or that’s when the big play is going to happen. Their quarterback and fullback are both really, really good and extremely athletic. Defensively, they blitz a lot. They are bringing a lot of guys at us. Or offensive line has to have a big week and then we have to play great responsibility football on Friday against Edison’s option,” said Will.
Published 10/05/18
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Shelby Has to Dig Deep
Shelby lost its second game in a row for the first time since the final two weeks of the 2015 season and they were belted by Norwalk.
The Truckers beat them (49-0) last Friday at Whitney Field in Norwalk.
Shelby coach Erik Will says they were not ready to play. “If you would have saw our practices last week you wouldn’t have been surprised by that score. You would have to go back to my first year at Shelby to find that. We just didn’t have any energy. Our leadership wasn’t very good. So, we have to practice better. I told our kids we are going to hit the reset button right now and we are going to have a great week of practice and let’s see what we can do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We are still really young, but what I want to see is that competitive fire and the preparation. Every coach will tell you losing is never acceptable, but you can stomach it more when your kids are engaged and have a great week of practice and you feel they are 100 percent engaged in what is going on. I can’t honestly say that we were mentally and physically prepared for the game. Having said that Norwalk obviously had a lot to do with that as well. They are a good football team and they made a lot of plays and we made very few.”
On Friday night, the Whippets (3-2) host Huron in non-conference play. Shelby is not in a conference this year, so all of them will be non-league games.
Will says this is an important game for them. “This is a huge week, it’s homecoming, a lot alumni here, a lot of former players come back, we grill up for them, they come down to the locker room. It’s a big week, homecoming is very important, I don’t know how other schools treat it, but at Shelby it’s a big deal and we want to have a good showing. The way we look at it is we were 3-2 in our first set and it didn’t come out exactly like we wanted it too. We wont three in a row and lost the last two. We just have to get that taste of losing out of our mouth. Huron is very good, but they are a team I feel we can compete against. We just need a great week of practice. We have to stop the damn from breaking right now,” said Will.
Huron (4-1) is a winner of its last three, including (31-14) over Toledo Scott last week.
Will says they do a good job executing what they do. “It funny when you watch them you would think they throw the ball a lot, but they actually run the ball about 60 percent of the time. They are very efficient. They are not huge, but what they do they execute at a high level offensively. Defensively, they are very aggressive and very sound in what they do. They have the numbers, I think they have about 60 kids 10 through 12. They have 24, 25 seniors, so they have a lot of kids out there running around with a lot of experience. So, we will have to play a really good game, but I think we will be ready this week,” said Will.
The first quarter of this is game is going to be important to the Whippets, Will says they need to get off to a better start. “We have had two bad starts. I think it is a little bit of us and I think it is a little bit of the team we are playing. You have to give them credit too. It kind of goes back and forth. Last week, we had three or four different opportunities on third and longs to get our defense off the field and we didn’t do it. We are winning first and second down, but our third down efficiency right now defensively is not very good. We have to quit getting outscored 14-0, 14-7, 21-7, that has been the M.O. the last two weeks and that has to change if we are going to be successful this week,” he said.
Published 9/25/18
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Shelby Must Run it; Stop Big Play
Shelby’s 18 game regular season win streak was snapped last week by longtime rival Bellevue and they have another tough assignment this week as they play Norwalk.
Shelby had not lost since Sandusky beat them on September 23, 2016, so almost two calendar years until Bellevue beat them (45-28) last Friday in a game the Redmen led (33-7) at one time.
Despite it being Bellevue’s first win of the season, Shelby coach Erik Will says they knew Bellevue would be a tough challenge. “We played a really good football team. A really well coached football team. I know I said last week about the fact that record was deceiving and I think that that played out. From our end we are sorry to say that, but as a coaching staff we knew that Bellevue was a really, really good football team. For them to kind of get us behind the eight ball and for us specifically to not be able to run the football that hurts any high school team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Even in the NFL, I don’t care what level it is, everybody wants to run the football and if your can’t do that and become one dimensional it is really tough. Bellevue did a really good job of that. I was really proud of the resiliency of our kids. I can objectively look at this game and realize that Bellevue played a better football game. They won it in the trenches.”
Will says to get back on the winning track they have to run the ball and that starts up front. “Some of that might be a schematic thing, but most of it is just execution. We have guys that have been playing for two and three years. We just have to get better play, more consistent play. When you look at it it is not all five. It is normally one or two. That has kind of been a common theme all year. The difference is teams like Bellevue that are really aggressive and really well coached they find your deficiencies. So, we have to get back in practice this week and continue to work on it whether it is a personnel thing or a little tweak from our end. There is nothing that is off the table. There is no doubt that if we don’t run the ball against Norwalk we will have the same outcome,” said Will.
Shelby (3-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, is at Norwalk (3-1) in a non-conference game on Friday night. Like Bellevue, Shelby has been playing the Truckers for a lot of years.
Norwalk blanked a good Edison team last week (35-0) and Will says they Truckers are an athletic, big play, kind of team. “They are big and they are athletic. They have some youth. Their running back is special. The Haraway kid is really good. Their quarterback does a nice job. Their offensive line is big. They are just very, very well coached. They get to the football well from a defensive standpoint. They are a big play offense. You don’t see a lot of matriculation down the field. You see more of a big play. They have two or three kids that are big play type kids. If we give up the big play we will lose,” said Will.
On defense, Will says Norwalk likes to blitz and they will have to be ready for that. “They are just very sound. They play quarters and thirds behind it, but they are very schematically sound in the way they do it. They will move guys around pre snap. They put in just enough of those blitzes and stuff like that to keep you honest as well because you don’t know where they are coming from. Norwalk has always had good athletes, that is the thing about it. Norwalk is always one of those schools that has been a sleeping giant. Their personnel is really good as well and they are utilizing that,” said Will.
Published 9/18/18
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www.swankonsports.comShelby Clashes With Bellevue
Shelby travels to Bellevue to face the Redmen in a football game between two storied programs on Friday night.
The Whippets have won 18 straight regular season games dating back to the 2016 season.
They drummed Willard (63-0) last week.
Coach Erik Will says they have executed pretty well on offense, but they still need more consistency from their offensive line. “Even at Lexington I felt we did a pretty good job. We scored 27 points. As a coach you never satisfied, right? I feel the young guys have done a nice job. On our offensive line we are getting four or five guys to consistently execute at a high level. It is almost one of those things were there is a missed assignment almost every play out of one of the five. Any coach will tell you that is one of the hardest things to get those five guys all synchronized. To be able to put the points up that we have it is pretty good and we are happy with those numbers. We also know as we move forward the competition is going to continue to get tougher and tougher, so we are going to have to earn every one of those points,” said Will.
Bellevue is off to a slow (0-3) start to the season, but they are still a good team. They have losses to state power Canton Central Catholic (14-13) and unbeaten Clear Fork (40-12) and then last week lost in the final moments (31-27) to West Holmes.
Will feels this game will be a big challenge for them. “Bellevue is not playing possum with us. We are not falling for the 0-3 thing at all. When you look at the combined record teams they have played I think there is one loss. They played Clear Fork week two, Clear Fork might be the best team in Richland County right now. We know Bellevue really, really good and they are really young. We told our kids that we feel that if Bellevue would have played our schedule they would have been 3-0 as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have to keep things in perspective this is still a really good Bellevue football team. So, as long as Ed Nasonti is coaching at Bellevue we understand the physicality and the type of team we are going to be playing against.”
Bellevue has played the fourth toughest schedule for a division four team in the state and Will expects nothing but a dogfight from them. “They do things very well. A matter of fact when you look at their film I think they should be 2-1 right now. I will say that as a coach that is scouting against them. They were right there in that Canton Central Catholic game. That is a possession either way. Clear Fork did a really nice job against them, but as I said Clear Fork is really, really good. Then last week they just didn’t make the plays in the fourth quarter to win that game. They were going into the fourth quarter with the lead. This is like our 76 th meeting with them. We are a rival to them just as much as they are to us. We understand that we are going to get their best shot. I really believe this is a 50/50 game, this is one of those toss ups, this is where the records truly do not matter,” said Will.
Published 9/13/18
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Shelby has to Take Advantage of Opportunities
Shelby hosts longtime rival Willard for the last time on the football field, at least for a while, on Friday night in a non-conference game.
Last week, the Whippets (2-0) beat Lexington (27-24) at Lex. Coach Erik Will says they needed to do a better job of taking advantage of opportunities. “Just managing the game a little bit better from the standpoint that we had a double digit lead. Taking advantage of opportunities. You hear that a lot about baseball, you miss a pitch and the next one they hit out of the yard, maybe you drop a foul ball and the very next play the guy hits a home run. That happened to us a couple of times. We had an interception opportunity and dropped it and they score the next play. We are not running out the clock appropriately. We run out of bounds and then we have kind of a fumbled snap or the exchange with the running back and the running back doesn’t fall on it, he tries to pick it up and Lexington falls on it and scores two plays later. Those are things that are all within our control. The message coming out of that game is guys we made this a lot closer than it should have been and it is because of our own undoing. Having said that Lexington deserves credit because they are taking advantage of the opportunities they have, which is what every coach wants,” said Will.
Shelby has not lost a regular season game in almost two full seasons. However, Will says they understand this team has a lot of improving to do. “Each and every week we have an opportunity against a new opponent with new looks. I think our kids are excited to get back on the field. A win is a win. We are 2-0 with a chance to go 3-0. We also understand that the game of football only happens once a week. I think our kids just want to go out there and run around the field and get that taste out of their mouth not finishing that game the way we wanted to. The season is a year long learning process,” he said.
Shelby has had its way with Willard over the last few seasons, but Will says the Flashes (1-1,) coming off a (38-35) win over Plymouth last week, are clearly a better football team. “They are much improved and I know every year people say that. The Parrott kid is a solid football player and they have a couple of nice little athletes around him. They are well coached, you can actually see that, I know that sounds like coach talk, but it’s not. They are like anybody else they have their strengths and they have their deficiencies and we are focusing on that. Right now, we are not good enough to look by anybody. If we look by somebody we can get beat,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “There is no reason if you are Willard that you wouldn’t come over here motivated and understanding that if you played a really good game against a young Whippet team that you couldn’t walk out of the here with a “W.” We are doing everything we can to respect our opponent and make sure we are ready to go Friday.”
Will says Willard quarterback Cooper Parrott is a big playmaker. “He jumps right off the screen. He throws a nice ball. He is very elusive and you have to account for him. He is one of those guys that you have to game plan for from a spy standpoint. It is not what he does often times with the design of the play it is kind the what he does off of that where he kind of moves around. I look back to when we were first starting this program here and we had a young quarterback that was pretty elusive back there and wouldn’t go through his progression maybe the way we wanted him too, but when he would scramble around and makes plays and makes everyone around him better that is the sign of a true leader and the Parrott kid fits that,” said Will.
Published 9/06/18
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Shelby not Underestimating Lexington
Shelby has won its last 17 regular season games in a row and they will try an extend that streak when they play at Lexington on Friday night in a non conference game.
The Whippets destroyed Madison (48-8) in their first game last Thursday at home.
Coach Erik Will says they were able to get off to a good start with 21 points in the first quarter. “I was really happy with our kids we got off to a fast start. That was something we hadn’t seen in the three scrimmages. So, we were really happy about that. I thought our line as a collective group played pretty well, so I was happy about that. The ability is there, but we do have some youth, and because of that I was a little worried about how they would handle some different situational things and I thought they did well there. There are plenty of things to coach up from a technique standpoint there. Coming out of the half I want to be a little bit more crisp. All in all, I was very pleased with how our kids played. We understand that the competition is only going to get tougher from here, so we have to grow from week to week,” said Will.
The Shelby coach says they made enough mistakes that there have been some teaching points to address this week. “That is the best way to coach. After a win it is easier to coach hard that it is to coach hard after a loss. What I mean by that is kids are a little more emotionally and mentally vulnerable after a loss. You almost have to be careful what you say, be honest with them, but you have to be careful,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “When they come in after a pretty dominate win, at least on the scoreboard, you can kind of give them a little bit more of a reality of where they are at. It was a great opportunity for us to coach them and I thought they have responded well and we are having a very good week of practice.”
Lexington (0-1) lost in its first game when Ontario scored twice in the last five minutes to win (14-7) last Friday. Shelby beat the Minutemen (41-7) a year ago.
Will says the Minutemen has some playmakers, especially Ohio State recruit Cade Stover. “The skill is definitely there. I know they weren’t happy with the results of the game on Friday, but that is a rivalry game. We knew going into that game that Lexington has athletes and we came away knowing they have athletes know. You know, 11 is tough, five is tough, 18 is tough. The quarterback is not bad when he gets time to through the ball. Obviously, Cade Stover speaks for himself. He is one of the best players in the state and he has to be accounted for on every play,” he said.
When it comes to Stover, Will says you have to try and disguise things so he doesn’t make the play in the backfield. “He is definitely a very important part of our scouting report with the kids this week. His affect on defense is almost like nothing I have ever seen in 18 years of coaching because the way they line him up it is hard to account for him in your blocking. So, you have to find ways to chip him, get is way, try to get him to see something and go the other way, mis direction things are big. Cade Stover is probably going to have 25 tackles, but we just want those tackles to be down the field six, seven, eight, nine yards. If we can do that we will be fine,” said Will.
Published 8/31/18
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www.swankonsportshosting247.comShelby Preparing the Best They Can for Madison
Shelby opens the football season with traditional non-conference rival Mansfield Madison on Thursday night at Skiles Field in Shelby.
Of course, most teams play on Friday, but Shelby coach Erik Will says a day early isn’t bad. “To start the year, it is not a huge difference. We have been scouting each other for a few weeks now. The way it works throughout the summer with those camp days you get 10 of those and then several weeks of early practice. You kind of go against general looks and general fronts, things you kind of expect to see and then when you get closer you start getting it really narrowed down to what you are going to see. After a scrimmage or two you have a general idea of what teams are going to do, at least what they are showing they are going to do. You can prepare for what you think they might throw at you, but you didn’t see,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “If anything, I like it because it is a day early. I think the kids are ready to go. We are ready to start getting out there and getting after it and they count. Even though it is a day early it is not a real big difference. I think it is fun and I think the kids enjoy being the only show in Richland County to start the year.”
Shelby has won 19 of their last 20 regular season games and went deep into the playoffs the last two years. Will says expectations are always high at Shelby. “Shelby has won 656 football games and that puts us right around the top 15, 16 in the state of Ohio in total wins, so Shelby has been very successful in its 123 going on 124 years, so winning is very important around here. They give you the resources and the ability to do that. The kids are kind of ingrained at a young age through the stories. There are a lot of generational players that come through here. It is cool that the town buys in and the alumni are good about it. Our administration is fantastic in supporting that as well. The kids get to have fun and go out and play. At the end of day, it really is a kids game and they get to enjoy it and more importantly I think they enjoy who they get to do it with,” said Will.
Madison has been on the other side of it lately. The Rams have lost their last 16 games, including (48-10) to Shelby last season.
They have a new coach in Dave Stupka, however, Will thinks they are about as prepared as they can be for the Rams. “We have prepped the best we can. There are some wrinkles in there that we have kind of added that we think would put our kids in a tough situation. I think a lot of coaches will tell you week one that every team kind of has a new wrinkle or two every year, but you are hoping your kids are coached well enough and disciplined enough and trust enough their keys that even if they get something they haven’t seen they should still be well schooled enough to be prepared for some of the things that they not be expecting to see, but do. That is especially for us from a defensive standpoint. As long as we ready our keys we shouldn’t give up anything too big and make sure you live to see another play,” said Will.
Published 8/22/18
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Shelby Taking Steps
Shelby is coming off a couple of outstanding seasons on the gridiron and if they continue to improve they can be pretty good this year as well.
Coach Erik Will says they are making some execution mistakes, but he believes they will be able to get those worked out before next week. “I have come away just with the mindset that we are young. We have a lot of youth, but I like where we are at. I think we are probably right where we should be. We have things to correct. There are a lot of things that we are pleased with. We feel like our effort is pretty good. Our pad level is pretty good, which is something we a young group of guys up front you kind of expect to be a little sloppy, so we are happy with that. We think some of the reasons we are making mistakes we can clean some of that up when we actually start scouting and putting in preparation for the opponent. At this time of year teams really aren’t prepping for each other in the preseason. What you are evaluating is effort and enthusiasm, being coachable, ready and react to the ball and things like that. Very happy with where our kids are at right now,” said Will.
Will says they have some decisions to make on the offensive line and some improvement in the defensive backfield. However, he thinks it is mostly about the mental side of the game. “We have to seal up one little spot on the offensive line. We still have a little bit of a battle, so we will have to see how that shakes out. Then on our defense, our back four. Our two safeties and our two corners all four of them are new this year. They are very capable athletically, but mentally they have to improve. I think we will see those gains, but our secondary is athletic enough to be a pretty good group, but mentally they have to come a little bit faster than maybe what we have been getting,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I think they will get there, we are confident that they will get there, but those are the growing pains that you have. It is always a little bit of a concern when you graduate the class that we just had where a lot of those kids played three and four years. They are kids you know physically can play many positions, but you are worried about that mental component and leadership component.”
They host Mansfield Madison in their opening game of the season next Thursday at Skiles Field. Will says they are already focused on that game. “As a matter of fact Monday we started really prepping for Madison offensively and defensively. Obviously, we will exchange the second scrimmage film this week, so we will kind of take a look at that to see what is going on, they are a new staff. We have to prepare for a little bit of the unknown because they probably have a few wrinkles that they are not going to show us. That is why we have to make sure we are disciplined. Everything we are doing right now is to get ready to beat Madison. We scrimmage Galion Thursday night and we want to do well in that scrimmage, but that is not our focus,” said Will.
Published 8/15/18
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Shelby Not Stepping Back
Shelby reached the state semifinals last year and the regional final the year before. They had an unbeaten regular season last year and a title in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
A lot of the kids responsible for making that happen have graduated, but there is talent remaining, a lot of it.
Coach Erik Will says he has been pleased by what he has seen. “We are really excited. There are a lot of, I don’t want to say new faces, just young faces. A lot of guys that got time early on in the season with some of the suspensions. Once we were able to get some of those seniors back last year they played a lot in second halves of football games. The JV team was pretty solid last year, the freshmen did well. It is good these guys are getting an opportunity. I feel like right now the competition level is really high. Our depth is not as plentiful as it once was, but that is okay. I think most coaches that you talk to will tell you that depth is always a concern. I guess as coaches it is our job to develop that. Things are going well, a good summer, good spring, all of those things,” he said.
Brady Armstrong is off to the University of Virginia, but back is junior McGwire Albert at quarterback. Will says he does a lot of things well. “McGwire (Albert) continues to get better. He is getting better practice by practice. He had a really nice sophomore campaign for us. He did a great job in those first three games of making plays. The quarterback is like a really good point guard on a basketball team. He is a facilitator, he is a tempo setter, a pace setter. He gets the ball to the athletes and let them make plays,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “McGwire did a really nice job with that last year, but the difference is this year we are kind of asking him to make a few more of those plays. Last year, he is throwing it to Carter Brooks, Brady Hill and Uriah (Schwemley) and kind of letting those guys g to work. This year we are going to ask him to make a few more of those plays with his feet and maybe throw the ball down the field a little bit more. McGwire is a very good high school quarterback and his maturity level has definitely grown this camp.”
Shelby is in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this school year in everything, but football, so no league title for the Whippets. However, Will says they have goals. “We are kind of hanging out right now for a year. We are in purgatory for one year. We are in between the “SBC” and the “MOAC.” We are going to be there, but we have to wait a year until 2019. It is one of those things where it is outside of our control. The number one team goal we have is to win every week and then make the playoffs. We just want to see if we can get back to the playoffs and make a run at it,” he said.
Published 8/09/18
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Shelby Ready for Bellevue
Shelby dominated Mansfield Senior (16-0) in its first tournament game on Wednesday and now they play at arch rival Bellevue in the division two sectional final on Friday.
The Tygers had only won one game this year, but Shelby coach Jon Amicone says they didn’t take them lightly. “I loved the way our kids competed (Wednesday) night. Definitely there was more focus. It is a new season, obviously, everybody starts with an 0-0 record and I really apricate what our kids did with focus and winning the baseball game and I thought they played very well,” he said.
Bellevue (18-3), # 4 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, shared the Bay Division title in the Sandusky Bay Conference title with Clyde this year. They beat Shelby in a pair of one run games this year, 3-2 and 4-3, both decided in the seventh inning.
Amicone says the schools have an outstanding rivalry. “We have a really nice rivalry. It’s a friendly rivalry between two schools. In both games we lost by one run late in the game and our kids really competed really well against Bellevue. I think when you play a rivalry game like that it really brings out the best in our players. I hope we do the same for them. It’s a really good baseball game each time the teams compete,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It is always very competitive, it is always very tense. I think that is what makes the game fun. That is what high school sports is about, playing at a very high level. That is what you get when you get Shelby and Bellevue playing baseball against each other.”
Amicone says mistakes, or the lack of them, are going to be big in this game. He says they can’t get behind early. “There is very little margin for error, specifically in our district. If you are fortunate to move on in this district the margin for error gets less and less. At tournament time it is just very hard to play catch up with good teams you are playing against and the good pitching you are seeing. If you make those little mistakes, especially early in the game it is almost impossible to play catch up sand try and win consistently that way. The margin of error is very small and our kids know that. It is all about that focus from the first pitch to the last,” said Amicone.
Published 5/10/18
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www.swankonsportshosting247.com for the latest baseball scoresShelby Starting to Believe
Shelby pounded Norwalk (15-5) in five innings in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division game on Monday evening and the Lady Whippets are starting to believe in themselves.
Coach Natalie Huggins says they have done a lot of good things the past couple of weeks. “We have played some really good ballgames recently. Even though they haven’t shown up in the win total we are competing night in and night out. It is always good to be playing your best ball in May when it is time for championships,” she said.
Shelby (5-13) had limited to experience at the beginning of the season, but Huggins says they have gained that as the season has gone on and they have made some important changes. “It has been quite a few things and maturity is definitely one of them. We are not necessarily a young team, but at the beginning of the season we were very inexperienced in that we had one kid that was playing the same position as she did on varsity last year. If I had any letter winners or returning starters they were playing in new positions. So, that is part of it,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We made some hard decisions to change our lineup a little bit. We have a couple of younger kids that joined us from JV a couple of weeks ago and have done an awesome job anchoring down our outfield, which them freed up our centerfielder, who in my eyes is an All-Ohioan at catcher, Brileigh Gates. We needed her in the outfield for the first half of the season and that freed her up to come behind the plate and she has absolutely owned it since she got there.”
Any coach will tell you that believing is a big part of success and Huggins says they are starting to feel that. “We are just jelling right now at the right time. Also, I think it is just believing we can do it. We were taking some lumps early in the season and it wasn’t fun to be getting beat horribly and now that we are starting to compete and be in games toward the end of games we are starting to believe we can do it too,” said Huggins.
Published 5/01/18
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Shelby has started to play some pretty good baseball as the Whippets won for the fifth straight time in an (8-1) win over Sandusky in Lake Division play in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Monday.
The Whippets (9-3,4-3) scored four times in the first inning against the Blue Streaks and coach Jon Amicone says that set the tone for the day. “We were fortunate enough to get off to a good start in the first inning. We put up four runs in the first and I thought the lefthander kind of settled in. He was able to pitch with the lead and he was throwing a couple of pitches for strikes. A nice three pitch mix for us and really kept their hitters off balance. Even with the weather I think he was able to battle through it and put up some good innings for us.” Said Amicone.
It started out as a nearly 70 degree afternoon on Monday and Amicone says that lets the pitchers have a little better command than what they have had on these bitterly cold days we have been having. “I think mentally you are just a lot more comfortable on the mound and you can get a lot more feel for the ball. We always teach our pitchers to dominate the top half of the baseball with their fingers. When the weather is nice it is easier to do that and you a little better command on all of your pitches,” he said.
Shelby pitchers have only surrendered two runs over the last five games, all wins for Shelby.
Although they remain three games behind Bellevue in the Lake Division race, the Redmen beat Perkins (4-1) on Monday, Amicone says all of these wins are big. “Baseball is different than any other sport. It is a game against yourself. If you go out there and make errors and walk people or you don’t get that big hit. You are going to lose those types of games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Winning is just too hard in baseball not to enjoy it or not to appreciate it when you do get a win. They are hard to come by at times. I thought our kids did a nice job of staying focused and played the game the right way.”
Published 4/24/18
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Shelby has played only seven baseball games and they have won just over half of them. The lack of time of the field concerns coach Jon Amicone.
He says it has been hard to stay focused, but he thinks they have done a pretty good job of that considering what they have faced. “We have played seven games so far and in a typical season we use the first seven games to iron our lineups and let competition settle on the field. Now, after our first seven games we are talking about getting ready for tournament time, which is right around the corner. It is really difficult to try and assess and try to determine how good your team is playing because once you kind of get into a grove Mother Nature kind of takes over and you are setting another five games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I think our kids have done a relatively good job of staying focused with the inability to get outside on a regular basis. We have been in, we have been out. You are talking about teenage kids and trying to keep their focus that can be a challenge. I think our leaders have really stepped up and tried to keep guys focused and continue the process of being a good baseball team.”
Shelby is scheduled to play Mansfield Senior in a non-conference game on Wednesday. The weather is supposed to improve.
This spring the Whippets are pretty inexperienced and Amicone says the weather has made it difficult to determine who should be playing. “We have some young guys at key positions and we are trying to compete and I think competition breeds success in your program and our guys really haven’t had a chance to compete and show what they can do on the field on a regular basis. You want to give kids chances to compete and play at a high level and Mother Nature has kind of taken care of that. We use practice as an assessment tool. There is nothing like real life games. There are no questions on the field. When you play a game you can see everything. You can see who is going to rise to the occasion and who is going to fold under pressure. We can try play as many games as possible and try to get back in the league race and get ready for the tournament,” said Amicone.
Shelby (4-3,2-3) lost to Bellevue (3-2) and Norwalk (6-2) and beat Tiffin Columbian (8-0) in conference games last week. They play Sandusky Perkins on Thursday.
Amicone says they might have to run the table if they are going to win a third straight league title. “It is a very competitive division, no doubt about it. We lost a couple of tough games. We lost in the seventh to Bellevue and a tough game to a Norwalk team that is playing really well right now. I thought both games could have gone either way. Both of those teams played better than us for seven innings and that’s why they were able to win. We have to continue to work. We will play those teams again. Obviously, we want to play at a high level game in and game out to put ourselves in a good position. The cards have been dealt and we didn’t get it done first time through. It might be out of our hands for now. It’s all about continuing to get better and continuing to improve and try and make a nice tournament run,” said Amicone.
Published 4/18/18
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Shelby Hopes to Play Sandusky on Thursday
Shelby has only played once over the last week and that is going to lead to some things down the road.
The Whippets beat Marion Harding (6-1) on Saturday. Since then there has been a lot of rain and snow and wind and everything you can think of weather wise.Coach Jon Amicone says it has really prevented them from making some decisions they need to make. “It is tough on our guys, tough on the coaches. You can’t even practice outside, you are indoors, you are in the cage. You do the things you can do inside, the detail oriented things. There is nothing like real game like reps. It is tough on everyone. We still have to stretch out some other pitchers. We still have competition for some important positions. Our guys are just kind of waiting their turn. Guys that are competing for the same position are just going to have to wait until we get to later on in the season and we can play more games and really identify not only lineups, but positions,” said Amicone.
Pitching depth might be more important this year than ever. Amicone says they are trying to develop some of that. “One of the things about the new pitch rules it is just going to be tough. A lot of teams, including ours, we just have to develop that pitching depth. Two weeks from now you will be playing your sixth game in five days. That is just the reality of the situation with doubleheaders on Saturdays. It’s a shame because the quality of baseball is just going to drop,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “You are probably going to have kids that aren’t ready to pitch at the varsity level yet. That is kind of the cards all teams are dealt, not just us, it’s all teams. As coaches in North Central Ohio we do a nice job of trying to develop players and pitchers to compete at a high level. Because games are getting pushed back you have to get depth and kids have to grow up quickly.”
Shelby is scheduled to play at Sandusky in a Lake Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Thursday. It would be the Whippets first league game.
Amicone says they have to be ready to play some small ball against the Blue Streaks. “Sandusky has some athletes. You are always concerned when you play Sandusky it doesn’t matter what their record is. They always come to the ballpark ready to play. They are going to put the pressure on you, they don’t strike out much. They are going to put the ball in play and when they are on the bases they are built around speed. They are going to go first to third. They are going to steal bases. They are very productive on the base paths. That is something that we really focused on in practice on (Wednesday.) Making sure we keep guys on bases, making sure we know bunt coverage and our steal coverages and try to be prepared the best we can for Sandusky,” said Amicone.
Published 4/05/18
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Shelby Edges Clear Fork
In a battle between traditional baseball powers, Shelby went to Clear Fork and beat the Colts (3-1) in a non-conference baseball game on Monday evening.
Of course, this will be a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game starting next spring.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone knows they came away with a big time win on the road against a team that has been in the division three state final four the last two years. “It was a big win for us. Anytime you are able to a get a win against a great program like Clear Fork that is always going to be a good win. Our kids did a nice job (Monday) in the opener doing the right things moving runners, being productive, throwing strikes and playing good defense behind them. This game was fun. Anytime you play Clear Fork there is just a different energy to a game, there is a different vibe. Being the first game for both teams I was pleasantly surprised by how competitive this game got and it was fun to be part of,” said Amicone.
Shelby’s top two pitchers from last year both graduated in Garrett Caudill and Brennan Armstrong. However, Amicone says senior Tanner Elliot was outstanding against the Colts. “Tanner Elliot, our senior, gave us five really, really strong innings. He is going to be the guy that we lean on a little bit this year. I know when you are holding Clear Fork to one run your pitcher is doing a really nice job because that doesn’t happen, they are such good hitters. They are talented and they are well coached,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I was very pleased with Tanner, he had a nice three pitch mix. He felt really comfortable throwing the curveball and the changeup and the fastball at anytime in the count. When you throw three pitches at anytime in the count and that makes it really tough on hitters. He really carried the team for the first game.”
It was a day for pitching and defense, but Amicone says they did a very good job of the little things and getting into position to score the runs they needed to win the game. “We only had four hits, but we were able to move runners with bunts. We did a nice job with dirt ball reads, advancing bases reading balls in the dirt, I was pleased with our reads of balls in the dirt. You have to manufacture runs the best you can. Runs are hard to come by, especially against Clear Fork. Our guys did a nice job accepting that challenge and really doing the small things to scratch across runs because they were hard to come by,” he said.
Published 3/27/18
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Shelby Working in Some New Players
Shelby competed well in the last year of the Northern Ohio League and even though they are younger they won’t be quiet in their only year in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
Second year coach Natalie Huggins says they have a lot to replace, but the players have done some things to put a smile on her face. “We are very young. We graduated six seniors last year, five that started, and we are trying very hard to fill those holes,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have done a very nice job of working hard and working together and having good comradery as far as being happy for our teammates as we would be for ourselves. So far, we have seen good things, we just haven’t been able to test those good things out as far as getting out on the field too much and getting any kind of competition in.”
The weather has been less than cooperative last couple weeks in terms of getting out on the field. However, Natalie says they were able to get out on the field and scrimmage her dad’s squad last Friday. “We did get to scrimmage Colonel Crawford on Friday. It was only 34 degrees, but the sun was shining. When we could stay in the sun we were good to go. So, we were able to get out against them and we liked a lot of what we saw. It is always a good time sharing the field with my dad,” she said.
What are the chances that Shelby and Colonel Crawford will ever play during the regular season? Natalie says pretty much zero. “I would love to and he would not love to and we obviously have different thoughts on that. We are respectful of each other’s thoughts and it will not be happening as long as he is coaching because he is very set on us not playing. We will scrimmage every year. We will combine our teams in fall ball and that kind of stuff, but that is a game we will just have to wish for,” said Huggins.
Published 3/20/18
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Shelby Takes on Number One Seed Vermilion
It is a very deep district tournament this year in division two and a good example is the sectional final match up Friday night at Willard High School between Shelby and Vermilion.
Vermilion is the top seed and has won 19 games and Shelby is the eighth seed, but they have won 14 games.
Shelby (14-8) has won six of its last eight against good competition, including a last second (52-51) win over Perkins on Friday, and coach Troy Schwemley feels they are playing well. “We have had a good schedule throughout the year with a lot of close games, some we found a way to win and some we didn’t. When you look at how we ended the season I thought we ended on some real positives and headed the right direction. We found a way to win our last game and hopefully we can build on that and find a way to win our game against Vermilion,” he said.
Vermilion (19-4), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Bellevue (65-53) on Tuesday in a first round game.
Schwemley says they have good depth and do a lot of things well. “They really are a very solid team. They play a lot of guys. They move really well. They have three guys that are their main scorers with Joby Pfeil, a first team all district player that is averaging 16.3. Mason Montgomery, averaging 16.7 and then and their point guard is averaging 8.1. Those three are consistently their leading scorers and they have other guys that contribute night in and night out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It seems like if you look at their games they always have one or two guys that find ways to contribute. Reece Miller was the guy that did that in their tournament game. He had around 10 points and they have a lot of guys that play hard not just offensively, but defensively and they pressure you and find ways to break you down.”
Pushing the pace of the game is something Sailors like to do and get some easy looks, but Schwemley says the execute well in the half court too. “They really move well. They are kind of like a five out motion like team, but they run some screens off it. It just seems like they are just solid all around. They make good decisions. That was evident in their last regular season game against Sandusky, a real close game, and down the stretch they made some big shots and found a way to win. When you are 19-4 you have found some ways to win and have played lots of different styles of teams. No matter who they have played they have matched up well against them,” said Schwemely.
Published 3/01/18
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Shelby Looking for Momentum
For the Shelby Whippets it is hard to hide the disappointment that this season could have been better, but also that there are games to play that provide a chance to prove how good they are capable of being.
The Whippets (13-8,7-4) plays at Sandusky Perkins (12-9,6-5) in a Lake Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.
Shelby beat Tiffin Columbian (64-35) in a division game on Friday night, but their chance to move into a share of first place was dashed when Sandusky beat Norwalk (50-39) in another division game to claim the title.
Coach Troy Schwemley says it’s really simple they lost too many games to give themselves a real chance to win the title. “We have talked about some things this week. There have been some good things that we have done this year, but I think we are kind of disappointed where we are at. We would liked to have had a shot at the league title. When it comes down to you are not really going to have much of a chance losing that many,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We kind of had a chance, but we didn’t control our own destiny and we needed help and didn’t do enough things against teams we needed to beat. That goal of winning the league title has fallen through. Saturday night against Ontario we didn’t take care of business. It was a chance to win a quality game against a good local opponent. There have been some good things but, there have been some disappointing things.”
Ontario beat the Whippets (55-52) on Saturday night.
Perkins has also been part of the Lake Division race as was everybody really with the exception of Tiffin. Schwemley says they want to build some momentum. “With the Perkins game it is about finishing the season, finishing the season strong and controlling what we can because the next step is tournament play. We have to focus on not just looking ahead at the tournament. We want to finish the season strong so we have some momentum going into the tournament,” he said.
In fact, Schwemley says the Whippets and Pirates have really had comparable seasons including a close game won by Shelby (54-53) on January 15 on a last second shot by Uriah Schwemley, son of the coach. “I would say they are kind of similar to us as far as they have had a good season. Maybe lost some games they could’ve, should’ve won. We beat them on a buzzer beater, they lost a game in overtime against Sandusky. Their season could be different in terms of this game could have been a game deciding the league. I think both of us are approaching this game the same as far as a chance to finish the season on a good note then move on to the next step. It is a very quality, good team that we are playing at their place,” said Schwemley.
Published 2/21/18
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Shelby Meets Willard for Third Time
Shelby plays Willard in the division two sectional semi finals at Monroeville High School on Tuesday night. It is their third meeting and second in just over a week.
The Lady Flashes (18-5), #4 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won last Monday (62-46) at Willard.
Lady Whippets (7-15) coach Natalie Lantz says there shouldn’t be any surprises. “We are old rivals. We have played each other twice now, including last week. We do know each other. You never know they might have some tricks up their sleeve. We have had a couple of games in between. We haven’t had a whole lot of time to spend on them, but hopefully we are prepared enough to put ourselves in the game and have a chance,” she said.
In regard to last week, Lantz says more than anything they have to be more consistent and everything they do. “Watching the game film back it was definitely not one of our best games. There are some things we did well and things we need to work on. We just weren’t consistent in the things we did well in executing our offense and boxing out and a lot of the little things I think can make a difference in a game like this. We talked about those things. Hopefully, we can step out and perform a little bit better consistently for four quarters (Tuesday) night,” said Lantz.
Willard also beat Shelby (52-47) on December 2, just a couple of weeks into the season.
Lantz says is very familiar with the Willard personnel and she says they have talent across the board beginning with point guard Madie Secor. “She is a nice quick guard. She has a great outside shot. She handles to the ball well. They have Cassie Crawford, who is very athletic. She can play guard and forward. You are Wiers that is extremely tall and gets up and down the floor. You have Feltner inside and Vipperman that can shoot,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have two off the bench with starting experience as well. They have a lot of depth, they have a lot of experience, which is something our girls don’t have. We lost basically 50 points a game from last year. I think we have come a long way this year. If we come out and play confident. We have seen Willard twice and I think that will help us going into (Tuesday) night’s game.”
Published 2/20/18
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Shelby Has to Take Care of Business
Shelby is one game back of Sandusky in the Lake Division standings in the Sandusky Bay Conference.
They are in a must win situation at Tiffin Columbian (3-16,0-10) on Friday night.
Norwalk, who is tied with Shelby for second, plays Sandusky this week.
Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says it doesn’t matter what happens in that game if they don’t beat Tiffin. “We have to take care of our game first. We certainly need some help, but it doesn’t matter if we don’t take care of Tiffin. They are a team that has played some close games lately. They are getting better. They are getting a little more healthy as the season went on. They have been missing some players do to injury that are playing now. They are a team that is trying to get things right at the end of the year and we are kind of in the same boat. Everybody is in that boat right now where you have a couple of games left before the tournament and you are trying to finish the season strong,” he said.
Shelby (12-7,6-4) beat Columbian (59-32) on January 6 and Schwemley says they were able to force a lot of turnovers. “When you think back to our first game we really turned them over pretty good. Our defense got some steals and really created some offense for us. In a game like that you have to be careful to not overlook what we did well in that game and that was really pressure the guards and turn them over and doing things like that are what helped to propel us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Going on the road we need to play with great intensity and not overlook them because of their record. They have Todd Simmons back, who is an important player for them. They have guys that can hit threes. Watching a recent game against Bellevue I think they hit three or four threes in a row. They have got guys that are capable scorers and they have a big guy inside with Smith. It is one of those things where we have to do what we do to get out to a good start and take care of business.”
The Whippets have won four of their last five and Schwemley says their execution of the elements of the game has been pretty good. “I think we have been doing a lot of little things well. Moving the ball better offensively, keeping the ball moving and being aggressive with that. It seems like when you are playing good defense and rebounding and when you are moving the ball on offense that is what we need to do to be successful. We have shown signs of that and we need to keep that going we have a double weekend again at Tiffin on Friday and then our last home game with Ontario on Saturday night and we want to finish strong and keep playing well,” said Schwemley.
Ontario (11-7) pays a visit to Shelby in Saturday night. Schwemley says that will be another pretty good test. “They are a team that has had some success. It is a little unique with them making the move into the “MOAC” because normally by now I have seen more the them whether it is on film or things like that. It is awkward not seeing Ontario is some our league games that I am scouting. Ontario-Shelby has been a great rivalry. They are kind of in a similar situation to what we are they are trying to keep themselves playing strong and finish the season well going into the tournament,” he said.
Published 2/15/18
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Madison Downs Whippets
Madison outscored Shelby (29-21) in the second half and pulled away to a (57-47) win in non-conference boys’ basketball game on Saturday night at Shelby High School.
Madison took an 11-point lead (44-33) with 1:16 to play in the third quarter as Kyle Jackson punctuated a six-point Ram run with a dunk. Shelby cut it to six twice in the fourth quarter, the last time at (49-43) with 5:41 to play in the game, but could get no closer.
There was a smile on the face of Madison coach Tim Mergel after the game. “It has taken some time, but the kids are starting to understand a little bit. I just see a lot more unity than I have seen in pervious parts of the season. This weekend was a good weekend, it was a fun weekend. The kids had fun and obviously when you win it is fun, but there was something different with the chemistry (Saturday) night. Our kids were a joy to watch,” said Mergel.
Madison shot 42 percent (19-40) for the game and Shelby coach Troy Schwemley his team did not do a very good job on defense. “Jackson’s are the easiest to remember because he finished them with a dunk. Our defensive rotation wasn’t real good. They shot the ball well from the perimeter. We still have to defend on our closeouts, breakdown, and then take away the drives. It seemed like either we didn’t close out hard or if they did drive we didn’t rotate like we needed to,” he said.
The Rams made 8-19 three point attempts, Shelby was just 4-19 on the night.
Mergel says they have guys that can stroke it, it has just been a matter of getting them the ball in the right spots and they were able to do that against Shelby. “We have some kids that can shoot it. Our struggle has been moving the basketball to those shooters and getting them in shooting spots and (Saturday) night we were able to that. (Friday) night we did it, we just didn’t shoot it at a very high percentage. When the ball moves good things happen and that was the case for us,” said Mergel.
Jackson led Madison with 16 points and three dunks, Mason Campbell added 15 and Shamir Brown 12. Brown made 4-7 three point attempts.
Madison (11-8) beat West Holmes (53-47) in Ohio Cardinal Conference play on Friday night. Mergel believes they took some leaps forward this weekend. “Every week I talk about we take little steps, this weekend we took pretty big steps defensively. We had guys that showed urgency defensively. We had guys that took up ownership of people they guarded and we were rewarded for it. We are past the little steps now, we have to start taking big steps and we did (Saturday) night,” he said.
Shelby (12-7) beat Norwalk (50-48) in a good Lake Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night. The Whippets scored only four points in the last five minutes of the game versus Madison. Schwemley says they were tired, but that is no excuse for their performance on the floor. “When the officials come over to you and say you have two tired teams out there playing that is pretty good indication that they sense the energy level or lack of. I think the disappointing part is Madison played (Friday) night too and you want to see some fight, you want to see some toughness out of your kids,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “It is going to be a grind of a game when you play back to back. We play about seven guys and we have played a lot of games in a few weeks. No excuses I felt like we needed to be a little more tuff (Saturday) night. Our team energy wasn’t what it needed to be to be successful.”
Madison is one of two schools we cover in the division one district in the Northwest District and Mergel says with a lower seed they have to be ready for almost anything. “With 21 teams up there in our district you don’t know what you are going to get. You might get an up tempo team that likes to pressure you. You might get a big, tall team that likes to set in the half court. You have to be prepared for anything, which our conference does a good job with and our non conference schedule,” he said.
Uriah Schwemley had 16 for the Whippets, Brady Hill added 13.
Published 2/10/18
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Shelby With Opportunity Against Norwalk
Shelby stands a game behind “SBC” Lake Division co-leaders Norwalk and Sandusky and they host the Truckers on Friday night in a critical league game for both sides.
After losing four in a row, the Whippets have now won their last three, one of those being a (69-62) win over Bellevue last Saturday in a Lake Division game. They beat longtime rival Willard (76-58) in a rescheduled game on Monday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says he likes what he sees. “We have won three in a row. We had that little four game stretch where we lost four games, but we were battling in them and playing hard. I think we have done some good things lately and hopefully we can keep that going,” he said.
Shelby (11-6,5-4) plays at home against Norwalk (10-7,6-3) on Friday night. The Truckers own a seven game winning streak, including a (54-41) win over Bellevue in a league game last Thursday.
Schwemley believes Norwalk point game Brandon Haraway is the engine that makes the Truckers go. “He is a guy that just makes everybody better around him. He does a lot of things. He handles the ball. He distributes the ball. He has a good sense of the game knowing when he needs to score and who has the hot hand. He is one of those guys that just seems to make everybody better around him,” he said.
Shelby beat Norwalk (42-31) on January 4 and the Truckers have only lost once since then and that was two days later to Sandusky (71-60) in division play.
Schwemley says they played great defense that night and they have to do that again Friday and more. “They do a lot of good things. Brandon, obviously, can push the tempo and attack and create in free lancing sorts of things. Like all coach Gray coached teams they do a great job of executing when they need to run certain things or counter certain things. I think there are certain things he has been running for a long time and they do them really well. We need to do a good job defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “The first time we played them we really defended well. It was a really low scoring game. We defended well and took care of the ball. In that game we got off to a nice start, which allowed us to kind of dictate the tempo and now playing into their hands. I think us getting off to a good start is important, but we have to play four quarters and 32 minutes.”
After Friday night, the Whippets have two division games left, Tiffin Columbian and Sandusky Perkins, and Schwemley says if they want a piece of the title they must win on Friday night. “We can’t afford to lose another game. We are game behind Norwalk and Sandusky. If we are able to beat Norwalk then everybody is chasing Sandusky. I think Norwalk turns around and plays Sandusky here in a week or two. From our standpoint we have got to take care of the Norwalk game. We can’t afford to lose another game, but there are enough games left that if we do our part and get a little help then we will have a shot at the end of the season,” he said.
Published 2/08/18
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Shelby has to Learn From Mistakes
Shelby lost two more games last week that they could have won, something that has been consistent with the Whippets over the last couple of weeks.
Shelby plays at Wynford in a non-conference game on Thursday night and at Bellevue in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division on Saturday night.
They lost to Clyde (68-57) in a Lake Division game last Friday and (45-41) to Lexington on Saturday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says last week sounds like a broken record and they have to press some new groves. “I watched the film and sometimes you need a break. I know that there are times when you make your own breaks and you have to make things happen, but then there are times that you need a break. There were times in both games where we take the lead in the fourth quarter and battle back from deficit and on the next possession the other teams hit those shots that are maybe a 50 percent and they miss it then we have a chance at a rebound and maybe get the possession. When I am stating those games and watching them it seems every time right now when another team has a shot we are just not catching any breaks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “There are things we have to do better you just can’t set there and hope for other teams to make mistakes or things like that. We have to do some things better and take care of the ball and help ourselves out a little more. There have been sometimes when it seems we can’t catch a break.”
Shelby plays at Wynford (7-7) in a non-conference game on Thursday. The Royals had won four straight until a (65-46) loss to Colonel Crawford last Saturday. Schwemley says it is time to start winning. “It is two teams just trying to right the ship and find a way to win. We have lost four games in a row here where we battled and had the lead at some point in the fourth quarter and they are in the same situation just trying to find some success. We are a little above .500 and they are at .500. It is teams trying to play well at the right time of year. For us that is our approach right now respecting the talent they have. We know we are going to have to go over there and play hard and no one is just going to give us anything at this point, we have to take it and hopefully we can do that Thursday night,” he said.
Shelby (8-6,4-4) plays at Bellevue (7-6,3-4) on Saturday night in a Lake Division game. Bellevue beat Shelby (56-55) on December 29. Schwemley says that is the kind of game they have to start winning. “I look back at that game and that was kind of a game where I felt we let one get away. We had a six, seven point lead and some things all went wrong in the fourth quarter and those were mistakes that we made and they capitalized on it and made some shots down the stretch. We had some opportunities in that one. We made some mistakes that ended up biting us. Going there on Saturday night we realize we can’t fall back any more in the league. We know it is kind of an outside shot now. It has been a league where teams have been beating up on each other. The only thing we can control is how do we play. We have to go to Bellevue on Saturday night and fix some of those things we have talked about and learn how to win again. I think it is a game that we can do that, but we have to play for four quarters and the guys have to make plays down the stretch and learn from the mistakes that have cost us like in that Bellevue game,” said Schwemley.
Published 2/01/18
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Shelby to be Challenged by both Clyde and Lexington
After losses to two quality opponents last week, Shelby is looking at the same scenario this week with a league game at home against Clyde on Friday an a non conference game against “OCC” powerhouse Lexington on the road on Saturday.
Last week, they lost a tough one to Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division leader Sandusky (59-56) and to unbeaten Mansfield St. Peter’s (50-44) in a non-conference game on Saturday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they had a chance to win both games.
He says they rallied to take the lead against the Blue Streaks. “The hard part is there are a lot of plays you look back at and you kind of question decisions you make as a coach, should we have called a time out? Should we have ran that? The had part as I reflect on the Sandusky game. We battled back and we took the lead. We were down at halftime by double digits. I think we have the ball with under a minute to go only down one, which is the exact same situation we were in on Monday, but we turned the ball over. It is one of those situations where what worked on Monday it didn’t work on Friday. I think the disappointing thing is you want an opportunity to at least get a shot. We turned it over and had to foul and end up losing by three,” said Schwemley.
He says against St. Peter’s it was much the same thing. “Then the same with St. Peter’s. That game was a game where I think we were down one at halftime and then we tied it late. I think we scored five unanswered points to tie it and Elijah Cobb gets it out of bounds and races down the floor and hits a little foater in the lane to take the lead back. It is one of those where we had the momentum and he steps up and makes the big play to take it right back from us. It was little plays like that where we didn’t quite make that one more play when we really needed to,” he said.
Clyde (7-5,3-4) beat Shelby (8-4,4-3), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, (64-54) in a Lake Division game on December 21. They beat Perkins (74-51) last Friday and lost to Norwalk (65-51) on Saturday.
Schwemley says the Fliers play a different kind of style than just about anyone else. “They pressure and they have multiple guys that can score. They really are very explosive. They have a lot of guys that can shoot the three. When you look at the matchups we kind of knew going in with Sandusky and St. Peter’s who the scorers were. Clyde is a totally different animal. They have multiple guys that can shoot the three, many guys that score points,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Derek Harris averaging 15.5 is their leading scorer, but Seth Holman is averaging 13.7 and Cameron Farrer is averaging 12.5 and it us not just those guys. They have other guys that contribute and shoot and score. It is kind of a different game plan. We have to really take care of the ball and make sure we are kind of guarding everybody, but still limit their main scorers.”
Lexington (10-4), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is coming off a big win over talented Colonel Crawford (50-41) last Saturday.
Schwemley says you have to contain Cade Stover, who got 32 against Crawford, without leaving the other guys wide open. “There is no time for us to feel sorry for ourselves when you look at our matchups this week. We have Clyde at home. We really need to win that to keep a game behind Sandusky and then we have Lexington on Saturday. We are going to have to defend Stover, but it is not just him. They have other guys that can hurt you. They have other shooters that get hot and they really play good, physical team basketball. They are kind of another team that you really can’t focus on one guy, but Cade Stover draws a lot of attention, but they have other guys that can score. We are going to have to in that night defend and rebound and take care of the ball. Perimeter defense is something we didn’t do really well on Friday and Saturday. There were shots that were open looks, but we got a little careless sometimes and we are going to have to get high percentage shots on Saturday against Lexington,” said Schwemley.
Published 1/24/18
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Shelby Faces Rematch with Talented and Improved Sandusky
It is a log jam a top the standings in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference with Shelby, Sandusky, and Perkins all in a share of first place with Bellevue, Clyde, and Norwalk just a game back.
Wow!!
Shelby plays at home against Sandusky on Friday night.They beat Perkins (54-53) on Monday night when Uriah Schwemley scored at the horn.
Coach Troy Schwemley says their focus was great for a Monday night and they were able to make a big play at the end. “When you look at just the prior weekend too. We practiced Thursday getting ready for Perkins on Friday. We knew the weather was coming in and Friday’s game gets moved to Monday. Then our Willard game on Saturday gets cancelled. When you practice Thursday and you don’t do anything until Monday I was a little nervous going into the game as far as where we were at because we had had that long weekend. We talked before the game and said guys at the end of the night we are either going to be tied for first or we are going to be two games back and we can’t make any excuses about not having practice time we have to come our ready to play and I really felt we did. We came out and were ahead the whole game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We had a couple of stretches where we extended the lead to 10 or 11, but Perkins kept battling and made some plays down the stretch and it kind of went back and forth there right until the last basket. We did a nice job of getting the ball to Uriah and he took to the paint and had a great finish at the buzzer to get us a win.”Shelby (8-2,4-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Sandusky (68-63) when they played them December 15 at Sandusky. The Blue Streaks (8-4,5-2), #5 in our poll, lost only twice since that and not at all in the league. They beat Bellevue (66-52) on Tuesday.
Schwemley says they have really good guards that are the engine for the team. “Their guards Tosh Stavisky, Keith Williams, and Dillon Jones just make them go. Williams is averaging about 18, Stavisky is around 12 and Jones is around 14. Stavisky and Jones are sophomores. They are really aggressive and are nice shooters. Those three are their guys. They take threes, they will attack. I think they are most dangerous when they are attacking and either creating for themselves, each other, or for other players. Their other guys are role players. They take their roles. They get some garbage buckets. They are a team where their guards make them go. They have a lot of guys that come in and play hard. They have really figured themselves out. They are a different team than when we played the first time,” said Schwemley.
Then on Saturday night, the Whippets host Mansfield St. Peter’s (13-0), #1 in our small school poll. Schwemley says the Spartans are going to be another of what is a long line of contenders. “We are getting ready for Sandusky. Our focus is on Sandusky and when Friday night is over it will be move to St. Pete’s, who is undefeated and having a great season. We have had some battles the last couple of years and it has been a great rivalry. So, we are going to have to get ready for them Saturday morning. You go back to Monday and we had this great win Monday and it is get ready for the next team and we both tied for the lead and Saturday night we get St. Pete’s next. Then you look at next week and we have Clyde and Lexington on the schedule. Our focus has got to be one game at a time and put every once of energy into that one game and when that game is over move on to the next one and that is how it has got to be,” said Schwemley.
Published 1/18/18
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Shelby Can Land in First Place
Shelby can move into a share of first place in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference with a win at home on Friday night over first place Sandusky Perkins.
The Whippets (7-2,3-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, got wins over Norwalk (42-31) last Thursday and Tiffin Columbian (59-32) on Saturday to keep right in the conference race.
Coach Troy Schwemley says Friday night is a big opportunity for them. “We were pleased how we finished the Christmas break beating Norwalk at their place, holding them to 31 points, and beating Tiffin Columbian, and with the way some of the other league games have went, I think maybe it is what we expected as far as the league was going to be very tough. We are in a situation where we play Perkins on Friday and they have one league loss and we’ve got two. We are in a situation where if we can knock them off it puts us back in a tie for first. We feel like we would like to have a couple of those games back, but we can’t control that, but we can control Friday night and how we play. We have chance to really put ourselves in a good position,” said Schwemley.
Perkins (6-4,4-1) has lost its last three to Brunswick (54-42) and Wadsworth (51-48) in a holiday tournament and Sandusky (60-59) in overtime in a league last week.
Schwemley says the Pirates are still very good and they have great balance. “They average three guys in double figures, Bennett McCune is averaging around 14 a game, Jacob Voight around 12 and then Helmut Wheeler around 11. They really have a nice blend. Wheeler plays more inside, he is a nice post player that works hard, he gets a lot of points in the paint, and those other two guys can really shoot the ball well. They really have nice balance with their personnel and the things they do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They play hard. All of their games have been close. They are 4-1 in the league and they have had a lot of close games. I hate to sound like a broken record, but we are going to have to play great defense, rebound and be efficient on offense. We are playing a very good basketball team.”
Shelby and Perkins have similar personnel and Schwemley says this is another game that is likely going to come down to the end, something both sides are used to this year. “With us we are a very similar type team. We have three guys averaging double figures with Uriah (Schwemley) leading us with 15, Hunter Hoffman is at 14, Brady Hill is around 12. We have other guys in Carter Brooks and Tanner Stevens that have also had double figure here and there. Nick Amstutz and Cameron Stein come off the bench and do a nice job for us. A lot of games are about matchups and I think this game is intriguing because we are very similar type teams. We both have some bigs, we both have some guards that can score. It is going to be a game where you look at it coming in it is a game that should be a pretty close game going down to the wire,” said Schwemley.
Published 1/10/18
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Shelby Must Work For Good Shots
Shelby faces a must win game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference as they travel to Norwalk on Thursday night.
The Whippets are already two games behind Sandusky Perkins in the division race and third loss drops them out of contention.
They really thought they should have beaten Bellevue last Friday, but instead lost (56-55) to Redmen in a division game. Coach Troy Schwemley says they can let that feeling linger, but they have to learn from it too. “You have to ready for the next game and put it behind us. You don’t really want to dwell on it, but there are things from it that you want to work on and get better at. There are things you want to address and teach the team if we do a couple of little things in that game that game could have turned out differently, but you have to move on to the next opponent,” he said.
Norwalk (3-5,2-1) hosts the Whippets (5-2,1-2) on the Thursday night. Shelby also plays Tiffin Columbian (1-6,0-3) at home on Saturday night.
Norwalk is a team that has played a lot of low scoring games and likes to control the tempo of the game. Schwenley says they want to pick their sports to run, but it is not something they want to do for 32 minutes. “We want our defense and rebounds to turn into easy offense, but we not a team that I would say can consistently run up and down with our depth and the number of guys that we play. We play about six, seven guys a game, so we have to be careful that we just don’t run carelessly,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We want our defense and rebounding to get us some run outs and things like that, but we also want to get high percentage shots on the offensive end. That is something we still want to do and are learning when to be patient and when to run and when to take quick shots.”
Execution is the key no matter where the Whippets have the ball. Schwemely says in the half court they have to move better without the ball and that will be critical against Norwalk. “They always do a great job of rotating on the ball and help side defense. No matter what personnel they have had they have always done a good job of that. We are going to have to move the ball and work together and work without the ball. I think that is something we are still working on is guys moving without the basketball. It is easy to want to score with the ball in your hands, but you have do things away from the ball that draw those defenders away to get the guys with the ball opportunities to get good looks,” said Schwemley.
Published 1/04/18
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Execution in the Open Floor for Shelby
Shelby plays at home for the first time as a member of the Sandusky Bay Conference when they host the Bellevue Redmen on Friday night in a Lake Division game.
After losing for the first time to Clyde (64-54) last Thursday in a Lake Division game, the Whippets beat Ashland (65-58) last Saturday in non-conference play.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they were able to get things going early in the game. “I was especially happy with how we started. We jumped out real quick and really played well in the first half. We lost to Clyde on Thursday and then you turn around and have a game on Saturday against Ashland, who as we talked to out kids don’t look at their record they are a very good team and they had played a lot of good opponents and just been on the short end. I was real happy with how we jumped out and we were up 14, 15 points at halftime,” he said.
Bellevue (3-2,1-1) is at Shelby (4-1,1-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night. They lost at Ontario in the same holiday tournament Shelby was in, to Mansfield Madison (78-68) on Saturday.
Trey Ruhlman has 26 points against Madison and he is one of the best point guards in the district. Schwemley says a lot of things go through him, but he is not their only scorer. “He is averaging around 23 points a game. He really does a great job of handling the ball and getting shots off and they are typically high percentage shots. He really does a great job of creating for himself, but coach Rich does an excellent job of running certain actions and plays and things that get him or other guys open looks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The hard thing with them is if you have too much focus on one guy and they have guys that have varsity experience coming back with the Waskielis kid that is averaging around 13 a game and Marshall is around 11 and Vogel is around nine, so they have got four guys that are almost in double figures or above. Ruhlman makes them go, but they have other guys that can hurt you that you have to pay a lot of attention to.”
Bellevue like to force the tempo and Schwemley says they want to be able to take advantage of their opportunities to score on the fast break. “In that Madison game you saw a variety of presses and some zone action that they were doing. They pressure defensively and when you are being aggressive defensively you are a high risk, high reward type of thing. We are hoping we can take advantage of things and get some offensive looks and some high percentage shots offensively, but you have to take care of the ball and then defensively anytime good offense is good defense, by scoring and finishing that helps to protect us defensively. We have to do that because they have some guys that can get out and run and they can kind of play both ways. They can attack you in transition and they do a nice job in the half court running some sets and some things to get their shooters open,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/28/17
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Armstrong Says it’s Virginia
Shelby quarterback Brennan Armstrong made it official on Wednesday he is going to the University of Virginia to continue his football career and his education.
He says they Cavaliers made it feel like home. “I think it was best fit for me because of the family feel they have in the university. It comes natural. They don’t have to fake it. All of the guys have wives and kids. They understand what is like to be a family and they just bring that over to the football program,” said Armstrong.
He is the most decorated quarterback in Shelby’s history hold all or at least most of the career and single game passing records.
Armstrong, a duel threat quarterback, says he like what the Cavaliers are trying to get established. “The offensive style they are going to be running. They showed be the BYU film from a couple years ago where they coached. They run a lot of the read option things that they want to incorporate now in Virginia,” he said.
Armstrong also believes he has made the right choice when it comes to the books. “Just the academic side of it. If something happens to me in football, anything can happen one play at a time and I think the University of Virginia degree I am going to have will set me up for life and want to do,” he said.
Earlier this year, Armstrong has committed to Minnesota, but he says they made him a little uncomfortable. “They got a preferred walk on. I talked to the coaches just trying to figure out what they wanted to do with that. They were cool I happy with Minnesota and I was fine with that. Then at the time Virginia got a word and they started to contact me again,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I started talking to them a little bit. Long relations came back. So, I had some doubts, so I went back and really thought about it an made my decision with Virginia.”
When it comes to playing time, Armstrong was he has been made no promises, but he thinks he will get a chance to play. “They really haven’t talked about it much. They haven’t talked about redshirting. I think they just want me to go in there and earn everything I want to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Go in there and work as hard as I possibly can. Right now, it I kind of open they have some guys there. If I go in there are work hard I think I will be in good shape.”
Shelby football coach Erik Will says he new he had a special player early
on in the process. “I would say for me when I watched him play for the first
time in the eighth grade. I remember going down to Skiles Field ad he is 14
years old and I had heard about him. We had had him in camp and you can see
it, but now you could see him with the pads on and watching him run the
first thing I thought of was, I believe it was the first week they were
playing, the first thing that came to my mind was, and I told our staff, if
this was Kentucky he would be a five year starter because he was that good
as an eighth grader. Not just because he was athletic because he was 6’1”,
185 pounds in the eighth grade, his body was mature and he was mature beyond
his years,” said Will.
He says there is no question Brennan is a hard worker based on what he has
seen and that is going to be a plus for him. “The thing I appreciate the
most about him we had a talk coming into his freshman year that nothing will
be given, everything will be earned. If you are as good as everybody says
you are. If you are an elite athlete it is going to be the work ethic, that
is the unseen thing that is going to catapult you to the type of athlete you
can be. I can tell you this, he works as hard as anybody I have coached,” he
said.
Published 12/21/17
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Shelby Handling Pressure
In two of their three games so far the Shelby Whippets have faced a lot of pressure and they have handled it pretty well, in fact, really well, and that is going to be important this week.
They play at Clyde in a Lake Division game in the Sandusky Bay Conference on Thursday.
They beat Sandusky, the defending division two district champion, (68-63) last week. They had broken Upper Sandusky’s 49-game regular season winning streak (68-59) the week before.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they have been able to handle the press without a bunch of turnovers. “As far as our start goes we are obviously off to a good start and I and really happy with the guys. We are jelling quickly. When you look at the teams we have played in Willard and Upper Sandusky and Sandusky and I think the things that kind of stood out to me against Upper Sandusky and Sandusky both is those teams are really pressure teams. They like to pressure you up and down the floor. We have dealt with the pressure pretty good and taken care of the ball. With a little concern with our conditioning I think our guys have done a nice job of handling the pressure and knowing the difference between being under control and attacking and taking opportunity when those opportunities arise,” said Schwemley.
Shelby (3-0,1-0), #1 in the Swankonsports,com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, play at Clyde (2-2,0-2) on Thursday night. The Fliers lost to Norwalk (53-48) last week.
Schwemley says this is a third straight team that is going to try and attack them with defensive pressure. “I think when I mentioned as far as Upper Sandusky and Sandusky, Clyde is almost like round three of playing another team that just pressures and pressures. They have really kind of shifted their style a little bit. Coach Fretz has a lot of nice athletes up there that really pressure you. He plays a lot of guys. Last year, when we played there I was very impressed with how hard they played and they had a lot of young guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I think almost everybody is back from last year’s team. They have three guys averaging double figures (Derek) Harrah, he is around 15 a game, and (Camaron) Farrar around 14 and (Seth) Hohman around 11. Those are guys that can score, but it is not just those three. They have kind shifted there style. They play a lot of guys and pressure you in traps.”
With some veteran ballhandlers led by senior point guard Brady Hill, Schwemley says they have handled pressure, but he says it is tough to do in somebody’s else’s gym. “I am glad we have played the teams we have to kind of prepare us. Anytime you go on the road against a team that is thriving on trying to turn you over you have to be ready to play and we are going to have to up there,” he said.
Published 12/20/17
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Shelby Meets Talented Sandusky
Shelby travels north to Sandusky to face the Blue Streaks in a key early season matchup in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.
It will be the Whippets (2-0,0-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, first division game of the season.
The Whippets took down the Upper Sandusky Rams (68-59) last Saturday in a non-conference game, ending the Rams 49 game regular season winning streak.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they made some shots and they did some very good things on defense. “We talked about going into the game as far as just working on some things, but we weren’t going to be real complicated and I thought we did the things we were trying to do pretty good. We did a nice job of executing of what we trying to do offensively. We mixed in few different looks. Defensively I think we played half court man the whole time,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Upper does such a good job of playing different personnel and they rotate a lot of guys and I thought our guys got matched up pretty good. They weren’t always on the guys we had them matched up on, but we found guys petty good. We were doing a good job communicating and guarding someone and we have a lot of guys that are interchangeable, so that worked out pretty good.”
Sandusky (1-1,0-1,) the preseason favorite in the division, lost to (77-60) to Bellevue last week. However, Schwemley says the Streaks and still very good. He says they do what they always do. “They are doing the stuff that was successful for them. They have some guys back that scored points for them last year and had success. I would start with Keith Williams. He is averaging around 20 points a game right now. They really just switched to some different personnel. They are trying to do the same things as far as attacking you off the dribble. They keep things pretty simple as well. They play half court man and are aggressive in the passing lanes and really do a good job of trying to get some run outs on you and scoring some points,” he said.
Schwemley says they have to keep Sandusky out of the lane and he says they want to keep the ball in their hands and score. “You listen to coaches talk and the hardest thing to guard is the ball, dribbling, guys attacking and that is what they do so well. They mix in some ball screens, but they are so aggressive attacking off the dribble and then that creates for others. If you over rotate on them they will make extra passes, so you have to help the helper and be sound defensively. The things they do well we want to go in and stop and that is that dribble penetration. What also stops them offensively is good offense. If you are efficient on offense and take care of the ball and get high percentage shots it protects your defense. A good offense in this game will help to protect our defense,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/13/17
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Shelby Draws the Line at 49
Shelby broke Upper Sandusky’s regular season winning streak that stretched over parts of four seasons at 49 in a row on Saturday night as the Whippets took down Upper (68-59) in a non-conference game played in Shelby.
It was the Rams first regular season loss since these same Whippets beat them (87-80) on February 17, 2015, a space of 1,027 days.
Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says while breaking the streak is something for people to talk about, for them it was about improving to 2-0 on the young season. “For us this weekend, I knew going in it was going to be a tough weekend. It has been a long time since Upper has lost a regular season game and they return a lot of guys who have been on those teams and they know how to win. It seemed like everybody did a nice job of making big plays when we really needed it. I didn’t realize how many it had been. For us it was just game two of the season, but a big win none the less,” he said.
Carter Brooks scored on a twisting layup with 7:31 remaining in the first quarter and the Whippets never trailed in the game. Uriah Schwemley converted a field goal and a three to make it (7-2) Whippets with 6:41 left in the quarter. The lead grew to 13 (19-6) with 2:34 left in the quarter after a “Shorty” Brooks scored.
Schwemley thought that quick start was critical. “We had a great start. We jumped out early. We were really doing a lot of good things. If memory serves me right about three, four minutes into the first quarter their pressure started to wear on us. We started turning it over, turning it over, turning it over. Going into the game I think that was my fear,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They play three subs, eight guys, and they play so hard. I didn’t know where our legs were at. I mean with a week and half. I was a little bit worried because I knew I wasn’t going to able to sub as much as I wanted to this early in the year, but we were able to weather the storm.”
Shelby has runs of 10 and five in that first quarter and Upper Sandusky coach Jeff Winslow says they didn’t answer those runs and that did them in. “They are a really good basketball team. We said they are a team that is going to go on runs because they are good. I think the problem was we didn’t match at all. We can’t have them coming down and moving the ball and hitting open shots and making it tough on us defensively, but we have to score a little bit more at this end and we didn’t do that. We didn’t move the ball as well and had a couple of forced shots. If we just keep in close there it is a different ballgame. We dug ourselves a whole and is difficult to get out,” said Winslow.
The Whippets shot 56 percent (28-50) from the field on the night and made six of their 13 three point attempts. Schwemley thought they were very good on defense holing the Rams to 42 percent from the field and seven of 19 threes. He says that is what kept them in the lead. “We need to control what we can and if we can defend and rebound. As the season goes you hope to improve on executing the offense and things like that and I thought those were the things we did well. They got it close and I think Uriah hit a big shot. I can remember Carter (Brooks) getting some extra passes and some finishes. It seemed like about the time they were starting to get it close we had a big play by somebody and it was all different kinds of guys. Uriah stands out me because of the three he hit, but it was different guys all night. It just seemed like different guys came up with a big play when we needed it,” said Schwemley.
Upper made it game as good teams will in the second half, forcing a number of turnovers with their aggressive press. They cut the Shelby lead to as little as three twice in the fourth quarter at (55-52) with 4:57 left on an Evan Young hoop and (61-58) on a Jevon Dible goal with 2:15 left.
Winslow says they were not able to convert enough of those turnovers into baskets to get over the hump. “We talked to the guys that you have to be selfish when you get into the paint. You have to be selfish when it is two on one or three on two and we have to finish, especially late. I mean it is a six, five, four point game and we miss a couple of layups and we just can’t afford to miss those. I thought me missed some opportunities at the line to get back in it because we had them in four trouble there in the second half. For us to beat good teams you can’t do that. You may be able to get away with it against some other teams. This Shelby team is very good and you can’t,” said Winslow.
Uriah Schwemley led Shelby with 24, while Hunter Hoffman added 18, including the exclamation mark with a dunk with 35 seconds left. Dible had 26 markers for the Rams and Young added 10.
Coach Schwemley says his son Uriah has worked on his game and has become more of a perimeter threat. “He has worked on that. He didn’t shoot the ball real well last year and he has put in a lot of time. Anytime you have a player and I don’t care who it is, when they put in a lot of time you are happy for him. Any of my players are like my kids. When they put in the time and you see the results it makes you feel good as far as hard work pays off. I think he made some big shots for us,” he said.
Published 12/09/17
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Shelby Ready to Get Started
Shelby was one of the best football teams in the state this fall and now the Whippets are ready to start the basketball season.
They host Willard on Friday and Upper Sandusky on Saturday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says sure they would like to have more time, but with what have been given he believes they are going to be ready as possible to play basketball. “Ready or not we are going to be playing. We are going to be a week and half practice in. From the standpoint are we doing everything we can in a week and half to be ready, yeah, the guys have been working hard. If you look at it from the perspective of the weeks of practice we haven’t had you can’t make up for the four, four and half weeks of practice that everybody else has had. We are going to focus on the things we can control and trying to do a few things really well and that is what we can control,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have been doing a lot of good things. We were able to scrimmage Norwalk St. Paul, who is in the same boat. I felt good that we had a scrimmage and he have been able to see our guys a little bit. We have had a week in a half to get ready and do those things as best we can.”
Willard (0-2) will be the first opponent. The Flashes lost to Upper (60-49) last Friday and Lexington (80-39) on Saturday. Schwemley believes coach Joe Bedingfield is going to have them prepared. “I was able to see them play Upper Sandusky, which was a nice game to scout since we play both of them this weekend. I think the first set that they ran is something that I remember they have run before. I kind of had to chuckle and think oh wow how many sets am I going to see this game? I thought the guys played hard to the game and did a lot of good things. Obviously, Hirschy does a great job at whatever level of coaching he is doing. Those two will work well together and get the most out of their kids,” said Schwemley.
When it comes to Upper Sandusky (2-0) who finished they weekend with a (67-35) win over Tiffin Columbian on Saturday. Schwemley says you know what to expect with the Rams. “They pressure and trap and they spread you out. Coach Winslow has them playing hard. A lot of familiar faces from guys last year and I think their JV team was very successful last year too. They lost some of the guys they had last year too, but replaced them with some guys that had success on the JV level or varsity level last year,” he said.
With Sandusky looming next week, Schwemley thought it was important to get the season under way. “Both of those teams have two games under their belt and that is one of the reasons we are playing at some point there have to be no excuses we have to be ready to play, so in no way do I want to sound like we are not going to be. Next week, we go to Sandusky and I would rather have two games under our belt going into our first league game than pushing these games back. We did the same thing last year and there and some sacrifices, but it is the right thing to do. We are fortunate that we are not playing any triple weeks, so I am pretty happy how our schedule lined up,” he said.
Schwemley’s son Uriah played football and he was a big fan of the success they had on the football field and he hopes that transfers to the court. “I was thrilled with the football season. I am sure everybody wanted to play one more game and I really proud of those guys and what they did. A lot of those guys are now playing basketball when you look at Brady and Carter and Uriah and Nick and Grant, Devon Brooks, and Ty Hall. Those are guys that know how to work hard and believe in each other and play together. Hopefully, the things they did on the football field will help us on the basketball court. Then we have some guys in Hunter Hoffman, Tanner Stevens and Cameron Stein that have been practicing and now are joining those guys,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/06/17
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Shelby has to Cut Down on Turnovers
Shelby needs to take some steps forward as they play Lexington in their second game of the season on Tuesday night.
They lost to Madison (51-48) on Saturday night and coach Natalie Lantz says most of the night they were their own worst enemy. “I think the girls came out a little flat. Defensively we weren’t quite where we needed to be. It seemed like we were a little slow. We did force quite a few turnovers, but we turned the ball over quite a bit and the turnovers that we had the majority weren’t forced turnovers. I can live with forced turnovers. We talked about that with the team (Monday.) We don’t want to have unforced turnovers because those are a lot of lost opportunities. When we do play good defense and we have a chance for a bucket we have to take advantage and capitalize on those opportunities. I think that was something we focused on more (Monday) at practice in preparing for Lex. We are a young team. We lost six seniors from last year and a lot of experience. Now, we do have some back with experience,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “One kid that started half of the season last year. The kids are trying to get the right feel. We changed up a lot of things this year. We had some good take aways from Madison. There were maybe some first game jitters. We made some adjustments (Monday) at practice and hopefully we will see a chance (Tuesday) night.”
She said they made a lot of mistakes on Saturday night and Lantz hopes those were because they were nervous on opening night with many of them playing significant roles for the first time. “A lot of ours were just silly. We would get the ball out top with nobody guarding us and almost pass the ball right to them. I can’t tell you the number of traveling calls. I thought we did a nice job for the most part handling the ball. We had a freshman run point guard for us Saturday night and I think she did a really nice job. There were some other situations where we just had some uncharacteristic turnovers that I don’t know if we should relate them to first game jitters and hope we can sweep that under the rug, learn from it, and move on. I think this is one of those teams we are very competitive. They want to win. They have a taste of winning from last season. We don’t have an easy game on our schedule this year. Our goal for every game is to be ahead or in it and to win it at the end of the game. It is going to take a lot of work to get that done. We can’t just rely on one or two players it is going to take a team to get that done. It is going to take a good defensive effort to get that done,” said Lantz.
Lexington will be playing their first game of the season on Tuesday night and Lantz says they have a lot of good pieces starting with their coaching staff. “Knowing that Connie (Doutt) is back with the program and Heidi (Roush) is there. They have two great coaches in lead roles right there for the varsity, but they also have a veteran cast back with Adams and Kocher and Kearns. Stover has a year under her belt now. So, they have a lot of experience back. If you compare them to our team they should have more confidence and be jelling more than our group does coming into the game. Our girls are prepared, and they know what they are going against (Tuesday.) They are going against and athletic group that has got some height inside. They have athletes, kids that can rebound, kids that can shoot. We are definitely going to have to be on our game and be playing our best ball to begin the game to at the end to have a chance to win it,” said Lantz.
Published 11/28/17
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Former Coach Says Shelby is a Football Town
Steve Hale was only the Shelby football coach two years, but he has great memories of the town and its football fans.
Hale, now the head coach at Olentangy Liberty, like Shelby, in a state semi final on Friday night, coached the Whippets in 1997 and 1998 going 17-5 over those two years, including 11-1 and an outright Northern Ohio League title in 1998.
He says the people of Shelby were just amazing. “Just the great experience of being up there. The town, the enthusiasm. All of the great people Kenny Albert and Tim Tarvin, the late Dave Jones, who hired me. When those guys hired me I was just 29 years old. As crazy as that sounds taking a chance on a 29 year old. Just the unbridled enthusiasm that they brought to the program every night throughout the offseason. Johnny Clayman in the barber shop. All of those great people, all of those great families. Just a wonderful place,” said Hale.
He says he know a lot more about coaching football 20 years later than he did then, but he had a lot of fun coaching in what is clearly a football town. “Those people love it. I was just excited we could bring them a decent product when we were up there. From Bill Varble and all of those legends embracing some of the stuff we were doing. It made it so much fun and great learning experience. I know so much more football now then I did then. I guess I just used enthusiasm and energy to try and bring it about. We had great players too. We had Toby Stepsis, Israel Martin, Jeremy Hall and obviously Erik Will contributing to that program. It was just a great, great time and a great memory,” he said.
Shelby plays Steubenville in a battle of unbeatens at the University of Akron in a division four state semifinal. Hale and Liberty play at Arlin Field in Mansfield against Mentor in a division one state semi on Friday.
Current Shelby coach Erik Will played for Hale in the late 90’s and then coached under him as well at West Liberty Salem. He says the thing he remembers most fondly of Will was his love for Shelby and the Whippets. “The thing that strikes me the most is Erik loved Shelby football and he loved his town. He was a good player. He was on a team with some talented guys. He wasn’t the greatest player, he was a good player, but the things that stuck out the most about him was how much he loved his teammates and how much he loved being part of that program and what that meant to him,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I had conversations with him about going back home when he applied for the job. We talked about some of those things. I encouraged him if that’s what he wanted to do to go and hit it full speed and he certainly did that. I remember the first day that I met him and I remember the time I spent with him as a player and a coach as well.”
When it comes to giving advice, Hale says they text a little. He says Will has done a great job. “We talk a little, you know, text messages, back and forth with situations and different things. Usually you don’t have to talk as much when things are going well. It is more when you are up against things that you tend to reach out. You talk about handling kids, treating kids the right way, putting kids in a situation where they can be successful. He has certainly done a great job with that over the last few years. This team he has know is poised to do something fantastic,” he said.
Hale says the Shelby community deserves a state title and he will be rooting for them.
Published 11/24/17
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Shelby a Chance For Payback
It what shapes up as an excellent match-up it is Shelby against Steubenville in the division four state semifinals on Friday night at the University of Akron.
It is a rematch from last year’s regional final, won by the Big Red (29-15) in Massillon.
Shelby (13-0) beat Bellevue (42-21) last Friday, meanwhile Steubenville (13-0) downed Perry (33-21) in their regional final.
Steubenville lost to Columbus Bishop Hartley in the last two state finals in division four (24-21) in 2016 and (31-28) in 2015.
This year the Big Red when you look at their scores has not been as dominate as Shelby, but they likely have played a better schedule, including three schools from out of state and one from Canada.
Shelby coach Erik Will says to no surprise Steubenville is best team they will have played this year. “It is probably not even close. They are really good. They are well coached, obviously. The great thing is it is their 2017 team against ours and we feel like we match up well. They are just very, very, very aggressive defensively. They are going to bring five or six guys every single play. You kind of have to guess where they are coming. Offensively they play a lot of power football. They are going to pound you, pound you, pound you and then they are going to throw that thing over the top. They play a heck of a schedule. We will have to play our best game to date,” he said.
When it comes to containing the Steubenville offense, Will says they have stop the run game first or it is not going to matter. “We are going to switch some things up. We are probably going to get an extra man in the box this week. If we don’t stop the run it is not going to mater. They are just going to grind us out. So, we are going to have to get off the field. The key down is first down we are going to have to get them in second and long. We need second and eight, we need second and nine. If we can do that I think that will be pretty good. I think we will survive there. The big thing is your secondary can’t hurt you from the standpoint you can’t fall asleep and give up the big play. It is one thing for a team to nickel and dime you down field. That is really hard to do and it is hard for teams to be patient and do that, but when you give up home runs that is just demoralizing,” said Will.
Steubenville blitzes a lot and they make the opponent pay with their athleticism, but Will says is you execute well you can make some big plays too. “It is high risk, high reward. We are going to take what they give us. We are not going to try and fit a square peg in a round hole. We feel like when they blitz the one thing we can do is having Brennan (Armstrong) and his ability to kind of improvise with his feet I think that is going to help us out a lot. We are not going to abandon the run. We are going to try and make a conscientious effort to have a running game. I’ll tell you there aren’t many teams that just lineup and run the ball on them because they are so darn physical. When they blitz they are bringing five, six guys and they are just attacking gaps, but when you guess right it is a big play,” he said.
The last time Shelby lost a game it was to Steubenville. Will says they are a little different than last year. He says the Whippets are not going to back down. “I don’t know that we encouraged them to watch last year’s film. They definitely do some things schematically the same, but they are a little bit different on offense. They graduated a couple of guys on the O-line, they graduated that really tall wide receiver they had last year. So, they do look a little bit different,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We are trying to approach it from the mentality that everybody has been saying, man you have to play Steubenville, but we are looking at it as Steubenville has to play Shelby. We feel like we can be the best team they have played this year. We are looking at it from the standpoint of what we do, we do well. Of course, we are going to tweak some of the things we do to fit our opponent, but we feel like if our kids play the way they have played all year with the same effort and intensity we are going to be right there in the end.”
Published 11/21/17
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Former Teammates Proud of Will and the Whippets
Erik Will is coaching what might become the best football team in Shelby High School’s history and his former teammates are pretty proud of him.
Will played on the first Shelby team to win a playoff game in 1998 along with Tobin “Toby” Stepsis and Israel “Izzy” Martin.
The Whippets went unbeaten in the regular season in 1998 under coach Steve Hale, winning the Northern Ohio League, and beating Poland Seminary (21-14) in a regional semifinal.
Stepsis, whose father Ron, was head coach of the Whippets from 1985-1990, says he remembers, the 1998 team had very good chemistry. “How the team played for each other, being part of an outright Northern Ohio League championship, and being part of winning Shelby’s first ever playoff game,” he said.
Stepsis currently teaches in the Medina City Schools and coaches track and field for the Bees.
Right now, Shelby is on fire with enthusiasm about the Whippets, who play long time rival Bellevue, in a division four regional final at Community Stadium in Ashland on Friday night.
Martin remembers there being similar emotion in 1998. “I have a lot of great memories of the ’98 team. The things that stand out the most probably involve the community and the buzz that was building week after week. We’d broken through the previous season and had some success, but no one expected us to be anything special in ’98 except us. When the Bellevue game came around, I think we all knew that was our chance to prove we were for real, and after we went up there and shut them down you could feel the excitement around town. The tradition has always been so special, everyone has a dad, uncle or grandfather who had been part of it, and people had been waiting a little while to feel like we were on top again. The community did so much to celebrate and take care of us and it just felt great to make them proud,” said Martin.
Martin also stated out in coaching and now works in the Student Advocacy Center at the Ohio State University. He says even as a kid he was impressed with the hard work that the coaches put in. “I really have great memories of our team and our coaching staff. Even as high school kids we recognized how much work the coaches were putting into film study and game planning. They demanded a lot from us and everyone bought in. There were guys that didn’t get a ton of opportunities on the field, but truly everyone was 100% part of the team. The success we achieved was a direct result of the whole operation giving their all and it was really remarkable. I’ve never been part of something like that before or since. I’ve have never had more fun playing sports than I did during that season with that group of people,” said Martin.
Stepsis says he wasn’t sure Will would become a coach, but he knew whatever he did he was going to be a great leader. “I don’t know if any of us truly know what we are going to do in the future when we are young, but I always thought Erik could do anything that dealt with being in charge of a group of people. He could take control of a room and his positive attitude was contagious. He could always bring things into perspective and he could refocus us on what really matters. I always knew he would be an outstanding leader,” said Stepsis.
Martin says he and Erik have been friends since junior high and he also sees Will as a tremendous motivator that is always learning how to be a better coach. “Back then I was positive that the only thing I wanted to do was teach and coach. I had a huge appreciation for my teachers and coaches and I majored in education and I started coaching wrestling and track when I was still in college at Baldwin-Wallace. I remember talking to Erik a few times during that stretch and learning that he was coaching football at Beavercreek and then later he had joined Steve Hale’s staff at Liberty. Erik had been one of my best friends since junior high and he had always had the gift of gab. He can strike up a conversation with anyone about anything. At heart, I think he’s a jolly-guy, but he can get you fired up,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Once I knew he was getting into coaching. I knew he would be a good one. And when he came to Shelby, I got a hold of him right away and let him know how proud and excited I was. Watching him with the kids, I’m blown away. He’s doing what great coaches do, always learning, using the tricks he has picked up along the way. I have seen glimpses of coach Hale in him and being his natural, magnetic self.”
Martin admits there was one incident during the ’98 season when he wasn’t sure Will was as focused and he should have been and that coaching would not be in his future, but he would have been wrong. “I know Erik still periodically tells a story about me getting in his face for horsing around before practice before the Bellevue game in ’98. If you asked me that day whether he was a future head coach would have definitely said no and I would have been wrong, but thank goodness he’s doing it, because he is the right man for the job,” he said.
Published 11/17/17
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Shelby Expects a Better Bellevue
It was 46-0 the first time they played, but the Shelby Whippets expect a more vigorous game when they play Bellevue this week.
The Whippets (12-0) and the Redmen (9-3) meet Friday night at Community Stadium in Ashland in a division four regional final for the right to advance to the final four. It would be the first for the Whippets, the fourth for Bellevue, who also played a state semifinal in 1996, 2001 and 2012, winning in 2012, when they lost the state title game to Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary.
