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Crawford
Must Value the Basketball Click
here to listen to an interview with coach David Sheldon
Colonel Crawford has a chance to win an outright title in the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference title as they travel to Mohawk Wednesday
night to battle with the second place Warriors.
A Mohawk (17-1,11-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, win would mean the two schools
would be tied for first place with a game to play.
Crawford coach David Sheldon says it should be an outstanding game.
“It's two very good basketball teams.
You look at Mohawk and the body of work they've done this year.
We've had a successful season. It's
going to be two very good basketball teams battling it out and that's what
you want the end of the year. It's
a great best for both programs you know as we head into the tournament next
week,” he said.
Mohawk’s only loss this season came January 10 (53-50) in overtime
to Colonel Crawford in North Robison. They
were up eight with 2:30 to play.
Sheldon says they this is a team that has great balance and is used
to winning. “You look at
Mohawk, they've got great balance. Four
guys averaging double figures and they're all seniors.
This has been a very successful group all the way through back to
junior high and they play well together.
They are very tough nosed kids and defensively they're very good as
well. So, it's going to be a
very big challenge for us going on the road (Wednesday) night.
The good thing is we are in a good situation with two games to go
being up one in the league, that's a good situation to be in.
It’ll be game 13 of a 14 game “N10” journey this late in the
season,” said Sheldon.
Colonel Crawford (17-1,12-0), #3 in our poll, has not lost since
November.
Sheldon says valuing the basketball is key for them.
“One thing is you have got to value every possession.
This is a type of game when you play a very good basketball team in
Mohawk that you got to value the basketball and get good shots.
Defensively, you've got to be sound because they really try to break
it down with their personnel off the bounce and they have got great shooters
and then the big kid inside,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “I think you have got to value every possession at both ends of
the floor come (Wednesday) night. Then
it comes down, you've heard me say this over the years, kids making plays.
They're going to be very well prepared.
Coach (Paul) Dunn does a wonderful job and we're having good
preparation as we head over there Wednesday night.”
Sheldon says that one game lead they have in the standings is
important. “We protected
homecourt in the first round and now Mohawk’s trying to protect it the
second round to get a piece of the league championship.
So, as I said earlier we're in a good situation going on the road.
I know our guys will come out and play free spirited and do what we
do as a basketball program over the years.
So, it's two very good teams. I wouldn't say there's pressure, but
we've got a good advantage being up one game going over to Sycamore,” said
Sheldon. Published 2/12/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Lexington
Looks Forward to Berlin Hiland Click
here to listen to interview with coach Scott Hamilton
Lexington, the Ohio Cardinal Conference champion, will be at home for
always good Berling Hiland in a non-conference game on Friday night.
The Minutemen (17-3,12-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Ashland (59-58)
last Friday to claim the outright “OCC” title.
Coach Scott Hamilton says it was a fun game.
“That was a fun game, exciting, we had a little bit of a lead, they
knocked down some big shots and it went right down to the final buzzer.
When you win those games, you look back and you think about some of
the things you would have done differently, but you have to enjoy them. You
have to use those examples and situations like that to move your team
forward and hopefully improve,” he said.
Berlin Hiland’s only loss this year comes to state power Harvest
Prep.
Hamilton says this is a team that expects success.
“I mean nothing but respect from my staff to coach (Mark) Schlabach
and his staff and what he does year in and year out over there.
Last year's division IV state runner up.
They return four starters from that squad.
They're off to a terrific start. I
believe they're 20-1 right now or 19-1, something like that, I've not caught
up with every game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon,
“They’re ranked number two in the state (division VI).
So, we're excited. It's
the type of games that we enjoy playing.
We played O-G in the last few years.
Those types of games we enjoy playing at the end of the regular
season to help get you ready for the tournament.
I'm sure that that coach Schlabach and his squad will not disappoint
us.”
Hiland beat West Holmes of the “OCC” (59-19) on Tuesday night.
Hamiton says this is a team that doesn’t make mistakes.
“They're very disciplined in what they do.
He does all of his preparation and practice and then the guys just go
out and execute it. They expect
to have long tournament runs every year.
We had Princeton coming in last weekend for the same reason to get
that experience and play that caliber of team and unfortunately the weather
didn't cooperate with us, so we had to cancel that one.
This is the type of games that we really want to be playing in
February, non conference games to help us get ready for tournament
postseason play,” said Hamilton. Published 2/12/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Shelby
Hosts Lexington in Tourney Lid Lifter Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Natalie Lantz
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 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Bellevue
Playing Really Well Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Kory Santoro Bellevue, the
top seed in the district, entertains the Ontario Lady Warriors in a division
IV sectional final on Thursday night. After wins over
Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division champ Margaretta (57-32) and over
Norwalk (55-27) to share the Lake Division title on Saturday, Bellevue
(21-1), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll
in the large school division, is playing a well as anyone in this part of
the state. Coach Kory
Santoro says they are where they want to be.
“We really like where we're at right now as far as playing our best
basketball at the right time of season.
That's where you want to be heading into the tournament,” said
Santoro.
All the stats aside, Santoro says it’s the team chemistry that
makes the Lady Red go. “I just
think it's the camaraderie we have with this group.
They're tight knit group, they work extremely hard and they
believe,” he told Swanknsports.com on Tuesday evening, “I think that's
the strength of the team.”
Ontario (5-16) finished sixth in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
this season.
Santoro says it’s a chance for the Lady Warriors to make their
season. “They have got some
nice length in the post area. We
know that this is a second chance in the season.
We know they're going to play hard and we'll be ready,” he said. Published 2/12/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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St.
Paul Expects Challenging Weekend Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Steve Minor
Norwalk St. Paul, the Firelands Conference leader, finishes off the
conference with games at Plymouth on Friday and at home with Crestview on
Saturday.
Right now, they lead Crestview by a game after Plymouth beat the
Cougars (52-49) on Monday night.
A win over the Big Red on Friday would give the Flyers no less than a
share of the conference title.
Coach Steve Minor says the Flyers, a winner of their last nine, are
really playing well. “The kids
are really locked in and they're seeing their hard work pay off for them.
So, we're really happy with the results so far, but a lot of
basketball to play yet,” he said.
St. Paul is also the top seed in their division VII district.
Norwalk St. Paul (15-5,11-1) travels to Plymouth (11-10,7-6) on
Friday night. St. Paul won the
first meeting (47-46) on January 10.
Minor is impressed with how hard the Big Red plays consistently.
“They're like everybody else having to make it through some bouts
with sickness and illness and different guys being available different
nights, but they teetered with that two seed in our district.
Sometimes they were the two and between the two and the three.
They've worked really hard to stay at the top and host a home game
for the sectional, that being on the top four seeds,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They took us to the brink at our
place. We escaped with a one
point victory against them. They
don't give up. They execute and
they grind it out and they're going to make you earn every basket.
They're going to make the defend everybody they put on the floor”
St. Paul beat Crestview last week (57-54) at Crestview.
The Cougars have lost their last three after winning 14 of their
first 16. They had to cancel a
game Tuesday night with Mansfield Madison due to sickness.
Minor says they will be ready Saturday.
“Hopefully, we can make it worthwhile when we get there.
They're not going to go away. They've
had a rough stretch here, but they're going to bounce back.
I don't expect any less from them.
Given what will be at stake and knowing that we tripped them up last
year and were able to go in and steal one at their place this year they're
going to be ready. I totally
expect two heavyweight bouts two nights in a row this week,” said Minor. Published 2/12/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Calvert
Fine Tuning Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Jon Otterbacher
Tiffin Calvert is building toward the postseason with a couple games
this week as they finish out the long division schedule in the River
Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
The play at New Riegel on Thursday and at Danbury Lakeside on
Saturday.
They handled Woodmore (72-47) on Friday night in division play.
Coach Jon Otterbacher says they played a complete game.
“We're playing well. We
play hard. We're trying to
continue to do the little things and get better at the rebounding and
finishing at the rim and it was nice to see us put a complete game
together,” he said.
The Senecas (17-3,14-2) play at New Riegel (15-4,12-4) on Thursday
night.
The Blue Jackets are coming off a (41-40) win over Kansas Lakota in
division action.
Calvert won (56-37) in the first meeting, Otterbacher looks for a
tough matchup. “I don’t know
that I would call it easily. We
played well enough and beat them by 15 or 17 or so.
They're very well coached, (Dave) Losey does a great job with them
over there. He gets the best out
of every one of those kids. Very
skilled, they're very fundamental, so it'll be another knock down drag out
fight with them,” said Otterbacher.
They play the winner of Arcadia and North Baltimore in the division
VII tournament next week.
Otterbacher thought likes the draw.
“It was almost status quo kind of thing.
We got the two seed, we put our place on the line and everybody's
scattered away from a couple different teams,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Tuesday night, “The team Arcadia we thought we were going to play put
themselves toward us, which is fine. It's
all part about putting yourself in the best situation to be successful and I
think we have a decent draw.” Published 2/12/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Harding
Must Defend Well Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Jamie Pearson
Marion Harding, in second place in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference
standings, plays at home against Galion in conference play on Thursday
night.
The Presidents stuffed Marion Pleasant (47-29) in a conference game
last Friday.
Coach Jamie Pearson says they played well on both ends.
“A county rivalry game, they're well coached, they have got a
couple of really nice players. We
were able to get it done. Really
happy now we're playing defensively. We
were able to defend them pretty well and then we hit some shots as well.
So, good to win a county league game on the road, I'm proud of our
guys back and back at it this week,” said Pearson.
Marion Harding (17-3,11-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays host to Galion
(7-13,5-8), on Thursday.
Pearson says they expect a good game.
“They gave us all we wanted earlier.
It was tied at halftime. Their
coach does a great job. They
have got some really good young players #1 (Jamesen) Glew is a heck of a
player, #2 (Dominic) Capretta can play.
They mix that with a couple seniors with (Max) Albert and (Quinn)
Miller. So, they shoot it well,
they move it well, they're smart team, and so we're expecting a battle for
us here Thursday to end the “MOAC” season slate for us,” he said.