Shelby walloped St. Mary’s Memorial (47-7) last week, getting out to an early lead and taking the Roughriders out of what they wanted to do.
Coach Erik Will says their defense continues to perform at a very high level. “The kids played really well and executed at a high level. I think our defense put us in position where we had the opportunity to be really successful every week. It is one of those things with this group of kids that when they come out mentally focused, and they have done that for 12 straight weeks, we are a really good football team. Now that we have gotten this far we don’t expect anything but that from them. They have raised the expectations and they have created quite a culture,” he said.
With Brennan Armstrong, Carter Brooks, “Shorty” Brooks, and others, the Shelby offense gets the headlines, but Will continues to say their defense is the backbone of the team. “I would argue that is what allows us to be a potential regional or state champion caliber team is the fact that our defense plays so well and at such a high level. When you look around the state with everybody that is left people are scoring in the 30’s, they might even be scoring in the 40’s, but most of them are giving up between 15-20 points a game. With our starting defense only giving up 33 points in 12 games, that’s incredible. I have never been part of anything like this. I think that really allows us to be the team that we are,” said Will.
Bellevue has won all but one of their games since they lost to Shelby (46-0) on week four of the regular season. The two schools had been in the Northern Ohio League since 1944 until this season. The league, one of the oldest in Ohio, folded after last school year.
Will says this a very much improved Bellevue football team. “We are excited about it. Bellevue is a traditional league foe. They have what will be a hall of fame football coach. We respect Bellevue. We know they are going to look completely different than they did week four. Even offensively they are running different things. They are at a point where they have a very high level of confidence,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Their coaching staff is to be commended and their players are to be commended because after we beat them week four I think they were 2-2 and for them to be able to respond. They have gone 7-1 since we played them and they are playing really good football and have beaten a lot of quality teams on that run. They have our full attention and our respect.”
One big difference is the presence of slot back/quarterback Treston Francis, who is Bellevue’s leading scorer this year. Will says he is a difference maker and he is not the only one. “He is a really good football player. When he is in at quarterback he can run the football. He does a nice job. I think that their comfort level goes up. You have a couple kids in the backfield that can run the football and he is good enough throwing the football to keep you honest in the secondary. When they switch their quarterback (Riley Renwand) is a heck of a football player too. He throws the ball well and then McPeak is an elite wide receiver. He is an All-Ohio caliper wide receiver. People that think we are just going to roll the ball out and Shelby is going to win doesn’t know anything about competitive athletics. They don’t understand anything about the momentum that Bellevue is on. Bellevue is going to be a very, very, very tough out for anybody,” said Will.
Bellevue’s defense is clearly better too. They bottled up unbeaten Clear Fork (21-13) in a regional semifinal last week.
Will says there are a couple of reasons why that is the case. “I think when you look at them from week four two groups of people get credit for the growth of their team, the coaching staff and their senior leadership. Most teams would not even be in the situation they are they had to win of their last two games to get in and they went out and got after Clyde, which is a big time rival, and that gave them that second breath of life and they have maximized it. They have already righted one wrong in their eyes, which was that Clear Fork game. They are looking to do the exact same thing to us,” he said.
Published 11/15/17
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Unbeaten Shelby Faces Biggest Test
Shelby has been exactly what all of their opponents feared they would be this season… very, very good.
The Whippets (11-0), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, plays St. Mary’s Memorial Friday night at Marion Harding Stadium in the division four regional semifinals.
There has been a running clock in every one of their games this season and if the rules permitted there would have been a running clock in the first half of many of their games.
They advanced to the regional finals last year and return more than 95 percent of their offense and although their defense doesn’t get the same publicity they have only allowed 67 points all season, that about a touchdown per game. Many of those when the score has been out of control in the second half.
Last week, in their opening playoff game in division four they hammered Wauseon (50-13) in a game that was really pretty similar to their regular season games.
Coach Erik Will says their 21 points in the first quarter were key in the game. “We were able to get off to a fast start. Most teams want to do it, there is no secret behind it, we want to get on the board early, we want to get on the board fast, and we were able to do that. Defense sometimes has a hard time and if there is going to be a little bit of a lull it is going to be on the defensive side. It is hard to get the scout team to simulate what the other team does offensively. In division four when you have so many two way players it is better that you set the tempo and then you adjust on defense. Sometimes I think people think a sign of taking the ball is they don’t respect your defense, but it is really more it is nice to set the pace on the offensive end,” said Will.
Senior quarterback Brennan Armstrong is headed to the University of Minnesota on full scholarship. Will says he is simply one of the best players the school has ever produced. “He is commander and chief of our offense. He really has been for four years. You are talking about a young man who is approaching 11,000 all purpose yards. He is our school’s second all-time leading rusher with 3,400 or 3,500 yards rushing. He has right around 60 rushing touchdowns. He has thrown for nearly 7,000 yards. He has thrown I think 77 or 78 touchdown passes,’ he told Swankonports.com on Sunday evening, “He is basically the Larry Siegfried of our football program. If people from around the area know who Larry Siegfried is. He is very, very important to what we do. Quite frankly, we would not come close to being the team or be able to run the things that we do without him being under center.”
St. Mary’s Memorial (10-1) is the outright champion of the Western Buckeye League. Their only loss coming to Sidney (39-32) in the season opener. They beat Highland (48-8) last Friday.
Will says the Roughriders aren’t fancy, but they know they are good at and that is running ball. “They are really good. They throw the ball maybe three, four times a game on average. That is pretty much what you are getting. It is funny because people say they don’t throw the ball much, but there is a difference between can’t throw the ball and choosing not to throw the ball. St. Mary’s is just a team that chooses not to throw the ball because they are so good on the ground. The statistics that we have figured out they are averaging between 350 and 370 yards a game on the ground. There is no reason to get real creative offensively,” said Will.
Will says that Shelby defense is going to have to eliminate the Memorial long drives and get off the field. “It really does come down to our run defense against their offense. I think the thing that will help us is we have to get out early. We want to build a 7, 14 point lead early because their game plan is going to be very simple. They want to milk the clock and keep our offense off the field and then they want to score touchdowns and be efficient. When you play a team like St. Mary’s and they get up 14 or 21 points that is like us being up on you like 35,” he said.
On defense, the Roughriders are very fundamental. He says they don’t make mistakes. “They are very aggressive. They are very gap sound. Their coverages aren’t real sophisticated, but they are normally where they want to be and where they need to be. They will blitz. They are just very sound. Sometimes people want you to say something that is kind of outlandish and give you this big secret that they do. They are nothing really schematically complex in what they do. They have done it for years. Doug Fry is a hall of fame coach. He was at Bucyrus. He has been around forever and has had success wherever he has been. He is good at what he does,” he said.
Published 11/06/17
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Second Season Starts For Shelby
Shelby had a perfect regular season and won an undisputed Bay Division title in the Sandusky Bay Conference, but their season will be defined by what happens from here on out.
Their goal at the beginning of the year was to win a division four state championship. Their first test is Friday at home in a first round game against the visiting Wauseon Indians.
Coach Erik Will says this really starts the third phase of their season. “We have broken down our season into three categories. The non-conference, the conference, and then the playoffs. We have gotten two checks in the non-conference and the conference. I told the kids that they can now consider themselves one of the best teams in Shelby history, but if they want to be considered the best team in Shelby history this is what matters,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “These playoffs are going to be huge for us, but we can’t worry about weeks 12, 13, 14, we can’t look ahead in match ups and things like that, we have to take care of this Friday and this Friday only.”
Wauseon (8-2) has lost only twice by three (24-21) to Archbold and by one in overtime (28-27) to Swanton. They are coming off a (48-0) win over Delta last week. They have been in the playoffs seven times and this is their first appearance since 2015.
Will says they are athletic and they are very aggressive. “They are really aggressive. It is a wrestling school, they have a lot of nice wrestlers. We know we are going to get their best. Defensively they have some nice athletes. Basically if they have a 2 in the number they are really athletic and do a good job. They have a really nice, tall, wide receiver, that kind of reminds me of Carter Brooks a little bit. Their defensive line is very aggressive. It is kind like it is flipped, their defensive line looks to make tackles and their linebackers just kind of fill,” said Will.
When it comes to comparisons to some of the teams that Shelby has played, Will says there are examples. “Defensively, they are a mixture of this year’s and last year’s Lexington team. Offensively, they are kind of a mix between Bellevue and Edison,” he said.
One thing is for sure, Will says they have to have great focus on their keys. “When you look at their offense. Offensive lines do what offensive lines do. When they run counter they are pulling a guard, they pull a guard and tackle on some plays. It is all stuff we have seen before. The stuff that goes in back behind it, as far as the athletes, that may look a little be different, but if our guys are reading their keys the stuff in the backfield shouldn’t matter. We should be following the guys that take us to the ball. If we do that I think we will be fine,” says Will.
Shelby is a football town built on a tradition from the 40’s to the 80’s. This is the sixth time they have made the postseason and the second straight year. They lost to Steubenville in the regional finals last year.
Will says the feeling around the school is really electric. “The kids are excited. I think we have sold 700, 800 championship and playoff t-shirts. For us to be able to do something like that, they went out on a Friday and we had that many sold by Monday. That tells you about the excitement around here. Everybody is in to it. The student body is into it and there is just a lot of positive momentum coming around the city. It is a good time to be a Shelby football player,” he said.
Published 11/02/17
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Outright Title up to Shelby
Shelby has a chance to do something they have not done since 1998. Win an outright title in football. A win over visiting Vermilion on Friday night gives them the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division title to themselves.
The Whippets, (9-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports,com football coaches poll in the large school division, has won every game they have played by at least 30 points.
They blasted Oak Harbor (59-10) last week and coach Erik Will says his team has responded to every challenge this year. “I was really happy with the way our kids responded. They opened up with an on sides kick, they actually recovered it, it hit our kid in the chest, and we weren’t able to recover it. We turned right around and ended up getting a sack and the quarterback fumbled it and we were able to get a scoop and score. I just like the way our kids handle adversity,” he said.
Their offense gets the press, but Will thinks the bedrock of the team is their defense. “I think the thing that makes us a really, really good team are the obvious things your offense, the Brennan (Armstrong,) the Carter (Brooks,) the Shorty (Brooks,) and those things, but the defense is really what is making us the team I think we can be going down the stretch in the playoffs. I think we have a championship defense. That is what is nice about this conference run that we have had is I heel that each week. We have been presented new challenges and I think our kids have done a nice job answering those,” said Will.
Vermilion (5-4,1-3) lost last week to second place Edison (35-14) in a Bay Division game. Will says the Sailors are a pretty good passing team. “A lot of teams we have played they run to open up the pass. Vermilion is the opposite. They want to throw the ball and get the ball out in space. The quarterback actually is a pretty good ball player and they have a really nice wide receiver, number 4, who is really skilled. So, we have to keep those guys in check,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Defensively they mix their three and four man fronts up. They are aggressive. They are tremendously better from the last few years. This coaching staff has done a really nice job of kind of putting their imprint in year one on the program. I know our first year we were 1-9 and kind of getting beat around. These guys are actually pretty confident. They are trending up and I think next year they can be really good.”
It may not matter what Vermilion has done in the past because Will says they often get a totally different look from opponents, but he says they have adapted well. “It is one of those things where each and every week we are going to get people’s best shot. From that Edison week with us kind of establishing ourselves as the team to beat we feel like people have been coming out swinging and we have had to answer that. We have passed on that. We talk to our kids about pass/fail and right now we are passing in most things we are doing. I think this league and our schedule has done a good job of preparing us for what we are going to see in the future from the standpoint that you are going to see a mix between run and pass and I think that is what we have gotten in this league,” said Will.
The Whippets already have no less than a share of the division title, but Will says they want it all. “One of my assistant coaches that has kind of been his thing the last few weeks we don’t want to share the title. We told the kids the eleventh commandment in this situation is thou shall be greedy, and our kids have really responded to that. There is no doubt our kids are honed in on this Friday. May assistants would agree that we have had one of the best inside run periods that we have had all year on (Tuesday) on a cold, blowing day where a lot of kids throughout the state may not want to be outside. There is a lot adversity, there are a lot of different things, that kind of take kid’s focus away from finishing up the season, so I was really, really proud of how our kids practiced,” said Will.
Published 10/26/17
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Shelby Looking For Title
Shelby has been an outstanding football team all season long and now they want to start reaping the rewards.
They earn no less than a share of the Bay Division title in the Sandusky Bay Conference with a win on Friday night at Oak Harbor.
Last week, the Whippets (8-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, destroyed Port Clinton (62-7) in a Bay Division game.
Coach Erik Will believes they just now starting to play their best football. “It is like anything else our offense line has been a work in progress and specifically over the last two, three weeks they have gotten so much better. It’s their attention to detail. You get better in practice, you get better watching film. Each and every week that group does that. Having some of those guys suspended we were able to hold the fort down with some of our younger guys, who did an excellent job, now we are starting to take off and starting to hit our stride,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The worst thing that can happen is that you don’t want to peak too early. With this team I don’t know what the ceiling is. I don’t know what it looks like, but I know we haven’t hit it yet. I feel like this group can continue to get better and I think they will get better.”
Goals are a big part of the Shelby program and this week is an easy one, according to Will. “Every week we give them a goal, a different objective. This one was easy because if they take care of this one we get no worse than a share. After this week will be nice, because if we fortunate enough to get the “W” the next part of it is we don’t want to share the title and we want to go undefeated. If memory serves me correct I think Shelby only has five or six undefeated seasons in 123 years. We hammer into our kids what kind of legacy do we want to leave behind with Shelby football and its rich tradition?” he said.
Oak Harbor (4-4,1-2) lost a tough one to second place Edison last week, falling (21-17) to the Chargers. They are a team that likes to run the football.
Will says they want to make them throw it. “They run a lot of wing-T principles and they are pretty good in what they do. They have good size on their offensive line. Their offensive tackles are good size. This offense requires you to be very, very disciplined on defense. Once again it is a very physical week because they are going to try and run right at us. Our goal is to stop the run this week and make them throw the football. We don’t think they are as comfortable throwing the ball. It is one thing to say and another to do it. For us offensively we want to establish the line of scrimmage and keep the run going and keep them off balance by being 50-50 as much as possible. I think if we do that we will be fine on Friday,” said Will.
Shelby’s goal is to win the state title in division four and Will says for that to happen they have to continue to get better. “We told our kids the eight previous wins don’t help you on Friday night. The bottom line is every single week is kind of a season within a season, I know that is a coaching cliché, but it’s really not. The only thing we can control is Friday night against Oak Harbor. We can’t control week 10, we can’t control week 13, and we are done with week one through eight. So, we have to go out and take advantage of the opportunity that is front of us. We only get 10 of them and they are special and we want to treat them as such,” he said.
Published 10/20/17
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Shelby Hosts Second Place Port Clinton
Shelby sits all alone at the top of the Bay Division standings in the Sandusky Bay Conference after a big win over Edison last week, but now here comes Port Clinton, who is just a game back.
Last week, the Whippets (7-0,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, ended Edison’s five game winning streak (43-0) to remain undefeated on the year.
Again, they were able to strike quickly and coach Erik Will says they did a fantastic job bottling up a very good Edison offense. “Offensively we were able to get a score up right away. Our first drive Devon Brooks had a really nice play there for us and thought the offensive line did a great job of establishing themselves early. That was a point of emphasis for us. Defensively, the Stoll kid had right around 50 some yards rushing and he had I believe 30 some on the first drive. We were kind of able to get that figured out. The defense is playing as a group. When you get that entire group to play at a high level like the defense is doing from the front all of the way to the back it just gives you the opportunity to be successful,” said Will.
Shelby has jumped up to number two in its computer region in division four.
Port Clinton (4-3,1-1) broke a two game losing streak with a (36-22) win over Vermilion in a Bay Division game last week. They had lost to Edison (28-0) the week before.
Will says the Redskins are going to come to play and he is sure of that. “They are going to be well coached. I have spent some time with Beau Carmon. Beau is a great guy and a good coach. His staff has done a tremendous job at Port Clinton. We understand for them this a big championship game too. If they are able to get a win they are right back in for co-leaders in the league. Our moto around here is we don’t want to share,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have been talking to our kids that we know we are going to get Port Clinton’s best game and we have got to be prepared because they are coming down here to win, they are not coming down here just to field a team just to throw out so they can get their Friday night responsibilities taken care of.”
Carom has expressed that they are a running team, however, Will says they actually show pretty good balance. Although, they expect they are going to try and run so they can dominate the time of possession. “They have so many different passing concepts and then running they are not real sophisticated, they are not really elaborate, what they do they do well. I think they are getting the most out of each one of their kids. When you watch those kids play on film they are successful because they are so balanced. If they can have success on the ground that will be a benefit for them because that means their offense is on the field and our’s isn’t. Our job this week is to get three and outs and as many as possible,” he said.
Published 10/12/17
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It’s a Battle Shelby and Edison
Shelby and Edison are likely the two best teams in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference and they play on Friday night at Edison.
Shelby is unbeaten on the season and the Chargers have won their last five.
Last week, Shelby pounded a pretty good Huron team (41-0) in their Bay Division opener, limiting the Tigers to no first downs in the first half of the game.
Coach Erik Will says they were pretty good on both sides of the ball. “We were pleased with the outcome. In grading the film still our most complete game has been Bellevue. Having said that we still graded high and still played well. Anytime you can open up with a league opponent on the road that is the caliber of a Huron and the tradition of a Huron and win 41-0. We scored 41 points in the first half, we got out of there healthy most importantly, with a running clock that was good for our kids. Now, we are moving on to Edison and we have our hands full,” said Will.
Will admits there is a little added excitement attached to this game. “We told our kids this is why you sign up to play football are games like this. Each and every week we talk about championship football games and this is our second championship game, but this really is a big one. There is going to be a playoff atmosphere. They have the division five player of the year coming back with Stoll. He is a heck of a football player,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They are really, really aggressive on defense. They are very well coached. There is a reason they have been to back to back state final fours. They are very, very good. We are trying to prepare our kids for one of the more physical games we are going to play this year.”
Edison has shown the ability to pass the ball this year, but they are a team that wants to run first and Will says they understand that is the case. “When you go into a game you kind of look at what a team does by formation. We are going to try and take away some of the things they do well or at least slow it down. We feel like if we turn them into a passing team that benefits us. We are going to try and be physical at the point of attack. The Stoll kid is really, really good. He has almost 1,000 yards and we are only going into week seven. I think this will probably be our biggest test to date,” said Will.
Shelby has a quarterback in Brennan Armstrong that is going to the University of Minnesota and a very good running game led by All-Ohio back “Shorty” Brooks. Will says that balance is one their big assets. “The thing that makes us difficult I would like to think as we self scout, is we are pretty darn balanced run and pass. We are very efficient in our pass game. Brennan is in the high 70’s completion percentage and throwing 170 to 200 yards a game and several touchdown passes. With him and “Shorty” in the backfield and still being able to run the ball that gives us a lot of balance. I think that is something we can use to benefit us,” he said.
Published 10/04/17
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Shelby Faces Big Test
In it’s first, and likely only, season in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference the Shelby Whippets are the heavy favorite to claim the football title. That process begins Friday night at Huron.
Norwalk scored on the first play from scrimmage last week, but the Truckers lead was short lived and the Whippets went on to romp over Norwalk (55-14) to remain unbeaten on the season.
Coach Erik Will says they were able to adapt to what they were seeing on the field. “I thought the kids did a nice job. We gave up a big play early, but we were able to get that fixed as soon as they came off the field. We were just a little aggressive on the backside. We haven’t been on the road in two weeks and we want to come out and establish the line of scrimmage and make sure those little steps and gap responsibility on defense is solidified. Norwalk did a great job running the football and that is something we really hadn’t seen this year,” said Will.
Shelby (5-0,0-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in
the large school division, number three in their division four computer
region, travels to Huron (4-1,0-0) for a Bay Division game. Huron belted
Margaretta (35-0) last week.
Will says the Tigers are really good, especially on defense. “They are good.
They are well coached and schematically sound. They have three really good
athletes on the offensive side. They have a really good defensive line.
Their defense has only given up around 200 yards a game the last three
games, they have only given up 13 total points, and they haven’t given up
one play over 25 yards. So, something as to give (Friday,) he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Our offense has been pretty solid all year.
We have kind had a lot of big plays, so that is going to be something to
definitely watch. Huron is a very formidable team. Their only loss is to
Sandusky and there is no shame in that.”
Shelby has been explosive the last couple of years in the first quarter of games. Will says that is going to be important on Friday night. “We talk to our kids all of the time, especially offensively, about getting out fast and making plays and establishing your brand of football. There is no doubt whether it is offensively or defensively a big play early really sets the tone for the game,” he said.
There are only five league games in the Bay Division and Will says it is going to be important to win all of them if you want the title. “I think we are going to get tested. In this Bay Division I don’t know if you can lose one and win it. I think you have to take care of business right out of the gate and we have one of the tougher teams. So, this is going to be a great test. If our kids want to win a league title they have to be on the plus side of the scoreboard,” he said.
Published 9/29/17
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Shelby Volleyball Has Solid Chemistry
Shelby is off to a good start to the volleyball season and the biggest reason is because of the chemistry the players have.
The Lady Whippets have an (11-4) record and they are second in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference (6-1) just a game by their traditional rivals of the Norwalk Lady Truckers, who they play for a second time next week.
Coach Brande Albert says they are a young team, but they are a team that believes in each other. “We came into the season with a lot of inexperienced players. I think three kids that have lettered before and four that have any experience what so ever on our court, but things are clicking for the kids. Even when we are not playing well we are still playing as a team, which hasn’t been the way it has been for the last couple of years. Our chemistry is really good even though our athleticism isn’t as strong as it had been in years past. It is just working for us right now,” said Albert.
How important is chemistry? Albert says it may be the most important because it means the teams has one goal. “I am not one of those people that has ever dealt with drama with anything very well, but especially with girls on my team. It isn’t a problem this year I have three great seniors and I have other kids on the floor who are leaders, not just in volleyball, but other sports. I think they just want to be successful and they don’t care who is successful on the floor at any point and time as long as they are all together and on the same page,” he said.
They play host to the Clyde Lady Fliers in a Lake Division game on Thursday night. They beat them 25-15, 25-22 and 25-17 this first time they played earlier this month.
Albert says to get better as a team they have to run their offense faster and receive serve more consistently. “Right now, we need to focus on running a faster offense and beating the block that we are up against. When we are creating a lot of one on one situations with the blockers on the other side of the net and I put my hitters up against a single block any point and time for them to beat,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Our biggest factor is how we are playing at the beginning of the match is whether we can serve-receive or not. If we are on we are solid and our offense is quick, but if we are out of system because we can’t not serve receive the ball we are in trouble. It is really hard for us to pull it back once we are out of system too much.”
Published 9/28/17
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Shelby Back at Full Strength
Shelby has pretty much been the best football team in North Central Ohio this season and they haven’t even been at full strength until this week.
All-Ohio running back “Shorty” Brooks returns to the field after sitting out the first four due to a violation of the athletic rules.
Quarterback Brennan Armstrong returned last week and the Whippets went on to bury Bellevue (46-0) at Skiles Field.
Coach Erik Will says they got better up front. “Leading up to the Bellevue game to be quite honest with you we thought we were pretty good, but there are always things you can be better with and quite frankly we weren’t that happy up front after the Willard game and for us to establish the line of scrimmage like we did I thought our kids answered that, especially the offensive linemen. Then when you get Brennan back with that running piece that he can do it makes us a pretty versatile team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday. “A down Bellevue team is still 7-3, 6-4, it is still a solid ball club. I am sure Ed would tell you this isn’t going to be one of his vintage teams, bit it is still a well coached physical team and any time you can out physical and play the way we did against Bellevue we will take it. I thought our kids showed a lot of physicality and mental toughness.”
With all of the quality skilled players that they have Shelby’s offensive and defensive lines kind of get over shadowed. However, Will says that is where it all begins for them. “We don’t hide that. We talk to the kids all of the time if you want to be a conference champion, if you want to make a playoff run, it has got to start up front. There is a reason why teams with physical offensive and defensive line are successful. The next level then is if you can put the caliber of athletes behind the offensive line that we’ve got. If you want to be a special football team you have to be really good up front. Our offensive line, which is all new this year, everyone of those guys, and we have four new starters on the defensive line, I would grade those guys out as high as you can grade them. Offensively, I feel every single week the offensive line has gotten better,” said Will.
Shelby (4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, host Norwalk (2-2) in an inter-divisional game in the Sandusky Bay Conference. Norwalk is coming off a (38-20) win over Margaretta last Friday.
Will says the Truckers are going to go with their strength and run the ball. “When you watch the film their offense isn’t bad at all. They have two very physical running backs. Then they have a quarterback, he is not going to blow you away with unbelievable arm strength, but he is really accurate and knows where he wants to go. This a compliment to Norwalk, they know what want to do and they are going to try and do that. We know they are going to try and run the football and keep our offense off the field, which is smart by them. We are going see how that plays out on Friday. Defensively they run that stack, sometimes they break it and it kind of looks like a 3-4 with a cover 2 shell. The Norwalk team is actually a little better than the one they had last year,” he said.
Published 9/21/17
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Shelby Excited to Play Bellevue
Shelby and Bellevue are two of the more storied programs in North Central Ohio over the years and they meet on Friday night at Skiles Field in Shelby in what is a non-conference game for the first time since Roosevelt was President.
Bellevue is now in the Lake division of the Sandusky Bay Conference while Shelby is in the Bay division.
Shelby (3-0) is coming off a (56-6) win over Willard on Friday and coach Erik Will says they have been very good on both sides of the football so far in 2017. “I feel like our kids have competed well. I feel our effort has been phenomenal. Defensively, we are giving up around a touchdown a game after three games, which is pretty good. We are only giving up around 140 yards a game and on that side of the ball you are not going to do much better. Offensively, we have had a young backfield that has played well and they have been smart,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “McGwire (Albert) has understood that he has four phenomenal receivers and he is allowing those guys to make plays and he is hiding behind that offensive line. The offense has been averaging a little over 48 points a game. It has been a great three games. Now we get some of those guys back that we were kind of counting on. McGwire and Owen Fisher and those guys have held the fort down well and now it is time to kind of kick the season in.”
Shelby has won those games without the services of starting quarterback Brennan Armstrong, suspended for a violation of athletic rules, but the Minnesota recruit returns this week and Will says that is going to be a shot in the arm to already good team. “They have been practicing and reping things out well. I have heard people saw that McGwire has played so well what are you going to do? Here is the thing, we have the number one quarterback in the State of Ohio, the best quarterback in the history of our school. He is chomping to get back. I think what you are going to be able to see out of him is the thing about Brennan (Armstrong) is he has the ability to run the ball. His feet are deadly. Not only does he have a rocket for an arm and his accuracy is pretty darn good, but we like what he can do on the ground running the football. We like to think it is a shot of adrenaline. The thing is McGwire got to warm up against three teams that between them have two wins. Bellevue has two wins by themselves. Brennan doesn’t necessarily get that warm up game. He is going to be thrown in the fire here right away,” said Will.
Bellevue (2-1) beat West Holmes (34-26) last week and their only loss this season comes in overtime to unbeaten Clear Fork (20-14) and Will says they are a team that doesn’t beat itself. “It is what you expect they are ground and pound. They are going to let Bryce Ray run the football. Defensively they are schematically sound. Here is the thing about Bellevue, Bellevue doesn’t beat themselves. Ed Nasonti is one of the best in the business. For us to win the football game Friday night we can’t make mistakes and we have to play inspired football. We have to act like we deserve the hype and the rankings that we have been getting all year. This is going to be an old fashion, old school, “NOL” type, football game. I love it. I am excited to see this game and how it plays out,” said Will.
Shelby beat Bellevue (49-34) last year, but that was the first time the Whippets beat Bellevue since 2010. The teams have played every year in football since the Great Depression.
Will says these are the games you can’t wait to play. “This week our kids are ready to go. They are excited to get to practice and get better. To be quite honest, you have been playing some teams you don’t want to say you have to manufacture excitement because that is not the right way to say it. Coaches want to say that all games are equal, and I understand that, because a win is a win and a loss is a loss, but there are certain programs that you play that there is a little extra with the school, the community, the kids, and this is one of those weeks. Shelby and Bellevue is like peanut butter and jelly, it is like cool aid and sugar. It is the way things should be,” he said.
Published 9/11/17
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No Letup in Shelby
Shelby is clearly one of the better football teams in North Central Ohio again this season and one of the favorites to win the Bay Division title in the Sandusky Bay Conference.
They shellacked Lexington (41-7) last week when sophomore quarterback McGwire Albert threw six touchdown passes, five of the them to senior receiver Carter Brooks. They play at rival Willard in a non-conference game on Friday.
Coach Erik Will says they really did a good job on defense last week against the Minutemen. “We were able to get the passing game going. I want to give Lexington credit because their defense is really solid against the run. I would have liked to have established the line of scrimmage a little bit better and run the football with a little bit more success, but it is what it is and that’s why it is good to have a great receiving corps like we do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Defensively I felt that was a strong suit for us. We had only given up seven yards at the half and just a little over 100 for the game. You are going to have a shot to win every single week when your defense is only giving up a little over 100 yards. I thought it was a complete game, but I would like to be able to run the ball a little bit better.”
Shelby also beat Madison (48-10) on the first week and they are not even at full strength. Is Will concerned about possible over confidence? “I think as a coach I think you always want to guard against complacency or maybe an over inflated self-image. We are going to play some pretty good teams here down the stretch. We tell our kids all of the time the great teams continually get better. They don’t take weeks off. How do you get better? You get better in practice. We make sure there are no lapses is practice. Practice should have a sound to it. You should be able to see and hear movement and coaches coaching and kids playing hard. You know, all of those things and I think we are getting that. For us I would like to think that our leadership is to the point that the kids understand that each and every week we have got to get better because someone on our schedule is getting better,” said Will.
Willard got its first win of the season last week in downing Plymouth (32-16) in a non-conference game. They lost to Norwalk (40-6) in their opener.
Will says they are improved. “They are significantly better on offense. The quarterback we went against last year is not as good as the kid they have this year. They do have a couple of playmakers. Defensively, they are sound in what they are doing. There is no doubt that coach (Britton) Devier is doing a good job with what he is doing the people over there just need to be patient. The bottom line is when you draw things up right now we are pretty blessed with our x’s and o’s and the kids that are playing behind those x’s and o’s. He is developing a program right now and I think he doing a good job. This Plymouth team they beat isn’t a bad football team. They have shown offensive production. They have done a nice job offensively so far,” he said.
Published 9/07/17
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Shelby Figuring it Out
Shelby has been forced to do it with different personnel, but so far the Whippets have been able to do it pretty well.
They hammered Madison (48-10) last Thursday in their first game with a replacement at quarterback, who is a sophomore, and a replacement at running back, who is a freshman.
They host Lexington on Friday night. The home team has not won in this series in the last five tries.
McGwire Albert and Owen Fisher have stepped into those roles when Brennen Armstrong and Shorty Brooks were suspended.
Coach Erik Will says the young players have answered the call. “I have been asked that quite a bit, where you surprised and I think answer is maybe a little bit of both. Here is why I’m not surprised. The athletic potential of some of our sophomores and a couple of our freshmen is pretty good. The biggest transition is actually mentally and we have had an entire summer to get these guys mentally prepared to go. When you are talking about a JV or a freshman or even an eight grade playbook you have a few runs to the right, a few runs to the left, a couple of pass concepts and you are done. Well, when you get to varsity football and things become more complex can you handle it mentally? And what we saw, not that everything was executed perfectly because it wasn’t, but we saw them do things and mentally and they weren’t struggling to grasp what we were trying to get them to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “When you put the ball in the hands of kids that have natural athletic ability you are able to see them flourish. It is still a work in process. Quite frankly maybe they are still a little too young to be playing, but we don’t have the luxury of bringing them along slowly and they are doing a nice job.”
Even with Armstrong and Brooks out the Whippets have quite a bit of experience on the field and Will says that has been a plus. “I would say the strength of our team if everybody was healthy, people want to talk about Brennan and Shorty and rightfully so they are two solid football players, but when you put them behind that offensive line that’s playing well, but can still get better, that makes everything a little bit better. Even the guys on the perimeter are experienced when you talk about a Brady Hill, a Carter Brooks, a Uriah Schwemley, those kids have been playing football for a few years,” he said.
Lexington lost their opener to Ontario (21-20) and unlike Shelby they have some inexperience, but Will says they adapted pretty quickly last week. “It was a tale of two halves. They were figuring some things out, more offensively than defensively. They gave up a couple of big plays early on, and they were kind of playing from behind. Once they settled in I thought they kind of established what they want to do in the second half. Outside of a couple of special teams miscues they win the football game, which talks about the three phases of the game. Giving up that kick return for a touchdown and then missing and extra point that is the difference in the game. Those are things that Ontario is not going to apologize for because they played three phases of the game and they shouldn’t apologize, but if you are Lexington that is definitely something to build on. There is no doubt we are expecting Lexington’s best shot,” said Will.
Junior Cade Stover has been a difference maker for the Minutemen, especially on defense from his safety spot, but now he has been moved to quarterback then they have the ball. Will says he can’t let him get going. “What they have done is they have taken their best player and they have thrown him at quarterback. A lot of people would do that. You have got to get him before he gets going. I know that sounds like a coaching cliché, but the bottom line is when he builds up a head of stream he is more like a semi. He is not a real twitchy guy, but he is fast and he knows where he wants to go and when he gets there he is coming with 230 pounds, so you have to get him early. They do a nice job they have a quicker guy standing next to him and they are going to rely on that offensive line. Stover is obviously one of the best players in the country and he is the game plan,” said Will.
Published 9/01/17
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Shelby Ready to Roll on Thursday
Shelby should be one of the best football teams in North Central Ohio this season and we start to find out if that is going to be the case this week.
Their depth will be challenged as they will be missing four of their better players when they visit Mansfield Madison for a non-conference game on Thursday night on the turf at Ram Field and Starteck Stadium.
There was some success in their final tune up against Galion in their preview scrimmage last Friday and coach Erik Will thought their offensive line in particular got better. “Any coach you talk to will tell you that a little bit more time is okay, but I feel good where we are at. If felt like our biggest adjustment that I was happy with, our biggest advancement, was our offensive line. I really wanted to see those guys and how they would come out last Friday against Galion. I thought we were more consistent with five guys doing the same thing. It doesn’t mean we were perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought they were more consistent. That is all you can ask for when you are dealing with 16, 17, 18-year-old kids , that’s what you want, and I thought we were able to get that,” said Will.
All-Ohioans Brennan Armstrong and Shorty Brooks are among those that will sidelined against Madison and Will says that means the big guys up front need to grade out very well against the Rams. “Brennan (Armstrong) and Shorty (Brooks) are really good. They are All-Ohio kids for a reason. I told our team even Brennan and Shorty need an offensive line, the difference is with Brennan and Shorty with what they are able to do they are able to hide small deficiencies. Maybe a block was missed. Maybe something wasn’t exactly where it should have been. Maybe they improvised, they are just those kind of athletes that can do that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “McGwire Albert and Owen Fisher are good ballplayers, but we can no longer hide those deficiencies like we would be able to with Brennan and Shorty and that is fine because those two are just really good high school athletes. Brennan has a full scholarship to Minnesota and Devon is a scholarship athlete. So, it is not a knock on the two kids that are playing it is just a reality of that we have to make sure we are on point up front.”
Madison is coming off a (2-7) season and a (49-7) thrashing from the Whippets last season, but they have some talent, including Mason Campbell, an All-Ohio basketball player at Mansfield St. Peter’s.
Will says they expect the Rams to play with confidence. “They are like us they are a work in progress. Their kids play really hard. They are schematically sound and their kids believe they can beat us. That’s obvious by watching them play and that is all you can ask if you are (Madison coach) Jamie (Masi.) We want that exact same thing from our kids. Here is the thing it is week one and everybody is excited and hope is at an all time high for every program in the state. What you want to do is do those little things week one. There are going to be false starts and off sides and few turnovers here and there. You want to play a clean game, but that is not normally what you get on week one. So, those little mistakes will be huge, actually they could be huge mistakes, but those will be huge in determining the game,” said Will.
Published 8/22/17
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Shelby Being Aggressive
Shelby rolled out the 2017 version of the Whippets for the first time on Wednesday as they traveled to Crestview to face the Cougars and the Lucas Cubs in a scrimmage.
Coach Erik Will says he liked how aggressive his players were on Tuesday and the way they reacted to things they saw on the field. “We had a ton of reps. Crestview gave us a good look and so did Lucas. The big thing is all you want is your kids to be aggressive and read their keys because you aren’t going to scout each other so there are things they are going to do and things we are going to do that are going to be difficult for each other,” he told Swankonsports.com after the scrimmage, “What you want to see is you want to see kids being mentally tough and flying around to the football and playing to the whistle. Everything else is going to be game prep and things like that. That’s why I don’t get too worked up about some of those actual situational sorts of things because those are scouting report kinds of things. You want to see your kids flying around the field and executing their actual eye reads and stuff like that. I thought we did a pretty good job of that, but you have to watch the film.”
Crestview is a team that likes to feature the wing-T formation and the power running game. Will says they will see that in the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference from teams like Oak Harbor. “To be honest it is kind of nice with Crestview running the wing-T stuff because we are going see that in our league. I don’t think we will see anything like Lucas does, but it is kind of cool because they get you out of your comfort zone. In the world where everybody is running spread it is kind of nice to see things that are old school football,” he said.
Shelby opens the season on Thursday, August 24, at Madison against the Rams. A team they beat (49-7) last year. However, they will play that game with highly prized quarterback Brennan Armstrong and leading rusher “Shorty” Brooks.
A plus for the Whippets, and everybody else this year, has been the weather, which has been cooler than normal. Will just hopes they don’t pay the price later this year. “I am just worrying about weeks two, three or four being really warm. That first game hasn’t been too bad, but then normally that second game is really, really hot. It is always like the opposite. Everybody across the state is practicing in the exact same weather. It’s not like anybody has an up on anybody. It is not like anybody is bringing in artificial heat to get ready,” said Will.
Published 8/10/17
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Shelby Will be Fine
Shelby is going to be without some of their best athletes for the first three weeks of the football season, but their coach is optimistic that they are going to be able to survive that and be okay.
Coach Erik Will said Thursday that he likes the effort he has seen from the kids and believes they are going to field a very good football team again this year. “Things are going well. We have got great kids and the weather has been unbelievable. The kids are working hard. Everybody across the state right now has this great optimism. We have been preaching to our kids there is a false reality and then there is a real reality of who teams really are. Normally through scrimmages or the first week or two you start figuring out who is going to do what, who is going to be competitive in their league. We feel like we should be pretty darn good. We don’t hide that. We had a great season last year and we feel like can have a pretty darn good season this year. We have a lot of young kids that are getting a lot of reps and they are doing a great job,” said Will.
Shelby finished second in the Northern Ohio League last year and was (11-2) overall on the season, losing in the regional finals to Steubenville. This year they are going to be part of the “Bay Division” of the expanded Sandusky Bay Conference with Huron, Edison, Port Clinton and Vermilion.
Will says with what they did last year they will carrying momentum into this season and he thinks have put the work in to be successful. “With Shelby football expectations are always going to be there. The nice thing is we have kids that have embraced that and more importantly kids that have worked for it. There are people that want to be good and there are people who don’t do the things they need to do to be good or to be successful and our kids have done that. I really feel from a program standpoint, from an off season standpoint that is a lot of what we need to be successful once we start throwing the football around,” he said.
The Whippets will play games against Mansfield Madison, Lexington and Willard without Minnesota recruit Brennan Armstrong and leading rusher “Shorty” Brooks and two others due to a violation of team rules in May. However, Will believes they are going to be able to work through those issues. “We have a sophomore quarterback that has done a great job and we have a really nice looking freshman that is doing a great job. Here is the thing we still have Uriah, we still have Brady, we still have Carter, we still have a lot of nice looking athletes, we still have our offensive and defensive lines back,” he told Swankonsports.com during a break in practice on Thursday, “So, we are going to be okay. The idea is we are just going to hold the fort down until those guys get back week four and do the best we can. There are no excuses the bottom line is the team we roll out against Madison that is going to have to be the team that represents Shelby High School and we have full faith that they will do that.”
Published 8/04/17
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Shelby Moves to Next Round
Northern Ohio League champion Shelby, the top seed in the district, beat Port Clinton (11-1) in five innings to advance to a sectional title game against Clyde on Friday evening at Shelby.
The Whippets (20-3), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, got on top early and coach Jon Amicome says after a little lull went ahead an put the game away. “We did a nice job jumping on Port Clinton early. We were able to go up 5-0 after the first inning, but Port Clinton battled back. It was a 5-1 game going into the fourth and they showed a lot heart and a lot determination too and you tip your cap to those kids. They weren’t intimidated by Shelby, nor should they have been,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “They came ready to play and they kind of caught us sleepwalking through the first three innings. Luckily our guys started refocusing. Our kids did a nice job of kind of running the bases well and getting productive at bats and we were able to go from there.”
Shelby has two pitchers in Hunter Hoffman and Garrett Caudill with a least six wins this year, they have one of the best closers in the area in junior Brennan Armstrong, and they also have Tanner Elliott with an ERA of less than 1.25.
Amicone says that kind of depth on the mound is a real plus come tournament time. “We are very fortunate this year to have a lot of guys that we trust that can throw a lot of quality innings for us. That was key (Wednesday) night to be able to get that win and get that run in the fifth inning to use that rule to save our arms and save our pitchers, especially with the new pitch count and really get our rotation set for what we want to do against a really good Clyde team. We have to come with all hands on deck because Clyde is an unbelievable team with a lot of athleticism and a lot of good pitching themselves,” he said.
Shelby plays Clyde, a (1-0) winner of Huron on Wednesday, in a sectional final on Friday.
Amicone says the Fliers are a very good team that has a number quality left handed pitchers. “The “SBC” is no joke for baseball. It is an extremely competitive baseball conference and they are right in the thick of it right behind Vermilion. George (Parks) does a great job with that team. They have a lot of lefty pitchers. I think they have three or four that they can throw out there. It is going to be a challenge for us. It should be a really good ball game. That is what championships are and it is a sectional championship game. There are no more free passes. Anytime you win a game in this district you are going to get another tough game ahead of you. We need to be ready to go,” said Amicone.
Published 5/11/17
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Shelby Wins Second Straight “NOL” Baseball Title
No matter how talented you are it is hard to repeat, but that is what they Shelby Whippets have done.
With a (3-2) win over the Bellevue Redmen on Tuesday, the Whippets laid claim to their second straight title.
Coach Jon Amicone says it something that the kids really wanted and he is proud of them. “Proud of the word and we kind of reiterated that to them after the game. Going back to back is a very tough thing. Winning a conference in any way is a very tough thing. Our kids did a nice job of working hard and staying focused. We lost some guys, but the younger kids really stepped up. They wanted to accomplish the goal and they worked towards it. I am proud of their efforts. I can’t say enough about the way they competed all year,” he said.
Shelby took a (3-0) lead in the bottom half of the third inning on Tuesday and Amicone says the bottom of their lineup did an outstanding job of setting the table. “The bottom of our lineup did a nice job, our eight and nine hitters. They came up first and got back to back base hits and turned the lineup over to the top of the order and the top of the order did their job. Davey Hipp and Brady Hill did a nice job at the bottom of the lineup to kind of get that inning rolling. When you are getting that type of production at the bottom of the order you need to put up crooked numbers and the top of the order did their job to turn their base hits into runs,” said Amicone.
With that 3-0 lead starter Garrett Caudill held the Redmen scoreless through the fifth inning and when he got into a little trouble in the sixth closer Brennan Armstrong was able to come in put out the fire. Amicone says those two deserve a lot of credit. “Garrett (Caudill) our starter did a nice job and then in the sixth inning they got to him. They are great hitting team and they put some really nice at bats together. They cut the lead to 3-1 with runners on second and third and one out, so we brought Brennan in. It is tough to do,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday night, “We like to bring him in to start innings. It was cold weather, but he came right in and gave up one run, but held the lead. That is all we ask him to do. He was able to strike out the side in the seventh. I am very proud of both our pitchers efforts. They threw strikes and gave our team a chance to win and that is what pitching is supposed to do. I am proud of both them.”
Shelby (19-3,10-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against Port Clinton in a first round game in the division two tournament next week.
Amicone says they are going to have to continue to play outstanding baseball in order to win the district title, but they want to do some celebrating first. “It is a tough district and when you get past round one and all of the sudden you are going to play a Bellevue or a Clyde or a Lexington, there is no getting around it. I let our kids know that they need feel good about themselves. They need to feel that sense of accomplishment for a few days. This was a nice thing that they did. We kind of made a deal with them after a couple of days we will backup and get refocused and hope to make a tournament run,” said Amicone.
Published 5/03/17
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Shelby Beats Galion; Ready for Bellevue
Shelby beat Galion (7-2) Monday in a non-conference high school softball game and now they face a huge opportunity when they host Bellevue on Tuesday.
First year coach Natalie Huggins says they put together a nice game against Galion. “It was a huge win for us (Monday) night. We were able to beat a quality opponent in Galion and that was very important for us not only heading into the tournament, but the end of our “NOL” season, which we have a big game (Tuesday) with Bellevue. It was a very nice tune up for us,” she said.
They play Mansfield Senior in their opening division two tournament game next week.
Huggins says they are constantly talking about getting better and she says they have to be very good in all areas in order to beat a team like Bellevue. “We talk a lot about there are three big aspects of softball one being offense, two being defense, and pitching having its own category. We have been talking quite a bit about when we lose a game all three are not working together. We usually have two of three, but that won’t win ball games. So, (Monday) night I thought we did a really good job of bringing all three of those together. That is something we are always striving to improve making sure our defense is perfect, making sure we get the key hits when we need them and also make sure our pitchers are rested, but also throwing hard and on top of their game,” said Huggins.
Shelby (13-8,7-2) lost to Bellevue (17-2,9-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the large school division, on the road (7-4) back on April 11 and they are going to need this one if they are going to have a chance at the league title.
Huggins says Bellevue has been the best and if you are going to win league titles you have to beat the best and that is their goal come Tuesday afternoon. “If we want to be the best we have to beat the best. For many, many years Bellevue has been the best and Bellevue continues to be the best. They have no losses in the league and we are sitting two back with a very slim outside chance, which makes (Tuesday’s) game very important. With that being said they have earned the right to be considered the best,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “The five straight “NOL” championships that they have going into this year speaks for itself. (Tuesday) is a huge one, but we have also talked to our kids about that (Tuesday) is just another game. We just need to play Shelby softball and if we play Shelby softball in all three aspects of softball as far as pitching, defense, and offense come together when they need to come together then we will be fine.”
Published 5/02/17
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Whippets Win Again; Shutout Ontario
Shelby posted its 11th straight win on Tuesday when they beat Ontario (3-0) in Northern Ohio League play.
The Whippets (16-3,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, remain unbeaten in “NOL” games and on the verge of defending their league title. A win next week against Bellevue will give them no less than a share of the title.
Coach Jon Amicone says he is proud of how focused his team has been this year. “I think our kids have a good approach to the game. They handle themselves really well. They know how they want to go into a game. They know what to expect. They know what is expected of them. They have done a really good job of coming to the game ready to play. That is all you can ask as a coach. They know when it is game time it is time to get focused and do the job,” he said.
Again the Whippets got outstanding pitching from senior starter Garrett Caudill and closer Brennan Armstrong, headed to Minnesota to play college football.
Amicone says Caudill got them out of two big jams on Tuesday. “We went with our senior leader and Garrett Caudill threw five shutout innings. We were very fortunate. They had the bases loaded twice with nobody out and got no runs. He really buckled down and was able to throw his three pitches. He is not going to overpower you with his fastball, but he has a lot of confidence in his change up and his curve ball and will through them at all times,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “He makes it very uncountable batting. He was able to keep them off balance and really did it when he needed it the most. We booted the ball around a little bit and it was Garrett that bailed us out on the mound. He got some strikeouts and ground balls to get us out of some innings.”
Amicone says Armstrong, who has accepted the closer’s role with the team this year, was up to the challenge as well. “We do not win the game (Tuesday) night without Garrett Caudill on the mound for the first five innings. A lesser pitcher probably gives in a little bit and maybe doesn’t throw his off speed stuff. Those were two key innings. It was Garrett’s pitching that got us out of those key innings. The last two innings we were able to throw Brennan (Armstrong.) It really worked out for us that this was our only league game this week. We were going to stretch Brennan a little more to a two inning save. He did a great job and came in an struck out four batters in two innings and really pounded the strike zone and did his job as the closer,” said Amicone.
Having a week off of league play in maybe not the best thing, but Amicone says they have things to work on. “You want to play those league games when the team is feeling good and the beautiful sunny days that we have had this week you want to keep playing these league games. Unfortunately that just wasn’t in the cards. It is out of your control, so you those have to prepare and work on the small things and what you need to do to win. We have Upper Thursday and a really good Lexington team on Friday that we are excited to play. Then next week we will play Galion, so we have three games to sort of prepare us for that Bellevue game. We don’t expect to let up,” said Amicone.
Published 4/26/17
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Lady Whippets Remain in Contact
Shelby got a win they absolutely had to have on Thursday as they rallied to beat Tiffin Columbian (11-10) on a walk off single in the bottom of the seventh inning.
The Lady Whippets remain two games behind league leading Bellevue in the league standings.
Trailing the whole game, the Lady Whippets came up with the win on Rachel Ensman’s walk off single.
Coach Natalie Huggins says it was an exciting win and they are kind of pumped up about it. “We talked (Thursday) night about that is wasn’t an ugly win, it was an exciting win. We always say there is no such thing as a bad win sometimes it is ugly, (Thursday) night you can’t even say it was ugly it was just exciting. It was back and forth. It was not the game that when we woke up this morning that we anticipated having, but very proud of the battle that we got into and coming out triumphant,” said Huggins.
Wins like this can be important to a softball teams. Huggins says the way things played out can be an injection of confidence for the team. “Our confidence has been improved in knowing that we were not ahead ever in this ball game until we won. So, just understanding that we have that fight in us and that we were able to execute when needed. I want to give a big shout out to Camryn Zehner,” she said after the win on Thursday night, “She tore her “ACL” this winter and her first game back was (Thursday.) She has been rehabbing like crazy. She led off the seventh with a walk and gave us the opportunity to get that base runner on when we were tied 10-10. So, the fact that Camryn got in (Thursday) and we had that walk off it was a huge confidence booster. It was just a very good feel good game.”
Shelby (12-4,6-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the large school division, plays Mansfield Senior on Friday, weather permitting, and Madison in a doubleheader on Saturday. They play Wayne County Athletic League power Hillsdale on Monday and return to “NOL” play against Ontario next Tuesday.
Huggins says a plus for them has been the depth and versatility of their lineup. “I think our offense is very potent and definitely one of our strengths. We are big believers in hitting is contagious, but we are also big believers in one through nine can bunt the ball and one through nine can get us that clutch hit when we need it. We don’t have any less confidence the further down the lineup we go. I think that is a big part of our offense,” said Huggins.
Published 4/21/17
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Shelby Remains Unbeaten in “NOL”
Shelby maintained its two game lead in the Northern Ohio League baseball standings with a (6-2) win over Tiffin Columbian on Thursday evening.
Shelby remains unbeaten in the league and holds a two game lead over Bellevue. The Redmen were to play Ontario on Thursday, but their game was called due to rain.
Coach Jon Amicone says the Whippets seem to be in a good grove really for the first month of the season. “I think our kids are playing extremely hard. I think they know the goals that have been laid out in front of them. As a coaching staff we are very pleased about where we are heading mentally and the way they are approaching the game right now with a lot of focus and a lot of determination,” he said.
Shelby (12-3,8-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, has been very consistent this season. Their only losses are in weekend doubleheaders to Vermilion and Ashland.
Amicone says they work on hard on the mental part of the game and he feels that has worked very well for them this season. “That is something we are really trying to coach in our kids the mental aspect of the game. Baseball is really a game against yourself. You are the one that has to make the plays, you are the one that has to put the at bats together, you are the one that has to pitch,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “You are playing against someone else, but you are really playing against yourself. We really try and instill that with our guys and be the best they can be in every pitch and every play.”
Shelby hosts Mansfield Senior (1-11) in a non-conference game on Friday, weather permitting, play always good Edison in a doubleheader on Saturday, and Wayne County Athletic League leader Hillsdale on Monday. They return to “NOL” play Tuesday at Ontario.
Amicone says they need to understand they haven’t accomplished anything yet. “We have got to reiterate that fact to our players probably everyday that no goal has been accomplished yet. We don’t want to wait for a score and see who is beating this team or that team we just need to focus on ourselves to compete at a very high level as much as we can during “NOL” games. The baseball saying over the years is it ain’t over until it’s over. Our guys have done a good job to put ourselves in a nice position, but they have to continue to work and continue to strive,” said Amicone.
Published 4/21/17
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Shelby Gets Huge Win Over Bellevue
Shelby and Bellevue are likely the two best teams in the Northern Ohio League this year and they met for the first time on the baseball diamond on Tuesday.
Whippets’ starter Garrett Caudill fired a two-hitter and Shelby beat Bellevue (3-0) to remain all alone in first place in the league standings. Bellevue is now two back.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says it was a huge win for his team on the road on Tuesday. “Going on the road in the “NOL” it is always tough to win. When you are going up against a team the caliper of Bellevue, a perennial baseball club around the state it was a big win for the program and a big win for the league standings. These are games you have to win if you want to be on the top of the league at the end of the year. I am very proud of our kid’s effort (Tuesday) night. They didn’t back down from the challenge and they played a very solid baseball game,” said Amicone.
Amicone gave the ball to his senior Garrett Caudill and he turned in a tremendous performance on Tuesday. “We had our senior Garrett Caudill go and he pitched a complete game, a two hit shutout and that is what seniors do. Seniors lead and Garrett has done that as a senior. He has embraced that kind of ace role and he always wants the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Coming into the seventh inning, and we have Brennan (Armstrong) as our closer and he is special. I kind of asked Garrett about it and he said I am finishing the game coach. He told me I want the ball. He is the caliper of kid you want with the ball in the seventh inning. He did a great job of going 1-2-3 in the seventh and getting a complete game.”
This season Caudill, who had two walks and two strikeouts on the day, has been a bulldog for the Whippets and Amicone says he was going to give him the chance to get the win. “I was one of those games where he was throwing well. He was locating three pitches. He was keeping them off balance. In the back of my head I’m thinking we have this lefty Armstrong, who is our guy, but at the end of the day you trust your kids and you coach them and when a kid looks you in the eye and says I want the ball I am going to give him every chance to do it. He competed for us and the team owes him a thank you,” he said.
Bellevue’s Cody Snyder, who threw a no hitter last week, had 11 strikeouts on the day.
Shelby had eight hits on the day and none bigger and Brennan Armstrong’s RBI single in the fifth inning that gave Shelby the lead. Amicone says his team also had some productive outs. “It was a tie game going to the fifth. Their pitcher Cody Snyder is an absolute stud and he got the first two guys out and turned it over to the top of our lineup. Carter Brooks got a double and Brennan brought him in with a base hit. Runs are at a premium when you go up against Cody Snyder and Bellevue. We were fortunate to put some good at bats together. We really did a nice job of having productive outs later on in the game and tack on two runs. We got a nice sac fly for an insurance run in the sixth. Our kids did a nice job top to bottom in the lineup of being productive,” said Amicone.
Published 4/12/17
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Shelby Beats Willard
So far, Shelby has won seven of its first nine games for first year coach Natalie Huggins, but they know they still have to get better as the season goes on.
They beat Willard (11-7) in a Northern Ohio League game on Monday night to remain a game behind league leading Bellevue.
Huggins says she has a smile on her face, but is still looking forward. “So far we have put ourselves in a good position to compete. I have absolutely no complaints. There is room to grow, but we are off to a very good start,” she said.
Bellevue (8-2,3-0) beat Tiffin Columbian (13-7) on Monday. The Lady Whippets (7-2,3-1) play at Bellevue on Tuesday.
They lost their only “NOL” so far last week to Norwalk (5-4) and Huggins says it was important for them to right back on the beam. “The Norwalk loss we definitely a heartbreaker. We talked to the kids that it is okay to be upset about the game. It is okay to let that one hurt a little bit, but we needed to get back in the saddle,” she told Swankonsports.com after the win over Willard, “We ended up dropping one to Ashland this weekend and learned a lot in that game, but then bounced right back and beat them in our second game of our doubleheader. It was nice to get those games in with Ashland this past Saturday. We had been rained out at the “MVD” last weekend, but ended up being able to pick up that doubleheader with them and that worked out well and get back in the saddle.”
Natalie is the daughter of longtime Colonel Crawford coach Chuck Huggins and she understands what it takes to be a good softball team. She says you have to learn something every time you take the field. “If you have a loss that you didn’t learn from as a team and you didn’t learn from individually then that was a wasted night on the softball diamond. So, every time we win, every time we lose, we want to be better softball players to prepare yourself for what we like to call championship month in May. It is absolutely necessary to learn from a loss,” said Huggins.
Published 4/11/17
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Shelby Downs Tiffin; Ready for two more “NOL” Games
Shelby got the first one as they begin defense of their Northern Ohio League title Monday with a (7-5) win at Tiffin Columbian in a game that was originally scheduled for last Friday.
The Whippets (4-1,1-0) now have three straight league games, weather permitting, this week with Ontario on Tuesday and Norwalk on Wednesday.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone says you kind of have to roll with the punches when it comes to the weather and the schedule. “It is kind of the way the cookie crumbles. We thought we had two league games last week and both of the them got postponed until this week and we have three league game right in a row. It is tough, but that is the way it falls. We don’t make excuses we have to come mentally ready to play everyday,” he said.
Amicone says they faced a tough decision on Monday night on whether it not to use Brennan Armstrong, but he thought they made the right one. “Winning in this league is at a premium, so every time you have a chance to win you have to take advantage of it. We didn’t want to throw Brennan Armstrong (Monday) night, but we were up two runs in the seventh and Tiffin had 13 hits through six innings and we needed to get this win, so we threw Brennan out there for the save,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win Monday, “Luckily he threw 13 pitches for us and we still have him for the next two games against Ontario and Norwalk. Winning is too hard in this league to not go for it when you have the chance. We felt pretty confident with Brennan to go out there are give us a one innings save.”
Now with two more quality teams to play in Ontario and Norwalk, Amicone says they are going to need to be able have some of their other pitchers step up. “We used two guys Monday night. Jacob Holloway went four innings for us and did a nice job, but lost it a little bit at the end and Hunter Hoffman came in a sophomore and got the hold for us and we were able to turn it over to Brennan for the seventh. The next two nights we are going to have to have guys step up because you have two quality teams that are coached extremely well with good players. You have to win when you have the opportunity and that is what we did Monday and we will be ready to go (Tuesday,”) said Amicone.
Ontario (1-1,0-1) has a new coach this season in Jeff Fisher and he has told us about the youth they are dealing with this season, but Amicone is certain he will have his guys ready to go. “It is a great rivalry. My first year out of college I was lucky to get the JV job there under Chris Smith. My first year coaching was in Ontario and it is a great baseball town and “Fish” is a tremendous coach. It might be his first year as head coach at Ontario, but that guy is one of the premier coaches not only in the area, but in the state. I have a deep respect for Jeff Fisher and he will have that team ready youth or not. We will have our work cut out for us and we better be ready to play,” said Amicone.
Published 4/04/17
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Shelby Downs Clyde
Garrett Caudill went the distance striking our seven and allowing only five hits as the Shelby Whippets beat Clyde (2-1) in non-conference baseball game on Monday.
The Whippets (2-1) beat Oberlin Firelands (5-1) and lost to Vermilion (3-0) on Saturday in their opening games, so they have gotten good pitching so far.
Coach Jon Amicone says Caudill was in control of all of his pitches on Monday. “We are very pleased with what we have been able to get from the top of our rotation. Garrett Caudill, another senior, went (Monday) and he threw a very strong game for us. It was probably the best game he has had in his whole career. He is a senior and he needs to do those things as a senior. He carried this team (Monday) night. It was a site to see. He was able to throw three pitches for strikes. He works his change up really well and can throw any pitch in any count and he was really good,” said Amicone.
Shelby took a (2-0) lead to seventh inning and Clyde was able to push a run across. Amicone says Caudill’s ability to throw his breaking stuff for strikes was a key, but what he likes the most that he is a bulldog. “He can throw that change up with late movement to it. He is curveball had some really good life and tilt to it (Monday) night. He carried the team on his back. It was plain and simple we won because Garrett Caudill wouldn’t let us lose. As a coach those are the games you just appreciate. You really respect your seniors when they come to play like that,” he said.
The Whippets return to action on Tuesday against Sandusky Perkins, another team that will be in their division of the Sandusky Bay Conference next season, weather permitting.
Shelby is the defending Northern Ohio League champion and they play Norwalk on Thursday and Tiffin Columbian on Friday in league games.
Amicone says in the “NOL” you must come ready to play and he knows repeating is not going to be easy. “The “NOL” again this year is going to be tough and we start with two great teams in the “NOL.” Norwalk won 20 games last year and brings back the majority of their lineup and the top of their rotation. That’s what we have to put up with and that is just how the “NOL” goes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “There is just no game where you can relax. You think you are going to win and it happens you lose. That is the fun part of playing in a league like this. You have to bring your “A” game every time.”
Published 3/28/17
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New Group of Shelby Baseball Players
Shelby won the outright Northern Ohio League baseball title last spring and now it is almost time to start all over again with the season starting in a couple of weeks.
The Whippets lost quite a bit to graduation last year, including an all-state pitcher, but coach Jon Amicone says they have some players that are emerging as leaders for them. “We did lose a nice senior group led by Dillon Thornsberry, an All-Ohio pitcher. There were about six guys in the line-up that knew there place. It was a special class and a team last year that did some special things. It was a special class, but we need to turn the page, we do have a nice group of seniors, four or five kids to lean on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Alex Pallo is going to be a three year starter here. Cobb is another pitcher we lean on. We are going to be really young and it is going to be hard to replace those great players in the senior class, but so far it has been working and they have been up to the challenge.”
Competition is big in athletics no matter the level. Amicone says they have a lot of kids that are trying to show the coaching staff what they have got. “We have a lot of young kids hungry that want to put on the varsity uniform. We are having really good competition in key areas for some infield and outfield spots. I think competition breads success and our kids are really fighting and scratching for that starting spot. They really want to be starters, that is obvious on the field and even in the gym, everything we are doing we are trying to compete. The guy that competes the most is going to have that spot in the lineup,” he said.
Of course, Shelby will also have the talents of Brennan Armstrong, who announced last month he intends to play football for the University of Minnesota in the Big Ten. The junior is a talented baseball player too both as a pitcher and an everyday player.
It has been an interesting last couple of weeks weather wise with temperatures in the 70’s in February and then snow in mid-March. Amicome says they, like everybody else, are trying to work through it. “It has been really odd. We started practice in the last week of February outside and that is something I have never had in my six years of being a head coach and now last week and this week looks like we will be back inside the gym. It is tough on all teams, coaches and players. There are only so many times you can work on a bunt defense before you start to lose kid’s attention. Our kids have done a nice job of keeping as focused as possible. We have go to keep grinding everyone is in the same boat,” said Amicone.
Published 3/14/17
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Shelby and Norwalk Play for District Final Berth
Shelby is back in the division two district tournament for the second straight year. They lost in overtime in the district final last season to Bellevue. This year they want that regional berth.
They face Northern Ohio League rival Norwalk is a semi-final game at Willard High School on Thursday night. Bellevue (19-4) plays Ontario (15-8) in the other.
They reached this level with a (65-47) win over Sandusky Perkins on Saturday night.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they did a good job of finding the right combinations. “I think we did a pretty good job. We had a couple of meltdowns, but as soon as we switched up on “D” a little bit and picked up our intensity. The score would fluctuate and we would go right back up. Like I said Saturday, we really got off to a great start. I really liked our defensive intensity. We were focused and moving the ball offensively with great energy. Those are all keys to success,” she said.
Shelby (21-2), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, returns about everybody from last year’s district final team. Lantz likes that experience. “I think experience does help. I don’t know if it is to calm nerves or anything like that, but I would like to think they are going to go into the game (Thursday) night with confidence. I just tell them it is another game, it just has a title on it. You still have to play your game. You have to come in focused. Every loose ball has got to be theirs. Norwalk is going to come in to win as well. They want to play on. If we execute our game plan and hustle and scrap like we do get the defensive stops that we need and control their players we will come out on top. I think the leadership that we have is good. The communication starts from the top down. We will get that done,” said Lantz.
Norwalk (19-5) downed Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion Upper Sandusky (60-44) last Saturday. They are paced by Jiselle Thomas, the district player of the year, who is approaching 2,000 points for her career. She had 39 against Upper.
Lantz says they can’t let her explode against them. “She is a great player. She is going to score, but we definitely want to control her,” she said.
Shelby won both of the regular season meetings between the schools, winning (56-53) on January 3 and (64-60) on February 7. You would expect it to be that close Thursday night.
Lantz says they are ready for whatever Norwalk throws at them. “In the past against us they have switched up their defenses to try and change the pace of the game a little bit. They have shown token man pressure in the full court. They play man in the half court. They have played a 1-3-1, they have done a 2-2-1, several different presses in the half court with and without traps. It changes the dynamics of the game a little bit, so our girls have to be prepared to respond to that offensively, she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have to take care of the ball, be patient when we need to be patient, execute when we need to execute, and be prepared to play up tempo when that time is right. If we react quickly, if we respond quickly to those changes we will be just fine. We know what they are capable of throwing at us, we have seen some different things they have thrown at other teams, and we have prepared for that as well. There are some things that we haven’t seen that they could throw at us. Hopefully our girls respond as they have practiced and we do a really good job.”
Published 3/02/17
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Shelby Taking a Ton of Momentum into the Tournament
Shelby has won its last five and seven of its last eight heading into a first round tournament game in division two against Northern Ohio League rival Norwalk at Galion High School on Tuesday night.
Whippets coach Troy Schwemley says they are playing some good basketball against solid competition. “We finished the season strong. We are playing good basketball and I think we have won five in a row. Really I think the big thing about those games is it has been against some good competition. When you look at our Perkins game, a tie ball game down the stretch and Brock Kerhes seals the ball and makes a layup, a really big play to put us up in the final minute. Bellevue was a one point win. We finished the season with a big win over Sandusky. We won by 15, but that was a close game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We were down six in the third quarter. We are playing good basketball now, but you also know it is now tournament time so you have to be playing good basketball. We play Norwalk first game. We have played them twice, but they are a different team now. They have Haraway back. We need to be playing our best basketball right now.”
Brandon Haraway missed the first two and half months of the season after an injury in football, but Norwalk (7-15) has won three games and have been competitive in the other four. Schwemely says he just makes everyone around him better. “He is averaging about 10.2 a game and it is not to just his points, but his presence. He handles the ball well and distributes it. He is just the kind of guy that makes everybody better around him. So, we have to defend him well, but at the same time make sure we are defending the other scorers. George Friend is a nice shooter averaging around 16 points a game, a good streaky shooter. Jacob Roth is a good shooter too. He has actually shot more threes and shoots at a high percentage. Those guys can really stretch the defense. Haraway can open things up for Friend and Roth,” he said.
Shelby (14-8) won both of the regular season meetings this season. Winning (63-43) on December 9 and (51-44) January 26.
However, Schwemley says you have to be ready for the unexpected. “It is going to be a game when there are some interesting x’s and o’s to start with. We have some things ready going in based on what we have seen and there is that unknown. We have to control the things that we can control. We have to play great defense, we have to defend, we have to rebound well, and we need to run the floor. Typically when we are defending and rebounding that is creating offense for us. At the start of the game that tempo is going to be really important. Norwalk is going to want to slow down the tempo. We want to play with what we call smart tempo. We want to be aggressive, but also take high percentage shots and value the basketball, especially at the start because like I said I think tempo is going to be really important in this game,” said Schwemley.
Published 2/28/17
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Shelby Ready For Tournament Play
Shelby did not accomplish its goal of winning an outright Northern Ohio League title, but now they feel more focused for a long tournament run.
That challenge begins Saturday night when they play Sandusky Perkins in a second round game in division two at Monroeville High School.
Bellevue downed the Lady Whippets (60-51) last Saturday to earn a share of the “NOL” title with Shelby.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they are ready to go mentally again after what she describes as an uninspired effort last Saturday at Bellevue. “Our heads are high. We have definitely picked up the intensity and the focus. Maybe Saturday was what we needed. I don’t know if the girls put too much pressure on themselves or if they became flat out complacent, but Saturday was definitely not to our standard of play or hustle or rebounding or really defensive effort by any means. We were still in the game, but I think they were doing what they needed to do to be in the game versus to come out and play hard to win the game and that is the difference,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I give Bellevue a lot of credit those girls played hard and they wanted to win. They were hustling, they were diving after every loose ball and we weren’t. When we saw a loose ball we would stand and watch rather than go it. They deserved that win, we did not. That said, we have totally regrouped and refocused and I think it will be a different story come tournament time.”
Shelby (20-2,) the number one seed in the division two district, plays Perkins on Saturday night. The Lady Pirates (14-9) advanced by beating Vermilion (35-32) on Wednesday night.
Lantz says they will be facing a team that has a lot of quickness and will likely try to press quite a bit. “They are small and quick, scrappy, and play hard nosed defense. They played a lot of man from what we saw, but that doesn’t mean they won’t play zone. It looks like they have a couple of different presses. We will be ready for them,” said Lantz.
She says they are going to need to attack the pressure and get some easy shots. Lantz believes they have the right game plan in place to do just that. “Seeing some of the different presses that they run we have situations to which we can break that and attack it and we will be ready to do so,” she said.
Published 2/24/17
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Can Shelby Get over the Top Against Sandusky?
Shelby has probably played Northern Ohio League champion Sandusky as tough as any league school over the last couple of years.
They held a seven point lead late in the fourth quarter this year before losing (67-60) in January at the “Big House.” They lost (60-59) in a tournament game a year ago.
They host Sandusky (18-3,11-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday night in Northern Ohio League play.
Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says the Blue Streaks, winners of their last 13 games, are playing well, but so are his Whippets. “Sandusky, boy, they haven’t lost in a long time, not since the new year. I think back to the last time we played them at their place. We were up seven with three minutes to go and played a good ballgame, just came up short. We have put a couple of nice wins together and have played good basketball. It is a game we were hoping would be for the league, but we also realize even though it is not there is still a lot to play for. With tournament for us being Tuesday we want to have a good showing, end the season on a good note, and get ready for the tournament game,” he said.
Sandusky is led by district player of the year Jayreese Williams and their other guards, but Schwemley says their other guys can hurt you too. “We have had a lot of close games. The thing with Sandusky is their guards really make them go. It starts with Jayreese Williams, who is averaging around 23 a game. Then Keith Williams and Cavon Croom are both averaging around 12 a game. When we played at Sandusky I think those three scored 60 of their 67 points. The thing is I thought we defended pretty good. We made them make difficult shots and a couple of times they did,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think back to that game a big basket was made by Jamonte Alexander late in the game. That is kind of how they work. Jamonte and Brent Hansen are their other starters and they work hard. They get some offensive rebound put backs. They are not a team when you can just focus on those three guards because they have guys that step up in big moments for them. We have played them well, but we are going to have to bring a big effort. We like our chances and the match-ups that we think we can take advantage of.”
Schwemley says they have been able to keep things close against Sandusky because they handle the ball well. He says to beat them they are going to have to make the Streaks work for their points. “We are pretty solid with our guard play. We start five guys that played some point guard in their career. All of our guys are pretty confident in their ball handling and move the ball well together. Typically when we have played teams that pressure we have done a good job of taking advantage of that. I know we have had a turnover here or there that has been costly. Sandusky is like that. They are going to constantly pressure you trying to break you down for 32 minutes and we have done a pretty good job of that. We have to make sure we stay with that from start to finish because we can’t let them have that run or those couple easy baskets. We are a petty good defensive team. Our guys work together and they work pretty well together and they complement each other well. It is one of those games where don’t let Sandusky get any easies, make them work for everything. Offensively we have Davey Hipp leading us with 16 points a game, but they you have Brock and Hunter and Uriah, Brady and Matthew and we have a lot of guys that score 10-12 points and that is what we need to be successful,” said Schwemley.
Published 2/23/17
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Outright Title in Balance for Shelby
Shelby has a chance to win its first outright Northern Ohio League girls’ basketball title since 2008. They must beat arch rival Bellevue on the road Saturday afternoon to do it.
They have shared the title with Bellevue twice in those last nine years and coach Natalie Lantz says they are not interested in doing that this time around. “The girls have worked hard this season. I think they have done a good job. They have played so good the second half of the season. They want to come out on top and by themselves,” she said.
Shelby won the first meeting in January (46-45) on a turnaround 30 footer at the horn. Was it good? Well, that depends on who is telling the story. The only ones that mattered were the game officials and they counted the goal.
Bellevue (17-4,10-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has gotten more healthy and they have not lost a game since Shelby (20-1,11-0), #1 in our poll, beat them. Lantz says they are very aggressive and they are very versatile on offense. “They are a very aggressive defensive team and they have a lot of outside threats. They have guards that are good at driving and penetrating the gaps and kicking out to others for shots. They have a lot of inside, outside threats,” said Lantz.
When you play games like this you must play well in all areas, but Lantz says it really starts with the way they defend. “No matter if we are in man or zone, what we choose to play, we will have to really man up, whoever is on ball,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They need to step up and do their job and the others will have to be ready to rotate, not just the first person, but the second and third person so no one gets an uncontested shot off. Then we have to be in good position to get the rebound and transition to the other end. Communication will be key to make sure we get that done.”
Published 2/17/17
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Shelby Wants to Continue Good Play at Bellevue
Shelby seems to be getting hot at the right time as the Whippets head for Bellevue on Friday night for a Northern Ohio League game.
After a (48-44) win over Sandusky Perkins on Saturday night, the Whippets drilled Willard (70-45) in a league game on Tuesday night.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they got that marquee win on Saturday and were able to carry that momentum over to Tuesday night. “For us it has been about finishing. For us the big win was that Perkins win. We have had some games like that throughout the season. We were in games and it seems like we can’t get a break and can’t finish. Some of those have been games we have had control over. You have to make your own luck so to speak. That Perkins win was a big win for us to beat a very good team. We have been playing well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Our guys have been unselfish and have been distributing the ball well. (Tuesday) night we had four guys I believe in double figures. Davey Hipp led us with 20. He had his 1,000 career point in that game. The important thing in that game was how he was scoring. When we have guys scoring typically we have assists and that is good basketball.”
Hipp is just the fourth Shelby player to score 1,000 points in his career. Schwemley says he continues to strive to get better as a player and that makes them better as a team. “You look at his progress throughout the years and improvement and even this year. People hear the word improvement and they think of that as a negative thing and it’s not. He has continued to improve with hard work. I think the big thing with him this year is his efficiency has improved. I think his shots have been down lately in terms of numbers of shots, but he is still scoring the same number of points. That is him being efficient and us having good ball movement and be willing to make the extra pass no matter who it is and guys having confidence in each other,” said Schwemley.
Shelby (12-8,7-3) plays at Bellevue (8-10,5-6) in an “NOL” game on Friday night. The Whippets were (62-44) winners in the first match-up between the schools.
Schwemley says they want to be able to carry this streak of good play into the weekend. “At this time of year you want to be playing good basketball and we are going to be on the road. They are going to play well at home. They have shown that throughout the year that they can play good basketball. Sometimes scores can be misleading. When you look at the final score you don’t really know the whole story. We have to go in there and give great effort. When you look at it we only have two games left in the regular season and then the tournament is going to be here. That first tournament game is the Tuesday of the following week. Bellevue has shown they can play. If we take care of our part we like our chances. You want to be playing well at this time of the year,” he said.
Published 2/16/17
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Shelby Upends Perkins
Brock Kehres sole the ball at mid-court and scored on a twisting layup with 35 seconds left and Shelby hung on to beat Sandusky Perkins (48-44) in a non-conference basketball game on Saturday night.
Shelby held a six point lead (44-38) after Davey Hipp’s layup with 4:27 remaining, but the Pirates would score three straight field goals, two on power moves by Jake Wagner and one a jumper by Bennett McCune to tie it at (44-44) with 1:48 left. They had the ball likely looking to take the final shot.
However, Kehres striped the ball away from the Pirates and layed it in for the lead. After a time out Perkins got a three out of the left corner, but it was blocked by Hunter Hoffman. Hipp then sealed it with two free throws with 10 seconds on the clock.
Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says the Whippets (11-8) finally got that marquee win their have been looking for this season. “I mean we have had so many games like this one where we just came up short. The kids give great effort night in and night out. (Saturday) night was that game and I am just so proud of them because a couple of things went against us there late,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We had a couple of times when we didn’t get finishes. Brock got that steal and layup and it was like okay can we get rid of those skeletons in the closet. I thought the next biggest play was Hunter Hoffman blocking that three from the corner because we are still just up two and Hunter came out of nowhere and at full extension blocked that shot, which got us the ball back. Brock’s play put us up, but Hunter’s play kept us there and Davey was able to make two free throws. Plays like that, those unseen plays, are the different between winning and losing.”
Hipp led Shelby with 17. Luke Zahniser had 14 for the Pirates.
Perkins had as much as five point lead in the third quarter (25-20) after a Conner Roesch basket with 5:34 left in the quarter, but the Whippets outscored them 12-6 for the remainder of the quarter to take a (32-31) lead after three.
Perkins coach Scott McVeigh says they didn’t get the ball inside to their big guys enough. He says they really only had turnover in the fourth quarter, but it cost them. “It is always a good game down here. It is always competitive. I think we showed a little tiredness coming off (Friday) night, but we are not going use excuses. We took care of the ball in the second half. Fourth quarter we took care of the ball. The only turnover we had was late. It’s a tie game and we’ve got the ball the worse thing we should have happened is overtime. We played with it and turned it over and they got points off of it, probably the worse case scenario we could have happened. We didn’t get the ball inside enough and when we did we didn’t finish. That was huge, it wasn’t like we weren’t getting good looks inside we just didn’t finish and that was a big part of it,” said McVeigh.
Like most of the season Shelby was undersized, but Schwemley says they did an affective job of defending and not allowing the Pirates to throw it inside time and time again. “Hunter and Uriah (Gieseler) typically get other team’s 5’s and 4’s and they are outmatched and do a great job of working and positioning. We talk about it has to take five guys. Our guards pester their guards and pressure them because if you pressure the perimeter it helps the inside. It is not just Hunter and Uriah doing that dirty work in the post. I thought our guards were pests (Saturday) night and had some active hands when we needed it. We rebounded well there were a couple of times down the stretch when again you are outsized that everybody has to make an effort boxing our rebounding. Our defense to hold them to 44 points with their size they are a very good team,” said Schwemley.
Published 2/12/17
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Shelby Hosts Perkins Saturday
Shelby does not have a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night. They do play at home against Sandusky Perkins on Saturday.
The Perkins game is their only game this week and coach Troy Schwemley admits that has an odd feel and they have had to adjust their practice schedule a little bit. “This is our first time this year to my knowledge that we have had a really long week. We gave them Monday off. We have had a lot of doubles. When you play 22 games there aren’t many times when you have two games a week let a lone just that one on Saturday. So, it has been an interesting week of preparation. Thursday’s practice as like a Wednesday practice because we still have two days before the game. It is odd because we still have one and half practices with Friday and then Saturday morning. It has been a little bit odd, but at this point in the season you want to keep guys fresh, get them rested, and keep their legs under them for that stretch run,” he said.
Schwemley says especially at this time of year it is balance between working kids hard physically in practice and taking some time to review things on film. “I think the hard part in the balance. There is that balance of trying to make things competitive and teaching and just getting that feeling out of your kids. Sometimes we need to push them and they don’t feel like it. You are getting after them and getting after them to try and get them to that point. You are also emotionally keeping them fresh. It is hard this time of year we have played 18 games and we still have four left. Kids can’t just day in and day out, as much us coaches want them too, bring it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I think there is that balancing act of knowing when to give them time. Sometimes the best thing to do is just teaching, sometimes kids don’t like that either, it is good for them in terms of preparation and getting them ready for the next opponent. We play a really good Perkins team in a game I wish, we have to do our tournament seeds (Friday) morning, and I wish I had to this weekend to see how some of the games fall because it would affect how I vote.”
Shelby (10-8) plays at home against Perkins (13-4) on Saturday night. Schwemley says Pirates present some match-up issues for them. “Match-up wise they are one the bigger teams we play. They have two post players that can both post up. They try to hurt you inside. They have guards that can shoot. They bring some match-ups that most teams don’t that we don’t see a lot of. We might see one guy posting up, but not the high, low that they typically do. They havr two very good post players, I think they are both 6’5” and very thick, strong guys. It will be interesting to see how we match up with them,” he said.
Published 2/10/17
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Shelby and Upper Girls Battle on Thursday night
The top two teams in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll among larger schools play on Thursday night as Northern Ohio League leader Shelby is at Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Upper Sandusky.
Upper is unbeaten (17-0) and Shelby (17-1) has lost just once, to Mansfield Senior, since the season began before Thanksgiving.
Shelby coach Natalie Lantz says this may be a non-league game, but they are certainly pumped up to play the Lady Rams. “We are excited about the game. They got us last year at home. They are a great team. They have some very talented players, very athletic players and they have some good shooters. We are ready for the match-up,” she said.
The pace of the game will probably be quick as both teams like to get down the floor. Lantz says they must get back and defend the width of the floor against the Lady Rams. “They have very good outside shooters in Fogle and Carey. We want to definitely be sure we are on our game. It is not just the outside shot, but we have to get people back protecting the paint as well,” said Lantz.
It is fair to say the Northern Ohio League is the deepest girls’ basketball conference in North Central Ohio this year with Shelby, Bellevue, Norwalk, Ontario, and to some degree Willard.
Lantz feels they have been challenged by good competition and that helps them against a team as good as Upper Sandusky. “I think this helps prepare us even better for tournament time. Upper is ranked in the top 10 in the state. They have a great ball club. They have everybody back from last year. I feel strong with who we have and I like our depth. The Northern Ohio League is extremely strong this year and we have faced some great competition through the season with Mansfield Senior, Mt. Vernon, Bellevue, and Norwalk and Ontario, they have given us two good games,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I don’t think we played real well against them the first time. We played a little better the second time, but we still had a little funk there in the third quarter, fourth quarter, but we came around when we needed to at the end of the ball game to get the “W.” I think our girls have that experience in close ball games and are becoming more and more confident. If we put in four solid quarters I know we can come up with a “W” against Upper.”
Published 2/02/17
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Shelby and Ontario Meet for Second Time
Shelby plays host to Ontario in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night in a meeting between two teams in the upper division of the league standings.
Shelby trails league leader Sandusky by two games, Ontario is three back.
A big rally on Saturday night gave the Whippets a (60-52) win over Tiffin Columbian in a league game.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they really played well down the stretch of the game. “We kind of hand our backs against the wall with about five minutes to go. We had some guys just foul out, Uriah Gieseler and Mathew Hiatt just fouled out, a starter and our first guy off the bench, and I believe we were down six or seven at the time. We were down 52 to something and from then on we didn’t give up another basket and made a nice run. Davey Hipp and Brock Keres really finished for us strong got some solid play from Hunter Hoffman and Jacob Holloway down the stretch,” he said.
Ontario won the first meeting between the teams (52-46) at Ontario in December. Schwemely says it is a game that could have been theirs and they must win Friday. “Our first game was a pretty close game. A game where we had a lead at halftime (27-17) and just had a miserable third quarter. It was a tie ballgame late in the game. Logan Jones went down the middle and made a nice little floater for 40 second to go and that gave them the lead at that really seemed to be the difference in a back and forth game. At the time that was a difference for us when you look at the “NOL,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “That was our first league loss and if we were able to maintain that Sandusky game. Right now we have two league losses, Ontario has three, and Sandusky has none. For us we can’t afford to get any further back because it is going to be tough to catch Sandusky at this point.”
Schwemley says this is a game that will be played between teams that are guard oriented. He says the stats show that the teams are pretty similar in what they do. “Jackson Todd is averaging about 14 points a game, Quan Jackson averages about 11 a game, and Trey Jordan averages about nine a game, so their three leading scorers are their guards. Our three leading scorers are our guards in Davey Hipp, Brock Kehres and Brady Hill. Both of us are similar in that they have Logan Jones averaging about eight, Chance Mott around six, and Owen Zeiter is getting some points here and there and is averaging about three. For us the same, Hoffman starts for us and he is around nine a game and Uriah Gieseler is around six and a half a game. So, both of us have some other guys that can hit double figures, can score some points, and make contributions, but night in and night out it is the guard play that leads both of us,” said Schwemley.
Published 1/31/17
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Shelby Must Move on
If it were not for about three minutes last Friday night, the Shelby Whippets would be sitting in a share of first place in the Northern Ohio League, but instead they share second place with Ontario and Bellevue two games back.
The Whippets held a seven point lead with a little over three minutes to play against league leader Sandusky, but let it get away and lost (67-60) to the Streaks.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they kind of have to collect their thoughts and move forward. “We are three minutes away from being tied for first right. We go up to Sandusky on Friday night and are up seven with three and half to go and up five with three and make some mistakes. I made a play call mistake that I would love to take back. There were just some things down the stretch that didn’t work out in our favor. Some of them were our own fault and things we control and we need to do a better job, coaches and players, to make sure we don’t get a game like that taken away from us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have to move forward we can’t sit there and live in the past. We are two games back in the league and we didn’t take care of Sandusky, now we have to take care of what we can with Norwalk at our place. That is what we can control. It is about how we respond and how we play the next game.”
Shelby (7-7,4-2) plays host to Norwalk (3-10,1-5) in a “NOL” game on Thursday night. Schwemley says it is time they start playing a little better. “When you look at them they have had their struggles too. I know that things haven’t gone maybe like they are though going into this year. No matter what your situation is you are kind of in that grind of the season right now in late January and we are staring the next round of league play. At this time of year you kind of find what you are made of. You don’t want to start talking about the end of the year yet, but you do what to start building towards peaking at the right time and finishing the season strong. Norwalk has played some teams very close. They have lost in overtime to Sandusky Perkins and Ashland, who are two very good teams, and taken some other teams close. Tempo wise have kept themselves in the game,” said Schwemley.
The Shelby coach says they have to make this their kind of game and make the Truckers adapt to them. “You don’t know quite what Norwalk is going to do with trying to control the tempo. What we can control is us pressuring the ball. Smart pressure because you don’t want to give up easies and things like that, and being aggressive and efficient on offense,” he said.
Published 1/26/17
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Spartans Spurt Past Shelby
St. Peter’s outscored Shelby (14-0) over a three and half minute stretch of the fourth quarter and the Spartans went on to down the Whippets (76-65) in a non-conference game Saturday night at the Franciscan Activities Center in Mansfield.
The Spartans (13-2), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, led Shelby (60-54) with almost seven minutes left in the game when Shelby guard Brock Kehres was hurt on a play under the basket.
St. Peter’s coach Joe Jakubick says that allowed them to catch their breath a little and refocus. “We were up six and we felt we took a quick shot. They got a run out and we fouled them. That is when Kehres got hurt and there was a delay. So, I was going to call timeout, but that sort of did it for me. We just said we had to settle down and we have got to make plays. Let’s just make smart decisions. We were able to get a couple of quick buckets and it led to a real good run. We locked down defensively. They hit some shots, but I was really proud overall how we defended. They can hit threes. I am really proud of Elijah Cobb and the job he did on Davey Hipp,” said Jakubick.
Mason Campbell and Jared Jakubick converted back to back fast break baskets to start the run and Tyson Kent scored six points during the run. Campbell’s hoop with 2:20 left gave the Spartans a (74-56) advantage.
Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says Saturday night’s game was kind of a microcosm of how their season has been this year. “I just got done telling the guys it is were we are at this year. In so many of our games against great teams, and St. Pete’s is a great team, they have a lot of talented individuals that play well together, so they work together, but in these big games against great teams we will do that,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We cut it to four and I thought we were starting to defend and valuing every possession and then we just completely break down. It happens too often. (Friday) night our game went from we are up five to zero just like that in a span of 10 seconds. (Saturday) night we have the ball and we are down four and thought we were doing a good job of attacking and we lose our minds and I look up and it is 12 just like that.”
Shelby (7-7) lead “NOL” leader Sandusky by seven with three minutes to play on Friday night and the Blue Streaks out scored them (16-2) down the stretch to win (67-60) and knock the Whippets two games back in the league standings.
The Whippets are one of the better perimeter shooting teams in the area and Jakubick thought they did a good job of slowing that down a little.
“Our goal was, even though they got to the paint a little too much, let’s make them hit two point jumpers. They are so talented and all of their guards are lightning quick. This was a great game for us really preparing us defensively,” he said.
Shelby finished with six threes on the night.
St. Peter’s led (27-16) after the first quarter and that quick start was fueled by some great perimeter shooting, including four threes, two each for Jakubick and Campbell. Coach Jakubick thought they would have a pretty good night shooting the ball. “(Friday) night in particular Mason (Campbell) and Jared (Jakubick) didn’t have their best night and I could just see (Saturday) in shoot around that they were a little more focused. You never know if shots are going to go in or not, but I felt they were going to be ready to compete. Anytime you get back to back nights like they had, and we had, when you get in the second half it is a little harder to knock down perimeter shots,” said Jakubick,
Jared Jakubick and Kent both finished with 20 points on the night, while Campbell had 19. Brady Hill led Shelby with 17 makers.
Published 1/21/17
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Shelby Faces Tough Challenges
Shelby is still looking for that marquee win that proves they are among the best boys’ basketball teams in North Central Ohio this year and they have two chances this weekend.
They play at Sandusky in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night and visit to Mid-Buckeye Conference leader Mansfield St. Peter’s on Saturday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they have played some outstanding basketball at times this year, but they still need that big win. “When you look at who we have played even throughout the year I feel we have competed against everybody we have played even in some games we have lost to good teams we have been right there and just came up short. When you look at last week we had a good win against River Valley on Tuesday night and a really good win against Bellevue on Friday night, winning by 18. Going into that match-up Bellevue and us both had one loss. We talked about that as far as giving ourselves a chance because we still had Sandusky left on our schedule while Bellevue had played everybody in the rotation except us. With us winning that game we are going into this Sandusky game with one loss and Sandusky doesn’t have any. If we take care of (Friday) night we can put ourselves in a share of the lead,” said Schwemley.
The Whippets (7-5,4-1) play at Sandusky (10-3,5-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night. It is a chance for the Whippets to move into a share of first place.
Schwemley says the Blue Streaks have some explosive scorers. “It is a tall order. We are going to have to go to Sandusky (Friday) night and play a very good team. Jayreese Williams is averaging around 26 a game. Then you have Keith Williams averaging around 12 and Croom averaging around 11. You look at those three guys along they are averaging about 50 points a game between the three of them. I really think that is our approach going in we have got to make sure we minimize their scoring. It starts with Jayreese, but I think all three of them are in that equation because any night those three guys do the majority of the scoring. On any given night the other two are very good scorers as well,” he said.
On Saturday night it is a formidable task to as St. Peter’s (11-2), #1 in our small school pool, has been really very good all year. Shelby beat them last year, but Schwemley says a repeat won’t be easy. “It sounds simple, but we have a tough weekend. To bounce back win or lose Friday night and going to St. Pete’s on Saturday. We did play well against them last year. If I remember correctly it was close at halftime and we were able to get a 10, 15 point lead in the third quarter and that seemed to propel us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We had a great third quarter and kind of put the game out of reach. St. Peter’s is a very good team, with a lot of those guys back. They made regionals last year. They are a team with definite post season aspirations. It is a great situation for us we have competed against some of best teams in the area, but just came up short. Well, this weekend has two teams right there that we have the opportunity to prove that we are a pretty good team too.”
Published 1/20/17
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Shelby Has to Eliminate Dry Spells
Shelby plays an important Northern Ohio League game at home against Bellevue in a battle of contenders on Friday night.
The Whippets beat Willard (79-56) in a league game last Friday, lost to Lexington (48-44) on Saturday, and then beat River Valley (78-51) in another non-conference game on Tuesday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they still are in search of that marquee win. “We are happy when it comes to our effort on a nightly basis. I am very happy with the guys. We came up short in a couple of games and I felt like we played well enough maybe to win and we just hadn’t quite got over the hump. I am happy with where we are at, but we need to find a way to win some big games,” he said.
Shelby (6-5,3-1) is at home for Bellevue (5-4,4-1) in a league game on Friday night. Bellevue railed to beat Tiffin Columbian (72-64) in overtime last week to remain in a share of second place.
Schwemley says this is really a bigger game for then due to how the schedule falls. “You look at them right now and they have one league loss against Sandusky where we have one league loss to Ontario. The difference is they did beat Ontario. They have played everybody except us and we still have to play Sandusky. We really have to take care of business against Bellevue because in the first round rotation we have Sandusky while they are done after us. Right now it is about keeping pace with Sandusky and to do that we have to beat Bellevue on Friday,” said Schwemley.
Bellevue has some height and some shooters, according to Schwemley. “I think it is a balance. They have balance inside and out. Inside wise with Owen Hartley, he is averaging like 14 a game and about seven rebounds, but he has nights when he can go off and get up in the 20’s in points and double digit rebounds. The thing he does is he can step out on the perimeter as well. He is not just an inside player. He runs the floor well. Their guard play as well. They have Ruleman averaging in averaging 19 points a game. They get contributions from multiple guys,” he said.
In order to get the win on Friday night, Schwemley says they have to avoid those two, three, four minute periods where they don’t score. “I think it has been defensively it starts on the inside with Hartley and not let him get easies and get to the free throw line and get to the perimeter. Offensively for us we have had flashes where we would score well, but then some dreadful third quarters have been the thorn in our side,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “In our Lexington gave we got outscored 14-2 in the third quarter. When you look at the Ontario game and we got outscored 22-6. Those are both games where we ended up being tied or had the lead in the last couple of minutes of the game. For us I think it is just minimizing those draughts where we play well, but when things go bad we have to minimize. You are going to go through runs in games. If we don’t get outscored like we did in those third quarters I like our chances on any night.”
Published 1/12/17
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Shelby Needs Win to Keep in “NOL” Race
Shelby plays two of its traditional rivals this weekend as they travel to Willard for a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night and host Lexington in a non-conference battle of Saturday night.
They are coming off a dominating victory over Galion (77-30) last Friday in non-conference play. Coach Troy Schwemley believes he has seen some good improvement over the holidays. “You definitely don’t want to get worse with the change in schedule and things like that. We played Ontario on the Friday right at the beginning of break and the Galion on the Friday over break. When you look at those two games in the Ontario game we had a great first half, a bad third quarter, and came up short. We had some opportunities and we can look back and say well if we do a couple of things a little better we have a chance to win. In the Galion game we played really well and only gave up five points in the first half and did stay disciplined through the game and that is the thing I was happy with most because sometimes in a game like that you can get carried away and maybe lack some focus. So, I thought our kids even when the score got a little lopsided that we maintained our discipline. I thought we got a lot better and did some good things over break,” said Schwemley.
Shelby (4-4,2-1) goes to Willard (1-8,0-4) for an “NOL” game on Friday night. Willard nearly won their first league game last week, losing to Norwalk (56-53,) and Schwemley knows the Flashes are starting to turn it around. “You look at their Norwalk game and they lost by three and competed and played hard and it just shows you that they are getting after it and not giving up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “When we look at them the thing that sticks out to me is it starts with Nick Cofer, he plays hard inside. Anytime you have a guy that works hard inside you can put that as a focal point. A guy that works hard inside and gets some points at the foul line and rebounds. Guys like that can have a big impact on the game. They have some other guards like Ethan Daub and Jared Sowers and Brice Bailey that have scored throughout some games. When you look at them you respect the things that they do well and the things that we are going to have to do well to stop them.”
Shelby and Willard have been rivals for 70 years or more and Schwemley reminded his kids that the Flashes are going to be fired up to play them like they always are. “We talked about that in practice on Wednesday. We are going to Willard. I know sometimes that you look at the record and things like that and I talked about the importance of focusing on this game. I think our guys will do a good job of understanding that we are going to get a great effort from Willard. Historically it has been a great rivalry game and don’t treat it any different based on what our records are. It reminded me of last year that we got down something like 19-5 to start the game. We were able to battle back and win that game. Our kids understand going to Willard on the road, it’s a Northern Ohio League game. We have one loss in the league. To get another game back to Sandusky, who is undefeated, if we want a chance in the league we have to maintain pace and take care of business on Friday night,” said Schwemley.
Lexington (8-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, comes calling on Saturday night. Schwemley says this is a very physical, defensive minded team. “Look at their record right now they have one loss. They are a very physical team. I think the difference this year is they are a little bit more on a half court team. When you look at their scores they are typically in the 40’s and 50’s and defensively they hold teams in the 40’s. When you look across their games, game in and game out, that tends to be their formula for success. They are going to score about 50 some points, they are going to hold their opponents to under 50 and that is how they win. They are a very physical half court team that can limit their opponents and defend very well,” he said.
Published 1/06/17
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Shelby Faces Tough Test in Norwalk
Shelby, the Northern Ohio League co-leader, travels to Norwalk Tuesday night to face the Lady Truckers, who trails the leaders by just a game.
Shelby (9-1,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, picked up a couple of non-conference wins last week over Galion (79-43) last Tuesday and Lexington (51-29) last Saturday.
Coach Natalie Lantz feels they are in pretty good shape coming out of the holiday period. “We were able to get the girls a couple of days off during break, but we also stayed in game mode with Galion and Lexington to keep the girls in, like I said, game mode. We have had some good practices. We were able to workout some things. Obviously there are still some things we can work on in a couple of facets of our game. I am really pleased with our girl’s work ethic and play right now. Norwalk is a great team led by Jiselle Thomas. They are a very good program, so we are excited to face them,” said Lantz,
Lantz says a lot of what the Lady Truckers (8-1,3-1), #4 in our poll, do goes through Thomas. She says Norwalk overall is very athletic and aggressive. “They are very athletic, they are quick, they are aggressive defensively. Everything revolves around for the most part Jiselle. She is a very good player going division one. She seems to get the ball rolling for them. We are not fooled, they have some other very good players that can do some things, but she sets the tone for them. We have to be ready for them,” she said.
What happens if Thomas gets in foul trouble or has to set for some reason or another? Lantz says it certainly makes them more balanced. “I think they are forced to play more team ball and they are totally capable of doing that. The ball is in her hands a lot when she is on the floor. She is capable of making big offensive plays and big defensive plays. She sees the floor and take the majority of their shots. They do have other good shooters and rebounders. They just might not take as many shots as she does. When she is out of the game then it is a more even game where other players are going to step up,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We have to be prepared for those situations. When Jiselle is in the game we have to know where she is at all times. When the ball is in her hands we need to control that and when she is not in the game we are going to “D” up.”
Published 1/03/17
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Shelby Must Finish
Shelby has been putting itself in position to win games almost every time out now they just need to learn how to finish more of them.
They lost to Ontario (52-46) in a Northern Ohio League game last Friday after leading by 10 points at the half on the road.
Coach Troy Schwemly says they played some pretty good basketball on both end during the first half at Ontario. “Our first half was very good. We are up 10 at halftime 27-17. Holding a team like Ontario to 17 points in the first half and we really weren’t trying to slow the game down it was just the way the game was played. I thought offensively we were very efficient and our offense somewhat protected of defense by talking good shots and not turning the ball over. It allowed us to really play both ends of the floor very well. Offensively we were pretty efficient and defensively held a team to 17 points, that’s a great half,” he said.
The first half shows what they can do ever on nights when they don’t shoot very well. Schwemley says they certainly left some points on the floor over the last couple of games. “We definitely know we are capable of playing. You look at our last two games we have played two very good teams well, but unfortunately we came up short in Ashland and Ontario. I think the disappointing thing in both games is we ended up shooting in the low 30’s percentage wise in both of those games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “When you lose by three points, the Ontario game end up being six points, but that score is a little misleading because I think it was even tied with a minute to go. When you lose close games like that and you shoot so poorly you really feel like you left a couple of possessions on the floor. If we could just shoot a little better we can find a way to beat those teams, but we couldn’t. We realize we need come up with wins in games like that, not saying we could have won.”
Shelby (3-4) plays at Galion (2-5) in a non-conference game on Friday night. After losing five straight games Galion beat River Valley (65-50) in red division game in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference last Thursday.
Schwemley says they want to get off to a good start in the game and then maintain that momentum. “They have some young players. They have a mix of players, they have some guys that are first time varsity players. They have some guys that are young. A team like that is going to go through some growing pains. The River Valley game where the ended winning by 15 they played a really nice game and got some nice scoring from multiple guys and got a nice game from a freshman. They are a team that if you let them have a little confidence and they are coming off a win they can start feeling pretty good about themselves. You want to take care of it early and not let a team that has found a way to win hang around that can be dangerous,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/29/16
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Shelby Wants That Signature Win
Shelby shares the Northern Ohio League lead, but they are still looking for that big win that sort of puts them in the elite class in North Central Ohio.
They almost got that on Saturday, but fell to Ashland (59-56) in the “OCC/NOL” challenge. Coach Troy Schwemley says the Whippets shot very poorly, but still almost got it done. “I look back at Saturday’s game. We had a nice win Thursday and has really nice win against Tiffin and had a chance Saturday to beat one of the best teams in the area. I really felt like we did a lot of good things, but we still came up short. For what we are looking for is take that next step and beat a good team and we had that opportunity on Saturday. Saturday night we shot like 32 percent from the field, something awful. You lose by three points to a very good team and shoot the way we did it kind of leads you to we were really close to having that win against a really good team and we just came up short. To really feel good of where we are at we need a good win and Friday night would be kind of that opportunity going to Ontario and a chance to move to 3-0 in the league that would be next opportunity for us to do that,” said Schwemley.
The Shelby coach says they had chances to make plays that could have proved to be the difference for them. He says they have to learn from those and put together better efforts. “When we got into the locker room Saturday it wasn’t upset for any reasons other than the disappointment of losing. I felt like we did a lot of good things. (Tuesday) we watched some plays from the game that we felt we could have made a little bit better decisions here or there. When you lose a close game like that every play matters. There were multiple plays throughout the game where we had some opportunities and the decisions that we made could have swayed the outcome into our favor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We need to learn from it and move on and then apply it to our next game. To beat Ontario we are going to have to learn from those mistakes. Ontario is kind of in the same situation that we are right now they are playing good basketball they just have come up short against good teams. They are feeling they need to find a way to win those games. I would say we are two teams that kind of feel the same way right now.”
Shelby (3-3,2-0) plays at Ontario (2-4,0-2) in an “NOL” game on Friday night. Ontario, who carries rare four game losing streak, lost last week to Bellevue (50-45) and Lexington (54-49) and Schwemley says the two teams are in similar situations. “I had a conversation with someone that had seen a lot of games at the “OCC/NOL” challenge and they were commenting on how there just isn’t and easy game on your schedule. I said that is what is great about our schedule and about the talent in the area is that every night you have to bring it. There are no easy nights. With Ontario their losses have been to very quality teams, so every night you have to be ready to play. You can never feel too good about yourself or too bad about yourself because whatever you did the night before prepares you for the next game. The battles we have make for excitement, but also it makes you have to be tough to get through the ups and downs,” he said.
Published 12/21/16
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Shelby Learning From Wins and Losses
Shelby shares Northern Ohio League lead and they have lost only one game overall so far this year, that coming last week to Mansfield Senior, and they finding ways to get better.
They won last Friday, beating Ontario (45-44) in a league game, when coach Natalie Lantz says the Lady Whippets were not at their best. “We played a little bit flat. We had an off shooting night, countless bunnies we missed. We kind of weren’t on our mark rebounding. We just didn’t seem quite with it. It was the same thing for three quarters against Senior, but we came back the fourth quarter and we almost pulled that victory off on Tuesday night. Friday night I was very pleased that we found a way to be composed and get the “W” there and that’s what counts,” she said.
They had lost (60-57) to Mansfield Senior on Tuesday night in game when they were pretty bad for three quarters and the Lady Tygers were pretty good, but they didn’t give up and that was a good sign, according to Lantz. “I think both of these games are good for the experiences because Tuesday night I thought we showed great character because we could have thrown in the towel. We could have lost that game by 30 points,” she told Swankonsports.com, “Mansfield Senior I give them a lot of credit. Erica Johnson had a great game and their other guards they were hitting. We really got after it in the fourth quarter and we took control of the game. I think we got in their heads a little bit. We were causing turnovers, we got some steals and made some big plays. We took control of the boards and it made a big difference. If it comes down to it in the tournament and we get the opportunity it will be a plus because we know we can do it.”
Shelby (6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Plymouth in a non-conference game on Tuesday night. Lantz believes they are going to be ready to give a better effort against the Lady Big Red. “I give Ontario a lot of credit. They did a lot of good things, including getting to the foul line. It was not one our better games, but I think we will regroup and be ready for Tuesday night,” she said.
Published 12/20/16
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Shelby Doing Some Good Things
Shelby in their first four games has done a lot of good things, but just not enough of them to win all four so far.
They have split games on both weekends.
They beat Norwalk (63-43) in their Northern Ohio League opener last weekend and coach Troy Schwemley felt it was a pretty consistent effort on both ends. “Friday night I was really happy with how we started. We really got off well in the first half. I think we were up maybe 20 at halftime and held Norwalk to like 16 points. Friday night we were really pleased with our effort. We had multiple guys in double digits, balanced scoring, and did a lot of things well and rebounded much better. Those were things we talked about throughout the week that we wanted to see improvement on, rebounding and ball movement and things like that. Friday night definitely happy with what we did,” he said,
Upper Sandusky outlasted them last Saturday (74-65) in a non-conference game. Schwemley says they just could never get over the hurdle against a very good team. “We got down big in the first half. Every time I felt like we were weathering the storm, we knew that Upper could shoot the ball and really play with a lot of pressure and they did those things. Every time we cut it to five or six they would make like one or two threes. Dibble ended the game with seven threes and Adams had five. So, two guys have 12 threes and we knew going in those guys could shoot and they did,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We got down I think 18 or 20 at the half, but cut it to four or five in the third quarter. We went in and talked about some things and adjusted and came out and got to within four or five and boom back to back threes and we are down 11. I felt it was a game where if we could get some defensive stands or gets some finishes would give ourselves a chance. Upper is a good team, they pressure real well, they take you out of a lot of things you want to do and they have a lot guys that can score and shoot the ball and that is what they did. We are disappointed in the outcome, but there were times I thought we were close to getting back in the game and we just didn’t do it.”
Shelby (2-2,1-0) plays at home Thursday night against Tiffin Columbian (3-1,0-0,) who lost its first game of the season to Fremont Ross (60-56) last Saturday. They play unbeaten Ashland (2-0) in the NOL/OCC challenge Saturday at Ontario.
Schwemley says Tiffin is team with a lot of confidence. “They are playing well. When you look at them I think they are playing with confidence right now. I know we are early in the season, but when you get off to a good start you are playing with confidence. They have some returners from last year. I know the Durham kid is back and he is a very tough match-up. Malone can open some things up for some other guys. I thought last year they were very improved. They were one of those teams that you could just see a difference in them from the first game to the second game. The coach up there is in his second year and the guys are buying into what he is doing. Anytime you have things like that going on you know you are in for a tough match-up. We are going to have to do the things like we talked about last week like rebounding, limiting them to one shot, and pressuring them into some mistakes,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/13/16
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Shelby Needs to Continue to Get Better
Shelby opens play in the Northern Ohio League on Friday night at Norwalk and follows it up with a game on the road at Upper Sandusky, the defending “N10” champs on Saturday night.
Last week, the Whippets (1-1) lost to Madison (61-49) on Friday night and beat Wynford (59-36) on Saturday.
Overall, coach Troy Schwemley was pleased with what he saw. On Friday night, he says they were hut on the boards by Madison and that was likely the difference. “I was talking to some of the players (Tuesday) and we have only been practicing together for two weeks. To have two games in I feel good about the fact good about the fact that we played because going into this weekend now we are on the same playing field as far as Norwalk who has played two games and I feel like that helped prepare us for this weekend and that was the goal. I was pretty pleased with our efforts. Madison has a nice team and I believe we were up five, six points at the end of the first quarter and down one at halftime. Really I felt like we did a lot of good things, but we need to rebound better and Madison hit some threes in the third quarter and had some second chance points that really were the difference in the game,” said Schwemley.
He was proud of the effort his kids put together against Wynford last Saturday, but he knows they must continue to get better as a team. “We bounced back the next night and anytime you have a double weekend you want see the kids bring the maximum effort. I was a little concerned going into that game about how our legs would be and the disappointing loss the night before. Overall I was pleased with the weekend and pleased with the effort of the boys. As every coach knows you have to get better from the opening weekend to the next weekend,” he said.
Norwalk lost two tough games last weekend to Sandusky Perkins (48-46) in overtime on Friday and Huron (70-67) on Saturday. The Truckers are playing without point guard Brandon Haraway, who was injured during football season. Schwemley says he knows the Truckers are going to make it tough on them. “They had two games that very easily could have went the other way. They battled in both games and just came up a little short. Norwalk is always going to do a great job under coach Gray executing, looking for good shots and executing a variety of plays to get open shots and get the right guy shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I know George Friend had 30 some points in the one game and he can obviously score and they have some other guys that can contribute as well. They are battling some injuries, but it is going to be the first league game and they are going to try and find a way to get a win after their opening weekend. We are going to have to get better this week and be ready to battle up there on Friday night.”
Upper Sandusky was (22-0) last season and beat Willard (69-50) and New Riegel (57-48) on Saturday. They are currently without Wes Vent, last year’s leading scorer, due to a violation of team rules during the summer.
Schwemley says they are still pretty darn good. “Kind of situation on Saturday that is the same as Norwalk in that we are going to be going up against a team with some missing personnel. You can’t take anything for granted. I know Upper Sandusky had a very good JV team last year. They have a lot of guys that return from their very successful varsity team from last year with some guys that are now taking that next step. We can’t go into either of these games looking at who is not playing and definitely focus on who is playing and be ready to play with the pressure that both teams are going to give us. Upper Sandusky is going to play hard and they are going to be physical. They have a lot of different guys that can attack you. We can’t underestimate either team,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/07/16
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Shelby Wants to do a Few Things Well
Shelby is going to jump into the boys’ basketball season with games on Friday at Mansfield Madison and Saturday at home against the Wynford Royals.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they have made really good progress over the last week, but he is concerned that they have not had enough time as a full until to be ready to play in top form. “For where we are at, eight, nine days of having everybody here, yes, we are making progress, but form the standpoint of our first game being Friday I hope we are ready. We have to be and we are going over things to be ready. I know coaches never feel ready for their first game no matter if they have had four weeks of practice or one week of practice. I think even more so there is just that level of uncertainty,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “There are a lot of things that I would like to have ready and done that we haven’t had enough time to prefect and to work on. We are going to clean things up (Thursday) and we are going to be ready on Friday night. As a coach there is always going into the first game, how are we going to react when the lights are on and the fans are there? We have some veteran guys that have done this before and we are going to count on their leadership this Friday to help get some of our guys that haven’t been there ready to play.”
The plan is to have a limited amount of things in offensively and defensively for this weekend, but do them really well, according to Schwemley. “It is trying to do just a couple of things well and work on it over and over. I would rather do one or two things well then five or six things and you don’t execute any of them. I think it minimizes the number of things we can do. It just means we try and do those things the best that we can and have them ready to go. For some degree that is what has always been our approach. Whatever we do, do it well and teach our kids to react to different situations. The difference is we have had four or five scrimmages and we have had that different variation of teams and what they are trying to do. We have only had two scrimmages to this point you haven’t had quite that ability to adjust to different teams. We are going to do just a couple of things and do those well and be ready,” said Schwemley.
When it comes to the Madison Rams, Schwemley says they play really hard and he knows they can’t allow Tyrell Ajian to explode against them like he has the capability to do. “When you think about Madison they have always played extremely hard. This year they are going to put guys on the floor that embrace their role. Obviously you have Tyrell Ajian that can really score from about anywhere. He is the kind of guy that just make everybody better around him. He is definitely a force we are going to have to try and slow down and contain. You can’t let him dominate the game and not just in scoring, but he will create for everyone. We have to negate their effort with our effort because they have always played hard. Seems like they play a lot of guys and just play two, three, four minutes and play with maximum effort over a short period of time. When they do that they want to do that for 32 minutes. They really embrace the maximum effort of 32 minutes of great intensity and defensive pressure,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/01/16
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Shelby Wants to Play Better Defense
Shelby won its girls’ basketball opener, but they know there is still room to improve if they are going to realize their potential.
The Lady Whippets belted Ashland (68-50) in non-conference play on Saturday night. They play another Ohio Cardinal Conference foe in Clear Fork (0-1) at home on Tuesday night.
Shelby put three players in double figures on Saturday night in Jackie Garrett with 19, Maddi Fidler with 17, and Sienna King with 13. Coach Natalie Lantz says they passed the ball very well against the Lady Arrows and they were able to get some good shots. “I was very pleased with our ball movement. We had some great passes and aggressive play to get the ball into the post and we finished really well inside against Ashland. With 18 assists that shows we were very unselfish. I was very excited about that team play,” said Lantz.
Defense was another story. Lantz says they were spotty when it comes to defending and that has to get better, especially when they get into the Northern Ohio League part of the season. “I was happy at times yes, but I know we can do a much job. I don’t know if it was nerves or what, but we weren’t talking and communicating like we were in the preseason. So, I know we can do a better job. Hopefully, we will step up and do a better job. We will make some adjustments in practice and see if we can carry that over into the game (Tuesday) night,” she said.
Shelby plays rival Willard in their first “NOL” game of the year on Saturday. The Lady Whippets and the Lady Flashers are among the league favorites in a very balanced “NOL.”
Clear Fork lost its first game (55-42) to Fredericktown on Friday night in non-league play. Lantz says the Lady Colts are trying to get used to a new system and she looks for a lot of improvement from Clear Fork. “I look for them to bounce back and be a very good match-up. They have a new coach (Chuck Schmitt) and the girls are adjusting and everything to that system. So, you never know what they are going to throw at you,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I know those girls are going to be playing hard for them. We have to take care of what we know how to do and that is work together and play hard as a team, continue unselfish ball offensively and work and communicate better defensively.”
Clear Fork won two years ago at Shelby, but the Lady Whippets returned the favor last season.
Published 11/29/16
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Shelby in a Race to Start the Season
After a football playoff run to the regional finals last weekend, the Shelby Whippets have a limited number of practice days with their full squad to get ready for their basketball season opener next Friday against Mansfield Madison.
Veteran coach Troy Schwemley says he wishes they were still playing football, but now that it is officially basketball season at Shelby they have to get ready. “Now we have everybody. We are disappointed, we were thrilled with our football run. We would love to still be playing football right now. From our aspect now it is time to get ready for our basketball season right now. We open against Madison next Friday, so right now our job is to get ready for that. I don’t care if we have five practice days or 20 practice days we have to get ready for our first game and that is our goal right now,” he said.
Coming off a (13-11) campaign a year ago, Schwemley says the Whippets this year will have a good mix of skills and age groups and that is a good thing when it comes to putting a good team together for this season. “I like our mix of guys. We have some seniors, some juniors, some sophomores, we have a nice variety of players. We have guards that can break you down off the dribble and create and shoot. We have some forward type players that can run the floor and get up and do a variety of things,” he told Swankonsports.com during a short break in practice on Wednesday, “Then we have some guys that can post up. I like our blend and it is also a combination of classes where it kind of takes the strengths of everybody individually. We have a variety of guys to use and we are looking forward to that.”
Coaches almost never think they are ready to start the season, and with a limited about of practice days with the full squad that is probably multiplied for Schwemley, but he says they have no choice to be ready come next week. “The obvious is, yes, we have a limited amount of practice days, but the other part of that is I am not going to use that as an excuse. My concern is can we get ready in eight days, but we have no choice we have to. We have spent the last couple of weeks trying to look at our personnel. What’s best? What can we simplify? What can we teach so they guys can pick it up quickly and be ready to go. From our coaching standpoint that is our job to do. Now we have them in here and we are getting ready. That is my concern, but we better be ready,” said Schwemley.
Published 11/24/16
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Shelby Does Not Have to be Over Their Heads
Before the season started we thought Shelby would be pretty good and they haven’t disappointed, in fact, they seem to be playing their best football in the playoffs.
They will need to continue that trend on Friday night when they meet tradition rich Steubenville in the division four regional finals at Massillon’s Paul Brown Tiger Stadium.
Shelby (11-1) beat Philo (40-12) last week in what was their sixth straight win. Coach Erik Will really believes playing well early in games has been key for them. “Fast starts are very, very important to us. I don’t think it is the be all, end all, but we do like a fast start. When we can get up 14, 21 points at the end of the first quarter we can relax and settle in. You can get a lead before teams get in at halftime and have time to make adjustments. This Friday will be no different. Having said that, obviously the stakes are raised for a regional final and a chance to go to the state final four. We are not necessarily expecting anything different due to the fact that we would like to get off to a fast start,” he said.
Shelby has reached the regional finals for just second time in school history, the other time being in 1998.
Will says playing at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium is cool, being in a regional final is great, but this is just another football game. “We told our kids don’t stand around and look just take the place in and get ready to play a high school football game at the highest level,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “The field is 100 yards. How big the crowds are just adds to the story later in life, but that is not the story. The story is going to be two teams competing for a state final four spot. We just want our kids to be calm and to do what we have done all year. It doesn’t matter if it is at Skiles or on the road somewhere in the “NOL” or non-conference. Last week at Westerville North was an unfamiliar place, but we just treated it like a regular game and it came out in our favor.”
Games like this are not new to Steubenville this is the 29th year they have been in the playoffs. The program has 59 playoff wins to its credit, including a (26-8) win over Johnstown-Monroe last week. They were state runners up just last season.
Will says the Big Red is just what you would think they would be. “Just how disciplined they are and how deep they are. Essentially they have 80 kids that play football it is astounding. As a head varsity football coach I have never seen anything like it even when I was in Columbus in division one. Just the amount of kids they have playing and they all do different things. So, their depth is very impressive. Obviously they are well coached. They have a hall of fame coach, one of the best in the history of the state. We are prepared, we are doing what we do. We are not changing a whole lot this week. Steubenville is probably the best top to bottom team that we have played this year. I don’t think you could argue that,” said Will.
As most good teams do, Steubenville (11-1) does a lot of different things well on offense and they very, very aggressive on defense. “They are multiple on offense. They are in a spread on one play and the next play they are under center and double tight. You try to find tendencies out of each of them and be disciplined and be sound. Defensively they bring people from everywhere with corner blitzes. They leave a gap on the line to try and bate you to run there and they will fill it with two or three bakers. They do a nice job. They are essentially organized chaos, but it works really, really well for them. It’s organized chaos, but they are really disciplined while doing it,” he said.
To win, Will says they do not have to be the next coming of the 2014 Buckeyes, they just have to do their stuff very, very well. “There are two things that we have to do. Number one, we can’t turn the ball over. If you turn the ball over against this team they are going to beat you bad and you have to tackle backs in open space. If we do those two things I really think we will be fine. Their front six or seven our offensive line has to match their aggressiveness we will be fine on the offensive side. Defensively you have to be very disciplined. You have to trust your eye reads and we have to make sure we are gap responsible. We don ‘t have to be superhuman we just have to be ourselves, but we have to be ourselves at a very high level,” said Will.
Published 11/17/16
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How Good is Shelby?
This year’s addition of the Shelby Whippets football team has been very good and what is scary is they seem to be getting better and feeding off what they have been doing every week.
They have gotten off to very good starts and been able to put most of their opponents to bed before the band hits the field for their halftime show. They have done it with running of Devon “Shorty” Brooks and passing and running of division one recruit quarterback Brennan Armstrong behind a very physical offensive line. One of the key developments this season has been the emergence of Uriah Gieseler, 6’3” wide out. Last week, in a (40-12) destruction of Philo in a second round playoff game it was the defense that made headlines, holding the Electrics without a first down in the first half of the game.
I thought it would be fun to have a little Twitter poll to see what fans thought about where this team stacked up when it comes to the long and storied tradition of Shelby football, which dates back to the late 1800’s. One of the drawbacks of the Twitter poll is it only gives you four choices when conducting such a poll. I chose teams from 1967, 1969 and 1998 as other possible candidates for best of all time although I am well aware there are others that deserve recognition. To little surprise, 75% of those responding chose this year’s team as the best team ever.
Why is that? Well, because for one thing there is a lot of excitement in Shelby about the football team that has won 11 of its 12 games. There and banners and signs and the like and people are eating up all that is Shelby football. Plus, I call it the “ESPN theory, if it just happened it must be the greatest, because, well it just happened.” I know that is the History minor in me. Secondly, most of the people voting in the poll were probably born after any of the other contenders in the poll were on the field. To them the 60’s feels like some time in the distant past where people watched black and white TV’s, if they had any at all, wore the caps with the bill facing forward and probably came to school in a horse and buggy, so of course they are going to feel these teams couldn’t be as good. That was another world.
I am not going to say this year’s team can’t be the best of all time, but further examination tells us it probably isn’t quite yet.
Let’s take the 1967 and 1969 teams for example. Really the dark ages. Both were unbeaten, something this year’s team can not claim, and both were Northern Ohio League champions, something this year’s Whippets did not accomplish.
A week five loss to Sandusky (42-21) is what stands in the way.
Okay, well then, those teams in the late 60’s were probably playing small schools like Crestline or Plymouth to boost their record. Well, no that is not the case. They played Mansfield Malabar (then a high school,) Ashland and Mansfield Madison, in non-conference play. All Schools bigger than Shelby. Plus in the regular “NOL” schedule, which included most of the same teams from today and frankly had more depth with Galion, Upper Sandusky and Bucyrus part of the mix. A (6-6) tie with Ashland in 1969 was the only blemish for either.
Of course, there were no playoffs in those days, so you can’t draw a comparison in that regard.
In 1998, Shelby also won the “NOL” championship. They beat Poland Seminary in a regional semi-final, there were only four teams from each region that made the playoffs in those days, and then lost in a regional final to Beloit West Branch.
So, are this year’s Shelby Whippets good? No, they are damn good, but they still have some things to accomplish.
Published 11/15/16
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Shelby Faces Outstanding Defense
Shelby faces Philo in the division four regional semi finals of the high school football playoffs on Friday night at Westerville North High School in the northern Columbus suburbs.
The Whippets (10-1), runners up in the Northern Ohio League, and #2 in our final Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the large school division, hammered Bloom-Carroll (56-13) in a first round game, scoring 35 points in the first half and 21 in the first quarter.
Coach Erik Will says they are pumped up to play football. “We were really ready to go last week. I felt the preparation was good. The coaches are doing a good job. My assistants are doing a good job coming up with a game plan. Anytime you can play game one and have a running clock in the second half, that’s pretty big. I think the big thing is I think our kids are still extremely interested. I know it sounds wired because we are in the playoffs. We put the time in the weight room and all of that kind of stuff and this is what you play for. I feel like our kids have an extra focus right now,” said Will.
Philo destroyed the top seed in the region in unbeaten Heath (42-7) last week. Will says the Electrics know how to play the game. “They are really athletic. Their defense has been one of the best around. They are one of the best statically defenses in the state. They have only given up right around seven points a game. They fly around to the ball. They execute at a high level. Offensively, they are a spread, but they want to run the football. They run the ball right round high 60’s, low 70’s percent, so we have got to make sure we are gap responsible on defense. It is definitely going to be a challenge they are good football team,” he said.
When it comes to that defense, Will says Philo has athletes that are disciplined and that make them hard to move the ball on consistently because they are going to make plays. “Their linebackers are extremely aggressive. Their four does an excellent job of letting those guys flow. They have really good athletes in the back half. They have a corner that is really athletic. They have a really nice defensive end. They have a linebacker that really kind of sticks out, being a really good football player. They are just very well disciplined, well coached,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I don’t know if they do anything necessarily special they are just very, very disciplined and they tackle in space. There are a lot of times that we draw something up and it looks good, but then you have to go out and make plays and they do a good job of making those plays.”
The Electrics (9-2) want to run the football first and foremost. Will says they want to put them in positions where they are uncomfortable. “Their quarterback is elusive. They have got a wide receiver, that in my opinion, is one of the better athletes, we have seen this year. He is extremely fast and shifty when you get him on the perimeter. They only threw the ball six times last week, but they didn’t have too. From the standpoint of our defense you want to make a team as one dimensional as possible and you want to make them one dimensional away from their strength. When we played Bellevue week nine they were throwing in the fourth quarter and we felt that was a big plus for us. I think it is going to be a similar situation. I don’t know if they are as physical as Bellevue, but they are definitely athletic,” said Will.
Shelby beat Bellevue (49-34) three weeks ago. Will says Philo is kind of like Bellevue, but they kind of aren’t too. “The difference is Bellevue runs sweeps a lot. Their quarterback will run, their quarterback is very athletic and talented, but I think (Alec) Foos was one of the two, three best football players we have played against. I think they do it by committee. Their quarterback is very efficient, I don’t want to knock him. He is definitely a good football player. Their top running back had 700 yards rushing, their quarterback 300, 400 yards, their receiver that runs a lot of jet sweeps has 400 yards. They present a difficult challenge because it is not really one guy. You have to gap sound outside in,” he said.
Published 11/11/16
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Shelby Lands Home Playoff Game with Bloom Carroll
Shelby, the runner-up in the Northern Ohio League, hosts the Bloom-Carroll Bulldogs in a first round playoff game in division four on Friday night at Skiles Field.
It the first home playoff game in 122 years of Shelby football. Overall, it the Whippets fifth time to qualify for the postseason and their first since 2010 when they were coached by current Wynford assistant coach Chris Solis.
Shelby (9-1) takes a five game winning streak into the playoffs, having scored at least four times in the first quarter in four of those games. They beat Loudonville (55-7) in a non-conference game last Friday.
Coach Erik Will says a home playoff game was a goal for the team, but they are not satisfied with just reaching the postseason. “We got things moving on Saturday morning. When we as a staff met with out kids there was no kind of celebration because of the win they are ready to get to work and compete this coming Friday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “We told the kids it is a five week run and there are only 32 teams in this thing. We feel like we have as good a shot as anybody to make a nice run. We have the components. We have the size on the line. We have to skilled players. Now we just have to put in together. All of the little things are going to be the difference.”
Will says being at home might be a little plus for them, but they are still going to have to play well to win. “A nice thing that is does is it keeps you in your routine, which is really, really important. Bloom Carroll has to be an hour and 45 minutes, two hour bus ride. Even when you are playing on the road around here are farthest bus ride is 45 minutes to and hour. Every little bit gives you that competitive edge and gives you a little bit of a mental edge. The bottom line is when they get here the field is 100 yards and both teams are going to want to compete and will have to execute,” said Will.
Bloom-Carroll (7-3) is making its fourth tournament appearance and their first since back to back trips in 2012 and 2013. The Bulldogs have never won a playoff game.
This season they have two wins over teams with a plus .500 record in Highland, the champions of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference blue division, and Liberty Union.
Their losses come to unbeaten Bexley (56-35,) Amanda-Clearcreek (35-31) and Hamilton Township (63-14) and most of their games have been high scoring.
Will says they do a lot of things schematically like the Whippets do, at least on offense. “They have a nice tradition. There coach has done a nice job. I think he has been there three or four years like myself here at Shelby. They are a spread offense, so they actually do a lot of the same concepts that we do offensively. Defensively they are in a four many front and will change depending on what they see. They are tough and hard nosed and fly around. They have a lot of good football players. There is no doubt that they play in a tough conference as well,” said Will.
After watching them on film, Will says the Bulldogs remind him somewhat the Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference co-champ. “I would say if I would compare them to anybody up here I would say there are actually a lot like Lexington,” he said.
Shelby beat Lexington (17-14) back on week two of the regular season a couple of months ago.
Published 10/31/16
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Shelby Wants to Finish Well
Shelby wants some home cooking for the playoffs and they probably going to need to beat Loudonville at home in their final regular season game on Friday night to get it.
It would be the first time in 122 years of Shelby football that the Whippets would host a playoff game at Skiles Field.
The foundation for all of this was built last Friday when Shelby (8-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, beat a very good Bellevue team (49-34) to get their eighth win of the season and stand in second place in the Northern Ohio League, a game behind Sandusky. They need a Norwalk upset of the Blue Streaks Friday to share than final “NOL” football title.
Coach Erik Will was proud of the effort and the execution. “It was a really quality win. Bellevue has got a very good football team. I think with what they have on the line this week they are looking to do pretty well and get themselves into the playoffs as well. We could potentially have four of the seven “NOL” schools play in the playoffs and that is quite a testament to this league. To be able to beat a quality opponent like Bellevue in the last “NOL” game on our field was very special,” he said.
Loudonville (1-8) won their only game of the season so far beating Crestline (44-7) last week in a Mid-Buckeye Conference game.
Will says the Redbirds are a team that has really played up when it comes to their schedule. “When you look at the quality of opponents that they have played. When you look at 1-8 you automatically think how bad are they? When you pop on the film they actually do some things well offensively and they aren’t that bad defensively. The biggest problem is the play a very difficult schedule,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “You can tell they have been coached well and play hard for half or a little bit more. It is usually some execution things as they go through the second half. You know, it is a quality opponent and we have got to come out and play really well early because we want to show the respect to Loudonville that they deserve.”
If they are to have the same kind of success they have had this year on Friday night, then they have to prepare mentally and physically the same way, according to Will. “We have done nothing different this week than we have done the previous weeks as we have gone through the “NOL” schedule. We did that for a couple of reasons because number one the party is not over and number two Loudonville deserves that kind of respect because their coaches are still coaching and their players are still playing and we have to continue to get better. We told our kids we can not peak week nine. We do not want to beat Bellevue and then shut it down. If not that is not respecting the game and respecting the process like it needs to be,” said Will.
Published 10/28/16
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A Lot on the Line for Shelby and Bellevue
Shelby and Bellevue share second place in the Northern Ohio League a game behind Sandusky and they play each other at Skiles Field in Shelby on Friday night.
The winner would be the one that would benefit if Sandusky would lose this week to Ontario or next to Norwalk, plus would pretty much guarantee themselves a home playoff game.
Shelby (7-1,4-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, overwhelmed Ontario (49-7) last week in a league game, scoring 49 points in the first half.
Coach Erik Will says again a big reason for their offensive explosion was the balance they have shown. “We were able to come out and get a pretty fast start right out of the gate. We were able to get up early. We were able to run the football like we were able to do the last three or four weeks with Devon Brooks and that really helped out. Brennan (Armstrong) has been really, really efficient in the pass game. I think he has completed about 68 percent of his passes the last four games. That allows us to play at a pretty high level. Defensively we are doing a great job. I think we are only giving up 166 yards a game the last three weeks. That leads us to be a pretty formidable team,” said Will.
Bellevue (6-2,3-1) hammered Willard (62-0) last week. Will says they have weapons all over the field that they will be forced to try and contain. “There are a lot of things that are good about Bellevue. (Alec) Foos has been one of the best players in our league for three years now. He is not only going to hurt you running the football, but he will hurt you throwing it too. The McPeak kid is a solid wide receiver. Obviously they have the Ray kid at running back. He is tough. You know Ed (Nasonti) continues to turn out great offensive lineman,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Defensively, they are extremely aggressive with their five and six man fronts. They make you make a decision quick and you better be sound and you better win at the point of attack or they are going to have their way with you. It is a typical Ed Nasonti coached Bellevue team. They are obviously one of the best teams in our league and in this area and this year is no different.”
With a potent offense like Bellevue’s Will says you have to win on first down in order to limit the options of the Redmen. “The big thing is actually first down. A lot of coaches will talk about third down and getting off the field. The big thing with Bellevue is you have to get them in second and long. If they live in second and five and under it is going to be a real long night defensively. We have to make sure we do our best job on first down to get them in second and long so we have a little more of a favorable situation. You can kind of dictate what they are calling from their standpoint. Offensively we have to do a great job ourselves on first down in order to have manageable situations on second and third down,” said Will.
Right now, both stand fourth in different division four regions. The first four get a first round home game. Will admits that’s a pretty big deal. “Obviously it is looking like both of us are going to be in the playoffs no matter what, but there is a lot to play for on both sides. First of all you don’t know if Norwalk or somebody is going to trip Sandusky up. Even if that doesn’t happen the other big thing out there is home playoff game. We all know that playing a first round playoff game at home is really nice. Around here that has never been done before. I know there are a lot of people in Shelby that would like to have a home playoff game this year,” he said.
Published 10/18/16
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Shelby Girls’ Golf Team Makes the State
The Shelby girls’ golf team has qualified for the state tournament this Friday and Saturday in Columbus.
‘ They will play at the Gray Course at The Ohio State University after the team of Alexis Jones, Claire Korbas, Emma Roberts, Lexi Uplinger, Julia Gutchall and Megan Owen won the district tournament last week. They also won sectional and Northern Ohio League titles.
Jones is the defending division to state individual champion. She was also state runner-up in 2014 when she established the low round (68) for a girl at the state level.
Coach Brad Ruminski, who is the head pro at Shelby Country Club, says the key to the Lady Whippets success as a team this season has been the improved depth they have enjoyed this summer and fall. “I think the surprise is the number three and four girls have really picked up their game and have gotten a lot better as the season has progressed. They have really been the difference. The number one and two girls were always pretty strong,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Number one was always in the running. Our two girl was always pretty solid and just thinks her way around the golf course really well. We were always a little weak on the back end. Lexi (Uplinger) and Emma (Roberts) have really stepped up their game.”
With the top four scores counting excellent golf teams always have good depth. Ruminski says you can’t rely on just one, two or three players. “We saw some really good examples of that at districts. The team that came in third place, Ottawa Hills, had their top three girls all in the 80s and their fourth was 133. We used to have that situation where last year Lexi would have a couple of rounds in the 120s and she hasn’t been over 102 all year and usually in the low 90s. We have really been able to improve in that arena,” said Ruminski.
High school coaches, no matter what the sport talk, about battling adversity, and Ruminski says that is something this team has shown to be very good at doing. “The girls that haven’t been playing as long have really learned to play the game. They have learned to keep their head and keep trying and not give up under any conditions. They know there are going to be a few wrecks around the corner and you are going to have adversity. They have been good about over coming them and getting themselves back into the game,” said Ruminski.
Golf is probably more a mental game than it is a physical one. Ruminski says the Lady Whippets are a well rounded team. “If you can be consistent at working at your game and improving all of the different segments of the game you can be pretty good. There are a lot of different aspects of the game. The deeper you go the harder it gets,” he said.
Published 10/13/16
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Shelby and Ontario Battle for Position in the “NOL”
The loser of the game Friday night at Ontario between the Warriors and the Shelby Whippets likely falls out of the Northern Ohio League race here in 2016.
Both trail Sandusky by a game with three weeks left in the season.
Shelby has posed two straight shut outs over Willard (66-0) and last week over Tiffin Columbian (48-0) after their only loss to Sandusky (42-21) two weeks back.
Coach Erik Will says they have been able to able to get off to good starts, they scored four times in the first quarter against Tiffin last Friday, the last two weeks. “We talked about that (Sunday) as a staff. We have to make sure we keep that going. The longer we take to get going offensively and get stops defensively the more your opponent feels good about their game plan and what they are trying to get done. If you can end the first quarter and it’s 14-0, 21-0, 28-7 something like that it is just great to get off to that start because then you have the ability to maybe force some changes in the game plan from what the other side is trying to do. So, that is definitely something we want to do,” he said.
Shelby (6-1,3-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, has one the area’s best quarterbacks in Brennan Armstrong, but Will says they have to be able to run the ball. “The game we lost to Sandusky we only 40, 50 yards rushing combined with Brennan (Armstrong) and Shorty (Brooks) both and we can’t win football games doing that. So, we have to be balanced. Last week we were 360, 370 yards rushing and 140, 150 passing and that’s what we have to do. Anytime you can rush for more than 300 yards we fell we will be on the positive side of the scoreboard at the end of the night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “Any coach you talk to would probably say the same thing other than maybe Ashland that throws the ball 40, 50 times a game. For the most part we have to be able to run the ball, but also we want to be balanced. We want to make sure want to keep teams honest by throwing the ball and we feel confident that we have the guy that can throw the ball 15 or 20 times a game.”
Ontario had a big fourth quarter last week and they went on to beat Willard (35-8) last week. Will says there will be some emotion on both sides this week. “Here is the thing about Ontario it has kind of developed into a pretty big rivalry. We know we are going to get their best shot. We have to come out ready to go. They are in the playoff hunt too. They are 4-3 and they have three huge ones left. If they can run it with us, Bellevue and Sandusky they are obviously going to be in the playoffs as well. They are still playing for quite a bit on their side. We need a great week of practice and we need a fast start because Chris (Hawkins) is doing a nice job over there. So, it is extremely important this week,” he said.
Hawkins is in first year at Ontario after stints at Wynford, Willard, and most recently Galion and has the Warriors off to a (4-3,2-1) start to the season. Will says as they get used to a new system, the Warriors are starting to make plays. “They are extremely athletic in the skilled spots. Defensively they blitz and they change some things up in the secondary. Their quarterback is a heck of an athlete and they are starting to play a freshman a little bit at quarterback to just give their opponent a little bit of a different look. #2 at the slot in a heck of an athlete. He looks like one of the top five athletes we have gone against this year. Chris will eventually get done what he wants to get done over there. Right now he is in transition trying to figure out what these kids do within what he feels comfortable doing offensively. There is no doubt they are well coached. They are over .500 heading into week eight. He has done a great job with those guys so far,” said Will.
Published 10/10/16
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Shelby Focused on What They can do
Shelby is going to need a little help in order to get a piece of the Northern Ohio League title, but they are focused on what they can control.
The Whippets are fifth right now in their computer region. The top eight make the postseason and the first four host a game.
After a loss to unbeaten Sandusky (42-21) two weeks ago, the Whippets bounced back to beat rival Willard (66-0) last week. Coach Erik Will says they got things headed back in the right direction. “The thing we talked about all week was against Norwalk and Sandusky we had slow starts and we really wanted to get off to a fast start and we wanted to get the running game going. Willard is struggling a little bit, but you can still see schematically that the kids are where they need to be. Even against Sandusky we got off to a slow start and were down 28-0 at the half, but we came out in the second half and started the move the ball and got some things done defensively. They effort was there it was just a matter of getting things done from an execution standpoint. We need to do that again this week against Tiffin,” said Will.
With four games left, Will says have a chance to accomplish a lot. “Each and every week is an opportunity to get better. We are in position in the playoffs, we are 5-1, and we are fourth or fifth in our region. If we continue to win we are going to be in. One of the big goals that we have control of is continuing to get better each and every day and continue to attack our schedule. We can do something that has never been done around here in 122 years of football we have never hosted a home playoff game. That is a goal that is out there that I know the kids are pretty excited about and are pursuing. There is always something out there and something to chase,” he said.
Shelby (5-1,2-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, are at home for Tiffin Columbian (1-5,0-3) in a Northern Ohio League game. Tiffin lost (20-13) to Norwalk last week in one their better games of the season.
Will says the Tornadoes are better than their record. “This is going to sound like a coach talking, but when you look at them on film you would think their record is better than it is. Offensively, they have a nice looking quarterback, some nice wide receivers. I think the significant difference with this Columbian team compared to those from the past they are really not hanging their hat on running the football behind a big offensive line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Defensively they do have some guys flying around, but as far as the side of the ball that is the side that they are probably struggling the most for them. When you watch them you would never suspect they are 1-5. They are struggling getting movement inside the 10 yard line, inside the red zone, and defensively they are having a hard time getting off the field on third down.”
When it comes to their goals, Will says this is a must win for them. “If we even want a shot at a league title there is not another loss on the schedule that can be had. We are going to need some help somewhere along the line for Sandusky. The bottom line is if it is not first place then we want second place. Things that we can control that is what we are pursuing. We don’t talk about the Sandusky game, that is in the rearview mirror. We are playing Tiffin this week in front of a home crowd, it’s Homecoming. We are going to have a lot of alumni back and it is important that we put on a good show for the people that will be back,” said Will
Published 10/05/16
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Shelby Has to be Ready For Willard
Shelby lost for the first time this season last week to Sandusky and they must get back on track as they visit rival Willard for a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night.
The Blue Streaks took a (28-0) halftime lead at Skiles Field and Shelby coach Erik Will says Sandusky was just better than them last week. “Give them credit Sandusky did a great job of just using their athleticism. We had a nice goal line stop to start the game and we were unable to get out of that field position. They scored a few plays later after we went three and out and punted. They got off to a fast start. We came out in the second half after being down 28-0 and we came out and scored 14 quick ones then kind of went back and forth. We had the ball with six minutes to go trying to cut it to a touchdown and we threw and interception. They made the plays. Sandusky is to be commended their guys were well focused, their kids played hard, they had great team speed. I’ll tell you what that is going to be a great game this week between Sandusky and Bellevue,” said Will.
This is an important week for Whippets. They can’t be pouting, Will says they have to be prepared to play football at Willard. “I think for us we went back to the basics this week a little bit. We have established the culture of who we are and we let our kids know that even though our number one goal of a league title is kind of put on hold right now because we actually need Bellevue to help us out, but goal number two is still there. There are hundreds of teams around the state that would love to be 4-1 and third in their region. We can’t worry about what happened last week. All we can do is move on. The sin is not getting knocked down it is not getting back up. I think this week is a big character week for our kids,” he said.
Shelby (4-1,1-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, makes the short trip to Willard (1-4,0-1) on Friday night. The Flashes lost a non-league game (35-0) to Port Clinton last week.
With a new coach this year in Britton Devier and Will says they are throwing the ball a lot more than they have in previous years and they have to be ready for that. “They are a lot more spread and are throwing the ball like crazy. The last three years we have played them they have been more of a wing-T option team. This year they are throwing the ball 30, 40 times a game. They are crisp in what they are doing form a scheme standpoint. Their route combinations make sense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Just watching film there have been few dropped balls and executions things from their side, but what they are doing is sound. They are being coached well and you can see that on film. We have to go over there and play solid defense and make sure we can control the ball in space. Offensively we have to control the line of scrimmage.”
Published 9/30/19
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Unbeatens Shelby and Sandusky Play on Friday
Shelby and Sandusky meet on Friday night at Skiles Field in Shelby in one of the football games that will go a long way in determining the winner of the final Northern Ohio League title.
Both are unbeaten on the season and were winners in their first league game last week.
Shelby (4-0,1-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, beat Norwalk at Whitney Field (29-15) with a couple of quick scores in the third quarter and solid defense.
Coach Erik Will says last week was a key win for them. “It was good to get that first win. It is better to be 1-0 than 0-1. The only records that matter are those. It is one of those things that if you are 0-1 you are trying to climb out of the basement right out of the gate and it is tough especially this Friday night with Sandusky. They took care of Willard and we were able to get on the good side against Norwalk. At the end of the day there is going to be another team with a league loss come Friday night,” he said.
Sandusky (4-0,1-0), #5 in our poll, beat Willard (64-12) in their league opener. They also have wins over Sandusky Perkins (31-13,) Huron (27-16) and Fremont Ross (40-8) this season. In other words they have not been challenged.
Will says the Streaks are very athletic. “They have a lot of athletes and they have a lot of good second level athletes. Believe it or not their offensive and defensive line are actually a little smaller then they have been over the last couple of years, but they are still physical and they are extremely quick an aggressive. Offensively they have a tremendous quarterback. Their quarterback is probably one of the most underrated guys in our league. He is solid and they have a couple of nice receivers and a good tailback. So, we will have be honed in on what we need to do on the defensive side,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “On defense, they will switch between three and four man fronts. We want to establish the run game. Devon Brooks has had two straight weeks of over 200 yards. We feel pretty good that they kind of have to pick if they want to try and take Brennan or Shorty.”
Shelby has one of the best signal callers in the area in Brennan Armstrong, who has a strong and accurate arm. However, Will believes it will be very important for them to be able to run the ball on Friday against Sandusky. “I really believe that we have to be able to run the football. It is nice to be able to go three, four, five wide, whatever people do, including ourselves, and throw the football, that’s an important part of the game. We look at our stat line at the end of the game and Devon Brooks had 30 carries for 225 yards. We will take that every Friday night. Brennan (Armstrong) had another 14, 15 rushes for 130 yards. At the end of the night if we are over 300 yards rushing I’ll take that. I will take 300 yards rushing over 300 yards passing any day of the week,” said Will.
Sandusky has made a lot of big plays this season and Will says they have to stop that on Friday night. He says they have to be good tacklers. “We tackled really well the first three weeks and then Friday night we were not efficient tackling wise. When we looked at the film we were actually getting guy to the football, but we weren’t wrapping up. This Friday if we don’t wrap these guys up it is going to be six points instead of another five or six yards. That will definitely be a point of emphasis this week in practice,” he said.
Published 9/19/16
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Shelby Focused on League Opener
Shelby has a goal of winning the Northern Ohio League this year and it all starts Friday night at Norwalk against the Truckers.
The Whippets (3-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, beat Clear Fork (41-18) last week in their final non-conference game. The Whippets ran for 363 yards against Clear Fork and coach Erik Will felt they could run it on the Colts. “We really felt like it was important to get the running game going. The week before against Lexington we were only a block or two away. With the ability to look back on film an make some corrections helps out. We ran the ball fairly well early. Clear Fork did a good job of mixing it up and bringing their five or six guys. We basically got the board out and showed the guys what they were doing and the kids did a great job of making that in game adjustments to get the running game going. Between Devon Brooks and Brennan Armstrong the offensive line can just stay calm and do their responsibilities we thought we could run the ball,” he said.
Shelby beat Norwalk (64-21) last year, but Will thinks the Truckers are much better. A lot of that based on a (9-7) win at Lexington last week. “They are much improved. Last year they were hurt with a lot of injuries when lot of these guys were sophomores and juniors that maybe didn’t have that many reps, but when the injuries happened they became the guy. They are doing a nice job. Their quarterback is a really nice looking athlete. Their running back is solid. Defensively they are aggressive. Chris MacFarland is doing a nice job,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “He has his guys playing well. They kind of won an ugly game, but you are going to have that from time to time. Anytime you get a win you don’t have to apologize. Norwalk did what they needed to do to get the “W” and you have to respect that about a team.”
It was a very good defensive performance last week by Norwalk, no question. Will thought the Truckers matched up pretty with Lexington’s personnel. “Lexington likes to get wide on the perimeter and I think that matched up well with Norwalk. Norwalk has some decent athletes on the edge and they matched up and were able to slow down Lexington. They are in a true 3-5-3 and they break that a little bit with tight ends and things like that. They are aggressive and gap sound. On the defensive side if you aren’t gap sound you are going to struggle. Norwalk did a nice job of understanding what they are trying to accomplish. I think their defense suits their personnel really well,” he said.
Will knows this game is important, just like the others, if they expect to win that Northern Ohio League title. “If we want to win the league we can’t give this one away and Norwalk feels the same way. We can not start off 0-1 knowing that we have Bellevue, Sandusky and Tiffin, schools like that coming down the pike. It is extremely important to get off to a good start. That’s why we have been preaching to our kids all week that this is a conference championship game one. It’s funny, we have put a certain emphasis on Sandusky and Bellevue and rightfully so those are great programs, but at the end of the day it is like and layup versus a dunk it’s still worth two points. A win is still a win whether it is Norwalk or Bellevue. We know some of those games and a little easier to get than others, but Norwalk is quality opponent. If our kids are even remotely looking ahead Norwalk will beat us. So, we definitely have their attention,” said Will.
Published 9/14/16
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Shelby Focusing on Improvement
Shelby will go for a clean sweep of its Ohio Cardinal Conference non-league opponents as they travel to Clear Fork to face the Colts on Friday night.
Shelby beat Mansfield Madison (49-7) on week one and then edged Lexington (17-14) last week.
Brennan Armstrong threw a pair of first half touchdowns after Lexington turnovers and the Whippets stopped the Minutemen twice inside their own 10 in the second half.
Coach Erik Will says it wasn’t a perfect win by any means, but they are going to take it. “I told our guys Monday morning that don’t ever let anybody tell you what a game should look like. It is one of those things where you spend your entire off season working your tail end off and we just wanted to remind our kids that they are doing everything we ask of them. It is never going to be a perfect win. There are things we definitely have to get better at. We are 2-0 and playing a tough, hard playing, great coached Lexington team, we will take that win. I really believe we are going to look back in four or five weeks and be very satisfied at coming out on the winning edge against Lexington,” said Will.
Shelby (2-0) has some talented returners on offense and that has put them among everyone’s contenders in the Northern Ohio League. Yet, early this season it has been their defense that has been turning heads. Will says they have been well schooled and are executing well. “The scouting reports are solid. Our kids are executing well. The big thing in high school football, really at any level, is getting your checks and getting lined up right is half the battle. Our kids are doing that at a high level,” he told Swankonsports.com on Labor Day, “We are still very comfortable out of what we see out of certain formations and what teams are running. Then you throw in some trick plays here and there. The big thing in high school football is in order to play confident on the defensive side of the football have to be schematically sound. You try to win the numbers games. So, far we have been able to do that and we have to keep doing that.”
Clear Fork (2-0) hung on to beat Ontario (21-14) last Friday after taking a three score lead in the first half. Will says the Colts have an excellent quarterback in Thomas Staab and will be very aggressive on defense. “They have probably one of the fastest kids, if that the fastest kid, in the (Thomas) Staab that we have seen, they have a decent running back, their line plays aggressive, they are not huge, but they are aggressive. Dave (Carroll) does a nice job. Those kids are always hard nosed. They fly around. Defensively they execute well, they tackle well. Offensively they are going to try and establish the run game. If we don’t get a week better we could be in trouble on Friday. We are preparing for an aggressive, well coached Clear Fork team,” said Will.
Published 9/06/16
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Shelby as to be Tough
Shelby and Lexington are among a handful of very good football teams in the North Central Ohio area this year and they meet on Friday night in non-conference play.
The Whippets feel like they are contenders in the Northern Ohio League and Lexington the same in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
On the opening week, Shelby belted Madison (49-7) and coach Erik Will says they did some good things at the point of attack. “We did what we wanted to do. We felt like we were able to establish the line on both sides of the ball. We thought our athletes played well in space. There are some execution things that we kind of have to clean up a little bit. I think that will be a work in progress, but the effort was there and the execution was fairly solid. I was excited that we were able to get off to a running start,” he said.
They were good last Thursday, but Will says they can be a lot better and they have told the players that. “We are nowhere near our ceiling. I think that’s what is good. I thought we played well. I thought we competed very well. We were able to compete at that level, with that enthusiasm, just that love for the game. It allowed our kids to continue to be coached from a technique standpoint and an execution standpoint. I think the other teams are too. Nobody is close to a finish product. It is one of those things were we are really happy about being fundamental. In our meeting on Friday we just told the kids from here on out it is straight Lexington,” said Will.
Lexington downed Ontario (24-6) last week. Will says Lexington knows they are good and they play like it. “They are really good. I feel like they are going to be one of our tougher opponents this year. I think this is a measuring stick for both programs. We are pretty good. I think they are pretty good. They are very well coached. Their kids play with a swagger. They want to play with effort and enthusiasm,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They fly to the football on defense. Their front six have no pass responsibly. They just fly around stopping the run. They do what they do well. They turned the corner last year. I think they would like to compete for their league title and also make the playoffs. You like to think there are some potential playoff implications with this game.”
Both teams have some athletes that make big plays, but Will believes this game is going to won up front. “We have to continue to progress. Our offensive line has to build off of last week. We have to make sure that we are stopping the run. They run run-pass option stuff. We have to make sure that we are honed in on our skills there and we disciplined on the back side. For the offensive standpoint we just have to make sure that our line is aggressive and get the ball out in space. I don’t think for either team it is going to be really sophisticated. It is going to won up front. It is going to won through execution,” said Will.
Published 9/02/16
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Shelby Must Contain Athletes
Shelby and Madison help open they high school football season on Thursday night as the Whippets host the Rams at Skiles Field in Shelby in one the state’s feature games.
The Whippets expect to contend for the Northern Ohio League title in the final year of that league.
Coach Erik Will says they have to get rid of those first game jitters early on Thursday night. “Sometimes the kids are overcharged and you want to calm them down. You want to play the game with emotion, but it is the idea of controlled emotion. We don’t want them too high or too low. We tell our kids you may have had a very good play the play before, or dropped a pass or something like that, but you have to forget that and play the next play. In week one you see a lot of false starts, off sides, holding, some of those sloppy plays, because you are going against your twos and threes in practice and in these live scrimmages you don’t get live looks for four quarters,” said Will.
They do have some veterans back led by junior quarterback Brennan Armstrong. Will says they have spent a lot of scrimmage action filling some holes and looking for backups. “The nice thing for us this year we have a lot people coming back and if they can continue to get better they are going to be pretty good football players for us. So, we needed to be able to figure out some positional things and be able to see some of those twos and threes and where can play, what can they play, how much can they play,” he said.
Madison brings
a very athletic group to the table this year, including the electric Tyrell
Ajian. Will says there are a lot of Rams they must contain. “They have
three or four kids from any point of the field can score, Tyrell Ajian being
one of those, but it is not just him. They have a good player at
quarterback, some good running backs. Our kids have some scary assignment
oriented things,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We are going to have to trust
our keys and be disciplined. If you don’t do that for one play they are
going to make you pay. They have home run threats in those positions. We
have a couple of our side of the ball. From a defensive standpoint they
cause problems if you aren’t consistent.”
If they are going to win a lot of games this year, beginning with
Madison on Thursday night, they have to be a physical football team. “We
like where we are at with our guys, but we have to continue to get better
over this shortened week. Nobody has ever won a championship because they
were the most finesse team. Anytime someone gets a trophy or is presented a
ring or given hardware it is because they are tough and hardnosed and they
hit downhill. People think when they see the spread it is all about the
pass when actually it is the opposite. When you run the spread you are
trying to get people out of the box so you can run that football and if they
load the box you try to get ball out to the perimeter so they have to defend
your athletes. To run the ball your offensive line has to be nasty and to
stop the run your defensive line has to be nasty,” said Will.
At that begins at linebacker for Shelby, where they are replacing three starters from a year ago. “We have flour or five kids competing there at linebacker. We have some athletic kids that I feel pretty comfortable with. It is just getting them in game experience. Friday night we played those guys a full half because they need as much live action as possible. We have to get right back at it because those backers are so important in stopping the run game as well as the pass game,” said Will.
Published 8/22/16
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Shelby Cleaning up Some Things
Shelby and Madison play in one of the highlighted games of the first week of the high school football season next Thursday at Skiles Field in Shelby.
The Whippets already have the Rams in their sights.
Coach Erik Will says they are doing some good things based on a test they got last week in a scrimmage. “I felt that Saturday was very productive for us. Anytime you get an opportunity to go against a Sandusky Perkins and an Olmstead Falls they prepare you very well for what you are going to see throughout the season from a toughness standpoint. So, I like where we are at. Our kids competed very well and we able to move the ball and get some stops, so it was productive,” said Will.
On defense, you can’t be thinking, but reacting and Will says they are working with their kids when it comes to trusting what they are seeing on the field. “Defensively we just have to trust our keys. It is something we say a lot around here. It is about staying where we need to be with our eyes on our specific reads and then trusting those reads. We need to be a little more crisp on that,” he said.
Shelby is replacing its linebacker corps from a year ago.
They should have an explosive offense led by junior quarterback Brennan Armstrong. Will says they seem to be one block away from making a big play. “Offensively it is one of those things where we are a block away from the big one. Maybe a guy out on the perimeter, a wide receiver or a slot didn’t get the guy that he need to get to get a back into the end zone,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We had a 20 yard run, but it could have been a 40 yard run had we executed a little better on the perimeter. Just things like that. It is nothing that can’t be fixed, but things that need to be fixed.”
Shelby plays Galion in their final scrimmage on Friday on the road. However, Will says their practice sessions this week have been focused on what they need to do to beat Madison. “We are full blown Madison here. Our schedule is built around trying to get prepared for Madison. It is not that kids don’t need to be prepared for the scrimmage. We will kind of coach some of those things up, but our primary focus is getting ready for Madison,” he said.
Published 8/15/16
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Shelby Feels the Pressure; Likes it
Shelby’s football program has been getting better of the last couple of years, but now it is time to start doing some more winning.
That’s what the community expects and the Shelby has always been a football town dating back to World War II.
During a break during Monday’s two a day practices, Whippets coach Erik Will says it was a day for fundamental things. “Just a lot of technique things. Before we get the pads on it’s just nice to go over some of things we have been hammering into their heads since summer 10 camps days. It is just good to get out here and put your foot in the ground and go and compete. Now it’s for real. The intensity is good. I think the mental focus is a must. We have got a lineup right, we have got to communicate and do those things well before we put the pads on,” he said.
With more experience back than in some previous years this kids have a grasp of what they are hearing from the coaches, but Will says coaches are always teaching. “I think the biggest thing is the terminology. There is no terminology barrier. These guys have been with us since they were freshmen now, two, three years, whatever it may be. We are still coaching technique a lot. We talk about the athletic things that make a difference, the hands, hips and feet. We have been coaching that quite a bit. The other thing is the mental toughness and attitude. As far the teaching component I don’t know if that is ever going to stop,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I would assume when they go to college it is probably a lot of the same. You have to hammer that in because the first time you think you have things figured out you are going to have some kids slip.”
Will says they understand the community’s enthusiasm for this fall and want the kids to embrace it. “That is a good thing. We told our kids a couple of different things. Number one this is Shelby football and there is always a level of expectation around here, but the nice thing is people think you are going to be decent and we are not going to shy away from that. Having said that we haven’t played an opponent yet, we haven’t won a game. We are talking production over hype and we have to go out and do it. For the most part we feel our kids have responded. They are very hungry,” said Will.
Shelby returns one of the best quarterbacks in this part of the state. Brennan Armstrong already has some division one offers going into his junior season and the Whippets have more playmakers. Still, Will says there are some shoes to fill. “Offensively we have to get a couple of wide receivers. We graduated two good ones last year in Brandon Schneider and Trevor Young. We are figuring that out, but we have some young guys we think are going to be good. Defensively, linebackers, we have an athletic group, but they are an unproven group. They don’t have a lot of reps. We graduated three seniors that played a lot. We had an all league linebacker in Dillon Schafer that has gone on to play college,” said Will.
Published 8/01/16
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Shelby Beats Willard and Wins "NOL"
Shelby did something this spring that they haven't been able to do more than a decade, win the Northern Ohio League baseball title.
They beat rival Willard (7-3) on Tuesday to claim that title outright. It was their 20th win of the season.
Coach Jon Amicone says they put in a lot of hard work this year and it paid off on Tuesday. "Our kids really worked hard through the season. During the first meeting of the season and I asked all of the seniors sitting there to stand up if they had won an "NOL" and none of them could do it. After the game (Tuesday) I asked them the same question and they stood up and started cheering," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, "So, I am extremely proud of their effort. It was all because of the work ethic. It is something we really fought for and really worked for and I couldn't be happier for them."
Shelby certainly had some good players Dillon Thornsberry was first team all district and Brandon Schneider was second team, but Amicone says baseball is a team game. "It is the ultimate team sport. It something we really preach. We preach team defense. We play offense as a team. It is not one person's ability to score runs, it's the lineup's ability to score runs. We really preach the team atmosphere and the kids really bought into that. Our kids are a tight knit group. They are really good competitors, but they are also really good friends. They have each others back and it was really a joy coaching them this year," he said.
There were a lot of memories made this year and things accomplished, but Amicone is not afraid to admit he is going to miss his players. "Memories are what high school sports are all about. I think 10 years down the road our kids will talk about when they won the "NOL" and about big games and about beating Bellevue and playing that 10 inning game at Ontario at the beginning of the season. I really hope these guys take these memories and make them life lessons when they are fathers and when they are husbands. They are good kids. It is kind of bittersweet, so happy that we won it, so happy for the kids, but in the back of my mind I will never get to coach them again. That is part of coaching. I am very proud of these kids," said Amicone.
Published 5/18/16
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Shelby Clinches Share of "NOL"
Shelby has at least a piece of its first Northern Ohio League baseball title since 2007.
They hammered Sandusky (11-1) on Monday evening and at the same time Norwalk beat Bellevue (6-4) in a league game. Shelby can win an undisputed "NOL" title with a win over Willard on Tuesday.
Coach Jon Amicone says it was a great feeling of accomplishment for the players and coaches and everyone associated with the team. "It was a really good feeling on the bus when we found out that Norwalk has knocked off Bellevue. There was a collective cheer on the bus. The kids earned that. They earned that feeling and sense of accomplishment," he told Swankonsports.com after the win Monday night, "It has been nine years since Shelby was "NOL" champion in baseball. It was a great league this year, top to bottom. For us to win it when it was that tough. I am really proud of the kids and they should feel good about themselves."
Shelby (19-6,11-1), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, lost to league foe Norwalk (6-2) in the division two tournament last week. Amicome says he was proud of how the kids responded and got the win on Monday night. "Norwalk is a great team, they won their 12th game in a row. They are hot team right now. It was tough. I can't set here and say we didn't feel the pain for a couple of days, coaches, parents, players, everyone a like. To take that long trip to Sandusky and play well. It was good to get that monkey off our backs and have fun playing baseball again," he said.
Weather permitting, the Whippets will play Willard on Tuesday and Amicone says they want that title to themselves, no question. "We had a talk with the kids about that. To have a chance to win an outright "NOL" championship and win 20 games. If you win 20 games you have had a really good season. We are looking to be selfish. We have earned it. We don't want to share it with anybody. We work extremely hard and our kids deserve a chance at that outright championship. So, hopefully our kids come to the ballpark ready to play," said Amicone.
Published 5/17/16
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Shelby Beats Bellevue in Extra Innings; Shares "NOL" Lead
Shelby outlasted Bellevue (7-3) in nine innings on Tuesday and moved into a share of the Northern Ohio League lead with the Redmen with two games to play.
The Whippets host Willard on Saturday and travel to Sandusky on Monday. Bellevue is at Tiffin Columbian on Friday and at home with Norwalk on Monday.
Shelby (16-5,9-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, and #1 in our new Twitter fan poll this week, scored twice in the top of the eighth inning on RBI singles by Dillon Thornsberry and Brandon Schneider, but Bellevue came back to score two of their own in the bottom of the eighth. However, Shelby took the lead again when they scored on a passed ball in top of the ninth and got three more, highlighted by a two run single by Alex Paulo.
` It was a tremendous game, said Shelby coach Jon Amicone. "It was a great game. You had two teams really competing at a high level, tournament level. It was one of those games when it was a shame that someone had to lose because both teams played extremely well. We scored two runs in the top of the eighth and they come back with two. We were fortunate enough to put four runs across in the ninth and then hold them. Our kids really fought hard. The two teams really did what they could to win," he said.
Amicone says it took a lot of grit and determination to win a game like this, especially on the road. "That was the thing as a coaching staff that we were really proud of was that fact that we were on the road against this Bellevue team that always wins. We gave up two runs in the eighth, but we score four runs in the top of the ninth. It was good to see our kids bow our backs a little bit. Show some maturity, show some mental toughness," he said.
Amicone says he knew Bellevue (17-5,9-1), #2 in our coaches poll, wasn't going to give up. "Obviously going into the bottom half of the (eighth) we were flying high. Bellevue, the team that they are, first batter, base hit. Bryce Ray, one of the premier players in North Central Ohio. Thornsberry, our stud pitcher, throws a curve ball, probably an inch off the ground, a nice pitch, and this kid goes down an yanks it down the line and starts a rally for them," he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday, "Coming off the field, going into the ninth, we really got into our kids, saying it's gut check time. This is a championship game, how bad to you want to be champions? I am so happy our kids responded the way we wanted them to."
Thornsberry, a senior lefty, earned the win for the Whippets. Sophomore Tanner Elliot got the save.
Two of the hotter teams in the area play for a division two sectional title on Thursday as the Whippets host Norwalk (17-6,) a winner of its last nine in a row.
Shelby beat the Truckers (6-3 and 8-5) on April 18 and 19. Amicone says Norwalk is an outstanding offensive team and they will have to be in top form to win. "They are extremely talented. They hit the ball really, really well. We know that going in. We played two really close games with them during the season. Wes Douglas does a great job over there. We know it is going to be a tough ball game for us. We are fortunate enough we are at home. We know we are going to have to bring our "A" game. We bring in this team in that just hits, and hits, and hits. It is going to be a heck of a game for us,' said Amicone.
Published 5/11/16
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Shelby Belts Ontario
Shelby scored eight times in the first inning and went on to hammer Ontario (13-1) in five innings Thursday in a Northern Ohio League baseball game.
They continue to trail Bellevue by just a game in the "NOL" race.
The Whippets (13-5,7-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, rapped out 13 hits in five innings on Thursday. Coach Jon Amicone says they are just hitting the ball where it is pitched. "We have been able to put some good at bats together. We have been in good hitter's counts. I think the main thing is we are trying to take it to the middle of the field. We aren't trying to do too much. We are trying to play some good baseball where you are trying to move runners. Fortunately right now we are squaring the ball up pretty well," said Amicone.
Brandon Schneider, Darien Payne, Carter Brooks, Brennan Armstrong, Dillon Thornsberry and Alex Paulo all had at least two hits against Ontario.
Amicone says they are going to the plate with a plan in mind. "That is something we try to preach and harp on with our kids is to be a team player. It is not a person that scores runs, but an entire lineup that scores runs. We really try to preach that. We have done a good job of having team at bats at the plate," he said.
Mason Wells pitched all five innings, allowing a run, four hits, striking out six with no walks. Amicone says Wells was up to the task in a must win game. "Mason Wells has done really well for us. He has really stepped up his game being a senior. Coming into this year he had been a reliever type. He has been pitching really good games for us. You can't ask any more out of a season. He has worked his tail off and pitched some good games for us," he said.
Shelby plays at home against Tiffin Columbian on Friday in another big league game and then hosts Fostoria in a division two tournament game on Saturday. With the games stacked up, Amicone says they needed players to step up. "Wells did a great job and so did our offense. We needed to step up in all phases of the game," he told Swankonsports.com after the win over Ontario Thursday, "When you score eight runs in the first inning that is going to calm any pitcher down and allow him to throw strikes and pound the strike zone and pitch with a lead. Mason did a good job pitching with the lead, no walks. With an eight run cushion you need to throw strikes and he did a good job with that."
Published 5/06/16
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Shelby Blasts Upper; Readies for "NOL"
Shelby hammered Upper Sandusky (16-3) in a non-conference baseball game on Wednesday and they face some critical Northern Ohio League games and the tournament over the next three days.
Coach Jon Amicone says the Whippets have a god approach at the plate on Wednesday. "It was nice to see the bats come out after several cancellations to begin the week and then the travel to Upper Sandusky, that's a 45 minute bus ride, I was very proud that the kids came out ready to play. They hit the ball hard, got into some very good counts, and were extremely aggressive. We got some good pitching from Cody Gabriel, so very pleased with our effort," he said.
Thursday, the Whippets (12-5,6-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the large school division, play host to Ontario (8-7,3-5) in a "NOL" game and then will be at home for Tiffin Columbian (7-9,4-4) on Friday.
Amicone agrees that trailing Bellevue by a game, and already having lost to the Redmen, these are must win games for the Whippets. "These are absolutely must wins. Ontario, you can go on and on about their record, but anytime you play Ontario you have to bring your "A" game. Dan Gorbett is one of the best coaches in the area. A great coaching staff, so we have to be ready to play. In the "NOL," like we have talked before, every game you have to bring your "A" game or you are going to be in trouble. We have to be focused and be ready to compete," said Amicone.
Shelby is at home for Fostoria in a first round division two tournament game on Saturday, so that makes three very important games in a row for Shelby. Amicone believes they have their pitching rotation set up the way they would like going in. "There was a lot of talk among the coaches about what we are trying to go for to put our kids in the best position to win. We are going to have to have some kids step up, but there is not a team in North Central Ohio that is not going through the same thing when it comes to the pitching staff. I think we are pretty set with our rotation. We have a lot of faith in our guys, but at the same time you have to back them up with good timely hitting and great defense to put yourself in position to win."
Published 5/05/16
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Shelby Gets Big Win
Shelby got a much needed win on Thursday and the Whippets were able to keep themselves in the Northern Ohio League race here in early in the baseball season.
After a tough loss to league leading Bellevue (4-0) on Tuesday, the Whippets rebounded to beat Sandusky (4-2) on Thursday. Coach Jon Amicone was happy with how they responded. "I think that is the most important thing after you lose a tough league game. You can't pout about it. You have to come back and try to win the next one and we were able to do that (Thursday) night. If you kind of dwell on a loss then it leads to a second loss and a third. So, I am very pleased with our game (Thursday.) Our kids were prepared and did a good job getting back on the winning track," he said.
Senior Mason Wells was called on to make a spot start against the Blue Streaks and Amicone says he was more than up to the task. "We threw Mason Wells (Thursday.) He was able to pitch a complete game for us and strikeout 11 guys and he pitched extremely well for us," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "He is a kid that really hasn't been on the mound for us a lot, mostly a reliever. We had a sickness (Thursday) with our starter and Mason stepped right in as a senior. He was incredible for us in a game that was a must win he really stepped up for the team and got it done."
The Shelby coach says Wells showed great leadership on Thursday. "I got the call (Thursday) about eight o'clock and we were scrambling and he stepped up. He is going into Marine Corps and he is not scared of a challenge, obviously. Mason has matured in his senior year. He has become a man and I can't say how proud I am of him," he said.
Shelby (3-3,2-1) plays a non-conference game against Mansfield Senior on Friday, Galion in a doubleheader on Saturday, then four "NOL" games next week with Norwalk on Monday and Tuesday, Tiffin Columbian on Thursday and Willard a week from Friday.
Amicone says they must play consistent baseball day in and day out. "Consistency, that is the word. With Mansfield, the new coach is doing a really nice job over there. We have a nice doubleheader Saturday against Galion, that is a quality program year in and year out. The we are back into four league games next week. The plate is full, but everybody is in the same boat. You had about two weeks when no one could play and games get backed up, so you have to be ready to play and guys need to step up," said Amicone.
Published 4/15/16
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Shelby Outlasts Ontario
In a game that was scoreless through nine innings, Shelby scored twice in the top of the 10th and Ontario scored once in their half and the Whippets held off the Warriors (2-1) in Northern Ohio League action on Tuesday afternoon at Ontario.
Shelby's sophomore lefthander Brennan Armstrong went the first nine innings and struck our 17 Warriors. Coach Jon Amicone says his effort gave the rest of the team confidence. "It takes a special group of guys that just wants to battle. It starts with our pitching staff. Brennan Armstrong, he went nine innings for us, threw over 100 pitches, and stuck out 17 batters. With him on the mound he was kind of in command of the strike zone all day. He was able to locate his fastball and throw his curveball just enough to keep Ontario off balance, which is tough because they are a good hitting team," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "With him our kids had confidence the whole time, even though we weren't getting the big hit and were leaving runners on. I think our kids always believed just because of the way Brennan carries himself."
Armstrong, also an excellent football quarterback and basketball player, was able to have control of his curveball Tuesday and Amicone says that was key. "I think because he is left handed and can throw the ball so hard people fall in love with that. When he is able to spot his curveball like he was (Tuesday.) He was able to put it in the dirt, put it high, put it anywhere he wants. If he is able to locate that curveball he is very difficult to hit when you are going up against him. We were fortunate that he was able to locate that second pitch for us," he said.
Shelby's Nate Sayer had the biggest hit of the day. His two-run single with nobody out in the 10th provided Shelby's only runs. Amicone says they kept plugging away. "Every time they came in from defense the coaches did a great job trying to rally the troops. Just bow your neck it's alright. You have to continue to grind out at bats. You really have to tip your hats to Ontario. They made three or four phenomenal plays in the outfield. I know their third baseman made a nice play backhanding it down the line and throwing it from foul territory. We were hitting the ball and they were making tremendous plays. That is what you expect from an Ontario team coached by Dan Gorbett. They are fundamentally sound," said Amicome.