Pearson says they need to make sure they are executing.
“We're working on us. Just
correcting the little things, making sure we're better at passing, executing
a little crisper, just being able to run our offenses and our sets, ready
for our zone offenses when people throw that at us,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Just understanding who Galion is.
They shoot it well, they move it well.
Being able to just check out, that's something really been trying to
emphasize. It's been a key for
us all year letting them only have one shot.
They do a pretty good job, their point guard especially, of breaking
out and going coast to coast. So,
we just got to stop their transition when they run it and really contest
their shooters.” Published 2/12/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Norwalk
Takes Bus to Tiffin Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Adam Kreischer
Norwalk travels to Tiffin Columbian for a game in the Lake Division
of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.
They lost their last division game (49-41) to Bellevue last Friday.
Coach Adam Kreischer says it was another game where they just
couldn’t score enough. “We
were able to you know stay in it we just didn't put the ball in the basket
enough at the end. We still work
at the defensive end and try to keep ourselves in games and just we need to
find a way to win more of those league games here,” he said.
Norwalk (7-13,1-8) plays at Tiffin Columbian (9-12,4-5) on Friday
night. The Tornadoes lost
(75-57) to Lake Division champion Sandusky on Friday night.
Kreischer says they have a really good player and Zach Shawberry and
some pieces to go around him. “The
(Zach) Shawberry kid does a great job for them.
He's had a really nice season. It
will be senior night there and I'm sure they will be wanting to play hard
and win one for their seniors,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
evening, “They've got a lot of young shooters that can you know really
stretch your defense and spread you out at times, which then opens things up
for Shawberry slashing around the basket.
So, we'll definitely have our hands full with them.”
Next week, the Truckers will hit the road to play Mansfield Senior
(14-6) in a division III tournament game.
Kreischer says he tried to get a pass to a different district, but it
didn’t work out. “I guess my
text I sent to you was I tried to take line nine in a different district.
Our district is one of the tops in the state.
You probably could argue the top in the state.
There are a lot of really good teams there, but we get a chance to
see somebody that we scrimmaged early before the season, but we haven't seen
in the regular season. Just come
up with a game plan against them and then see what happens,” said
Kreischer. Published 2/12/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Mohawk
Has to Take What’s Given Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Paul Dunn
It’s Mohawk hosting Colonel Crawford in a showdown in the Northern
10 Athletic Conference on Wednesday night.
With two games left in conference play, Crawford leads the Warriors
by game. The Eagles play Wynford
on Friday. Mohawk plays Seneca
East.
Mohawk (17-1,11-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, has not lost since Colonel
Crawford (17-1,12-0), #3 in our poll, beat them in overtime on January 10.
That’s 10 straight wins.
Coach Paul Dunn says their defense has been solid all year and their
play on offense has been improving. “Defensively,
I thought we've done a pretty good job for the most part this season on that
end of the floor. Then
offensively the last two weeks it's been good to see some of our kids that
maybe at times this season we're struggling shooting the ball.
I feel like they've kind of found a little rhythm here at this point
in the season and started to see the ball going through the net.
So, that's always a good thing at this time of year,” he said.
Colonel Crawford junior Brayden Holt is the leading scorer in the
“N10” at (17.9 ppg) and assists (5.8) per game.
Dunn says they must at least control Holt.
“At the beginning the season that's probably a little feeling out
period for him trying to get used to his teammates, but you can see that
they're fully comfortable now at this point 18 games into the season with
kind of how he plays, the shots he takes.
He's got more freedom now, more freedom to shoot some tough shots.
His ability to knock them down is unparalleled,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Having a hand up in his face at all
times, critical to know where his is at, communicate well on guard to guard
screens and then post to guard screens.
We've got to be on our toes for that.
Our kids understand the kind of player he is.
You’re not going to stop him but try to control him and not allow
him to have a monumental night on us.”
Crawford beat Mohawk (53-50) in OT the first time.
Mohawk had an eight point lead with 2:30 to go.
Dunn says they have to be a little more patient.
“I think our kids the first game I thought they were pressing a
little bit trying to make things happen that maybe didn't need to be made.
I thought it forced our kids to shoot some bad shots and got some of
our kids in foul trouble that were a little too amped up.
If we can come out and just have that even keel mindset and just take
what comes in the game and not try to force things that's going to be a big
part of kind of what let's settle into the game and then try to avoid that's
all foul trouble issue we had the first time,” said Dunn. Published 2/11/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Norwayne
Wants to Push it Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Brian West
It’s the game of the year in the Wayne County Athletic League on
Tuesday night as Norwayne at Smithville to lock horns with the Smithies.
The Bobcats will either win the title outright Tuesday night or the
two teams would be in a tie heading to Friday when Norwayne hosts Chippewa
and Smithville is at Hillsdale.
Norwayne coach Brian West says Smithville (18-2,11-1) will be
confident in their own gym. “With
a one game lead with two games to go in the league, so if we're able to come
away with the win we win the league outright.
Then Smithville’s only chance of possibly tying us for the league
is to beat us. So, they're
obviously going to be ready to go. They're
going to be confident playing at home and hopefully our kids are up to the
task,” he said.
West says they have to be patient on defense and work hard to keep
the Smithies from getting easy shots. “They
do a lot of nice things. They
run really good sets, they've slowed down the tempo when they play us, they
try to limit the possessions. I
think they do a nice job of taking us out of our transition as much as they
can,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “They're very
methodical offensively, so we're going to have to make sure that we defend
for more than seven or eight seconds like we’re used to and to be able to
defend for 15 to 20 seconds, sometimes 30 seconds at a time.
So, they’re very well coached, very disciplined and they play
physical.”
Norwayne (18-2,12-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, beat Smithville (52-37) when they
played at Norwayne on January 17.
West says they may have won that game, but they let Smithville
control the tempo. “We talked
(Monday) we feel like the last time they kind of took us out of what we do
well. So, we talked (Monday) as
a team when we were watching film, why do we have to be the team that
adjusts to them? Why can't we continue to push tempo, keep the pressure up
and make them adjust to us. So,
the more we can speed the game up and make them play to our style I think
the better off will be,” said West. Published 2/11/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Ontario
Must Control Tempo Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Jerry Moton
Ontario takes on Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader River Valley on
the road Tuesday night in an “MOAC” game.
It had to be a very frustrating weekend for the Warriors as they lost
two league games in overtime, (69-65) to Shelby on Friday night and (82-80)
to Highland on Saturday afternoon.
Coach Jerry Moton says they were different kinds of losses.
“I think the guys, especially in Shelby, they left they left it all
out there. We just came up a
little bit short. Against
Highland I felt like the energy was not where it needed to be,” he told
Swnkonsports.com on Monday evening, “That’s exactly why we went to
overtime and we came up short. So,
those are all learning lessons and teachable moments for our very young
team.”
Ontario (6-14,4-8) plays at River Valley (17-2,11-1), #3 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Tuesday night. The
Vikings schooled Galion (77-41) in a league game on Friday.
They lead Marin Harding by a game and can claim a share of the
“MOAC” title with a win.
Moton says they are a total team.
“They are a very good team. They
have got a complete team. They
have good guards, good wings, good posts.
They love to play up tempo. They
have really good shooters and they rebound well.
So, we have to on our “A” game if we want to come out with
“W” against them,” said Moton.
River Valley smoked the Warriors (72-29) on January 16.
Moton says they can not allow the Vikings to control the game like
last time. “It's the effort,
the energy, the focus on the game plan and attention to the details.
We have to control the tempo. We
can't allow them to dictate the tempo. They
want to run, they want to shoot threes, they want to get out quick and we
have got to eliminate that,” he said. Published 2/11/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Attitude
Strong at Madison Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Davey Hipp
Madison, of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, plays at Crestview, of the
Firelands Conference, in non-league play on Tuesday night.
They play Ashland in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Friday
night.
Even though the Rams have not won since December, they have lost
their last 10 games, coach Davey Hipp says they are still engaged.
“It's been a while since we won our last one, but we've been
playing really good basketball as of late.
The kids are definitely feeling better.
There are a lot of games that we lose by about 10, but in the fourth
quarter we're down two, they have some free throws at the end and it kind of
just gets a little bit of reach with a minute left.
The kids are playing hard and we're playing really good basketball,
we just haven't been able to pull out a win yet,” said Hipp.
Madison plays at Crestview (15-4) on Tuesday night.
The Cougars fell out of a share of the Firelands Conference lead when
they lost (52-49) at Plymouth on Monday night.
Hipp says the Cougars have shooters.
“They have got a lot of guys who can just flat out shoot it.
They have got (Justice) Thompson, (Tyson) Ringler and a couple other
guys who can just get to their spots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
night, “They're well coached, they run through their sets.
They're a really disciplined team, so you can't ever take a
possession off against them.”
Madison (4-16,1-10) plays host to Ashland (10-9,5-6) on Friday night.
Ashland lost (68-64) to Shelby in a non-league game on Monday night.
The Arrows beat Madison (72-51) on January 7 at Arrow Arena.
Hipp says they have a good combination of players that can stretch a
defense. “They have got (Gabe)
Baith and Paxson (Ediger), who can really light it up at any point.
Paxson had close to 40 against us the first game.
We had a hand in his face and he just making tit and sometimes it
goes like. They struggled
against Shelby (Monday) night. Nathan
(Bernhard) had a good game for them. We have got to keep him off the boards.
He's a big fellow, so we have got to get an early box out on him,”
he said. Published 2/11/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Columbian
Has to be More Sound Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Ryan Fretz
Tiffin Columbian wraps up its regular season on Friday night as they
host the Norwalk Truckers in a game in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay
Conference.
Last Friday, they lost (75-57) to Sandusky, the Lake Division
champion.
Coach Ryan Fretz says they allowed the Blue Streaks to take them out
of their game. “Sandusky does
a good job of putting you in pressure situations.
I think we were playing against two opponents on Friday night at
times. You're playing against
Sandusky and then at times we were playing against ourselves.
Kind of psyched ourselves out. I
felt we had a bunch of open shots that we missed.