Shelby (2-2,1-0) plays Tiffin Columbian (2-0,1-0) on Friday and defending champion Bellevue (5-0,1-0) on Tuesday. Amicone says the Northern Ohio League is going to be a bear this year. "You have to keep grinding out. Every "NOL" game is going to be tough. You only get 12 of them and you have to win as many of the 12 as you can. This was a huge game for us as we try to win the "NOL." It is going to be tight and you better come prepared every night because it's tough. I think it will come down to the very end in the "NOL," he said.
Published 4/06/16
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Shelby Working on Mental Toughness
Shelby has the talent to be a very good baseball team this season, but right now they are not playing with the mental toughness that is required.
Coach Jon Amicone says they certainly have some things they must sharpen if they care going to be a solid team. "The kids are working extremely hard, but we still need to sure up some things. We had a couple of scrimmages late last week and early this week and there are some glaring needs that we need to work on. We need to sure those things up before this Saturday," he said.
Shelby plays Vermillion in a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday.
The Whippets can hit and they have some pitchers, but right now Amicone says they are giving away too many outs when they are running the bases. "For us it is base running. We are just making some mental lapses on the base paths. You just can't give up outs. When you are giving teams three outs by being mentally out of it on the base paths you are just giving them away. You have to value your outs when you are on offense," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "This game is hard enough to win and score runs without you helping the other team. We spend a lot of time working on base running in practice. What we have seen so far in scrimmages it is not up to the standard that we have set so far. We need to work on our base running and value those outs more."
Fundamentals are a key element in baseball and Amicone says they are working on those things in practice, so when the wins and losses count they are doing things right. "We spend so much time on those little things because when we do the little things it makes the big things seem easy. Little things like communication and not calling a fly ball and then it drops. Now you pitcher is throwing more pitches per inning and now you have free base runners. We have to continue to work on those little things. We try to put pressure on the guys during practice to make them understand just how important those little details are when it comes to winning a baseball game," he said.
Talent is not an issue for the Whippets. They have plenty of it. However, Amicone says right now they are not putting it to good use. "We are very blessed to have a very nice senior class and a couple of juniors and sophomores that play for us we have the ability. It's what is between our ears. We have to continue to work on mental toughness. That is something that we preach to be mentally tough and be relentless in going after your goals. That is something that is lacking right now. We kind of questioned our kid's attitude during the last scrimmage. As coaches we weren't happy. I am happy with the kids, but not the performance. I think the kids understand that they aren't were they need to be either. I think the staff and the players know we have a lot of work to do before the season starts on Saturday," said Amicone.
Published 3/24/16
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Shelby Has to Find a Little Bit
Shelby has played Sandusky twice and they have lost twice, by seven and by four, in games they could have won, especially the last one, and they will get their chance to prove the can do it.
The play the Blue Streaks a third time in the second round of the division two tournament on Friday night at Willard High School.
Shelby (13-10) played one its best games of the season in beating Bellevue (84-65) at Willard and Tuesday night. Coach Troy Schwemley says they were able to get off to a good start and that was a good thing. "I was real pleased with our game on Tuesday. There is some concern about playing them a third time, and we just played them a week ago. I was curious about how different or how similar the game was going to be. For us I thought it was important that we get off to a really good start. After the first quarter we led 24-13 and form that standpoint when you are the team that has won twice I think it is important to set the tone early and play with confidence and we did that. We hit six threes in the first quarter. I was real pleased with the shots we were getting. We were attacking the basket and we were taking good shots. Those are all good things," he said.
Sandusky has the division two district player of the year in Jayrese Williams, who averages 20 points a game, but Schwemley says they have other players too that must be guarded. "To me that has kind of been the difference. When we have played them you do focus a lot on Jayrese Williams, but it is kind of the other guys that can hurt you too. In our first game a couple of other guys put some points up and in the last game the McCurdy kid, and (Davion) Fisher, those two had 14 each. To me those guys were really aggressive," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "While we were doing a good job on Jayrese they were doing a good job of finding ways to score and attacking us. We need to do a better job on Keith Williams, Cavon Croom and Fisher. They are all averaging around eight points a game, but it seems like all of them are capable of getting double figures at any time and do a good job of getting the additional scoring when they need it."
Shelby just played Sandusky (17-3), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, last Friday at Shelby and lost (65-61) to the Streaks. Schwemley says they just have to make the plays at the end. "Davey Hipp hit a three to put us up one with about two minutes to go. Then at that point it is about a two, three possession game and if you get a couple of stops and be efficient on offense and get a couple of high percentage shots or get to the free throw line you really have a chance to control that. The next possession Keith Williams came down an hit a three, and that gets back to different guys for them stepped up. Keith is a sophomore I believe and he hit a big shot. If we are able to get a stop there and get the ball back and have a one point lead with less than two minutes to go the momentum was starting to shift. We have played with them both games. They have been great games, but we just haven't been able to make the big plays down the stretch that we are going to need to make to beat a very good Sandusky team," said Schwemley.
Published 2/25/16
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It's Plans As Usual for Shelby Girls
It is Shelby and Ontario for a third time this year, this time in the girls' division two district semi final Thursday night at Willard High School.
Shelby won the first match-up (47-42) at Shelby on December 8 and then beat the Lady Warriors again(56-48,) this time with Emily Yeager in the lineup, on January 23 at Ontario.
The Lady Whippets (18-6) beat Sandusky Perkins (68-55) last Saturday night at Bucyrus High School to advance. Coach Natalie Lantz feels it was a good, solid overall game by her girls. "As good as we preformed offensively I thought we did just s good a job defensively as well. I think when we pick things up defensively our offensive just comes naturally. We did a great job attacking the basket. Our guards, both Kenna (Goth) and Jackie (Garrett). Chelsea Barnd did a great job defensively. We got the ball inside and we did a great job finishing. It was a real, real nice team effort," she said.
Ontario (14-9) rallied in the final minute to beat Norwalk (57-51,) it was the second time in a week they had beaten the Lady Truckers, and Lantz says they are a physical team with a lot of basketball skills too. "They are a very young team. They are very athletic team. They are very aggressive and have some nice shooters. They play hard and like I said the other night I think NaShail (Shelby) is a hard nosed player, she is a very physical player and I think she did a good job of keeping in that game. They played hard and they played smart at the finish. We are looking forward to a third go around on Thursday," said Lantz.
You know the old cliché it is hard to beat a good team three times in a season and Ontario is that, a good team, but Lantz believes if they stick to their game plan they can do exactly that. "As far as our game plan goes you have to watch for the guards. You have to be ready for their outside shooters. We have to make sure we are boxing out and taking away the boards," she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "And execute offensively, both inside and out, we can't rely on just inside or outside. It has to be an overall attack. We are looking to go with our same game plan. If we do so I believe we will come out on top again."
Published 2/24/16
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Shelby Must Play Hard
Shelby is going to play Bellevue for the second time in a week. This time in the first round of the division two tournament Tuesday night at Willard High School.
They beat the Redmen (71-63) in a Northern Ohio League game last week.
The almost beat "NOL" co-champ Sandusky last Friday before falling (65-61) to the Streaks. Coach Troy Schwemley says they just couldn't quite get over that last hurdle. "We got off to a slow start and we were down 19-9 after the first quarter, but we had a really good second quarter and I believe we had a six point lead at halftime. Davey Hipp hit a three pointer to put us up one with under two minutes to go. Unfortunately we needed that one more defensive stop. I am pretty sure Sandusky got a three to put them up two, but at that point it is still a one possession game. We didn't get that defensive stop, so now we need to get a score. Unfortunately that has kind of been our season. We have played a lot of good teams close and tough, but we just haven't found a way to win a game against a really good team," said Schwemley.
Tuesday night, Schwemley says the Whippets (12-10) have to play hard and smart if they are going to advance in the tournament. "We have played them twice and both games have been close games. Games we have had double figure leads in the third and maybe the fourth quarter and they have kept fighting and kept the game close. You go into the game knowing what you want to do, but you are also kind of curious if the other team us going to try do what they have been doing or are they going to try and make some adjustments," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "The thing you have to be careful of is you can only control what you want to do. You have to be prepared for everything and go in with your game plan and then that night they might be similar to the last two or they might change and they might show you some different looks. You can control your effort and your decision making and your intensity level. It's now tournament to time and to me our intensity level has to be there right from the start."
Bellevue (8-14) is a young team and Schwemley says they are going to put everything they have into the game and he says they must match that intensity or exceed it. "A lot of times you get that feeling right from the start about what kind of effort the kids are going to be giving and what kind of focus do they have. It might be something in the first few minutes I might be quicker on using a time out if we are not quite playing at the level that I want to see us. In the regular season you might let them play through it a little bit. It is one of things where you don't want to come out and a lackadaisical approach you want to set the tone right away with the effort. To me those first three minutes are going to be very important as far as are we playing with great intensity and great effort. Are we running the floor and doing things from an aggressive standpoint that are necessary and make a big difference. Tournament play is different. Everybody knows if you lose you are done and you are going to get that great effort out of everybody that is playing this time of year no matter what their regular season records are. It is going to be a different kind of effort that the teams give and we want to make sure we aren't giving any less effort that our opponents," said Schwemley.
Published 2/23/16
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Shelby Looking For Big Win
Shelby plays a role in who wins the Northern Ohio League title this season and more importantly for them they can take the momentum of beating a very good team into the tournament next week.
The Whippets beat Bellevue (71-63) in an "NOL" game on Tuesday night. Coach Troy Schwemley says it was a pretty solid effort and they were able to keep Bellevue at an arm's length. "(Tuesday) night I would say pretty much for the first three quarters we played well. We were up 13 at the end of the third, but we had as much as a 16 point lead at one point in the third quarter. I was pretty happy with our defensive effort and our shot selection. It was one of those games when Bellevue did a nice job playing and fighting back. I don't think they got any closer than maybe seven, but we were never really able to just put the game away, but it was always pretty comfortable," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They fouled us a couple of times and we made enough free throws down the stretch and kept it about a 10 point game. At this point in the year you just want to find a way to win. We had five guys have eight points or more. Carter Brooks had seven rebounds to go along with 16 points, Brandon Schneider 15, Brady Hill 10, Brennan Armstrong, Davey Hipp, and Buck Hipp all had eight or nine. It was a good balanced effort. Good effort by the guys."
Shelby (12-9,7-4) is at home for "NOL" co-leader Sandusky (16-3,10-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, for a league game on Friday night. Schwemley says the Blue Steaks are good, but this is still a game they can win. "They just do a very good job of breaking you down off the dribble and penetrate and create. They play well together. And they play well defensively. They have multiple guys that play well defensively, so there isn't those one or two guys where you feel you have an advantage or a miss match on the perimeter or the post. So, they do a lot of things well. I feel like if we do what we need to do well we are capable of beating them. At their place earlier in the year it was a two point game with three minutes to go. In that game we felt like we had opportunities down the stretch, but things just didn't go like we wanted them to, but we feel confident that if we play like we are supposed to we are capable of beating them," said Schwemley.
The Shelby coach still feels like they need to get a win over a really good team like Sandusky. He thinks that can be a real good boost to for them. "It all comes down to can we find a way to beat a good team? We have had a lot of games when we played good teams close and haven't been able to find ways to win. Sandusky is sharing the "NOL" lead right now with Ontario. They know from their standpoint they have to win to at least guarantee themselves at least a share of the "NOL." Ontario is playing Willard, so both teams have games where they can at least control if they get a share. So, they have a lot to play for. From our standpoint we don't have a lot to play for form a league wise perspective, but I fell like it is significant for us to have that big win going into the tournament the following week," he said.
Published 2/18/16
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Execution the Key For Shelby
Shelby faces Lexington in their division two tournament opener on Wednesday night at Bucyrus High School.
Tied going to the fourth quarter on Saturday, Shelby lost (55-44) to Bellevue in game that if they would have won would have given them a share of the Northern Ohio League title.
Coach Natalie Lantz says it was about two minutes of the fourth quarter that cost them the game. "I am very pleased, for the most part, with our performance on Saturday. I think we played three very strong quarters. We weren't hitting, but we executed our defensive plan. The girls were talking, communicating. moving well. They played with emotion, which was great. In the fourth quarter we go up a couple and then we had a defensive lapse, about a two minute lapse, that really put the game out of our hands. We let them go down and they hit three threes and that kind of put us in a scramble mode," she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "That hurts us and we had to foul them with a couple of minute to go. We just couldn't get it going offensively. I was pleased in general in how we executed our defensive plan for the majority of the game. We were able to shut down Strayer. She had two points going to the fourth quarter. She did hit one three and then four free throws at the end when we in a fouling situation. I thought we did a good job controlling her. We controlled Vogel. Turner had a nice game for them. She did well attacking the basket. When we are kind of on an off day ourselves it comes down to defense and we need to have 32 minutes of it, we just can't have it for 28 or 29 minutes, especially against a good team like Bellevue. A team that can shoot well like Bellevue. We are going to take that and live and learn from it. In a situation like that come tournament time hopefully we will come out on top."
Shelby (16-6) plays Lexington (2-20) in the first round. It has been six weeks since the teams played a regular season game and Lantz believes Lady Lex has gotten a lot better. "I would say in the second half of the season here when they have been pressed and they are ready. I am sure the have been practicing up on that. They are a young group. They are an athletic group. We are just going to have to execute our game plan and execute it well and if we do that we come out on top. I am confident in our capabilities and I think our girls are there too, but we have to step out on the court and do it," she said.
Shelby beat Lexington (57-39) on January 2, but Lantz says they can't let that enter into their mind Wednesday night. "We have been practicing for Lexington. We have to go out and like I said execute our game plan offensively and defensively. If we do that we will come out on top," she said.
Published 2/17/16
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A Win Gives Shelby Part of "NOL" Title
A win over Bellevue on Saturday gives the Shelby Lady Whippets a piece of the Northern Ohio League title.
With a win over Ontario (44-38) on Tuesday, the Willard Lady Flashes already have their piece of the title.
Shelby gave itself a chance with a (75-68) win at Norwalk on Saturday followed by a (56-47) win over Sandusky on Tuesday night. Coach Natalie Lantz says her girls have really been improving their play. "Every game is a big game. I think we are starting to take destiny into our own hands a little bit. I think we have done a better job coming together as a team as far as our communication and our rebounding. Everybody is working to get a piece of that pie. They have done a good job. We are trusting in ourselves and trusting in each other. And with that I think comes our communication and our defense and helps with the offense as well. I am happy with the direction we have been heading in the last month," said Lantz.
If Norwalk beats Ontario Saturday the Lady Truckers will also share the title with Willard and the winner of the Shelby-Bellevue game.
Lantz says her girls are competitors and they look forward to the challenge that is Saturday. "Our league is very competitive this year and it could go in a handful of different ways. Obviously it is going to take our top performance to come out on top on Saturday. Bellevue is a very good team. They are a very fundamentally sound program from the bottom up. You can't ever count them out. They always come ready to play and our girls need to do the same," she said.
Bellevue (14-5,8-3) hammered Shelby (16-5,8-3) in their first match-up (68-38) on January 8. Lantz says they are going to have to do a lot of things better and she thinks they can do just that. "This time I think we will do a better job pinching in on their drives a little bit and making sure that our close outs our better on their outside shooters. They are have a couple of kids that drive to the basket and attack really well and they have some really good shooters as well. We have to make sure we are talking and moving on the pass, not chasing," she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I think when we get confident and talk defensively that helps us offensively as well. I think we have been doing a better job of looking for openings offensively as far as executing our plays and penetrating when they are in a zone or trapping. We are working on staying composed. I am very pleased with the direction we are heading. There is no doubt that we need to play our "A" game on Saturday."
The game Saturday also represents Shelby's Play 4Kay game to support the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. The team will be having a bake sale, silent auction on gift baskets, 50/50 raffles, selling t-shirts and sweatshirts and taking donations. Cancer survivors, fighters, and those who lost their battle will be honored between the JV and varsity games on Saturday.
Published 2/12/16
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Shelby Working on Being Consistent
Shelby is one of those teams around .500, but they just seem to be dangerous.
The Whippets (10-9,5-4) play at Willard (6-13,2-8) their biggest rival, for a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night.
In one of their more complete games of the season on Saturday night, the Whippets dominated Clyde (63-30) in a non-conference game. Coach Troy Schwemley says they played pretty well, especially on defense. "We lost to Ontario the previous Saturday and to Upper by two, so we knew going into the game Saturday that we had battled both of those teams tough, but not good enough to win. So, we need to come into the Clyde game and work hard and find a way to win. We played pretty good and got out early and jumped on them pretty good. That was one of the games where the score might have seemed lopsided. Things went our way really quick. We played really good basketball and we held them to only 13, 14 points in the first half. You need one of those night when a lot of things go well and if you win, try to build on it and move on to the next game," said Schwemley.
The first time they played on January 8, Shelby hung on to beat Willard (63-59) in game that was pretty intense at the end. Schwemley says they would rather not have such a close game this time. "We were ahead, I think double digits, in the first half, and Willard kept battling and kept playing hard, and battled back to where it became a one possession game, late in the game. With Conner Robinson on the floor he can make shots from anywhere at anytime. He has the ability to score and create for himself or others. You don't want to be in a one possession type game with him on the floor. They are team that you want to get up on and get some distance on just to kind of ware them down mentally. They are a team that has played a lot of people tough and played a lot of close games. They are looking for that signature win. We know they are going to give a great effort on Friday night just with the rivalry with Shelby and Willard, so we need to be ready for their best effort," said Schwemley.
Shelby has played Ontario and Sandusky and Upper Sandusky, all in the top 5 of our Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the large school division, to close games. Schwemley says they just need more consistency in games. "I think we just need consistency. We have those moments where we just seem to lose focus offensively or defensively. On offense being efficient and making hustle plays, maybe a shot goes up and a rebound needs to be put back and finding ways to, you are not going to make every shot, but if you get some offensive rebounds and make some hustle plays it seems to help you through those dry spells of shooting," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Defensively, defending, not taking plays off, boxing out, playing every possession with urgency and a sense of importance. That's tournament basketball and you want to develop those good habits. It's already a habit and not something you are trying to do come tournament time. If you are doing those things then tournament basketball is a lot easier and if not it doesn't seem to come as natural."
Published 2/09/16
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Shelby Hosts Unbeaten Upper Sandusky
Shelby is going to try and do something on Tuesday night that nobody has been able to do this year, beat the Upper Sandusky Rams.
Upper Sandusky (16-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the large school division, is the leader of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
Shelby coach Troy Schwemely says the Rams run the floor well, get good shots in the half court offense, and force a lot of turnovers. "They do a lot of things very well. They have multiple guys that can break you down and score. They are real aggressive as far as attacking the rim. They play together well, they screen well, and they can just make things happen. Coach Winslow does a great job with them. They just do a lot of, I don't know if you call it a true motion offense. Their screening is not predicable. They read and react to your movements and they do a good job with that. Then defensively they pressure the ball real well and rebound. They do all of their things well and that wins you basketball games and they have done that every game this year," said Schwemley.
Upper is very up tempo, but Shelby (9-8) isn't afraid to run either. So, Schwemley says that makes for an interesting match-up. "That is what is interesting. I think style wise we are similar in a lot of things that we do and they do. I told our team that it will be interesting to see who controls the tempo. We both want to run, but who is efficient and gets back on defense and limits the other team to low percentage shots. Those are the things we need to do. They run the floor very well and they pressure to control your offense. They are very up tempo," he said.
Schwemley says they want to run, but they have to know when to and they must be able to get back and defend the Rams too. "I think the key is who is controlling the tempo. I will go back to our game on Saturday and I felt like Ontario did a great job of controlling the tempo. They really dictated the game. They ran well, but when they needed to they worked the ball for high percentage shots. When they ran their offense they got some easies. I don't know if we were one step behind, but we were never the ones dictating the tempo," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They got the lead and pretty much controlled the game. We were able to cut the lead and had some opportunities, but we were never able to capitalize. We have to learn from that and dictate the tempo. There are possessions when you have to play great defense and rebound. We have to limit their runs and maximize our runs."
Published 2/02/16
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Ontario Runs Past Shelby; Holds "NOL" Lead
Ontario shot 71 percent in the first half when they raced to a 13 point lead and they went on to beat Shelby (71-60) in a Northern Ohio League game at the "O-rena" on Saturday night.
The Warriors made 20 of 28 shots in the first half in taking a (45-32) lead and coach Joe Balogh thought they did a good job of running the floor and getting to the basket. "I thought we were really aggressive offensively. We talked about we really needed to attack with our transition. I thought Trey (Jordan) and Quan (Jackson) were really good attacking it off their dribble and then our other guys really ran the floor hard. When we got some ball movement Jackson Todd and Griffin Niss were really good for us in the first half of taking open shots. The first half was a big, big key," he said.
Ontario took as much as an 11 point lead (19-8) in the first quarter on Quan Jackson's lay in with six seconds left in the quarter. Their biggest lead of the half came at (39-25) on Jackson Todd's three from the left wing with 2:12 left in the half.
Davey Hipp paced Shelby with 16 points, but Balogh thought they were tough points. "We weren't as good defensively as we wanted to be because they did a good job of attacking the basket with their dribble. Our emphasis was we didn't want them to get off and start making a bunch of threes and especially Hipp. I think coming in he had 37 for the year and probably in the last five games he has had three fourths of those. A big emphasis was we couldn't lose him," he told Swankonsports.com after the game, "In the first half we lost him off a screen once and I think he hit one off the bounce once. I don't think he hit one in the second half. We had Quan on him, we had Griffin on him, we had Jackson on him, and I think those three guys through the season have done a good job when we said this is the guy we have to control. Those guys each give a little bit of a different look and sometimes I think that can wear people out a little bit."
Shelby cut the Ontario lead to six at (57-51) with 7:27 to play in the game, but could get no closer. Coach Troy Schwemley says when they would get within range they couldn't make the big play. "I felt there were a couple of those where we were quick. There were times there I felt where we had battled back. We were more aggressive in the second half and maybe the score was around eight points. I seemed like every time we had the score where we wanted it we took a bad shot or we turned it over. The hard part is yes we want to be aggressive and it's not to say we don't want to take a three point shot, but also don't be content when we can get to the paint and the free throw line. I seemed like every time we had that moment of maybe getting back into the game we weren't able to get those back to back to back possessions. We weren't consistent there," said Schwemely.
Griffin Niss led three Ontario players in double figures with 17. Corey Thomas added 13 and Trey Jordan 11. Balogh says this is team that shares the ball well. "They have been unselfish all year. That is what is really fun about this team and over the last three or four years. I don't think anyone comes in and looks at the scorebook or the stat sheet and says I didn't get mine, it's we got ours. That's really good. I can't really think of a game where we have had selfish plays. That's a credit to these kids they understand that's how you become a good basketball team," he said.
Ontario (14-3,8-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has won seven straight and shares the "NOL" lead with Sandusky. "I think we had an adjustment period when Andrew (Rathburn) went out. We are hoping we can get him back and get him back in the flow because I think there was a little bit of difference (Saturday) night. Shelby did a lot more where they tried to post kids. Logan (Jones) is pretty good, but you get Andrew in there at 6'4", 210, whatever he is, it gives us a little more physicality in there and he can help us from that standpoint," he said.
Published 1/30/16
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Whippets Feeling Good
Over the last couple of weeks, the Shelby Whippets have started to play the kind of basketball that a lot of people thought they were capable of, including their coach.
After downing Norwalk (52-44) in an "NOL" game on Friday, they beat talented Mansfield St. Peter's (65-47) on Saturday. Coach Troy Schwemley says they played well in the second half. "I was very impressed with St. Pete's. They do a lot of good things. They are tough to guard, they spread you out. They run the floor extremely well. We got burned a couple of times in the first half when we might have scored or they got the defensive rebound and they ran the floor and scored. They do a lot of things really good, that's why they have the record that they have. I was mostly impressed with how we responded in the second half," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "At halftime we were up two and I thought like we had played a pretty good half and we were only up two. They came out and jumped on us right away and went up four. From that point on I don't think we gave up more than 10 points. We played good defense and had good teamwork. I think our offensive aggressiveness paid and we did a good job of playing 32 minutes of basketball."
Tiffin Columbian (6-9,1-4) comes to Shelby on Thursday night for a Northern Ohio League game with two game winning streak in which they have not allowed 25 points in either. Schwemley says they want this game to be played at their pace. "They have had some low scoring games. They thing that they have that makes you nervous going in is they have a big guy, Stone Simmons, that really plays well inside, really physical around the basket, and then (Ro) Durham, that is a nice athletic, power forward type player. They run a little high, low action with them. That seems to be their strength, the guards hit some shots here and there, but they really want to get the ball inside and score. Their strength is inside, but our strength is pressing guards and we are going to have to make sure we protect our inside guys a little bit. We want to get a game where we are controlling the tempo and making them play a little faster, so it is not as much of a grind," said Schwemley.
On Saturday night, the Whippets (8-7,4-3) come to Ontario (12-3,6-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in large school division, for a league game. Ontario won the first meeting (61-57). Schwemley says it a chance for them to prove something. "They do a lot of things well. They play great defense pressuring you. The guards do a great job of handling the basketball, distributing the ball, and making extra passes. Coach Balogh always does an excellent job of getting them to execute and get the right guys the right shots at the right time. We have to take care of Thursday, but we also know that going on the road on Saturday is a chance for us to have that quality win against a great opponent. For us we have been playing better basketball and we are feeling good about ourselves and that will be a great test in a tournament atmosphere. It's a team that at some point if you have any dreams of making any kind of tournament run you have to beat some of the best in the area and Ontario is one of those teams," said Schwemley.
Published 1/28/16
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Whippets Need to Find that Little Something
Shelby has probably played more tight games than any school in North Central Ohio this winter and more than half way through the season they are still trying to find a ways to win.
They did take a step in the right direction with a (70-65) win at Bellevue on Saturday night. Coach Troy Schwemley says there was a lot of good things, but some of the same things they have been fighting with showed up too. "We were happy with Saturday night. We really played a very good first half we were up 14. We really did a lot of things well and played good 16 minutes of basketball. The disappointing part was we came out in the third quarter and it was a different team that came out of the locker room and got outscored 19-8. The game got close, but we found a way to win. I think that is good to find a way to win. I would like to see us close out games better. We have had opportunities in games like that where we have had leads and haven't been able to sustain that level of play, but we are happy with a league win on the road," said Schwemley.
Shelby is a team that nearly everyone calls dangerous and Schwemley hopes they can start to build some momentum. "That is something that we have talked about. We don't want to start talking about the end of year, but we also want the guys to buy into where we are going and what we are doing and believing and staying the course and maybe start winning some games and feeling good about ourselves and get that confidence that helps you beat a really good team, whether it is still in the regular season or when it becomes tournament time. There are things to play for. It is going to be difficult from the league standpoint. You always want to be playing your best basketball coach January of February," he said.
Shelby (6-7,3-3) is at Norwalk (7-6,4-2) for a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night. The Truckers won the first meeting (42-41) at Shelby. Schwemley thinks this a game they can win and might lead them to a successful last month of the season. "When we played Norwalk the first time the game could have gone either way. Norwalk scored a basket with seven seconds to play to go up one. I think we had a five point lead with two minutes to go. We missed some free throws and offensively we had a chance to put that game away, but it comes down to a one possession game and that ended up being the difference. When you compare seasons they have been very similar. They are 7-6 and we are 6-7. They have found a way to win some close games that maybe we haven't. They have struggled a little bit lately. Looking back that game seemed to be a pivotal game for us where we went on to lose games very similar to that," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Now we are back to that pivot point again can we find a way to win a game against a team we know we are capable of beating, but we also lost to in the first game. Hopefully we can see some improvement and progress that will help us get the win."
Published 1/21/16
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Shelby Beats Clear Fork
Shelby led (32-13) at halftime and went on to down the Clear Fork Lady Colts (50-27) in a non-conference girls basketball game played on Tuesday night at Les Hauenstein Gym.
The Lady Whippets scored twice in the first minute on goals by Maddi Fidler in the post, but coach Natalie Lantz says they didn't stay consistent enough through out the game, especially the second half. "I think we came out and attacked really well from the start. We were very focused. We were intense on defense. We pounded the ball inside and the post players were scoring. We were getting the fouls, which is what we needed to do and then we lost focus," she told Swankonsports.com after the game, "We show spurts of greatness and then we back down. Then show spurts and we back down. We have got to become more consistent on our play, more focused. When we put it together this is a pretty good team, but it has got be for 32 minutes and not three minutes here and five minutes there."
It was a reoccurring theme for the Lady Colts (3-13.) They just can't make shots. They made 10 of 40 (25%) against Shelby and are shooting (27%) for the season. "We had some great looks in the first half and I was very, very excited by those. There were five or six that went in and out. I feel like if we made those we could have put a little pressure on them. We have got to find a way to relax and put the ball in the basket because they are getting the shots, they just have to believe they are going in," said Clear Fork coach Heidi Roush.
The Shelby (11-4) pressure hurt Clear Fork too resulting in 25 turnovers. However, Lantz is still looking for more consistency there too. "We were trying to make some adjustments. We have been trying to switch things around and try to find the right combination and the right kids to rotate to the right spot. I think we are starting to get there it is just every team runs the press breaker different. We have to know that against a 2-2-1 they are going to try and break it middle. One player has to be thinking and cutting that pass off. We also forced some long passes out of bounds. We told them its is not all about steals. If you force a turnover that is an extra possession," said Lantz.
Fidler lead Shelby with 13 points. Paige Johnson had five, all from the line, to pace the Lady Colts.
Shelby lost to Willard (48-42) on Saturday and they trail Norwalk and Bellevue by two games in the Northern Ohio League race. Lantz knows they are going to need some help to get a piece of the title. "We put ourselves in a position where we need to win the rest of the games, but we also need some upsets from some other teams. That is very doable, honestly, by several teams. It is going to be an interesting round two. We are hoping it comes out to our advantage towards the end," she said.
Norwalk beat Willard (70-69) in overtime on Tuesday night. Bellevue beat Sandusky (37-33) in league action.
Published 1/19/16
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A Must Win For the Whippets
Shelby trails to Northern Ohio League leader Sandusky by two games and they play at Sandusky on Friday night in a league game.
The Whippets (5-6,2-2) have lost a lot of close games this year, including (61-57) to Ontario and (42-41) to Norwalk in league play. Coach Troy Schwemley says they need a quality win against a good team. "We look at our season right now we are 5-6 and unfortunately our six losses have been in games that we look at it and say we could have won some of those, if not all of those games. You also have to be realistic and say we could have lost all of those games. You can play that could have, should have game all you want, but at some point we have to start winning some of those games to turn our season around," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Those losses have been against quality opponents. To this point I can't say that we have really had that significant victory against one those better teams in the area. That is not to take away from any of those wins or any of those opponents. In our losses, like last week to Lexington, I know it is just one game, but we still lost that game. At some point you have to find a way to win a game like that."
Sandusky (7-2,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, leads the "NOL" standings by a game over Ontario and Norwalk. Schwemley says this is game that can't afford to lose. "We have an opportunity. We are only two games back as far as leading the league goes. We talked to the guys about this. This is a must win game. We can't afford to lose another league game and fall further behind. That being said if we win that, we are just one game out of first place. We really haven't had the season we were looking for. We still have the possibility of correcting that on Friday night," he said.
Sandusky is very athletic and Schwemley says they can do a lot of things on offense. "They attack very well. They have multiple guys that can create. It starts with Williams, he is averaging over 20 points a game and he just does a lot as far as scoring. He can create on his own, he can finish on his own, but he also makes everyone around him good. He distributes the ball. It is not that they don't have other players that can take you off the dribble, that can attack. They do a great job of breaking you down individually," he said.
The Blue Steaks live off their ability to score points in a hurry and build their lead through flurries. Schwemley says they can't let that happen on Friday. "They can hit that knock out punch at almost any time, so we have to be consistently getting back on defense and boxing out. We can not let them go on any runs because they also play solid defense and limit your scores. So, when we go to Sandusky we can't let them have those 8-0, 10-2 runs because I think that is just going to be too difficult to overcome. When I think of our games last year both times we played them close. We were in both games in the third quarter and then they had those runs. I do feel confident that our guys can go up there and compete and we have a chance if we execute and play like we are suppose to. We can't let their defense create their offense because they can bury you at any time," said Schwemley.
Published 1/14/16
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Mistakes at the Wrong Time Killing Shelby
Shelby is under .500 for the season, but they are less than 20 points form being unbeaten. Seems hard to believe, but it is true.
Their (62-58) loss to Ashland last Saturday is a good example of their season. They had the lead in the fourth quarter and let it get away. Coach Troy Schwemley says it is like they find a way to lose. "We did a lot of good things. We were up 10 halftime and moving the ball and balanced scoring by multiple guys. Unfortunately we just have these lulls were we have mental breakdowns or mistakes, whether they are mental or physical, a little of both, and seems like those mistakes are costing us. We are 4-5 and we have lost those five games by like a total of 15 points all together. It is one or two plays every game that we really need baskets at crunch time we are just not making. A lot of that could be avoided if we would do things a little better when we have the lead. In a lot of our losses we had the lead in the second half and we just haven't been able to close them out," said Schwemely.
Shelby (4-5,1-2) plays at home Friday night against the rival Willard Flashes (1-7,0-4) in a Northern Ohio League game. Schwemley says despite their record this is a team that can be pretty good. "They lost their last game at Sandusky Perkins by one. Perkins is 9-2 and that gives you and idea that they are capable of playing at that level against a team that is having a very good season going. We lost to Perkins earlier in the season by seven. In their last game they almost had a quality win against a good opponent," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "I don't know what all is going on for coach Long, but for us I know going into the Ashland game I said this is the best 2-6 team we are going to play all year because I knew Ashland was a very good team with a lot of good athletes. I felt for both of us it was an opportunity to have a quality win. Now, we have to move on and now it is Willard. We can't look at their record because they are capable of playing very good basketball. Willard and Shelby is going to get the best effort out of both teams and we are going to have to be ready to play."
He adds that Willard has some good players, most notably senior Conner Robinson, and they have to have more of a killer instinct if they are able to get the lead in this game. "Willard has got a quality team. Conner Robinson is averaging 19 points a game and they have other guys like the (Nick) Cofer kid and (Seth) Vipperman that have nights when they score points. Conner is a guy that can make everyone around him better. Going into a game like that you want to be ahead by a comfortable margin. You don't want to be in the position where that one basket could be the difference. We are going to have to give a great effort," he said,
Shelby and Willard have been playing basketball since World War II and Schwemley says this is a good rivalry. "No matter who is coaching or how long it has been Shelby-Willard has been a great rivalry. It has been a very good rivalry and a fun one. I think games like this are great opportunities to have that quality win. The fans, the students are going to be very supportive and it is going to be a great environment. For that moment you have a chance to forget about the records. For us that is what we have to focus on and I am sure for Willard it is going to be the same. It is about this point and you are struggling it is about one game. Don't get caught up looking at your season and whether you are disappointed about where you are at it is really about one night and giving your beat effort. If we do that I think we do have a good chance," said Schwemley.
Published 1/07/16
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Arrows Rally to Beat Shelby
Ashland made four of five of five free throws in the final 1:23, outscored Shelby 33-19 in the second half, and they beat the Whippets (62-58) in a non-conference game at Shelby High School on Saturday night.
Trailing (39-29) at halftime, Ashland coach Jason Hess thought they forced Shelby to take tougher shots in the second half. "We challenged the kids at halftime that they were going to win the game on the defensive end. I told them the way Shelby plays and the way we want to play 10 points isn't a huge margin. Two weeks ago against Canton Central Catholic that is a huger difference. I said they are going to keep shooting and we are going to keep playing and give ourselves a chance to get back in the game. The kids chipped away, we actually had it tied there in the third quarter, and they made a little bit of a run and got back in the lead, but we did have the lead cut in half by the end of the third," said Hess.
Brady Hill scored with :01 second left in the quarter to give the Whippets a (53-49) lead after three quarters.
Shelby coach troy Schwemley says they let Ashland back in the game, it was tied at 44 with 2:24 left in the third after Ashland's John Wolfe scored in the lane, and he says they didn't get to the line enough. "I think the first three minutes we turned the ball over two or three possessions. We really didn't execute defensively and get high percentage shots that we need to get. They cut back into the lead, but I thought we recovered," he told Swankonsports.com after the game, "I believe we were up at the end of the third quarter, so even though we had the slow start to the third we were up four. When you shoot one free throw for the game and the other team shoots 17 you are at a disadvantage. That's pretty simple."
Logan Brewer led Ashland with 18, while Wolfe added 16. Davey Hipp paced Shelby with 18.
Hess says the pace of the game can make it difficult to get out on Shelby's shooters. "It is tough because of how fast they play and you start getting tired. When you start getting tired, your hands are on your knees and you don't close out. I thought Grant Denbow did an outstanding job defensively in the second half. Him being able to guard number 24 (Davy Hipp) might have been the difference in the game," he said.
Hess added they were able to bring some guys off the bench to give their starters a rest. "We have some nice depth. The guys that come off the bench play hard. They are still learning, but that is the nature of high school basketball. You don't have eight guys with experience every year. You have to get them experience as you go. This was a great game, a great atmosphere to get experience and to learn from," he said.
Ashland caught Shelby at 56 all with 2:46 to play on a pair of free throws by Griffin Gerwig and took the lead on Gerwig's basket 30 seconds later (58-56.) Hipp tied the game at 58 with 1:55 remaining.
Schwemley says he thought there were times when they had opportunities to get the foul line and were not given that chance. However, also have to do a better job of being stronger. "I thought there were times we needed to be a little stronger in the paint. Some loose balls, some situations, that we could control, you can't control the officials call or what the other team does, but there are things we can control. We have to play through those and overcome some of those obstacles and we just aren't to that point yet," said Schwemley.
The Whippets (4-5) have been in this position before, a one point loss to Norwalk (42-41) and four point loss to Ontario (61-57) and a three point loss to Galion (64-61) are examples. "You have just watched how we have lost five games in similar fashion. Every game we have had leads or opportunities. We need to make those big plays and need those big stops in those tight moments that we haven't figured out how to do and we need to figure that out," he said.
Published 1/02/16
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Shelby Has to Believe
After a solid start to the season the Shelby Whippets are now sporting a three game losing streak.
Coach Troy Schwemely says they have to start doing a lot of the little things better, that's true, but also they need to remember they are pretty good at some things too. "I think for us right now it has just been us trying to regroup from a tough week we had last week. We have dropped three in a row night now. We are trying to figure out what we need to do better, but believe in the things we do well. So, having a game on Wednesday will be good for us from the standpoint that we haven't played since last Tuesday with the Christmas schedule and things like that it is good to get a game in and that type of atmosphere and environment for our guys," he said.
When you are on a little skid, Schwemley says it can be all doom and gloom, but they need to also remember the good things that they are doing and build on those. "The hardest part, and we have talked about this before, is sometimes when you win you feel like you are doing everything right and when you lose you feel like you are doing everything wrong and both scenarios are wrong. When you win it feels better, but there are still things you need to improve on. When you lose you just kind of magnify the mistakes and there are a lot of things that we did well," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "When you look at our last three games, we lost to Ontario by three and we are ahead in that game for about three quarters. On that Saturday against Perkins we jump out 11-2 and then we have a let down in that game. Then at Galion we have a 12-point lead in the third and by five with four minutes to go and some things just didn't go well down the stretch and we lose. Right now it seems like we are doing a lot of things wrong, but I think a lot of that is our perspective of the last three games, but we have also done things well. We need to improve on our mistakes, but we also need to focus on the things we are doing well and believe in what we are doing. Just fix some of those little things that are costing us ball games."
On Wednesday, Shelby (3-4) travels up State Route 61 to Plymouth to meet the Big Red (1-6) in a non-conference game. Schwemley says it is time to build some confidence again. "They have some guys that can heat up from the three point line, from really anywhere, but they can shoot from fairly deep. Watching them on film they are not right behind the line they have some range. It is one of those where we have to defend. We have to rebound and we have to execute offensively. We have a game on Saturday it is very important for us to turn things around right now and preparing for the next game. The focus is on the Plymouth game, but it would be nice to also get some momentum of some sort going right now and start to feel a little better about ourselves, so this game is very important," said Schwemley.
Shelby hosts Ashland, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, on Saturday in another non-conference game.
Published 12/30/15
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Shelby and Norwalk Battle in Key "NOL" Game
Northern Ohio League leader Shelby is at home for the Norwalk Lady Truckers in key game in the league on Wednesday.
Shelby has not played since last Tuesday when they downed Western Reserve of the Firelands Conference (61-46,) but coach Natalie Lantz says they have been working hard in practice to get ready for the match-up with the Lady Truckers. "We have been working on being more composed and more focused, in practice too. We do have a little lull between these two games, Western and Norwalk. The girls have been practicing hard, practicing well, I feel like we have been making progress," said Lantz.
Norwalk (7-2,2-1) trails Shelby (6-1,3-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, by a game in the league standings and Lantz says they have a great deal of athleticism. "They are very athletic team, they are quick, they put a lot of pressure on the ball and they run transition really well. We are going to have to make sure we are on our "A" game, make sure we are communicating, rotating well defensively and making sure we are attacking and taking care of the ball offensively," she said.
The press is going to be a big factor in this game because Norwalk will pressure all over the floor. Lantz says when they break it they need to attack and score. "Our girls are certainly capable of attacking. We need to make good passes up the court, stay composed and take it to them on our end," he said.
Jiselle Thomas is a very good scorer for Norwalk and Lantz says they have to know where she is at on the floor at all times. "We want to control their ball handlers. Jiselle Thomas especially is a very good guard. She is able to knock down the three and she is very good at driving to the basket," she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Just when you think you have her stopped she is going to keep doing it. I think we are ready as far as we know what they are going to bring to the table, now we have to go out and perform."
Published 12/23/15
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Shelby Has to do a lot of Things well
Shelby plays host to Ontario in a crucial match-up in the Northern Ohio League on Friday night.
Both schools trail league leaders Sandusky and Norwalk by a game after the first couple of weeks.
Shelby lost to Norwalk (42-41) two weeks ago, but came back to beat Tiffin Columbian (66-54) last Saturday night. Coach Troy Schwemley thought their shot selection was a lot better. "I was really happy with how we responded to the week before when lost to Norwalk. In the Norwalk game we only scored 41 points and didn't shoot very well. I gave Norwalk credit for their defense, but I also thought we had some open looks we have to make. In the Tiffin game I thought we did a better job of getting some shots up and getting the ball inside and getting some higher percentage shots. Just because you are open get closer to the basket, get to the free throw line, get into the paint more, you can increase your shooting percentage. Once you step up and make those shots the three pointers come as well. We had seven different guys make at least a three. I am definitely happy with how we responded last Saturday," said Schwemley.
Plus, the Whippets were more physical on defense and that gave them an advantage too. Schwemley says they were just more aggressive than the week before. "When you make a lay up it seems to be easier to make a perimeter shot. It's the same with your offense and defense. It seems like when you are playing good defense it helps you play good offense. I thought we were more aggressive offensively and we were more physical defensively and that is part of being aggressive. Tiffin has some nice big guys that play hard and score inside. I thought we did a better job of being physical and boxing out. Just that game within the game. Just those little things whether it is setting screens or boxing out or working hard on defense that sometimes don't show up in the stats, but we did a better job on the little things that help win ball games," he said.
Shelby (3-1,1-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays host to Ontario (4-1,1-1), #3 in the poll, in a big early season game in the league.
Schwemley says Ontario has a similar approach to the last several years, but they are getting the ball inside more. "They are very similar in terms of their style and their speed, but I think if you look right now Rathburn is their leading scorer. They really do a good job of getting points in the paint. They have other guys that can post up and score as well. They are getting a lot of their points in the paint, which is what you want as a coach. I think that is something they have done a really good job with. They also have guards that can score. That always makes you nervous because I know they have guards that can score and guards that can shoot, so it is not like we can only focus on stopping their inside game. That is what makes Ontario such a good team.," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "They are solid and coach Balogh does a great job with them. They complement each other well. They do a great job of executing what they are trying to do. We are going to have to be hungry and do our things well. We have to play good team defense, rotating, rebounding."
Ontario tends to be a pretty good offensive rebounding team and Schwemley says the have to keep the Warriors off the glass. "A lot of that is just positing and effort. When shots go up we have to be in good defensive position to and be aggressive as far as going after the ball. Sometimes a good shot is missed and you still have to get the rebound. They are wanting to get that rebound, so we have to do a good job of defending the first shot and make sure we don't give up another shot. That is where the teamwork comes in. You might box out five or six times and not get a rebound, but your teammate does and that's what it takes. We are going to have to do those little things for 32 minutes," said Schwemley.
Published 12/18/15
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Shelby Circling the Wagons
After winning their first two games of the season, the Shelby Whippets lost their first Northern Ohio League game of year by a point to Norwalk last Friday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says his Whippets have to figure out how to score more points.
Jaycee Jordan scored with four seconds left and Norwalk beat the Whippets (42-41) last Friday. Schwemley says it was a night when they just couldn't throw it in the ocean. "My first thought is if you tell me we only gave up 41 points I would probably tell you that we won. I thought defensively we did a pretty good job in terms of limiting our opponent to a low number of points. It wasn't a game where it was one of those tempo things we got 49 shots. We shot I believe 4-24 from the three point line and 16 of 49 total. We lose by one point and we shot like 33 percent from the field. If we make just one more basket that could have been a win. Give credit to Norwalk for defending us well. We have to make some shots," said Schwemley.
It was clear the Whippets didn't make many shots against Norwalk, missed some open ones, but Schwemley says he was more concerned about the kind of shots they were taking. "I think the disappointing part was I think we did get some good shots up. Some of those shots you are going to have open looks and you not going to make them all and that was the case with some of them, but some of them were poor shots, poor shot selection. We didn't get the free throw line a ton," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We were settling for a lot of perimeter shots rather than attacking the basket and drawing contact and getting to the free throw line. From that standpoint we got good open looks we could have made, but we also weren't as aggressive as I would like to see us in terms of attacking the basket."
Shelby (2-1,0-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Tiffin Columbian (1-2,0-0) in an "NOL" game on Saturday night. Schwemley admits this is a game that is more about how well they execute and if they can improve their shot selection than what Tiffin is doing. "I know they have some size, which is typical of a Tiffin team. I really haven't had a chance to see them too much this year with our schedule. I know it is typical coach talk, but it is about us. In the loss to Norwalk we felt we had opportunities to win that game and we were pretty disappointed, so we have to bounce back. We have to be more aggressive defensively and we have to be more aggressive offensively. To me it is really more about how we play and if we can dictate the tempo and how aggressive we play the game," said Schwemley.
Published 12/08/15
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Shelby Trying to Make it Through
Shelby is off to a solid 2-0 start, but this has been a trying week for them program as they deal with some injuries.
On the opening weekend, the Whippets (2-0,0-0) produced non-conference wins over Madison (63-39) and Wynford (78-53) on Saturday night.
Coach Troy Schwemley says he saw a lot of good things in both games, but some things that need to be better too. "We did a lot of good things as far as first game. We did some things well. I liked our ball movement, our spacing. There are always things you look back on and know you need to get better at and that is the key to improving throughout the season. We came back the next night against Wynford, and kind of similar, we did a lot of nice things. Still we need to shoot free throws better and we need to shoot better from the perimeter," he said.
Shelby suffered an injury to freshman Uriah Gieseler, coach Schwemley's step son, and Troy has been dealing with a lot of things this week. "It has been challenging. I haven't been home since Saturday night. My son broke his wrist in the game against Wynford and I have been down at Children's Hospital since then. I am just trying to take care of things for him and my family. My assistant coaches have been doing a lot of the coaching this week in getting the boys ready for Norwalk. We definitely have to be ready, but it has been a struggle of a week from a personal standpoint. With my son playing varsity and we are going to lose him and he was doing a nice job. As a team, as a coach, as a family, there is a lot on our plate this week and we have to be able to get ready for Norwalk on Friday night," said Schwemley.
Norwalk (1-0,0-0) is at Shelby on Friday night for the Northern Ohio League opener for both squads. Norwalk coach Steve Gray does a lot of different things on offense and defense. Schwemley says you have to be ready for the buffet. "I guess you can say you know what you are going to get, but it is a variety of things. I have been at Shelby for 10 years and Steve has been at Norwalk for a little longer and I have known Steve for a longtime and he has a stockpile of things he is capable of using it just a matter of what they have been working on throughout the week. His kids are always well prepared and they are going to play hard. They work well together. They will probably have a few things that you have seen before, but it is just a matter of which one you have to focus on. Every year it is a little different," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They have some returners, but there are some new faces. They are going to come out and have a game plan and try and execute theirs and we will try to do the same and try to do what we do and try and be successful with that."
Published 12/03/15
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Shelby With Solid Guards
Shelby is a team that has the capability of making some noise in the Northern Ohio league this season.
They have some players back with varsity experience and they have some of the best guards in the area.
Coach Troy Schwemley, like most coaches, has some concerns about the shorter preseason and how it will affect them on Friday night when they host the Madison Rams in their traditional non-conference opener. "There was no gap week between the end of football and the beginning of basketball. Basketball officially started the same day regular season football ended. Most of us I would say didn't start then because we have players that are playing football," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "For example, we didn't start with everybody until Thursday of the next week. So, right there you miss potentially five practice days just waiting for everybody to get there. When you miss those days. Normally the girls open up on Thanksgiving. Our girls will already have three games in by Thanksgiving when they normally open. There are a lot of factors that go together to make you feel like you have to be ready to go when you really shouldn't be."
A possible advantage for the Whippets is they have some players back, especially ball handlers, that have some varsity minutes under their belts. That means Schwemley doesn't have to teach quite as much. "When you do return players and you have guys that have played together that does help. Every team is knew and there are always guys that you are trying to get to play together. There are a couple of new faces and maybe you made some adjusting with some defensive things or something like that. It does help to have some returners, but everybody is still trying to figure out what they do best and have a game plan going in. For most of us it is making some minor adjustments here and there through the scrimmages and doing everything we can to get ready for that opener, but also for the rest of the season," said Schwemley.
A year ago, Shelby instituted 32 minutes of pressure and making it an up tempo game. Schwemley isn't going to reveal his strategy for this year, but says it will likely be similar. "We do have what I would consider a lot of strong guards and we expect good guard play. So, we will stay similar to some of the things we did. We did have six seniors graduate last season and those guys contributed some minutes and some playing time and they were valuable contributors to last year's team. So, we do return guys, but we are still trying to determine what we do best and what's bets for us. We are going to try and push the tempo a little bit and hopefully that is to our advantage," said Schwemley.
Madison has one the best players, and most gifted athletes, in the area in junior guard Tyrell Aijan. Schwemley says they can't allow him to take the game over. "I think that kind of happened last year. I was looking at the box score recently and I think he had like 22 against us last year and did a lot of scoring and not just that he had some assists and rebounds and had a really good game that night. He is a difference maker. Last year, we had a nice first quarter and then momentum swung a little bit and he did a lot of good things in that game. He is a junior and is just getting more confident. A lot of their success he had a big had in," he said.
Published 11/25/15
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Shelby Girls to Tip Off Season
The Shelby Lady Whippets start the 2015-2016 season this weekend with home games against Plymouth on Friday and Ashland on Saturday, both in non-conference play.
They play host to Mansfield Senior on November 24, so they are going to play three games before Thanksgiving. Coach Natalie Lantz says they are going to find out what they are about. "Hopefully we are finding we have the best of what I have seen in our scrimmages and practice. The young girls are growing up and have really been stepping it up and doing a good job on defense especially, and offense. They are contributing a lot," she said.
In a preseason poll Shelby was predicted to finish third in the Northern Ohio League, but Lantz says their goal is to take the trophy this year. "We are holding ourselves to some pretty high expectations. I know we were picked third in the league. I would rather be picked third and now the girls know where they are seen. They want to step up and they want to win and come out on top this year. They are working hard in practice. I have seen great chemistry between them. They are very unselfish. Sometimes too much to a point," she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "There are definitely some things we need to work on. With some injuries we have been coming off of and recovering from and trying to bounce back from either last season or over the summer. The girls are working hard and we just want to remain injury free."
When it comes to this weekend it can be difficult to learn a lot the teams you are playing based on preseason scrimmages or what they were like last year. Lantz says it is more about yourself and going out and executing what you are good at doing. "From the different scrimmages that we have had and the styles of the teams that we have played I think we have learned that we need to no matter what the situation we need to play our game. Settle into our stuff no matter what depending on what defense we are running and offensive sets we are running. We are always going to try and push the ball at the offensive end because we have got some speed. We have a nice inside game. We are holding ourselves accountable. We want to step up. A lot of it is going to be on us, working on our game, and staying composed," said Lantz.
Published 11/18/15
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Shelby has Potential to be Better
Shelby may be a team on the move, a move up to be one of the contenders in the Northern Ohio League girls' basketball race.
The "NOL" was basically a two team race last year with Bellevue and Willard, but there may be others involved this year, like Shelby and Norwalk.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they have a good nucleus this year and she says they are working together well in the preseason. "I think this year could be a good year for Shelby. We have three seniors, six juniors and a freshman now on varsity and we are seeing a lot more leadership from those juniors and seniors. The kids are at a point where they are playing as a unit. They are talking a lot better on the floor offensively and defensively. Right now, they want to win. They want to be successful this year. So, we are looking forward to a stronger season than in the past," she said.
Lantz says they have talent and if they can work through some injuries they can become a solid team. "They have been working really hard. They have been fighting through some injuries. As we are starting off the season I still have two players that are not 100 percent where they have been in the past, where they want to be. I think they are still very talented players. They are good kids, they are good leaders," she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "As far as where they want to be, where they think they should be, they are still fighting through some things. I am hoping we will keep building and keep them injury free. Keep building and becoming stronger and stronger throughout the season."
Chemistry is very important with any sports team, especially with girls at the high school level, and Lantz says this team is growing and showing that they will play hard for each other. "What we have seen from scrimmage one to scrimmage two. We only had six players on varsity because our cross country team did fantastic and made the regionals. Volleyball, of course, ran over this year. It was hard to get players there in time. We saw huge improvement in going from six players to eight players in the second one on Saturday. They moved the ball very well. They were very unselfish on the floor almost to a fault. They were doing a great job offensively and defensively. I think some of them are getting used to getting into the flow of our offense. Defensively we are liking what we are seeing. Obviously there is still a lot to work on, but good steps forward," said Lantz.
Shelby opens the season next weekend with a pair of home non-conference games against Plymouth and Ashland and then hosts Mansfield Senior on November 24.
Published 11/11/15
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Shelby Playing for Momentum
Shelby is not going to win the Northern Ohio League title and they are not going to make the playoffs, but this can still be a good season.
Coach Erik Will says no they didn't beat Bellevue last week, but a win this week against Loudonville, in non-league play, and they can still feel good going into the off season. "We told the kids we were in position to win a league title last Saturday and it didn't happen. Here is the great news, a lot people are saying how do you get kids to respond? How do to get them to stay focused for week 10? We are playing for a winning record, we can be 6-4. We are kind of treating it, this might sound crazy, as a sort of a bowl game. It is one last opportunity to compete as a group and send our seniors off with a win, a winning record, which hasn't been done for quite a few years," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "It is another opportunity for younger guys to get another week, another opportunity to get better. You know if you win your last game that's a nice springboard into the off season, a positive way to close out the 2015 campaign. So, there is still quite a bit to play for."
Shelby has not had a winning season since 2010, when Chris Solis was still their coach, when they were (8-3) and lost to Clyde in the first round of the playoffs.
Will says this year's seniors have been a special group because they have helped change of the culture. "The first time I was here in 2013 we were 1-9. If my memory serves me right that was the year before the running clock and there a couple of times we were on the wrong side of a couple of beat downs. For that group to stay the course, the 12 or 13 seniors that we've got, they have done a nice job staying with our program. They have worked hard, they have led by example, that's why we want to try so hard to get them out of here with a win on Friday," he said.
With seven schools in the "NOL" there is always a school with a non-league game and on week 10 it is Shelby, who plays at Loudonville (4-5) on Friday night. Will says the Redbirds aren't the team they were last year, but they can still put up a fight. "They have some athletes, a new coach kind implementing his thing. They are trying to be .500, they are 4-5, and if they get a win they are going to be feeling good, it's not a winning season, but it's not a losing season. We are both trying to play for momentum going into the off season. They have a couple of athletes, some size here and there, they are not a bad football team," he said.
Published 10/28/15
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Shelby in Position
A win at first place Bellevue on Friday night would guarantee the Shelby Whippets no less than a share of the Northern Ohio League football title, something they haven't done since 2000.
Devon Brooks had 19 carries for 291 yards in Shelby's (46-13) win over Ontario last week to keep the Whippets a game behind Bellevue. Coach Erik Will says they may not be at the top of the food chain yet, but they are getting there. "I don't know if we are necessarily the hunted yet. I think we would like to move to being one of those teams. We are still pretty hungry. We are still trying to have a true team identity as far as reestablishing the Shelby tradition. I think the kids are on the right path. they are playing hard, they are practicing right. It's was a great opportunity for the kids to come out and play well. I was happy for our offensive linemen and Devon Brooks. I thought those two specific groups of people did well. It was kind of nice for someone else to shine," said Will.
Shelby (5-3,4-1) has an outstanding sophomore quarterback in Brennan Armstrong, but so does Bellevue in Alec Foos. Will says he is a double threat. "He has rushed for I believe over 1,100 yards and thrown for quite a bit. He is one of those guys that is going to run the ball, but he is good enough throwing it if you fall asleep in the secondary. You and have to be honed in on you responsibilities and more than that you have to get lined up right and be gap responsible on defense. Their is no doubt he is a top flight athlete in our league," he said.
Plus, the Redmen (6-2,4-0) can match Brooks with running back Bryce Ray. Will says he is a physical player. "That kid jumps off film right away. If Foos is running and he is blocking or he, himself is running. He is only a sophomore too, so we will be dealing with him for three years, including this Friday. He is a heck of a football player. You expect Bellevue to have kids like that. That is the kids of program they have and the kind of tradition they have," he said.
Bellevue has allowed just two scores over its last three league games and Will says he expects that Bellevue is going to try and make them throw the ball. "They are big and physical. They are going to load the box. As a staff we feel they are going to load up and try to take away Brennan (Armstrong) and Shorty (Brooks) and we going to have to make some plays. I don't know if we are going to be able to line up and just march the ball down the field with eight, nine, 10, 11 play drives. We think there will be plays to be made, but we have to make them. We have put a lot on our offensive line as far as protection and run blocking and our athletes making plays," said Will.
It is the biggest game for the Whippets since probably 2007 and Will says he and the players are looking forward to the challenge. "When I took this job over two years ago we said the first order of business was the restore order and as far as Shelby playing football at the highest level. Even this season we have had some ups and downs. We had a real nice win over Madison, then we had a little bit of a dip, got back on the winning path and then have a little bit of a dip, and now we are really climbing with three straight wins here," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We feel that Shelby is this area should be a main brand football operation. Our kids have taken ownership of that and have really bought in to what we are selling. The staff has put in a tremendous amount of hours to put us in position to be successful."
Published 10/21/15
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It's a Battle of Contenders; Shelby vs. Ontario
Shelby and Ontario both have only won loss in Northern Ohio League play and trail league leader Bellevue by a game in the standings coming into their meeting in Shelby on Friday night.
Both have Bellevue remaining on their schedules. The winner Friday night stays in the race, while the loser does not.
Shelby (4-3,3-1) produced perhaps its biggest win in half a decade when they hammered Tiffin Columbian (46-13) last week in "NOL" action, scoring 26 points in the first quarter. Coach Erik Will says they were ready mentally. "This kids really did a nice job and especially our mental approach to that game was just fantastic. When you have a good week of practice, when you kids are understanding, when they are watching extra film, that stuff shows up. It showed up Friday night. Now, the nice thing is the kids can see that success, they can feel that success. The sign of a mature team is to continue to do the things that you know are going to give you success," said Will.
Winning is the name of the game and Will says the last week keeps them where they want to be and that is in contention. "Winning is never a bad thing. Our kids are getting better at this. They know when they come in on Monday they are going to go over our scouting report and go over our focuses for the week for special teams all of the way down to both sides of the ball. We told our kids wining on week seven allows us to continue to compete week eight for the league championship," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "That's what we want. I told the guys that when we had a team meeting back in March and I said how many of you guys want to win an "NOL" championship and everybody in the room raises their hand, so how many of you still want to win championship and everybody's hand was up. I said you have an opportunity this week to win an "NOL" championship. We have to take care of our next opponent and that's our focus."
Ontario (2-5,2-1) beat Willard last week (42-14) and Will says it is his opinion that the Warriors are moving in the right direction. "They continue to get better. They are running the ball well. Their defense is playing a lot better. They did what they needed to do last week as far as against Willard. They had a nice performance and are coming off a win. We have played them tough, but we haven't got win yet. This is our Richland County league rival and our kids are definitely focused on the task at hand," he said.
Not that they can't throw it, but Will says the Warriors are a team that wants to run. "They want to run it first. When you look at the down and distance stuff and all of the information they are probably a lot like us we are going to run the football, but they are run heavy on the early downs. It is going to be important that we lineup correctly and get the right checks and fly to the football. It has been a point of emphasis all year," he said.
Published 10/14/15
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Shelby Needs to be Able to Throw and Stop the Run
Shelby needs a win to stay in the Northern Ohio League race and they will be in a very tough place to get one at National Field in Tiffin.
They trail Bellevue by game in the "NOL" standings heading into this weekend.
They rebounded from a tough loss to Sandusky (41-28) and beat struggling Willard (46-7) last week. Coach Erik Will says they did what they needed to do. "The kids played really well and came out and executed the game plan. The offensive and defensive lines were physical. We handled the responsibilities on defense well as far as the triple and a lot of the tings that Willard does. It was nice to get in and get out with the win. We got some good quality reps and the offense was able to get some things going again. So, it was a very positive week," said Will.
Tiffin Columbian (3-3,2-1) is also in that logjam in second place after beating Norwalk (27-12) last week. Will says the Tornadoes are really good on defense. "They are leading our league in defense. We are second to them in overall team defense. Columbian has been doing a nice job. They are going to be in a four man front primarily depending on what we try to do on offense. They are very well schooled and the most important thing is they line up and tackle people," he said.
When lining up against that Tiffin defense Will says the Whippets (3-3,2-1) need to be able to throw football. "We have to be able to win at the point of attack, so that is going to go on offensive line. Than after that we can't turn the ball and have penalties. I know we say a lot of these things all of the time, but they really are true. I will say this we aren't necessarily going to grind it out, but there are going to be plays to be made specifically in the passing game. If we do a good job in the passing game, the offensive line blocks, the quarterback throws good balls, the receivers catch the ball when we hit them in the hands I think we will be fine," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I think we can put some points up. I don't think it is going to be a grind it out game. Who knows? You never know, that's why we play them. Having said that we know we have to run the football, but with what they are doing defensively we might be throwing early."
Last season, of course, these two played one of the more talked about games of the year with Tiffin Columbian winning (83-32) in one overtime. Will says this year they have to be able to control the Tiffin ground attack. "Last year we gave up 10 touchdowns and 500 yards to one player. We have been drilling that in practice all week. If our kids aren't motivated and fired up to play, especially after what happened last year I don't know if we will ever stop the run. So far this year we have been consistent on defense and we need a good performance, especially stopping the run," he said.
Published 10/09/15
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Shelby Has to be able to Throw it
Shelby has shown they can throw the ball at times this year and they are going to have to be able to do that this week to move the ball because teams are loading the box against them.
Last week, Sandusky, who beat the Whippets (41-28,) crowded the line of scrimmage in the second half and the Whippets couldn't make the plays to make them get out of that defense. Coach Erik Will says it was a lack of execution. "Once the defense settled in the first quarter, first half, the defense played really well. A few blown assignments on the first drive led to their first score. It was pretty much a stalemate through most of the first half. We actually had a negative one yard punt in minus territory, which led to their field goal. In the second half they were lining up defensively, they were basically loading the box and just sending everybody. It really came down to we were going to have to hit a few big plays. We didn't make those plays," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We legitimately dropped four touchdown passes the second half. So, it comes down to execution. When team loads the box you have to be able to throw the ball. If you don't take advantage of the opportunities that are there you end up with a loss. Give Sandusky credit they made us one dimensional in the second half. They said you aren't going to run the football and we were unable to complete a lot of those big plays."
Shelby (2-3,1-1) plays at home against rival Willard (0-5,0-1) on Friday night. The Flashes are struggling with a 22 game losing streak dating back to 2013. They lost (53-7) to Port Clinton in non-league play last week. Will says they give great effort, but it just isn't working for them. "They are doing a lot of the option stuff they have been doing for the last few years. Coach Matula is doing as well as he can do with what is going on. When you watch Willard you can tell the kids are playing with a lot of effort. With the scheme they are running they are trying to establish a downhill run game. Defensively, they are trying to take away your run and make you throw the football. They haven't been successful this year, but they are working hard," said Matula.
Likely more upsets take place in rivalry games than at any other time. Will says they have to be ready to go no matter what. "There is no doubt they are better than they were at the beginning of the year and you can see that on film. We have to come in ready to go and we have really put a lot of stress on our defensive side of the ball this week as far as our option responsibility," he said.
Published 10/01/15
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Shelby on the Edge
Shelby has played some pretty good volleyball this season and if they can become more consistent this could end up being a dangerous team come tournament time in less than a month.
Coach Brandie Albert, in her 14th year at the helm of the Lady Whippets (11-4,4-3), #5 in the Swankonsports.com volleyball coaches poll in the large school division, says they have definitely shown glimpses of what they can do. "We had a couple of big wins and we also lost a couple of games that we should have won. We played well against Norwalk both times we have played them. We won one game in the first round and the round we started (Thursday) night we played with them the first game straight through and then the next two games we were quite prepared. If I can find a consistent lineup and a consistent team we are going to be just fine the second half. Right now, we are dealing with some hitting errors and some injuries and trying to find what lineup works best. We have the talent and it is just a matter of the kids putting it together and putting it on the floor for more than just two games in the match. I seems like we play two games really well. Hopefully, we can play at a consistently high level for the rest of the season,” said Albert.
Norwalk (11-3,7-0), #4 in our poll, leads the Northern Ohio League standings again this year and they beat Shelby 25-21, 25-14, 25-13 last Thursday. Albert says they just let them get too much of the momentum. "(Thursday) night was a perfect example. The Norwalk game. Our goal was to never let them get more than one or two points ahead. We wanted to stick with them and the first game could have gone either way. In games two and three we started down 8-2 and even if you trade off from there every other serve or every point there is no way you can come back, especially against a great team. You know never let a team score more than three points against you or you are in trouble. It's going to take huge moments for you to get back into the game," she said.
As far as the "NOL" is concerned, Albert says her opinion the league is a little down this year. She says they don't have the stellar players that they have had in the past. "Norwalk is not as strong as they have been. They do not have the height that they have had. They are fundamentally strong and they just know how to win. They have always won and they just continue to win. We have not always won and we can't get over that hump. We just play with people and we don't know how to stomp on them when they are down. Bellevue, and coach Karen Irons, they are always just so fundamentally sound. They are lacking the huge hitters that they have had. Tiffin Columbian is kind of a mystery to us if we would have played better we would have beaten them and would be sitting in second place. They are our match coming up on Tuesday. I'm hoping my kids will be able to get their stuff together and beat them at Tiffin," she told Swankonsports.com, "I don't want to say anything negative about Willard or Ontario or anybody else. Our league is not as strong as it has been in the past. You look at Lexington and the other leagues and they have big hitters. In our league I have not seen the huge, phenomenal hitter like we had a couple years ago in Devon Murray, where Lexington has Mackenzie Weaver. We don't have any of those in the "NOL" right now."
Published 9/28/15
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Shelby Wants to be a Factor
After winning their first league game of the campaign last week over Norwalk in convincing fashion, the Shelby Whippets believe that maybe this is the year they return to being contenders in the Northern Ohio League.
Sophomore quarterback Brennan Armstrong torched Norwalk last week running for five touchdowns and throwing another in a (62-21) destruction of the defending league champion Truckers. However, Whippets coach Erik Will says the credit begins up front. "We did a really nice job of execution up front and then the guys we asked to make plays made plays. Of course, everything starts up front and when those guys play at a high level we have the ability to do some good things behind it. Guys made catches as well. Brennan's passing percentage is down a little this year, but he was 8 of 10 on Friday and they guys caught the ball. It's just an execution things and it's start up front," he said.
Shelby (2-2,1-0) has not had a winning season since 2010 and Will says they would like to get on a little streak here. "It has been a while since we have won two in a row here. I think it goes back to 2010 since Shelby has won two games in a row, 2010. We are hoping to get that momentum going. The kids confidence is good. We can tell that the kids are engaged there is no doubt about that, but now we have to go out and play another tough team. Sandusky is coming off a win as well they are 2-2, they are 1-0 in the league. There is a lot of excitement going into this game," he said.
Sandusky (2-2,1-0) dismantled Willard (56-7) last week and the Streaks can be a factor in the league race too. Will says this is a Sandusky football team that is physical. "Sandusky is a big, physical team. Of course, they have athletes, but I think what you are going to get out of Sandusky is they are going to be physical. They are going to punch you in the mouth. This is going to be a manhood check this week. We are going to have to line up and play physical football and if you don't do that Sandusky is going to expose you because they have the athletes on the perimeter to make plays. I think if we line up and accept the challenge of being physical we will be right there," said Will.
Based on what has been seen so far, maybe there isn't a dominate team this year in the "NOL" and Will predicts it is going to be a battle this fall. "Bellevue and Tiffin are playing as well, so at the end of the night there are only going to be two undefeated teams in the league. So, those two teams obviously will have a leg up. With that in mind we feel like it has been an interesting year in the league and everything is up for grabs right now," he said.
Published 9/22/15
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Shelby Still Trying to Clear the last hurdle
It's like Shelby can run a good race until they get to the finish line and then they can't get across it and get the win.
That's certainly what happened last week when they lost a tough one to Clear Fork (20-13) on week three of the season.
Coach Erik Will says they were on the doorstep of a win, but they just couldn't get it done for the second year in a row against the Colts. "It is frustrating to see it on film. It is kind of interesting to see it on film. We wanted to get off to a fast start and we did that. We led 13-0 and we kind of going in for a score to go up 20-0 towards the half and we had a fumble and they scooped and scored. They took the momentum. We did a good job of moving the ball between the 30 and the 30, we just couldn't quite punch it in. You know I thought defensively we played really well, but at the end of the game Clear Fork put itself in position to make plays," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "When you are talking about dealing with high school athletes you have to give Clear Fork credit from the standpoint that their kids were in the game and they made the plays at the end of the game that it took to win the game. We had an opportunity to try and tie the game, but we couldn't quite punch that in there at the end. It is a tough part of the maceration process for our young men."
Will really thinks that what is stopping the team from winning more football games is more mental than physical. "As a coach things like this can be frustrating because you are looking to punch the right buttons to help be able to give our kids a physiological edge. I mean we physically can win these games. We have put in some much time in the off season that physically we are there. We just have to mentally allow ourselves to win these games and to complete these games. When we figure that out we are going to be a pretty good football team," he said.
Shelby (1-2,0-0) plays host to the defending Northern Ohio League champion Norwalk Truckers (1-2,0-0) in the league opener for both squads on Friday night.
Norwalk lost to Lexington (28-0) last week and Will says they are dealing with some injuries and that has been hurting their chances to win games. "They are well coached. They have some good size up front with their offensive and defensive lines. Coach MacFarland will tell you that they are battling some injuries and there some guys not there that if they were there they might have been able to get on the plus side of some of those games. Injuries are part of the game. Norwalk looks good. The problem becomes getting your next guy up ready to go. Coaches talk about it all of the time, about next guy up, next guy up, but their is a bottom line about why one guy is playing and another guy is still developing and they have been kind of going through that a little bit. If we don't bring it, if we aren't ready to go, they are the reining champions and until somebody takes it from them it is theirs," said Will.
Shelby must get good play from its interior guys because Will says Norwalk is pretty good in the trenches. "I really like their running back, 38, he is a nice player. Their offensive line does a nice job. Anytime you get and offensive and defensive line. On defense they are taking on double teams to try and free their linebackers and their offensive line can to get to your linebackers to try and free some space for their running backs. That's what makes them a good team and they have done that as well as anybody the last couple of years," he said.
Published 9/15/15
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Shelby is Hungry
After taking a step back last week in a loss to the Lexington Minutemen and now the Shelby Whippets must get the bus headed back in the right direction as they host the Clear Fork Colts on Friday night.
Coach Erik Will said last week on "Sports Saturday" that he was disappointed in their execution in a lot of areas of the team against Lexington, but he says there have been a different focus in practice this week. "I feel our focus in practice has been fantastic this week. We have talked to the kids about just taking ownership at each position. We practice so hard and now we need to take that to the game and by doing that there is that extra investment and extra preparation were we realize that on Friday we are ready to go and our kids are just going to cut lose and go," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I think our kids are prepared. (Friday) night we are going to sink or swim with the ability to get better from week two to week three. People always say the biggest advance is between week one and week two. We need to see that from week two to week three because we didn't get better from week one to week two."
After four straight loosing seasons, the Whippet faithful believe this team has the talent to turn things around, especially after their win over Madison (20-6) on week one. Will says they have even higher expectations for themselves. "It a good thing, expectations are not a bad thing. We know we have players. Now, some of those players are younger, but that is no excuse. We feel like it is all about the mental preparation and we are continuing to learn on the job with that to be more consistent. Having said that, expectations are a good thing that means people expect you to be better, expecting a certain product. No one has higher expectations than the coaching staff and the players. We just want to play the game the way we know we can play it and that is with effort and enthusiasm," said Will.
Clear Fork (1-1) beat Ontario (42-24) last Friday after loosing to Fredericktown (17-14) in their opener. Will says the Colts have some young talent and he knows they will play hard. "The (Thomas) Staab kid is really good. I like him a lot, real good athlete. Here is the thing, Dave (Carroll) does a nice job. His kids are well coached and they play well at the point of attack. You are never going to question their effort. Clear Fork is always going to give great effort and that is a direct result of the coaching staff and I really believe that. They have some kids, they have a nice group of young men. They are like us they are trying to get that win," he said.
Published 9/11/15
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Shelby Takes a Step Back
After a very good performance in a week one win against Madison, the Shelby Whippets seemed to a take a step back in a loss to the Lexington Minutemen last week.
Lexington scored first, never trailed, and beat Shelby (34-20) in non conference play. Shelby coach Erik Will thought the Minutemen were well prepared and aggressive and the were not very mentally sharp. "The Lexington coaching staff should be commended their kids were hungrier than ours were. Even watching film I was very impressed with them offensively and defensively. We felt talent wise we are going to be there most of the year. I felt like our preparation wasn't bad last week, I just felt like it could have been better. I felt like the kids learned a valuable lesson this week. As coaches we have to do a better job of finding those motivating targets and continue to get our kids prepared. Everybody has a stake it what took place (Friday) night," he said.
Sophomore quarterback Brennan Armstrong ran for more than 200 yards against Madison, but was bottled up much better by Lexington. Will says they had a lot breakdowns on Friday night. "They did a very nice job with Brennan running the football. There were some plays there. I felt as good as the offensive line played as a collective unit against Madison I felt they struggled (Friday) night. Some of that was because of the that 3-3 stack. The way they were able to move and blitz was tuff to pick up for a young line. We have to do a better job of blocking on the perimeter. For the most part the routes were pretty sloppy (Friday) night. That was disappointing from my standpoint. I didn't think our cuts were crisp. It was more like we were rounding off and going up the sideline. Those are all correctable things, but things we need to get better at. We have to get these things fixed or its going to be rough," said Will.
Playing defense was probably the best thing the Whippets did against Madison. Will says that was not the case against Lex. "The thing that was frustrating from that standpoint. They was trading the tight end and taking a back to the other side and it was really just a simple adjustment. We were just walking a safety down and sliding our line that way, but we failed to do that many times and that was frustrating because I have a senior captain and a junior captain on that side of the ball and I thought they would be able to handle that a little better," he told Swankonsports.com, "If we line up right and if we play fast and we know what we are doing we have proper angles. (Friday) night, probably 50 percent of the game we were struggling with just that simple switch. That is something we have to get better at. As coaches we have to be able to drill into their head exactly what we want and how we want it, so that is also a reflection on us."
Shelby plays host to Clear Fork (1-1) in non-conference play on Friday night. The Colts evened their record with a (42-24) win at home over Ontario. Will says they have to be mentally prepared for the option. "When I was in high school that is what we ran here was triple option. If there is a crack in your defensive foundation the option will find it. We are going to get down to it and try and get it figured out with the dive, the quarterback and the pitch. You have to be solid all of the way around. It is still the same thing we have to get the right calls made, get lined up correctly, make the right checks and play the defense I know these guys can play," he said.
Published 9/07/15
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Shelby Wants to Force Lex to Throw
Shelby and Lexington are two programs that appear on the rise after wins last week and they meet on Friday night at Shelby in non-conference play.
Shelby stuffed Madison (20-6) last week and held explosive Tyrell Ajian to around 50 total yards. Whippets coach Erik Will says the first thing they did right was to make the pre snap checks. "We were really happy with the defensive effort. We set goals very single week and one of the top goals was to get aligned correctly 100 percent of the time and we did not reach that goal, but we did reach over 90 percent, which the highest it has been since I have been here just as far as people making the right checks and getting lined up and making the proper coverage adjustments. It is amazing when you get lined up right and put yourself in a position athletically to be successful how well you can do. Our guys did that at a high level on Friday. The second thing I thought we had to adjust was our bad tackling in the off season. I thought we tackled at an extremely high level," said Will.
Quarterback Brennan Armstrong ran for more than 200 yards against Madison and Will says the offensive line gave them the opportunity to run the ball. "That is a group where we are starting two sophomores, two juniors and a senior. The two sophomores played really well. Madison has a physical defensive line and at few positions they are really quick and those guys I thought did a nice job of controlling the line of scrimmage. That is something we haven't done at a high level since I have been here. The group did a great job. Anytime something great happens as far as the run for our running backs or our quarterbacks it is probably going to be directly correlated to the offensive line executing up front, so those guys deserve a great deal of credit," said Will.
Lexington (1-0) also ran the ball well in their win over Ontario (26-19) as sophomore Hunter Biddle totaled more than 200 yards. Will says they do a lot of good things. "Lexington is much improved and that coaching staff should be commended. They are running the ball well. They have an identity. They do a really nice job with the inside zone. Their quarterback seems to be a really nice athlete and makes really good decisions with the ball. The running back runs hard. The offensive line seems to do a good job of the zone blocking. We are going to have our hands full with that offense," he said.
When facing the Lexington defense, Will says the Minutemen are going to be athletic. "Defensively, they are a pretty athletic bunch, they aren't huge, but the swarm to the ball well and we have to execute. We definitely looking forward to the game. I don't know when the last time was that Shelby and Lexington were both 1-0 going into the game. I think it was quite a few years back. We are expecting a really nice atmosphere, nice weather. I think the fans will be out to enjoy this one," he said.
Will says he and the coaching staff believe Lexington wants to run the ball first and they want to make them throw it more. "You want to give yourself a better chance defensively by trying to make the offensive team one dimensional. We are going to put some guys up. We are going to try and make them throw the football. We aren't going to hide that, they know that, they know that's what teams and going to try and make them do. We feel the strength of their team is running the football," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We think their quarterbacks best strength is running the football. We are trying to put them in position where their quarterback has to throw the ball. We feel like if their quarterback can throw the ball 15 to 20 times and beat us then maybe then they deserve that because we feel that is the pressure we need to put on them and try to make them do something that they don't necessarily want to do."
Published 9/03/15
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Shelby Faces Athletic Madison
One of the more interesting match-ups in North Central Ohio on Friday night features the Shelby Whippets visiting Madison to take on the Rams in non-conference play.
Much of the anticipation surrounds two athletes in the game, one on each side. Brennan Armstrong of Shelby and Tyrell Asian of Madison are both being recruited by division one college programs. However, many times in games like this it is other players that end up making the difference.
Shelby coach Erik Will, in his third year with the Whippets. thinks they are better prepared for this season than the previous two. "Since I have been here I think the thing that I am most pleased about is we actually made a progression from scrimmage one to scrimmage. Last two years going to into the Madison game I didn't feel that was the case. I really feel like we have made a progression from scrimmage one to scrimmage two. We told the kids last Friday we made improvement, that's the positive thing. We didn't feel as of last Friday we were ready to tackle Madison just yet. The good news is we have this week of practice to get ourselves ready. I thought we had a great film session on Saturday. The kids are really doing a nice job. Obviously, Friday we will see where we are at, but I do like where we are heading," said Will.
Coming out of camp, Will believes they are physically ready to go and now it just being sure they understand what they need to do against Madison and react to what they see. "We are physically ready. We have done all of the weights, we have done all of the training, we have done all of the speed and explosion stuff. The kids know what they are doing. The kids have trained and prepared their bodies and now it is the mental part of the game, now it's the focus, now the ability to process information against a quality team. You can get by some of the middle level teams on your schedule sometimes with just the athleticism of a player at a position and things like that," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "It's fortunate or unfortunate for us that Madison is one of the better teams on our schedule and we have to come out ready to go. I don't know if we can come out midseason form, but we have to come out with a great level of focus and prepared very well."
Regarding Asian, Will says Madison didn't exactly feature him during their scrimmages, but he expects that will change come Friday because the kid is a playmaker. "They are definitely going to get the ball in his hands as much as possible. In the three scrimmages we have seen him make a play or two, but the focus of the scrimmage was not to get him the ball. We understand in a game situation he is going to be the focal point of their offense. We are anticipating him getting a bunch of touches. We would be crazy not to prep that way and I think they would be a little crazy not to get him the ball with the kind of attention he is getting from a college standpoint. He can make moves. He is a heck of an athlete. He is probably the best athlete we will play all year, there is no doubt about that. We feel he is going to a huge part of their offensive game plan and their defensive game plan. Madison has other athletes too. That's the thing about them they are going to have four or five kids that can put the ball in the end zone. We have to be a consistent defense. We have to line up right and we have to execute," said Will.
Published 8/25/15
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Trenches a Key for Shelby
Shelby has some athletes they can put on the field that are going to be able to make some plays, but a real factor for the Whippets will be can they compete at the point of attack.
They scrimmage Sandusky Perkins and Olmstead Falls on Friday night at Perkins.
Coach Erick Will admits there have been some surprises over the first 10 days of camp, some good, some not so good. "It is kind of interesting with as much time and you spend working during your 10 camp days you kind of expect to see certain things and some things kind of surprise you. For example, on our offensive line I feel we are kind of rounding into shape a little bit. I expected our skilled guys to be ahead of the game and that's kind of played out. What we didn't see was some of the depth at some of our positions," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "It is better in some areas than we thought and significantly worse in some areas. We feel like was are having trouble putting together two good practices, which I'm sure is not uncommon across the state. That is what we are preaching trying to get more consistent and a lot of that is because we have a lot of youth."
Will says they will go against some different challenges on Friday and we wants to see what they do in the trenches. "Perkins is a solid program and Olmstead Falls will be up there with us. We will get to see a little bit of the triple option there. Perkins is a solid program, state playoff team, they are going to compete for their conference title this year. I hope that is a measuring stick for where you are at on that stage because they hit hard and I am excited to see how our kids respond to that. I think athletically we can compete with anybody. I want to see in the trenches, in between the tackles, how do we perform. It will be a good evaluation tool watching the film on Saturday," he said.
Football is a physical sport and sometimes you get hurt. Will says players have to fight through those bumps and bruises. "Everybody calls it sometime. Ohio State calls it the grind. There is no doubt it is tough. I mean football is a tough sport. It's tough mentally, it is tough physically. You are going to get down. You are going to get hit. You are going to get right back up and go through some pains and bruises. We have a couple of kids we are monitoring like everybody else. You find out a lot about your team from the psychological side of it in seeing how kids can battle through being injured and hurt. Our kids are doing a pretty good job with that,' said Will.
Published 8/13/15
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"Black Cyclone" Comes to Shelby
The highly respected play about the life of Charles Follis, the first black football player in America, comes to Shelby for three performances this weekend.
It will be staged at the Shelby High School Performing Arts Center Friday at 7:30 and again Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30.
The play, written by Jim Stoner, chronicles the life Follis, who became a football star in Wooster, then played for the famous Shelby Blues, and eventually baseball in the Negro Leagues.
Stoner, who came to Shelby in 1996 as Director of the Shelby Chamber of Commerce, very early discovered a picture of Follis and that was where the idea of writing the play began. "When I was walking through the Shelby Museum of History in 1996 I came across an interesting photograph. It was of a young black man seated with a bunch of white guys and the photo was vintage 1902." And he wanted to know more. "I looked a little closer and I see Charles is holding a championship football. The curator of the museum said, Jim, that is the first black professional football player in America."
Shelby, as we have said many times on this website, is a football town first and foremost and it is more than just the Whippets. "I learned about the storied tradition in Shelby about football and how they were a member of the Ohio League and how all these teams used to slug it out from bragging rights back at the turn of the century," said Stoner.
Follis, playing for Wooster, nearly led an upset of the talented Blues one Saturday. The Blues won just 8-0 and Frank Schiffer, who owned the Shelby team, new what he had found on the opposite side of the ball and wanted to sign him to his own team.
As Stoner relates, he knew that wasn't going to be easy due to the type of community Shelby was then. "Frank Schiffer, who owned the Shelby Blues at the time, approached Charles, and said look Charles, I never want to play against you again, and he offered him a contract to move to Shelby. What makes this even more unique is Shelby was known as a sundown town. Many cities across Central Ohio still living in the shadow of the Civil War would take a stance where they didn't want many people of color in their communities. Whether it was written on the books or not there was an attitude that they didn't want black people on the street after dark. But, Frank Schiffer had enough foresight and I guess presence in community, maybe bullheadedness, that he was going to bring Charles Follis back to Shelby with him," he told Swankonsports.com.
Follis would die at an early age in 1910, but while he was playing for Shelby he befriended a man that would become pretty important to sports history in this country, Branch Rickey.
Stoner says Rickey never forgot the relationship he had with Follis. "Once Rickey has the financial well for all and the social status to advance the black cause on a national stage he decides to look for somebody like Charles Follis that was going to have to face racism not only on his own team, but against the opponents. That was when Rickey decided to sign Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947."