We got good looks against them, but they're pressure always lingers
right there and I think that got into our head a little bit and we missed
some easy ones there at the beginning of the game,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “It's a testament to the Sandusky
pressure defense. We dug
ourselves a hole. We kept it
close at halftime, down five with about two minutes to go in the fourth
quarter. Again, we did a pretty
good job of getting in our own way on Friday night and having to play
against ourselves and Sandusky didn't do us any favors.”
Tiffin also plays Sandusky in its first tournament game next week.
The Tornadoes (9-12,4-5) play at home against Norwalk (7-13,1-8) on
Friday night.
Columbian won the first game (52-44) on January 10.
Fretz says both teams are better now.
“It was a good game at their place. I
think they're playing better than the last time we played them.
They're playing some more guys. They're
playing every game to win. They've
been close with a number of games in our league that we've also played close
games with. So, I expect a tough
game against Norwalk in our place. Both
teams are playing better than what they were playing the first time we
played at their place. We don't
expect things to be easy, they never are against Norwalk.
They're well coached, they're fundamentally sound and they're always
prepared for you,” said Fretz.
Fretz says they are more concerned that they are fundamentally sound
in their execution. “I think
our guys we're focusing on us in practice.
We have still got some things we have got to get better at, so we
don't beat ourselves. I think if
we put ourselves in a good position, we'll only be playing against Norwalk
this Friday as opposed to Norwalk and ourselves,” he said. Published 2/11/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
Seven
Divisions Means More Opportunities
Simple math means there will be more area schools winning district
titles this season and that is a good thing.
More kids and fan bases getting to enjoy the excitement of the
regional tournament and more.
There is a division III district at Willard High School where the top
seed is Lexington (17-3), followed by Mansfield Senior (13-5), Sandusky
(12-6) and Ashland (10-8).
“I think this year’s district draw went about the way the most
people thought it would. As a
coach, you always want to try to put your team in the best position you can,
but when you are in arguably one of the toughest districts, not only in the
Northwest. but also in the state, you know going in that you will have to
play some very good teams in consecutive games to be able through it.
This year will be no different. Whoever
gets out will have to play two or three good games in order to call
themselves district champs,” said Lexington coach Scott Hamilton.
In the upper bracket, Lexington hosts Madison (4-16) on Thursday,
February 20 and the winner plays Ashland at Willard on Tuesday, February 25.
“Lex is a really good team top to bottom.
Scott (Hamilton) does a great job and they have all the tools that
make a great team. In our two
matchups this season we played well, but couldn’t finish the game out,”
said Madison coach Davey Hipp.
“We have a very competitive district, but we are excited to have an
opportunity to play a district game within 45 minutes of home.
Whoever wins this district will have earned it as there are no easy
ones,” said Ashland coach Jason Hess.
In lower bracket, Norwalk (7-13) is at Mansfield Senior and Sandusky
hosts Tiffin Columbian (9-12) on the 20th and the winners play at
Willard on the 25th.”
“We are excited about the opportunity to play for a sectional
championship in Pete Henry Gymnasium. Tourney
time is my favorite time of the year,” said Mansfield Senior coach Marquis
Sykes.
“I tried to take line nine in a different district, but they
wouldn’t let me,” said Norwalk basketball coach Adam Kreischer, “It is
an extremely tough district and there were going to be no easy games for us.
We will go to Mansfield Senior,
try to have a good game plan, try to execute that game plan, play hard and
let the chips fall where they may.”
“We’re excited about it,” said Sandusky coach DeMar Moore,
“We have Tiffin for the third time this season, but this time we’ll be
playing for a sectional championship. I
believe our tough regular season schedule has prepared us for the tournament
and hopefully we’ll be playing our best ball by them.”
“Given our ranking, we only had Lex, Mansfield and Sandusky to
choose from. We are content with
a third opportunity to play Sandusky,” said Columbian coach Ryan Fretz.
Marion Harding (17-3) is the number two seed in the Central District
and will at home against Columbus West on Tuesday, February 18.
Wooster (10-9) plays at Twinsburg in a division III game in the
Northeast District on Saturday, February 22.
“Obviously we would love to be higher, but I think it worked out
for us this tournament draw. Division
III is beast this year, so any matchup is going to be tough.
I just want my guys to to stay locked in and focus on the team at
hand,” said Wooster coach Che Richardson
Findlay High School hosts a division IV district where half of the
teams are from the Mansfield area and half form the Lima Area.
Elida is the number one seed, Upper Sandusky (14-6) number
two, Shelby three and Lima Bath four.
Clear Fork (7-13) is at Ontario (6-14) and Kenton is at Van West in
games on Tuesday, February 18.
“I feel like every team made a wise decision.
As far as our position, I feel very confident that we can win against
any team in the district,” said Ontario coach Jerry Moton.
“Tournament time is an exciting time of year.
Coming off a couple wins the past weekend has helped us build some
confidence going into the tournament. We
have drawn a sectional semi game at Ontario, who is familiar conference
opponent. We have lost to them
both times this year, but looking forward to the challenge of facing them a
third time,” said Clear Fork basketball coach Brandon Baumgardner.
The Kenton/Van Wert winner gets Elida on Friday, February 21.
Also, St. Mary’s Memorial is at Lima Bath on February 20.
In the lower bracket, the Clear Fork/Ontario winner meets Upper
Sandusky on the 20th. Shelby
(12-8) will play at home against Ottawa-Glandorf on the 20th.
“We are fortunate to have a home sectional game in our NW district.
From top to bottom, this may be the most even spread district we have
been part of in the past four years,” said Shelby coach Greg Gallaway.
“Glad to get a home game. This
year, unlike years past we have played three of the four teams on our side
of the bracket, so we have some familiarity with them.
Should be a good tournament,” said Upper Sandusky coach Jeff
Winslow.
There is another division IV district in the Northwest at Oregon Clay
High School. Otsego is the
top seed, followed by Bellevue (13-6), Sandusky Perkins (13-7) and Clyde
(10-8).
In the upper bracket, Vermilion (6-12) is at Port Clinton (7-12) on
February 18 with the winner playing at Perkins on February 20.
Also, Napoleon is at Wauseon on the 20th.
Maumee is at Bryan on the 18th with Bellevue hosting the
winner on the 20th. Plus,
Rossford is Clyde on the 18th and the winner gets Otsego on the
20th.
“I thought the draw went almost as expected,” said Bellevue coach
Ed Rich, “We chose to go the number one side instead of the number two.
Our goal at the beginning of the year was to win a sectional
championship and we thought this would give us our best chance.
No disrespect to Otsego, they have one loss and are extremely
talented, but we thought having the one and two on the same side would deter
other higher seeded teams away from us,” said Bellevue coach Ed Rich.
River Valley (17-2) is the top seed in the Central District in
division IV. They host Cristo
Rey on Saturday, February 22.
“I’m happy with how the draw played out.
Seeds two, three, and four went away from us.
We played Buckeye Valley, who’s in the top of the bracket on our
side. Johnstown is a tough team
as I have seen them on film and they play in a tough conference.
Eastmoor is well coached and always a tough team to play.
I am really pleased with the respect these players have earned from
working and playing so hard,” said River Valley coach Rodney Brown.
Also in the Central District, Highland (7-14) is at London on the 22nd.
Kansas Lakota High School is the site for a division V district where
Margaretta (19-1) is the top seed, Liberty-Benton is number two, Genoa three
and Huron four.
Willard (6-12) is at Fostria on February 18 and winner will play at
Huron (13-6) on February 21. Margaretta
host Oak Harbor also on the 21st in the Upper bracket.
“We look forward to competing against the fourth and fifth seed for
a sectional title. We took the
opportunity to play two games versus one game versus the number two seed
Liberty-Benton,” said Willard basketball coach Joe Bedingfield.
Meanwhile, in the lower bracket in games on the 21st
Edison (5-12) is at Liberty-Benton and Galion (7-13) takes the bus to Genoa.
“A few weeks ago, we challenged our kids to get into the five or
six seed so that we would have a couple options when the draw came.
This was the outcome we had talked about collectively as a group and
as coaches. We’re working hard
to play our best ball heading into the tourney.
We’re confident the toughness that our schedule has presented this
season will prepare us for a tough Genoa team,” said Galion coach Tyler
Sanders.
In Central District games on February 22, Marion Pleasant (7-12)
hosts Northridge, East Knox is at Columbus Bishop Ready and Fredericktown is
at home for Mt. Gilead.
“We had the ninth seed of 16. Ended
up getting a home game, which is very lucky.
We play Northridge, who we can be competitive with.
Would have to play Columbus Academy game two, who is very good,”
said Pleasant coach Ben Snively.
In the NE district, Northwestern is at home for Wellington on
February 19. The winner will
play defending state champion Richmond Heights on February 22.
In other games on the 22nd, Norwayne is at home for
Beechwood, Tuslaw is at Ravenna SE, Wooster Triway hosts Chippewa and
Waynedale is Akron Manchester.
“We were pleased with the draw overall.
We will have the opportunity to possibly host two games before the
district final. The top four
seeds went into separate brackets. We
will need to finish the regular season strong and remain focused and take
one game at a time,” said Norwayne coach Brian West.
In the NW district in division VI there is a district at Ontario High
School. Colonel Crawford (17-1)
is the number one seed, Crestview (15-3) is number two, Monroeville (12-6)
is number three and Seneca East (14-7) is four,
“We were happy with our body of work over the entire season to get
the number one seed and look forward to playing for a sectional
championship,” said Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon.
Western Reserve (7-10) hosts Wynford (3-15) on February 18 with the
winner playing Mansfield Christian (10-9).
New London (2-16) is at Colonel Crawford on Friday, February 21 in
upper bracket games.
“We got a favorable draw that puts the five, six, and seven seed in
a bracket with a chance at sectional title.
This happens because everyone ran away from Colonel Crawford and
because Doug Ute had this grand plan for making more money for the OHSAA,
which in turn creates the most watered down district I have seen in my 46
years. The tournament like all
things connected to the OHSAA these days ix embarrassing,” said Western
Reserve basketball coach Chris Sheldon.
“It is kind what I thought would happen.
I am pleased with the draw. We
will have a home game for our first game.
If we are able to win, we will have to play Colonel Crawford most
likely, which is no easy task. We
have two very tough games next weekend to get us in tournament mode,” said
Mansfield Christian coach Cary Craner.
In lower bracket games on the 21st Crestview hosts
Bucyrus(1-19) and Seneca East is at Monroeville.
“We’ll have a tough test going on the road playing a completely
different Monroeville team than the one we beat the first game of the year.
It will be challenge for our guys,” said Seneca East coach Anthony
Langhurst.
There is another district at Old Fort High School.
Mohawk (17-1) is the top seed, followed by Ottawa Hills, Maumee
Valley and Toledo Christian.
“I thought the draw went as good as we can hope being the one seed.
We chose to take the sectional semifinal game to give our kids the
opportunity to gain that comfort going into tournament.
I thought overall the top four teams went where we all expected them
to. I think every sectional
final in our district will be a highly contested matchup,” saif Mohawk
coach Paul Dunn.
In the upper bracket, Mohawk hosts Northwood on February 18.
The winner advances to meet Woodmore (6-13) on February 21.
Carey (6-11) plays at Toledo Christian also on the 21st.
In the lower bracket, Hopewell-Loudon (6-12) is Ottawa Hills and
Kansas Lakota (10-10) travels to Maumee Valley.
Down in the Central District Cardington, the top seed, is at home for
the Wellington School and Centerburg hosts Madison Plains on February 18.
On the 21st, Northmor will host either Mechanicsburg or
Grandview Heights.
In the NE District, Loudonville is at Dalton, Smithville is at home
for Bard Early College, Mapleton (10-8) is at McDonald, and Rittman is at
Kirtland on February 22.
Finally in division VII, Shelby High School is a site for a district.
Norwalk St. Paul (14-5) is the top seed there, followed by Sandusky
St, Mary’s (7-12) the second seed, Plymouth (10-10) number three and
Buckeye Central (6-13) is the fourth seed.
“We’re pretty happy with where we ended up in the draw.
We have the winner of the play in game between St. Peter’s and
Lucas. If we can win our
sectional it puts us against the winner of Buckeye Central and South
Central. Our kids are excited to
be able to host a championship game on their home floor and will focus more
on that next week. Right now,
they are in pursuit one game at a time for a conference title,” said
Norwalk St. Paul coach Steve Minor.
Mansfield St. Peter’s (5-10) is Lucas (3-15) in an upper bracket
semi final on February 18 and the winner will play at Norwalk St. Paul will
be at home for the winner on February 21.
South Central (3-15) is at Buckeye Central also play on the 21st
in upper bracket games.
“We didn’t win enough regular season games to put ourself in a
very good spot, so all we can do is go out and continue to try to get
better. We beat the team we
opened up with and get to play at home.
So, we have a chance to win a tournament game, which would be a good
way to get our tournament run started,” said Lucas coach Taylor Iceman.
“The draw kind of played out how I thought it would.
We had a strong feeling that we would be playing the play in game and
that winner faces the number one seed. We
have had some extremely close games with Lucas this year.
Both games were two point defeats.
So, I anticipate this game will be a dogfight just like the other
two,” said Mansfield Sr. Peter’s coach Roy Shoulders.
“Obviously we are pleased to have a home game.
Both teams will be familiar with each other since we play (Monday),
then turn around and play again in the tournament.
We are focused on finishing out the regular season with some
momentum. Just like everyone
else, we want to be playing our best basketball heading into the
tournament,” said Buckeye Central coach Chris Moyer.
“It will be a little different in that we play Buckeye Central
Monday at home and then turn around and play the again 10 days later.
The positive is that we is we will know what to expect and have some
familiarity with our opponent with playing them that close together,” said
South Central coach Dallas Yost.
Meanwhile, in the lower bracket, Sandusky St. Mary’s is at home for
Crestline (8-11) and Plymouth hosts Danbury Lakeside (3-16).
Both games are February 21.
“I’m very excited our position in the tournament.
We were able to compete with every opponent.
With the three seed it took us away from the one seed, it was that
simple. Hopefully, our young
team can experience some tournament wins and enjoy what high school
basketball is all about,” said Plymouth coach Eric Pickelsimer.
Fostoria is a site for another district.
In that one, Old Fort (17-2) is the top seed, Tiffin Calvert (17-3)
is number two, Arlington three and New Riegel is number four.
“We put ourselves in a good position with our play throughout the
season to earn the number one seed. We
have a tough district with the second, third, fourth ranked teams in the
region all on our district, so there is no easy path.
We will be excited to get out there and compete,” said Old Fort
coach Eric Hoover.
Old Fort is at home for Fremont St. Joe (1-19) on February 18 and the
winner of that game will play McComb on February 21.
New Riegel (15-4) hosts Gibsonburg (12-7) on the 21st too. \
On February 18, Arcadia is at North Baltimore and the winner gets
Tiffin Calvert on the 21st. Vanlue
is at Arlington also on the 21st.
In the Central District, Danville is at Fisher Catholic on February
21.
In the NE district, Hillsdale hosts Lordstown and Kidron Central
Christian (14-5) is at home for Lake Ridge Academy. |
||
Clear
Fork Still Rolling Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Scott Sellers
Mel Blubaugh scored 14 of her game high 23 points in the third
quarter and Clear Fork pulled away to smoke River Valley (48-29) in a
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Thursday night at Les Hauenstein Gym.
Speaking of Les, longtime, Clear Fork Athletic Director and both boys
and girls basketball coach, the latter in two spans, and Jill Snavely-Boccio,
the best player in the history of the program, and still its all time
leading scorer, were honored before the varsity game as honorary
co-captains.
Clear Fork took a (15-4) after the first quarter, led by Blubaugh,
who if Swankonsports.com were to award a most improved player in our
coverage area, it would be her, with nine points.
However, they scored only two points in the second quarter and led
(17-11) at the intermission.
Coach Scott Sellers says it was time for some soul searching.
“It was a struggle factory there in the second quarter.
Sometimes our style leads to some sloppiness, I think it did there.
The kids played really hard. Just
a lot of mental errors in the second quarter, but we regrouped. We
talked at the half and they came out. They
had kind of a players only meeting for, shoot, six minutes of the of
halftime and they came out and they I think scored 22 in the third
quarter,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “So, that was
outstanding. I told them to get
to a regional, to get beyond that, you have got to have it locked in for
four quarters. That's what we're
striving for. I was happy on
senior night for us to get out of here with a win against River Valley, who
always seems to gives us fits.”
Blubaugh popped in two threes and added a layup in the first 1:06 of
the third quarter and Clear Fork would go on to score 22 points in the
quarter and the dye was cast.
Even in the second quarter when they were struggling on offense, they
were still making it very difficult for River Valley to score.
Sellers says they preach defense and the kids believe in its value.
“We demand that they play 100 percent all the time.
It’s why we play eight kids and we play them a lot of minutes.
So, we're getting really good at the rotations and they understand
how to compete, they understand how to play hard and as a coach you can't
ask for anything more than that,” he said.
Clear Fork (18-3,12-2) plays host to Cardington in their final
regular season game on Saturday. They
open tournament play in division V against Galion, a team they have humbled
twice in “MOAC” play, in a sectional final next Thursday at Les
Hauenstein Gym.
Sellers says they can’t wait for the postseason.
“We're excited, we have got Cardington on Saturday.
We're looking at a 19-3 regular season.
That would be the best regular season in school history.
We have got another home game next Thursday against Galion here for a
fourth straight sectional title. So,
big stuff and I can't describe how excited we are for the postseason.
We've been looking forward to it since the Shelby game and the kids
are ready to go,” said Sellers. Published 2/07/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
||
Lexington
Goes for it All Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Scott Hamilton
Lexington already has share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference title and
they can earn it outright with a win over Ashland in “OCC” play on
Friday night at Arrow Arena.
Coach Scott Hamilton says that was a goal at the beginning of the
season. “That's always the
first choice thing everyone puts down is to win and compete for a conference
championship. We know that we've
got a share of it guaranteed, but if you can go into a game and earn it
outright that's just special. So,
we're really working to make that happen this year,” said Hamilton.
Lexington (16-3,10-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Ashland (10-7,5-5), a
winner of three of their last four “OCC” games.
Hamilton says it looks like the Arrows are peaking.
“They've got some very good players over there.
They're really playing with confidence shooting the ball very well.
They've put up a lot of points here in their last few games.
They're definitely somebody that's playing well at the right time of
the season,” he said.
Lexington beat Ashland (71-54) on January 3.
Hamilton says the presence of their big guy Nathan Bernhard makes the
Arrows are tough to guard. “They're
kind of a unique bird where they've got a lot of three-point shooters.
They can put three in the starting lineup and have five at any given
time guys that can shoot the three ball very well,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They actually start a 6’6”
guy inside that does demand a little bit of attention himself.
So, we've got to make sure that we locate their shooters.
We don't give them any uncontested looks and then once those shot
goes up we've got to make sure that we're boxing them out and keeping that
big guy off the glass and not giving them any extra opportunities.
So, it's going to be a battle for us there's no doubt about it.”
The Minutemen will host Cincinnati Princeton on Saturday night and
Hamilton says they will be a challenge too.
“There a highly ranked division I team obviously out of the
Cincinnati area. Joe Roberts,
our former athletic director at Lexington, went down there and he's there AD
now and so he was kind of behind getting this started.
It's just going to be a fun night and a good experience for my guys
playing that caliber of team. Another
state level team, and they're a big division I school, so it's just going to
be a fun experience and hopefully a learning experience for us going into
tournament time,” said Hamilton. Published 2/07/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
||
High
Energy the Key for Ontario Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Jerry Moton
Ontario plays host to archrival Shelby Friday night in a game in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
They play Highland Saturday afternoon in an “MOAC” game.