Rickey is the narrator of the play, which was originally staged at Malabar Farm in 2013.
Published 8/07/15
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Better Defense a Key for Whippets
Shelby is a town that loves its football and is chomping at the bit for more success on the football field after four straight losing seasons on the gridiron.
Shelby finished at (2-8) in 2014 and in sixth in the seven team Northern Ohio League. Their wins over Lexington in non-conference play and rival Willard in a league game.
With some young talent, coach Erik Will says they are ready to get some things accomplished in camp and get things headed in the right direction. "We are like everybody else we have taken our 10 days and worked everybody out. For the players, and the coaches too, it is just great to be able to get our there and not have any resections as far as being able to work with our guys. We thought we kind of got things rolling last year, but we really think we can take things to another level this year. Leadership has kind of been out focus and mental toughness and handling adversity. That is something we have really preached this year," he said.
Shelby played a lot of young kids last year on the football field and many of those same players helped the Whippets reach the district tournament in both basketball and baseball. "Our sophomore and junior classes are both pretty good. I know it's not just me that is excited about that, but coach Schwemley and coach Amicone and are excited about that as well. There is no doubt that momentum from success in other sports, especially when you have as many two and three sport athletes as we have. I think what it does is the comradely is good, the locker room is good. One of the most powerful things that you see in sports is when a group of guys buy in and really enjoy playing next to each other," said Will.
From then 1940's through the early 1970's Shelby had more success in football than any school in North Central Ohio and Will says the fan base is eager to return to those glory days. "I can tell you this when you walk around town and you talk to people. You can't walk 10 feet without someone wanting to talk about football. There is definitely some excitement in the air. There are people that are genuinely excited about Shelby football. One thing that makes Shelby special is they care about all of the sports, but there is definitely a football flavor to it. We don't hide from that, we know the tremendous responsibility we have being Shelby football players," he said.
Sophomore quarterback Brennan Armstrong has already gotten some attention from some big time college programs, such as Ohio State. Will says he has handled the spotlight very well. "I think one of the biggest things for a coach is how the player handles individual success and where does that fit for that player with his teammates. Brennan has handled it well. If you were to talk to him, he doesn't want to talk about it at all. He just wants to be a Shelby football player. He just wants to hang out with his buddies. He wants to be part of a group that puts Shelby football where it should be fighting for league championships. That is his focus and it isn't fake. His work ethic has been tremendous. We told him with a this attention comes a lot of responsibility. I couldn't be any more proud of him," said Will.
Last year, the Whippets just gave up too many points, 349 in their 10 games. Of course, 83 coning in the overtime classic with Tiffin Columbian. They allowed 180 over the last three weeks. Will says they have to get to the ball and they must tackle better, much better. "Offensively we want to be a little more well rounded and be a little more efficient in our passing game. The big fix we have to make is we have to tackle better. We need to tweak our defense and we have to tackle better. Early last season I thought we were okay and doing a better job for this first five games, swarming, and playing what we call our hungry hound defense. I think as a head coach that is something we have to address. We spent a tremendous amount of time this off season just working on tackling technique. How do we get the best 11 kids on the field," said Will.
Published 8/03/15
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Bellevue Pounds Shelby for District Title
Bryce Ray, Dylan DeWitt, Shane Miller, and Thomas Pressler all had two RBI and Bellevue hammered Northern Ohio League foe Shelby (10-3) in the division two district final at Mansfield Madison High School on Saturday afternoon.
For Bellevue is was their first district title since 2001 and coach Andy Dennings says it is something they have been working for. "You know this is something we have been waiting on for quite a while. We felt we were good enough to get there and just didn't play well enough in a couple of situations. Four or five years ago we really let one slip away. This is what we have been building for. It was time for us to take the next step. These kids have been working really hard. We have played well all year. We have been very consistent. I am very happy for them," said Dennings.
Shelby's talented freshman Brennan Armstrong couldn't go to the mound due to a hip injury and coach Jon Amicone admits that set them back on Saturday. "It hurt, Brennan was going to start. He is one our top two pitchers. He was going to start the game (Thursday) and he couldn't go and you have to go down in your rotation deeper than what you want to in a championship game. All of the pitchers we put in there competed," he said.
Every Bellevue starter reach base at least one and Dennings says they have a lot of depth in their lineup. "It is the same only story, but I am happy it is the same old story. We flipped it around to the top of the order numerous times. Bryce (Ray) came through and had some big hits and Dylan (DeWitt) had some big hits. I thought the big thing for us was to get going early and I think that kind of set the tone," he said.
Bellevue took a (1-0) in the first on an RBI double by DeWitt and then put up a three spot in the second, highlighted by Ray's two-run double.
Tristrn Snezek started for Bellevue and pitched well allowing only one hit over the first three innings, but then hit four batters in the fourth and was relieved by Colten Slaven to start the fifth. Dennings says they have a lot of arms they can turn to. "It has been there all year. We struggled a little bit. Colten (Slaven), when he came in he couldn't find the off speed , so we had to live and die and hope they couldn't hit the fastball and they did not. We got a couple ground balls and I guess we got a little lucky," he told Swankonsports.com, "Then he found the curve a little bit, I think we was just a little excited about the moment. Snezek was rolling along pretty good and then got himself in a little jam when he was plunking kids. He got a little rattled and we decided to make a change."
Bellevue pitching induced Shelby into 13 ground ball outs and a lot of those were gobbled up by DeWitt at the shortstop position. "He's the best we have had there. He is playing extremely well. I think he is playing hest best baseball right now. We are pretty comfortable when it is going right there. We don't worry a whole lot," said Dennings.
Shelby (16-10) ended the season playing pretty good baseball, beating Norwalk and Ontario is the tournament, both seeded higher than them, and Amicone was proud of his kid's effort. "We fought extremely hard and as a coach that is all you can ask for. We got down early and played catch up the whole game. Bellevue is a phenomenal team. When you make as many mistakes as we did (Saturday), you boot the ball around and you don't get that big hit with two out you are just not going to win," he said.
Bellevue (23-4) will play Parma Heights Holy Name on Thursday at Carter Park in Bowling Green in the division two regional semis.
Published 5/24/15
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Thornsberry One-Hits Ontario in District Semis
Junior lefthander Dillon Thornsberry limited Ontario to just one hit and the Shelby Whippets topped the Warriors (4-1) in the division two district semi finals on Thursday at Madison High School.
Thornsberry didn't allow hit until a solid single by Tyler Weber in the sixth inning. "We put him in there because we have complete trust in him. He pitched extremely well in the sectional championship game too. He is throwing the ball really well for the team. In the biggest time of the year Dillon Thornsberry has stepped up. He has been our star. He has been our leader. I am extremely proud of him. He carried the whole team on his back," said Shelby coach Jon Amicone.
Thornsberry says his curveball was the difference for him. "The change up wasn't working as well I was hoping in would. The curveball was working, so I just stuck with that," he said.
Veteran Ontario coach Dan Gorbett says Thornberry wasn't overpowering, but he kept them off balance and they could never really get anything going. "He was throwing strikes and they played great defense. They made several outstanding plays. Anytime we got something going their outfield made an outstanding play," said Gorbett.
Amicome says his lefthander kind of sneaks up on you. "He is kind of that democratic pitcher. He gets ground balls and pop ups. He is not going to wow you with his fastball or his curveball, but he keeps you off balance enough where he gets ground balls and fly balls and we played extremely well behind him," he said.
Shelby took a (1-0) lead in the top of the first on an RBI double by Alex Paulo, who stepped in with 1-2 count after Brennan Armstrong couldn't go because of an injury. Two Ontario errors, one when they tried to pick a runner off first, lead to another Whippet run an (2-0) lead after an inning and half. "Ontario doesn't make errors. It doesn't happen very often, so on the occasion that they do you have to score runs. They are one of the best coached teams in the area. I hold Dan Gorbett in the highest regard. I consider him a friend and a mentor," said Amicone.
It remained (2-0) until the bottom on the sixth when Ontario (21-5) scratched across a run on an RBI ground out by Mason Goodwin.
However, Shelby responded with two in their half of the seventh on another botched pick off by Ontario, an RBI ground out by Thornsberry and a run scoring double by Carter Brooks. "With them getting one in the sixth, especially with the best pitcher in the area throwing for them. To manufacture some runs was huge for us to get the momentum back. It allowed Thornsberry to relax and just throw strikes in the seventh inning," Amicone told Swankonsports.com after the game.
Only one of Shelby's run were earned and Gorbett says the Warriors really didn't give themselves a chance to win. "You are not gong to win a lot of baseball games with six errors and one hit, so that's the bottom line. We didn't play well," he said.
Shelby (16-9) will play Bellevue for a district title on Saturday afternoon at Madison.
Published 5/21/15
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Shelby Meets Ontario in District Semis
Shelby faces Ontario in Thursday's division two district semi finals at Madison High School. It's the third meeting between the Northern Ohio League powers. Each won their home game in league play.
Shelby won (7-6) and Ontario was victorious (4-2) earlier this year.
Shelby coach Jon Amicone predicts this game will be just as close. "They were pretty close games both times, both decided late in the game, so it should be fun. That is what high school baseball is all about, playing against top teams not only in the regular season, but now that tournament time comes. It should be fun, we are looking forward to it," he said.
As you get farther and farther down the tournament trail pitching becomes more important. Amicone says both teams have some pretty good arms. "That is why Ontario is 21-4. Basically they have two studs that they can throw out there. Homan and Goodwin, they both know how to pitch. They are coached extremely well. I would argue they have one the best coaches in the state in Dan Gorbett, a man I have the up most respect for and admire. That's what makes Ontario so good. they have two studs at the top of their rotation, they throw the ball well and hit the ball well," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I am very confident in our kids too. Dillon Thornsberry, Brennan Armstrong, Garrett Caudill have pitched really well for us. Pitching is important during the regular season, but it is put even more under the microscope during the playoffs. If you get that pitcher that get you outs and a lot of ground balls you will be in good shape come tournament time."
As far as who they might see start the game for Ontario, Amicone says it is kind of pick your poison. "With Goodwin and Homan you have 1-A and 1-B, I don't think you could go wrong either way. You have to prepare for both of them. We are just preparing to play Ontario and put some good at bats together and try top move runners. You can't go wrong with either one," he said.
One this that has been a plus for the Whippets is they have gotten some production throughout the line up. Amicone says they expect quality at bats from everybody. "That is something we really preach and talk about. It is not just one person's ability to score runs. It's a lineup's ability to score runs. We really stress it is one through nine. If you are batting third or seventh or ninth it really doesn't matter. If you are in the lineup you are expected to do a job and have a quality at bat and get people in scoring position and get that big hit with two outs. I am very happy with our lineup from top to bottom," he said.
Published 5/20/15
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Shelby Advances to District
Shelby broke open a close game by scoring five times in the fifth inning and went on to beat Norwalk (7-2) in a division two sectional final at Norwalk on Thursday.
With game tied at two Shelby loaded the bases on hits by Brennan Armstrong, Dillon Thornsberry and Carter Brooks, Darien Payne gave Shelby the lead with a sacrifice fly to center. Garrett Caudill, Nate Sayre, Mason Wells and Brandon Schneider all followed with RBI hits to give the Whippets a five run lead.
Caudill, Sayre and Wells, the bottom third of the Shelby lineup, combined for five hits in the game. "Our seven, eight, nine hitters did a great job of putting the ball in play. When you put the ball in play in this game anything can happen. We had a couple of bloop base hits over third, but it looks the same in the scorebook. I was really proud of them. We wanted to grind out at bats and put the pressure on them defensively and I thought we kind of stuck to the game plan and did a nice job of that," Shelby coach Jon Amicone.
The Whippets hit some balls hard early in the game, but came up empty. Amicone says they were able to stay patient against Norwalk starter Jobe Adkins. "We keep telling the kids because we had some tough outs in the first couple of innings. We hit the ball heard right at them. As coaches we just tried to keep them up saying they are going to fall, they are going to fall. Fortunately we were able to get some base hits at keys spots in the game," he said.
Norwalk took a (1-0) lead in the first on a RBI single by Blake Obringer. After Shelby tied it top of the third, Norwalk retook the lead (2-1) when Ben Neuberger scored on a Shelby error.
Shelby starter Dillon Thorsberry went the distance striking out three. Norwalk was able to get a runner on base in each of the last three innings, but Thornsberry was able to keep them off the scoreboard. "Thornsberry was a star (Thursday) night. He put the whole team on his back. I am proud of him in the biggest game of the year he showed what type of player he is. As a coach you can't be more proud of a kid like that," said Amicone.
Shelby (14-9) will play another Northern Ohio League school in Ontario (21-4) in the district semi-finals next Thursday at Madison High School. The two teams spilt during the regular season, each winning at home, the Whippets (7-6) on April 13 and the Warriors (4-2) on May 1. Amicone says the "NOL" prepared them well for the postseason. "The "NOL" is a phenomenal baseball league. We grind it out. Norwalk ground in out. It prepares you for these tournament games. That is why we try to play the schedule like it is, make it a tough non league to be ready for these moments," he said.
Published 5/15/15
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Shelby Rallies to beat Madison
Nate Sayre's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh gave the Shelby Whippets a (5-4) win over Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Mansfield Madison on Monday in non-conference play at Shelby High School.
Although it wasn't a league game, Shelby coach Jon Amicone knows what a win over the Rams means. "Those are the type of teams that you need to play to get to their level. With Madison I have all of the respect in the world for Doug Rickert and the program he has built. They are a premier program in the area," he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Monday, "I know this was a big win for us, but those are the people you want to be like. We want people to think of Shelby like they think of Madison today. It was a good win for the kids."
Last week, the Whippets (12-8,5-5) lost four straight games, three in the league, twice to Tiffin Columbian (4-0 and 1-0) and one to Ontario (4-2) and another to Mt. Vernon (4-2) in non-conference play on Saturday. Amicone says the win against Madison was really needed. "It was a long week last week, there is no debating it. We fell short by a total of eight runs and it was tough. To come back on Monday and beat a quality opponent in a close one it just feels better to win. The kids are happy to kind of get that monkey off your back and that little losing streak," he said.
Shelby travels to Willard (0-14,0-10) on Tuesday. Amicone says they need to find their grove again league play. "We played some tough opponents. Tiffin Columbian played phenomenal against us and then lose to a great Ontario team 4-2. We have to get back on track. We travel to Willard and we have to bring our "A" game. In the "NOL" if you don't bring it you will pay for it. We are focused on Willard now," he said.
Shelby plays league co-leader Bellevue (15-4,8-2), a (14-0) winner over Sandusky on Monday, in "NOL" action on Thursday.
They play league foe Norwalk (14-8) in a division two tournament game on the road next week. Amicone says they have to improve if they expect to win. "It worked out kind of like I thought. I thought we would kind of be in the middle of pack and when I saw where teams were seeded in the bracket I got a good feeling that we were going to play Norwalk. We are going to have to play extremely well. Norwalk is a phenomenal team. We are going to have to take care of business this week and just get better and see what happens next Thursday,'" said Amicone.
Published 5/05/15
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Shelby Rebounds to Get Big Win
After a tough one run loss to the Bellevue on Wednesday night, the Shelby Whippets went to Norwalk and came up with a big win (4-2) over the Truckers in Northern Ohio League baseball on Thursday.
Coach Jon Amicone said his players just did a tremendous job in getting win they had to have. "We had a tough loss to Bellevue (Wednesday) night on the road. We lost 2-1 in a game that I felt we kind of let slip away. Hats off to the Redmen for closing it out at the end. We turn around and get on the bus for another 40 minute drive. I am extremely pleased and proud of my kids to come back (Thursday) after a tough loss and get a big win over road against a very, very good Norwalk team. It kind of showed the kind of level that we are starting to get to and I am just very pleased with our kids effort," he said.
They needed to very good performance on the mound on Thursday and Amicone says they got one from a kid who is kind of their stopper. "Dillon Thornsberry, one of the guys we are going to lean on to get where we want to go, a junior lefty for us, went all seven. He came off the mound after the sixth and I kind of had that talk with him. Do you want to try it? Do you want to go out? There was no hesitation at all he wanted the ball," he told Swankonsports.com after the game on Thursday, "We wanted to give our player that we want to ride the opportunity. He rose to the occasion in the seventh inning to give us a complete game win. I am proud of Dillon. It makes you feel more comfortable when there is no hesitation."
Due to the weather both teams kind of knew, said Amicone, that there wasn't going to be an offensive explosion. He said they did a solid job of small ball. "Both teams knew that going in and there was a lot of small ball being played. A lot of bunts and hits and runs to just get guys in scoring position. It was just so cold and the ball didn't carry very well. There were not a lot of hard hit balls. You have to change your offensive philosophy. Getting runners in scoring position and getting a big two out hit to get them in. We bunted a few times. Our guys did a goof job battling with the weather with our offense," he said.
Right now Bellevue (12-2,6-0) leads Shelby (10-4,5-2) by two games in the "NOL" race. Amicone says they know somebody is going to have bring the Redmen back to the pack, but that won't be easy. "It speaks volumes for the quality of the program. They have that rolling right now. They have phenomenal coaches. You tip your cap to a team like that. They play phenomenal defense, there are no errors, their pitchers pound the strike zone, and they get quality at bats. You never know about baseball, that is the great thing about the sport. You better come ready to play everyday. We've got to keep winning to have a shot. We have to take care of the Shelby Whippets first and see where the chips fall in the end," said Amicone.
Shelby plays Bellevue again on May 7 in Shelby. The Redmen must travel to defending league champion Ontario on Friday.
Published 4/24/15
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Shelby Wins Big One
Nate Sayre's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave the Shelby Whippets a (7-6) win over the defending Northern Ohio League champion Ontario Warriors on Monday afternoon at Shelby High School.
After losing to Sandusky (8-0) last week the Whippets beat Norwalk (10-6) last Friday and again were up to the challenge on Monday. Coach Jon Amicone says Monday's was a win they almost had to have. "It was a league game that we needed to win. We dropped our first league game against Sandusky. To stay in the race it was a must win. It is tough when there are must win games so early in the season, but it was something we really needed to have happen," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "It was an exciting seventh inning. We had a one-run lead going to the top half and of course they are going to fight and they pushed two across. We went to the bottom half down one. We were down to our last strike with no one on base and we were able to grind out that at bat to get a base hit. We got four straight hits to push across a run. I can't say enough about how proud I am of the kids. We never gave up even being down to our last strike."
Brandon Schneider drove in the tying run in the seventh and Amicone says they just played with a never say die attitude. He says these are kids that are used to pressure situations. "We were down to our six, seven, eight, nine hitters. Our seventh hitter had a big, two-out RBI to tie it and our eight hitter ended it. When you get production like that from the bottom of your line up you are going to be really successful. They are tough minded kids that play other sports for the Shelby community and they have been under the spotlight other times in their sporting careers. It is nice to have that kind of confidence. It something we try to preach in baseball to just have that mental toughness. It is just a game where if you aren't mentally tough you are not going to be successful. To see the kids just keep grinding and to see the kids not giving up is all a coach can ask for at any level in any sport," said Amicone.
Shelby (5-2,2-1) plays at Tiffin Columbian on Tuesday in league play. The Tornadoes were leading Willard (8-1) in the fourth inning on Monday when the rains came. They Whippets play host to the Flashes on Thursday.
Amicone says winning those home games are very important if you are going to win an "NOL" title. "You have to win at home, you have that advantage. That just shows how big this game was and how important this game was for us. We talked about it being a must win. We just felt for us to have a chance at the end of the season we just had to win this one being at home and already dropping our first league game. It's exciting and it kind of puts us back where we need to be. We just want to continue to maintain the focus and the competitive nature and see where it takes us," he said.
Published 4/14/15
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Shelby Bounces Back and Edges Loudonville
Shelby got right back on track and picked up its first win of the baseball season on Wednesday night when they edged Loudonville (4-3) in non-league play at home.
Coach Jon Amicone says it is in those tight one run games, like Wednesday, that you learn to become a better baseball player. "Those are the fun games to play at that is what separates baseball from some other games those close games that you play. Every pitch you are on your toes and you are zoned in and that makes it fun. It is a confidence builder as you learn to win those close games and hopefully we are headed in that direction," he said.
Clyde took apart the Whippets (15-5) on Monday and Amicone was really proud of how they responded against Loudonville. "It is always the goal to have a good season. We were able to get our first win (Wednesday) night. We bounced back after getting beat up by a pretty good Clyde team. We kind of got humbled game one and to come back game two two days later and win a close one that really shows the character of the team that we have," he said.
Shelby (1-1) plays at Sandusky (1-2) in their Northern Ohio League opener on Thursday, weather permitting. The Blue Streaks run ruled Sandusky Perkins (11-1) on Wednesday and Amicone knows this is a good team they will be playing. "When you think of Sandusky you just think of athletes from that school no matter what the sport is. We are going to have to come ready to play and pitch well and continue to stress good defense and let the chips fall where they may," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, "In the "NOL" you better come ready to play whether it is Sandusky, Ontario or Bellevue, every day you better come to play if you expect to win."
Published 4/02/15
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Girls' Basketball Players to Showcase Talents
Wednesday night, girls' basketball players of all ages will get an opportunity to show what they can do to fans and college coaches with Shelby Rotary NCO Girls' All-Star Basketball Classic at Shelby High School.
Kyle Fenner of Colonel Crawford and Eric Mitchell of New London are the coaches in the senior game, which includes two ten player teams.
Fenner has done this before, so she knows what to expect. "This will be the second time coaching the all-star game. I believe in 2000 I coached the all-star game over in Ashland, so this will be my second time," she said.
She will coach team black, which will include: Anna Hintz of South Central, Deijah Swihart of Clear Fork, Gabby Stephens of Shelby, Shelby Stamm of Bellevue, Ellie Richmond of Wynford, Hannah Adams of Willard, Sydnie Carpenter of Ashland, Mekaila Grose of Mansfield Madison, Ta-Sharra Jeffries of Sandusky and Emily Wagner of Sandusky Perkins.
A real key to this format is to get everyone into the game with a chance to showcase there skills. "It's not really hard we will have ten kids and we will probably put them in groups of five and let them play for four or five minutes then we will substitute. We will approach it that way and let them get up and down the floor and show their skills. If it's a game at the end we will probably go with the five or six best kids that we feel can win the game for us," said Fenner.
Some of the players might know where they are going to college, but some may not. Fenner says this is their chance to impress. "There are going to be a good portion of college coaches there that night. They have done a great job of getting college coaches there. It will a great chance for these kids to show their skills off to not only the area, but also some college coaches that will be there," she said.
On team white will be Carly Santoro of Bellevue, Valesha Province of Tiffin Columbian, Shelby White of Ashland, Jeryn Reese of Mansfield Senior, Morgan Bailey of Clear Fork, Hunter Feltner of Willard, Alexis Smith of Mansfield Madison, Makayla Cook of Norwalk, Megan Flaherty of Bucyrus and Samantha Reer of Norwalk St. Paul. The coach of the team will be Eric Mitchell of New London.
There is also an underclassmen game on Wednesday night, a first due to a change in OHSAA rules and Clear Fork coach Heidi Roush is one the coaches in that game.
She was an MVP in an all-star game as a player, but this will be her first as a coach. "It is my first time coaching anything like this. There are some stipulations as to who can coach the younger kids. You couldn't have one of your own players on the team. I think that is how they kind of stumbled on me. I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will be a lot of fun," she told Swankonsports.com.
Her team members are: Renee Stimpert of Crestview, Abigail Fogle of Upper Sandusky, Sarah Ogden of Wynford, Gabbi Baldridge of Willard, Ashley Painley of Norwalk St. Paul, Shelby Kin of Carey, Maggie King of Willard, Jisselle Thomas of Norwalk, Paige Leitz of Monroeville and Leah Bouillon of New Riegel.
She says she will judge playing time by performance during the game. "With you know you have talented kids, they wouldn't be on the team other wise. I think for the most part you just go with who is playing well. Get everyone in there and let them show their skills," said Roush.
There are only a couple of practices before them game and Roush says the players sort of have to get used to each other. "There are some larger schools and I know those players and what they are capable of and there are some players that I haven't seen before and I only know their stat lines checking on then throughout the season in the paper. I think it will be a little bit of a challenge for the kids knowing each other. Some of them will have played against each other in summer league, some during the season and then there are kids they really don't know each other," said Roush.
Playing for team black in the underclassmen game are Seina Adachi of Seneca East, Sydney Wentling of Carey, Kamryn Troike of Fostoria St. Wendelin, Payton Shays of New London, Kelci Simms of Bucyrus, Jenna Strayer of Bellevue, Sydney Holderman of Riverdale, Emily Yeager of Mansfield St. Peter's, Jackie Garrett of Shelby and Alexus Burkhart of Colonel Crawford. They will be coached by Jon Dawson of Willard.
Roush thinks it is pretty cool that underclassmen get to participate too. "In this sport most of the time you are going to end with a loss and it can be so disheartening. Now, these younger kids are going to get a chance to play again this season and pump them up and get them ready for next season," she said.
There will be a halftime three point shooting contest among girls in district 6. Some boys will be there for dunk contest as well.
The underclassmen game starts at 6 PM, with the senior game at about 7:45. Tickets for the game are $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, and free for 18 and under who donate a gently used or new children's book to the Shelby Rotary's "Big Red Book Shelf."
Published 3/23/15
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Shelby Has New Coach, Good Outlook
On the football field and the basketball floor, the Shelby Whippets felt the influence of some younger kids and that should be the case on the baseball diamond too.
Coach Jon Amicone says they are going to have at least two freshman that are going to start for the varsity and make a big impact on the field. "Of course, everybody knows the name Brennan Armstrong, he was a our varsity quarterback, and will join the varsity ranks of Shelby as a very nice lefty pitcher as well as a talented outfielder. The kid has just tremendous talent. He is gifted and a hard worker, he just wants to be good," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "As well as Carter Brooks, he will be on the varsity, he played JV basketball, and we expect big things out of Carter. He will be our starting shortstop as a freshman. They are going to be thrown right into the fire, but I think they are used to it know being part of two varsity sports. They are no longer Freshmen."
It is his first year as the coach in Shelby, but Amicone knows the league well, and he understands that you are going to have to be ready every time out in this league. "One of the reasons I decided to leave Wynford, and I love Wynford, and will always be a place in my heart for Wynford, was I am from Shelby and I know the parity in the "NOL." In baseball it is a very, very quality league. It is going be one of those seasons where if you don't bring your "A" game and if you don't field the ball well, hit the ball well, and pitch well you are going to be in trouble every time you play an "NOL" team. Ontario, it starts with them, Dab Gorbett is one the top coaches in the state of Ohio. It starts with them, but you better bring your "A" game every time you play an "NOL" team or you are going to be in trouble," said Amicone.
There is a good deal of talent at Shelby, but Amicone says they must be playing better defense when the season starts and understand the little things that make up the game. "We don't value the baseball really well defensively right now. We are kind of throwing the ball away and missing cut off guys. We have to understand when we lose that hidden base game that can not only cost you a game, but it can cost you a championship. A simple thing like missing a cut and then that runner on first is on second base and now a base hit scores him. We don't value the baseball right now and that is something we are really working on as far as coaches and players. We are really working on that every time we go outside," he said.
Weather permitting, Shelby will host Loudonville for a doubleheader on March 28. They open Northern Ohio League play at Sandusky on April 2.
Published 3/20/15
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Shelby Has to out Hustle Ontario
Shelby faces Ontario for a third time this season this time in the division two district semi finals on Wednesday night at Mansfield Senior's Pete Henry Gym.
It was Ontario that won the first two (74-61) at the "O-rena" and (64-59) at Shelby.
The Whippets (15-8) downed Norwalk (49-41) in their sectional final last Friday at Madison. Cody Stine was their leading scorer with nine points and coach Troy Schwemley says they have enjoyed good balance all year. "I don't know if I would say that was something we anticipated going in going into this year it is something that kind of happened. It has been an enjoyable thing when it is different guys that step up every night, not even just one guy, but multiple guys. Brandon Schneider has been our leading scorer and there have been nights when he has gotten into the 20's, but for the most part a normal night for us is three or four guys around double figures and then in the tournament game we didn't have anybody in double figures," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We have gotten big nights out of Davey Hipp, Lucas Bihl, Brendan Armstrong, Cory Cox, Cody Stine. It can be somebody different every night and that has kind been what has allowed us to be successful and it's made us difficult to defend at times because you never know who is going to come in and find a way to contribute."
District player of the year Lenell Shelby has been the difference maker for Ontario (23-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, this year. Schwemley says he is a kid that just seems to make big plays. "Lenell Shelby is their leading scorer. What I think he does so well is whether he is scoring or assisting he is somehow part of the play. There are so many times when he just seems to get the lose ball or get the rebound. Homan is another consistent scorer for them, but they have multiple guys that can get hot. They are similar to us because if you look at the scoring averages nobody really stands out it is very similar. You have to account for all of them, you can't let somebody get hot. With Lenell they just sort of follow his lead. It just seems like they have a knack for getting those lose balls in those turning moments in games and I think that is going to be a key for us," said Schwemley.
In their first two meetings this season Schwemley says the Warriors have out hustled his kids and that can't happen on Wednesday night. "I hope that rebounding isn't a factor because if its is typically been for the other team. When you look at their heights and heights it has been their effort. I think their seniors set the tone and their guys just follow that lead and that is just something we are going to have to negate. When I think back to our first two games hustle plays seemed to be the difference makers. When we would battle back and it would be a close ball game it seemed those lose balls would be theirs. That is the reason they have had the great season they have had because in big moments and consistently through the game they play hard and get those 50-50 balls," said Schwemley.
Published 3/10/15
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Shelby Clashes With League Foe Norwalk
Northern Ohio League rivals Shelby and Norwalk meet for a third time this time in the division two sectional finals on Friday night at Mansfield Madison Middle School.
The two teams played twice during the regular season with the Whippets (14-8) winning both (60-57) in overtime at Norwalk and (68-34) at Shelby.
Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says they were both important wins for them. "The first game at their place I thought was probably one turning moments of the season. We had beaten Clyde in overtime on Tuesday of that week and turned around and played at Norwalk and was able to win in overtime there. I thought that week was kind of turning point for us in believing in what we were doing and the kids buying into it and having some success. The game at our place was a six point game at halftime and things started to go well for us in the second half. The score looks worse than it was. I think we were up 19 with three, four minutes to go and a couple of shots in and the score looked worse than the game really was," said Schwemley.
When it comes to Friday night, Schwemley says they have to take a fresh approach to the Truckers. "Those games are meaningless, whether if they were close or not. It is kind of nice that it was a while ago since we played them. I think it is awkward when you play a team the week before and than turn around and play them again. So, both of us have had a few more games since then. Norwalk came out and beat Clear Fork the other night and did a lot of things really well. Both of us know each other really well. It is going to be a great match up on Friday night," he said.
Norwalk's George Friend scored 35 points in the Truckers (70-58) win over Clear Fork in semi-final play on Tuesday night. Schwemley says the Truckers have developed into a nice offensive team. "George had an absolutely great game. I would probably classify that as a career night. Coming in he was averaging around 10 points a game. They get consistent scoring from Turner and Jordan. With their guards they have had different guys step up at different times. For George to have seven threes and score 35 points to me that is just the beauty of tournament basketball. (Tuesday) night was just his night and he hit his shots. It was that catalysis that helped Norwalk find a way to win," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "At this time of year you just need guys to step up and it doesn't matter who it has been. We are going to have to be ready to defend their guards. They have showed moments of scoring and have matured. We know we are going to have to defend the perimeter, but also the interior because Turner and Jordan are their two leading scorers and do some very good things."
Published 3/05/14
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Shelby Still Searching For Better Start
If Shelby could just quick digging an early hole they could become a better basketball team and they are already a pretty good one.
It happened again last Friday when they fell behind Willard (38-18) at the half and made a mad rush at end before losing (63-60) to their rivals. Coach Troy Schwemley was proud of the effort he saw in the third and fourth quarter and they even left some points on the floor. "Unfortunately we got off to a slow start. Willard came out and played some really good basketball and made some shots. It was one of those things where they did a nice job of taking away what we wanted and extended that lead and were up 20 at halftime. I give our kids credit, like they have done all year, of battling back and we really gave ourselves a chance to get back in the game in the third and fourth quarter," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We missed some opportunities there in the third. Our goal was to get it in single digits and give ourselves a chance. We played hard, but we left some opportunities out there. I am proud of the kids for battling back, but we have to figure out how to not dig ourselves such a big hole."
Shelby (13-8,6-5) is the kind of team that can get back in game because they can score points in a hurry. Schwemley says one reason is they have a number of guys that can make three pointers. "It seems like when we do hit some shots things can start going well. When you go back to that Willard game we did not hit our first three pointer until the fourth quarter. We finally hit a three the first shot of the fourth quarter. i know sometimes I wish we would do a better job of getting the ball inside and scoring, but that just seems to be the style we have developed. When things are going well and we hit some shots we can be pretty explosive. We just have to find a way of getting it stated a little earlier," he said.
It's a trip to Bellevue (6-14,2-8) for the Whippets on Friday night. Schwemley says the Redmen will play with emotion on their home floor and they are going to have to make sure they get some of those 50/50 balls too. "It is going to be their last home game. Anytime you go into a situation like that you know you are going to get the other team's best effort. They are a team that has struggled record wise. They have won five or six games, but I can remember playing them a couple of weeks ago and they have a lot o seniors on the team, they are athletic. It is a situation where we are going to have to match their athleticism and effort and we are going to have to execute a little better and make some shots. Make sure we make those hustle plays because those plays can be the difference in games like that. At this time of year you want to be playing good basketball and hopefully we can end the regular season on a positive note," said Schwemley.
Published 2/26/15
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Shelby Meets Ontario in D2 Tournament
A pair of Northern Ohio League teams face each other in the first round of the division two girls' basketball tournament on Tuesday night at Willard High School.
Shelby (9-9) smoked Ontario (70-44) in their first meeting on December 27 and then just got past the Lady Warriors (45-39) on February 7 at Shelby. coach Natalie Lantz says there are no secrets between the two. "This will be the third time we play them this year, the second time in the last couple of weeks really. We need to be prepared to step out and play our game," she said.
Lantz says in reviewing the film was pretty disappointed the last time they played Ontario (5-13), especially on defense. She says there has to be an upgrade. "We did not talk and rotate well defensively. I felt we could have rebounded a little better. We have always had the philosophy that defense comes first and that initiates our offense. We didn't do well in transition that game either and those are big keys for us. I feel we have to come out and play much better defensively and work harder together as a team. That is what is going to give us a win," said Lantz.
Shelby has shown the ability to score points this season. Lantz says that comes from their defense, which gives them more chances to score. "I think we are playing a lot better team ball than we were. We have had some kids really step up. I think our post play is a lot stronger than it was early in the season and now we have developed more of an inside-out game and that is great. We do have some outside shooters and kids that can take it to the hole as well. We need to continue to be aggressive and attack offensively, but again defense comes first," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday. "If we don't give ourselves opportunities at the basket that is a whole different ball game. We don't want to be limited offensively and you limit yourselves by not playing good defense. That is going to be the key, playing good defense and making sure we talk and rotate and make sure we box and get boards to start that offensive flow for us."
The winner of the Shelby-Ontario match-up will meet Sandusky Perkins in the second round on Thursday again at Willard.
Shelby Plays Host to Rival Willard
Shelby has played some excellent basketball this season and the Whippets are both explosive on offense and aggressive on defense and that means they are never out of a game.
Case in point was Tuesday night when they rallied to beat Upper Sandusky (87-80), one of the best teams in the Northern 10, in overtime in a non-conference game.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they made some adjustments and played really well in the second half against Upper. "The game was really a tale of two halves because at halftime we are down 11 (37-26). We were 1-12 from the three point line and really just struggling a little bit offensively. Defensively, Upper did a great job of dealing with our pressure and moving the ball. Not a lot was working for us. At halftime, coach Hoffbauer made a couple of defensive adjustments that the kids did a great job with and really it seemed that just everything started to go," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We only had 26 points at halftime and we really battled back, moved the ball offensively and we made some shots and our defense did a better job. Even in overtime, I think we scored 17 points in overtime. We did a lot of good things down the stretch. It was a really good win for us. Coming off two losses I thought it was a much needed game, especially with three games left in the season. I was really proud of the kids effort and how we battled back."
Shelby has rallied in many games this year, Schwemley keeps hoping they get off to better starts in games, but he says it is the nature of this team to not give up. "We have tried to not get down so much, but sometimes with the way we do play there are going to be runs, we are going to have runs, the other team is going to have runs. The key is trying to minimize the opponents and maximize ours. It seems when we get things going we do a lot of good things and put some points on the board. There have been many games when we have been down double digits and fought back. We might have come up short in a couple of those games, but like Tuesday night a lot times we have found a way to win," he said.
Shelby hosts Willard in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night. They beat the Flashes (63-57) on January 15 at Willard. Schwemley looks for another close, physical game this time around. "They are very similar when it comes to the guard play. They will do some things to penetrate and attack the basket. With their leading scorer (Carson Ebert) and the kind of shots he takes, very similar. When you look at that first game there we were down, they jumped out on us early and we were able to battle back and take a one point lead in at halftime. That was a game that was really competitive. We were able to get some key baskets going down the stretch to pull away a little bit. I wouldn't expect anything different. It will be a physical Shelby-Willard game with both teams battling and trying to get some momentum going into the tournament,' said Schwemely.
Published 2/20/15
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Effort the Key for the Whippets
Shelby plays its second straight outstanding opponent when they play "NOL" leader Ontario on Friday night.
Last Saturday, Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Ashland (15-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the large school division, beat Shelby (70-57) in a non-conference game.
Coach troy Schwemley says they just got behind by too much early in the game. "We got off to a bad start and Ashland jumped on us early. They are a great team and are first in the "OCC." They jumped on us right away and were up on us 17 in the first half and then we battled back and actually took the lead in the third quarter and then they regrouped and ended up winning by 13. Looking back at that game in the third quarter I think we outscored them over a stretch like 30-15 and that got us back in the game. That has kind of been typical of us when we are playing really good opponents, when we played Ashland, when we played Ontario the first time, when we played Sandusky to get down right away then claw back into it, but it seemed we had dug too big of a hole to completely overcome. Against Ontario on Friday we have got to get off to a good start," said Schwemley.
With their ability to make three pointers and run the floor, the Whippets can produce runs of their own. Schwemley says they just can't have those periods when they let the other team get on a streak. "We are a team that also has spurtability, but you have to use a lot of energy to get back in the game, so it is tough when you have to make that back to back to back run. We need more consistency so that when we have our spurt it is going in the opposite direction. When we are battling form behind it takes a lot of energy to do that. Their coach is going to call time out and get into them and their guys are going to react. We have got to prevent that those big runs we are giving up to really great teams. That seems to be what sticks out when I think of our games against really great opponents like Ashland or like when we are playing this week against Ontario," he said.
Shelby (12-6,6-3), #5 in our poll, hosts Ontario (17-1,9-0), #2 in the poll, in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night. A Warriors win means they clinch a share of the title. Shelby says they have to play with the same kind of effort as Ontario always does. "To me rebounding is about effort. When I look at Ontario size wise and things like that they are doing it with great effort. There are nights when you play teams that are just big, physical teams, like when we played Tiffin last Friday, I knew were going to lose the rebounding battle, but as long as we put forth the effort and try to get their bigs out of there you can live with that. When I look at Ontario I don't think it is a situation where they are physically out sizing us. I think it is a game when they are similar size and athletes that we are and it is who is going to win the effort war," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "When you talk about offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, hustle plays, that comes down to who wants it more. Over the course of a game certain teams just tend to be relentless and we have at times this year. I mean we are having a good year. When I look at us that is the key to knocking off a good team and that is what it is going to take on Friday night. We are going to have to out effort them for 32 minutes."
Published 2/11/15
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Lady Whippets Must Pick it up
Shelby might have taken a step backward its performance on the floor last Saturday and they need to get back on track when they travel to Tiffin for a Northern Ohio League against Columbian on Tuesday night.
Shelby (7-9,4-5) beat Ontario (53-49) on Saturday in league action, but coach Natalie Lantz was not happy with their execution, especially on defense. "I don't think we played one our better games, especially defensively. I don't know if the girls, and this could be the case, might have overlooked Ontario based on earlier this season having played them and won by a little bit more (70-44). I don't think you can do that game by game you have to be prepared, especially that this point in the season," she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "You have to expect that every team has improved and you need to go out and show what type of team you are game by game and you have to play your game. That is what we have been preaching to the girls and you have to go out on the court and perform. After the game I think they were disappointed in their performance as well."
Lantz says against Ontario it wasn't the offense that was the problem. She says they allowed Ontario to get too many open shots. "We still scored, we started out with a 20 point performance in the first quarter and 15 more in the second quarter, but we were allowing them to score. Not to take anything away from Ontario because I think Ontario can be a very, very good team. They shot very well for the game, they hustled, they were very scrappy. We need to step up defensively and do what we do best. We had zero transition points for the game, which is very unlike us," he said.
Tiffin Columbian (7-11,4-6) won at Shelby (52-37) on December 19 and Lantz says the Lady Tornadoes are a team that can do some things. She says they have pretty good balance. "I think Tiffin is a much more well rounded team this year. They get good contributions form all of their players, which makes them a very solid team an a more difficult team to contend with and to beat and we have to be ready to step up and play good team ball ourselves. We need to talk. move our feet on defense, and be rotating on defense properly. We definitely need to see a better performance (Tuesday) night than we did on Saturday because they are a good team. They have improved juts like Ontario and all of these other teams have improved. I think we have a very strong league this year and that is a good thing," said Lantz.
Published 2/19/15
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Shelby Doing What They do
With their personnel Shelby knows what they have to do to win and they have been pretty good at executing their game plan.
They are going to press and trap all over the floor and they are going to take a lot of three point shots and that has been successful for the Whippets.
Last Saturday night, they blitzed the Norwalk Truckers in the second half went on to win easily (68-34) in the Northern Ohio League game. Coach Troy Schwemley says they were able to get to the basket in the second half. "We came out the first half and got things going for the most part. It was interesting our first seven baskets were all three pointers. I don't know that I am proud of that. We were getting good looks and for the most part they were shots we want to take. We did talk hey let's get to the rim, get to the rim. We are up six at the end of the second quarter. Then in the third and fourth quarter I think our pressure and ball movement we started getting to the rim. The final score was probably a little worse then in was at times, but we really put together a strong defensive effort in the third and fourth quarters," said Schwemley.
Shelby (11-5,5-3) travels to Tiffin Columbian (6-10,0-6) on Friday night for league game. Columbian is a lot bigger than the Whippets and Schwemley says they don't want to play them a lot in the half court. "It really starts with Dryfuss. He is averaging 18 points a game and around seven, eight rebounds a game. They have Cody Daniel that is around nine points a game. Those two are nice players. Daniels can go inside, outside. He can hits some threes as well. Durham has been starting for them, he did come of the bench earlier in the year, he is 6'4" and long. Size wise they will definitely give us some mismatches. They are definitely a team we have to pressure and turn them over because if they get the ball in the paint and they get offensive put backs and things like that they are a dangerous team," said Schwemley.
Shelby faces a tough double weekend on the road, but Schwemley says the most important game for them is in the league game against Tiffin. "We have to focus on Friday night first. It is one of those games where if go in and play like we are supposed to we can be successful, but we have to have a great effort on Friday night," he said.
The Whippets then travel to Ashland (13-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, for a non-conference game at Arrow Arena on Saturday night. Schwemley says it's a big challenge, but it could be a tremendous win. "Ashland is maybe the best team in the area. They have guys that have been playing a long time together, Isaac White, Vipperman, those guys have been playing forever it seems. It will definitely be a nice test at this time of year. You know, I don't know if I want to use the word test," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I feel like we have improved and have gotten ourselves to the point where we are up to the challenge, but we are going to have to play a great ball game Saturday night compete in that one. I think our group has done that all year and this is another opportunity to show that. We have a double weekend on the road with the tournament draw coming up in terms of finalizing seeds. Wins this time of year can kind of set up tournament brackets that are more in your favor, so we have to be up for the challenge this weekend."
Published 2/06/15
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Shelby Making Progress
Bellevue, Willard, and Clear Fork are three of the best girls' basketball teams in the area this year and Shelby has played all of them tough and that is a good sign.
They weren't able to win any of those games, but coach Natalie Lantz says they are really coming together as a team and it shows. "We really are playing pretty well. We have started to click and we have really come together. They are playing well as a unit on the floor no matter who comes off the bench they are really jelling on the floor with each other. The defense has picked up and offensively have been attacking better and are able to convert from our defense and that makes a great impact," she said.
One of the good signs for the Lady Whippets is they have shown the ability in recent weeks to score in a number of ways and Lantz says that makes them harder to guard. "I think Mattie Fiddler inside I think she has been posting really strong and she has been rebounding really well for us and that helps open things up outside. We have a couple of guards on perimeter then that are extremely quick and can drive or they can hit the outside shot, so I think whether you play us man to man or zone we are able to drive to the basket," she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "If a guard does that and they collapse on them they can get the ball out we have kids that can hit the three pointer or if it is a 15 footer it works just as well. The girls are moving the ball a lot better. They are reading the defense a lot better I think we are able to convert a lot better than we were early on in the season."
Shelby (5-9) is at home for Lexington (0-15) of the Ohio Cardinal Conference for a non-league battle on Tuesday night. Lady Lex's record may not be very good, but Lantz knows they will play hard and that means they have to also. "They are a team that is not going to give up. They will play scrappy and I know they have some athletic kids. I don't think at this point in the season you can overlook anybody even though they don't have the record or the wins. They are thirsty for one. We want to step up and if play our game we will come out on top, but you never want to look down and look at a team's record because then you are going to walk away hurting. So, you want to respect who they are and what they could be capable of. At the same time we need to be able to go out and play the game we are capable of playing every game. It shouldn't matter if we are playing Bellevue or Willard or Clear Fork and only gear up for those type of games we need to gear up no matter who we are playing," said Lantz.
Published 2/03/15
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Shelby Has to Have Two League Wins
Shelby is hanging in the Northern Ohio League race trailing Ontario by two games after the first round of play. They face two "NOL" games this week, Sandusky on Thursday, and Norwalk on Saturday.
Last week, they beat Bellevue (74-64) on Friday night in league play and Galion (59-54) in non-league action on Saturday. In both cases coach Troy Schwemley says they did what they had to in the final minutes to pick up the wins. "It was a good weekend for us. I look at Galion and Bellevue as mirror images of each other. Both are very talented teams, they have some players, they are athletic and both are very senior oriented. I know by their records they are struggling, but both have played a lot of people close and just haven't been able to get over the hump. Both games were close games in the fourth quarter and we made plays down the stretch. From our standpoint I guess we are happy with that because that is what good teams do is find a way to win and we found ways to win both games. We need to keep pace in the league and it is getting time for tournament draw, so we really need to pull out wins like that," said Schwemley.
In their first test on Thursday night the Whippets (10-4,4-2) play at second place Sandusky (12-3,5-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division. The Blue Streaks, a winner of seven in row, beat Shelby (62-51) in their first league game of the year. Schwemley says they have a lot of players that can score the ball. "What they do so well is they have multiple guys that can score, they have multiple guys that can handle the ball. They are not a team where you can just focus on one guy, and tell them we have to stop this guy," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They have guys that have played a lot of minutes, not just this year, but past years. They are guys that are very experienced players and are confident with the ball. So, what I think makes them most deadly is that you can't focus on just one guy. You have to guard whoever has the ball. It has to be good team defense, you can't rely on just one on one play we have to defend them as a team. Whoever has the ball is dangerous and we have to treat them as a scorer."
Norwalk (6-6,3-3) comes to Shelby on Saturday night. The Whippets won in overtime (60-57) in the first meeting at Norwalk. Schwemley says that was kind of a game that sent them in the right direction. "It seems so long ago, but that first Norwalk game was kind of the turning point of our year. When you look back on things we had beaten Clyde in overtime earlier that week and then turned around and beat Norwalk in overtime. That kind of springboarded us and we found ways to win those close games. We had some young guys coming in this year that we weren't sure about. When you look at where we are right now, we have been able to win a lot of those close games. With the league race and chasing Ontario we are two games back and we can't afford to get any further back the way they are playing. So, we have to control what can control," said Schwemley.
Published 1/29/15
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Lady Colts Bounce Back to Beat Shelby
Click here to listen to an interview with coach Heidi Roush
Montana Walker scored all five of her points over the last two minutes and Clear Fork outscored Shelby (10-0) over the last 1:57 of the game and rallied to beat the Lady Whippets (57-51) in a non-conference girls' basketball game at Shelby.
Clear Fork took the lead (10-9) with 3:58 to play in the first quarter and held the lead until Kennadie Goth gave Shelby a (47-45) lead with 3:39 to play in the game. Jackie Garrett and Gabby Stephens scored back to back field goals, both off steals, to give the Lady Whippets a (51-47) lead with 2:14 in the game, but after that is was all Clear Fork.
Lady Colts coach Heidi Roush felt her kids reacted well to the pressure of being behind. "Last year when we got on the ropes you could see the panicking, or the tightening up I guess. (Tuesday) night when we fell behind instead of tightening up and not shooting well we had some kids really step up and hit some big shots and some big free throws to put it away, so that was huge," she said.
Walker drained a three from the deep left corner to cut the lead to (51-50) with 1:57 left. Roush says the junior came up big in the biggest moment. "She had been kind of doubting her shooting and been sort of frustrated. At one point I just tuned to her and said you have go to believe and then she stepped up and hit that three and that was awesome. I think it got her confidence up and it got the team's confidence up. The was a big one," said Roush.
Deijah Swihart led Clear Fork with 19 points, Morgan Bailey added 12 and Erika Farst 10. Garrett led Shelby 19 markers.
Trailing by as many as 11 in the first half (33-32) after two free throws by Clear Fork's Mattie Van Orman, Shelby was the aggressor the second half. Lady Whippets coach Natalie Lantz says defense and rebounding put them back in it. "I think we did a little bit of a better job in the second half. We got some stops. We talked at halftime that we weren't rebounding well. We were giving them too many second looks, and third looks, and fourth looks," she told Swankonsports.com after the game, "When it came down to crunch time we gave them a huge rebound and Swihart hit a three and right there is your game. That put the pressure on us and we didn't convert. We had a couple of quick turnovers and had to foul."
After Clear Fork poked away an offensive rebound they found Swihart for a three that gave them the lead (53-51) with 1:24 left. After a Shelby turnover, the Lady Colts were able to take some time off the clock and Swihart and Walker both hit both ends of one and ones in the final :32 to preserve the win. "You count on your seniors to step up when you need them too and that's what they did. (Swihart) got us going early with her speed and then in the second part of the game I thought the play when she saved it out of bounds gave us a little bit of momentum to get things going," said Roush.
Swihart scored nine points in the first five minutes of the game, but Lantz thought they were able to frustrate her after that. "I think we were able to pressure here and I think Jackie (Garrett) did a nice job of pressuring her, picked her, and I think got her head a little bit. She is very athletic and a very good player and we respect that," she said.
Van Orman led Clear Fork with 10 rebounds and Morgan Bailey chipped in with eight. However, Shelby got some big rebounds in the second half. Roush says they certainly have some things to work on. "Mattie got into some foul trouble and I think that made her a little tentative because she didn't want to pick up that next one, but they rebound hard. Games like this are good. We need to go back and work on our man to man defense a little more and we need to work on our rebounding a little more," said Roush.
The Lady Colts are still struggling to workout their rotations after season ending knee injury to Madilyne McDonald last week against Fredericktown. The senior had shown vast improvement over last season shooting 39 percent for the year and scoring 4.0 PPG.
Clear Fork (11-3,6-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com girls' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, a winner of 10 of their last 11, plays at Mansfield Madison (5-9,2-5) in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Thursday night. The Lady Colts won the first match-up (49-39) in the valley in December. "They gave us a little bit of a scare the last time we played them. I think they are much improved. Michaela Gross kind of erupted for a big game against us, so we need to do a better job of containing her for sure," said Roush.
Published 1/28/15
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Shelby Getting Used to each Other
Shelby is an interesting mix of players from all four classes at the high school level and as they get more used to each other they continue to get better as a team.
In their last Northern Ohio League game last Friday they made the plays in the end to upend rival Willard (63-57) to keep themselves in the league race. Coach Troy Schwemley says they were able top make the clutch plays this time. "We got off to a slow start. I believe we were down 16-8 or 17-8, something like that in the first quarter, which is kind of odd for us because even in the games we have lost we have had a good first quarter. We responded in the second quarter and had a great quarter and took the lead into halftime," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "The third quarter was back and forth. The fourth quarter we made plays down the stretch, which I thought was good because if you go back to our Lexington game that down the stretch we had some plays we didn't make and the Willard game was kind of eerily similar to that. Willard even cut it to two with under three minutes and then we made some plays and pulled away. I was proud of our guys for responded and learning from that and making plays in the Willard game to get that victory."
Lexington had beaten Shelby (68-66) in double overtime the previous Saturday.
With these particular players not playing together before this year, Schwemley says they are continuing to understand each other and are playing better together. "I think we have seen improvement not just in individual play, but in team chemistry. When you look at our personnel, and I don't care how you spin it, when you have six senior, two or three juniors, a sophomore or two, and two freshmen mixed in, it is only 12 games this year when we have all played together. The coaches and the players are still learning each other, but I think the good thing is we continue to get better. We seem to be really getting that chemistry and that on the floor presence that they know where each other is going to be. We do seem like we are improving, which is what any coach wants at this time of the year," he said.
Shelby (8-4,3-2) is at home with Bellevue (4-8,1-4) for a league game with Friday. Bellevue may be down toward the bottom of the league standings, but Schwemley says they can not take them lightly. "I look at some of their games and some of their losses are against very good teams. Even in a game like Ontario that game was close going into the fourth quarter and Ontario ended up pulling away. It is a typical Northern Ohio League game where you can look at the record and just chalk it up as a victory because that doesn't happen. They are going to come in and give great effort and they are going to play hard. We have to be ready to play. We have had a pretty consistent effort. I have been proud of the guys for the most part as far as giving good effort and this game is not any different. We are going to going to have to outwork and out play the opponent to get a victory," said Schwemley.
Published 1/21/15
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Pressure Again Key for Shelby
Shelby plays at rival Willard in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night.
The Whippets are a team that has found a way to win and that is by pressing and pressuring all over the floor to make up for a lack of height.
Last Saturday, they almost beat a Lexington team that has three players over 6'5" before losing (68-66) in double overtime.
Coach Troy Schwemley says it was certainly a game that they could have won and maybe should have won. "We certainly had some opportunities to put that game away in the fourth quarter. In the last two minutes I believe we were up six. We had about four things go wrong, we had a charge, we missed the front end of a one and one, maybe a bad shot taken when your want to get lay ups or to the free throw line and we missed a layup. If we do one of those four things right that game probably doesn't go into overtime," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Plus, we gave up two looks for Zahn and he made threes. We have to know where he is at on the floor and the one to tie it they got the offensive rebound and kicked it back out. There were a lot of opportunities and if we fix one or two of them we win the game. Davey Hipp makes a shot to put us up one with 12 seconds left in the second overtime. We have to move on that is how sports goes. We played pretty well, but we have to fix some things and move on the next game."
The Whippets (7-4,2-2) play at Willard (6-4,2-3) in a league game. Schwemley says the Flashes have a bevy of guards that can do a lot of things. "They have good guards that have played a lot of basketball with two three year lettermen, I think maybe Ebert has even started since he was a freshman. They definitely have some guards that can play and streaky shooters. It is at Willard and will be a typical Shelby-Willard game. Both teams are going to get great effort in a great atmosphere and we will have to be ready to play," he said.
Willard is a team that tends to run a of sets as part of their offense. Schwemley says they want to use pressure to be able to take them out of what they want to do. "If we can do what we are supposed to do in terms of our pressure then you don't have to defend every set. It's our goal to take those away with pressure and trapping. The danger there is we have to rotate so we aren't giving up open looks. The hope is we take them out of their game, but we do it in an effective way so our defense is creating offense for us. When we do that well we have been a pretty good team,' he said.
Published 1/14/15
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Shelby Really Getting Things Going
After a victory at Norwalk (59-47) on Saturday the Shelby Lady Whippets have won their last three games and are starting to put some things together.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they believe in each other and that is key. "They are really starting to click and connect on the floor. They are a great group of kids and they work really hard. Their confidence is growing," she said.
Shelby has been able to score by getting the ball down the floor, but now Lantz says they are staring to execute a little better in the half court too and that is making them more affective. "I think we are moving a lot better offensively. I think when one kid has the ball and they are attacking the basket we are starting to move more instead of standing and watching, which creates a better flow. We are starting to attack the basket whether they are in zone or in man. We have always been pretty good at the transition game. When he had to play in the half court at the beginning of the season I think it slowed us up a little bit, so we have put more focus into that and I think the girls have responded really well," said Lantz.
Shelby (4-5,2-3) plays ay home against Sandusky (3-6,2-3) in a Northern Ohio League game on Tuesday night. Lantz says they Lady Blue Streaks can do some things to disrupt you. "They are very athletic. They rebound well and they are going to get up and down the court. They are going to be in passing lanes. We are going to have to take advantage of the assets we have, put a lot of pressure on the ball, and do the little things and come down and execute offensively," she said.
Shelby plays at league leader Bellevue (10-1,6-0) on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Red won (76-45) in the first meeting in December, but Lantz says are a lot better now she feels they can compete with Bellevue this time around. "I would like to believe going into every game that we can compete. The more these girls connect and compete on the floor our staff does believe we can compete with any team and I do believe we can be in the ball game with Bellevue and Willard. It is going to take the "A" because Bellevue is extremely strong," she told Swankonsports.com on Monday. "They have shooters on the outside and they can score on the inside. Santoro is a fantastic player and she is very, very difficult to stop. She drives and if you stop her she is going to kick out and they have more than a handful that hit a three on you. We are going to have to be on our game for them coming up on Saturday."
Published 1/13/15
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Shelby Has to Play Well This Week
Shelby faces a pair of non-conference home games this weekend as they entertain Sandusky Perkins on Friday and Lexington on Saturday.
After downing Wnyford (80-63) on Monday the Whippets have won six of their last seven games with their only loss during that period coming to Ontario (74-61) last Friday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they are playing well, but they still need to become more consistent. "In those wins we have played pretty good. We still have some moments where I'd like to see us kind of minimize our mistakes a little more. If you look back at our Wynford game we were up 19 after the end of the first quarter and we were only up four at halftime. A lot of that was some mistakes we made, but I have to give Wynford a lot of credit in that game for battling back and they showed some toughness with what they did," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Then I was proud of how our guys responded and we ended up having a good third quarter. I would like to see us minimize those quarters when it seems a lot of things go wrong, but for the most part we are playing better basketball."
Sandusky Perkins (2-6) had been the best team in the Sandusky Bay Conference the last few seasons, but they have been rebuilding a bit this year. Still Schwemley says they can't be taken for granted. "Their record can be a little bit misleading. They just beat Oak Harbor for a good win. They have played teams tough, their opening game they lost to Norwalk by eight points, lost to undefeated Huron by 11, so some of those losses are to really quality teams. You always have to be careful not just looking at a record, but looking at how they are playing and what they are doing. They are a team that is rebuilding, but gaining confidence and getting better as the year goes on," he said.
Shelby (6-3) hosts Lexington (5-5) on Saturday night. The Minutemen have tremendous height and Schwemley says they have to make them play their game. "I think Lexington is one the reasons we do what we do because we can't match up with them because we can't not match up with a team with that size. They can just pound the ball inside. They also have good guard play. Joey Zahn, I can still remember the tournament game he had he had last year against Ontario when he just took over. We are definitely going to have to pressure them and keep the ball out of the paint to try and negate their size. It should be an interesting match-up I know they are playing better lately they have had some success. They play a very difficult schedule so game in and game out they are getting better," said Schwemley.
Shelby is playing well coming out of the holidays, but Schwemley knows this weekend will test them. "It is going to be a tough weekend for us. We have both games at home. It's a new year and we are playing well, but you want to keep getting better and build on that. We feel good, but this is a tough weekend for us," he said.
Published 1/09/15
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Shelby Plays Two Good Teams
Shelby has put together a four game winning streak and this week the Whippets have a chance to move into a share of the Northern Ohio League lead.
On Saturday, Shelby played perhaps its best game of the season as Brandon Schneider had 15 points as the Whippets buried Tiffin Columbian (65-48) in a league game.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they did a lot of things well, including perimeter shooting. "We played a pretty good ball game. We had some moments where we shot the ball pretty good, still had some times that we need to learn how to get a better shot, but all in all I think we ended up with 12 or 13 three pointers coming from multiple guys. We had five or six guys that hit at least one. We maybe took a few more than we would have liked to, but also when you look at Tiffin with a couple of 6'5", 6'6" guys I thought we did a pretty good job spreading them out. I think the thing we did best was defensively. Our defensive pressure really took its tool on them and really didn't allow them to get the ball inside as much. We knew going in that that was what we would have to do well and we did a pretty good job of that," said Schwemley.
Shelby (4-2,2-1) has shown some pretty good balance this year when it comes to scoring and Schwemley says that makes they a team that is unlikely to go through slumps. "Brandon Schneider was our leading scorer against Tiffin and I think that was one his better shooting nights. We knew that he was capable of it, but he had been struggling up until that game. Trevor Young, who was subbing in off the bench, had 13, 14, and Davey Hipp had 11, 12, and he as also coming in off the bench. Brennan Armstrong hit two right off the bat and he had nine points. We just had multiple guys that were scoring," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "I think Lucas Bihl coming in was our second leading scorer, but he only had one or two points. We don't have a situation where we are dependant on one guy. It is more we need multiple guys to play defense and rebound and those kind of things. If you are having an off night it is okay if you work hard on those other two things."
The Whippets host the Edison Chargers (5-1) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night. Schwemley says this is a team they don't really have that much knowledge on. "We haven't played them very much. This is first year that we have picked them up as a non-league game. I'll be honest I don't know if this is a tem that we have seen in summer shoot outs, it is just a team that we haven't ran into. They are 6'1" and 6'2" and below. They are not a team that has great size. I think they are similar to us with a lot of guard type players. A lot of different guys that can score and they play hard. Right now, they are 5-1, so they are doing a lot of good things. Both teams are playing pretty well and it will be a great non-league match-up," he said.
Shelby plays at "NOL" leader Ontario (7-1,3-0) on Friday night, with a chance to move into a share of the lead with the Warriors. Schwemley says this is one would be a great steal for them on the road. "I know it is early in the early, but they are 7-1 I believe and they have had some quality wins. They have beat a good Madison team, they have bat a good Lexington team. They really played well against Willard and beat them handily and they beat Sandusky. I know it is early, but they are a team that has put themselves in position to have a really good season. Maybe a team in the end that could be winning the "NOL." They are 3-0 in the league and we are 2-1 and it's a game we really need to keep in the hunt. I know it's early, but they have been playing really good basketball. You don't want to let a team like that get too far out of reach. It's really good test to see where we are at because they are playing good basketball," said Schwemley.
Published 12/30/14
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Shelby Doing Things Well
With overtime wins last week against Clyde and Norwalk, the Shelby Whippets have put together a three game winning streak and are starting to become a pretty good team.
Last Saturday, the Whippets survived a late scare from the defending "NOL" co-champion Norwalk Truckers to win on the road (60-57) in overtime. Coach Troy Schwemley says they were able to build a lead and then hang on. "We were up I think 11 at halftime, really had a great second quarter, forced some turnovers and got some easy baskets off of it. We knew they would come out in the second half and really turn up the pressure, which they did. Hopefully, we can learn from that. They made a shot to put it in overtime and I am really proud of how we responded to get the win overtime," he said.
He said when Norwalk made the tying shot their hearts sank a little, but Schwemley says they were able to respond, especially on the defensive end of the floor. "When that happened I saw a couple of down faces on the bench and I think the coaching staff made a really good effort to say hey let's go and pick them up. It was like a gut check. We didn't outscore them by a bunch, 4-1 in overtime. I looked latter and thought that was all the scoring there was in overtime? We did what we needed to do and made some free throws when we needed to make them. Holding them to just one point in overtime was a testament to guys defensively, rebounding and not giving up and easy baskets," said Schwemley.
Shelby played a similar game early against Madison and lost it by not playing well in the second half. Schwemley says they have matured. "In just this last week we won in overtime at Clyde and at Norwalk in overtime on Saturday night. Just this week close games that could have gone either way. I think the important thing and what we talked about (Tuesday) at practice be happy and feel good about where we are at, but don't forget there are things that we need to get better at and focus on those things that we need to improve on and don't be happy where we are at," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "It is early in the year and we want to keep getting better. I am happy with how we have progressed since the beginning of the year. I do feel that improvement has paid off just this past week."
Shelby (3-2,1-1) plays host to Tiffin Columbian (2-3,0-1) in a Northern Ohio League game on Saturday night. Schwemley says the Tornadoes are big and they are going to have to turn it in to their kind of game. "They definitely bring some size back, especially with the two posts, both being in the 6'6", 6'5" range, they are nice players. They are just a team that can hurt you by pounding it inside. Offensively and defensively, where they can alter some shots. We are definitely going to have to account for them. We knew going in against most teams we were going to have a size disadvantage, but hopefully we can spread teams out and defend them up and down the court and use our quickness to our advantage. With Tiffin that is what it is going to come down to. We want to do what do and play an up tempo game, but not give up easy baskets. Sometimes with pressure you end up giving up easy baskets," said Schwemley.
Published 12/24/14
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Shelby Developing Some New Things
Shelby needed to find some more scoring and they may gotten it in a unique way.
Davey Hipp, who started last year for the Whippets, came off the bench last weekend, but led the Whippets in scoring both nights with 14 against Sandusky and 14 more against Mansfield St. Peter's.
Shelby (1-2,0-1) lost their Northern Ohio league opener to Sandusky (62-51) and then beat St. Peter's (62-49) on Saturday night in non-league play.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they really could have won both games if they had done a few things better on Friday night. "I think Tuesday night's game will give an even better indication of where we stand. I was fairly happy with how we played against Sandusky on Friday. We did a lot of good things. We didn't shoot the ball particularly well. If we cut down on some turnovers and some mental mistakes and make a couple of shots I felt we were right there with a chance to win that game. We did win on Saturday against St. Pete's. It was good to get a win, but really it's about getting some consistency and hitting some shots. I really feel like Tuesday night's game is really important to see how we respond," said Schwemley.
The Shelby coach says it wasn't anything that Hipp did wrong, but it something he wanted to try to see if they could come up with a better mix of players. "We mixed the staring lineups up Friday and Saturday. Davey Hipp, who was a starter for us last year, came off the bench, and was our leading scorer both nights. We are trying to figure out which lineups play well together. It wasn't anything that Davey was doing wrong we were just trying to find some of that chemistry and develop some roles and redefine some of those things even for guys that were returners from last year. It's a new group of guys, a new mixture of guys, and we are trying to keep our options open and do what's best for this group we have," said Schwemley.
Shelby plays at Clyde (0-0) on Tuesday night in a non-league game. It is the Fliers first game of the season and the first game in the varsity coaching career of Lou Garcia. Schwemley admits they don't really know anything about what the Fliers might do. "We have pretty much nothing to go on. They haven't played a game yet and with our schedule I didn't even bother to figure out who they were scrimmaging with. It is really about figuring out what is best for us right now," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We will look up last year's film of varsity and JV and look for names of guys that played last year. There is not a lot to go on, but that is okay. You never know really what a team is going to do. You might scout somebody and they do this and against you they shift it up anyway. So, you have to prepare of everything anyway. It is not such a bad thing to go into games like this, work on this things that you do well, and then adjust to whatever the other team is doing."
Published 12/16/14
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Shelby Looking For Consistent Chemistry
Shelby played an odd game last Friday in that they played very well for the first one and half quarters, but could never find that rhythm again and lost to Mansfield Madison.
They host Sandusky (1-1) in their Northern Ohio League opener this Friday.
Last week, the Whippets took the early lead, but then missed 17 straight shots in losing to the Rams (58-44) in non-conference play. Coach Troy Schwemley says he is still searching for what exactly went wrong for the Whippets. "The start of the game started exactly the way we wanted it. We came out and were playing good basketball and moving ball well and with that movement got good shots. As the game went on I don't know if we wore down physically or mentally. It seemed like we stopped moving and the teamwork and we weren't getting the good looks that we were getting for the first quarter and a half. I think we might have had 26 points with four minutes to play in the second quarter and from that point on we score 18. We played really well and then it just reversed over the last two and half quarters," said Schwemley.
He says part of it might have been he didn't have the right mix of players in the game and they couldn't find the right combination. "When I look back at some of the substitutions that I made there were some things that I could have done differently in trying keep that chemistry because something obviously changed. I don't think Madison did anything different game plan wise. They were doing such a good job of switching screens and we did a good job countering that, but as the game wore on it just seemed like we didn't get that chemistry that we had over the first quarter and a half. We had some shots that if we make the momentum shifts a little bit. I think there were a lot of shots from point blank range that if we made maybe would have shifted the momentum back. We just didn't do it and hopefully we learn from it and get better for this weekend," said Schwemley.
Sandusky (1-1) will be in Shelby for the "NOL" opener for both schools on Friday night. Schwemley thinks the Blue Streaks are a team with really pretty good potential. "They were a team last year that I thought played some very nice basketball and they have a lot of those guys coming back with a new coach coming in this year. I thought they were a team that some potential to make some noise in the area and the league," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They kind of showed that the opening weekend with the win over Fremont Ross and Ashland is a very good team. I think Sandusky is going to be a much improved team and we are going to have to play very well against them. They have a lot of weapons. They can hurt you off the dribble. They have some guys that have shown at times they can shoot. They are a team that if they come out and have confidence they can play very well."
Published 12/10/14
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Shelby Going to Press
Shelby plays at Madison on Friday night in their traditional non-conference opener and both teams want to run the floor and press a lot... so look for a lot of points.
Whippets coach Troy Schwemley brings most of his team back and he says they should be ready to execute their game plan. "We have had four scrimmages and the foundation game with Clear Fork. I really enjoyed that because I think it does everything you could possibly do to simulate what a real game is going to feel like. So, hopefully we are prepared and have gotten better through our scrimmages and are ready to go for Friday night," he said.
It is a change in philosophy for the Whippets when it comes to their defense. Schwemley says they are going to be more aggressive and attempt to attack the Rams, and everybody else they play. "Last year we were more of a half court team and really didn't turn people over much. I think when you play that way it allows you to protect the basket and you give up less layups. The danger is sometimes you are not creating offense. We were kind of a bend don't break mentality last year," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "So, we hare going to try and switch that up a little bit and pressure people a little more and have our defense create some offense. The risk is you can give up some easy baskets. We are hoping that pressure we benefit us more in the long run. We are going to stick with that and see how that goes for a while."
Madison, according to Schwemley, is going to try and do the same things as the Whippets. He says it is going to boil down to who can execute their stuff better. "They have some returners from this past year. I have hear the same things about them that they are trying to pressure more and pick up defensively and create some offense with their defense. Really I think it will be an interesting because both teams are kind of trying the same approach defensively and one of us is going to benefit from it be turning the opponent over and getting some layups and easies out of it. Whichever team handles the pressure best and doesn't give up easy baskets is going to have such and advantage there. They have some returning players at key positions like point guard. It will be interesting to see how this game goes, it's always been such a great match-up for all of us, and a great way to start the year," said Schwemley.
Published 12/05/14
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Hard Nosed Defense the Key For the Whippets
Shelby is coming off a rare down season for them when they won only eight games and they are going to have to play better defense if they are going to be more successful this year.
The Whippets, charter members of the Northern Ohio League, do return most of their team from last year, with the exception of their leading scorer. Coach Troy Schwemley says they do have some building blocks. "We have six seniors returning and six returning lettermen, so we do return quite a few faces from last year that either played varsity or saw some varsity time. Our leading scorer Tristan Kerhes, he did a lot for us last year. He averaged about 17 points and 10 and half rebounds a game. He was a leader, the kids looked up to him and we are definitely going to miss his presence, but with that in mind we do return a lot of guys that have some varsity experience and they are going to have to play together," said Schwemley.
Last season, the Whippets were able to bag some outside shots. However, Schwemley says they can't rely on those. "We hope we can hit some shots from the perimeter, but also spread people out so we can get to the rim. You don't want to just live by shooting the threes. You look at the Cavs and they break a record for shooting threes and turn around and loose to the Nuggets. It is a balance between hitting the perimeter shots and not settling for shots. When it comes down to it normally the percentages level off. You need to make sure you get the high percentage shots and get to the rim and get to the free throw line," he said.
Offense aside, Schwemley says if they are going to be a better team in 2014-15 they have to more aggressive on defense. "It has got to be our defensive presence. There were many times when we didn't turn people over last year. Turnovers and defensive rebounds feed your offense. They are getting some transition baskets and getting some steals and getting two on one and three on two fastbreaks. I don't think our defense we really very aggressive. We kind of played and almost waited for the other teams to shoot the ball and hopefully if they missed it we got the rebound. From that standpoint we want to be the aggressor," he told swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Our defense needs to be more in your face and picking people up and creating some offense for us and getting some high quality shots. The hardest thing to do is just play half court offense and play five on five, so hopefully our defense will do that for us."
Published 11/20/14
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Shelby Counting on its Defense
Shelby is a year older and the Lady Whippets hope to be more of a factor in the Northern Ohio League this year.
They were (12-12) last season and in the middle of the pack in the "NOL" too.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they are going to try and turn it up a few notches on defense this year. "I expect us to be a bit more competitive this year although we are still looking young. We only have two seniors and the rest we will fill out with sophomores and juniors. They come at it hard everyday in practice. They are learning, they are getting better everyday. We are really taking a hardcore defensive approach. As we have in the past we take one practice at a time, one game at a time, and we are looking to be more competitive day by day, game by game," said Lantz.
The Lady Whippets return quite a few people that saw varsity action last year and Lantz says if they can have better communication they should be able to win more games. "The kids have a lot more confidence this year taking the floor both offensively and defensively. We will get more flow I think offensively. We will see more leadership from them on the court and that makes a big difference. We have five kids back with starting experience and that helps us out a lot. They are playing well together and that builds in well with the new kids that we have on the varsity this year," she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "When they communicate well offensively and defensively it helps everybody get in the flow on both sides of the court. If we can continue to do that and continue, especially with our defense. We don't have a whole lot of height this year, but with those kids stepping up with their leadership this year I think that will help us out a lot."
Shelby has three more scrimmages this week before they open the season at Plymouth the day after Thanksgiving. Lantz says the work they are putting in this month is going to be important to them this season. "We have working pretty hard in practice. We are allotted five scrimmages, so we try to set those up with teams we feel are going to push us to really see where we are at. We have a tough schedule starting out just like we did last year. We start with Plymouth and then we work right into Ashland, Mansfield Senior, Bellevue and Willard. We start off running right away, so we want to make sure we are prepared and be competitive as we can be and put ourselves in position where when it comes down to the final minutes that we are in the ball game." said Lantz.
Published 11/19/14
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Shelby Wants to Hang Around
Shelby certainly knows what it is like to play tough competition after that memorable game against Tiffin Columbian, and last week unbeaten Norwalk, now they get 9-0 Loudonville in a non-conference game.
Norwalk is #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division, Loudonville #1 in the small school division.
The Truckers pounded Shelby (49-12) last week as Breck Turner ran for 281 yards and three touchdowns. Shelby coach Erik Will says they actually had their chances. "It was competitive early and we played well. We got a few turnovers there in the first quarter, early second quarter. We had an opportunity to kind of dig into their lead a little bit. We tried a middle screen with Tanner Orr, one of our better athletes, and it was just kind of an execution thing, we didn't get the key defensive lineman in that series down, and he was able to bat the ball in the air, so kind of a potential big play our way was an interception that ended up being a touchdown. So, that took us from 14 to 21 and that is what we went into half with," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We come out right after half and march right down the field, I believe 70 some yards, and Brennan (Armstrong) jumped in the end zone and it was called a fumble and we didn't get the play there. Norwalk is a great team and they have one the best running backs I have seen in a long time. There is no doubt they have a lot more football ahead of them. That is what good teams do and right now we are continuing to work on those things."
Shelby (2-7) plays host to the Loudonville Redbirds (9-0) in a non-conference game on Friday night. Loudonville has a very productive offense and Will says it starts with one the area's best quarterbacks in Kolton Edmondson. "It starts with their quarterback. I will be honest with you he is the best quarterback we have seen all year. He is a competitor, a great athlete, a good decision maker. We talked a few weeks ago about the position of quarterback kind of overtaking the sport and if you have a dominate quarterback you are going to be able to compete and win virtually every week and they have the right guy taking snaps. They have more than him. They have a couple of wide receivers that are talented. Their defense is extremely aggressive and they are well coached," said Will.
This season the second half has been full of running clocks for the Redbirds. Will says their goal is to hand around in the second half and see what happens. "They really haven't had a competitive game all year. We are trying to get it where in the fourth quarter they have to play football because there haven't been many this year when they have had to play in the fourth quarter," he said.
Published 10/30/14
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Shelby Plays in Incredible Game
Shelby lost to Tiffin Columbian by a point last week, but the way the game played out is one for the ages.
Columbian won (83-82) in overtime as the contest became the second highest scoring game in state history and it was not a game that went seven overtimes. Shelby tied the score with 1:06 left when they converted a two-point conversion.
It was (75-54) Tiffin with eight minutes left, but Shelby wouldn't give up and Brennan Armstrong threw a touchdown pass to Tanner Orr with just over a minute left.
Columbian running back Cliff Miller had 516 yards rushing and scored 10 TDs and the winning two point conversion.
Shelby coach Erik Will says it was an amazing game, but hey they have to played better defense. "It was one of those games where it was who had the ball last. Fortunately we were able to score and send it into overtime. We scored in overtime and they scored and went for two, and he did cross the goal line there, it was a good call by that official. It is one of those things that you don't understand the ramifications when you are in there. The thing I was concerned about the most is my defense was beyond putrid," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "That is something we are working on right now because the running back from Tiffin is a nice back, but Breck Turner is on a completely different level. So, if we want to keep this thing even close for a half we definitely have to make some improvements on the defensive side of the ball. After the game I had people from all over the state that I know just in coaching texting me asking if that was a misprint. It was quite the event."
Shelby quarterback Brennan Armstrong, a freshman, had a pretty good game too and Will says the Whippets offense has really developed this year. "My offensive line coach Scott Mercer has done an fantastic job getting those guys playing. That is really where it starts, you have to be able to run the football. What has happened in the course of the year is Brennan (Armstrong) has gone form a just being a pretty good athlete playing quarterback a little bit to where he is really understanding the complexities of our offense and what we are looking for. He has just really gobbled things up. His passes are more actuate and the offensive line is doing a good job of protecting him and guys are catching the ball. I know earlier in the year our completion percentage was down a little bit because we weren't catching the ball. As we have progressed down through the year I think Brennan's percentage is up to about 57 percent. Definitely established a run game and just opening up the offense a little bit," said Will.
Things don't get easier they get harder for the Shelby (2-6,1-4) defense as the Whippets travel to meet Northern Ohio League leader Norwalk (8-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the large school division. Will says enter one Breck Turner. "He is beyond really good. He is one of the best backs I have ever seen and I coached in the Dayton area for four years and the Columbus area for nine years, and he is as good as anybody I have seen. He is an incredible young man as well, so I am happy for him and their coaching staff. We are trying to devise any kind of game plan that can remotely slow him down because you are not going to shut a kid like that down. If he touches the ball 20 times in a game he is going to have five or six big ones and that is what we are trying to avoid. There is no doubt we are going to have to score some points. I am hoping it is not 83-82. I do believe we are going to have to be in the 40s or 50s to keep this game competitive," said Will.
Published 10/21/14
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Shelby Wants to Close Season Playing Well
Shelby might have one of the most difficult remaining schedules in North Central Ohio as they play Tiffin Columbian, Norwalk, and Loudonville. They have a combined record of 18-3 on the season.
Last week, they led Ontario (20-6) with eight minutes left, but the Warriors scored twice on Aaron Baker touchdown runs and added a two point conversion to win (21-20) in Northern Ohio League play. Whippets coach Erik Will says they are still teaching and the kids are still learning varsity football. "We continue to talk to the kids about working hard and staying the course. We thought we should have had won last week maybe we could have closed it out if not for the snap there. We watched film on it and corrected it. We have gotten a pretty good week of practice in so far gearing up for a really big and aggressive Tiffin team," he said.
Tiffin Columbian (4-3,2-2) comes to Shelby on Friday night. Their three losses are to Clyde (23-20), Norwalk (35-21) and Bellevue (42-29). They aren't going to win the "NOL" this year, but Will says they are still very, very good. "When you look at their offensive line they are probably averaging 6'2", 270 pounds a guy. We told our kids that this is one the best Tiffin teams, if not the best team, we have seen, and I don't think I am lying when I say that. They had some injuries in that Norwalk game when they were up 21-0. I know they have some healthy bodies back now. We have seen them on film the last few weeks and they definitely have that competitive edge. They are trying to get in the playoffs. They are sitting there with the eighth seed. We are trying to be the spoiler. As we prepare this week, that is what we are getting our guys geared up for," said Will.
Shelby (2-5,1-3) is certainly the underdog, but Will says if they play to their potential this is a game they can win. "I'll be honest this week at practice we have had a little bit more fun with them. This week there has probably been a little bit less stress and less barking on the field. We are still practicing there are still expectations. You still have to line up and get to the ball and you still have to execute on offense. I really believe as a coach that when we step out on the field and we execute and do the things that we can control we have a competitive chance to win this game," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "The way we are looking at it we could very easily be 4-3 going into this game and Tiffin is 4-3. It's just a few bad plays here and there. That play at Clear Fork, that play last week, and real close game with Sandusky. If we get those we are looking at making a playoff run. We try to keep the kids informed on that so we can compete. We don't want to just throw these last three games away."
Published 1o/15/14
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Shelby Working Hard
Shelby is a young football team and one that remains hungry to get better as we hit week seven of the high school football season.
Last week, they beat rival Willard (19-6) to earn their second win of the season and their first in Northern Ohio League play. Now, they head for Ontario to play the Warriors.
Coach Erik Will says the Whippets are hanging in there and still very much want to be better as the season goes on. "We have had a great week of practice. The kids are still giving it every thing they've got in practice and that's a good sign. Our seniors are working hard and the underclassmen are doing really well. Just in our two deeps, offense and defense, we have got right around 15, mostly sophomores, but a couple of freshmen in there as well. These young guys just continue to improve and want to get better and that's why the level of our practices has still been good. We feel like we are getting better and moving in the right direction. Every single week we are working the get better," said Will.
Freshmen Brennan Armstrong has been Shelby's starter at quarterback all season long and his improvement has been closely tied to the Whippets improvement. He threw three TD passes against Willard. Will says he likes what he sees. "He is third in the league in passing yardage, I believe he leads the league in yards per catch. I think he is first or second in the league in rushing for quarterbacks. Our production has been great out of him. We still have to work on his decision making and leadership things. I believe he is six and six when it comes to interceptions and touchdowns. We want to clean some of that stuff up," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "He is just a pleasure to coach and is working hard. The quarterback is an interesting position because it is a leadership position just by position. He has done a great job. I have a senior center , who is a captain, in Colton Harvey. Those two guys have had a fantastic year. It has been great to see Brennan's development."
Shelby (2-4,1-2) makes the short trip to Ontario (3-3,1-1) for an "NOL" game on Friday night. Will calls Ontario a pretty good football team. "They are not a bad team at all. Coach Kreger is doing a fantastic job. They have had a game or two that could have gone either way. His quarterback is playing very well. He is a solid runner. I believe they are getting one of their running backs back this week. They have one of the best interior lineman in our league, number 55. There is no doubt they have some people. That Ontario game for us, kind of like Willard, is a local rivalry. It is nice to be able to go over there and play those guys. It's a nice game and there is no doubt they playing good football," said Will
Published 10/10/14
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Shelby Has to Start Winning
Shelby plays a tough schedule, but they make no excuses and their coach says it is time to start winning when they play their closest rival in Willard this week.
Last week, they fell behind (28-7) the half and ended losing to (41-14) to Bellevue in the Northern Ohio league play. Whippets coach Erik Will says the Redmen were just more physical than them. "We were very competitive against Madison going back to week one, got the win against Lexington, kind of let one slip through our fingers against Clear Fork, played very competitive football against Sandusky. Last week, give coach Nasonti and Bellevue credit they were very, very physical at the point of attack. I would probably say just with what they were able to do and how they were able to do it they were definitely the most compete team that we played this year. That was a heck of a football team. They only thing I was disappointed with as a coach was I didn't think we matched their physicality and I think that was difference in the game," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We didn't want to line up and run straight at them, but we weren't able to establish the line of scrimmage consistently on either side of the ball and if you can't do that you are going to struggle. Definitely not the kind of showing we want to have here for homecoming, but we have another opportunity this week."
On Friday night, the Whippets (1-4,0-2) travel to Willard (0-5,0-1) to play the Flashes in league action. Will says despite their record the Flashes have some athletic players. "Coach Matula is doing a good job there. I really think he is running the best system possible for the group of guys that he has got. This week we feel like we have to slow down the option and put them in third and long, put them in passing situations. We feel like we can utilize some of our athletes. We like the way Brennan has been throwing the ball, even last week he threw the ball fairly well. We feel this is a good opportunity for us to do some of the things we would actually like to do as a program and this could be a pretty good week for us," said Will.
Willard features a lot of the triple option offense and Will says they have to be disciplined on defense and try and put them in passing situations. "We spent the second half of Saturday and all of our Sunday meeting talking about how we were going to go about attacking the option. It starts with the fullback, they have a really nice fullback, the Caudill kid is a really nice kid that runs straight downhill. So, we have to get him under control and then go to the quarterback and the pitch and so forth. It's assignment football, no doubt. When you play a team like this it is really important to get them in those third and five, third and eights. That is where you want to keep those teams that control the ball on the ground," said Will.
Published 9/30/14
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Shelby Still Trying to Get over the Hurdles
After beating Lexington on week two the Shelby Whippets have lost games to Clear Fork on basically the last play of the game and to Sandusky in the fourth quarter last week.