On Tuesday, they were outscored (25-7) in the fourth quarter and lost
(66-51) to Bellevue in non-conference play.
Coach Jerry Moton says they just did not play with the same intensity
in their final minutes of the game. “We
really let that one slip past us and just lost our intensity and our energy
level. It just seemed like it
dropped. It was kind of
disappointing, but we learned from it and moved on,” said Moton.
Shelby won the first matchup of the season between the teams (68-59)
on January 2.
Moton says they need to contain the Brayden DeVito, the
“MOAC’s” leading scorer. “They're
a very well coached. They are a
great rebounding team. They are
led by Brayden DeVito, he's an outstanding player.
He shoots the ball real good, penetrates, mid range.
He's really the engine to their team,” he said.
Moton says they have to play this game at even keel.
“That’s one of the things that we've been discussing with the
kids all year is just understanding the game, the emotional aspect of it,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Not being too high.
Keeping the energy at a steady level throughout the game and picking
it up towards the end of the fourth quarter.
Sometimes the energy with young kids can drop and they hang their
heads. We try to help them
through that whole process.” Published 2/07/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
||
St.
Peter’s Must Have Effort Click
here to listen to an interview with Roy Shoulders
Mansfield St. Peter’s takes the bus east to face Wooster Christian
in a non-conference game on Friday night.
The Spartans (4-10) put together back to back wins for the first time
this season when they beat Crestline (45-37) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference
game on Monday. They beat
Mansfield Temple Christian (67-50) in non-league play on Tuesday.
Coach Roy Shoulders was pretty pleased with what he saw this week.
“We were very happy with how our kids played down the stretch at
Crestline. Crestline has been
playing very well. Coach (Paul)
Webb does a great job with his team and they were playing with a lot of
confidence. So, we knew going in
that it was going to be an extremely tough game against a very worthy
opponent. We're just happy with
how our kids weathered the storm. Anytime
you can get a league win on the road that's always a tremendous victory,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “Temple Christian and their
kids have improved so much and they battled and played very hard.
I think we had a little bit out of our gas tank, but that's no
excuse. Some things, we could
have done better, but putting those back-to-back having a very you know
emotional tough win on Monday night and coming back and going on the road
Tuesday night and playing you know end of the day we're very happy with how
our kids responded.”
The Spartans will be at Wooster Christian on Friday, a team that beat
them (57-56) on January 3.
Shoulders is very critical of their play in that first game.
“Well as soon as the Temple Christian game was over the
psychological element started of letting our guys know that the defensive
effort in that game was pathetic, their effort overall was pathetic, our low
post defense was pathetic, the pressure we applied on the post was pathetic
and really it was one of the worst performances we had all year.
I do not want to take anything away from Wooster Christian.
That has nothing to do with them winning the game.
It has everything to do about the effort we gave, that's what I'm
talking about. So, any Wooster
Christian fans out there I'm not giving you bulletin board material. I'm
talking about the lackadaisical, poor effort of our guys.
So, that has been the overriding thing,” said Shoulders.
Shoulders says they have made it very clear what they expect to see
on Friday. “I think I've sent
out several messages the last couple days just saying the effort from that
game is not acceptable. When we
practice, we've really been intense about the effort we want to give.
So, the parting message we gave them (Thursday) after practice was
that if we don't come out with a chip on our shoulder Friday night at
Wooster Christian, then we're not alive.
Then we're not a team that is ready for a challenge.
Hopefully, we have a chip on our shoulder and we're ready to fight
Friday night,” he said. Published 2/07/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
||
Old
Fort Motivated Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Eric Hoover
A win Friday night at Hopewell-Loudon will give the Old Fort
Stockaders no less than a share of the title in the River Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference.
They lead Tiffin Calvert by two games in the standings.
Tuesday night, they smoked Gibsonburg (71-39) in a division game.
The Golden Bears had taken them to overtime in the first meeting and
coach Eric Hoover says they were ready to played better.
“That was one that we marked that we had to do much better than we
did the first time. I didn’t
feel like we played great over there, so we were looking to do much better.
It was helpful there their point guard, who's their best player, he's
outstanding player, was out on Tuesday.
So, they struggled a little bit.
It certainly would have made a difference.
You just play who's there. So,
we did a good job staying focused and didn't let that affect how we played
and did a good job defensively really shut them down and just continually
building the lead throughout the game,” said Hoover.
Old Fort (16-2,15-0) plays at Hopewell-Loudon (6-11,5-9) on Friday
night. The Chieftains lost
(58-46) to New Riegel on Tuesday night in division play.
Hoover says Hopewell doesn’t score much, but the don’t give up
much either. “There a really
strong defensive team. I think
they have the lowest defensive average in the league.
So, they really make you work for everything that you get.
They really have struggled to score.
So, we really have to stay focused on defense and make sure they
don't get easy ones,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “I
always try to get the kids to think that they're going to have their best
shooting night they've had all year. You
have to go into it with that mentality that they're going to play better
than they have. So, it’s a big
game as far as clinching the league right, so that's important for us and
it's a big game for tournament draw also.
Our district is really tight between the top three teams and so
there's absolutely zero room for any error.”
Hopewell has had four games this year where they have not scored 30
points in a game.
Hoover says there should be no need for a motivational speech before
Friday night’s game. “We've
talked about it just being Hopewell. We've
had some battles with them over the years and had a lot of close games over
the years. So, in addition to
the league and what's going on in the district I think just being Hopewell
should be all the motivation that we need,” he said. Published 2/07/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Seneca
East to be Tested Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Anthony Langhurst
Seneca East will be at “N10” leader Colonel Crawford for a
Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday.
They beat Buckeye Central (62-43) in a “N10” game on Saturday
night and then Crestline (46-37) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.
They have won four of their last five and coach Anthony Langhurst
likes how they are playing. “We
kind of tightened things up on both ends of the floor there.
If we have a couple bad possessions, we try to just make sure we're
making adjustments. Luckily, we
have a few practices in between where we kind of highlight a few things we
want to clean up in between these games,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday night, “It's just nice that once the season goes on we have got
games you know a little bit closer together.
So, we can kind of clean up a few things and just kind of pull the
ball out and see how the guys react.”
Seneca East (14-6,7-5) plays down at Colonel Crawford (16-1,11-0), #3
in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school
division, on Friday night. The
Eagles have won 16 in a row.
Langhurst knows what they are up against here.
“They're rolling, they’re a buzz saw.
What's nice about it is we're getting close to tournament time.
It's just going to be a nice challenge for our guys.
Those are the type of teams you're going to see if you're going to be
successful in the tournament. They're
going to be physical on both ends of the floor.
So, it will be a nice test for us.
It will be a good measuring stick into what we need to kind of clean
up when the tournament starts rolling around,” he said.
Seneca East plays Mohawk (16-1) next week.
Langhurst says you can’t find better tournament preparation.
“I'm not sure who scheduled these last two games for us to put them
back-to-back. Like I said, we'll
see what we can get right and what we get wrong here this Friday.
Then we'll luckily have a full week kind of take a look at some
things and make some corrections. It
doesn’t go down as far as the skill, the physicality or the athleticism
that Mohawk’s going to bring. So,
it'll be a good test for our guys on the back-to-back weekends,” said
Langhurst. Published 2/07/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Defense
Name of the Game for Bellevue Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Ed Rich
Bellevue entertains Norwalk in a game in the Lake Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.
The Redmen rallied to beat Ontario (66-51) in a non-conference game
on Tuesday night, holding the Warriors to just seven points in the fourth
quarter.
Coach Ed Rich says Ontario has very good talent, but they were more
disciplined and that won them the game.
“It was a really good win. I
think they only have five or six wins, but I'm telling you they're extremely
talented. They have got those
two freshmen guards who are pretty good and pretty skilled and they're shot
makers. So, it was a great
win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It was a huge
fourth quarter. I think we
outscored them 25-7 in the fourth. I
just think our depth got to them. We
were a little bit more disciplined than they were.
We were fundamental when they were trying to trap and everything in
the full and half. So, took the
lead in the fourth and just kept our foot on the pedal.”
Bellevue (12-6,5-3) plays at home against Norwalk (7-11,1-7) on
Friday night. The Redmen won the
first meeting (36-34) on December 3.
Rich says a big difference will be the Truckers are without Ben
Rothhaar, who graduated early and left for Rutgers.
“They are running a lot of the same stuff for sure.
They're putting in some new wrinkles.
Rothhaar is a great athlete. We
watched our first game and he did a heck of a job versus the first game
protecting the basket. We really
struggled to score. Speaking of
discipline, they're a very disciplined team.
They're a lot like us defensively.
They're just a lot bigger than we are.
We expect another kind of typical Bellevue Norwalk game.
It's going to be physical and it's going to be hard to come by
baskets,” said Rich.
Rich says this game always seems to boil down to a tough, intense,
defensive battle and this time should be no different.
“We're very similar with our defensive styles.
I think a lot of coaches preach defense, but I think Bellevue and
Norwalk for the most part you know we really hammer defense.
We hang our hats on it, both of us do.
I think that just kind of speaks to the toughness of our kids too.
Both programs have some tough kids that are willing to sit down and
defend. We're going to have to
find ways to score the basketball,” he said. Published 2/07/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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For
Mansfield Senior, it’s Just Win Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Marquis Sykes
Mansfield Senior is one back in the standings in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference as we enter the final two weekends of the regular season.
They trail Lexington by a game and the Minutemen conclude their
“OCC” schedule on Friday against Ashland.
Mansfield Senior hosts Wooster on Friday and plays at West Holmes
next Friday.
After an (84-64) loss to Lexington last Tuesday in the “OCC”
showdown, the Tygers beat Wooster Triway (94-88) in double overtime in a
non-conference game on Friday and New Philadelphia (55-44) in an “OCC”
game on Saturday.
Coach Marquis Sykes was pleased with the bounce back.
“We were excited about last weekend.
We were able to come out with two wins last weekend, so we're excited
about that just to be able to get our confidence back.
Get a couple of wins on our own court it's always a good thing.