They host Bellevue (3-1,0-0) at Skiles Field on Friday night in Northern Ohio League action.
It looks like the Whippets are improved from last year, but so far it hasn't shown up in their record. Coach Erik Will says really they have been suffering from a lack of consistency. "We have talked to the kids quite a bit in order to keep them mentally in it. When you lose the way we did to Clear Fork and the way we lost this last week. We have been turning the corner and we can't afford to take a step back, especially this week. The good news is Shelby-Bellevue is a pretty good rivalry," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I think our kids are going to be up to the task this week. We need a good week of practice here and we'll see what happens. I think we are a competitive hard working football team. We will eventually find that recipe to become more consistent in the win-loss column."
Shelby (1-3,0-1) has some very good young players, but when you are jumping up levels in football it can be hard. Will says they are still learning. "Just like the defensive line we are just trying to sure up some technique things, pad level things, and play physical to the whistle. The play has been a little sporadic, we don't question this kids effort, it's just the execution, we just need a little refinement. We are learning in the secondary as well. The offensive line has come a long way, but they still need to go a long way. Being young and being good athletes, but there is still a learning curve that can be tricky," said Will.
Bellevue has played some good football this year outside of a (42-6) loss to Clyde on week three. They beat Toledo Waite (41-20) last Friday. Will says they do a lot of things on offense beginning with the quarterback position. "They have two almost completely different offenses. They have a senior that is a pretty good sized kid that has a really good arm. With him they look a little more traditional running and passing. Then when they put the sophomore in, number 13, he is a run guy, and he looks a little bit like Santoro. You can kind of see where they will be moving towards in the future," said Will.
With all of that offense Will says it has been a long practice week, but he believes they have the kids prepared for what they will see from Bellevue. "You have to prepare for two different looks, but their personnel packages help you out a lot with the kids in cutting the down the playbook in what they are likely to see when each one of those quarterbacks is out there, but knowing that and stopping it is two different things," he said.
Published 9/24/14
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Shelby has to Forget About Last Week
Shelby lost last week in the most aggravating fashion, but they have to have shot memories and move on.
Clear Fork scored with just over 30 seconds to play and beat the Whippets (20-19) on a long pass. Coach Erik Will says their focus has to be how do we continue to get better. "There is nothing I am going to be able to tell them that is going to make them feel good about that one. There is not a smack on the back saying hey you guys are getting better. We thought that was going to get a nice win against a nice opponent. We thought we kind of let won get away from us there, but we told the kids now you have to get ready for Sandusky there can be no hangover because if we don't get at least better they are going to beat us. They are hungry and looking for their first win of the season. If you don't prepare right and have the right mindset, you can't let one loss or one heartbreaking loss to affect the next couple of weeks,' said Will.
Shelby's freshman quarterback Brennan Armstrong had an outstanding game against Clear Fork in running for 196 yards and three scores in the game.
Despite a (1-2) record the Whippets are entering Northern Ohio League play this week with Sandusky with a measure of confidence. Will says they are team that has to be at their best every week. "We felt Madison was a good football team and we competed well there. We were able to get the win against Lexington and played well for the majority of the game against Clear Fork. As we go into the conference the competition is going to continue to be good and week in and week out teams are going to be giving us their best shot and we are going to be giving them our best shot. Right now everybody is 0-0 in the league. That is what we are concentrating on right now to try and get that league season to 1-0," he said.
Sandusky (0-3) will be at Skiles Field on Friday night. The Blue Streaks have had their problems against good teams losing to Huron (30-8), Sandusky Perkins (31-0) and Fremont Ross (42-20) last week. Will says the Streaks are getting better. "Their quarterback is pretty good. He has a nice arm. He wasn't the fulltime quarterback the first two weeks and I don't know why that was but, he makes good decisions," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They have a couple of running backs that are talented. Their defensive line is very aggressive. When you look at the teams they have started the year off with they have had Huron, Sandusky Perkins, Fremont Ross. Those are three quality teams. It's not like they are getting beat by teams that are struggling."
Published 9/17/14
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Shelby Headed in Right Direction
Shelby got their first win of the season last week and just their fourth in the last four seasons when they downed Lexington (32-21). Now they head for Clear Fork for a match-up with the Colts this week.
Coach Erik Will said they had to score early if they got the chance, but that didn't necessarily happen, but they were able to score 20 second quarter points and take command. Will says once they got some confidence things started to turn around. "We got behind early 7-0 after a good first drive, but we couldn't get any points on the board. We kind of went back and forth until we were able to get on the board there at the end of the first quarter. We talked last week about getting off to a fast start and we felt we did that with no points to show for it. We need to continue to work on that to get points when we are in the red zone," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Getting behind early I don't how our kids would have responded last year, but this year we were able to have the second quarter that we had where the kids came out and competed and played well. I thought we played pretty well defensively that quarter and executed well on offense. The third quarter was kind of up and down and then the fourth quarter we were able to hold on. It was fortunate that we had that big second quarter, which helped us keep that touchdown lead throughout the game."
Clear Fork walloped Ontario (42-18) on week two to also even its record of the year. Will says the Colts have playmakers. "They are a well coached football team. Their quarterback is very good and they have a couple of nice pieces around him. I am sure coach Carroll would tell you they have a nice group of senior leadership with some young talent. They also have a pretty nice freshman they are excited about. They have a really nice sophomore that plays the slot for them. We are trying to do our best to put our kids in the best position defensively to try and just slow those guys down. I don't necessarily think you are going to keep them totally contained," said Will.
Will says that Clear Fork quarterback Kadin Chrastina is one of the best at his position in this area and can break big plays. He says they have to maintain their defensive discipline. "The Chrastina kid is a big time player. He is one of the best players in the area, no doubt. Last year he played really well against us. The way they call things offensively they are sort of inviting you to be aggressive, so you have to be disciplined and maintain your areas and then find your guy because they throw a lot of screen passes as well, so we are going to be working on that this week," said Will.
Shelby has a pretty good quarterback too in young freshman Brennan Armstrong. Will says the key for them to be able to run the ball up the middle. "Offensively we are just going to continue to try and run the football and establish the line of scrimmage. We are going to continue to challenge our offensive line to man up and reestablish the line of scrimmage," he said.
Clear Fork has allowed some yards on the ground this year, especially in their opener against Fredericktown. Will says their goal is to find way to move the ball against the Colts with their type of personnel. "Our interior line, our center and guards played pretty well against Lexington, but our tackles definitely need to get better. If our kids can grade out high we feel like we can establish a little bit of a run game. We feel confident that Brennan will be able to throw the ball and complete some things down the field. If we catch the ball we feel good about the athletes we have in space. It's just like anything else, it's an execution game. It's a game plan situation. My staff does a great job of putting together a game plan to execute," said Will.
Published 9/09/14
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Shelby Needs to Cash in
Shelby was shutout when they played Mansfield Madison in their first game last Friday, but it is not as bad as it seems because the Whippets had some opportunities to score.
They travel to Lexington (0-1) to face the Minutemen on Friday night in non-league play.
Coach Erik Will, in his second year with the Whippets, says it was frustrating because they didn't take advantage of the opportunities they gave themselves. "We did a lot of nice things early. We recovered a fumble. We had a 40 yard punt return to start the game. We blocked a punt. There were a lot of good things early we just couldn't capitalize and turn them into points. It has kind of been our focus this week. We had numerous opportunities inside our opponents 30 yard line and couldn't come away with any points," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "The danger is that wears on you when you don't take advantage of opportunities and let them slip buy it is going to cost you. We gave up a few touchdowns late, but the fact still remains that we have to do a better job of attacking opportunities that were given to us."
There haven't been a lot of wins for the Whippets over the last three years, three in fact, and because of that there are concerns about the players confidence. Will says scoring early is going to be important for them. "It is one of those things where we just have to put the ball in the end zone. When you come out and get an opportunity and don't take advantage of it it definitely seeps into the mental psyche of our players. Scoring early is going to be very big this week. If there are opportunities to score early for us against Lexington we have to get it in the end zone and get off to fast start. If we do that we will be fine and we feel really good about our chances this week, but we have to make sure we take care of opportunities," he said.
Lexington has professed that want to be a team that runs the football, but in a (33-21) loss to Ontario last week they ran for less than 100 yards. Will still thinks that's what they want tom do, but some circumstances got in their way last week. "Coach Gerhardt is doing a really good job over there and just like anybody else they want to establish the run. Also when you are playing from behind a little bit that sometimes can change some of the play calling and some of the philosophy that you are trying to establish for the game. They are also dealing with some injuries. I believe they starting running back is dinged up a little bit there and is still has a few more weeks out, so that will help when they get him back. It is one of those things where they are trying to establish their identity and get things going. We definitely respect them and what they are trying to do. Trying to get that first win after Friday one of us is going to be happy," said Will.
Published 9/04/14
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Whippets Have to be More Disciplined
The Shelby Whippets certainly have the ability to be more than a one win football team, but they have to prove that on field and that starts on Friday night when they host Mansfield Madison in the continuation of their long standing non-conference opening night series.
Last week, the Whippets did not look very good in a scrimmage loss to the Galion Tigers and coach Erik Will says they have to learn from it. "We didn't look very good. I was pretty disappointed in our overall effort. we told the players it didn't count. It was a scrimmage and we needed to learn from it and we needed to continue to grow as a team. Because we are so young I am fearful of the inconsistent play. We have talent at many keep positions, but it is just unproven. We are continuing to deal with just mental lapses which affect the physical," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "The kids are giving us good effort. It is not an effort issue it is just a concentration, focus issue play in and play out. We have to get that resolved of we are just going to be up and down, but we are hoping this week we are going to be mentally engaged and compete for four quarters."
When they play Madison on Friday night, Will says they need to do some good things early in the game. "I would think that is very important to a young team. I know last year we came out and had two really nice opening drives. One was brought back with a penalty and the other was fumbled into the end zone going in to score. If we do that again this year that is not going to be a good way to set the tone for the first game of the season. We need to capitalize on opportunities. Good teams make the most of their opportunities and that is something we are going to have to do early just for confidence," he said.
Madison coach Sean Conway has also been somewhat critical of his team's execution this year so far. Will says both sides have some things to prove. "I talked to coach Conway off and on and I know coaches by nature are critical. We look at film, we look at stats, we look at effort, we look at all of those things and sometimes things that the casual fan doesn't see are a cause of concern for us. I think he would echo what I am saying, it will be interesting, because we need both of our teams to get off to a positive start. they got us last year and it kind of got away in the fourth quarter from us. I know this year both of us are looking to get started on a fast note, especially with week two opponents that we feel we can compete with," said Will.
It is true Madison would rather not throw the ball very much and Will knows the Whippets have to stop the run. "They are a run first team and to be honest with you in Ohio with the weather even when you go spread you have to be able to run the football. That was a point of concern for us this year. We did not rush the football last year well at all. I know Madison does that fairly well. They put a conscious effort on that and even by formation you know what you are going to get, but you need to try and stop it and then they will have some misdirection and things off of it," he said.
Published 8/26/14
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Shelby Getting Ready For Madison
Shelby is hoping that they can have a better football season then they have over the last three, when they totaled only three wins, and the signs are pointing toward the fact that might be the case.
This is last week before a real game week and coach Eric Will says they have been able to maintain some pretty good focus during practice. "I thought we have done a pretty good job of trying to mix things up. One thing we have been talking to our kids about is consistency in practice from the standpoint of making sure we don't get a lot of highs and lows. Normally the first day that the students are in is one of your worst practices, but I thought we had a pretty good practice (Tuesday), I thought the kids were pretty good. Normally a sign of a young, immature team , is too many ups and downs in practice. I think we have been getting that solved here a little bit. We try to watch the amount of hitting we do because we just aren't that deep. Now we are getting into the time when we are going to be gearing up for actual games, so the kids are kind of getting into their game week routine now," said Will.
Earlier this summer Will said a big goal would be to adopt the right attitude, a winning attitude. He says they need to be able to take that into not just games, but practice too. "With us kind of being an inexperienced team, I think we are a talented team, we are just really young, we have a lot of freshmen and a lot of sophomores. I would say the mental make up of the team continues to progress. The kids have always been coachable, they have always been respectful. They take coaching well, but now what we are trying to get them to do is be at the point where they are attacking practice with a game like attitude and that's hard to do," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "I have heard a lot of coaches, college, pro, whatever it may be, that is something we are all working with in trying to figure that out. Understanding that each rep has to be valued because if you are doing something wrong you are training the body to so things that aren't going to give you the kind of success you need."
Shelby opens their season at home on August 29 against Madison Rams of the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Will says they have already been preparing for what they will see from Madison. "We have already started. I know Madison has already scouted us and we have scouted them. We have a pretty good idea of what they are probably going to be trying to do, although they we change a little bit from year to year with personnel. Coach Conway does a good job of doing what is best for his team with a few things that are a little bit different. We have had a Madison period during our practice offensively and defensively. We also want to make sure are kids are ready for our game time situation scrimmage on Friday because we want to come away from that not only competing, but having some success that we can carry into the Madison game. We just want to make sure we put a unit out there that is prepared," said Will.
Published 8/21/14
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For Shelby it is About Believing
The last three years have been a struggle for the Shelby Whippets, a proud program, on the football field, but things might be starting to turn around in the second year of coach Eric Will.
The Whippets have won just three games in the last three years. They finished 1-9 a year ago and 1-5 and in sixth place in the Northern Ohio League.
Will says he has seen some good things this summer from the group hat will make up the 2014 team. “We are looking pretty good here. We have been with the kids most of the summer with summer workouts, the weight room, and the 10 camp days, so we’re are sort of buying our time until we can see if the preseason stuff has paid off. The kids are working hard and the coaches are doing a good job. We have a nice group of guys that are buying into what we are trying to sell. We will see what we have against Madison,” he said.
If the Whippets are to become a better team, and more competitive in the tough “NOL,” Will says they have to play better in the second half of games. “One of things that we talked about last year as staff and to the kids was being competitive and being able to make those halftime adjustments and try to compete in the second half. We went to halftime often times with the ability to make those adjustments, but we came out and didn’t necessarily finish games strong. It was a lack of mental focus and really the mentality of knowing they can win a game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “That is what we have really been attacking in the off season because we fell like we can physically compete now. They kids are in great shape. We fell our speed has gotten better with the off season workouts. Our strength is pretty good. Now we want the kids to know that mentally they can let it go and just play football. If mentally they can play the game the way they do physically we think we can win a few games and be competitive for four quarters of football, not just a half.”
Will says they have gotten solid leadership and they have a freshmen class that has a number of pretty fine athletes. “We have two really good captains in Colton Harvey and Lucas “Bihl” that have done a nice job. We have a great group of freshmen coming up. The freshmen numbers are good with 24, 25 kids there. That group of kids they are winners and that is even rubbing off on our upperclassmen. Our upperclassmen we are trying to get them into this winning mentality. Bad things are going to happen, but you have to be able to will your way through and not give in to a bad play. Don’t let one bad play become two, three or four,” he said.
The freshmen class once won a Little League Baseball state title and had four junior high “NOL” titles. Will now it’s about getting them ready for the complexity for the varsity game. “They went undefeated in the seventh and eighth grade in football and basketball both. A couple of those kids even finished third in the nation in baseball this summer. Those kids are accustomed to winning and that is a good thing. What we are trying to do is get to the mental side of it. We know that athletically they can compete, but there is a difference between six foot and 170 pound freshman and a 6’1” 190 pound senior. And along with that the play calling and the terminology, the reads on offense and defense, are a lot faster and more in depth and that is kind of learning curve with these guys. For them it is really not an athletic barrier, it’s not a confidence thing, it’s going to be a mental barrier. We have four or five of those young guys that are in our two deep right now,” said Will.
Published 8/06/14
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Shelby Gets Back on Track
After two tough losses to Northern Ohio league co-leader Tiffin Columbian last week, the Shelby Whippets got back on track with a (3-0) win over Willard on Monday in league play.
Coach C.J. Brickman says this one felt particularly good. "Yeah we lost a couple of tough ones to Tiffin last week 4-1 and 2-1. Our bats have cooled down a little bit. We had a good shot to win those games. Our pitching has been good and our defense has been good and it was good to get a win," he said.
Brickman says the Whippets did what they had to do to get win on Monday. "If you throw strikes and respect your defense your team is in it and that's what we did (Monday)," he said.
Shelby was one of the hottest teams with the bat in what was a cold April, but lately Brickman says they are trying to do too much with the ball. "I think part of our problem is we are back to trying to pull everything. They had a kid (Monday) that threw a good curve ball and we were tying to pull it instead of keeping our weight back and driving it the other way," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "As long as our kids keep their weight back and drive it backside I think we will be okay. Right now our bats are ice cold we have to pitch and play good defense."
Shelby (12-7) plays at home on Saturday in division two sectional tournament game against Clear Fork (9-8), of the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Brickman says that while Shelby has a better record and has the last at bats, but the Colts are really the favorite. "We are at home, but I look at us as being underdogs to be honest. Clear Fork has some good seniors and they play in that tough conference. I know Rusty (Staab) will have them ready to go, even though we are the home team I think of us as the underdogs. We will try and pump our kids up and we will see what happens," said Brickman.
Published 5/06/14
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Shelby Bounces Back
Last week, Bellevue bombed Shelby and Monday Norwalk handed the Whippets a loss, but Tuesday afternoon they bounced back with a (13-0) win over the Sandusky Blue Streaks in league play.
Right now, they trail Tiffin Columbian by two games in the Northern Ohio League race.
Coach C.J. Brickman says they played well in all aspects of the game against Sandusky. "We hit the ball well (Tuesday). I think we had 14 hits. My starting pitcher only walked one and we had zero errors, so we looked goof in all phases of the game," he said.
Dillon Thornsberry and Nate Sayre both had three hits for Shelby in the win.
Sometimes baseball is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are going to get, especially at the high school level. At the beginning of the season, Brickman was unsure what he was going to get at the plate, but the Whippets have torn the cover off the ball. "It was something I thought would be our weakness. We have three guys hitting over .400 and almost every other starter is hitting over .300. I have never had this happen as a head coach and this is my eighth year, so you never know," he told Swankonsports.com after the win over Sandusky.
Shelby (10-5,2-2) also got a solid effort on the mound from Thornsberry. He allowed only three hits, but Brickman says just as important he only walked one. "I think he was just throwing strikes. I think in the last three games he has started I think we walked three guys in the first inning each time, so this time he got up there and threw strikes and the defense made plays behind him," he said.
The Whippets play Norwalk in a league game on Thursday.
Shelby has been forced to cancel far fewer games this year than other teams in the league and we will see how much that helps them in the next couple of weeks.
Published 4/23/14
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Shelby Here to Battle
Shelby pulled one of the biggest upsets of the young high school baseball season on Thursday when they beat Ontario (10-7) in a Northern Ohio League game at Ontario.
Josh Lykins had four of the Whippets 13 hits against Ontario. With game tied at five in the top of the fifth the Whippets scored five times to take a (10-5) lead.
During the preseason Shelby coach C.J. Brickman said he wasn't sure they could compete in the league, but Thursday's win makes him a little more confident. "I guess it does. It was a good win. I just don't know how good the rest of the teams in the "NOL" are yet, but it was a good win for us, especially going there and this wind out there, so yes we are happy," he said.
It was windy on Thursday, with gusts between 40 and 50 MPH, and Brickman says that really affected the game, even the pitchers. "Especially with your pitcher and at Ontario is the wind is blowing right in his face and he is a lefty. It affects his curveball and the velocity of his fastball for both of our guys. Weather in baseball is a huge factor," he said.
Shelby has a lot of young players that are hitting the ball well and producing a lot of results. So much so, they are surprising even their coach. "My question mark going into the year more than anything else was our hitting. I think right now we are averaging 12 hits a game. We had 13 (Thursday) against Ontario," Brickman told Swankonsports.com after the win, "They had some good guys throwing. Our kids aren't striking out. They are putting it in play and they are hitting it hard. It is a big shock to me that we are hitting the ball as well as we are."
Shelby (4-3,1-0) plays at home against Sandusky (1-1,0-0) in an "NOL" game on Friday afternoon. They host Ashland, of Ohio Cardinal Conference, in a Saturday doubleheader.
Published 4/11/14
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Shelby Scores 12 again
After being shutout by a very good Clyde team on Monday, Shelby has produced back to back 12-2 wins over Mansfield Christian and Wynford the last two days.
On Wednesday, Dillon Thornsberry was the star as he struck out five and got the win on the mound and added three hits, including a double in the win over Wynford.
Coach C.J. Brickman says his young ball club is starting to believe in itself a little bit. "After opening with a tough Clyde team we played Mansfield Christian and Wynford. We scored 12 in both games and got our bats going and got some confidence for the young kids on this team, so yeah it was a couple of good wins," he said.
Shelby scored six times in the third and another six in the fourth against Wynford on Wednesday.
A key in any sport is the ability to make adjustments on the fly and even with their youth Brickman says they have been to do that here in the first week of the season. "We have some talented young kids and they have been making some adjustments early on in the season, which is good, so as the season goes on it shouldn't be as tough for them," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, "It's been warm outside and with three games in a row I think the kids get the timing down a little quicker, so that helps too."
Thornsberry only walked two Wynford batters and Brickman is a proponent of getting ahead in the count and allow your fielders to make plays behind you. "Our pitchers have been throwing strikes and I threw one of my top guys (Wednesday) and he pitched well and only walked two. When you throw strikes and use your defense you are going to be successful and that's what we have been doing the last two games," said Brickman.
Shelby (2-1) is supposed to start their Northern Ohio league schedule at home against Sandusky (1-0) on Thursday if it doesn't rain too much. Brickman thinks they have the kind of kids that can play competitive baseball in the "NOL" this spring. "I think we can be competitive. I'm just not sure about Norwalk, Bellevue and even Ontario, I still don't know how good they are yet. Those programs are good every year. Absolutely we can compete, if we can win it, I don't know about that yet. We definitely have some talent," he said.
Shelby is to play a doubleheader against North Central Conference favorite Galion on Saturday.
Published 4/03/14
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Shelby Looking Good
Shelby played well over the final weeks of last season and finished second in the Northern Ohio League, but this year they will be counting on a number of younger players.
Coach C.J. Brickman says they have been getting a lot better because they have been playing some games despite the North Central Ohio weather. "We actually did get two scrimmages in last week, last Tuesday and Thursday. The first game was a little rough, it was cold out and it was our first experience, but on Thursday it was night and day," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "The young guys were making plays, throwing strikes, and hitting the ball, so yes there was some growth and yes we still need to grow some more."
It seems in the major leagues it can be feast or famine, but Brickman says he wants his pitchers to throw strikes and if the fielders need to make plays they need to do it. "If you are walking everybody, you are giving them free base runners and your defense is falling asleep as well and getting frustrated behind you. You don't want to throw it down the middle, but you want to get it in the strike zone. That is why you have seven, eight guys behind you to play defense. Our philosophy is use your defense," he said.
Being outside last week was critical for the young Whippet hitters. Brickman says their is nothing like facing live pitching. "When you are in the gym with a pitching machine it's just different. It's going to be a fastball and you know where it's going to be. When you're live there are curve ball, there are change ups and the location is different. The arm slots are different. Facing live pitching is big and facing live pitching twice is big for us," said Brickman.
Shelby plays at Loudonville in a doubleheader on Saturday. They play their first "NOL" game at home against Sandusky on April 3, weather permitting.
Published 3/25/14
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Shelby Dealing with Youth
Shelby was one of the best baseball teams in North Central Ohio in May of last year and they ended up second in the Northern Ohio League to Norwalk in 2013, this year they are going to be quite a bit younger.
Coach C.J. Brickman says they have a lot of growing up to do, especially on the mound. "Right now it is pretty early to tell. I am pretty young. We have a lot of sophomores that are going to have to step up for me. I lost a pitcher named Justin Lewis who last year threw 60 innings and had nine wins. It's tough to replace a pitcher like that. I will know more in mid-April," said Brickman.
With so many young kids at the varsity level, something the Shelby football and basketball programs also dealt with this year, Brickman says those players are going to have to adjust to a varsity game that is going to come at them a lot quicker. "Varsity has been athletes. The pitching is better. There isn't errors made very often and the hitters are better. The game is faster and the athletes are better and the pitching is better, so it's a big adjustment. I have some athletic kids, so we will see how it goes," he said.
Shelby opens the season on March 29 with a doubleheader on the road at Loudonville. Their first "NOL" game is at home April 3 against the Sandusky Blue Streaks.
With more winter weather this week it looks like more practice indoors, but Brickman says it will be important for this group to get outside as much as possible this late winter. "It is going to be very important to get outside and get some time and experience on the actual field. We can take ground balls in the gym all day, but you sure don't get the same look as you do on the field. It's going to be important to get out there as soon as we can," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday.
Published 3/11/14
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Shelby Needs to be Almost Perfect
Shelby plays the team that a lot of people say is the best division two team in Ohio in the Norwalk Truckers in the division two sectional final on Friday night at Bucyrus High School.
Whippets coach Troy Schwemley says they clearly have to play their best game of the season to have a chance to be competitive with the Truckers. "We have to play our best game to have a chance to win. Norwalk is that good of a team. There are nights when if you can just pretty good you can win, but against Norwalk we are going to have to play your best game. We have done that at times and we feel that opportunity is there. We talked about it Thursday we have got to go out and make it happen and play as good a basketball game as we can possibly play," he said.
Norwalk (22-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the large school division, beat Shelby (8-14) twice during regular season play (79-48) at Shelby and (72-43) at Norwalk. Schwemley says the Norwalk pressure leads to spurts for them and against them you have to make a good pass every time. "I hope the things that we have worked on this week and having week to work on them will help us. Their defense is so active. No only do they make it difficult to score, but it also leads into their transition. You look at their game on Tuesday night and they are up 20-0 or around that after the first quarter and I think they end up winning that game by 20. They can get that knockout punch at anytime of the game," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "You look at the Tuesday night game with Galion and they did it in the first quarter. When you go back to us playing them here at the half we are down 33-30 and they knocked us out in the third quarter. They outscored us something like 25-3. Their defense is constant. Their pressure is constant. They do such a good job of trapping, rotating and pressuring every pass has to be a good pass. The next part of it is if you break the pressure you have to capitalize on it. In our second game at Norwalk for example we moved the ball fairly well and got some good shots, but we missed them and it was like playing into their hands. They do such a good job of making you pay for every mistake. Not only do we have to take care of the ball, but we have to find ways to score, so we can get set up defensively."
When they are on defense, Schwemley says they have to play good team defense and not take too many chances because Norwalk will burn you if you do. "Typically we work on pressure defense. I think most basketball teams work on that getting ball pressure. The danger with them is they can break you down off the dribble so well that it really forces you into a tough decision. If you pressure a Ben Haraway and he beats you he is going to finish or he is going to extra pass and pass to Grant Hull shooting the three or passing it to Jeff Thomas. They do such a good job of when they beat one defender they make the extra pass or they can finish themselves. It really puts you in a dilemma you have to play great team defense because one guy can not defend a Ben Haraway or a Jeff Thomas. They do such a good job of breaking down, but they do a good of passing and finding other people. We have to play great defense, but we have to try and limit their opportunities too. We have shown clips to the guys, they do miss shots. They are high school kids they will make turnovers if you play good sound defense and rebound and we are going to have to do that," said Schwemley.
Published 2/28/14
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Shelby Ready to Take On Clear Fork
Shelby beat Galion in Tuesday's division two sectional semi-finals and now they have advanced to play Clear Fork for a sectional title on Saturday night at Mansfield Senior High School.
On Tuesday, Shelby took a (16-7) lead after the first quarter and went on to beat Galion (54-35) in semi-final play. Coach Natalie Lantz says they were able force some early turnovers and that game them the advantage. "We came out and we didn't do too bad. We were able to get off to a good start and we were able to score off some turnovers against them. We had a young group starting against them due to several injuries. Hopefully we can get those girls back in time for Saturday night, but you never know. It was good experience the girls came out and played confident and aggressive and that is what we wanted," she said.
The Lady Whippets (12-11) ran the floor successfully on Tuesday and Lantz says that is something they have learned to do as the season has unfolded. "As the season has gone on, especially the younger players have learned how to handle the transition game a little better and have gained confidence as the season has gone on. They have stepped up and they have jelled and have followed the leadership shown by Taylor Fulton, Gabby Stevens, and Jess Miller. Jess is stepping up at the point guard role," she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Kenna Goth came off the bench for us and did a great job and played for Jess, who was out with a bad ankle injury and Maddie Fidler came off the bench and did a great job for us playing defense. She is a very aggressive defensive player. She has grown. She is quicker and more deceptive than you think. I was really pleased with how to girls played together moving up and down the floor."
Clear Fork (12-9) comes out of the Ohio Cardinal Conference and will be looking for their second straight sectional title. Lantz says the Lady Colts are good, but she is confident they can play with them. "Clear Fork is a nice team. They are athletic. They are aggressive. They are led by Swihart. She does a good job and I have a lot of respect for her. They are well coached and we are going to have to come out and play well on both ends of the floor. We need to take care of the ball offensively and be there defensively making sure we have each other's backs on the help side and what not and take away the drives and contest the shots. We need to do all of those little things that we do everyday in practice such as boxing out and holding our position, getting on the boards and trying to get out on break. If we do those little things I think we can compete," said Lantz.
Published 2/21/14
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Shelby Still trying to put it Together
Shelby has not only been inconsistent from game to game, but also within the same game and that has been driving coach Troy Schwemley a little crazy because he knows the team's potential.
Last Friday night, they built a big lead and hung on to beat rival Willard (70-63) in overtime. It is the second time they have beaten the Flashes in overtime this year. Schwemley says he was a little nervous at the end. "Inconsistency is probably a nice way to put it. I can't quite figure out what makes us tick sometimes. We came out against Willard and really played two and half really good quarters. We were up 17 or 19 in that game and the next thing you know we were down four with two minutes left to go in the game, but we played well in those final two minutes, put it in overtime, and got a great win at Willard," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Really it was a great win for us, we had been struggling. I was happy for the kids, we had been struggling, but we were starting to come around again."
On Saturday, the Whippets lost to Kenton (63-51) and Schwemley says they just couldn't keep the momentum going from Friday night. "We just never got it going Saturday night against Kenton. We were really hoping to get on a roll. We haven't won two games in a row all year, but to wasn't to be. Now we have to get ready for our final regular season game and hopefully we can finish strong. We have shown we are capable of that, but we will wait and see when Friday night gets here what team shows up for us," said Schwemley.
Bellevue (4-17,2-9) makes he trip to Shelby (7-13,3-8) for a Northern Ohio league game on Friday night. The Whippets won at Bellevue (67-62) on January 29. Schwemley says they are similar teams. "When you watch them they have shown they can play very good basketball, but at times they are similar to us, they can go through stretches where they have trouble scoring and defending, but a lot of that has to do with the opponent," he said.
In that first game it was another example of Shelby building a big lead and then trying to hang on. Schwemely says his kids have to be aggressive. "For us going into that game we need to force them into a lot of turnovers and mistakes, and defend, and be aggressive offensively. You can't just sit back and hope the other team self destructs because that is not going to be the case. Both teams have had some ups and downs, but it still a matter of being the aggressor being the one that makes the other team make some mistakes then capitalize on those. It is going to be important to get off to a good start an hopefully keep it going," said Schwemley.
Published 2/20/14
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Shelby Takes on Galion
After winning their last two regular season games the Shelby Lady Whippets head into the girls' division two sectional basketball tournament at Mansfield Senior, where they will play Galion on Tuesday night.
Shelby (11-11) beat Tiffin Columbian (49-44) and Sandusky (53-51) in their last two games in Northern Ohio League play and coach Natalie Lantz believes they are starting to peak at the right time. "I think we have had a stronger second half of the season and it was definitely nice to get a couple of wins against Tiffin and Sandusky heading into the tournament on Tuesday against Galion. So, we know what we need to do and have definitely come together as a team here the second half of the season and look forward to starting Tuesday night," she said.
They started the season with very little experience, but Lantz says the Lady Whippets are now a more confident ball club and it is showing on the court. "They have come to trust each other offensively and defensively. They really work hard at both ends of the floor. They get after it defensively. Our younger players have become more experienced, more confident," she told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, "We are able to rely on our bench when we need to. Our younger players coming off the bench have done a really good job for us and their is a lot of confidence in them. Our senior leadership has been great and they have been huge as far as helping the younger players grow throughout the season."
Shelby beat Galion (3-19) 64-41 on February 4, but Lantz is certainly not taking any wins for granted. "I expect them to put up a fight. I don't think any team can be over looked and we definitely need to come out strong and play four strong quarters. They have a nice guard in Dorsey and we need to play good defense on her and keep her controlled and contained. If we do that and attack offensively we can come out on top," she said.
The winner advances to play Clear Fork (12-9), the second seed, on Saturday night for a sectional title.
Published 2/17/14
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Mistakes are Killing Shelby
It may sound simple, but it really isn't, eliminating mistakes that is, and if Shelby can do that they have a chance to shock the world when they travel to Norwalk in Northern Ohio League play on Tuesday night.
In fact, last week is a good example, the Whippets (6-11,2-7) led unbeaten Ontario (11-3) after the first quarter last week only to lose (76-52) to the Warriors.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they just have too many periods during the game when they don't score. "You couldn't ask for a better way to start that game. We really did a good job defensively and we were pretty efficient offensively. In the first quarter that was about as good a quarter as you could expect against a great team like Ontario. I think we were up 11-3 and then when the second quarter hit I think we even extended the lead a little bit more, but left some opportunities out there. We missed some free throws that could have extended that lead a little bit more because you know Ontario is going to come back and when they did it was a flurry and the next thing you know we were down seven at halftime. We have shown we can play good basketball at times we just have to be able to minimize those runs teams go on and then we never recovered once that game got out of control Ontario really put it to us,' said Schwemley.
The Whippets lost a heartbreaker on Saturday night in non-conference play when Clyde bagged a three pointer right at the end of the game to win it (43-41). Schwemley says if they would have taken care of situations early in the game the final shot wouldn't have mattered. "We had a one point lead with 20 seconds to go and we did a good job defensively of taking away their main threat, but unfortunately their point guard found their post for a three pointer with three seconds to go, so that game was one shot away from being a victory. The disappointing thing about that game is our kids really need a victory for that motivation and confidence level," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "There were still things that we did when you look back at the game as a whole cost us. We are up seven at the end of the second quarter and turn it over and foul from 75 feet with them shooting a three, so they get three free throws right before the half. We also had the ball at the end of the third quarter and turned it over and gave up a layup, so that is a four, five point swing where we were really doing a good job controlling the tempo and playing a pretty good overall game, but seems like our mental mistakes just cost us and we have got to eliminate those."
Shelby is at Norwalk (17-1,8-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the large school division, for a league game against the second place Truckers on Tuesday night. Schwemley says the Truckers just eat up you mistakes. "They make you pay for every turnover, every offensive rebound. When you take care of the ball, when you execute, when you defend, good things can happen and that showed in our first game. We overcame about a 15 point deficit to be down (33-30) at halftime, but then everything went wrong in the second half. We have shown we can play well at times against some very good teams, but to have a chance (Tuesday) night we can't have those mental breakdowns that Norwalk is going to pressure you into. Their defense is just so go at pressuring and creating for their offense. If you take that away it gives you chance because their will be openings. If we learn from these mistakes and do a better job. We just need to minimize, I think that's the thing. I think when things go wrong they just come in bunches for us, so we need to minimize those mistakes. You are going to give up a couple that is part of the game. If we do that I think we can compete, or at least give ourselves a chance," said Schwemley.
Published 2/11/14
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Shelby Coming Together
Shelby started the season with only one player with much varsity experience, but over the last three weeks they have started to play some pretty good basketball.
Over the last 10 days, the Lady Whippets (9-10) have beat Ontario (69-33), Galion (64-41) and Upper Sandusky (65-46). Their only loss in that period coming to Norwalk (64-51) on Saturday.
Coach Natalie Lantz is impressed with the way this team has come together. "I think our girls are coming along quite nice. We went from the beginning of the season when we had a lot of young players and we were really trying to figure out where they fit and how they fit together to jell. The last two weeks they have really come together and stepped up as a team," she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "It has really been fun to watch, encourage, and help them to continue to develop their skills and teamwork. They have always played hard for us, but now playing hard has been taken to a whole new level."
Lantz says they are playing together as a team and that shows up on both ends of the court and scoring more points. "That is part of them working as a team and finding each other in the open court and pushing the ball. They are working together really well. Defensively the intensity level has been up. They have been focused in practice. They want to win and they know they have to work together to get that. They have been playing really strong. We have been having some good second halves. We had three wins in four games last week in a seven, eight day spurt there. I have been really pleased with how they have been pulling together lately," said Lantz.
Shelby plays its toughest opponent over the last little bit on Tuesday night as they travel to Mansfield Madison (9-11) of the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Lantz says Madison tries to make the game Helter Skelter and they have to play their game and not Madison's. "We preach that to our girls before every game and stay composed at all times. I think that is one thing that was have done well as the season has gone on. We have been able to cut back on the turnovers. Madison is very quick, they are very aggressive. They have some very athletic players that lead their team. They are very talented and strong, aggressive players, and they have a very aggressive style. So, it will be very important for our girls to come out and wok as a team and play together and I believe our kids can do that," said Lantz.
Published 2/11/14
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Shelby Searching for Answers
Shelby has played very well in a lot of games this season, but the Whippets have rarely played well for a whole game, and that is why they are a sub .500 team so far this year.
An example of this was last Saturday when they got behind early and could never quite catch up in losing (75-61) to the Arrows in non-conference play. Coach Troy Schwemley says they are not a team that has the kind of explosiveness to get behind like that. "We knew going in that Ashland had some good players and we talked about how their record wasn't a reflection of what kind of team they had. The disappointing part was we just dug ourselves a big hole, and after that we played a pretty good game, but I believe we were down 11-1 to start the game and we were just never able to recover. We got it as close as four of five points at times. When you dig a hole like that it is just tough to recover and that is what we seem to do at some point in the game," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Sometimes it is at the beginning of the game, but you never know where it is going to happen. We actually did some good things. We got the ball inside and Tristan had a good night. We had moments, but when we needed those big stops or that big defensive rebound, we couldn't get it."
On Friday night, the Whippets (6-9,2-6) travel to Ontario (17-0,8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the large school division, the Northern Ohio League leader. The first time they played Shelby almost pulled the upset, but lost (63-56) and Schwemley says again it was a poor start. "We played a pretty good game that game and I believe it as tied with three or four minutes to go. Again as I look back at that game I believe we were down 11-0 to start that game, battled back, and at some point in the second quarter they had a run where they scored seven points in five seconds. They got an offensive rebound put back, got fouled, missed it, got an offensive rebound, got fouled, made it, stole the inbound pass and scored. It is that kind of runs that Ontario is capable of that you can't give up against them. You look at that first game and I felt that in 29 of the 32 minutes we played pretty good basketball and maybe played well enough to win, but those three minuets cost us the game. That is the kind of team Ontario has and they can make those runs at any time," said Schwemley.
Shelby is involved in one the toughest division two sectionals in the state with Norwalk moving down from division one and Ontario up form division two to join the Whippets, Lexington, Galion, and Clear Fork. Schwemley says it is just going to be a war. "Both of those teams are very good teams. They are two of the top teams in the area if not state. They are looking at one-two seed and you look at a Lexington team that is probably going to be the three seed and that is a pretty good team there to have to play in the sectional finals, assuming Lexington would win their first game. It is just a bear of a sectional. Whoever you play, whether it is Ontario or Norwalk, you are not going to have an easy game to get out of the sectional. We are looking to put ourselves in position to get to the sectional final and then we are going to have to play extremely well, but that is still a ways off and we would like to build a little bit of confidence before that time comes," said Schwemley.
Published 2/06/14
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Shelby Has a Chance to Keep Building
Shelby got back on the winning trail with a win at Bellevue in Northern Ohio League play on Wednesday night and now they face a league game on Friday against Tiffin Columbian and a non-league clash with Ashland on Saturday, both at home.
The Whippets built a big early lead and hung on to beat the Redmen (67-62) on Wednesday night. Coach Troy Schwemley feels they did a good job of being aggressive against Bellevue. "We scored 44 points in the first half and really did a nice job, of just not shooting the ball from the perimeter, but I thought we did a nice job of getting to the rim. We had a lot of points in the paint. In part that was due to our defense. Our defense really did a good job of creating some offense," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We talked about that to the guys before the game that we need to do more defensively to create some offense. In the second half, I'll be honest I backed off a little bit because we had a about a 10 point lead and I felt if we played, good half court defense and not give them easy baskets we would be able to come away with a win. I got pretty close. The game was actually tied, but we did a nice job of closing the game out and getting a big win."
Just like against Bellevue, the Whippets (6-7,2-5) got off to a good start when they played at Tiffin, but they let that one get away (55-50) and Schwemley says they was a very disappointing loss. "When we played them the first time we had a 10 point lead after three quarters and then just had a bad fourth quarter when we got outscored something like 14-2 and ended up losing by five. That was a disappointing way to finish that game because we really did play pretty well for three quarters. It's the second half of the season and we get to play them again and hopefully bounce back from that. Two weeks ago we came off that big win against Willard and then lost to St. Pete and Sandusky. For us to get a win Wednesday was a good way to bounce back and we are hoping we can do the same thing against Tiffin," said Schwemley.
Columbian (6-7,2-4) will have a size advantage, but Schwemley says this is game they can win if they play well. "They have some size coming in. They give us some match-up trouble with their inside play, but if we play well together then we have a good chance," he said.
Ashland (4-8) will be at Shelby on Saturday night and Schwemley says they are team that is a lot better than its record due to the tough schedule they play. "Ashland is a team when you look at their record their record is very deceiving. They play just such a tough schedule. They do so many good things. They took Mansfield Senior to the wire and lost by three. We are going to have to be ready to play. I don't know who they play on Friday night, but we have always had great match-ups with them. Both teams play really hard. It's a home-home weekend for us and hopefully we can have some success. If the guys play hard in both games I think we can have some good results. That's what all coaches want for you to play hard and do what you are supposed to do and sometimes don't worry about what the scoreboard says, but if we do those things we hope it will say what we want it to," said Schwemley.
Published 1/31/14
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Shelby Must Play with Better Effort
Shelby is the kind of boys' basketball team that just can't mail it in. If they do they are probably going to lose.
That's is kind of what happened Saturday night when the Whippets lost (56-52) to Mansfield St. Peter's. Coach Troy Schwemley says St. Peter's play well too, but they really didn't show up. "I was disappointed in that loss. There were some things where we broke down defensively. We shot I believe 12-40 form inside the arch, which is 30 percent. Some of that was our own fault. Sometimes when you say disappointed it doesn't give the right impression because I want praise St. Pete's for how they played and defended us," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Some of that shooting 30 percent was our own fault, but some of it was because they did a good job defending us and not giving us open looks. I thought our effort wasn't what it needed to be. I thought we would play with more intensity that was their third game last week and due to our Bellevue game getting moved that was our only game. I was a little disappointed in the effort we gave. That doesn't take anything away from St. Pete's. They deserved to win and that's why they beat us on Saturday night."
After beating Willard (67-58) in overtime the week before, Schwemley thought the Whippets (5-6,1-4) had turned the corner. "I was a little bit surprised because our last game was really one of our best efforts we had given all year and beat Willard and I was hoping that would carry over to our next game and it almost seemed like it went in the opposite direction. That is part of the season and you have to be ready for every game. Hopefully we learn from that and if we do bounce back it's like we learned our lesson. You also don't want them to make the mistake to begin with, but sometimes you have to learn the hard way," he said.
Bellevue (3-8,1-4) is coming off a win (83-58) over winless Seneca East on Saturday. Schwemley really believes this game is going to be about playing hard. "It is going to be interesting because of the change and the move. They are in the same situation we are because they played Saturday night too. It's really two teams that have shown the ability to compete, but also teams that have struggled at times. The game at Bellevue on (Tuesday) night is going to be about effort. The team that plays with the best effort will probably win the game. The hard part is typically you measure effort with things like rebounding and defense, and steals. When you doing those things well that seems to be what it takes to be successful. Hopefully we do some growing and learning on (Tuesday),' said Schwemley.
Published 1/21/14
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Shelby Stressing Getting Better
Shelby is one of the boys’ basketball teams that has consistently gotten better as this season has unfolded.
They began the season with a lot of young and inexperienced players, but as the season has gone along they have matured.
In one of their better efforts of the year, the Whippets (5-5,1-4) outlasted rival Willard (67-58) in overtime last week.
Coach Troy Schwemley says the win is proof they have gotten better. “I felt like that was a food win for us. When you look at Willard’s record they were coming in at 7-3 and had beaten a couple teams we had lost to in the league. They had beaten Tiffin and Sandusky and we had lost to those teams,’ he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I felt like that was a good win for us to beat a team that had beaten some teams we had lost too. It also gives us a league win and that is always good for your team moral and trying to get better, so from that standpoint I hope will can build off that and use that going into this weekend.”
The Whippets offense has improved, but so has its defense. Schwemley says that is what won them the Willard game. “Especially in the second half of our Willard game I thought our defense really started to wear Willard down and that was really the turning point. For all teams that has got to be the constant you can just rely on playing well when you are shooting the ball well and things like that. You have to defend and that has to be something you are doing for 32 minutes. I think we still need to get better at that, but definitely has improved,” he said.
Shelby is at Bellevue (2-8,1-4) on Friday night in a battle of teams in fourth place in the Northern Ohio League. Schwemley wants to finish the first half of the league schedule on a positive note. “It’s a league game for us and it will wind up the first half of the league season. When you look at the league standings Ontario and Norwalk are both undefeated and battling out for first place. The rest of us are trying to get better and improve. The closer we can get to whatever place it would be is important not just for this year, but next year. You get a chance to play everybody again in the second round. I think we really want to finish that first round on a strong note. It would put us at 2-4, which isn’t great, but at least we finish strong and have a chance to play some of those teams again that we lost to and maybe do better the second time around,’ said Schwemley.
Shelby hosts Mansfield St. Peter’s (5-6) in a non-conference game on Saturday night.
Published 1/17/14
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Shelby Faces Unbeaten Norwalk
The weather forced the postponement of the Norwalk at Shelby basketball game for the second time and this time the venue will change too. The game will be played on Wednesday night and this time at Norwalk. The second round game will now be at Shelby.
Whippets coach Troy Schwemley says teams just have to be able to adjust to winter in Ohio. “That is part of winter in Ohio and basketball season is in the winter, so you have to adjust and be able to deal with these types of things. We have been fortunate we have been able to get in the gym a little bit. When it is nasty out sometimes you can’t even get in the gym and practice depending on the severity of the weather conditions. We have to overcome that and get ready to play on Wednesday,” he said.
On Saturday night, Lexington beat the Whippets (64-47) and Schwemley says they again went through a long scoring drought. “We started out well. I think we were up 10-6. I was pleased with how we were playing. The disappointing part was the next thing you know it was 21-10 the other way. We just had that breakdown where it seems we typically have where we stop playing offense and defense together and we just can’t overcome those breakdowns,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We give up those long stretches of scoring runs and you have to try and overcome it. If you take out that gap I think we played okay at times. We actually cut the lead down to 12-13 points in the fourth quarter where I felt like we were getting back in the game, but we just dug ourselves too big a hole and we couldn’t overcome that.”
Norwalk (9-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, has not been challenged in a league game this year. Schwemley says they can’t let the Truckers get easy shots and at the same time they have to get good shots. “They are undefeated and they have been outscoring their opponents by large margins and they score in bunches. What makes them so good is their defense. It creates a lot of offense for them. I think the key for us against them is to get it into a half court game where defensively we can play five on five against them, not them running in transition. The hard part about that is then you have to be able to get shots for yourself. In the half court sometimes it’s hard to get good shots because you don’t have the numbers. We are going to have to get into the half court defensively, but on offense we need to be efficient and create some good shots because if not they will turn you over and run with it,” said Schwemley.
The Shelby coach says to have a chance to stay in the game with the Truckers they have to get really good looks at the basket. “If they are going to force the tempo with their defensive pressure it’s tough. The hard part about that is if you are efficient in breaking traps and passing the ball it will create open looks, but sometimes that is not the shot you want. Just because you are open doesn’t mean that is the best shot you can get. You have to beat the pressure and know the difference between a good shot and not a good shot and knock down some of those shots. I’d like to see our guys get to run some and get some layups, but they do such a good job of recovering and altering shots in the paint. They are just a very good team, so we will have to play really well,” said Schwemley.
Published 1/08/14
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Shelby Looking For a Little Something Extra
For the second straight season the Shelby Whippets are a better team than a lot of people thought they would be at the beginning of the season and their coach thinks they can be even better.
They tied the game in the fourth quarter against Ontario (9-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, midway through the fourth quarter before losing (63-56) to the Warriors in Northern Ohio League play.
Coach Troy Schwemley says it was a solid effort, just not good enough. “We were down as much as 15 somewhere in the third quarter and had a really nice run to tie the game up. At that point we gave ourselves a chance to win that ballgame against a very good team. Reflecting on that game I think we were down 10-0 to start the game and from that point on we played pretty well, but you can’t spot a team like that, that many points. I definitely was pleased about how we battled back and showed that we could compete against one the best teams in the area,” said Schwemley.
Faced with a similar situation on Saturday night, the Whippets beat Galion (57-54) in non-conference play. Schwemley says this time they found a way to win. “Going in their record was 2-5, but I looked at their scores and the common opponents that we played I knew that they were a solid team and the execute very well and they had just come up on the short end a couple of times. That is probably how coach Rich feels today. They did so many things well and just came up on the short end. From my standpoint I am pleased we found a way to win a close game. Of our four wins, three of the four have been down to the wire, right at the buzzer pretty much, so for us it was a very good win against a team that is going to play hard,” he said.
Shelby (4-3) does not play a league game on Friday, but does travel to Lexington (4-4) for a non-conference clash on Saturday. The Minutemen upset Mansfield Senior (60-49) and in a similar game with Ontario lost to the Warriors (56-49) in overtime. Schwemley says it’s time for them to beat a real good team. “They definitely showed how well they can play. They had a great win on Friday night against Mansfield Senior and come back and play Ontario very tough the next night. They are going to execute well. They have really nice balance, they can go inside, they can go outside, they can shoot from the perimeter, and they also have some guys that can post up. They are going to play hard. I think that is what it takes. I know they play Friday night, but they will still be ready Saturday and we are going to have to give our best effort,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I hope that game is like our Ontario game and we show we can compete against really good teams, but we need to find a way. If you tell me the score from the Ontario game the next day I would says we must have played pretty well, I’ll take it. But, then I got to thinking you know we were tied in the forth quarter and I want us to find a way to win those games. We don’t want to be competitive losing by seven. We want to find a way to compete and possibly win some of those against some of those good teams and Lexington would be a team like that.”
Published 12/31/13
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Shelby has to Learn From Fourth Quarter Fall Out
Shelby looked like they were going to win their first Northern Ohio league game of the season last week, but they only scored two points in the fourth quarter and lost at Tiffin Columbian.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they were cruising along pretty well through three quarters, playing some good basketball against Tiffin, and boom, things went bad in a hurry. “We played pretty well for three quarters. I have to admit I was pretty pleased with where we were at. We were up I think nine or ten going into the fourth quarter, playing pretty good basketball, and then everything seemed to fall apart. We got outscored something to two, maybe 14-2, in the fourth quarter, and that ended up costing us the game, we lost by five. It was very disappointing from the standpoint that we really played pretty well for three quarters. That fourth quarter we need to learn from and figure out what went wrong and try to not let it happen again,” said Schwemely.
It was a combination of things that led to the collapse. Schwemley says they didn’t execute very well on offense, but their defense didn’t measure up either and when you can’t do either, well... “I think a little bit of maybe both. It’s at Tiffin and they are going to pick up the intensity a little bit in that fourth quarter, that’s do or die time. I don’t think we matched that intensity. When things started to go bad we just couldn’t hit that basket like you need to and that’s what the guys need to learn and figure out what was going on and how to fix that. The disappointing part was our defense also shut down,” he told Swamkonsports.com on Monday, “The one thing we are trying to talk to the kids about is you are going to have moments where maybe the offense doesn’t click for you, but you can’t let the defense down, you have got to keep playing at both ends of the floor. Our defense seemed to go down with it, which you can’t have.”
Shelby (3-2,0-2) hosts unbeaten Ontario (6-0,2-0) in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night at the “House that Joe Built.” The Warriors, #3 in the Swankonsports.com boy’s basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, have everything a team needs to be successful, according to Schwemley. “There are just so many things that make them good. They have ball handlers, they have guys that can get to the rim and score, they have shooters. They really have all of things you need to be balanced team and on top of that they play great defense. Coach Balogh obviously does a great job. So, when you have all of those factors. A lot of their guys are two, three year lettermen. I don’t think it’s a surprise as far as where they are at. It’s there first year in the “NOL” and that is really the new factor for everybody, but Ontario has always been a solid basketball team and they have one of the really good teams right now. It’s going to be an interesting match-up Friday and we know we are going to have to play well against them,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/24/13
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Might be a Battle in the Paint
Two teams that just want to get on the floor meet in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night as Shelby visits Tiffin Columbian.
Neither team has played since December 7and the Tornadoes have played only once all season.
Shelby was supposed to play “NOL” favorite Norwalk last Saturday, but road conditions said no to any travel. Coach Troy Schwemley says they didn’t get the measuring stick they were looking for. “I think the hardest part is you spend a week preparing for an opponent and getting ready for whatever your game plan is and then when you loose that game you are disappointed because you are hoping your team is ready and you really want to see the outcomes of that week’s practice. That is the only thing that you lose,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “If that happens you just deal with it and you move on to get ready for your next opponent. The other thing is you want to see your team improving. A lot of times you practice, but games are a measuring stick to see if there are things we are getting better at or are there things that we need to work on still. For us Norwalk would have been a great gauge of a lot of those factors looking for improvement against a great team.”
Tiffin (1-0,0-0) won their only game against Fostoria (63-40) December 7 and Schwemley says they have some big guys inside and they that are going to be a big factor in the game. “They have only played one game. In talking about wanting to play last week I think would have liked to have had another game under our belt. Tiffin’s front line goes 6’6”, 6’6” and they have a 6’5” guy that comes in off the bench, so they definitely have some size coming back. Both of those guys are juniors and I think that is going to be the interesting part of the game as far as how are we going to protect the paint and giving up easy baskets, but also can we score in the paint because a lot of our scoring can come from the inside. When you look at Tristan Kerhes for us gets a lot of his points around the basket, so I think the height in the game will be an interesting factor in how the game plays out,” said Schwemley.
The Whippets (2-1,0-1) have some young guards that have hit some shots and Schwemley says they are going to have to do that Friday too. “It is going to be important going in as far as do we hit some shots. Everything seems to go well when you hit some shots. Can we hot some shots from the perimeter that opens up and stretches the defense and allows us to get inside and have that balance. They do press to get in transition and we have to own the boards. I think rebounding will be something where height will be a factor,” he said.
Schwemley says Tiffin uses their big guys all over the floor. “They actually do a lot of diamond press and put their bigs on top and do some pressing with them to try and get some easy baskets. They are doing a nice job of not saying with have two 6’6” guys and we are going to pound it inside. They are using those guys at the top of the press or trying to get the ball inside-out. And can our guards hit some shots. In a game like this you wonder how many second shots you are going to get, so hopefully our guards can knock some shots down,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/20/13
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Shelby Showing Signs
With young players Shelby is certainly developing into a team that has some pretty good potential.
Last weekend was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde kind of experience for the Whippets. They were drilled (77-38) in their Northern Ohio League opener by the Sandusky Blue Streaks. Coach Troy Schwemley said it seemed nothing would go right for them as they shot just 29% from the field. “It was an interesting weekend. We went up to Sandusky on Friday and really just and got our lunch handed to us so to speak. Sandusky shot the ball well and drove to the basket and we ended getting beat. Some of that was our own doing. We were very impatient with the ball and took some quick shots and turned the ball over and threw some gas on the fire so to speak. Also, I thought Sandusky played very well and maybe surprised some people. They definitely seemed really good that night,” said Schwemley.
Just 24 hours later, they came back and hammered Wynford (72-46) making 57% of their shots. Schwemley says it was just the opposite. “We responded pretty Saturday. I was definitely pleased coming off of Friday night to bounce back the way we did. I think the same thing that happened Friday happened on Saturday, but we got to shooting well and everything going well and it snowballed. The same thing that happened on Friday night to us we were able to do Saturday against Wynford. That was good with the young team and some inexperienced guys that we have,” he said. Davey Hipp led the team with 16 points, while Lucas Bihl had 13, and Tristan Kehres and Brandon Schneider had 11 each.
Schwemley says he can’t be too discouraged with the start they have gotten and he will no longer refer to them as inexperienced. “With us being 2-1 right now I would say I am pretty pleased with that. I hate to say inexperience because at this point we have had scrimmages and we have got three games under our belts, so at this point you can throw that term out the window,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “There are things we need to do better and we seem to have moments when we are doing that like the Wynford game we really shot the ball well. I think we ended the night with 12 threes and played really aggressive. The hard part is some of the mistakes we made in terms of quick shots and being aggressive on Friday that really hurt us propelled us on Saturday. We need to learn the difference in those two games. We are definitely coming along and getting some scoring from some different guys. We had multiple guys in double figures on Saturday night and that is definitely encouraging.”
Shelby plays host to Norwalk (1-0,0-0), #2 in the First Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll of the season in the large school division, on Friday night in “NOL” play. Schwemley believes against the Truckers you have to control the pace. “I think it starts with Ben Haraway and Jeff Thomas. Those two have played since their freshman year and have just had a ton of success during their careers. With those two on the floor they are going to be a good team no matter what, but they also have some other guys that can hurt you. They defend well. They execute their sets with coach Gray. There are some times when they can run and hurt you there and there are some times they execute in the half court. They really do so many things well that you have got to really limit their chances and try to control the tempo of the ball game and that is easier said than done because they force the tempo so much and that’s what makes them such a great team,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/11/13
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Shelby Still Working on Self
Last week, Shelby spent pretty much all week working on their own stuff and it resulted in a one-point win over Mansfield Madison and they are going to go about things the same way this week in preparation for their Northern Ohio League opener with Sandusky on Friday night.
Last week, Tristan Kerhes scored with two seconds to play to give the Whippets a (62-61) win over the Rams. Coach Troy Schwemley says they made a run at the right time. “It was a game that you could say that we hung around, but there were times that it felt like Madison was pulling away. Every time we would close the gap it would seem that Madison would have a run on us and get the lead back to 10. Fortunately we hung around long enough to take the lead in the last minute,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Madison had been in the lead the whole game and then they scored right away to take the lead again, but we had one more possession. Tristan Kehres hit a big shot to put us up with two seconds to go. We hung around long enough, but we made a run when we needed it.”
You are happy anytime you win, but Schwemley says they can’t forget last week was almost a loss. “That is a game that we have to remember that we were as close to losing as winning. You feel good about yourself when you win a game like that, but we very easily could have lost that game since it went down to the wire. We feel good about ourselves, but we need to remember there are a lot of things that we need to get better at,” he said.
Shelby (1-0) is at Sandusky (0-1) for their Northern Ohio league opener. Again, Schwemley says the focus is more on what they need to do in terms of their own execution. “At this point we haven’t looked at them too much. I know that they have a new coach. They have some returners from last year, but we haven’t looked at them too much. Normally, as we approach the week the first couple of days we focus on the things we need to do, especially early in the season. When you get deeper in the season you might start really preparing for an opponent early in the week, but at this point we are only in the fifth week of practice and we are in a situation where Tristan and Spencer Blevens had some football injuries where they came back from late. I would say we are focused on things we can control. We need to be ready to play because Sandusky is a tough place to play and we need to be able to play in a hostile environment,” said Schwemley.
Published 12/03/13
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Shelby Looking For the Right Combination
Shelby has been one of the more consistently successful boys’ basketball teams in North Central Ohio over the last several years. This year looks like there are going to be some growing pains early in the season.
Tristan Kehres is the only player to return for the Whippets that had much playing time a year ago and he suffered an injury in football that has kept him off of the floor.
Coach Troy Schwemley says the preseason has certainly been a learning experience for them. He references last week’s foundation game verses Clear Fork. “We actually shot the ball very well, especially to start the game. We came out and scored really well in the first half, but our defense was pretty bad too. The good was I liked the way we were aggressive and hit some shots. The bad was I thought as well as we did shoot we should have had the lead at halftime,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Give Clear Fork credit they got the hoops, they scored on us, and were up two at halftime. We did a lot of good things in the first half, but we didn’t play well enough to win. That’s really what is comes down to. You hope you learn from a game like that because I think the things we didn’t do well are fixable, but they have to be fixed and we have to get better at those things.”
Schwemly says he thinks this year’s group has some potential. He says they are going to need to understand there is a big jump to varsity basketball and he thinks the foundation game helps with that transition. “We have no lettermen out there on the floor right now. Our only returning letterman is Tristan Kehres and he has been on the sideline with a football injury. When you have nobody out there that has been through that varsity schedule and that grind that makes a difference. We are trying to find some leadership and some consistency. Every scrimmage has been important from that standpoint because it gives them a good feel for what a varsity game is like, the speed of the game. Going back to that foundation game that is such a good thing, not only do we do some good things for a charity, but it is also a good environment from a basketball standpoint, it’s a scrimmage, but it just such a good environment. It helps simulate what game night is going to be all about,” said Schwemley.
Madison comes to Shelby Friday night for the opening of the Whippets new high school gym. Schwemley says they haven’t had much time to worry about the Rams, he says he expects them to be improved and aggressive. “Right now I am still in Shelby, what do we need to fix for us mode. We haven’t had much time to even think about an opponent. We want to just work on things that we can control and need to do better. I know Madison will be better with a year under coach Mergel’s belt. That first year of coaching I don’t care how prepared you are you always learn a lot from it and improve as a coach. They will play hard and be aggressive, they have always done that. It’s been a great game. I don’t know how long it has been, but it’s been a great match up. We play them football game one and also basketball. I know we will get a great game from them. It will be a great environment to open our new gym in, so hopefully we are ready to go,” said Schwemley.
Published 11/26/13
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Shelby is Going to Find Some Things Out Right Away
The girls’ basketball season opens up this Friday and the Shelby Lady Whippets are going to play three games in the first five days of the season. With a young roster they are going to find out quickly what they have to do to improve.
Only one starter returns from a team that shared the Northern Ohio League title with Bellevue and advanced to the district semis. Coach Natalie Lantz says right now their defense is ahead of their offense. “They are improving every day. Obviously there are still things we want to work on. We are still coming together and be able to read each other a little bit better offensively. Defensively I think we are starting to jell. Offensively there are some mistakes we are making. Patience is always key, so that has been a focus this week. Rebounding is going to be key for us to make sure we are making contact and boxing out and going after those boards,” said Lantz.
With a club with not a lot of varsity experience patience on offense is going to be a big factor. Lantz says they are working on teaching the players what a good shot is. “What we are working on is the first shot might not always be the best shot. We want to be patient and work for a good shot whether it is a lay up or something inside the paint versus one pass and a three or one pass and a 15 footer, so we are working on it and getting better and better at it each day. You kind of have to push them and stay on them to keep that focus and get across what you are working for each day,” she said.
Shelby plays Plymouth on Friday, Ashland on Saturday and Mansfield Senior on Tuesday all in non-conference play. Lantz says there won’t be much time to make adjustments and they are going to find out if their players are quick learners. “They are definitely going to get their feet wet quick in varsity play. The good thing is there are three quick games, the flip side of that is there isn’t much time to adjust between games. We will have a shoot around Saturday morning that we can make some quick adjustments for Ashland and then we have one practice on Monday before Tuesday’s game with Mansfield Senior,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “This is a good time to find out how quickly the players are going to pick up on the tweaks we are going to make. They will get better at it as the season goes on. They will grow more confident with the things we are trying to accomplish as a team. I do think we have talent. I think we have a lot of potential it is just going to be developing that as the season goes on.”
Published 11/21/13
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Shelby Girls Reloading
Shelby shared the Northern Ohio League girls’ basketball title last season and advanced to the division two district tournament, but they lost a lost a lot of the key components to that team to graduation.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they return just one starter, but she thinks they have a good mix of players to work with. “We have a lot of young, new faces to our team this year. We have three seniors back this year, one starter returning in Taylor Fulton. She is doing a great job with her senior leadership role this year. We have two players that came off the bench for me last year and they have really stepped up their game. It has been neat over the last week and half watching the girls mixing and developing a new chemistry with this team this year,” said Lantz.
It can be a big jump to the varsity level, especially from junior high, but Lantz says they are learning quickly. “Each team is different. Every single year each group is different. We lost five really talented seniors last year. We lost a very talented point guard. We are looking young this year to replace the ball handling skills and playmaking skills of Emma Hochstetler,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have a couple of freshmen guards playing with us this year. We lost of height with Devon Murray and Broke Ridenour. We also have a little taller freshmen that uses her height well. They are working hard and learning the quicker pace of the game and the more physical play. It is neat watching those kids mixing with the older players.”
They may have a lot to learn, but Lantz says she knows for sure they will always work hard. “I think that is what is going to be special about this team. They are very, very unselfish. They could be too unselfish at times. They are fun to watch play. They are good at passing. They work well together so far. They are picking up things well. They are very aggressive and play with a lot of heart. They are going to keep working on their defense and I think that is where this team. We are going to have to play hard on the defensive end and see what we can pick up offensively from there,” said Lantz.
Published 11/07/13
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Shelby Trying to Play Spoiler
Shelby has played a monster schedule this season and that continues on Friday night as they travel to Loudonville to play the once beaten Redbirds.
A loss last week to unbeaten River Valley (26-0) dropped Loudonville to the seventh spot in their computer region. Another loss could drop them out of the playoffs.
Shelby (1-8) last week absorbed a second straight pounding (61-14) in the Northern Ohio League, this time by 8-1 Norwalk. Coach Eric Will says again they just couldn’t get their offense going. “Norwalk is a really good team. We felt we did a pretty good job on their running back. He had 90 yards in the first half, he kind of got one on us late in first half. We competed hard early, but once again it was kind of the same story our inability to move the ball offensively. There were some bad starting points for the offense kind of hampered us a little bit. Norwalk has great athletes. They know how to use them and get them the ball. Their staff gets the credit for getting the players the ball and they players gets to credit for executing,” said Will.
Their record my not show it, but Shelby has played pretty decent football in the second half of the season. Will says they want to end the season with a statement. “We played Willard and were able to get a win there and played Ontario real tight, kind of stalled there with the ball going in when time ran out and then we played Tiffin and Norwalk. It’s not that we have been playing terrible ball, we just played the two best teams on our schedule. Give those guys credit they did what they had to do. I told the guys we have one game left and we can definitely compete in this game, let’s finish the year strong, let’s not think this is week ten and the season is over and there is nothing after that. We want to continue to compete and get better,” said Will.
Loudonville (8-1) is good, very good, including quarterback Kolton Edmondson, but Will says they are not unbeatable. “Their quarterback is pronominal. He is a great athlete. They have had a lot of success here over the last three or four years. This group of seniors in general have been very successful. We know they are backed into a corner a little bit trying to make the playoffs. If they win they are in and if they don’t it is going to be a waiting game and a watching game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We told our kids on Friday night, we didn’t know the score of the game, I said we are either going to have the potential to disrupt a perfect season or hopefully knock them out of the playoffs. That is what we are trying to do. That is our mindset this week. We are going to try and go down there and compete and see what we can do.”
Published 10/29/13
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Shelby Facing Great Runner
Eric Will played in the Northern Ohio league for Shelby, so he knew how tough it was going to resurrect the football program.
Last, week they played once beaten Tiffin Columbian and this week they play once beaten Norwalk. They end the season next week against unbeaten Loudonville in a non-conference game.
Against Columbian they competed well early, but then the game got away from the Whippets and Tiffin hammered them (62-20) in an “NOL” game. Will says Tiffin Columbian is just very good, especially up front. “Tiffin has one of the most dominate offensive lines I have seen in a long time. We knew that going in. We knew it was going to be tough going in. We had some things going early. We gave up a touchdown on the second series of the game, kind of both traded punts, then they were able to put one up and we went right back down and answered theirs. We were not able to keep things moving offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Defensively up front they just flat out won the trenches. Give their coaching staff credit and their offensive line. They have a couple of guys that have really good size and move their feet well. Tiffin is definitely the real deal and I believe they will make some noise in the playoffs.”
On Friday night, Norwalk (7-1,3-1) plays at Shelby (1-7,1-4) in a game featuring Truckers running back Breck Turner, who had 311 yards in a half against Vermilion last week. Will calls Turner the best back in the league. “We have four films on them, we have a film from earlier, plus the films that we trade. There is no doubt is no doubt he is the class of the league as far as running backs go. He has decent size and really good speed and he has something you can’t coach, he has vision. He sees cut backs before they are even happening. If you are not gap responsible he is going to make you pay. This year he has 1.500 yards already and there are two games left. He is the real deal. He has good speed. We will do our best to contain him. The quarterback complements him as well,” said Will.
To have any success against Turner on Friday night, Will says they have to get into the backfield and slow him down before he gets started and that won’t be easy. “We have to get a little bit of penetration, not too much that we get too far up field. You have to attack gaps. The linebackers have to be very disciplined and flow to the ball. We have already been preaching this week to the kids to make sure they don’t over pursue. The worst thing you can do with this guy is over pursue. You have to try and stay on his back hip. Outside guys have to try and keep it inside and then the inside guys can sort of get him before he gets going. Unfortunately this year we haven’t seen a lot of guys that have been able to get him before he gets going,” said Will.
Published 10/22/13
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Shelby Has to Believe
Shelby faces a tough challenge this week as they travel to Tiffin to meet the Northern Ohio league leading Columbian Tornadoes. To be successful their coach says they must believe.
They certainly played with that belief last week when they scared second place Ontario a little bit before succumbing (22-16) last Friday. Shelby coach Eric Will gives Ontario credit, but says they showed some improvement too. “Once again we just fell a few plays short. Give Ontario credit their playmakers made plays when they had to make them and their defense got a stop when they had to make it. I thought we played pretty well. We did a pretty good job with Boatwright. Mack is one heck of a tight end receiver. He had a couple of nice plays. Overall I was pretty excited with how the defense played. Offensively we still continue to struggle for answers. The good news is I felt we were able to move the ball a little bit. I do believe we had over 300 yards of offense. So, that was a positive from that side of the ball, but all and all, we are at the point now, I was telling the guys, we are talking some steps forward, but let’s start winning some on the scoreboard,” said Will.
The Shelby coach thinks the offense, which as struggled to find its stride this year, has shown some improvement over the last couple of weeks. “Lucas (Bihl) has done a nice job here the last two weeks stepping in at quarterback. We have been able to move Spencer Blevins back to the position he was going to play, which is kind of a hybrid tailback/H-back. He has done a great job at that position, so I think that has helped out as well. We are also able to give Lucas some valuable reps with him being a junior. We are at the point where we are trying to prepare for success this year, but also not being too short sided and making sure to see how things look for the future here at quarterback. Lucas has done a nice job and made a nice progression each week,” said Will.
Shelby (1-6,1-3) plays at Columbian (6-1,4-0), a winner of their last six in row in “NOL” play on Friday night. “They have a big offensive line. They have everybody back now. I believe they had a player or two out for the first couple of weeks. Their quarterback is tough, their running back runs hard behind a big, physical offensive line, and their receivers catch the ball. There is no doubt that they are head and shoulders, in my opinion, I have seen them on film, the best team in the league. I would be surprised to seem then do anything but be successful as we go on here,” said Will.
Will knows his team is the underdog, but he says inside their locker room they have to believe they can compete or things could get ugly. “We have already told our kids, the scouting report is already out, we need to compete as hard as we can, and we have been doing this. I feel defensively we can do some things against them. Our kids really feel like they can compete against certain schools and there are other schools where in the back of their mind they have heard enough about those schools through the years that they feel they don’t have a shot. We are battling as a coaching staff the mental side of that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The last two weeks there were schools where are kids generally felt like they could compete in those games. The game before that was Bellevue and Bellevue has name recognition. We are telling the kids to get rid of the name recognition and just start playing football and start executing the scouting report and we are going to play with anybody on our schedule. It is going to be another mental hurdle for us this week as much as it is going to be physical.”
Published 10/15/13
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Shelby Earns First Win, Still Needs to Improve
Shelby is taking some baby steps, but the Whippets are definitely improving.
Case in point was there first win of the season last Friday night over rival Willard (12-8) in Northern Ohio League action.
It may not have been a work of art, but coach Eric Will says it was a win they had to have. “We are not going to apologize for winning no doubt about that. It was a hard fought game. There is no doubt that the elements affected both teams, that could be for a lot of other teams in the area. That was a win we desperately needed just for the movement of the program and the psyche of the kids. We were able to hold them to eight points. We feel like there were a lot of positives that came out of Friday. It’s short lived and now we have to move on to the next opponent,” said Will.
Willard had 12 fumbles, losing four, Friday night and Will admits that most of them were unforced. “I bet that half, if not a little bit more than half, were probably fumbled snaps. It is ironic because we are in the shotgun and they were under center. There is no doubt that helped us, especially early on. In the second half I believe they only had one fumble. I’m sure from their standpoint I’m sure they would like to control the unforced turnovers. We were fortunate to be able to get a few of those and turn one of those into a touchdown,” he said.
Ontario (4-2,1-1) is at Shelby to face the Whippets this week. Led by quarterback Tyler Boatwright, who threw three touchdown passes last week against Vermilion, Will says the Warriors are very athletic. “It starts with their quarterback. Their quarterback in my opinion is one of the best players in our league. I mean there is no doubt about it. Our game plan is going to be to slow down their two or three athletes. With a kid like Boatwright back there that is a nice thing to have for Ontario,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, “There is no doubt going into the game they are going to have two or three of the best athletes on the field. We are trying to find a way to just keep them in check a little bit. Just try to minimize the touches from the other guys. Try to keep the quarterback in the pocket for a little bit.”
Shelby’s offense has been stagnate most of the season and Will they have to two things well this week, eat some clock and score the ball. “I thought offensively, even with the weather conditions, we did a little bit of a better job, but we still have a long way to go. It would definitely be nice to be able to control the ball and get a few more points. We have played six games now and the most we have scored in a game is 12 and that is not going to get it done. We are going to have to put some points on the board and I would be willing to bet it would be more than 12, so that is definitely something we are going to focus on this week,” said Will.
Published 10/7/13
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Shelby Still Looking for the Right Combination
The Shelby Whippets just keeping trying different things on offense, but nothing seeming to be working.
Last week, the Whippets (0-5,0-2) dropped a Northern Ohio League decision (35-0) to the Bellevue Redmen. Coach Eric Will says they just haven’t found the answers yet. “For the last three or four weeks that has been a big focus for us trying to move pieces around offensively to see if we can find some success and get the ball moving. We just have continued to tinker around with that this week and we will see what happens. I think the kids are motivated with Willard being a big rival here in Shelby. We will see if we can finish out a good week of practice and we will see how things fall on Friday night,” said Will.
Despite the start to the season Will says there have not been attitude concerns and that is due to the leadership they have gotten from their seniors. “We have great senior leaders, we really do. I think that is one of the things that have gone overlooked with this season is the fact that we have 17 seniors that have done whatever we asked them to do. They are doing their best to lead by example. They are trying to put the younger kids in a better situation. They are trying to turn the program over better than when they found it. We are going to continue to work with them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have told them that we are not cashing in this year. We are not sitting around here playing for next year. Obviously any coach has to look at the betterment of the program over the years, but it is one of those things when we have a chance to do things with this senior class we are going to continue to push those guys and see if we can get some wins for them.”
Willard (1-4,0-1) visits Shelby for the next installment in that backyard rivalry on Friday night at Skiles Field. Will says the Flashes, who lost to unbeaten Loudonville (28-14) last week, are playing pretty good football. “They are pretty good there is no doubt about it. From their coach’s perspective I think that maybe they think they gave one away last week against Loudonville. They really played well for three and half quarters and it kind of got away from them in the fourth quarter a little bit giving up a couple of touchdowns in a short period of time. There is no doubt they right now they think they should be playing for .500. There kids are playing hard you know their coaching staff is doing a good job of putting their kids in a position to be successful,” said Will.
He says the Flashes are just a little bit ahead in their rebuilding program. “I would say right now the difference between Shelby and Willard their coach is in his second year and they are continuing to move forward. I think they are having a little bit more success offensively than we are, but it is going to be a good game. I think they are going to come up here fired up as well especially after last year ending the season losing to Shelby here. I am sure their kids are going to be extra motivated,” he said.
Willard runs the triple option offense and Will says that is hard to defend and they must be disciplined. “When you break down film you try to figure out who you want to have the ball. You kind of dictate taking the ball out of the hands you don’t want to have it. We are definitely focusing on their fullback. He is a pretty good looking football player. He plays downhill and runs hard. We have to make sure we are playing assignment football. On the midline we have to make sure we are stopping the fullback and the quarterback. When they run the veer we have to stop the fullback, the quarterback and the pitch. You have other things that come off of that like the boot and the rocket sweep. They have everything you would expect from a team that runs the veer and the midline,” said Will.
Published 10/3/13
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Shelby Has to Find More Offense
In any sport if you have trouble scoring points you are going to have trouble winning no matter how good you defense is and that is the case with the Shelby Whippets.
In three of their four games they have only scored once and in the other it was twice.
Last week, they scored first against Sandusky, but the Blue Streaks rallied to win (20-6) in the opening game in the Northern Ohio league for both teams. Coach Eric Will says Sandusky was just able to make more plays. “We felt like defensively we really played well the entire game outside two or three plays in the second half. We went in at halftime up 6-0 and felt pretty good. The biggest thing we are struggling with right now is trying to find an identity on offense. We changed some things around this week. I know this, we are going to exhaust every resource we have to see if we can get something moving offensively. Sandusky deserves to be credited they had a couple of playmakers that made plays and we didn’t make enough plays. It doesn’t matter if it’s football, basketball, or baseball you have to make plays and we didn’t make enough of them,” said Will.
Will admits now they are really not even a threat to score points against most teams they play. “There are a lot of teams that are playing people both ways and we are no different. The thing is the ability and the mindset that you can maintain and have on the offensive side is not as demoralized as when you are on defense. If you are on defense for 70 or 80 plays on defense as oppposed to offense for 70 or 80 plays they are two completely different mindsets and it wears on your team differently,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Defensively we continue to fight and I think we are continuing to get better and we still need to improve. Offensively there is no doubt we need to control the ball a little more and be more of a threat to score. Right now to be honest we are not really a threat to put fear into a team that we are going to put points up, so we need to tweak that.”
Shelby (0-4,0-1) travels to Bellevue (2-2,0-0) to face the Redmen on Friday night. Will says the Redmen are coming together as a team and they might be getting more healthy too. “Coach Nasonti is second to none. He is a state coach of the year and he is going to be in the hall of fame, if he’s not already in the hall of fame. There is no doubt that his teams are extremely fundamentally sound. When we go up there it is not going to be any easy bargain. The rumor is they are getting their starting quarterback back. They are going to have a loaded group ready to go. They are getting better. They have played Clyde, who is fantastic. They have played Huron. They have played good competition. I expect nothing more than a quality Bellevue team this Friday,” he said.
Last year Bellevue advanced to the division three state title game and had the offensive player of the year in Jalen Santoro. They lost him to graduation, but Will says they try to do a lot of the same things. “Growing up in the 90’s Bellevue was always a power football team and they still are. They still run some of the same things they did with Santoro. They have a pretty athletic quarterback back there. They still run a lot of counter with him. They try to overload and try to get a few more guys at the point of attack then you have defensively. We are kind of preparing to see that. If they throw another quarterback at us that might be able to throw a little more they might be able to bring two different things. We are hoping it doesn’t turn out to be a Kennie Guyton, Braxton Miller kind of thing. We are hoping that we will be able to slow it down a little bit,” said Will.
Published 9/25/13
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Shelby Has to Overcome
Shelby just can’t get out of their own way this season. They are improved from last year, but their record doesn’t show it.
The Whippets lost all three of their non-conference games, including last week to Clear Fork (40-8), heading into play in the Northern Ohio League this Friday night against Sandusky.
Coach Eric Will says they just had too many turnovers to compete with the Colts. “We are having a hard time handling any kind of prosperity. We got behind once again turning the ball over early. We did kind of a coach’s snafu and player execution, but I am going to take the blame we ran a punt fake that just didn’t work right. We got down 12-0 early. They had to punt and we were going to get the ball about the 45 and we fumbled the punt and they went down and scored. Turnovers are absolutely killing us. It wasn’t penalties, I think Clear Fork had three times more penalty yards than we had. Over the first three games, turnovers have absolutely killed us,” said Will.
Looking back at the Clear Fork game Will thought they were prepared for the Colts, but they just didn’t get it done, but he says they are getting more comfortable each week. “Each week Spencer (Blevins) continues to do a pretty good job. I really thought we were prepared going into the game, but it was frustrating afterwards. We felt we had a great week of practice and the players knew the scouting report well. Even going through the film they really didn’t do anything offensively or defensively that we didn’t see or except. We just kind of laid an egg there, so that was kind of the frustrating thing because we felt we should have been able to respond a little bit better. Once again give Clear Fork credit, I really thought they won the game, where most games are won, they were just flat out more physical in the trenches. Their coaches should be commended for the effort,” said Will.
In the Northern Ohio League opener the Whippets travel to Sandusky (0-3) where somebody is going to get their first win of the year. Sandusky has given up a lot of points, more than 50 a game, but Will says they still have home run hitters. “They have a couple of guys that are going to be the best athletes on the field. There is no doubt the focus this week is trying to keep those guys from getting out in space,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Defensively, they are going to be aggressive. They are going to play a lot of man. I am going to bet they are going to put seven, eight, even nine guys in the box depending on what we are running offensively. If I was them I would make us throw the ball. They are going to play man and dare us to throw the ball a little bit. They are going to stop the run. That is something we are going to have to execute.”
Will says they can’t allow the Sandusky speed to hurt them. “Growing up Sandusky was always one of the powerhouses that we would hear about in the 90’s and they still have some of those Sandusky athletes that we are accustomed to seeing,” he said.
Published 9/20/13
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Whippets Looking For Break Through
With the execution they have gotten in both the preseason and the regular season you just feel like the Shelby Whippets are ready to break a streak that has seen them lose 21 of their last 22 games.
Their next chance comes on Friday night at home against the Clear Fork Colts, their third straight Ohio Cardinal Conference opponent having lost to Mansfield Madison (54-6) and Lexington (28-12) over the first two weeks.
Shelby coach Eric Will certainly thought they did more good things last week against Lexington than they had the week before. “Kind of reflecting back on the Lexington game we once again put ourselves in a bad situation there early. We had a couple of missed assignments on the first drive defensively and that led to a score. We come right back out and once again and turn the ball over and we are down 14-0 before we can even turn around. Once we were able to get that under control we were able to just play football,” said Will.
Offensively Shelby out gained Lexington in total yards 385 to 239. Will thinks they are continuing to make strides on that side of the ball. “We were able to move the ball. We had quite a few yards throwing the ball. Spencer Blevins continues to get more comfortable at the quarterback position. We made a stride in the right direction. We have talked about playing four quarters of football. We didn’t feel we executed that well in first half and we came up a little bit short. Lexington did a nice job and their coaching staff should be commended,” he said.
On defense, the Whippets have been pretty solid, especially given the turnovers the offense has made. Will says they have gotten some outstanding performances. “The defensive staff has been doing a nice job. Each week we sit down and game plan and try and figure out what they are trying to do and we go out are try to put our kids in the best situation to stop that. Madison the first half we were pretty solid and things got away from us. Against Lexington we felt comfortable for most of the game. There in the second half I don’t believe they even had a first down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Tristan Kehres, I thought it was a misprint at first, my stats guy came down and said Tristan Kehres had 25 tackles, and I said come on, but I went back and looked and yeah he had 25 tackles and four sacks. He played a monster game from the “mic” linebacker position. David Fentley, our nose guard, had a phenomenal game and another linebacker Colton Harvey was stellar. We still need to get better. We are still a little bit too high. We need to rally to the ball.”
Clear Fork (1-1) will be at Shelby Friday. Will says the Colts have some big play makers on offense. “Coach Carroll does a fantastic job. Clear Fork is a solid program in the area. They have a lot of athletes. Their quarterback is a good decision maker. They like to get the ball out on the edge a little bit and do some misdirection. They run quite bit of jet motion. Those are thing we are dealing with this week preparing for them. They are able to put some points up. They are able to move the ball well. Last week, they had some things going, but weren’t able to capitalize,” said Will.
Will thinks the start of the game might be pretty important for them. “We want to get things moving early offensively for us and keep their offense off the field. That is something we are focusing on,” he said.
Shelby Sees some Good Things
Despite a 54-6 loss to the Madison Rams last week, the Shelby coaching staff saw some positives to build on as they get ready for their home opener this week against Lexington.
They were down only 14-0 at the half and Shelby coach Eric Will says if they could have hung onto the ball it would have been closer. “Early in the game we were having some success and moving the ball. We had one fumble there that rolled into the end zone. That was an opportunity to put some points on the board early. We can’t turn the ball over and expect to be successful and we had a lot of stupid penalties as well. We can complain to the officials all we want, but we went back and watched the fill and they were good calls. We had guys out of position and when you are out of position, you commit penalties,” said Will.
Shelby allowed four score in the fourth quarter of the game against Madison, but Will wants to concentrate on what happened before that. “The good news is, like we told our kids, that if we get some of those things fixed, things we can control, we had kind of a mental let down there in the second half, we will be alright. What we are focusing in on now is if one bad thing happens we can’t let it turn into three, four and five bad things. Madison is a good football team and it was a good learning experience for a lot of my players,” he said.
Due to an injury to starting quarterback Lucas Ousley in the last preseason game, Shelby had to go with Spencer Blevins under center and Will thought he did a pretty good job. “Spencer Blevins is a great young man and he did a nice job last weekend actually. I think by losing Lucas (Ousley) we have gained and opportunity for somebody else. That is something Spencer has done a nice job with is continuing to get better each week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, “There is no doubt we had to shuffle some things around losing Lucas like we did, but Spencer is up to the task. He is a senior captain. It is one of those things that he is looking at it as an opportunity and we will see what he’s got this week.”