We recognize we're still mathematically in it as far as the “OCC”
championship works. We’re
still on the ground, we're still working hard, we're still trying to get
better daily at practice now trying to start shifting towards tournament,”
said Sykes.
When it comes to the conference, Sykes says all they can do is win.
“Right now, we don't fully control our own destiny, but we have to
win for any chance of getting a share of that championship.
So, that's our focus right now. Wooster is our next conference home
game. We have to treat as a
conference championship game. So,
the guys so far have had a good week of preparation.
We are locked in and focusing in on what we need to do to try to beat
Wooster,” he said.
Mansfield Senior (12-5,8-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at home against
Wooster (10-8,6-4) on Friday night. The
Generals are coming off a (49-38) win at Dover on Tuesday night.
The Tygers beat Wooster (61-45) January 3 at Wooster.
Sykes says they are always dangerous because they have shooters.
“On any given night they have got three or four guys that that can
really get it going and shoot the ball really well.
They have got (Brady) Bowen, who's averaging almost 20 points a game
and (Anthony) Carmean is around 13, 14 points a game.
When those guys were shooting it really well, Wooster is usually
playing really well and winning games,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday night, “They'll be big part of our focus trying to slow them
down doing everything we can to force those guys to shoot a lower percentage
and look to defend and rebound. © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Mohawk
Staying Focused Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Paul Dunn
Mohawk, a game back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, will be
at home for Wynford in a conference game on Friday night.
On Tuesday night, the Warriors kept pace with a (50-38) win over
talented Upper Sandusky.
Coach Paul Dunn says they had to grind it out a little bit.
“Upper is always a tough team to play.
Just how they play and how physical they are and just the energy they
play with, they always pose a tough challenge.
I thought we came out early and did a good job offensively to kind of
give ourselves a little bit of cushion.
Then on defense I thought we did a good job,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Upper made it tough on us pretty
much the whole night offensively. I
don’t think we hit on all cylinders. I
told the kids that's how you have to play games like that at times.
It's going to be tough and you have got to find ways to win and we
did just enough.”
Mohawk (16-1,10-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, play at home against Wynford
(3-14,2-10) on Friday night. The
Royals beat Bucyrus for the second time this season (54-51) on Saturday.
The Warriors blew out Wynford the first time (62-26) on December 27.
Dunn expects the Royals to play with a lot of pride.
“Our senior class and their senior class they had all kinds of
battles all through junior high and coming up through high school here the
last few years. So, we kind of
challenged the kids it’s going to be their last chance to play these guys.
I want them to go out and play at their best potential.
You definitely can't look at the records, it’s Wynford.
It’s Wynford basketball and they play with a lot of pride.
They've got a lot of seniors on that team that they know what
they’re playing for,” said Dunn.
Mohawk trails Colonel Crawford by a game and they play next Wednesday
at Mohawk.
Dunn says they can’t let that enter their mind.
“That's kind of been our moto here the last month or so.
We have just got to take one game at a time if we want to give
ourselves a chance to stay in the league hunt and give us the chance for
that battle then you have got to take care of everybody at stands in front
of us the night of the game,” he said. Published 2/06/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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River
Valley Must Guard Shooters Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Rodney Brown
River Valley, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader, has an
assignment at Galion in a conference game on Friday night.
They play at Cardington, the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference
co-leader, on Saturday night.
They were able to hold onto their one game lead over Marion Harding
with (56-41) win over Highland on Tuesday night.
Coach Rodney Brown says they took control in the third quarter.
“We didn't have a great shooting night for anybody.
We only hit two threes, which is not accustomed for us.
Those two threes were made by Carter Myers.
We didn't have a great first half and I wasn't happy with the way we
defended. I kind of tried to
light a little fire at halftime and we came out and really guarded and were
able to turn them over and get the game to our pace.
We were able to hold them to 13 points in the second half.
So, I was very pleased with how hard we played and we just didn't lay
down,” said Brown.
River Valley (15-2,10-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Galion
(7-12,5-7) on Friday night. Galion
lost for the first time since January 20 when Willard beat them (58-49) on
Monday in a non-conference game.
Brown says they have shooters. “They've
been hot then I saw they dropped the one to Willard.
They have got a lot of young guys playing.
I think they're just starting to get more experience and maybe get a
little more comfortable with the speed of the varsity game.
They have got some different guys that can do different things and a
lot of guys that have put the ball in the hole and shoot the ball well.
We have got to go over there defend and hopefully we can knock in
some shots,” he said.
Cardington (16-2) has had an outstanding season, plus Brown says
it’s a homecoming for him. “They
are tough I have watched them a couple of times.
They have got a lot of seniors and they're they got a lot of guards,
they move the ball well, they share it well, they shoot it well and they
score a lot of points. So, they
had a really good year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night,
“It's going to be a very interesting for me as I went there, coached
there, it will be my first time returning there as a head coach.
So, it'll be a little bit emotional probably for me.
It will be cool to go back there and hopefully we're ready to go.
It's our first back-to-back of the year.
We have got another one next weekend.
So, it would be good for the kids to play somebody different.
We haven't played them in a few years and it should be a great
atmosphere.” Published 2/06/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
Sandusky
Tries Again Click
here to listen to an interview with coach DeMar Moore
Sandusky will try again to win the outright title in the Lake
Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night when they visit
Tiffin Columbian.
They had a chance last Saturday, but lost (72-58) to rival Perkins.
Coach DeMar Moore says Perkins was outstanding and they didn’t
shoot it very well. “Perkins
deserves all the credit. They
played very, very well. We came
out and I think we were like 5-28 or something like that from three.
They had a great strategy. They
executed their game plan to the fullest.
It was a great game by them,” said Moore.
Sandusky (11-6,6-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Tiffin Columbian
(9-11,4-4) on Friday night. Tiffin
lost their second in a row after winnings six of seven when Anthony Wayne
beat them (62-49) on Wednesday night.
Moore says it will be a challenge.
“It's always a tough task playing at Tiffin.
Coach (Ryan) Fretz has them playing very, very well.
The first game they played us it was a what a three point game, I
believe,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They played
well against us and I know at home they're probably better.”
Sandusky won that first game (72-69) on January 3.
Moore says this time they want to come home with the prize.
“I would have loved to do it against Perkins, but it didn't happen.
So, we have got another shot to do it Friday.
So, hopefully we do what we need to do and walk home you know Lake
champions,” he said. Published 2/06/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
Colts
This Close Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Brandon Baumgardner
Clear Fork plays at home against Highland on Friday night in play in
the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
In a non-league game on Tuesday night, the Colts lost (75-52) to
Ashland of the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Coach Brandon Baumgardner says they were playing catchup all night.
“I feel like we got a slow start on our part.
We kept battling back, getting back into it five, six points and just
couldn’t get over the hump to get on top of them.
They shot the ball really well and we did not.
Like I've said all year I’m proud of our guys efforts were just few
little things short here and there at times I thought overall it didn’t
turn our way, but you guys played hard,” said Baumgardner.
It’s almost tournament time and Baumgardner says if they could just
clean up a few things you never know. “The
biggest thing in my opinion is just the little things.
Closing out properly, boxing out, finding the open guy, making a
simple pass instead of trying to force stuff at times that lead to
turnovers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “Just the
little things is what's hurting us the most because we've been in quite a
few games right there near the end. We
have a rough two minute stretch where a team pulls away from us.
So, we need to learn to play a full four quarters of fundamental
basketball.”
Clear Fork (5-13,2-9) plays at home against Highland (6-13,2-9) on
Friday night. The Fighting Scots
lost (56-41) to league leading River Valley on Tuesday night.
Highland won the first matchup (63-57) on January 2.
Baumgardner says they have to be able to handle the Highland
pressure. “They're long and
athletic. They usually come out
in full court pressure, the 2-2-1 zone press.
We need to handle that and be aggressive, knock down your shots when
you have them and take care of the basketball,” he said. Published 2/06/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
Norwayne
Must Rebound Well Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Brian West
Norwayne, the Wayne County Athletic League leader, plays at
Northwestern in a league game on Friday night.
They lead Smithville by a game and play the Smithies next Tuesday.
They beat Waynedale (76-38) in a league game on Tuesday.
Coach Brian West says they played well early and then put it away in
the third quarter. “I thought
we did a nice job coming out of the gate with some energy.
We pushed tempo early. I
thought something that we did not do well was we didn't get matched up
really well under pressure, but I thought we did okay in the back court, but
once Waynedale got into the front court I think they communicated well and
found their shooters got good looks early.
We settled down on the third, came out and started the third on a
16-0 run got it to the running clock and got some subs in to get some
experience after that,” said West.
In games like Tuesday, West says it can be a balancing act on the
issue of how much to play your best guys.
“I think that’s kind of on the coaches as the year goes on if
you're able to build some of that depth and just in case you do have an
injury in this part of the season. It's
kind of a double edged sword because you want to keep your guys fresh.
We were actually on that discussion on the bench on Tuesday that how
soon we want to get the first five out because you don't want to wear them
out, you don't want to see somebody roll an ankle, but you still want to
keep them fresh and keep them their continuity going playing with one
another,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It's
important to get that depth throughout the year to get some of those younger
guys where now you can rest some of those first five and not miss a beat
offensively or defensively with the depth.”
Norwayne (17-2,11-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, play at Northwestern (2-16,1-11)
on Friday. The Huskies are
coming off a (69-52) loss to Hillsdale in league play on Tuesday night.
West says they are going to try and run the floor and get shots up.
“They're super athletic. They're
going to try to go up and down with us as well, which we like.
They're going to get out and pressure.
They have got one really good shooter from perimeter.
We have got to make sure we locate him and make sure we box out.
So, there will be a lot of perimeter shots on Friday and we're going
to make sure we box out because we always tell the kids the long shots equal
long rebounds. So, we're going
to be focused from the opening tip and be ready to go,” he said. Published 2/06/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Quakers
Still Trying to Get Better Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Zach Ross
New Philadelphia is at Mansfield Madison to do battle with the Rams
in Ohio Cardinal Conference action on Friday night.
They are coming off a (51-46) win over Alliance on Tuesday night in
non-conference action.
Coach Zach Ross was very happy with their response.
“It's a really good victory on the road against the team in first
place in their league up in Stark County. I
thought we did a lot of good things in the game, especially down the
stretch. We kind of got a big
lead and they stormed all the way back and we found a way to respond as a
team. So, hopefully this promise
keeps us moving forward,” said Ross.
The postseason beacons in a couple weeks and Ross says they look good
sometimes, but they have to keep getting better.
“I don't know, I hope so. I
hope there's more out of us than what I'm seeing right now.
We really hope that our guys are starting to click.
I know our guys are working really hard and our legs are tired, but
they're doing a lot of good things right now and I'm proud of that.
Hopefully, we can find a way to get 1% better a couple more days
before the tournament actually gets here,” he said.
New Philadelphia (10-8,5-5) plays at Madison (4-15,1-9) on Friday
night. The Rams lost (63-49) to
“OCC” leader Lexington on Friday.
The Quakers won the first game (57-32) on January 3.
Ross says the Rams always give maximum effort.
“Luckily, we shot it really well out of the get go and then they
kind of stormed back. They did
play really hard. You wouldn't
know with the way they play what their record is,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We have got treat them with
respect as much as you can because they played really hard.
Their last game Friday they played at home versus Lexington and I
thought they gave them a great battle and they played really hard.” Published 2/06/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Buckeye
Central is Opportunities Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Chris Moyer
Buckeye Central entertains Carey in Northern 10 Athletic Conference
action on Friday night.
The Bucks (6-12,3-9) lost (59-48) to Monroeville in a non-conference
game on Tuesday night.
Coach Chris Moyer says they have been far too inconsistent,
especially on defense this year. “To
say the least, we've been pretty inconsistent here.
We've talked a lot about that with the kids here we're not consistent
at all on the defensive end and obviously our record reflects that.
We just talked about it again (Wednesday) night for us to have any
success we have got to learn to compete on the defensive end.
We can make excuses that we've had injuries and had kids out, but
ultimately it comes down to us just not defending at a high level and our
record shows that,” said Moyer.
Carey (5-11,5-6) was smoked (55-18) by conference leading Colonel
Crawford on Saturday.
They beat Buckeye (58-29) on December 27.
Moyer says the Blue Devils have things to play too.
“The first time they boat raced us the first game.
They got out to a big start. We
didn't show up in first quarter and only scored two points.
Those kids compete. They're trying to find their way as well.
Getting ready to go into the tournament, this is a big game for both
of us. We're both looking to get
a win and get some momentum going into the tournament draw Sunday,” he
said.
The tournament draw is Sunday and Moyer thinks if they improve their
play a little they can do some things. “I
will be honest, we've talked to our kids about that.
We've got to have momentum going into the tournament because it is up
for grabs. St. Paul, obviously,
is 13-5 and significantly ahead of the rest of us,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It is pretty open here.
We have an opportunity to potentially get a home game and to be able
to win a sectional here and go to a district and feel that we can compete
with everybody in our district.” Published 2/06/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Clear
Fork Ready to Get Going Click
here to listen to an interview with coach Scott Sellers
Clear Fork wraps up the regular season this week by hosting River
Valley in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play on Thursday and Cardington in
non-league action on Saturday.
On Sunday, they picked up the number one seed in their division V
district and will play Galion in their first tournament game on February 13.
Coach Scott Sellers says that seed is a reward for their season.
“Super excited about it. This
is year five for me and this coaching staff.
It's the first time we've had a one seed.
We've usually been anywhere between two and four as far as the seed
goes. So, where we went was a
little bit dictated to us. So,
for us this year we were really excited about it.
We ended up not taking a bye. There's
such a long gap this year between our last game, which is on the 8th
and then what would be the 19th of a district semi.
The last three years we haven't taken a bye when we could have.
Did the same thing this year. We
believe in playing and the kids are excited.
We have got senior night Thursday.
A couple games this week and then its tournament time.
So, it's a great time of year,” said Sellers.
Clear Fork (17-3,11-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at home against
River Valley (8-13,6-7) on Thursday.
The Lady Colts won at River Valley (42-30) on January 3.
Sellers says the Lady Vikings are always a tough matchup.
“The are challenge for everybody.
They won (Monday) night. They
played Cardington and won (Monday) night.
They have not won as many as they typically win, but they just seem
to play everybody well right. They
played us well. I think we won
by 12 the first time around. They've
been in every game with every good opponent this year.
They played Shelby tough for a stretch.
They were close with Pleasant when they played.
So, they have got Tim Chiles, he's been there a long time and they do
a really good job,” he said.
Ironically, River Valley beat Cardington (58-43) on Monday night.
Teams always want to be peaking at this time of the year and Sellers
says his kids are excited about what their potential is this year.
“This time of year every one of these games is just anticipation of
what we have got coming on in the tournament.
These two this week. Next
Thursday we open with Galion in the sectional final at home.
With the change in format, you get a home game and that's really
nice,” he told Swankonspots.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Then the
following week we go back to Shelby where they're hosting the district
tournament. So, every game
matters, every game is an opportunity to learn.
I can't tell you how excited we are just for this time of year.
It's really fun when you get to this time of year and everybody's
still excited to get in the gym and that's where we're at.” Published 2/05/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Crestview
Tries to Protect First Place Click
here to listen to an interview with coach John Kurtz
Crestview leads Norwalk St. Paul by a game in the Firelands
Conference and they host the Flyers on Wednesday night with sole possession
of first place in the conference at stake.
This game was supposed to be played on January 16, but was postponed
due to the weather. The teams
play again on February15 at St. Paul. That
game was originally on the schedule for February 21, but was moved up to
comply with the expanded OHSAA postseason tournament.
Crestview (14-2,9-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, beat Mapleton (59-56) on Friday
night in league action.
Coach John Kurtz says they were kind of fortunate to win.
“You have got to give them a lot of credit.
They shot the ball really well and we did not shoot the ball very
well. A little hangover from
maybe the Bellevue game, I don't know, but it was a tight one.
We had to pull it out the end and we're kind of just happy to get out
of there with a win,” he said.
Norwalk St. Paul (12-5,8-1) beat New London (62-30) in their last
league game on Friday.
Kurtz says they ahve experience and better depth.
“They return just about every player from last year's team.
We lost to them away last year. They're
big and they're guards do a good job shooting the basketball.
You have to be careful with that.
I think if you get in situations inside where you're putting up shots
that are highly contested and (Nolan) McCall is in there he's going to be a
problem for you,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Those
are things that right away stick out on film.
They have good depth also and they're getting contributions from
multiple guys. I think last year
they didn't quite get those contributions from other players like they do
this year. So, I guess those are
the things that I think would be the first and the second I find standing
out on film.”
St. Paul beat Crestview on a last second shot at St. Paul last year
to share the conference title with the Cougars.
Kurtz says a key for them Wednesday is to get the ball into the right
players hands. “I think you
have to be careful. A lot of
their games are in the 50s and 60s. So,
if you're taking bad shots you’re giving them opportunities to either get
run outs or you know get shots that maybe make it hard for you to come back
on. So, we've talked to our kids
this week about getting the right people getting the ball in the right spots
and trying to make sure that we're careful about that.
But they are high school kids and sometimes that doesn't always work
out,” said Kurtz. Published 2/05/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Crawford
Focus on Seneca East
Colonel Crawford, the leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference,
hosts Seneca East in an “N10” game on Friday night.
Thet lead Mohawk by just a game and play the Warriors next week.
They absolutely smothered Carey (55-18) last Saturday in a conference
game.
Coach David Sheldon says their half court defense was tremendous.
“I just thought defensively we were really good in the half court.
That's a good, athletic basketball team.
We really locked them down and put a lot of emphasis on the (Kyler)
Boes kid you'd had scored 30 points two out of the last three games.
Our guys just took it heart every time when we step on the court
defensively. Offensively, when
you get defensive stops, you're able to get out and run in transition, which
just basketball team likes to do,” said Sheldon.
Sheldon says their solid defense is based on their physicality.
“It comes back to what I talked earlier in the year about the
physicality of our basketball team and the athleticism.
The reason for that is that weight room where we spend a lot of time
between football and even during our basketball season to make our kids
better athletes that translates on the basketball floor,” he said.
Colonel Crawford (16-1,11-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, winner of 16 in a row,
plays at home against Seneca East (13-6,7-5) on Friday.
Sheldon says the Tiger guards make them a tough matchup.
“Two of the best guards in our league when you look at Mason and
Bordner. They've been very
successful the last three years this team has won.
We had a dogfight up there the first time when we went up there,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It's a good basketball
team that's been playing well. The
good thing is we get to play at home this time.
I have got the utmost respect for what coach (Anthony) Langhurst has
done with that program since taking over.
So, it's going to be a tough challenge anytime especially in this
league and Seneca East is a very good basketball team.”
Crawford won the first game (64-45) on January 4.
The Eagles play Mohawk next Wednesday, but Sheldon says their eyes
are on Seneca East. “It’s
game 12 of a 14 game journey. You've
heard me say that week after week the last three months and the most
important game is Seneca East come Friday night,” he said. Published 2/05/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Willard
Having More Fun
Willard will be up at Edison to meet the Chargers in a Sandusky Bay
Conference Bay Division game on Friday night.
They beat Galion (58-49) in a non-league game on Monday night.
Coach Joe Bedingfield says they had some kids step up.
“We started three freshmen on a road game.
Mason Dawson, who's our second leading scorer, didn't play.
I thought the kids did a nice job of using that as an opportunity.
We talked a lot about you know giving some guys opportunities and
they took full advantage of that. Some
kids stepped up with Jaxson Hall leading the way with 26 points and Kellen
Cooper, our senior leader, had 18. So,
really, really just feel good about the last couple games I think your kids
are playing hard and they're sharing the ball and they're starting to gel a
little bit more. It's good when
guys are out and the other guys step up, so that's a good sign,” said
Bedingfield.