He says they want to focus on what was a pretty good first half of football played against Madison. “We as a staff told our kids that we had a couple of real nice drives in the first quarter and if we could have put a cap on those drives we feel that game would have tuned out a little bit differently and we are trying to build on that. We are trying to focus on the first half against Madison and not the second half,” said Will.
Lexington (0-1) comes calling for the Whippets home opener on Friday night at Skiles Field. Will looks at it as chance to prove they are better. “Playing Lexington this week there is going to be another opportunity for some kids to step up and make some plays. We are trying to keep up with that positive attitude. Beating the kids down now isn’t going to be good for anybody, so that is the approach we are taking now. We are going to coach them up and coach them hard, but also letting them know they did do some things well,” said Will.
Lexington quarterback Trent Richwine ran for 205 yards and threw for 93 in their loss to Ontario (44-43) in overtime last week. Will says Richwine is an exciting player unless you are coaching against him. “There is no doubt watching film that young man is very talented. He is extremely athletic. From Lexington’s perspective putting the ball in his hands every play is not a bad thing. There is no doubt that he is at the top of our scouting report. He is a person we have to contain because he is going to make his share of plays,” he said.
Playing keep away might be a key for the Whippets this week. Will says they aren’t going to redesign their offense, but they want to eat some clock. “I have heard people say that a statistic that doesn’t matter much is time of possession. If your team has one of these high tempo offenses you may only have the ball for a minute or two. That is not the situation for us. We have to have ball control. Even though we have a tempo offense we still want to make sure we control the ball, especially with as many two way players as we have. It is easier to control the tempo on offense than it is on defense,” said Will.
Published 9/2/13
© Swankonsports.com
Whippets Are Snake bit
Shelby seemed to be making progress during this preseason until just about the last moment.
That’s when quarterback Lucas Ousley tore a knee ligament. That was the last kid the Whippets couple afford to lose and he might be out the whole season.
Otherwise, the Whippets continued to make progress, according to first year coach Eric Will. He says their attitude is going in the right direction. “It is still not exactly where we want it. There are still a few individuals that we are still kind of working with on that. As a collective group I was fairly happy with our effort on Friday. I thought we did a good job of getting to the ball defensively. Playing Galion they have one of the better athletes in the area. We wanted to see how we were able to compete against him, how we could contain him. Obviously he made his fair share of plays. We came away pretty happy, but with some things to improve as well,” said Will.
Over the last couple of seasons the Whippets seemed to play well for a while and then get blasted for a couple of quarters. Will says that can’t happen this year. “I think that what happens often times is if you are a team that is looking to build and reestablish its identity one of the things you have to do is keep yourself competitive throughout the game. If you go into halftime and you are down 28-0 or 35-7 it’s a deflating thing where as if you go into the locker room at halftime and you give yourself a chance to compete or even up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We used to talk about this even when I was at Liberty or Delaware Hayes let’s get into the locker room with a chance to make adjustments that can affect the game. If you are getting beat up pretty good it’s hard to make a few adjustments and see how those things work. Often times at that point and time the adjustments aren’t going to fix anything.”
Wins and losses are important to everyone, including the Whippets, but Will says a consistent effort this fall is more important when it comes to rebuilding the program. “What we have been preaching hard to these kids is resiliency, mental toughness and quit looking at the scoreboard. Now those are things you would expect any coach to preach to his team, but those things are way easier said that done. We want the kids to go out and compete and play hard for four quarters. We feel like if we can do that we are going to give ourselves with this schedule the opportunity to compete for some wins. That is one of the toughest things to do when you are trying to build a program that hasn’t had much success in recent history kids will get in that frame of mind, man here we go again,” said Will.
Shelby plays at Mansfield Madison, the defending Ohio Cardinal Conference co-champion, on Friday night in the opener for both squads. The Rams graduated quite a bit, but Will says they are still pretty good. “They are a well coached team. There is no doubt they have one the better staffs in North Central Ohio. They know exactly what they are doing from a program standpoint. They are going to come out and try to establish the run. The quarterback is extremely athletic. They have two or three extremely athletic guys on the edge. Their defense is gap responsible and they get to the ball well. They are a great football team and right out of the gate this is going to be a good measuring stick on what kind of a summer we have had,” he said.
Shelby Coach Cracks the Whip
If Shelby is to break out of a two year slump in football they have to bring it on every play.
Eric Will, a former Whippet player and first year coach, says they are making some strides, but things have to get better.
Will saw some good things in a scrimmage last week against Sandusky Perkins. “We had a nice scrimmage with Sandusky Perkins. They are obviously going to be a pretty good football team. I thought offensively we made some strides forward. Defensively we have a lot of work to do. That’s kind of what we got out of that scrimmage. This week we have really been focusing on tackling and getting to the ball and pursuit. I think the kid’s attitude has been a lot better and we are doing some good things,” he said.
Shelby, basically due to their poor won and loss record (2-18) over the last two years, were chosen to finish last in the “NOL” this season by a panel of media experts.
This year the Whippets are going to look to get a lot of things done from multiple looks on offense. Will says a lot of their success will be based on what the quarterback does. “We are going to be a tempo offense. We would like to get up to the line and see what the defense is giving us and make some checks and plays off of that. Our quarterback will have a little bit of responsibility with that as well. We feel that our two-year, starting, senior quarterback, who is also a captain will have the ability to put us in some better situations,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “When the coaches give him a play that we may or may not want to be in he will have the ability to make some checks there at the line. As far as schematics we are going to be a little bit fast paced. People in this town are used to two back power and we are still going to run some of that, but more out of a spread. It’s still a numbers game. We try to get more people to the point of attack than they do defensively.”
However, Will says no matter what formation they in on offense or lineup they are using on defense there has to be good effort and right now they aren’t seeing that. “It is a lot of the small things. The big thing offensively that we don’t do very well is we are not very good at running our feet at the point of attack as far as offensive line. We are still trying to work that out. A big concern for me after watching the film, this is something we have really let our kids hear about, is the fact that our effort needs to be a lot better. There are two things coaches can’t control and that is effort and enthusiasm. We need kids to bring that. We are going to get to the point here where we need to get 11 guys to the ball. We need to be gap responsible and people need to know their assignments. We were seeing way too many missed assignments and that’s not going to get it done with the schedule we are going to play. We need to just lineup right and execute our job description and we will see where it goes from there,” said Will.
Shelby Trying to Find the Right Angles
In his first year on the job Shelby football coach Eric Will has the assignment of turning the Whippets back into winners.
Shelby has a proud football tradition dating back to the 1940’s, but the last couple of years have not been so good.
Will says he likes the energy level that he sees and they have been working hard at installing a new system and approach to the game. “I think we have come a long way here in the last couple of weeks. The thing that helps out with a new coach and new staff coming in is the fact that we have the ability to have those ten contact days in the summer. We are happy with were we are as far as the scheme and the kids energy level. We just have to a better job executing and fine tuning some of the things we want to take the field against Madison and do here in three weeks,” said Will.
Will knows that confidence is a big part of sports and they are trying to get kids in the right sports so they can make the plays that need to be made. “Unfortunately we have got some guys that didn’t necessarily get a lot of reps last year that quite frankly are going to have to make some plays for us this year. We are just trying to get their confidence level up in their own abilities and also getting them to play fast. This big thing that we have stressed is the players play the fastest when they know what they are doing. With football being such an assignment sport we need to make sure the kids know their assignments and know them well and they can execute them fast and quick,” he said.
Will says during two a days, which started last week, he and the staff are trying to teach kids what techniques will make them successful, especially when it comes to getting to the ball carrier. “We talk about read and react all of the time, especially defensively. We are trying to hammer down the proper angles, proper stance, proper start and things like that. Getting out of the chute and having the right angle can off set some of the speed differences that you may have between the offense and the defense. We try to tell guys that if you take the proper steps and proper angles that is going to help you out and you will be able to get to the ball quicker and make you a more confident football player,” said Will.
One thing they know needs work is getting low on defense and finding the best angle to get to the ball carrier. “We had an inter squad scrimmage on Saturday and we just went against each other. We kind of just put best on best and one thing that we noted right away as a staff was that our pad level was high and we aren’t taking proper steps and proper angles. We definitely think over the next couple of weeks we have got to get that fixed. We are going to have an opportunity Friday to go up to Sandusky Perkins and scrimmage against them. They are going to give us a great look. We are trying to talk to our guys about staying low because if you don’t you are going to pay the price,” said Will.
The Whippets have won only one game in the last two years and that makes one question the attitude. Will says that has not been a problem this year on the practice field. “I would say the one thing that I am very happy with is my senior leadership. With a new coach coming in with a new program and a new idea that is the group that is toughest to sell and they have jumped in with both feet. They are thirsty to be successful. They are a good group of kids and there is no doubt about it the attitude has been good and the environment has been good. I feel like it has been a positive summer here, but there is still a lot of work to be done,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We told the kids that you have to take the good with the bad. We are all about positive reinforcement, but we are going to honest as well. We are not going to give them a false sense of security because there are a lot of teams on our schedule that can play really good football. We want to make sure we let them know exactly where they are at in that realm.”
Shelby Driving Toward Possible Seed
After a slow start to the season the Shelby Whippets continue to play outstanding baseball after a win over Sandusky on Thursday night.
Shelby bested the Blue Streaks (7-4) in Northern Ohio League play. Coach C.J. Brickman says they have really played well over the last couple of weeks of the season, with their only loss coming to league leader Norwalk. “I think we have won seven of our last eight. Norwalk, we really can’t control what they do now. We can just control what we can control and the games that we have and see how it goes,” said Brickman.
Shelby (11-7,6-2) has been an outstanding offensive team all season, but Brickman says it has been their pitching and defense that has made them into a better team. “We started really slow with our pitching and our defense. Then all of the sudden that was our best aspect. Our team ERA went from like a seven to a four. We are like making one error less in the last seven games and that has been the difference,” he said.
At the beginning of the season Shelby was trying to outscore their opponents. A 17-10 loss to Norwalk is an example. However, no matter what kind of offense you have it is difficult to win those kinds of games consistently. Brickman says it affects your confidence. “It is demoralizing. You come out and score a few runs and you give us five or six earned runs and you have to go back at it. If you do it again it will kill you,” he said.
Shelby will play in a division two sectional tournament at Clyde High School and the tournament draw is Sunday. Brickman thinks they have a chance for a high seed. “We play Galion on Saturday in a doubleheader. If we can take them both hopefully I feel real good about it. I’m just not sure about Clyde’s record. I don’t know what they have done. Besides them I feel like we are a three seed, maybe a two seed possibly because we did beat Bellevue,” Brickman told Swankonsports.com after the win on Thursday over Sandusky.
Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Lexington, streaking Clear Fork, Clyde, in second in the Sandusky Bay Conference, plus Bellevue, Tiffin Columbian and Willard from the Northern Ohio League are also in the sectional.
Shelby on Hot Steak
Don’t look now, but the Shelby Whippets are a factor in the Northern Ohio League baseball race.
The Whippets have won their last four “NOL” games after belting Willard (10-2) on Tuesday night. Coach C.J. Brickman says their pitching and defense have improved and now they are ready to challenge anyone. “We have won four in a row in the league. Our pitching has finally picked up and we aren’t making errors in the field. We have always been able to hit, so with all three phases taken care of we are playing well right now,” said Brickman.
Last season, Shelby finished at the bottom of the league standings, but this year they have found an ace in Justin Lewis. Brickman says he has been the difference. “We have a kid that has emerged as our number one starter in Justin Lewis. He beat Bellevue last Thursday. He beat Tiffin on Monday. He has pitched well for us lately and we are going to ride him right now,” said Brickman.
Shelby (8-6,4-1) plays Norwalk (13-2,5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll in the large school division, in a league game on Thursday afternoon. The Whippets lost (17-10) to the Truckers in their first meeting. But, Brickman says the Whippets are a different team now. “If you are hot you can stay hot. If you are cold man, it feels like you are never going to get a win. When you are hot you have to ride it as long as you can,” he said.
With the way they have been playing over the last week to 10 days, Brickman says his team is very confident. “It just shows them they are capable, especially getting that big win at Bellevue. That really pumped us up. Since then we have been a different team,” he said.
Shelby Gets First “NOL” Win
Shelby continues to hit the baseball and with a win on Tuesday night the Whippets are hanging in the Northern Ohio baseball race early on.
Fighting the raindrops on Tuesday, and more importantly the lightning, the Whippets (5-5,1-1) beat Sandusky (8-5) to pick up their first “NOL” win of the year. They lost (17-10) to Norwalk last week.
Coach C.J. Brickman says it was a big win for them in terms of momentum and position. “With the win (Tuesday) it puts us right back into it. The weather was bad the whole game, but in the end we got the win and it feels good,” he said.
When many other games were postponed, or not played at all, due to storms, Shelby and Sandusky finished all seven innings of theirs. Brickman liked the pace of play. “You want to be quick because you want to hit. You don’t want to be in the field when it’s raining. We want to keep the mound dry, so you have to be tough mentally,” Brickman told Swankonsports.com after the win Tuesday.
Pitching has sometimes been a question mark, but Shelby has been hitting the ball all season. Brickman says the bats are carrying them right now. “That is out strength. We can put some runs up. If we can pitch a little better and play the field better I think we can be pretty good,” he said.
Ashland swept a doubleheader from the Whippets on Saturday and Brickman says their defense was shaky. He says it was better against Sandusky. “Over the weekend it got rough, but (Tuesday) we moved some kids into some places where I think they will be successful. It was good (Tuesday), but we need to be more consistent throughout the year,” he said.
Shelby travels to take on the talented Bellevue Redmen in an “NOL” game on Thursday.
Shelby Wins Opener
Shelby rattled the scoreboard on opening day as they blasted Mansfield Christian in their opener on Tuesday afternoon.
The Whippets (1-0) scored early and often in beating the Flames (17-8) in a game that’s scored more closely resembled a football game.
Coach C.J. Brickman says they didn’t exactly tear the cover off the ball, but they took advantage of some situations. “We scored 17 runs, but it was deceiving because we only had 14 hits and 13 of them were singles. I still think we can hit the ball a lot better. It is nice to score 17 runs. It makes the night go a lot better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night after the win.
The wind chill was in the 20’s at Shelby and Brickman says you have to have good focus and they were able to do that against the Flames (0-3) on Tuesday. “There is no reason to complain after you win, especially this early in the season when it is cold. You have to get that victory early and feel good about yourself going into the next day,” he said. He adds what makes it even more difficult is having to come in and pitch after playing in the field. “Especially on our field, the wind is blowing, it’s cold, and the kids are standing out there on defense. If I have to bring a reliever in, they do cool off, especially if they are in the field for five, ten minutes. The weather is a big factor,” said Brickman.
Shelby travels to Wynford for another non-conference game on Wednesday. Brickman says they have to sort of forget what happened on Tuesday and move on to the next assignment. “You also have to kind of forget. You are playing a new team. Everybody comes to the plate 0-for-0. You have to leave the game from yesterday alone and start a new day, so you have to have a short memory,” said Brickman.
Whippets Need Pitching Depth
Shelby is trying to go from worst to first in the Northern Ohio League this year and if they are going to do that it will be their hitting that leads the way.
While many coaches are talking about wanting to get outside, Whippets manager C.J. Brickman says they were out under the blue skies last week, even though it was cold. “We did get an opportunity to go outside all of last week. We just went out in the cold. We did play a scrimmage,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “When we did outside I saw our arms getting a little stronger. We are getting used to making that throw from short to first. I see them grow a little bit as we are able to get outside more.”
Shelby struggled once they got past their top pitchers last year and Brickman hopes they can avoid that again this season. “I would say we have three good starters and one bullpen guy. We don’t have a lot of experience, so after those top four guys it’s a concern about who to bring in. We play 11 games in the first two weeks and we need more than four arms. That is our main concern right now,” said Brickman.
With bats making solid contact with ball behind him, Brickman says he believes they are going to be able to put some runs on the board this year because they have hitters throughout the lineup. “I think that’s our strength. In our first scrimmage we tore the cover off the ball. We have some big strong kids,” he said.
To be in contention in the league this year Brickman says they are gong to have to beat some very good teams. He doesn’t want to pick one favorite for the league title. “Every year you can count on Norwalk being tough. Bellevue is always tough. Every “NOL” game is always tough. There is never an easy one. We never go into one and think we have it locked up. You have to show up every day or you are going to get beat,” said Brickman.
Shelby is slated to play Mansfield Christian in its first game on April 2.
Things Looking up for Shelby
Last year, Shelby finished last in what was a very tough Northern Ohio League baseball race and they hope that this spring will bring many more wins for the Whippets.
Shelby was 2-8 in “NOL” action last season, but coach C.J. Brickman says this year they return a lot of those players that were seasoned a year ago. “We like what we see so far. We have an experienced team. I have almost everybody back form last year’s team. It’s not like starting from scratch. You can kind of pick up where you left off last year, so we are happy with where we are at right now,” said Brickman.
There will be some pitching depth this year in Shelby as Brickman says he returns most of his arms form last year and a lot the everyday players as well. “I would say our hitting and our pitching should be our best. I have four of my top five guys back from last year on my pitching staff. I have hitters one through seven back. Hopefully, they are both good,” he said.
If Shelby is going to compete with a league that includes Norwalk and Bellevue, both with talent returning from last year, the Whippets need pitching and Brickman says that is what they have been working on the most during the preseason. “Right now, we are working on pitching. My philosophy is you go far as your pitching can take you, so we are really working on that and we are hitting in the cage. We are just waiting until we can go outside,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday.
The weather a lot of times dictates what happens at least early in the season in baseball in North Central Ohio. There is a little snow on the ground on this Wednesday morning. Brickman says they hope they can get outside soon because they need too. “Our first scrimmage is Monday and it’s supposed to snow all week and you don’t know if you are going to play it. You can only do so much in a gym, but you do the best you can,” he said.
Shelby Must Beat Willard For a Third Time
Shelby barley survived a scare in their first tournament game and now the face the challenge of beating a team they have already beaten twice this year.
The Lady Whippets (18-5), # 4 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, face Willard (14-9) in the division two district semi-finals at Bucyrus High School on Thursday night.
Shelby outlasted Mansfield Madison (49-47) in the sectional finals on Saturday night at Ontario High School. Coach Natalie Lantz says they shot the ball very poorly, but their defense was enough to get them a win. “The Madison girls are very young and very athletic. They did a nice job, those girls played a nice game. I give my girls a lot of credit too they played hard. We were not hitting at all,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We were 12 of 33 from the field and missed a lot of layups. We were 16 of 33 from the free throw line. That hurts!! That is a whole different ball game. We did out rebound them. I think we did play some good defense at times. We got some key stops when we need too. I told my girls I was very proud of them for hanging tough and not backing down and pulling out the win.”
Being the top seed and surviving the scare like they did against Madison, Lantz says her players have come back this week in practice refocused. “The girls came out this week, both (Monday) and (Tuesday) and worked really hard at practice, working hard defensively and offensively. We have been getting a lot of shooting in this week as well. They don’t know how to back down I’ll tell you what this is a great group of kids. They have good chemistry. They are always pumping each other up. They will be ready to take the court on Thursday,” she said.
Shelby shared the Northern Ohio League title with Bellevue for the second straight year. They beat Willard twice during the regular year at home (48-35) and in the regular season finale at Willard (64-59) nearly two weeks ago. They had to rally down 10 in the fourth quarter to get that win. Lantz says Willard is tough to keep off the boards. “Willard has a lot of talent. They have a lot of height. They are very strong on the boards. We will have to do a good job boxing out. We still need to do a good job attacking the basket. We need to play good defense and stop them from attacking and getting the ball inside,” said Lantz.
Tournament basketball tends to be slower paced, but Lantz says the must play their game if they are going to win. “We still need to play our game and attack. We need to play good defense. If we get a stop on defense we have to box out and get a rebound. In the tournament if you loose you are done. The girls are confident, but not overly, due to the fact that they know whatever team we face if we don’t play four strong quarters our time could be up. It will be possession by possession. If it’s a transition possession or a half court possession we need to make it count,” she said.
Shelby Struggling on Offense
If Shelby were playing a game of “HORSE” they would likely struggle quite a bit to be successful and right now those shooting woes are keeping them out of the win column.
They have lost three in a row, including their final Northern Ohio League game to Willard (65-46) last Friday, going into tournament play. They face Upper Sandusky (12-10) in the division two sectional semi-finals on Tuesday night at Bucyrus High School.
Coach Troy Schwemley says the Whippets (12-9) are sort of limping into the tournament. “We have lost the last three games so from that standpoint I am concerned. It is just disappointing right now for us. Two weeks ago we had won three in a row and were 12-6 at one point and we have lost our last three, so that is what our record is and we have to find a way to overcome it. Obviously there is no tomorrow. We are not playing our best ball right now, but a win would go a long way from a confidence standpoint. This is a tournament game and if you find some way to win that first one that can help your next game, if you don’t then there is no next game,” said Schwemley.
Offense has been a struggle all season for the Whippets. Schwemley says they just aren’t executing. “We just go through these moments when we don’t score. It seems like it could happen in any point in the game. I feel good about our effort at times. When we look back at our game at Willard we were down by as many as 15 in the third quarter and came battling back and cut to six at 44-38. We actually had the ball three times with the ball staying there and didn’t get any closer,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Those were opportunities lost and chances to keep the momentum in our favor, but we didn’t score in the next seven possessions. To go seven possessions without a score it’s tough to beat anybody, let alone a really good team like Willard.”
Shelby beat Upper Sandusky (51-34) on December 22 in one of their better efforts of the season. Schwemley says they absolutely must make shots, especially early in this game. “They are very patient and can be methodical at times. For us now in a game with less possessions it’s even more critical that you capitalize on every possession. If you go three, four possessions without scoring that might be a quarter. They can be very methodical and it limits your possessions. Now, if you are able to get ahead of them, when we played game five that’s what we were able to do, we had a nice run in the second quarter and had about a ten point lead, so that made them play faster. That is something that we hope to do is get out on top because that forces them to play a little faster than they want to,” said Schwemley.
A couple of weeks ago Buckeye Central was able to rally and beat Upper, but that doesn’t happen very often. Schwemley says you can’t let the Rams get a head of you by much. “In talking to coach Loy when they were down 13 it almost seemed like an insurmountable lead and they were able to come back. I think Upper suffers through some of the same ailments that we do that they can just go through stretches where they don’t score. The key is not letting their tempo dictate yours. If you can get good shots and high percentage shots early you take them, but it not you have to be willing to work for a good shot and capitalize on it. It’s just matter of coming out and hitting some shots and be able to establish the tempo we want, but you still have to be patient in those stretches where maybe the possessions last a little longer. If they miss then rebound because I think both of us wouldn’t consider ourselves the greatest shooting teams, but both teams are hoping for some garbage baskets and some put backs. The team that makes some of those effort plays will really have an advantage in this game,” said Schwemley.
Shelby is Ready to Start Tournament Drive
Last year, the Shelby Lady Whippets advanced all the way to the division two district finals before losing to Clyde. They hope to start another long run on Saturday.
Shelby (17-5) meets Mansfield Madison (6-16) in the division two sectional final at Ontario High School on Saturday night.
The Lady Whippets, #3 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball poll in the large school division, have won 13 of their last 14. Coach Natalie Lantz says there are a couple of reasons for their success. “They are playing well. Our team has really good chemistry. They work really well together. Our strategy going in for Saturday night is we need to work together and play really good defense. That is something we have been working on all week. We will go in with a little lighter practice on (Friday) working on defense and going back over our offenses a little bit, working on some shooting and coming out strong on Saturday night,” said Lantz.
An important component in the success of the Lady Whippets this year is their comradely on and off the floor. Lantz says these girls really do like each other, it’s not an act. “These kids have fun both on and off the court and they respect each other. They know they all have roles and what they are capable of. I think the chemistry that this group as they just have a good time and they all are very competitive. They all want to win. They want to be successful and they enjoy seeing each other success on and off the court. It has been a really, really fun year watching the girls have fun and improve all season long,” she said.
Shelby just played Madison on February 12 winning (74-65), but not as convincingly as some would have thought. Lantz gives the credit to Madison, who she says is improving. “I think Madison is a young team, but a very talented young team. They are certainly not one to overlook. They have some shooters. Molea Thompson is a very quick guard. We need to be ready defensive and defense comes first,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “If we can shut them down defensively we can attack offensively. That will be one of our strategies going in Saturday night. Our girls are ready for the challenge. We know what we need to do. We know what we didn’t do the first time. We were able to come out with the win, which was good.”
On Saturday, Lantz wants her players to concentrate a little more on defense than the first time they played Madison. “Especially in the first half we stood on defense. We would step up and as they crossed half court we would let them blow right by us. There was no help side. There was no rotation. Those are things we have done all year. For some reason that night we didn’t do it. I don’t if it was a case that the girls did somewhat over look them. I give Madison credit they did hit about 80 percent of their shots in the first half. We did come out in the second half and did a nice job on Molea. Another thing is we didn’t rebound like we need too. It’s not just turn and run for the ball, turn around a check out and rebound going up strong up strong and get it and they get an outlet,” said Lantz.
Shelby Needs to Better on Offense and Defense
For the Shelby Whippets this season has brought a lot of good things, but they seem to be just on the cusp of being a solid team and they can’t quite get there.
In there last Northern Ohio League game they were beaten when Bellevue used a deliberate offense to frustrate the Whippets (38-31). Coach Troy Schwemley says they could never get the big hoop and change the momentum of the game. “Going against Norwalk everybody has been forced to try and do something. Norwalk is such a good team. We tried it as far as slowing things down. Bellevue tied it and was pretty successful. That was one of the closer games anybody has had against Norwalk. Maybe they thought they did so well maybe it suits their style a little bit. I didn’t expect them to do that. They came out very deliberate and spread us out. They did a nice job and we weren’t able to hit some shots early. In a game like that if you can take the lead or keep things close that will make teams force the tempo a little more. We just were not able to do that,” said Schwemley.
The Whippets don’t have the firepower to blow out many teams, so Schwemley says they have to be very good executers to win games and they have not always been. “I think our defense need to improve a little more. We have had stretches where we just haven’t gotten stops when we have needed them. Our offense needs to be a little more consistent. We have gone stretches where we just won’t score for three or four minutes. It seems like it just puts us in a little hole. We just have to do a better job of getting the shots we want and knocking shots down, but also getting some garbage points and getting to the line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “When you look back at that Bellevue game we didn’t get to the line. We didn’t shoot one free throw that game. It’s hard to find a high school game when you don’t even shoot one free throw. The next night at Kenton we were up five with four minutes to go and it really came down to getting a couple of stops and score a couple of times when we really need a basket. We really didn’t make those big plays happen. That’s what I am looking forward to, just making those big plays when we need them. We will play hard. I like our effort. We really need to come together down the stretch.”
Shelby (12-8,6-3) wraps up the regular season on Friday night with a visit to arch rival Willard (15-6,7-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division. Some of the Shelby fans on twitter have been referring to this week as “Hate Willard Week.” Schwemley, a little more calm, says the Flashes have a number of scorers. “They definitely have a lot of guys that can shoot from the perimeter. They have multiple scorers. When you look at their scoring they have four or five guys around 10 points a game, a couple of them a little more, a couple of them right there. They have guys that can shoot the three. With Hayden Adams inside he does a nice job of getting to the rim and occupying the middle,” he said.
Shelby beat Willard (54-49) back in January at “The Doghouse,” but Schwemley explains Willard played that game without Hayden Adams and he could make a big difference. “I think that’s the difference in our first game is Adams didn’t play in that game. It’s hard to get an idea of how this game will match-up because without him it really is a different team. So, even thought we have already played its tough to use that game as a gage because he makes them a different team. That is going to be different to see how we match-up with him. We did a pretty good job of guarding the perimeter in the first game, but they didn’t have him in the middle. I think that will be the interesting dynamic is how having him on the floor effects this game,” said Schwemley.
Shelby Putting it Together
Shelby is not going to win the Northern Ohio League title this season, but they are still having a good season with a chance for more.
After starting the season with some struggles offensively the Whippets (12-6,6-2) have shown some gradual improvement throughout the season and last week won three games over Galion (71-56), Sandusky (65-46) in an “NOL” game and Clyde (66-61) on Saturday. Coach Troy Schwemley says it was a key week for them. “Going into last week we were 9-6 and it felt like the season could go either direction. The last week we have three good wins against Galion, Sandusky and then at Clyde. In a week you go from 9-6 to 12-6. That was definitely a good week for us. We had two home games which we won and then to go on the road Saturday and win against a very good team I think it just capped off the week and moved us in a positive direction,” said Schwemley.
Grant Fenner is one of the leading scorers in the area an Austin Rhode has emerged as a reliable second option. Schwemley says other players have really stepped up too. “We have really continued to get more production from a lot of different guys. Tristan Karis, who was a sub for us last year and had a lot of varsity experience, but he was more of a role player last year. The game he had Saturday 21 points, 12 rebounds that is a monster night against a very good team. He has been so steady all year averaging 10 points and eight rebounds a game. He has been having a real good year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have been getting contributions from Andrew Baird. He has been scoring five, six points a game and typically draws the other team’s best offensive player. A.J. Beal does a nice job inside for us as far as getting some baskets here and there, rebounding, and manning the middle for us. Guys like that make a big difference in terms of how long a season it is and you just can’t have one of two guys doing it all.”
Shelby plays hosts to Bellevue (9-10,2-6) in a league contest, which will be the last boys’ varsity basketball game at Joe Yohn gymnasium. A new Shelby High School opens for next school year.
This has not been a banner Bellevue year, but Schwemley says they still have nice talent. “The parts are there. The talent is there. They just got off to a late start. I don’t wish that on anyone. The football success is great, but it comes at a price. Their season got started so late and they are playing two, three games a week, The season is long enough as it is, but you need days for practice and you need days of rest. I think that is a factor in their season, but they are a team on any given night that can play very well and can play with anybody,” he said.
Shelby won at Bellevue (66-54) in early January and Schwemley knows the Redmen are better than their record indicates. “I am not looking at their record because I know the good players that they have and the type of team that they have. It probably starts with Jalen Santoro, but Trent Stamm is a very athletic player too and there are other guys that do a lot of good things for them. Yeah, their record is 9-10, but they are a dangerous team and we have to be ready to play,” he said.
Shelby Facing Big Week
Shelby has three games this week and if they can win them all they could make things interesting at the sectional draw in division two, which takes place on Sunday.
Shelby began a stretch of playing four games over eight days with a loss to Ashland (55-52) last Saturday. Coach Troy Schwemley says they left some plays out there that could have made them winners. “It was a game we could have won. There were things we didn’t do well that if we would have done we would have had a better chance at winning. We knew going in that Isaac White was a very good player, a good shooter. He ended scoring a lot of their points in the second half. We had some defensive breakdowns that let him open a couple of times,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday “At the start of the game we had two turnovers that led to layups. One was on a defensive rebound. We had secured it and just made a poor outlet and another was just a poor pass in the half court. We lost by three, but you know there are a few plays here and there that you feel like if we had just done a few things better we could have won the ball game, but that is the way it is.”
Galion (8-9) visits Shelby (9-6) on Tuesday night in non-conference play and the Tigers have been playing some pretty good ball over the last couple of weeks. Schwemley says they playing with confidence right now. “That is something that we are talking to the team about they have won four in a row, so their confidence is pretty high right now. They have had wins against Riverdale, River Valley, Upper Sandusky and now Wynford. Galion is playing with a lot of confidence and we are coming off a loss. We are going to have to overcome that and try to get back on the winning side of things. It’s a long season and we have three games this week and we need to get our confidence going,” he said.
The Tigers can take it to the basket too, but Schwemley says they are most dangerous shooting those outside shots. “Galion does a lot of things well and I think it starts with their perimeter shooting. Durbin and Prosser do a great job of scoring from the perimeter, but they get a lot of scoring from the other guys. It is a very important for us to get back on the winning side of things and get some positive going,” said Schwemley.
Galion and Shelby are both in the division two sectional at Bucyrus and Schwemely says this is an important game for them to build momentum for this weekend and this season. “The tournament draw is this Sunday and in our bracket it’s tight with Lexington, Willard, us, Clear Fork and those one through four seeds still have little fluctuation in them. With us having three game this week it makes every one a must win. I think most importantly we want to finish February getting better,” he said.
Shelby Needs to Out Work Opponents
Shelby does not play a Northern Ohio League game this week, but they do have a big challenge on Saturday night as they travel to Ashland to meet the Arrows of the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
After losing the previous week to Norwalk and Mansfield St. Peter’s, the Whippets railed to beat Tiffin Columbian (59-49) last Friday night in league play. Coach Troy Schwemley says he thought they were able to attack Columbian’s combination man-zone pretty well. “They came out in a triangle and two against us trying to shut down Grant Fenner and Austin Rhode, which is the first time we had seen that all year. Sometimes you wonder how you are going to respond to something you haven’t seen. I was pretty pleased as it didn’t phase us to the point that sometimes you see teams that see a junk defense like that and they just shut down and we didn’t. We kept moving the ball and got some good looks. Grant still found a way to score and some other guys contributed. We got off to a 10, 15 point lead and we just never seemed to be able to put it away. That kind of reminded me of how we started the year with some games. We had two losses the weekend before, so any win was good for us. To get a win on the road was a good step,” said Schwemley.
Shelby (9-5) has played some pretty good basketball this season, if anything has been a struggle it has been their offensive execution. Schwemley says with the parts they have this season they just have to play harder than the opponent. “I think it comes down to our effort. This might sound bad, but we aren’t good enough to just go out there and play and expect to win. We have got to out work teams. We have a nice group of guys that work real hard. When it comes to skill wise and things like that we have a couple of guys that can shoot from the perimeter, but for the most part we have to out effort people and when we do that we feel pretty good about our chances of success,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We still want to keep improving. I mentioned the Tiffin triangle and two and they did that because really Austin and Grant are the only guys that have been hitting shots from the perimeter. Tristan Keris hits a three that game and Lucas Beal had two. It was good for us to get some other guys involved in different ways. I think that is something I would like to see still is guys continuing to play to their strengths, but also expand their roles a little bit and take what the other teams give them. That’s what we did well that night, so that’s what we need to keep doing.”
Ashland (10-5) is on a four game winning streak and Schwemely says they are a team with a number of deep shooters. “That’s a really interesting game because we really do a lot of things similar when you look offensively and defensively. We have very similar base offense. I think they have multiple guys that can hit from the perimeter which makes them dangerous. It starts with Isaac White, but they have other guys that can hit threes. I think that is there strength. We definitely have to defend in the half court. They seem to be a team that can play very well. They have won some games against some very good teams. They have Mansfield Senior on Friday night, so they will play Friday-Saturday where as it is our only game. Only having a single game and it kind of leads into a four game stretch. After this Saturday we go Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, so it would be nice to get off to a good start to that four game stretch,” said Schwemley.
Lady Whippets Feeling It
Riding a seven game win streak, the Shelby Lady Whippets are playing some excellent basketball over the last month of the season.
They beat Willard (41-33) on Saturday to remain in second place in the Northern Ohio League, a game behind Bellevue, and they play the Lady Red again next week.
Coach Natalie Lantz says they have really been putting things together lately. “The girls have been clicking. They have been working really hard at practice despite some of the flu that has been going around. They seem to come back strong and they jump right back in where they left off. The girls have been doing really well,” she says.
Shelby has some offensive firepower, but Lantz says it is the way they have been playing when the other team has the ball that has been the difference for them. “They have really stepped up their defense. I know it is one of things that we have wanted to key on all season, but they really have. They have been rotating well,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are talking better on defense and they are rotating to be in better help side. That makes a big difference especially communication wise. Once they do that and get the ball they are attacking and running transition well. They are moving the ball awfully well. We are a very unselfish team. They don’t care who scores as long as long as somebody scores.”
Shelby (12-5), #5 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, plays host to Lexington (1-15) in a non-conference game on Tuesday. Lantz calls Lady Lex as young, but dangerous. “They are young and I think youthful teams you certainly can’t overlook. There is definitely some talent. They could come in with some confidence that you don’t expect and they can surprise you, so we have to go into the game with confidence and be ready to play,” she said.
Now, next week comes the biggest game of the season for the Lady Whippets as they host Northern Ohio Leading Bellevue on February 9. Bellevue won the first meeting (48-40) at their place on December 22, but Lantz says they are a different team now. “Our game back in December, right before Christmas, that’s still in there head. They know that when we played them back then that we are not the same team as we were nine games ago. We are clicking. We are attacking the basket. We are playing much better defense than we were then. We are ready to take them on again. That will be an exciting game for both teams. In our league we ate all doing the “Play 4 Kaye” to help raise money for the Kaye Yow Cancer Foundation. That will be a big game all the way around. The girls are definitely going to keep their focus on the task at hand that day,” said Lantz.
Shelby Must Refocus
At mid-season it appeared Shelby was on their way to another good season, something we have come to expect with the Whippets, but now they aren’t that sure.
Last week, they were beaten (54-31) by the Northern Ohio League leading Norwalk Truckers on Friday and then clipped by Mansfield St. Peter’s (57-51) on Saturday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says everything was going according to the game plan for the first 12 minutes against the Truckers, but then everything just fell apart and quickly. “We knew going in that they were a team that could explode on you at any time. We had to control the tempo and for a quarter and half we did. It was 11-11 and we weren’t playing what I would say was great. We were making enough shots and we were taking good enough care of the ball that we weren’t giving them points in transition. Then a couple of turnovers and a 7-0 run and the next thing you know it is 18-11 at halftime,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We were really doing a pretty good job, but we just made too many mistakes. They are a team that is going to capitalize on that. To start the third quarter I think they went on a 10-0 run. We are not going to come back on a team that good.”
Their second loss came Saturday night at the Franciscan Center and Schwemley says they were out played by the Spartans in every way. “From a coach’s standpoint they outplayed us. They outworked us. The out hustled us. They did what you need to do to win basketball games. As coach if you think your team out works and out plays the other team on most nights you feel pretty good about your team winning. St. Peter’s deserved to win that game. They out played us and out worked us. That is what we are trying to teach these guys. It’s the same way it goes in life. To be successful you have to work harder than anyone else. St. Peter’s did that and credit to coach Durham and his team because they deserved to win that game and did a good job on Saturday night,” said Schwemley.
This Friday night, Shelby (8-5,4-2) pays a visit to Tiffin Columbian (5-8,1-4) for a league game. The Whippets won the first meeting (56-43) and Schwemley believes it is all about effort. “Before this past weekend I probably would have said I feel pretty good going into this game, but after the tough weekend we have just had we need to regroup and rebound. It comes down I would say to that effort. If we go up to Tiffin and give great effort and do the little things it takes to be successful I feel good about it. We need to learn from this past weekend as far as the effort and the mistakes we have made,” said Schwemley.
Tiffin might have started the year young, but Schwemley says no more. “We are 12,13 games into the season, so at this point you have your experience in. It is the second time around seeing a team. So teams are petty familiar with the other team’s tendencies. It’s going to take going to Tiffin and we are going to have to bounce back from that tough weekend that we had. It is not going to be any picnic up there and I expect a hard “NOL” game,” he said.
Shelby Must Win to Make “NOL” A Contest
Friday night pretty much determines if there is going to be a race in the Northern Ohio League this season. If Shelby wins the race is on.
The Whippets play at Norwalk against the Truckers, who beat them the first time around (75-47) in Shelby on December 7.
Last Saturday, Shelby (8-3,4-1) got past Willard (54-49) to claim second place to themselves in the “NOL” standings. Whippets head coach Troy Schwemley was pleased with how his kids responded to the Flashes second half challenge. “It was a really quality win for us on Saturday night. I was really happy with how we played. We were up nine at halftime and really played a pretty solid first half. We were really efficient offensively. We held Willard to around 20 points in the first half. They go on an 11-0 run to start the third quarter. We go from up nine to down two and hadn’t scored a basket. We battled back and found a way to win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Other than that stretch I was pretty pleased with our effort. It makes this next game important for us. That game was about who had a chance to catch Norwalk, both of us only had one loss going into it. We only have one league loss and we know Norwalk is undefeated. That gives us a chance and that’s what we wanted.”
Schwemley says they made a couple of big plays that gave them the momentum and allowed them to come away with a win over Willard. “We called a timeout and scored right out of the timeout and then it went back and forth a little bit. We had some big plays that standout. In one, we missed a free throw and Andrew Baird was leaning out of bounds and threw it in to A.J. Beal and he caught it in the air and threw it to Tristan Karias on a layup. That was right at the beginning of the fourth quarter. It was one of those with three guys hustling and it was one those turning points in the game. That is what we have been getting out of the guys, a good solid effort and teamwork. When we do those things we feel pretty good about how we are playing. We just have to keep doing that with different guys playing different roles and doing whatever it tales to be successful,” said Schwemley.
Norwalk (12-0,5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the large school division, has played outstanding basketball this year. Schwemley says his kids must play consistently against them and not allow them to get on any kind of run. “They can go on a run and you can’t come back. In our first Norwalk game we are playing right with them the first four minutes of the game and we were ahead 8-7 and the next thing I know it’s 20-8 we are behind. If you give up that run you just aren’t going to come back on them. You have to keep the game close. We have got to control the ball. They are team that is going to capitalize on your mistakes. They force a lot of them with ball pressure and trapping. It is almost like I would rather just throw the ball out of bounds and let us recover and have a chance to play defense because when they steal the ball in the open floor or you take a quick shot and they get a long rebound it’s off to the races and they are normally going to make you pay,” said Schwemley.
Tempo is going to be critical. Shelby does not want to play as fast as Norwalk, but Schwemley says they can’t lose their aggressiveness either. “We can’t let them score in the 70’s. The hard part about that is you want your team to be aggressive on offense and still look to score, but there is that fine line of you don’t want to get into the races because that’s when they are at their best. It is definitely have to be a lower scoring game. You still have to be in attack mode because if you play on your heels, almost trying to play keep away, eventually that is going to cost you too. It’s kind of that fine line of controlling the tempo and looking for the shot you want. You have to be efficient, I think that’s the key,” said Schwemley.
Shelby Getting it Together
Shelby has become a pretty good basketball team and one that has shown a lot of improvement on offense.
Last week, they kept themselves in a share of second place in the Northern Ohio League with Willard with a win at Bellevue (66-54) and then lost a non-league game against Lexington (64-53) on Saturday night.
Coach Troy Schwemley says that was a big win for them at Bellevue, especially after not playing for almost two weeks. “We came out and played really well Friday night and that was at Bellevue, and weather we hadn’t played in 13 days or not, we are always concerned with how we go there and play. We came out and shot the ball well in the first half and that kind of opened some things up and had a real nice win that night. I was very pleased to get that win at Bellevue,” he said.
Early in the season Shelby was having some problems getting the ball in the basket, but Schwemley says they have certainly improved their execution. “We seem like we are getting better. It seems like our spacing and our movement with what we are trying to offensively continues to improve. Last Saturday night, the first three, four minutes of our Lexington game, we were down 14-0 and we were very passive. Then it seemed like we started to move the ball and play better. As a coach you feel good about that improvement. That is a tribute to the kids. They are working hard and they are playing together. When you do those things you can be successful,” said Schwemley.
Norwalk has been the best team in the league this year, but the game Saturday night in Shelby between the Whippets (7-3,3-1) and the rival Willard Flashes (8-4,3-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, will likely determine who becomes the principal challenger for the Truckers. Schwemley says it is a very important game for both sides. “They have nice guard play. They have three, four guys that are really three point threats. Hayden Adams inside does a nice job. He is averaging around 10, 11 a game. I think they have four or five guys that are averaging around double figures. They are not a team where you just have to focus on one guy. You have to defend five guys on the floor. Both of us have put ourselves in position. We are 3-1 in the league with our only loss to Norwalk. One of us is trying to get through this game one game behind. We are really fighting for that second place spot right now. It still gives you a chance. It will be the last game of the first round. It’s a big game rivalry wise, but in conference play,” said Schwemley.
Both teams are featuring a four guard offense, but Schwemley says they are trying to get the ball inside a little more. “That is kind of what we are doing now too as far as playing four guards. The difference with us I would say is we have two guys in Grant Fenner and Tristan Karis that do a lot of their scoring by posting up inside,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They are more perimeter shoot the three or drive. I think that will be a key to the game as to who takes advantage of that. Do our bigs defend the perimeter and can we use the mismatches we have and get some inside baskets. It will be how our four perimeter players match up with their four perimeter players.”
A Little Bit of the Unknown For the Whippets
Shelby will play for the first time in 13 days when play at Bellevue in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night.
This was a planned break due to the make up of the schedule and Whippets coach Troy Schwemley says only time will tell is it was a good or a bad thing. “I think it is going to come down to how well we play on Friday. If we play well on Friday then that’s going to seem great and if we don’t it’s going to seem like that didn’t work out so well. In all my years of coaching I have never experienced having that long of a break, every once in a while you have snow cancellations that you end up having a longer break, this one we knew going in. We gave the kids some time off. It will be interesting to see how we play on Friday because that is going to determine if we feel that was good or bad,” said Schwemley.
Bellevue (2-3,0-2) has not played as many games as the rest of the teams in the area due to an appearance in the state football finals. Their talent says they will be very good, but it’s just hard to tell right now. “They opened with Willard at Willard after a week’s practice. They played fairly well with very little practice. Willard is having a real nice season. To only lose by single digit points gives you and idea of how athletic they are and they type of players they have. When you have Jalen Santoro on the floor he makes everybody better around him better. He can take over. It’s hard to get a feel for them. They are definitely behind in terms of the amount of practice. It’s just going to be how quickly they recover and get in their gym shape and shooting range and things like that,” said Schwemley.
It’s clear the Redmen have not played their best game yet and Schwemley says they certainly have the opportunity to win the game. “We feel like if we are playing like we are capable of that we can go in there and be successful. They typically play well at home. They have a nice team that has some good players. It’s going to be an interesting game,” he said.
Of course, anytime you play Bellevue you have to deal with point guard Jalen Santoro in some way. Schwemley says how to do that is a difficult decision. “We have been playing very good man-to-man half court defense. That is something we feel like is one of our strengths. Do you stick with your normal approach? In basketball you see some kind of gimmick or different defenses. I think that is the dilemma you face when you are playing them. Do you stick with your traditional approach or do you kind of mix it up a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com, “That can sometimes be beneficial but it can be risky to allow other people to have open looks and things like that. In basketball we have the opportunity to try and keep it out of his hands, but sometimes that can be negative as well when you put too much pressure on one player and forget about the other four players on the floor that are capable as well.”
Whippets Face Different Teams
Shelby is starting to get things going on offense a little better and that is making the Whippets a more dangerous team.
They face Sandusky on the road in a league game on Friday night and then travel to Upper Sandusky to take on the Rams on Saturday night.
Last Saturday, the Whippets (4-2,1-1) were beaten in a close one by Ontario (61-59) in non-conference play. Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says it was another classic Shelby-Ontario duel. “That game has been a game that has been a one-two point game for as many games as I can remember and last Saturday’s game was no different,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We had a couple of chances down the stretch to make some shots and didn’t make them, but it was a good game. We thought we could have won if we had done a couple of little things here and there, maybe boxing out a little better, Ontario did a good job of crashing the boards and getting some second chance points. Ontario has a really good team. I was happy with our effort and the things we did well. It’s a game that you learn from and I think it was a game that really shows we are headed in the right direction. We are competitive and playing good basketball. We just need to do a little better to win a game like that.”
Sandusky (1-4,0-2) was roughed up pretty badly in their two games last weekend. They lost to Norwalk (72-28) and Mansfield Senior (84-26) on Saturday. In the Norwalk game they were behind 30-0 before they scored. Schwemley says not to judge them by what they did in those games against tremendous teams. “The one thing that we talked about is don’t judge them by those two games because both Norwalk and Mansfield Senior are very good basketball teams. The score I have looked at kind of is their score versus Willard, which I think was a four point game. That says they can be a competitive team. They have multiple guys that can kind of break you down off the dribble and get to the rim. They have struggled scoring sometimes, but when they are hitting shots they can be a good basketball team. I think from that standpoint we are going to have to defend well because if we do that kind of takes them out of what they have been doing. If they are hitting baskets they are a dangerous team,” said Schwemely.
Sandusky is going to try and be an up tempo team, while Upper Sandusky is likely the lowest tempo team in Ohio. Schwemley says they are two completely different styles. “Yeah, it is. From that standpoint we are focusing on the Friday game first. There we are going to have to defend for 20, 25 seconds and I imagine the shot is going to be up in the air. We are not going to have to control the tempo from a standpoint of trying to speed things up. I would say it would be about hold Sandusky to one shot and rebounding and working for the shots that we want. If we do a good job of limiting Sandusky to one low percentage shot and then owning the rebounds I think we will have a good chance on Friday night. Then on Saturday night we might have to try and speed Upper Sandusky up a little bit, but even in a lower tempo game if you do the right things and get out to a lead. A ten point lead in game like that can almost seem like a 20 point lead. We are going to have to take care of Friday first I think that will help us have a good double weekend,” said Schwemley.
Lady Whippets Putting Things Together
Shelby has put together a three game winning streak, all in league play, as they prepare for a home game against Wynford in non-conference action on Tuesday night.
First year coach Natalie Lantz likes the way her bench has been playing in recent games. “We are getting some good strong play, especially off the bench from our younger players. Our leadership from our seniors is growing as well. The two of them jelling together helps immensely,” she said.
All-Ohio guard Emma Hostetler scored 35 points in the Lady Whippets (67-50) over Sandusky on Saturday. Lantz says Emma has the ability to do whatever is necessary to get the win. “Emma can step up and be a huge scorer when you need her too. Sandusky was one of those times. She had a great game across the board. Not only did she have 35 points, but she also had nine rebounds and seven assists. She really just had great game and she created a lot of turnovers from Sandusky as well,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “She had a great defensive game. Emma is a very good player and she will contribute where she needs to. Sandusky was a good example of that. We needed her to score and she had the hot hand. She put them in when she needed to.”
Right now, Shelby shares the “NOL” lead with Bellevue. They shared the title last year. Lantz knows every game will be a challenge. “Every game you go into. Every night you have to be prepared to play your best game. Anybody could surprise anybody at this point. Willard I think has a more balanced attack this year. Laura Danhoff, it looks like she is playing a little bit more outside this year. She can see the floor real well. With Bellevue, Santoro is a very strong player. It looks like they are really getting her the ball a lot. She is putting up a lot of shots every game,” says Lantz.
On Tuesday night, the Lady Whippets host the North Central Conference black division co-leader in Wynford. Lantz thinks Wynford is a very consistent team. “Playing Wynford (Tuesday) night. They are a very fundamentally sound team. They are going to do a lot of the little things right. They are going to come out with a balanced attack. We have to bring out “A” game every time,” she said.
Lantz says against Wynford you have to execute very well because they just won’t make many mistakes. “She has built a very fundamentally strong program. Those are the kind of teams you like to have and can come out and knock off a good team if you aren’t ready. They might have lost a couple of seniors, but this group will be ready to play. They have some good shooters. They crash the boards hard. We have to do a lot of things right in order to come out on top. We know what we have to do now we have to go out and do it,” said Lantz.
Shelby Finding Itself
Shelby has been successful in working some new kids into their mix and they have won three of their first four contests.
They suffered their only loss of the season so far to “NOL” favorite Norwalk (75-47) last Friday, but they were able to come right back the next night and take out Wynford (63-27) in an outstanding performance, especially on defense. Coach Troy Schwemley says this team has proven to be resilient. “Norwalk is a very good team. We knew that. We felt there were some things that we could have done better, but we hopefully learned from it. I guess the part that made it a good weekend we how we responded on Saturday. We bounced back and played really well on Saturday against Wynford. Overall, we are happy with our start. There are some things that we need to continue to improve on to get better, but pretty happy with the progress of the team and were we set right now,” he said.
Schwemley says the players have quickly settled into their roles on the team and they have pretty good chemistry. “From a scoring standpoint Grant Fenner has been our leading scorer. I think he has been in double digits every game. Austin Rhode is close there too. Some other guys have been scoring as well. Tristan Karis does a nice job scoring. A.J. Beal has scored six, eight points a game here and there too. Those guys are finding ways to contribute,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “There are other guys that get baskets here and there and make some hustle plays like an Andrew Baird, Tyler Young, Lucas Ousley, Lucas Beal. Those guys just find ways to get four, six points here and there, but those add up. They are starting to find their roles.”
Shelby (3-1,0-1) plays host to Tiffin Columbian (1-1,0-0) in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night. Tiffin‘s game with Bellevue was not played last week because of Bellevue’s long run in the football playoffs. Schwemley says the Tornadoes have athletes. “Tiffin has a lot of guys that were playing football on Friday nights in the fall and were really successful. They have a group of athletic kids. The point guard comes back and he played as a sophomore and a junior. He really does a nice job of playing fast and penetrating and creating. They’ve got guys that can break you down off the dribble and elevate well. We are going to have to play defense in terms of good positioning and negate some of their speed and athleticism. We are going to have to play well against them. Because they didn’t play last week they are going to be ready. We have to bounce back. It is early and being 0-1 we would like to even that out,” said Schwemley.
The on Saturday night, The Whippets host Ontario (3-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com basketball coach’s poll in the small school division. Schwemley says this is a great rivalry. “It’s been a great battle for as long as Shelby has played Ontario. I don’t know how long that has been. I know in my six years every game has been a very close game. I expect another one that way. It’s just been a great battle and a fun night of basketball. With being as close as we are. Ontario is going to be in the “NOL” next year. It has been a nice game from a crowd standpoint. It’s a home game for us, so we have back to back home games. This is our fifth home game and you want to take care of those games at home because we are going to have to become road warriors,” said Schwemley.
Shelby Must Control the Pace
Shelby executed in the final half minute on offense and defense to escape with two one point wins on the opening weekend of the season. Up next will be a team that has won 24 of its last 25 games.
Last week, the Whippets beat Mansfield Madison (35-34) and Orrville (56-55) in a pair of non-conference games against Ohio Cardinal Conference schools.
Coach Troy Schwemley says they stepped up when they had to win the games even though they let some leads get away from them. “We made some big plays when we had to, but we also look back and in both of those games we had 10 to 13 point leads that I hate to say let fizzle away because both Madison and Orrville battled to come back, but we also thought there were things we could have done better to not let them get to that point. We made big plays when we had to to win. Friday night we are down one and Austin Rhode hits a big shot to put us up one with eight seconds to go and then our defense held. On Saturday with a tie ballgame Austin makes one of two from the free throw line to put us up one and again our defense held. In both wins we were on the defensive end for the last possession of the game. You feel good when you get two stops to get wins, so we’ll take it, but we would also not like the games to get to that point,” said Schwemley.
Like a lot of teams at this time of year, Schwemley says they could make a few more free throws and limit the turnovers a little bit too. “Our free throw shooting. In both of those games we had some free throw opportunities that if you make a few more of them would have helped. We felt like we were getting some good looks and we did turn the ball over some and that’s coaching as well as players. Those are things we need to do better as coaches preparing for those situations to make sure we understand who should be dribbling and when. In both of those games there were certain things that you just can’t prepare for in practice. When there are 30 seconds left in the game and it counts no matter how many times you have worked on that it is about guys stepping up. We felt pretty good about the plays we did make. There were some times we could have made better decisions, but sometimes there is no better tool than a game to learn from that,” said Schwemley.
Norwalk (1-0) comes to the “Dog House” for the Northern Ohio League opener for both squads on Friday night. The Tuckers are the two time defending league champions and Schwemley says they are very, very talented again this year. “They return a lot of talent from last year’s team. They went undefeated in the regular season. We gave them quite a battle at our place where we ended up losing by one that would have at the time put us tied with them. Last year we felt like we were right there with them, but Ben Haraway made big shot to win that game. They return a lot of those guys that were sophomores and juniors last year. Ben Haraway, Jeff Thomas, Fetheroff, those guys carried a lot of the load for them last year and all of those guys are back. They are a pretty confident group. When you have the talent that they have and the success and they are going to bring a tough challenge for us on Friday night,” said Schwemley.
Norwalk beat Sandusky Perkins (75-59) in their first game. Schwemley believes the tempo of this game is going to be very important. “The one thing that we learned last year from the first game to the second game was the second game was much more of a grind and the tempo was slow. I think even more so this year we are going to have to control the tempo. We are going to have to really work to get a good quality shot. You can’t make them all, but we need to get some quality possessions where if we don’t get a score a good shot will help protect you on defense and allow you to get back on transition,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They are a team that is very dangerous in the open floor and on turnovers, quick shots, bad shots, lead to quick transition, can lead to easy baskets for them. On defense where we have been playing in five-on-five situations I have been pretty happy. We are going to want to make this a half court game, but you still have to play fast and get easy baskets. We are going to have to know the difference from a shot we know we want to take and a shot that is throwing gas on the fire.”
Shelby Concerned About Self
Shelby has shown some improvement during the preseason and they will have to continue to do that this weekend when they travel to Mansfield Madison on Friday and host Orrville on Saturday.
Coach Troy Schwemley says he likes what he sees so far, but he knows they have a lot more to do. “You are looking for improvement and I think that is the biggest thing. We have had improvement over our scrimmages. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like you have enough time, but we got in five scrimmages and it seemed like we kept getting better, so from that standpoint I thought we had a good preseason. It’s game week and we still have work to do, but there has been progress. It’s been a good start,” he said.
Shelby has been one of the most consistent teams in the region over the last half decade and Schwemley says a key to doing the same this year is this weekend. “We return some guys that have some experience that have been around the program and have been successful. At the same time it is always important to get off to a good start. Everybody is optimistic about the start of their season. We have two games to start the weekend,” he told Swankonsports.com, “With every team if you can get off to a good start it seems to boost the confidence. We have a tough weekend to start at Madison on Friday and home against Orrville on Saturday. We will get thrown into the fire right away and have two competitive teams. We hope to get off to a good start, but you never know what’s going to happen. You go from there and see how things go.”
What about a double weekend right off the bat? Schwemley says it really doesn’t matter in his opinion. “Our first four weekends are doubles so we might as well get used to it. The good thing about it is it gives two games to compete in. With the basketball season now going to 22 games you are going to see a lot more of those. When you look at a football schedule you have just one game each week and that’s it. If you win you feel good the whole next week. If you lose you feel bad the whole next week. In basketball you might get a big win on Friday, but you can’t enjoy it because you have to turn around play the next night. If you have a bad game on Friday it gives you a chance to bounce right back. Double weekends in basketball it doesn’t really matter where they are at. You take it one game at a time and get you kids ready to play and win or lose you get ready for the next one,” said Schwemley.
Shelby and Madison have produced some epic battles in recent years, but both teams have a lot of new guys. Schwemley says he is more worried about how the Whippets are going to run their stuff. “At this point I really don’t know a whole lot. They have a new coach. Their preseason got cut a little short due to the football playoffs. They return a couple of guys with varsity experience from last year’s team. Our normal plan is to get ready for the other team on Wednesday because most importantly we are taking care of us. Really I think the opening weekend is kind of like that where you are more concerned with what you are going to do rather than the opponent. Come later on when you get into league play you might do a little more game planning from the standpoint of personnel and things like that. For us with limited knowledge about their preseason and just kind of basing things on last year. We don’t know a whole lot about what we are going to get from Madison. We don’t worry about that. We focus on what we want to do well and if we do that we feel we can have a successful game on Friday night,” said Schwemley.
Shelby Counting on Defense
It looks like it could be another strong season for the Shelby Lady Whippets on the basketball floor.
There is a new coach in Natalie Lantz, but many players return from a team that shared the Northern Ohio League title with Bellevue and advanced to the regional final, where they lost to Clyde. She says her players are ready to excel. “Our group has been working really hard, especially defensively. We do have five seniors coming back. They have been doing a great job of keeping the intensity up and everybody focused at practice. That has really been helping us improve and keeping our defense really aggressive in practice and pushing each other, so we are coming along,” she said.
Lantz knows they have scoring, and from a number of sources, but she believe that it is defense that is going that will write the Lady Whippets story this year. “We will hang our hat on defense. I mean I think you need to have a strong defense before you can get to the offensive end. We do have some scorers. We have some kids that are capable of scoring. That can relief some pressure on Emma and on Devon in the inside,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I think we are capable of an inside-outside game this year, but it’s going to take some kids to step up. Each game we will look for them to get more and more confident. We will look forward to seeing them grow throughout the season.”
Shelby plays three games in the first five days of the regular season, all on the road against Plymouth, Ashland, and Mansfield Senior, and Lantz says they have to ready to compete every night, kind of like a WNBA team if you will. “It is early in the season, so we have been really working the girls hard trying to push their conditioning a little bit. Back to back games are always difficult. We are trying to get their conditioning levels up so they can survive back to back days and then have Sunday off and Monday practicing and Tuesday right back at it again. Those are going to be three tough games right off the bat and we want to be prepared for them,” said Lantz.
She will coach her first varsity game against Plymouth out of the Firelands Conference on Friday night. Lantz says they are going to rely on what they do well. “We don’t know a whole lot about Plymouth. We can go a little bit by last year. Really for the first game we are going to focus on what we are looking to do this season and really focus in on our defense and looking to push the ball and we will take it from there,” she said.
Shelby Making Adjustments
The Shelby Whippets have become consistent winners under the leadership of River Valley graduate Troy Schwemley.
Last year, they finished second, behind Norwalk, in the Northern Ohio League standings. This year they have some building blocks toward another solid team. Schwemley says they lost some pretty good players, but they have some returning too. “We have had one scrimmage so far. We lost four quality seniors from last year in Garrett Arnold, Conner Nelson, Trey Calver and Jacoby Wilson. They were all solid contributors to the program over the last several years. When you lose guys like them you can never replace them,” he told Swankonsports.com, “You try to make the best of what you have. We have some new faces, some have some varsity experience, most notably Grant Fenner and Austin Rody. Grant started for us last year and averaged double figures in points and was one our leading rebounders. Austin Rody came off the bench and had some very good nights.”
Arnold and Nelson have been the Whippets main scorers and Schwemley says their returning plays need to accept new roles with the team. “What changes is their roles. I think that’s the biggest thing. We have three other seniors with this group in Andrew Baird, A.J. Beal, and Tyler Young. We have five seniors and that is a good number to build around. We are making some changes and trying to figure out what best fits our personnel. It’s early, but boy it’s going fast. The clock is ticking and the first game will be here before you know it,” he said.
Shelby has been a basketball team that over the last several years has really pushed the tempo. Schwemley says they are trying to find out what is going to be best for this team. “We have definitely been a high tempo offense I would say, at least tried to be in the past. That is something I think we might have to adjust a little bit. I still believe you have to play fast and run, but that doesn’t mean you have to take the first available shot. We will have to see what we are doing well and what gives us the best opportunity to be successful. With only once scrimmage I don’t know if I have a handle on what our exact style is going to be. It could slow down a little bit. I don’t think you can purposely say you don’t want to score. Our thing is we want to play fast, but take what’s there and take good smart shots with the right people taking the right shots,” said Schwemley.
Most of the area media has predicted that Norwalk may run away and hide in the “NOL,” but Schwemley isn’t ready to concede anything. “They won the district and had a great tournament run last year. They return a lot of those guys. For our standpoint we haven’t even talked about that. Our approach is to get ready for the next game and believing we can be successful. If you asked me to cast my vote hands down it would be Norwalk, even in the area. Every team has to stay healthy. I think everybody has those couple of players that they feel if they play well they could be very successful, but everything kind of has to fall into place. We see us as a team in the “NOL” that is we play together and play well we like our chances of being successful every night,” said Schwemley.
Shelby Looking For Another Strong Season
Shelby is coming off a year in which they shared the Northern Ohio League title with Bellevue and finished with a 21-2 record, losing in the district semi finals to Clyde.
This year first year coach Natalie Lantz believes they have the talent to have another good year. “I have five great leaders coming back as seniors this year. They are very enthusiastic and energetic. They are really stepping up to the plate and leading our team defensively. They are very aggressive offensively as well,” she said.
Shelby will have one of the area’s best players in four year starter Emma Hostetler. Lantz believes that she has strengthened her game since last year. “Emma is a great leader. There is not a kid on the floor that knows the game better than her. This will be her fourth year on the varsity squad. She has really stepped up her leadership. She can lead the break and really her defense has stepped up tremendously this summer and just in the week in practice. I have really been impressed not only can she anticipate, but she has been great in both denying the ball and her on ball defense has stepped up. That is key to our success. We would love to be a run and gun type team and we have to have five players on the court that are able to play good on ball defense as well as help side defense. Emma can trigger that for us,” said Lantz.
Lantz, the Lady Whippets freshmen coach last season, thinks they have a number of players to surround Hostetler with to make us a strong team overall. “I think that is where we are absolutely blessed this year is I do have strong players to support her. You know, Emma can dish the ball fantastic. I also have other players that see the floor really well that are making some fantastic cuts. They are strong defensive players that make things happen so we can get out and run. I think Emma is going to have a really strong supporting class. When you have a supporting cast like that it is really hard for the defense to key in on just one player when other kids can do some really good things,” said Lantz.
Shelby has some players with varsity experience and some players that will see varsity action for the fist time. Lantz thinks it’s a good mix. “You just have to take one thing at a time. We started out focusing on the little things, the techniques, the fundamentals. As long as we keep building day by day keep our focus strong I think we will be just fine. You don’t worry about the little things you just keep focusing on what your team can be and keep building on the positives. These kids are a great group,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I can’t stress enough our seniors with Devon Murray and Taylor Toth and Brooke Ridenour and Taylor Collins all coming back to support Emma. I have some great juniors coming up in as well in Taylor Fulton and Jessica Miller and a sophomore coming up as well in Gabby Stevens. We have some really good kids that are going to be able to support and do some really good things this year. I am excited for people to come and watch and see what we have to offer.”
McCoy Resigns at Shelby
After a record of 2-18 over two seasons, Steve McCoy has decided to resign as the Whippets head coach.
McCoy was hired in June of 2011 after a six month search to replace Chris Solis, now offensive line coach at Ashland High School, who had resigned in December of 2010.
“I recognize that he was trust into a difficult situation as a late hire in the summer of 2011,” said Shelby Athletic Director Pat Lewis.
McCoy is a graduate of Shelby and this was his first varsity head coaching position. “I’m very appreciative of the time and effort he has put forth,” added Lewis.
Shelby (2-8) won its last game of the season over Willard (36-0) and beat a pretty good Ontario team (31-14) on week three of the season, but had trouble competing in the tough Northern Ohio League absorbing losses to Tiffin Columbian (19-0), Norwalk (49-7) and Bellevue (44-6) this fall.
"Wins and losses aside, Coach McCoy succeeded in stressing to his players the importance of personal accountability and responsibility,” said Lewis of McCoy.
The community had questioned the process the district used in finding a replacement for Solis. Lewis says in the next several weeks they will settle on a process to find a coach for the Whippets. "In regards to the process of finding a replacement.....during the next several weeks the administration will determine the appropriate time to begin the formal search for our next head football coach,” said Lewis.
Shelby Sees Rival in Final Game
For the Shelby Whippets it has been a frustrating year on the football field.
They have earned only one victory, although that a good win over a solid Ontario team (34-14) on week three of the season. Still for a school deep in football tradition it is tough to take.
They hope to end the season with a win at home Friday night against the rival Willard Flashes (4-5,1-3) in Northern Ohio League play. Willard won last year at Flashes Field (23-18) in Mike Strance’s last game as their coach. Shelby coach Steve McCoy, a graduate of Shelby High School, understands the importance of beating a big rival like the Flashes. “You can’t beat the traditions that Shelby and Willard have. It’s definitely a nice game to have with the Flashes,” he said.
Last week, Willard upset Norwalk (24-0) in one of the biggest shockers of the season. McCoy says Willard knows what they are good at and they were able to use that, and some good fortune with the weather, to their advantage. “Willard is definitely a disciplined team. They run a disciplined offense and that’s what you are going to get out of their kids. I think field conditions helped out Willard having the home field advantage there with water laying on the field,” said McCoy.
First year coach Mark Matual has installed the triple option offense at Willard and McCoy says if they don’t play assignment football the Flashes are capable of busting a big play at any time. “Willard has a decent offense running the triple option. If you are out of position they are going to hit you big on a play. They have a good defensive philosophy and I’m sure they will do the same against us,” he said. You don’t see a great deal of option any more in high school football, but McCoy says this will be the third time they have faced this sort of attack this year. “We have seen this throughout the season with Madison and Marion Harding especially. Hopefully we are kind of schooled up on it. We even saw it early on against Clear Fork, who has now kind of transitioned into a spread offense. So, hopefully we have our kids prepared and ready to go and it’s been nice having the ability to play some teams are prepare for this game,” said McCoy.
Shelby Faces State Ranked Norwalk
Shelby likes the role of underdog. They used that to their advantage last week in claiming their first sectional title in more than a decade and they will be in that position again Wednesday night when they face Northern Ohio League champion Norwalk in the girls’ volleyball division two district semi-finals at Seneca East High school, outside of Attica.
After beating tradition rich Mansfield Madison in the semi-finals, the Lady Whippets took out Galion (25-17, 21-25, 25-23, and 25-19) in the sectional final last Saturday night at Bucyrus High School. Coach Brandie Albert says the girls were ready to play and they probably surprised a lot of people with the win over Galion. “I was extremely proud of the ladies. They just walked on the court and knew they were going to win and never really looked back. I didn’t have to do much coaching. I would go into the huddle and they were self correcting and talking and motivating each other. Nobody ever expected us to beat Madison. We go in as the fourth seed playing the second seed and nobody expected us to beat the second seed. We are just excited to be where we are at. The sectional championship was outstanding and rewarding because we didn’t finish the regular season so well,” said Albert.
So far, that underdog role has worked very well for Shelby (16-8), #4 in the final Swankonsports.com volleyball coach’s poll in the large school division, and Albert feels if they can get over the mental block they can make it a contest versus Norwalk too. “We chose to play Madison because, like I said before, because Madison had a reputation, and even though they had kind of a down year, they are rebuilding from their state qualifying team from last year. I thought if I could motivate the kids well enough and if they played well enough to beat Madison. Beating that reputation the word Madison could motivate them to move forward,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We are going to battle that same things (Wednesday) night. We have kind of a mental block against Norwalk. The first time we played them we had them down all three sets and they ended up coming back because we weren’t able to finish. We have to get over that mindset that Norwalk is this unbeatable team. Right now, we are both 2-0 going into the match (Wednesday) night. It’s all mental. It’s got to be ready to play, prepared to play and mentally believe we can do it.”
Norwalk (23-2), #1 in the Swankonsports.com volleyball coach’s poll, has been the area’s top team all season long. Albert says they have tremendous depth and talent on the floor. “They are all good, everyone of those kids. We have to capitalize on a couple of things we know they aren’t as strong at. They have the best libero in the area. They have a really great setter. They have some young, strong outside swings and experienced middle swings. They don’t have a whole lot of weak spots. We just have to play our game to even hang with them,” she said.
Norwalk beat Shelby on the first week of the regular season at Shelby (25-22, 25-20, and 25-16) and then September 20 in Norwalk (25-11, 25-20, and 25-15) to complete the regular season sweep. Albert likes the gym at Seneca East and she hopes that helps them a little bit. “Playing them twice we were close when we were in our gym. We weren’t even close to them when we were in their gym. The gym we are going to be playing in is a lot more like our gym than theirs so I am hoping that mentally that helps my kids have a one up so we will be even more ready to play,” she said.
Norwalk has only lost to Parma Padua and Findlay and Albert says if they can get off to a good start against the Lady Truckers they might shock the world. “We have nothing to prove. We are going to walk in there. You know, we upset Madison, we upset Galion, and I think my kids are just excited to keep playing. That is a huge strategy of ours to stick with them and push them farther than they have been pushed. They haven’t gone more than three sets almost all season long. They have only been beaten twice. If we can shake them a little bit, shake their mental confidence. They are going to walk in there and they beat us twice and they have beat almost everybody they have played. All we can count on is that our kids come out and play well and maybe shake them more than they are going to shake us,” said Albert.
Shelby Might Surprise
Again for the Shelby Whippets it was close, but not close enough as they lost to Sandusky last week in Northern Ohio League action. This week they play one of the area’s best in Bellevue.
The Whippets held a second half lead only to lose a tough one to the Blue Streaks (27-21) last Friday. Coach Steve McCoy says again they hurt themselves with turnovers and defensive mistakes. “Those are tough games. Things that we have said, we have to eliminate big plays. We had a couple of plays again defensively that we gave up big plays on. For us turning the ball over three times inside the five yard line those are points you have to put on the board. Had we done that definitely the outcome would have been different,” he said.
Bellevue’s Jalen Santoro rushed for more than 300 yards last week when the Redmen drilled previously unbeaten Norwalk (48-21) in an “NOL” game. McCoy says he has confidence in his offense, now the key is to contain Santoro. “I think he is a similar type of quarterback and system to what we saw out of Tiffin. We understand that we have to try and bottle him up and contain him and keep him where he is going to be making cuts back into the line of scrimmage inside that tackle box allowing our defensive line and linebackers to make plays,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We felt like we came in with a good plan against Tiffin and played well against them and we fell we can do the same thing against Bellevue. We think offensively we have a good chance to go score for score with Bellevue. If we are able to contain Santoro and make them punt a couple of more times and get down the field that is going to allow us to win the game.”
Shelby (1-7,0-3) has nothing to lose in this game against Bellevue (7-1,2-1) on Friday night. McCoy says they will take some chances. “As with every team we have a couple things that we add that they might necessarily have seen. It just makes us a little bit better. Some of the things we have been practicing all year and we can kind of throw at them and find a little success that way,” he said.
When they played Tiffin Columbian, the “NOL” leader, two weeks ago the Whippets were able to stay in the game with defense. McCoy says they will be counting on that unit again this week. “Our defense has played exceptionally well the last couple of weeks. The scoreboard in the Sandusky game didn’t appear that way. We gave up two special teams touchdowns and we also let Sandusky score in the fourth quarter on two plays. They went two plays for about 70 yards. Outside those two plays that gave them 70 yards we had held Sandusky for three and half quarters to about 75, 80 yards of offense. We are pretty impressed with how our defense has played the past couple of weeks and hopefully that will carry on to this week,” said McCoy.
Sandusky’s Speed Concerns Shelby
Shelby has struggled to find ways to compete with the tough teams they find on their schedule. This week, however, might be one of the games the Whippets can find some success.
The Whippets (1-6,0-2) will be at Sandusky (2-5,1-1) to take on the Blue Streaks in Northern Ohio League action.
Last week, Shelby was able to keep themselves in the game against “NOL” co-leader Tiffin Columbian. It was 7-0 Tornadoes at the half and they ended up winning 19-0. Shelby coach Steve McCoy says they felt they played really well against a very good team. “We actually did treat this as a victory with our kids. It was definitely a tough game and our kids came out and responded well. Tiffin’s defensive line really posed a problem for our offensive line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They did a very good job of drawing double teams from us, which allowed their linebackers to run free or we were trying to get to their linebackers and their defensive line was able to shoot through a gap and get to our running backs. Overall, we were pretty pleased with our offense. We rushed for right around 150 yards. We felt pretty confident about being able to go up against a pretty potent offense and defense and still bale to stay close.”
Sandusky is the defending league champion, but this season started with the Blue Streaks having very little experience with two starters returning. McCoy says they must keep their heads in the game. “It’s not a team we can overlook in any sense. Sandusky out of everybody in the “NOL” has played just as strong a schedule as us. We have to get in our kids heads and really get them to focus and play hard rather than them feeling they can just go in with this team and get a win. We are still going to be in a dogfight. I think they are a pretty good football team and we really have to go out and execute,” he said.
Shelby has been burned a lot this season by teams that just have more speed than they do. McCoy says that concerns him this week too. “We have seen this pretty consistently with speed throughout the season. They really have a couple of kids that really concern me from the standpoint of speed. For us that has been our weak point as far as covering the guys deep on pass patterns. When we are able to contain the run a lot of times the running backs when we do miss an assignment that’s when they really expose our defense and they hit us for a big play. Speed is a little bit of a concern for us going into the game. We hope we can kind of contain and bottle up that speed and execute a little more affectively this week and try to eliminate those big plays,” said McCoy.
Shelby Might Have Some Surprises for Columbian
It is back to back unbeaten teams for the Shelby Whippets. Last week, they were drilled by the Norwalk Truckers and this week they host talented Tiffin Columbian Tornadoes.
Norwalk (6-0,1-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the large school division, belted the Whippets (49-7) in the Northern Ohio League opener for both schools. Shelby coach Steve McCoy says the two scores right before halftime the Truckers got put them in a bad position. “It was a disappointing game obviously. I felt like we could have come out and preformed a little bit better. We had a couple of big plays that went against us. Late in the second quarter they kind of put us away a little bit going in at halftime. Those are tough points and tough plays to kind of swallow. From there it just to trying to reel from there a little bit,” he said.
Columbian (6-0,1-0), #1 in our poll, beat a very good Bellevue team (35-21) last week. McCoy says the Tornadoes aren’t fancy, they are just good. “Tiffin is obviously a pretty good football program. They have been in the regional finals I believe for the last three years. They are one of the top ranked teams in division two again this year. They have a lot of returning players coming back to them. I think they have a pretty strong offensive line. They have a lot of size up front. They don’t necessarily do a whole lot of different things, but they do it really well. Those are the keys to successful programs. They have been able to build the program over the last 10, 12, 15 years of putting together a system and running those plays,” said McCoy.
Last week, Columbian again had two runners over 100 yards and McCoy says the first thing they must do is contain that running game. “We go in each week and explain to our kids that we have to force a team to pass or force a team to run depending on the type of team that you are going to play. Going into Tiffin you have to take care of the run first and force them to throw the ball. If we can force them to throw the ball we hope we can be successful in coverage in the secondary. Those things will give us a chance,” McCoy said.
Two things the Whippets (1-5,0-1) have to do, according to McCoy, is keep the ball in their hands and score at the same time. “One of the big things for us is going to be ball control on offense. We have proven week in and week out throughout the season that our offense can put together long drives and score points on those drives. Those are things that we have to be able to do is get the 8, 10 play drives and really take time off the clock. If we can put points up on the board we feel like we’ll have the opportunity as long as our defense is coming through,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We know that we have to least score with Tiffin. We face a good team every single week. We know our defense is going to give up points against good teams, good teams are going to find a way to score. We feel like if we can be right there with Tiffin and maybe catch them once or twice.”
McCoy also says they need to do some things that Columbian doesn’t expect them to do. “We are going to do our best to surprise them a little bit. Kind of throw some things at them that maybe they haven’t seen and haven’t necessarily prepared for. And also catch a team that might not be focused on the team at hand,” he said.
Shelby Ready to Go
Shelby begins the Northern Ohio League portion of their schedule with a game at home against Norwalk on Friday night.
Shelby (1-4) has steadily gotten better as this season has gone on. They lost a tough one last week when Marion Harding edged them (27-26) in a non-conference game. The Whippets were stopped at the one in the waning seconds of the game. Coach Steve McCoy says the players have bounced back this week. “The attitude has been pretty good. The weather hasn’t been very helpful getting a lot done with us. We have had some good practices, some inside. Overall, the kids are pretty excited and are ready to go. Anytime you are getting ready to enter into your conference schedule for the kids it’s an exciting time and they have something to still play for,” he said.
Norwalk (5-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s power poll in the large school division, has put up a lot of points this year and McCoy says that’s because they have an outstanding quarterback. “Norwalk is doing a great job. Chris MacFarland has been doing a great job rebuilding the program. I think Federoff their quarterback is a real good athlete. We watched him in the off season in several of the camps that some of our kids were at as well. He is a great kid and a good quarterback. He is going to get rid of the ball really quick. He is going to make decisions pretty quick. When you have a quarterback that you are going to face like that he is going to be able to complete passes. We are just going to have to be able to execute our defense and put him some tough situations where we can make him make a couple bad decisions,” said McCoy.
Federoff is big strong player that can do a lot of things. McCoy says they don’t want him to break containment because he can be dangerous when he does. “We want to contain him. I think any 6’6”, 220 pound kid, I don’t know how many times you want him on a roll out trying to flush him into your containment against your corners and even your defensive ends, but more so your corners that are generally smaller than him. We are really going to try to contain Federoff as much as possible. We do know that he likes to roll out. We have our defense set up to hopefully create some issues with what Norwalk likes to do,” said McCoy.
Norwalk averages over 40 points a game. McCoy says they want to keep the Truckers offense off the field, but they aren’t going to change their whole approach on offense either. “We want to definitely control the clock. Anytime you go up against a spread team that can throw the ball well they can score quick. Our offense over the last three weeks we have displayed that we can score quick and sustain long drives. Our goals are if we are going to score quick let’s put points in the board, but at the same time we want to have some clock management,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “If we are getting just four, five yards a pop we are okay with that too. We know we are going to hit a big ply and that will get a big chunk of yards for us. We will have a couple of new wrinkles on offense that we have tried to put in that we think will make us a little more successful against Norwalk.’
Shelby Facing Top Back
Shelby needs to play better defense if they are going to be competitive against the tough schedule the Whippets face.
Last Saturday, Bryan hammered the Whippets (42-12) in a non-conference game. Coach Steve McCoy says there were a lot of bright spots for the Whippets in the loss. “The scoreboard wasn’t really indicative of how we actually played. Our offense finished with about 270 yards of offense. We rushed for over 200 yards again, which has been pretty good for us as we continued to make headway with our offense. We were setting in what we considered a tie going into to halftime, 14-12. We were pretty pleased with how the kids came out and played the game in the first half. Two weeks ago with Ontario for us it was about going out and winning the second half. You could see a difference in the way the kids were acting at halftime with Ontario and Bryan,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The odd week playing on a Saturday being a six o’clock game. The kid’s bodies were all out of whack from a practice perspective. I think that took a little bit of a toll on the kids. Overall, we were pretty pleased. Obviously we weren’t happy with the outcome. We were expecting a little bit more out of the defense. Baken is a very good quarterback and he was able to make plays when he had too. That kind of turned the table late in the third quarter.”
McCoy admits with losses to Mansfield Madison (31-6) and Lexington (29-0) it has been difficult for the players to develop the confidence they need to win games. “We are coming across really good opponents and some really good players on each of those teams. For our kids it is tough for us to build a lot of confidence because every week they are playing teams with really good players. Both Madison and Lexington are 3-1and Bryan still undefeated. Baken of Brayn was able to get out of the pocket and make some plays. He was able to make some passes in the second half. In the first half they were successful running the ball and we weren’t tackling very well,” he said.
Marion Harding (1-3) comes to Shelby on Friday night for the Whippets final non-conference game of the season. McCoy says they Presidents have an outstanding running back in L.J. Scott. “We go up against a Marion Harding team that we think is really good. They played Tiffin fairly well early on. They can move the ball. They have a standout running back in L.J. Scott. He is the real deal. He is one of the top recruited backs in the 2014 class. For us we really have to be able to contain those kids. L.J. is a pretty tough kid to bring down. He is going to have four or five moves on four or fives kids in a three yard radius and he is going to make every single one of them miss. He is that type of athlete. We just have to make sure we can gang tackle and really contain him,” said McCoy.
The Presidents have been able to put points on the board in three of their four games a win over Lima Senior (40-33) and losses to Mansfield Senior (45-21) and Tiffin Columbian (39-27) last week. McCoy says they would like to play a little keep away. “That was really our plan going in against Bryan. They did a good job of driving the ball also. We only had the ball two times in each half. We want to be able to control the ball if we can with our offense or score a lot of points quick. Which ever way it happens we’ll be happy. For the most part we do want to control the clock. We really felt like we could do anything with our offense last week all game long and that’s a nice thing to have,” said McCoy.
Whippets Excited
The Shelby Whippets broke a 12 game losing streak with a victory at Ontario last Friday night.
It was a win that was unexpected by most, but not to the Shelby football team and its coaches. Coach Steve McCoy says he feels they have played some good football all year, just not enough of it. That changed on Friday night. “The kids have worked exceptionally hard and for us it was good to get that first win under our belt. As we have said all along we are just kind of taking it one day at a time, one week at a time and we feel like every week we are improving. As long as we continue to improve, we feel like we have a good chance all year in any game,” he said.
McCoy admits that the win over Ontario (34-14) was a big relief for the players who have head about the losing streak for too long. “We felt we had been competing all season with every team. We came across a couple of games there with Madison and Lexington who are both doing well this year. We felt we were able to go out and compete with those guys, we just had too many mistakes. We had an opportunity to go up against Ontario and the ball seemed to bounce our way last week and we played a lot better and minimized our mistakes,” said McCoy.
Shelby (1-2) travels to the northwest corner of Ohio on Saturday to meet Bryan. They scored 50 points in both of their first two games of the season. They beat Van Wert (56-0) and Archbold (56-14). McCoy says Bryan has some big play makers. “They are a pretty good ball club. They return most of their starters from last year. They are kind of like us. They are a spread team. They are four wide for the most part and sometimes up to five wide. They throw the ball more than anything. They have a real good quarterback that is 6’2” and about 185 pounds. He throws the ball well and can move in the pocket pretty well too,” McCoy said.
Because of their athleticism McCoy says Bryan is going to bring a lot of pressure and count on their defensive backs to do the job in coverage. “Defensively they run a 3-5. They can kind of very between a 3-5 and a 3-4. They will really bring some heat from the outside and the inside from their linebackers. They like to blitz a lot. Their kids are pretty quick and they like to time up the snap when they are blitzing,” he said.
With some injuries in their secondary this season, McCoy says they need some players to step up and be ready for the challenge of covering receivers man to man. “Although our secondary has a done a great job we feel like all this season. We have given up that one deep pass once in each game. That is kind of a concern of our a little bit. We have had some injuries where we have lost a couple of kids that were starters for us last year in the secondary and we won’t have them back for the next couple of weeks,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We feel like the guys have come in and stepped up are doing a great job. We are just going to continue to improve at that position. We really understand that we have to keep the pass under us this week and really not let anyone get deeper than us.”
Whippets Looking For Positives
Shelby suffered some bad luck early in the game and gave up 21 first quarter points and lost 31-6 to visiting Mansfield Madison last Friday. They hope to do better when they face their second “OCC” opponent in Lexington this week.
Second year coach Steve McCoy says they suffered some injuries to key players early in the game. “There are still a lot of positives that came out of the game. Early on the first quarter we had lost four two-way players to injuries, two with severe injuries. That really kind of set us back. We had to do a little of reeling and get some kids coached up and get us back into an offensive and defensive scheme that would benefit us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Overall we saw a lot of positives. Our kids did not have a ton of penalties. We were really disciplined, so that was good to see. We still had a 100 yard running back. We continue to see a lot of success in the running game. We have a couple of things that we have to fix.”
McCoy says one thing they have to be better at to be more competitive is they must become a better tackling team. “We want to continue to sure up our tackling. The last two weeks we really haven’t tackled great, but our kids are over pursuing. We end up not making a big play instead it ends up in a big play for them. We have to sure some things up there and we will be okay,” he said.
Shelby travels to Lexington to face the Minutemen (1-0) this Friday night. Led by new coach Dan Studer the Minutemen had three running backs with more than 80 yards as they railed to beat Ontario 34-26. McCoy says they are looking to take away the running game. “Dan is doing a great job over there. We have had a chance to see them a couple of times in person in some scrimmages and obviously on film. His starters on offense are lightning fast. He has a real good quarterback and a real good running back. We have to do a real good job of containing those guys. If we can really sure up the inside and take that running game away from them we feel like we can be successful. Overall they are really fast and that is something to work on with our kids in practice this week,” said McCoy.
McCoy says Lexington has a good, aggressive defense, but they feel like they might be able to turn that into an advantage for them. “Their defensive line is really quick. Their linebackers flow real hard. We feel like some of our schemes, some of our misdirection things that we can add to the system this week might actually be able to benefit us. If their d-linemen are getting too far up the field it helps out our trapping game. If their linebackers are flowing real hard our running backs will have the opportunity to have some cut back lanes. Overall, I think their defense is pretty strong,” said McCoy.
Shelby Brimming With Confidence
Shelby is a lot different football team then they were at this time a year ago. They have a lot of confidence entering their home and season opener at Skiles Field on Friday night against Madison.
Steve McCoy, now in his second year, thinks they have been successful in changing the culture. “I think it’s just confidence. We have talked to our kids and there is experience coming back and really just changing that culture and attitude of just getting the kids to be confident in what they are doing on the field,” he said.
The Whippets played Clear Fork last week in their preview scrimmage. McCoy says they did a lot of things well except for tackling. “The one big area where we saw some issues was in tackling. We actually worked our kids pretty hard the week before that last week of two a days and we knew we were going to be a little bit flat and we were,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We struggled from a tackling standpoint and I think a lot of that was just fatigue mentally and physically. The kids are ready to go. They are focused on the things we need to do there to get that corrected. Outside of that we felt we had a pretty good scrimmage.” However, McCoy says they did find a lot of things out. “The kids know a lot of what we are doing is scripted out. There are specific things that we want to work on. A lot of the game type situations really aren’t there. We try to play three quarters, but there are certain things that we are trying to work on and also identify players and depth and those sorts of things. It wasn’t necessarily a true feel. We are definitely ready to go up against somebody else,” said McCoy.
Madison beat Shelby 21-7 last season at their place and McCoy knows to change the outcome this time they have to bottle up the Rams running game. “We expect them to run the wing-t against us. We have seen a lot of wing-t. We saw it against Clear Fork and we struggled a little bit tackling with the wing-t. We expect them to run the wing-t at us. I truly believe that the wing-t is one of the most difficult defenses to stop. It is a clock management offense. They are looking to get three, four yards a pop. Just keep poking their way down the field and just kill the clock. Our real goal is to get them out of their wing-t and get them into their spread and throwing the ball. If we can do that we feel we can be successful,” said McCoy.
Shelby Finding the Right Combinations
Shelby is set to prove that this will be a different season than last year when the Whippets went 0-10 for the first time in school history.
With a full off season coach Steve McCoy and the players believe this is going to be a lot better year for the Whippets. “We are pretty pleased to be where we are at right now. Like we have been saying all summer long it’s just been a great opportunity to have a full off season with the boys and really have a chance to put everything in place and to work with those guys. I couldn’t be more pleased it’s probably the best two a days I have ever had with a group of kids in my coaching career,” said McCoy.
With more time with the kids McCoy believes there will be better execution of the one back system they have put in place. “Just being able to get into the systems and how different the systems from where Shelby has been over the past 10 to 15 years and where we are heading over the next couple of years with the group of kids we have. You know it has just been a big transition for the kids. Overall, they have done pretty well over the last seven to eight months in getting prepared for the season,” he said.
The Whippets final tune-up for the regular season will be Friday night when they play the Clear Fork Colts in a scrimmage. McCoy says they have some specific plans for the game against the Colts. “Obviously you have a group of kids that are going to be successful for you and you want to make sure those guys are healthy for you, but also get a little playing time and game experience,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We are going to play three quarters with Clear Fork. We are going to have our starters going in the first quarter and the third quarter. In the second quarter we will go with what we are calling our one and halves, kids that we project as being backups or rotation guys. If one of our key guys goes down what is our substitution going to be and how are we going to react to that. It’s a little bit of game planning for us and trying out some scenarios throughout the scrimmage also.”
McCoy says they want to put a lot of guys in the line-up. He says they want to keep players as fresh as they can. “Our philosophy is to have 25 kids playing every single Friday. We want to get 25 different guys on the field at some point whether if that is through rotations or special teams or whatever. We would like to have 25 players playing where they are actually sharing the time fairly equally,” he said.
Shelby faces Mansfield Madison in their opener and McCoy says they will approach the Rams in the same way they will the rest of the teams are on their schedule. “For us it’s game that you have to win. You want to win coming out of the gate. For our kids that has been a little bit of our focus. Our kids have done really well and our philosophy has been that we are going to take everything one day at a time and try to keep the kids focused. We believe that will translate into us being successful on Friday nights,” said McCoy.
Shelby Ready For Success
Shelby continues to prepare for a turnaround season in a town rich in football tradition.
Second year coach Steve McCoy, a Shelby grad, says the first week of two a day practices last week showed him this team has the potential to excel at a top level. “I think the kids have worked very hard over the past week and a half. The kids have been doing very well, I have been impressed. Our first week of two and days is probably the best week I have ever had in my coaching career. The kids are working exceptionally hard. I couldn’t be more proud right now,” he said.
Shelby was 0-10 last season. McCoy says they are not using that to vault themselves into this season, but rather wiping the slate clean and going from there. “I think we need to turn the corner on last year. We don’t focus too much on last year. We have a lot of really good athletes. We return most of our team from last season. This was the first year we had the kids for a full off season. We really feel like there has been a move in a positive direction,” he said.
McCoy and his staff have changed a lot of things over the last year and he says they continue to work hard to educate the players about how they can be most effective in that system. “The one aspect that we have consistently seen over the last 14 months is football knowledge and really getting the kids to understand the game and understand the game with our system,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have done a lot of chalk talks with our kids throughout the off season. During two a days we have had kids in front of chalkboards and then out on the field. We return a lot of kids, but we are still working with the younger kids with the 9th, 10th and 11th graders we are seeing the same thing.”
Shelby had traditionally been an option team since the 1980’s, but last year they ran a lot of one back spread and McCoy says they are going to do that this year too. “I think that is were we are going to be. We will be in a one back spread for sure. We will be three wide with a tight end as our base set. We will be under center too a little bit, but for the most part be a shotgun team,” he said.
Shelby Looking Forward
Last year is a football season the Shelby Whippets and their fans would like to forget and according to coach Steve McCoy the players can’t even remember 2011.
McCoy, a Shelby graduate, was hired in the late spring of last year and had only a few months to prepare for the season. McCoy says this year has been a lot different. “Last week we spent four days at a team camp at Kenyon College. We feel like we have a good group of kids and given the circumstances that the whole program faces last year. We fell like we have had our first true off season with the kids. For the first time they have seen how our system works and understand the offensive and defensive schemes that we are running. We have seen a lot of success so far in the seven on sevens and some of the stuff we have been doing with other teams,” said McCoy. He told Swankonsports.com that have that off season together has made everybody feel more comfortable. “I think just the consistency of a staff is also important for the kids. For the first time we have been able to keep together a consistent group of coaches and that’s a benefit for our kids. Last year they did not know hardly any of the coaches and now they have had a year to get to know each other,” he said.
There were some big changes made last season as the Whippets scraped their traditional option offense for more of a one back attack. McCoy says they plan to made a only a few adjustments this summer. “We have made some adjustments to fit some of the things we feel our athletes can do. It will be a similar offensive system with a one back spread. We are going to go three wide this year at least for the most part. We are going to add a few more coverages to our defensive scheme. We really feel that we have a good core group of athletes that know the game pretty well and we feel we can utilize them in some key situations,” said McCoy.
With less teaching regarding the system taking place the Shelby coach says they were able to dedicate the off season to getting stronger and faster. “Overall we knew that we had to get stronger and from there we also have to work on our speed and our agility and more so our lateral movement. The kids have really responded to the program that we put together over the off season. We have a couple guys in our thousand pound club, which measures their benches, squats and cleans. We feel like we are headed in a real good direction,” said McCoy. He says they have changed some of the thongs they are asking the kids to do in the weight room. “I have had the opportunity to work with a pretty good strength coach. We have made some changes to the program a little bit. We are really looking to build more of an athlete as opposed to just a muscle bound kid. We really feel like we have utilized the weight room in the appropriate manner,” added McCoy.
Last week at Kenyon the Whippets finished putting in the schemes they plan to use on the field this year. “Our main focus at the team camp was the finish the installation of our offensive and defensive systems. We didn’t have a lot to do since we ran the same systems we did last year. We did make some tweaks and changes in the things we do. We don’t put a lot into the seven on sevens I don’t think it’s a real good judge of football,” he said.
Coming off an 0-10 season in 2011, McCoy says the kids are focused on making this fall a return to the tradition of Shelby Whippet football. “The kids have worked exceptionally hard and we feel like we have a real good nucleus of kids this season coming back. We bring back a lot of starters. It is a positive for us to have that experience coming back. I don’t think the kids think much about last season. They have kind of moved on from there. The program was kind of in a bad spot at that point. We have moved forward and focused on this season. Our focus is about winning today and that’s what we are trying to get our kids to buy into,” said McCoy.
Shelby Needs Varsity Softball Coach
Mike Mahek has stepped down as the girls’ softball coach at Shelby.
He led the Lady Whippets to a Northern Ohio League title in 2011 and runner-up finish this spring.
Shelby lost to Lexington in the division two district final last year and the sectional final this year.
A resume with references should be sent to Athletic Director Pat Lewis, 109 West Smiley Avenue, Shelby, OH, 44875 or e-mail him at lewis.pat@shelbyk12.org.
Shelby Gets Win Headed into Tournament
A young Shelby Whippet baseball team has struggled against the talented Northern Ohio League this year, but they got a big win on Thursday night heading into the tournament Saturday.
Shelby (8-16,2-8) got past Willard (8-5) in their final “NOL” game of the year. The Whippets meet “NOL” co-champ Tiffin Columbian (13-6) in the division two sectional semi-finals on Saturday at Clyde High School.
Scoring runs has been a premium for the Whippets this season, but coach C.J. Brickman says they got some big hits on Thursday night. “We have had a hard time scoring all year. The pitching we have faced all year has been solid. It’s nice the bats came out with got eight runs and 10 hits. We got three clutch two-out hits with the bases loaded. It was nice to see us get eight runs in our last “NOL” game of the year,” said Brickman.
Underdogs have been rather successful in the division two tournament the last couple of years. Lexington beat top seeded Norwalk last year. Brickman says what has happened this season really doesn’t matter on Saturday. “On Saturday our record doesn’t mean anything. Tiffin’s doesn’t matter either. It doesn’t matter how many games they have won. If we beat them their season is over. You try to drill that into kid’s heads. It is the second season we get to move on and Tiffin goes home, so we are excited about it,” said Brickman.
To be successful in the postseason you need to have great pitching and Brickman says you have to be able to field the ball, which is especially important in their case. “Not only that, but you have to play good defense. You can’t make errors in the tournament and give these really good teams more than three outs. Pitching and defense are really big at tournament time,” he said.
Tiffin won both meetings this season between the two teams (7-1 and 19-6) and Brickman says the Tornados can really hit the ball. “When we played them they hit the ball. They scored 19 the one game on us and like 15 hits and the other time they scored seven. That first game we were in it and then we made some critical errors that I think led to four unearned runs. So, you can’t give Tiffin Columbian extra outs with the big bats that they have. I would say their hitting is definitely their strength,” said Brickman.
Shelby Gets Big Win Going into the Tournament
Shelby is not going to win the Northern Ohio league this year, but they got a huge win on Tuesday night beating “NOL” champion Bellevue 4-3 in league play.
Shelby (17-9,6-3), #4 in the Swankonsports.com softball coach’s poll, had lost to Bellevue (19-3,8-1) early in the season at home. Lady Whippets coach Mike Mahek called the win over the Lady Red one of their biggest of the season. “It was a great win. Our kids played their hearts out. It was a great battle. We hope to continue to build the momentum going into the tournament,” he said.
Bellevue, #2 in the Swankonsports.com poll, has one of the more consistent programs in North Central Ohio and Mahek says a win over them should always be valued. “They have had a quality program for many, many years. Any win up at Bellevue is always a good win. They have an exceptional team this year. Our kids answered the bell. We came out and played seven innings of great softball. Like I said hopefully we continue to move forward and take care of business on Thursday,” said Mahek.
In the final “NOL” game of the season Shelby plays Willard on Thursday.
It’s tournament time beginning on Saturday and Shelby is in the division two sectional at Lexington. The Lady Whippets will play either Lexington or Willard on May 10. Mahek thinks the players believe in themselves again. “There is no substitute for confidence. A win like this certainly helps to build that. Like I’ve said, one at a time and keep focused on what we are doing,” he said.
Shelby has played one of the toughest schedules in the area this year. They have competed against state power Lima Bath, Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader River Valley, Clear Fork and Lexington of the Ohio Cardinal Conference. Mahek says they know what tournament level competition is like. “It’s been a great season for us as far as playing quality teams. We haven’t had a single rain out. To fill our schedule we added some top notch opponents and hopefully with that confidence we have been talking about and the experience we have had this season helps move us forward,” said Mahek.
Shelby Gets a Win
Shelby is a young baseball team that has some talent, but unfortunately for the Whippets they are in the Northern Ohio League and everybody is good, very good.
That means you have to be at your very best every. The Whippets have a victory over talented Sandusky, who beat Norwalk on Tuesday night, earlier this year, but that is their only league win.
Wednesday night, Shelby (7-12) got past Marion Harding (4-2) in a non-conference game, breaking a six game losing streak in the process. Coach C.J. Brickman says they really needed this win. “Absolutely… Our league is so tough. We have been struggling to get wins. It was definitely a good feeling to get a win (Wednesday) night,” he said.
The Northern Ohio League has four teams ranked in the statewide coach’s poll, and there is just tremendous depth in the league this year. Brickman says there is never an easy game and you have to be at your very best to have a chance to win. “It’s unbelievable. Every night it is a struggle. We are battling and these teams are all so good. It’s the best baseball I have seen… ever. It’s just one of those years,” he said.
Shelby has some developing talent, but Brickman says too many times their defense is not giving their pitchers a chance to be successful on the mound. “What really hurts us is we make too many errors. Our pitchers are throwing strikes. When you give the other team five outs an inning and you can’t give a Norwalk and a Tiffin five outs an inning or they are going to burn you and that’s what has been happening. (Wednesday) night we didn’t make errors and look what happened, we got a “W.” We have to tighten up, Brickman told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday.
Shelby plays Sandusky (13-5,3-4) in a “NOL” game on Thursday. The Whippets won the first meeting (6-4) on April 10. The Blue Streaks beat Norwalk (10-8) on Tuesday and are ranked #4 in Swankonsports.com coach’s poll in the large school division.
The tournament draw is on Sunday and Brickman says they have been using that as motivation for the players. “We have been looking the past week at the tournament. You get a fresh start, you win you keep going, you lose your out. That’s good for us, I mean, we’ll see,” he said.
Shelby Stays in “NOL” Race
Shelby belted Tiffin Columbian 10-1 on Tuesday afternoon to keep themselves in the Northern Ohio League girls’ softball race.
With the win Shelby is now 5-2 in the league and they trail Bellevue by two games with three to play. Bellevue edged Willard (5-3) on Tuesday to remain unbeaten in the league.
Shelby coach Mike Mahek says they understand that they have to run the table if they are going to have any chance at sharing the title this season. “We talked about it (Tuesday), we have to win out and then get some help, but nothing happens unless we take care of our end. We are going to take each game one at a time and give it all we’ve got and see what happens and maybe we can get back in it,” said Mahek.
Shelby (15-7,5-2) plays Sandusky (6-10,2-5) in a league game on Thursday. The Lady Blue Streaks lost to Norwalk (5-3) on Thursday.
With only six teams in the “NOL” this season there are only 10 league games on the schedule. Mahek says that makes every game even more important. “You don’t play every night, but with the size of the league and only 10 games that is also a factor. It really, really narrows the focus and every game is so important,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday.
Mikala Miller is Shelby’s all-time leader in pitching victories and she is able to keep the Lady Whippets in most games. Mahek says they have been able to get the bats going in most games too. “We have had some struggles. We have four or five players around the .400 mark. Anytime your batting average is that high you are getting runners on and then moving them along. Again we have our moments, but overall we have been hitting the ball well,” said Mahek.
Defense is sometimes the forgotten element in softball. Mahek says errors have led to some big innings for them, but overall he has been pleased with how they field the ball. “We have had out moments there too. We have had our innings that have blown up on us from time to time. We have had pretty solid defense. What we have really tried to teach the girls is when you do make a mistake you have to forget it and move forward. You can’t let that compound and build and we have gotten better at that,” he said.
Shelby Falls From First Place
Bellevue scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning and they beat Shelby in a battle between the Northern Ohio League co-leaders on Thursday night in Shelby.
Belleuve, #4 in the Swankonsports.com softball coach’s poll has averaged around 10 runs a game this season, pounded out 17 hits in the win (11-7) over Shelby to gain sole possession of first place in the “NOL.”
The re-match with Bellevue is the final regular season game for the Lady Whippets on May 5. Shelby coach Mike Mahek says the need to maintain their focus in order for that game to mean anything. “We are a game out and we have to take care of business every night to give ourselves a chance to go up there and play and make amends for this. It’s going to be an every night battle in the league to make sure we get that opportunity now,” he said.
Shelby, #5 in the Swankonsports.com coach’s poll, trailed for most of the game Thursday night, but they made a dramatic rally in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game. Mahek says they battled back to give themselves a chance. “They hit the ball very well. I mean they had 17 hits. We made some mistakes, we had five errors. You can’t make those kinds of mistakes against teams like this,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We were down 7-2 in the sixth and go out and score five runs to tie it up. We are 7-7 going into the seventh inning. We gave ourselves a chance to win the ball game. While it was disappointing to fight back that far and come up short, there were definitely some positives to take away from it too.”
Yes, the Lady Whippets want revenge on Bellevue (15-1), but Mahek says there are other things that need to take care of in the meantime. He says looking ahead to May 5 would be a mistake. “We are not looking just at that game at Bellevue. We’ve got a battle (Friday) night. I told the girls after the game. It’s not football where you have a week to sit there and think about it and prepare for the next game. We are right back at it (Friday) over at the MVD tournament and next week we come back with two big league games. Every game is important. We have a long way before we need to worry able Bellevue,” said Mahek.
Shelby (11-3) faces Ashland in the first round of the MVD Tournament in Ashland on Friday afternoon. Mahek likes the fact that they are going to get right back on the field after the loss to Bellevue. “Softball and baseball are unique in that way. We play a six week season with 27 games. Three weeks from Thursday is our last regular season game. It’s short and intense. There is no rest, you just go back and go at it again. In this situation it’s a really good thing for us to get back on the field and go play again,” said Mahek.
Shelby Ends Tough Stretch With Win Over Sandusky
Shelby has gone through a stretch over the last week of the baseball season where they have played four of the five teams ranked in the Swankonsports.com baseball coach’s poll and Tuesday night they earned their first win against those teams.
The Whippets (6-6,1-2) downed the Sandusky Blue Streaks (8-2,1-2) in a Northern Ohio League game (6-4) on Tuesday night in Shelby. Coach C.J Brickman says it was a solid win for them, likely their best of the season so far. “It was a great win for us. We are a young team. We played Norwalk and Tiffin last week and I think they had one loss between them. We played Ashland over the weekend and they hadn’t lost a game yet. It has been tough the last four or five games and it was definitely good to get that win (Tuesday) night,” said Brickman.
Sandusky is paced by their shortstop and leadoff hitter Xavier Turner, headed to Vanderbilt on a baseball scholarship. Brickman says you definitely have to be careful with him and his kids did a good job of following the game plan. “He is their leadoff hitter and it’s not like you want to pitch around him. You don’t throw a fastball right down the middle to him because obviously he is a good player. He is going to college to play ball. Our kids hung in there and threw strikes and made some plays,” he said.
Just like football and basketball the “NOL” is loaded with talent this year. Brickman says the young players on the team just have to grind it and the wins will come. “It’s just one of those years when a lot of schools have a lot of talented players. We are coming off a good year last year, but I lost a lot, so we have a lot of young kids. We have just learned that you can’t quit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night after the win over Sandusky, “Norwalk put one to us and so did Ashland, but we came back here were we could have laid down to Sandusky. I know Norwalk beat them by one, but we came back and we beat them. We are getting better and we are hanging in there.”
Shelby still has to play a fine Bellevue team and an improving Willard in the first half of the league schedule and then do it all over again. Brickman says they will have to remain tough and if they do they will be a better team. “If you aren’t mentally tough it’s going to be a long year,” said Brickman.
Shelby Shares Northern Ohio League Lead
Two games into the Northern Ohio League schedule the Shelby Lady Whippets share first place with Bellevue, a half game in front of Sandusky.
Shelby (8-2,2-0) has beaten Norwalk (5-4) and Tiffin Columbian (7-0) in league games this week. Coach Mike Mahek says they have put together a pretty good stretch of play. “We got off to a little bit of a shaky start. We were 1-2, but we have put seven in row together after that. We got off to a good start in the league with a tough win up at Norwalk. It’s one of those things where our kids understand it’s going to be a battle every day and you have to come out and play everyday. There are no automatics in the league. The league is tough,” said Mahek.
Shelby’s only losses this season come to traditional power Lima Bath and unbeaten River Valley of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Mahek says they are playing and improving a lot over the first couple of weeks of the season and he wants it that way. “We are playing five games a week for the first three weeks to kind of get going here. My wife said last week, she looked at the schedule, you’ll play half of your games in the first two weeks and it’s pretty close to that. We’ll have 12 games in two weeks. There is not a lot time for rest or even practice to correct things. It’s maintain, teach a few things, and just keep rolling,” Mahek said.
Bellevue (9-1,2-0) is playing excellent softball too. However, Mahek contends this will not be a two team race in the “NOL” this spring, as it was in basketball. “It’s every team every night. We have learned that over the years. There is quality competition all of the way through. You never have that time off,” he said.
With more speed in the lineup this season, Shelby is bunting and stealing more bases, but Mahek says it’s nice to have one the area’s best and most experienced pitchers on the mound too. “We have picked that up a little bit more this year. We have a little bit more speed. We are playing a little bit more small ball. Defense is really a key for us, defense and pitching, defending the small ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “A little plug for our pitcher, Mikala Miller. With her win (Wednesday) night she set the school record for career wins with 47. We have a pretty special team and we have a special pitcher out there ands that helps a lot when you talk about the consistency and the battling every day.”
The Lady Whippets play Clear Fork (2-3) in a non-conference doubleheader at Shelby on Saturday.
Tough Start for Shelby
Shelby is faced with starting the Northern Ohio League portion of its baseball schedule with a trip to Norwalk to play the defending champion, and preseason favorite, Truckers in their opening league game on Tuesday evening.
On Monday night, Andrew Baird had three hits and the Whippets beat the Crestline Bulldogs (8-6) in a non-conference game at Shelby. Coach C.J. Brickman will take the win, but he says their execution was not very strong. “A win is a win. We did make some mistakes. I believe we had six errors. If we do something like that against Norwalk I don’t think we can beat them if we make hat may errors. If we tighten the defense up we will be fine,” he said.
Norwalk (5-0) has been doing a lot of things right including wins over Sandusky Perkins and Lexington. Brickman understands any league title must go through Norwalk. “They are the defending champs from last year. If you are going to be the best, you have to beat the best. If you want to win the “NOL” you have to beat Norwalk,” he said.
Norwalk is finding success in football and basketball now, but the baseball program of Wes Douglas has been a consistent winner for Truckers fans. Brickman says it is no surprise they are winners this year too. “They graduated quite a few guys. Wes over there does a great job and they have a lot of kids. Last year I remember they had 18 kids on the team and a bunch of young kids. I think they are loaded again this year and for the future. To beat them you just have to be solid, you have to throw strikes, and you have to put the ball in play. I guess you need to have a little luck on your side too,” said Brickman.
Shelby (4-2) has a tough schedule all week as they play Upper Sandusky (1-0) in a non-league game on Wednesday, Tiffin Columbian (3-2), one the other “NOL” favorites on Thursday, and unbeaten Ashland (4-0) in a doubleheader on Saturday. Brickman says they know a loss against Norwalk will not break them. “The whole season is not (Tuesday). It’s obviously an important game if you want to win the league. We have played six games so far and we have at least 20 others,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “You can’t hang your hat on one game. Obviously it would be nice to win, but with the young team that I have we just have to work on getting better and that’s what our main goal is,” said Brickman.
Shelby Showing Some Good Things
Shelby was somewhat of an unknown quantity going into the high school baseball season this year after an outstanding campaign a year ago, but they played well in their first game.
The Whippets (1-0) shut out the Mansfield Senior Tygers on a cold day on Monday in their regular season opener. Coach C.J. Brickman says the got an outstanding performance from a young man making his first start for Shelby. “I had a kid Lee Newmeyer that started his a game for the first time. With these new bats if you throw strikes you are going to get outs. If you have kids that can throw strikes you are going to be successful,” he said.
Making the plays in the field is often the key in high school baseball. If you can be the team that just makes the regular plays then you are going to win more than your hare of games. Brickman says they were able to do that for the most part on Monday. “We actually have a whole new infield from last year. We only had four strikeouts through five innings. We did make some plays in the field, so that was good to see, especially with the young team that we have,’ he said.
Shelby also is replacing a number of sticks from last year. Brickman thinks they did a pretty good job of putting the ball in play against the Tygers on Monday. “Through six innings we only struck out twice. We put the ball in play. The majority were ground balls. It was the first cold day in like three weeks. We were used to playing in that 70 degree weather, so when it was 40 out, it was a little different, especially with the kid from Senior that threw a good fastball. Our kids adjusted and I think we had eight hits. We will be okay as the season goes on,” said Brickman.
Although, according to Brickman, not a lot of people want to admit to it, the weather is a factor in high school baseball, especially offensively. “Your hands are going to be cold when it’s 40 degrees outside. When you are swinging these metal bats and you get one on the handle and you hit it foul, you aren’t going to be very enthusiastic about getting back in the box and swinging the bat again,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “People say the weather doesn’t affect the game, it absolutely does, especially when it’s cold out. You will see offensive numbers go down when it’s cold out.”
Mansfield Senior (0-2) is a team trying to rebuild its program, but for the rest of the week the Whippets will see some of the bigger names in high school baseball in Wynford (Wednesday), Mansfield Madison (Thursday) and Ontario (Saturday) for a doubleheader. “With Ontario and Madison, those are two programs that are always good, so I am excited to see what we can do against top notch programs,” said Brickman.
Shelby Splits First Two
Shelby began its season on Saturday against one of the tougher teams they will see all season in the Lima Bath Wildkittens.
They spilt a doubleheader winning 3-2 and losing the second game of the twin bill 3-0.
Shelby coach Mike Mahek says they played pretty well in both games against Bath, especially with their gloves. “Lima Bath is a real solid team and came in and we had two great games. In both games the kids played real hard. It was really good softball. We had an extra inning win in the first game. We got beat 3-0 in the second. Obviously, that’s not where we want to be,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We did a lot of good things in that game also defensively. There were a couple of opportunities for them to blow things open and we kept ourselves in it. We had a couple of chances to score late and weren’t able to string it together there. Overall, it was a good weekend for us.”
The Lady Whippets won the Northern Ohio League title last year and they are expected to have a good season this year. Mahek says they wanted to be tested. “They are a traditionally strong program. They have a hall of fame coach. That’s why we scheduled that game to bring in some teams from the district that we don’t see a lot. It was a real good experience and we took away some confidence and we took away some things we need to work on,” he said.
Mahek says they will be working mostly on their offense. He says they have to do a better job of limiting strikeouts and taking the extra base when it’s available. “We know we have to put the ball in play. We had a few too many strike outs in the second game. We have to get the bat on the ball, especially with runners on. Defensively, we played really solid and I’m really pleased with that and real pleased with our pitching. We have to work on some base running things and some hitting things.
Tuesday, Shelby (1-1) plays a home against River Valley (1-0), a 17-3 winner over Fredericktown in their first game on Monday. The Lady Vikings beat Shelby last season. That will be followed by a game at home against Wynford on Wednesday, at Mansfield Madison (0-1) and a doubleheader against the Ontario Lady Warriors (1-0) on Saturday.
Their first “NOL” game is scheduled next Tuesday against the Norwalk Lady Truckers.
Shelby is Cautious
Shelby was the best team in the Northern Ohio League last season and as the softball season is about to start the Lady Whippets are holding their cards close to the vest.
Coach Mike Mahek says they have some younger players that will fill some roles with some players returning to the varsity team. He says he is excited about what the season could bring. “We have a good mix of returners and some new faces. We have some experience and some young kids. It’s going to be one of those seasons where it’s really going to come down to how we handle games, but we are looking forward to it. We have some challenges ahead of us and we are really excited about playing,” said Mahek.
Pitching is very important in fast pitch softball, but so if making the plays in the field. Mahek thinks early in the season they are going to rely a lot on their defense. “So far with the beautiful weather we have been playing a lot. We have had a lot of good scrimmages. I think our defense is probably our strong point. Bats are a little behind pitching at this point,” he said.
Shelby will host the Lima Bath Wildkittens in a doubleheader on Saturday, the first day of the high school softball season in Ohio. Mahek says Bath will be a big challenge for them, but they are certainly looking forward to it. “That is a good opener for us. We contacted them a while ago and wanted to get some competition from across the district. We don’t get a chance to see them very much and they don’t get a chance to see us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “When we go to vote on all-district and things like that it’s nice to have a reference point. We just wanted to open it up a little bit and play someone different. We are really excited about the opportunity. They have a great program and a hall of fame coach. We know we are in for a battle and it will be a great test.”
As far as the Northern Ohio League is concerned with Sandusky entering the mix, Mahek says the league race is going to be hard to predict before the season gets started. “The league has a whole different look being a six team league. I don’t know what we are looking at. It’s one of those situations where some teams graduated some people and we have some teams with some players back. Sandusky is coming in and we have never seen them play. It’s wide open I would say,” he said.
Shelby Counting on Some Younger Players
Shelby finished second in the Northern Ohio League baseball standings a year ago and if the Whippets are to compete for the title this spring they are going to have to get some solid contributions from younger players.
Coach C.J. Brickman wants his program to be a consistent competitor in the “NOL” and he believes they have some underclassmen that can step into some roles on the team. “Last year, we had a real good year. We won 18 games. I lost seven seniors and half of my pitching staff,” he told Swankonsports.com, “You know, you hear the word rebuilding when you lose that much, but we have a lot of good young talent that’s coming up, a lot of juniors and a couple of sophomores. Our goals are the same. We want to go after the “NOL” title and win a couple of tournament games. Expectations are still high.”
The high school baseball season is a short one. It can be over in six weeks for some teams. Brickman hopes his team can get off to a good start, but he knows they are a team that will be developing as the season goes on. “I think this a team that is going to be a lot better in May than it is in March. A couple of our players are basketball players and they are just now kind of getting into things. I would look out for us in mid to late April. I bet we will be a lot better by then,” said Brickman.
Shelby may be an inexperienced team at some positions, but Brickman believes they will have a really good chance to win anytime they put their number one pitcher on the mound. “I think our strength is our pitching staff. We have Cal Von Stein back. He was our number two last year and won us eight games, so he is going to anchor us, he is a big tall lefty. We also have kid named Justin Lewis, who pitched a lot last year. Pitching is definitely the best part of our team,” said Brickman.
On offense, the Whippets used a lot of speed and small ball to get runs last year and Brickman knows they are likely going to have to scratch out some runs, at least early this spring. “We replace hitters one through seven. I am going to find out a lot in these scrimmages and our first few games about what we have,” he said.
Playmakers Will be the Difference
Shelby and Willard have been playing basketball against each other for at least the last nearly 70 years and another chapter in that history will be written on Friday night as they clash in the division two sectional final at Bucyrus High School.
It’s the third meeting this year between the two teams and Shelby has won both so far (67-55) at Willard on January 20 and (61-40) last Friday at Shelby.
Shelby (16-5) almost didn’t get to this level as they were behind by eight points (30-22) midway through the third quarter, but went on an 11-0 run and eliminated Clear Fork (57-50) from the tournament for the third straight year. Coach Troy Schwemley says they have become reliant on those kinds of runs. “It’s just a matter sometimes of when is that spurt going to happen. (Wednesday) night it was almost waiting too long. Midway through the third quarter we were down eight. We really weren’t looking good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I would say Clear Fork had the upper hand at that point. The next thing, you know, we went on an 11-0 run and ended being up three at the end of the third quarter. We prefer that we not wait until we are down eight points. We had that good spurt and that really seemed to change the momentum. That’s what really helped us win the game (Wednesday) night.”
After being a little sloppy in some games over the last month, the Whippets played one of their better games last week against Willard. Schwemley says they have some guys that are pretty clutch players. “They have been playing pretty good basketball and I thought that was the good thing about our win last week. We beat a team that was playing pretty good basketball at the time. Really when you look back at that game in the second and third quarters we had those runs. The final score ended up being pretty lopsided. The keys were we had those spurts in the second and third quarters. When we get a lead we can be pretty tough to come back on because we have such good ball handling, senior leadership, and we have guys that are comfortable with the ball in their hands. When we get a lead we are probably a much better team,” said Schwemley.
In a third meeting between good teams like this strategy can play a role, but Schwemley says it really comes down to players making plays at the right time. “The first two games don’t mean a whole lot right now, it’s about refocusing. Yes, it’s the third time that we have played them, but I don’t think tat it really matters. At this time of year, and I think it showed up in the Clear Fork game, when you’ve got two teams that as really knowledgeable of each other, they know each other’s strengths and weaknesses, different players need to step up and you need to make some shots. That’s what we are going to need again in this game,” he said.
Willard has improved this season as much as anybody has in their play between December and now. Schwemley says they have developed some pretty good depth. “They have multiple guys that can get to the rim. It probably starts with Phillips, he is their leading scorer, but they have other guys that attack the rim. Haden Adams averages nine points a game, but he scored 20 or something against us in our first meeting. Marcus Hahler is in at around nine, ten points a game. They have guards that get to the basket too,” he said.
After Tiffin Columbian made their first five three point shots against them on Wednesday, Willard (11-10) rallied to beat the Tornados (59-50) in their sectional semi-final. Schwemley says they did an outstanding job of battling in a tough situation. “What was impressive about Wednesday night was they got down. They were down I think 21-8 and really just battled back and found a way to win. Adams went down in the end of the second quarter. You are behind and one of your major players goes out. I thought that was a great win for them they found a way to win with such adversity. They have won their first tournament game and they have a reason to be confident,” said Schwemley.
It likely will be a more possession by possession kind of game on Friday night. Schwemley believes it will not be some grand scheme cooked up by coaches that makes the difference. “If you check the shot chart I didn’t make any baskets on Wednesday night. As coaches we don’t score any points. Against Clear Fork, Tre Calver hit two big threes. He hit one at the end of the third quarter and I believe one in the fourth. Grant Fenner hit a three. Conner, you know, was the leading scorer for us. Sometimes I forget to mention the guys that kind of do it night in and night out. It is multiple guys making shots,” said Schwemley.
The Shelby coach certainly hopes to get off to a better start that they did on Wednesday night against Clear Fork. “You coach your team to work on certain things and certain shots you want to take, but it still comes down to guys stepping up and making shots. In our first game for two and half quarters we weren’t. We just didn’t have flow, then finally in the last quarter and a half we got it going. Hopefully that last quarter and half will just flow into this next game,” he said.
Shelby Plays League Rival in Districts
For the second year in a row the Shelby Lady Whippets play a league rival in the division two district semis and they hope for a better result this time.
Last year, Bellevue edged them (53-51) and then the Lady Red lost to Clyde in the finals. This year Shelby plays Willard on Thursday night at Bucyrus High School. Clyde plays Lexington in the other semi.
Shelby (20-1), who finished #4 in the final Swankonsports.com basketball power poll for larger schools, has won both games against Willard so far this year (48-39) in Shelby in early January and (82-40) in the regular season finale at Willard almost two weeks ago.
Shelby coach Jodi Korbas believes a third game between two teams ends up being about who executes their stuff better because there won’t be any surprises. “When you play each other for a third time you know each other’s tendencies and plays and so on and so forth. It will come down to execution on both the offensive end and the defensive end for us,” she said.
Willard (12-9) has put together some pretty good performances this year, including a win over Kenton (47-42) in their sectional final at Fostoria. Korbas says they have some talent. “Ally Graham she is a great three point shooter we need to knew where she is at all times. Laura Danhoff, she does nice job on the boards and can hit some outside shots as well,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday. “Their role players can do some things, Brin Lillo, we need to keep her off the boards. I am sure we are going to see a different team than we saw in the last game of the regular season.”
After a forty point loss in their last game against them, Korbas knows that the Willard coaching staff is going to make some changes in what they are going to try and do, especially in their transition defense. “John Dawson and Brian Carr do a nice job over there and I am sure they are going to be changing some things around trying to stop our transition. It is kind of a guessing game. We know we are going to be in for a battle and a fight to the end,” she said.
One the big keys for Shelby this season is less of a reliance on the scoring of Emma Hostetler, their all-district junior guard. Korbas says they have gotten contributions form a lot of players. “It’s been nice because every game somebody different has been stepping up. Emma has been very consistent although she only had five points against Clear Fork she still distributes the ball. As far as the other players someone has been stepping up and getting into double figures. We are averaging three kids in double figures and that makes us that much more difficult to defend,” said Korbas.
Shelby to Play Athletic Clear Fork
It’s tournament time so it must be time for Clear Fork to play Shelby and so it is.
The two boys’ basketball teams meet in the division two sectional semi-finals at Bucyrus High School on Wednesday night. It is the third straight year the two schools have met in the first round. Shelby won both of the previous meetings. The Whippets topped the Colts (55-53) last year and (43-26) two years ago.
The Whippets (15-5) played one of their better defensive games of the season last week in beating rival Willard (61-40) in a Northern Ohio League game. Whippets coach Troy Schwemley says they were able to limit a lot of the things that Willard likes to do. “I thought we played pretty good, especially on defense. I thought as the game went on we actually got better. We were able to limit Willard to one shot. We got some steals that led to some baskets,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Defensively I thought we did a pretty good job. The turning point was the second quarter. I think we were down four and we went on a 9-0 run. I think Tre Calver hit a three, then he got a steal and a lay up. I think Conner and Garrett spilt some baskets, something like that. It went from a four point deficit to a five point lead in about two, three minutes. That is really the key when we get those runs.”
Shelby has built its game this season on its ability to put points on the scoreboard quickly and Schwemley hopes that is able to continue into the tournament. “When we are playing well it seems like we get those runs. It’s tournament time now and hopefully we can continue to do that,” he said.
Clear Fork (8-12) finished last in the Ohio Cardinal Conference this season, but Schwemley contends they are still a good team that appears to be playing its best basketball right now. “I have often wondered what their record would be if they played in the “NOL” or may be what our record would be if we played in the “OCC.” Hypothetically I try to figure out how good they really are. They have a nice team. I know they are 8-12, but they play a really good schedule. They have had some points when they have had some good wins. They had a stretch there when I know they lost six, seven games in a row there, but they rebounded from it and finished the season on a pretty strong note. Coming into tournament time I think they probably feel pretty good about how they are playing,” said Schwemley.
Clear fork has some players with size and skill and Schwemley is particularly impressed with the play of sophomore guard Ridge Winand. “They have got some size. Matt Hill and Aaron Hill are both 6-4 and Brandon Fields is 6-2. Keith Corbin is a 5-11 guard. Ridge Winand has probably been their surprise being a sophomore and being their leading scorer from the outside. He has really stepped up his play and been that scorer for them,” he said.
For Shelby fans, Schwemley says the Colts remind him a little bit of Clyde, a team they played out of the Sandusky Bay Conference. “I was trying to place them because they really have some nice size. They have four guys 6-1 or above. They play pretty physical. We played a non-league opponent in Clyde and they are maybe somewhat like a Clyde. They are a team that does a petty good job of crashing the boards and physically trying to defend you. They knock you down in a good defensive positioning way,” said Schwemley.
If you look at the records Shelby is certainly the favorite in this game, but Schwemley says if history teaches them anything the Colts are going to be competitive on Wednesday night. “Clear Fork is a nice team. You can’t look at their record. You know, last year they gave us all that we wanted in the first tournament game. I think our approach has got to be learning from last year. This is tournament time and you can’t under estimate anybody. We have to play well to beat them on Wednesday,” said Schwemley.
Top Seeded Shelby Ready For Clear Fork
Shelby, the Northern Ohio League co-champion, will face Clear Fork, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, in the girls’ division two sectional finals on Saturday night at Ontario High School.
Shelby (19-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll among larger schools, wrapped up their share of the “NOL” title with a responding win over Willard (82-40) last Saturday. Coach Jodi Korbas believes it was an outstanding performance, especially on the heels of their only loss of the year. “We certainly played our best game versus Willard. We got off to a great start and there was no let down. We continued playing hard with intensity and focus for the whole game and ended up with a win and an “NOL” championship,” she said.
Shelby won their first 17 games of the season for a loss to Bellevue (62-48) on February 11. Korbas says they certainly wanted to win that game, but they learned from the loss too. “We certainly would have liked to have won the “NOL” out right, but if you want to look at the positives it helped us refocus and realize that we needed to play hard and get off to good starts at the beginning of games unlike we did at Bellevue where we kind of struggled at the beginning. I think it benefited our team and hopefully it can continue to benefit as we make a tournament run,” Korbas told Swankonsports.com on Thursday.
Focus has not been an issue for the Lady Whippets this year, but in retrospect Korbas says the might have been a little tight when they played Bellevue. “You know if you ask them the one game that they felt they were focused they didn’t play well, so I think they are playing very relaxed. We came out at Willard and Willard is a tough place to play. The first game was a fight to the end. They knew what was at stake. I think they gave it their all. I think you will see the same thing in the tournament,” Korbas said.
Clear Fork (7-14) plays in the tough Ohio Cardinal Conference with three teams in the Swankonsports.com poll, plus Lexington, the second seed in this sectional, and vastly improved Ashland. They have won six of their last 12. Deijah Swihart has 20 points in the Lady Colts sectional semi-final win (67-56) over Galion on Wednesday night. Korbas says Clear Fork must be respected. “Well, this is the second part to our season. When you start the tournament everybody goes back to 0-and-0. Clear Fork right now is 1-and-0. We can’t look past anyone. Every team has the same opportunity to beat the other team. We need to make sure that when we play on Saturday that we are focused and ready to go,” she said.
Korbas thinks her team, led by first team all-district player Emma Hostetler, is a team that has the right temperament for the tournament. “I think one of the things we have going for us is we are a senior laden team and we have a lot of varsity experience and a lot of tournament experience, so we will be able to use that to benefit us on Saturday,” said Korbas.
Shelby Maybe Without Leading Scorer
Shelby may play its final regular season game on Friday night without the services of its leading score for the season.
The Whippets (14-5,6-3) host the rival Willard Flashes (10-9,4-5) in Northern Ohio league action.
Last week, Bellevue became the first league team outside of unbeaten Norwalk to down the Whippets (58-53) this season. Shelby coach Troy Schwemley admits that Bellevue played well at their place, but says if they would have shot the ball better at the foul line and from the field they could have come out on top. “They are a good team at home and anytime you are going on the road in the “NOL” it’s going to be a tough game. They have played a lot of people tough at home. Their record is not spectacular, but they have had so many games that they could have won. I think they have lost three games in overtime. They are a competitive team and they have had a lot of close games. There were things that we could have done, maybe if we would have made a few more free throws. We were 1-16 from the three point line,” said Schwemley.
Shelby did not get any points against Bellevue from leading scorer Garrett Arnold, a four-year starter at point guard. Schwemley says he was feeling the effects of what they feared was a concussion after hitting his head on the floor. “He was having a headache and we were concerned was it some concussion symptoms or things like that. Fortunately it wasn’t, but he is still day to day. The hard part about this time of year is there is not a lot of time left and you want to be going full strength. Hopefully he is ready to go on Friday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We are hoping the headaches improve and he gets better. It’s always a tough call when it comes to kids and injuries. There are some injuries when it’s suck it up and play. Anytime you are dealing with any kind of head injuries you are just a little more cautious and want to make sure and protect the kids. There are more important things. The good news is he had been cleared, it’s just a matter of getting symptom free and getting back to 100 percent.”
Shelby is guaranteed second place in the league and has little riding on the outcome of the game. However, Schwemley says winning is the reason the games are put on the schedule. “It’s about playing every game and treating it like it’s the most important game. Is it for the league or anything like that? No, it’s not but. It’s for being competitive. Every game as a coach and players is a game you want to win. We have got Willard coming here on Friday. We want to get ourselves ready to play and it’s a great atmosphere. It should be a great game in terms of preparing for the tournament. We want to get him in there so we are at full strength,” he said.
Willard has become a much more competitive team in the second half of the season. Schwemley says they have a number of guys that can score the ball, especially if they can get it into the lane. “They have multiple guys that can score. They have some really athletic players. Kolin Phillips has really emerged as their leading scorer. He is averaging 14.1 a game. Marcus Hahler does a nice job scoring for them at 9.4 and then Matt Cok is 9.2. Hayden Adams is at 8.8 and I think in our first game he had 20 of their 23 halftime points. They have guys that can score and they really get to the rim well. They have some physical size inside. The thing that they are sometimes shaky with is their three point shooting. They are a team that if they get some confidence they have guys that can shoot,” Schwemley said.
On the ball defense and getting on the defensive glass are going to be big factors in the game according to Schwemley. “I would say for us they keys are just keep them out the paint, control the points in the paint and then limiting them to one shot because they really attack the boards really well and get second chance points,” he said.
Shelby Has Experience in Close Games
Shelby has played a lot of close games of the last two years, especially this year, and the Whippets have won more than they have lost. That is something that is going to help them come the postseason tournament.
Last week, they beat Sandusky (67-66) in a Northern Ohio League game at Sandusky. It was a game in which Shelby got off to a good start, but lost the lead in the season half. Coach Troy Schwemley says they were able to make a big defensive play and hang on for the win. “That game was kind of a strange game. We came out and played very well in the first half. We got up as many as 15. Everything was going well and then all of the sudden it seemed liked it changed. We went up 11 at half time and felt pretty good. Sandusky has some nice players, a real athletic team. They have a kid that is leading the league in scoring in Xavier Turner, he is averaging around 19 a game,” Schwemley told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They have some other players too. They started to hit some shots. You know when you start to hit shots the defensive intensity picks up a little bit. They pressured us a little bit and the next thing you know our lead was down to one and then it kind of went back and forth. We were actually down one with 30 seconds to go. We had a couple of fouls to give so we really had to start fouling to put them to the free throw line, but we were in a situation where we were trying to steal the ball too. The next thing you know there was an errant pass, it’s in the hands of Jacoby Wilson and he is shooting a lay up. We went form a situation of possibly being down three to being up one. They had the ball with 12 seconds to go and took a time out. They had one shot at the buzzer. It was a pretty deep three and it rimmed out. Any time you get a win against a real good team like Sandusky, we’ll take it.”
Friday night, the Whippets (14-4,6-2) travel to Bellevue to face the Redmen (6-11,1-7), who have been on the other end of some of those close losses in the very competitive “NOL,” including a last second (53-51) loss to unbeaten Norwalk last week. Schwemley says Bellevue is still pretty talented, especially at the point guard spot. “You look at the fact that they have a point guard like Jalen Santoro. He has started since he was a freshman. He is a dangerous player because not only can he score he just has the ability to make everybody else better around him. They have some players around him, some good athletic players. When things are going well they are a very good team. It’s the same thing with Sandusky. I mean that’s what the “NOL” is all about. Any given night, you know throw the records out. If you aren’t playing your best basketball then the other team can beat you. Bellevue might be in the bottom tier of the league, but they are taking an undefeated Norwalk team down to the wire. That’s part of a great league. That’s what makes you better come tournament time teams that week and week out test you every night,” said Schwemley.
Shelby has been pretty good at winning those close games and finding wants to win in the end. However, Schwemley says that is not something you want to rely on. “Sometimes you look at the ones that one don’t get. You know, if we would have won that game, like the Norwalk game, but then I started thinking back to all the games we have won like that. The first game of the year, Madison was ahead of us and we came back and won in overtime. Both of our Sandusky games could have went the other way. We talk about that with the guys and good teams finding a way to win. Our guys are pretty good about being confident going down the stretch. We have pulled out more of those then we have let go. You don’t want it to come down to one shot, you know, make the plays throughout the game. We don’t want to have to live in die in the last eight to 10 second of a game,” said the Shelby coach.
The Whippets throttled Bellevue (73-48) the first time they played them this year. Schwemley says they need to approach this game with a business like attitude. “With Bellevue, I mean they played Norwalk tough, right down to the end. We have to respect them, and not look at our previous game against them and just focus on giving our best effort on Friday night,” he said.
Shelby Executing Well
Shelby might not win the Northern Ohio League title this year, but they are going to be a tough out in the division two tournament, which starts in three weeks.
The Whippets must like playing the Tiffin Columbian Tornados because two of their better games this season have been against them, including last Saturday night when they hammered (70-48) them for the a second time. “I talked a little to their coach afterwards. In the first game we shot very well from the field. I know we shot the three ball well that night at Tiffin and then come back at our place on Saturday and we did the same. I know Garrett had eight threes, which stood out, but we had some other guys shoot some threes as well. I think we ended up with 11 or 12. We played well again and not just shooting the ball. Defensively I was pretty pleased with our effort too, especially the third quarter and that seemed to turn things around, so good night,” said Shelby coach Troy Schwemley.
Shelby (11-4) was 20-3 last season and they advanced to the division two district finals. They returned two starters in Garrett Arnold and Conner Nelson. Schwemley says their success this year has just as much to do with the play of the rest of the team. “Grant Fenner has had a very solid year for us so far. He is averaging double figures and has been one our top rebounders most nights. Tre Calver might not show up in the stat book all of the time, but defensively he typically draws the best perimeter player on the other team. There are a lot times when he is guarding a guy that has a couple of inches on him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Jacoby Wilson is the same. Those two might not always show up in the box score with a lot of points, but they do a lot of other things to make the team successful. Austin Rody coming off the bench has hit some threes for us. He has provided us with instant offense a lot of times. It’s not just Conner and Garrett to be successful, we need those other guys to do there job.”
Galion (7-9) has won six of their last nine games and Schwemley says they have beaten some really good teams during that stretch of play. “They came out and maybe struggled a little bit, although they had a nice win early against Madison. To me that stands out, that was a 20-point win. They turn around and lose their next five or six in a row. Then they win against Colonel Crawford. If you would have set and predicted the games they were going to win, this wouldn’t have been what you predicted. They have beaten Ontario, they have beaten Wynford. They have had some nice wins. They are 7-9 right now, but if you really look at their last couple of games. They are playing a lot better right now,” he said.
Galion has played at a higher tempo than they did early in the season and Schwemley says they have some versatile players in their lineup this year. “They have got some nice guard play. They have some nice inside players that can go inside and outside too. McCuen gets a lot of interior points, but he can shoot outside as well. They are a team that push the tempo a little bit when they need too are score some points. I think we need to make them execute in the half court like we did Tiffin on Saturday night,” he said.
With Galion being part of the North Central Conference starting this year, this game is no longer a league game, but Schwemley says the teams know each other pretty well. “These are two teams that have played each other twice a year or three times, depending on tournament draws the last couple years. We are pretty familiar with each other. Normally by this time in the year we have already played them once. We are going to end up playing four games in eight days starting last Saturday. We want to keep playing well and it’s important to go to Galion and play hard and come out of it with a victory,’ said Schwemley.
Shelby Has to Look Forward
Shelby is eight seconds from being in a tie for the lead in the Northern Ohio League, but the Whippets can’t be thinking about what might have been as they have solid Tiffin Columbian team coming to Shelby on Saturday night for a league game.
A Conner Nelson basket game Shelby (10-4,4-2) the lead last Friday, but sophomore Ben Haraway scored with one second left for Norwalk to give the Truckers the 46-45 win. Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says they almost had the undefeated Truckers. “There is part of me that is just proud of the effort. They kids just played really well and we played hard and gave great effort. It is disappointing to be that close and not have won the game. This is a team with who’s goal is to win championships and we were eight seconds away from tying things up in the league and really giving ourselves a great chance to win a third straight “NOL” title,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It will be pretty difficult now with only four league games left and Norwalk having a two game lead. It’s not over, we just have to continue to go one game at a time and not be disappointed for what we didn’t do because there is still a lot left to accomplish. We just have to get to the point where we are playing our best basketball in the month of February. You know, the tournament is right around the corner. We need to continue to give efforts like that, but find a way to win those kinds of games.”
Shelby traveled to Tiffin December 16 and beat the Tornados (80-64) in one of their better efforts of the season. Schwemley says they need to do the same kind of thing on Saturday night. “It was right after our Norwalk game. We rebounded nice after that and played a real good game at Tiffin. When you look at the overall records they are very similar again. Tiffin and us are pretty close record wise. We are in the same sectional, so this game has some impact on sectional draws that are coming up. We are going to have to play a good game to win on Saturday night. They have some nice guard play and some nice players overall. We are going to have to find a way to bounce back and get a good win,” he said.
Tiffin Columbian (8-6,3-3) is a solid, physical kind of team that will get up in you on defense. Schwemley says this is an important game when it comes to the postseason seeding process, which is scheduled for February 12. “When you look at the teams that are entering the draw there is not a lot of separation between the top four or five teams. I think Upper has three loses, Lexington has three losses, we have four, and Tiffin has six so this game is going to be very important for that seeding that is coming up soon,” he said.
Tiffin Columbian is a solid, physical team that will get up in you on defense and Schwemley says they have to be physical too without forgetting who they are. “That is something I think we can take form this Norwalk game. We did a very good job. Going into that game we were really about controlling the paint and the points in the paint because that is their strength. I thought we did that very well. Defensively it was one our better efforts. We have to continue to get better defensively. With teams that are physical you have to find a way to be physical. You still want to play your style, but you have to negate their strength. They are having a good season. We have to bounce back and continue to take care of us and it’s going to take a great effort because Tiffin does a lot of things real well,” Schwemley said.
Shelby Faces a Tough One at Lex
So far, the Shelby Lady Whippets have been up to the challenge in all 14 of their games this season and that unbeaten record has led to a first place standing in the Northern Ohio League and a state ranking.
Shelby will likely be the top seed in the division two sectional tournament at Ontario High School with the seed meeting scheduled for this Sunday. Lexington (8-6) will likely be the second seed and that’s who the Lady Whippets play on Tuesday night.
Last Saturday afternoon Shelby improved its “NOL” record to 7-0 with a trouncing of Tiffin Columbian (82-27) in league play. “I was pleased with the way we kept our intensity up throughout the entire game. It was probably the best four quarters we have put together. We were able to play a lot of kids and when we put the subs in they continued to focus and play with a great effort and intensity,” said Shelby coach Jodi Korbas.
It was good that Shelby, #2 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power rankings in the large school division, was able to rest some of their starters at this time of year and Korbas says when they went to the bench those players also performed well when called on. “In games like that when the score is kind of lopsided we need to keep our focus and work on things that will make us better down the road. I think the kids were doing that. We were working on some offensives and some different defenses. We were pleased with that,” she said.
A record of two games over .500 really doesn’t show the talent and level of performance of Lady Lex, who plays in the very tough Ohio Carinal Conference with the likes of Wooster, West Holmes and Orrville. The have handed Wooster (54-49) their only loss in the conference. Korbas describes them as a team with solid personnel with a lot of experience. “The starting five they have been playing together for four years. They certainly have improved with each year. We know when we go to Lexington it is always going to be a competitive, tough physical game,” she told Swankonsports.com.
Lexington has a number of players that can make the perimeter shot, but Korbas says that does not mean they don’t have an inside presence too. “Their strength is their outside shooting, but at the same time (Alissa) Monro can go inside and play in the post and Kate Hogsette does a nice job of in the post for them as well,” she said.
With both being among the more consistent girls’ basketball programs in the area, Shelby and Lexington have developed a pretty good non-conference rivalry. Korbas says they always look at this game as sort of a measuring stick for them. “We can always gauge how much how much we are improving by how we play against Lexington. Going to Lexington is always a tough place for us to play, so this will be a good challenge for us. It will be good for us going into the tournament because they are always tough,” said Korbas.
Shelby Playing Better and Better
Shelby has made it through more than half of the girls’ basketball season unbeaten and they are the leaders in the Northern Ohio League.
They meet a former league foe in Upper Sandusky in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.
It was a long road trip that was well worth it for the Lady Whippets last Saturday as they traveled to Barberton to face the Lady Magics in a non-league game. Shelby (12-0) won easily (86-34) in what coach Jodi Korbas says was an outstanding team effort. “I thought it was the best game that we have played for four quarters. The kids looked like they were having a lot of fun. We were real relaxed playing. All five starters were in double figures. We actually had three kids that had double doubles. Devon Murray had 18 points and 14 rebounds, Jenna Biglin had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Emma Hostetler had 15 points and 11 assists,” said Korbas.
Hostetler continues to be one of the top point guards in the area, but they key for Shelby this season has been its improved balance.
Barberton is part of Shelby history. It was the Lady Magics that Shelby, led by the then Jodi Roth, beat for the 1983 Division “AA” state title. Korbas says it was a nice treat for her players. “We did play them in the state finals. They called or AD and asked if we wanted to play, so that’s how the whole thing got started. Barberton has a wonderful facility. It was a nice experience for the kids to see and get to play in such a wonderful gym,” she said.
Shelby plays host to Upper Sandusky (8-5), tied for second place in the black division of the North Central Conference. Korbas says they have a nice inside and out combination at Upper. “They have a nice post player inside who does a nice job on the boards and around the basketball. They have a nice shooting guard. We are going to have to be aware of where she is at all times and keep Grabowski off the boards,” said Korbas.
Shelby, #3 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power rankings in the large school division, has obviously has a great season and Korbas says they are committed to be even better as the year continues. “Last year we sort of got complacent towards the middle of the season. We were dealing with some injuries. This year I think the kids learned a lesson from last year and they continue to work hard in practice and are continuing to improve and play up to our ability instead of sometimes last year we would play down to the opponent. I think that is a plus for us going into the tournament here in a couple of weeks,” said Korbas.
Shelby Has to Stay in it
Shelby has a chance to get even with Norwalk next week, but first they have to get past the rival Willard Flashes in a Northern Ohio League game on Friday night.
There was no league action in the smaller “NOL”, but Shelby (8-3,3-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll in the large school division, lost to Ashland (82-70) in a non-conference game last Saturday night. Ashland, maybe the hottest team in the area right now, made 13 of 22 three point attempts. Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says it’s hard to win against that. “We talked going in that both teams seemed to be three-point oriented basketball teams and how they were shooting the three seemed to dictate the success level. When we were shooting well, we seemed to play pretty well. We knew Ashland could get hot,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Ashland shot the three well and we didn’t. They had 13 threes and we had two. We didn’t do a good job of finding their shooters. The credit also goes to them for moving the ball and hitting shots. There are things we need to look at and do better, but Ashland is definitely playing good basketball right now. They just played a better game there on Saturday night.”
Shelby now visits Willard and the Flashes are playing well too having strung together wins over Margaretta, Marion Harding and Huron in non-conference play. Schwemley says the Flashes are playing with some confidence right now. “They have won their last three games. The last time they lost was to Norwalk. Right now, Norwalk is in control of things they haven’t been beaten in the league, well they haven’t been beaten at all. Norwalk is a very good team, a great team for that matter being undefeated. Willard is playing with a lot of confidence right now. For us to go to Willard we would expect their best effort no matter what our records were,” he said.
With Norwalk looming next week, Schwemley understands that they can’t not afford a slip up against Willard and drop two games behind Norwalk in the “NOL” standings. “It’s a critical game for us from the standpoint that if we can win it, we host Norwalk the following week. Really for that Norwalk game to, I hate to say meaningful, but that this point in the season to be two games back would be a tough hole to dig yourself out of, especially with the kind of team Norwalk has. So, for us really to give ourselves a chance when it comes to the league I really think this game is a must win and it will give us a chance the following week,” said Schwemley.
Willard as a team is as tall as any team in the league and they are long and have some athletes. Schwemley says Willard can do some things to give them problems. “They definitely have some size. When you look at their inside players with Hayden Adams, Kolin Phillips, those are good sized players. They have other guys to go with them in Scott Burma, who has a lot of playing experience and a senior, and Marcus Hahler. They have size inside, but they also have guards that can shoot the ball. When you look at them you can’t allow them to get going because they have the balance when you look at their post players and their perimeter players, they can hurt you inside and out. When they are playing with conference they are a very good team,” said Schwemley.
Shelby Playing Their Game
Shelby used to be a football school in a football town, but it is quickly becoming just as much a basketball school in a football town.
The Whippets (7-2), and #3 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll for larger schools, year after year is putting a very good basketball team on the floor and this year is no exception.
Last Friday, Garret Arnold threw in 25 points and Shelby beat Bellevue (73-48) and in a game that coach Troy Schwemley thought they shot the ball extremely well against the Redmen. “That was a big game for us. We started off kind of slow and over the first couple of minutes it was 4-0 or 6-2 it was just a slow paced game. The next thing you know we hit some threes and we got going and once we did that we just exploded and everybody contributed. We got a lot of fast break points. We ended up with 12 or 13 threes in the game. Just a very good effort offensively and defensively,” said Schwemley.
On Saturday the Whippets suffered just their second setback of the season when Lexington downed them 57-50 in a non-conference game. Schwemley says the Minutemen played outstanding defense, especially in the second half of the game to keep them at bay. “We had a three point lead at halftime. I think it was 23-20 at halftime. I don’t know if we felt good, but anytime you have a lead on the road against a very good team like Lexington we liked where we were at. The third quarter was just a bad quarter for us. They took a five-point lead, so it was an eight point swing there. We just weren’t making the shots like we were the night before and that’s a credit to Lexington. They limited us to one shot for the most part,” Schwemley said.
It is a new opponent on the Shelby schedule on Thursday night as they pay a visit to Wynford (6-2) for a non-conference game against the Royals. Schwemley says Wynford has players that know how to win. “They have players and leadership and that begins with Zach Chatlin and Seth Rall. I mean those two guys have been part of a lot of successful football and basketball teams at Wynford and are competitors,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “That is a new game for us on the schedule. We had scrimmaged Wynford in the past and it had always been a good scrimmage and this year with some openings with our league it was a game we picked up. There is some familiarity form a scrimmage standpoint, but in terms of scouting each other and playing this is the first time for these non-league games. It will be a good challenge for us. It’s at Wynford and they have a great tradition.”
The Ashland Arrows (3-4), out of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, come to Shelby on Saturday night. The Arrows hammered Lexington (76-45) last Friday in one of the biggest upsets of the season so far. They made 10 of 18 three point shots and Schwemley thinks the teams are pretty similar in their approach to the game. “We have two very similar styles. When we are playing well we are running and hitting threes and that’s the way Ashland is too. It will be a very interesting game to see how that game plays out. Who is able to control the tempo in their favor and not get caught up in the other teams. When two teams with the same style play each other it’s interesting to see how the game unfolds. Sometimes you get into a shootout and sometimes it is a low scoring game and no one would have expected it. We play each other every year and it’s been a nice rivalry,” said Schwemley.
Shelby has to Maintain Focus
Shelby is a very good basketball team. Their only loss this season came in their Northern Ohio League opener to Norwalk. They continue to chase the Truckers in the “NOL” standings.
The Whippets (6-1,2-1) beat Sandusky (57-54) in a league game last Friday and Upper Sandusky (58-40) on December 27, Shelby coach Troy Schwemley says they were able to beat some good teams over the Christmas holidays. “Yeah we had a good break. There were a lot of close games. The Ontario game was by three, the Sandusky game ended being by three. The Upper Sandusky game ended up being double digits, but it was a close game too. It was a good challenge, Upper played a good, physical, hard game. Anytime you get good competition it makes you better,” he said.
Shelby has some players that have been through the riggers of a varsity season. The Whippets shared the “NOL title with Norwalk last year and advanced to the district final in division two. Schwemley says they have kids that can make pressure plays. “We have a lot of guys that have been in that situation. Garrett Arnold is a four year letterman. Conner Nelson has been in that situation a lot too,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It doesn’t necessarily mean how many letters you have, but that experience of finding ways to win. We have guys with game experience and they have won those kinds of games before. They know how to win and we’d like to think in close games down the stretch that our guys are going to make plays and get the ball in the right hands.” Schwemley adds that his players with their offensive and defensive skills have been able to make some runs in the second half of games. “What I like about some of our games we have had those runs that seem to make the difference where we have been able to get that cousin. I think the Upper game was like that. It was a tough game, but we were able to keep the game around 10 points the whole game and not let that game become a close game. The Sandusky game on the other hand we had chances to pull away and we didn’t. We didn’t panic down the stretch we made some plays to win that ball game,” said Schwemley.
Shelby, #4 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll, plays host to Bellevue (3-5,1-2) in an “NOL” game on Friday night. Bellevue is led by point guard Jalen Santoro and Schwemley says he is very good. “He not only scores, but he makes everyone better around him. He is averaging about 17 points a game, which draws a lot of attention to himself. He doesn’t over shoot the ball, he distributes it well too. He knows when to shoot, but he’ll pass to someone that’s open. He is the kind of player that you don’t want a close game with him out there. He is the kind of player that can take over and hit the shot from anywhere. He seems to be the player that makes that team better. I think the key is containing him, but also not letting anyone else have a career night. Sometimes you are giving too much attention to one guy and it’s the other four guys that are beating you,” said Schwemley.
Trailing Norwalk by a game it doesn’t appear the Truckers are going to lose very many and that means the Whippets can’t either. Schwemley says they have to keep winning. “It was kind of interesting after the second week. They beat Sandusky in overtime. They beat us by like 20 points and you kind of feel like they are just really good. The next thing you know they are in a tight game and could have lost. We can’t afford to get two games behind them because that would really be difficult, but we can only take care of ourselves right now. All expectations are that Norwalk will win tonight but they are playing Willard and the Flashes will give a great effort. You just take care of yourself and then check the scoreboard and move onto the next game,” said Schwemley.
Shelby and Bellevue Battle For First
At the beginning the season it was predicted that either Shelby or Bellevue would win the Northern Ohio League girls’ basketball title and what has happened over the first six weeks would do nothing to change that opinion.
Tuesday night, the Lady Whippets (8-0,3-0) play host to the Bellevue Lady Red (7-2,3-0) in an “NOL” game that will determine who stands in first place at the halfway point of the season. “This is going to be a great game. Hopefully there will be a lot of fans there to support us. This is what you play for a game like this,” said Shelby coach Jodi Korbas.
Bellevue is the defending “NOL” champ and they have one of the very best players in the entire area in Leslie Raifsnider, plus they have a very good freshman point guard. “They are led by two players. Leslie Raifsnider, a senior, she does everything for them, and a freshman guard Carli Santoro, she is coming along pretty good this year. Those are there two key players,” said Korbas.
Bellevue had won their first seven before losing to Margaretta and then they were blasted by unbeaten Clyde, #1 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll in the large school division, 71-48 last Thursday. Korbas says she is unsure if Bellevue losing the game before is a good thing or a bad thing for the Lady Whippets. “I’m not sure about that one. I guess we find out Tuesday night. I know Clyde is a very good team. They made it to state last year and returned a lot of their starters from last year’s team, so we’ll find out,” she said.
Shelby is number #4 in the poll, Bellevue #5.
Korbas says they have to win the glass and be focused on their game plan in order to come up with the win. “I think we need to be patient both offensively and defensively. We need to box out and keep Raifsnider off the offensive glass. We need to play our game. If we continue to play like we have been playing good things are going to happen,” said Korbas.
Shelby Ready for Physical Upper Sandusky
Shelby and Upper Sandusky, two former Northern Ohio League rivals, meet at the “Doghouse” on Tuesday night in what is now a non-conference game.
Both have enjoyed tremendous seasons so far with Shelby (4-1) in a share of second place in the “NOL” and Upper Sandusky (4-1) tied for first place in the black division of the North Central Conference.
Shelby coach Troy Schwemely knows that Upper Sandusky, coming off a win over Lucas (60-20) in “NCC” last week and impressive wins over Ontario (61-46) and Carey (57-40), both unbeaten at the time, the week before, is playing like a very confident basketball team. “They are playing really good basketball right now. A team like that is going to be playing with a lot of confidence. I think the Ontario game is probably their signature win. It was a good win against a quality opponent. Not to take anything away from other wins, I don’t know that much about Carey, or somebody like that,” Schwemley told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “To beat Ontario like they did that was a good win for them. Teams that are playing with confidence are dangerous. It’s going to make for a good game. We haven’t played since our Ontario game. I will be interested to see how the game starts. With Christmas break in there kids sometimes get a little out of routine. It’s a good non-conference game for us and a home game. We’ve had four away games, so it will be nice to be back at home.”
Shelby has not played since December 17 when they beat Ontario 63-60 in a non-conference game. Schwemley says it is nice to get a break from the season sometimes and he hopes they won’t show any rust against the Rams. “That is part of our job as a coaching staff to make sure we are ready. I think you want to have games in there when you are playing well, but that’s just how the schedule was. Our job is to set up our practices to keep them focused and to keep them ready. The good thing was we got a little time off. You get into the season and sometimes I think some rest is good too. Last week really wasn’t that bad from the standpoint of getting some rest and allowing them to have a day or two off. With Christmas and giving them some good family time is important. Concerned? I won’t know the answer to that until tip off,” said Schwemley.
What the Shelby coach does know is Upper Sandusky likes to play a physical brand of basketball and they have to be ready to contend with that kind of style. “Upper Sandusky is a physical team that will get up in to you. That is what we have seen. Fortunately I think our schedule so far has prepared us for games like that. I wouldn’t say that is how we want to play, but the thing that I have been happy with is we have been able to play teams that have been that way in Tiffin and Ontario most recently have been very physical games. Hopefully our schedule prepares us for a game against a team that wants to play that kind of ball. We want to play our style too and hopefully we will be able to do that on Tuesday,” said Schwemley.
Shelby Pleased so Far
After almost a third of their season the Shelby Lady Whippets remain unbeaten an in a share of first place in the Northern Ohio League.
They beat Sandusky 75-53 on Saturday as leading scorer Emma Hostetler had 23 points from her point guard position. Coach Jodi Korbas says they have enjoyed good balance this season and have been unselfish in looking for the open player. “We have gotten off to a good start. What I like best is we are playing together as a team. We are averaging three or four players in double figures each game and we are averaging 17 to 20 assists a game, so that’s nice,” said Korbas.
Last year, Shelby went 15-7 and finished third in the “NOL.” Korbas believes this year can be better because they have more consistent scorers than just Hostetler. “Last year, I think that was what was missing from our team. The kids worked hard over the summer and the preseason. Our post players Devon Murray and Jenna Biglin have stepped up and done a great job with scoring and rebounding in the post. We have had some help from the outside from the guards,” she said.
At the beginning of the season Korbas said she was a little concerned if they would be able to compete on the boards with the better teams they play. So far they have been able to do that and they have done what’s necessary on defense too. “So far we have been doing a pretty good job defensively, but there are always things we can work on. We need to improve a little bit in terms of rebounding, but at this point in the season it’s been pretty good,” said Korbas.
Shelby (6-0) faces another good match-up in non-conference play as they travel to Wynford (4-2) Tuesday night to play the Lady Royals. It is the first time these two programs have played in a while and Korbas knows they will be tested by Amy Taylor-Sheldon’s team. “They are very fundamentally sound and very and very well coached. Amy does a nice job over there,” Korbas told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have a very good point guard in (Sarah) Brady. We are expecting a tough fight and we are going to have to play our best to come out of there with a victory.”
Shelby has already beaten Mansfield Senior (75-49) and they have some other non-conference games coming up against quality teams. Korbas believes that prepares them well for the postseason tournament. “We play Lexington and Madison, so we have some good non-conference games on our schedule and that’s going to help us. After the start of the new year we come back and play Bellevue (7-0) at home and the we turn around and play Willard (4-2). Whatever can help us get to that point that’s only a plus for us,” said Korbas.
Shelby Has to Battle Back
Shelby hasn’t lost very many basketball games over the last few years and they have lost even fewer by margins like they did last week at Norwalk. The Whippets need to get back to way they were playing and do it quickly.
After wins over Mansfield Madison (68-57 in overtime) and Orrville (63-56) on the first week of the season, they stumbled against the Northern Ohio league favorite Truckers. Norwalk beat them 66-49 last week. “That was a disappointing night for us. It kind of got a way from us pretty quickly. At the start of the game it was 8-8 and there were some things I thought we were doing well and the next thing you know at the end of the quarter it was 20-10. I don’t think we every got any closer than that,” Shelby coach Troy Schwemley told Swankonsports.com, “I think the most disappointing part was we really never made it a ballgame from a standpoint of climbing back into it. They are a nice team, but I was just disappointed in some of our decision making. We rushed some shots offensively and were pretty inefficient. Defensively, they shot over 65 percent from the field. I don’t think you are going to win many games, no matter who you are playing, if you let teams shoot 65 percent from the field.”
Shelby has been a pretty good defensive team over the last several years and again they showed that on the first week of the regular season.
There aren’t going to be too many, if any teams, in Ohio that will go unbeaten this year, so Schwemley says the goal of the Whippets is to return to the form of the first week when they play at Tiffin Columbian (2-0) in a league game on Friday night. “The hard part was we got off to that great start last year and even then it was just one game at a time. This year we have already lost a game and that’s basketball. With our schedule, and I think all of the area teams probably feel this way, every game is a game we can win, but it we don’t show up and play well, we could lose. This game Friday is another one of those games,” he said, “We are on the road at Tiffin. It gives us a chance to bounce back, but we are going to have to play a lot better than we did. We are going to have to fix some things. If we play similar to the way we played in our first two games, then I feel pretty good about it. It is week three and your team is changing and other teams are changing. We need to bounce back and hopefully we can do that.”
Tiffin did not play on the first week of the season due to a long football playoff run. They rallied to beat Bellevue (61-57) in their first league game last Friday and beat Port Clinton of the Sandusky Bay Conference (63-46) on Tuesday. Schwemley says the Tornados have some players that can do some things. “They are an athletic team and they have some nice players back from last year that can score for them. They are a team that had a good summer, it seemed like we ran into them in some of our summer events. I think they gained a little confidence in their abilities over the summer. What you do in the summer doesn’t always matter, but it can carry over a little bit. These are kids that have had success. They are kids that are used to knowing what it takes to win,” said Schwemley.
The Shelby coach thinks they have to play together as a unit and just give more effort than Tiffin. “Going to their place we are going to have to out work them. They have nice athleticism and they have some nice players. We are going to have to out work them and play better team basketball,” he said.
Shelby and Norwalk Lock Horns
They shared the Northern Ohio League title last year and Friday night the Shelby Whippets travel to Norwalk to face the Truckers in the first game of the 2011-2012 “NOL” season.
It shapes up to be a good one as Norwalk, the preseason choice to win the league, belted a good Sandusky Perkins team (65-43) last week and Shelby got past Mansfield Madison in overtime (68-57) and went to Orrville and won (63-56) on Saturday night. Shelby coach Troy Schwemley was very impressed with the effort and results last weekend. “We looked at that weekend and new it would be a good test for us to open the season. We had a great game on Friday night to beat Madison in that overtime game. We came from five points down to get the game into overtime. Then we were able to follow that up going to Orrville on Saturday. I was pleased with our effort both nights. In the Madison game I thought there were moments when we could have extended our lead and the next thing you know we are behind. There are things we have to learn from, but anytime you get two wins we will take it,” said Schwemley.
Senior point guard Garrett Arnold had a tremendous weekend, scoring 32 against Madison and adding 23 against Orrville. However, Schwemley emphasizes that Arnold is not there only player. “He had a great weekend. Garrett is a very good player. I think he is one of the best in the area, but you know the thing we have to keep remembering is it’s about the team because if you have one player scoring a lot of points teams will try and shut that player down,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We can’t become one dimensional. We have to have five guys that can score and play to their roles. We also have guys on the floor that had great weekends as well. Both Conner Nelson and Grant Fenner had double doubles over the weekend. So, you have to be careful about looking at just points.”
Norwalk returns its starting lineup from last season and Truckers have talent all over the floor. Plus Schwemley says you never know what kind of defense you are going to see from Norwalk coach Steve Gray. “They return most of their players form last year. They had a very successful season last year. We shared the league title with them. They have a lot of balance. They have nice guards and they have nice post players. They have that diversity that gives them a nice balance. They are well coached. Coach Gray up there does a nice job with them. You never know form a coaching standpoint what he is going to pull out of the bag,” he said.
One thing that Whippets have to be better at this year than last is getting to the glass. Schwemley felt that was the difference in an overtime loss at Norwalk last year. “When we look back at our game there last year. It’s kind of similar to our district final game where we felt like the key statistic was rebounding. When we got beat up there at Norwalk last year that was the case. Most of their points were second chance points where we simply didn’t box out. We felt like if we had done that we could have won that game. When we defend and rebound we tend to play pretty good,” said Schwemley.
A big key on Friday night is going to be how well the Whippets are able to react to what they see from the Truckers in terms of the variety of defenses that they normally play. “It’s a contrast in styles. He does open it up a little more this year, but they still have a big playbook. I don’t even know how big it is. I don’t know that I would have enough bookshelves for all of the stuff they run. We coach our team to react to the situation and to be able to adjust quickly. Whatever defense they are in we have to be able to counter it. I would like to think that both of us have been pretty successful,” said Schwemley.
Shelby Wants Madison This Time
The last two years the Madison Rams have ended the boys’ basketball season for the Shelby Whippets by beating them in the postseason tournament. The Whippets remember that.
Shelby plays host to Mansfield Madison in the season opener for both at the “Doghouse” on Friday night. The Whippets then play a second Ohio Cardinal Conference opponent with a trip to Orrville scheduled for Saturday night.
“We had a good week last week,” Shelby coach Troy Schwemley told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We had a busy week last week. I thought we got tired. Thanksgiving week is always a challenging week because you want to give everybody time with the family, but you also want to get better because this week is right around the corner. We are developing some team chemistry.”
Shelby returns two starters to its lineup for last year’s co-Northern Ohio League champions and district runners-up in Garrett Arnold and Conner Nelson. However, Nelson hurt his ankle last week in a foundation game at Clear Fork and didn’t play on Friday or Saturday. “His ankle is improving, but it very well could be a game night decision. We want to win those games, but you want to keep the whole season in mind. Sometimes the adrenaline kicks in and the guy is ready to go, but sometimes they can’t. Conner is a tough kid and if he can play he will. We don’t want to turn it into one of those season long injuries,” said Schwemley.
Last March, Madison beat Shelby 68-66 in the division two district final. Schwemley says they will face much the same lineup when the Rams hit the floor on Friday night. “The last two years we have won the opening game and then they have knocked us out of the tournament. I guess I’d like to trade that. This year that won’t happen because they are division one. There are a lot of similar faces when you look at the tournament game last year, the guys that played well for them are all back. Thompson, Brooks, Black and Alek Lampert, those guys are back,” he said.
Also Madison had a very good football season this year, turning it around and competing for an “OCC” title. “When you look at them the basketball season they had last year, reaching the regional tournament and then the football season. You are dealing with confident kids that know how to win. We have confidence in our abilities too,” Schwemley said.
Madison likes to press, but Schwemley says coach Doug Rickert is good at picking the spots and sometimes they will go away from that a little bit depending on the situation. “In their tournament run last year you look at different games and they chose different ways to play, In the Lexington game they packed it in trying to negate the size advantage Lexington had last year. Then in the district semi final game against Edison they gave them a lot of full court pressure and were successful with that. They have that ability to pressure you, but they have the ability to mix defenses,” said Schwemley.
First Time Varsity Players Do Well For Shelby
Shelby enjoyed an outstanding boys’ basketball season last year, sharing the Northern Ohio League title and coming within a whisker of making it to the regional tournament.
They graduated some key players from that team, but coach Troy Schwemley was pleased by what he saw in a victory over Clear Fork in a foundation game on Tuesday night. “I felt Clear Fork was hitting some shots in the first half. We just weren’t getting that run. We talked about that at halftime about doing what we were doing and I thought that run came in the third quarter. We got better as the game went on and I was pretty pleased with our effort. We had eight kids playing real hard,” he said.
Foundation games were introduced by the OHSAA a couple of years ago and they follow a game format much more than a traditional scrimmage. “Scrimmages sometimes don’t simulate games and that really does. It’s a good experience for us. It is a scrimmage, but it really gives you that game feel that scrimmages don’t,” added Schwemley.
Shelby has a mix of players with varsity experience and some that don’t have much, if any. Schwemley feels the kids who were JV players last year looked pretty good against Clear Fork. “Garrett Arnold, Conner Nelson, Jacoby Wilson and Tre Calver, those guys have varsity experience. The new faces like Grant Fenner, he had a really nice game. He was a player as sophomore last year that could have played some varsity. He was looking forward to it. He works hard at his game. Austin Roady is another new face and he hits some shots,” Schwemley told Swankonsports.com, “Tristen Karis is a kid we thought was going to be ready to play varsity. What helped him was he played both ways on the football field. Anytime you get that varsity experience that just helps the speed of the game. Andrew Baird is another one who had a good year playing football and that just translates over.”
Schwemley believes for the Whippets to be successful this season they will have to be able to give their opponent a number of looks on defense. He says that is something they are going to have to continue to work on. “As always you want to improve on your defense. I thought our best defense against Clear Fork was our full court man. We would like to be able to mix it up and different teams have different strengths. We don’t have traditional posts. We have guys that can play a number of spots on the floor,” he said.
Shelby opens the season at home against Mansfield Madison, the team that beat them in the district final last year, on December 2. They visit Orrville, another team out of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, on December 3. Their first Northern Ohio League game will be December 9 at league preseason favorite Norwalk.
Shelby Counting on Another Good Season
Shelby shared the Northern Ohio League title and advanced to the division two district finals a year ago and the Whippets are expected to field another strong team this winter.
If you are going to field a strong team at the high school level it often begins with the point guard and Shelby has a good one. “Garrett Arnold is a four year starter for us at point guard. We also return Conner Nelson, who was a big part of last year’s success too. Those guys do so much ball handling whether they score themselves or create opportunities for others. We return some other players with varsity experience in Tre Calver and Jacoby Wilson played a lot last year,” said Shelby coach Troy Schwemley.
The Shelby coach says his Whippets have looked good so far in preseason workouts and scrimmage action. “We had a good preseason so far and they guys have really done a lot. We’ve had two scrimmages and we have done some things well and we have done some things we need to get better at,” Schwemley added. The Whippets open the season at home against Madison on December 2. They play Norwalk, who they shared the league title with last year, in their first “NOL” game on December 9.
In the past couple of years the Whippets have relied on the inside scoring of Josh Ingle, but he has graduated. Schwemley says they will have a more balanced look this season. “”We lose Josh Ingle, who was our leading scorer last year and two other seniors in Jeff Nelson and Brandon Spangler that also made scoring contributions,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Garrett has been our second leading scorer the last two years and Conner was our third leading scorer. We probably return over 50 percent of our scoring. We will score a little differently. Josh scored s little more form the inside. We don’t have the true big man, but we have a lot of guys that can play inside or outside. We hope that gives us match-up problems for the teams we play.”
Schwemley wants his team to be a lot better at rebounding the basketball. He says that was really the only thing they didn’t do well last year. “It was our Achilles Heel last year too, it’s our rebounding. Last year, I think we were out rebounded in 18 of our 23 games. To win 20 games and be out rebounded 18 times is frustrating,” he said.
Shelby Ready to Roll
Shelby finished in third place in the Northern Ohio League girls’ basketball standings last year, but this year they have the potential to bring home the trophy.
If experience is any sign, and it usually is, the Lady Whippets can be very good this year. “We have a lot of experience. Our varsity consists of all juniors and seniors,” Shelby coach Jody Korbas told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We return everyone expect for one kid from last year’s squad. So, we are looking for good things to happen.”
One thing that experience allows is for coaches to expand the number of things a team can do because they don’t have to re-teach things during practice sessions as much. “We have been reviewing the zone plays and the man plays and the things we have done in the past. We are zipping right through it because they have been doing it for two or three and in some cases four years,” added Korbas.
Another thing in Shelby’s corner is they have Emma Hostetler. She is one of the top players in any league or division in this area, capable of scoring 30 points in any game. Plus, she is the Lady Whippets point guard. “The point guard is like the pitcher in baseball or the quarterback in football. You have to have someone that can handle the ball and run the floor and be the coach on the floor. We certainly have that in Emma Hostetler,” said Korbas. Plus, Hostetler has a scorers mentality from the point and that makes her doubly difficult to defend. “We need someone to complement her so when teams are double teaming her or triple teaming her we have someone else that can take the load off and score some points as well,” Korbas added.
Traditionally Shelby has been a team that has played a lot of man-to-man defense under Korbas, a former star player at Shelby and the Ohio State University. However, this year she says look for the Lady Whippets to play a lot more zone. “We have always used man defense in the past and some full court man. This team does not seem to want to do that as much as play the full court zone defenses and the half court zones. We have to look at our personnel and play to their strengths,” said Korbas.
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