Willard has won its last two games and Bedingfield feels they have
may have found a key. “I think
we still make a ton of mistakes, but they're hustle mistakes, they're
correctable mistakes. They are a
good group to coach. They're not
making the same mistake twice like maybe they were early in the year.
I think we're putting them in a different pace. I
think maybe sometimes things weren't working for a well and we are trying to
play at a different pace at times, score more points and get some more
opportunities. They seem to be
enjoying that a little bit more. I
think that's a big part of it is finding something that they enjoy doing and
playing at a different pace seems to be helping a little bit,” he said.
Willard (5-12,3-5) plays at Edison (5-1,2-6) on Friday night.
The Chargers beat South Central (81-61) in a non-conference game on
Tuesday night. They have won
four of their last five.
The Flashes won the first meeting (47-43) on January 3 at Willard.
Bedingfield says they have some kids that have picked up their game
too. “They're playing pretty
good. They beat Port Clinton at
Port Clinton. They have the (Coltyn)
Meagrow kid, who was kind of out for a little while, but he's come back.
He’s 6’4”, really athletic kid and rebounds the ball really
well. Then (Cole) Leimeister is
a point guard, a junior as well and doing a nice job.
Scoring a lot more than he was early in the year,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “He's just a quick little left-handed
guard that can shoot the ball pretty well and looking for a shot a lot more.
Going to their place it'll be a close game, just like it was at our
place. It's two teams that need
to win going into the tournament draw on Sunday, so it's a big game for both
teams.” Published 2/05/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Columbian
Has a Chance
Tiffin Columbian faces two tough games this week as they are at home
for Anthony Wayne in a non-conference game on Wednesday night and host
Sandusky in an “SBC” Lake Division game on Friday night.
They had a four game winning streak snapped by Bellevue (52-48) in a
division game on Saturday night.
Coach Ryan Fretz says their chances to win.
“It was a good game. We
got off to a slow start. Bellevue
is a really good defensive team. We
had to make some adjustments along the way and change some things up and we
did. We got ourselves back into
the game. Took the lead a
handful of times. We had
opportunities at the end just couldn't get it done there.
Bellevue was able to score when they needed to and get the stops when
they needed to and knocked down their free throws.
So, it was much closer the second time around playing them at home
we're a much better team. It
also shows us that we still have some things to work on our season
continues,” he said.
Columbian (9-10,4-4) hosts Anthony Wayne (12-4) out of the Northern
Lakes League on Wednesday.
Fretz says the Generals will be one of the biggest teams they face
all year. “They have some tall
guys across the board, some 6’4”, 6’5” maybe 6’7”.
I mean a true post player inside that can body people around.
They have got a handful of quick guards, guys that can shoot it.
So, they might be one of the biggest teams we play all year.
They've got a lot of weapons. If
you focus on their shooting they're going to pound it inside.
If you take away their shots, they can drive by you.
We have got to be able to get hands up on shooters, got to be able to
play the drive, but at the same time they are really good at rebounding the
basketball, whether that's on the offensive or defensive end.
So, it might be a little tougher for us to get some shots off, but as
long as we're moving the basketball the way we should I think we'll be able
to compete and should be able to give them our best shot,” said Fretz.
When it comes to Sandusky (11-6,7-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com
boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Friday, it
will b a different game.
The Blue Streaks beat Tiffin (72-69) on January 3.
Fretz says they remember that game.
“We were close with them for most of the game.
We gave up one 13-0 run and that's the way the Streaks play
basketball. As long as we can do
our best at limiting the runs and don't give them live ball turnovers and
easy buckets at the other end of the floor, I think we give ourselves a
chance,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Sandusky is
quick. They're going to come at
you with pressure. They can
shoot the ball from outside. I
think we still have a little bitter taste in our mouth from the game at
their place last time. We knew
we were close, but we were still growing and I think we've grown more since
then to the point where it'll be another good game at Columbian on Friday
night.” Published 2/05/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Harding
Looks for Test Versus Pleasant
Marion Harding, the second place team in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, plays at Pleasant on Friday night in an “MOAC” game.
The Presidents (16-3,10-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won three games last
week. They smoked Madison
(70-49) in a non-conference game on Tuesday, downed Clear Fork (62-44) on
Thursday and Ontario (70-47) on Saturday in league games.
Coach Jamie Pearson says they did what they had to do each night.
“Just happy you know game by game and to get three wins was big.
Two of them were league wins. We
played Madison, we have a lot of respect for them and the league they're in.
We know they have a new coach, who's getting things put together and
I'm sure the future will be bright there.
Going to Clear Fork has always been a tough place for us to play.
They have the (Garrett) Hotz kid, who's been really good all year.
They played this tough, but were able to break away toward the end of
the game. Then Saturday we
welcomed Ontario to our place. We
know about their young guns. They
have a very bright future with all those talented freshmen and sophomores.
They jumped on us early and our kids showed are composure.
They got some really tough shots and we showed composure.
We kind of fought back and then we were able to kind of dictate the
pace of the game. We have some
veteran guards and that helps. As
I said, they have got a lot of talent and they're learning every day.
I think their coach is doing a great job with him coach (Jerry) Moton,”
said Pearson.
Harding is at Pleasant (7-10,4-7) on Friday night.
The Spartans beat Ridgedale (56-35) in a non-league game on Monday
night.
Pearson says this is another rival game for them.
“I think the world of Pleasant and coach (Ben) Snively. I
think he's been around longer than anybody in the league.
They did something that we haven’t been able to do, which was beat
“RV” and then they you know they had them on the ropes the second time
in the fourth quarter. So,
anytime you play Pleasant it's one of those county rivalries.
For us it's a 10 minute bus ride to “RV” and a 15 minute bus ride
to Pleasant. They'll be excited
at their place. We were able to
take care of them in our place, but they always play us tough at their
place,” he said.
Harding won the first game between the two (61-30) on January 4.
Pearson says Pleasant has the kind of personnel to give them
problems. “They had a big win
against Ridgedale, another county rival this week, where they played really
well. They have some young guys
that get some varsity experience. (Alec)
Columber is one of them. You
have got (Evan) Sickmiller, their big kid and then they're senior (Lathan)
McCants is playing out of this world,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “A lot of challenges for us you know going to their
place in one of our last few league games of the season.
This would be a win for them they'd probably make their season to be
able to beat a county rival much like they did when they beat “RV”.
So, we'll definitely be ready. We
won't look by them and we'll do all we can do to try to come out on top.” Published 2/05/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Galion
Has to Handle the Ball
Galion entertains Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader River Valley in
an “MOAC” game on Friday night.
On Monday night, Willard snapped the Tigers five game winning streak
by beating Galion (58-49) in a non-conference game.
Coach Tyler Sanders says they did not execute very well against the
Willard zone. “Willard did a
great job. We hadn't seen a lot
of zone this year just because of our ability to shoot the ball.
Willard did throw a pretty aggressive zone at us and really made it
hard for us to get much ball movement. So,
we just struggled a little bit and kind of slowed us down and took us out
what we wanted to do. Six games
in 11 days too. I think trying
to find their legs a little bit. So,
gave the kids off (Tuesday), but they've been practicing hard and know that
they'll bring the energy (Wednesday) night,” said Sanders.
Galion (7-12,5-7) is at home for River Valley (15-2,10-1), #3 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division on Friday night. The
Vikings beat Highland (56-41) in a conference game on Tuesday night.
Sanders says the Vikings are the whole package.
“They really can do it all. They
have guys that can play multiple positions.
They have bigs, they have guards, they have guys that can really
shoot the ball, they have guys that can really get to the rim,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “It’s really kind of pick your
poison, but after the kind of basketball we have been playing we're really
looking forward to a good test and River Valley’s definitely going to
provide that for us.”
River Valley won the first meeting (73-41) on January 2.
Sanders says they must rebound better and limit their turnovers.
“That was still a little bit earlier in the season and our young
kids were still trying to find their footing and stuff and I think we've
done a better job of that. As
always, River Valley is really going to do a good job of hitting the glass.
They're really going to try to get into you and turn you over.
So, if you can get on the glass a little bit and you can do the job
valuing the basketball you can always give yourself a chance,” he said. Published 2/05/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Hillsdale in a Groove
Hillsdale,
a winner seven of its last nine, will play at Chippewa in a Wayne County
Athletic League game on Friday night.
They are at Rittman on Saturday in “WCAL” play.
On Tuesday night, they beat Northwestern (69-52) in a league game.
Coach Ben Ferguson says they gave great effort.
“We came in and we played really hard.
It was home game and we had a really big crowd.
It's what I'll call it a crosstown rivalry.
It's our nearest geographically located Wayne County League school.
It was a nice crowd and the boys played really well.
I think their team played really hard. I
give them a lot of credit for playing hard.
A couple of their guys have big nights.
(Mason) Myers had a big night and Wahied (Fasihi) had a big night
they had 18 and 16 points. We
came away with the win,” said Ferguson.
After a late start to their season, Ferguson says they are starting
to hit their stride. “I'm
really happy. We just got a late
start due to football and at times it's physical fatigue, at times it's
mental fatigue, it's a lot of games. We're
playing three times a week. At
this point in time, I think that we're heading in the right direction
heading into the tournament,” he said.
Hillsdale (13-5,7-4) over at Chippewa (9-10,5-7) on Friday night.
Tuesday night the Chipps beat Rittman (61-30) in league play.
They also beat Hillsdale (66-57) on January 3.
Ferguson says Chippewa just couldn't miss that night.
“The last time we played Chippewa they got us at home.
It was earlier in the season. They
scored 66 points, which is quite a bit more than what we typically give up.
We typically give up under 50,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday night, “They shot really well and we shot very poorly.
I give them a lot of credit. That's
a team that really scraps and hustles. They
beat us down the floor six or seven times throughout the game and inevitably
turned into a three-point shot not even a layup, but a three-point shot.
I think they shot 67% from three against this last time.” Published 2/05/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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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 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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St.
Paul Will Have to Handle a Lot
In the first of two games over the next 10 days, Norwalk St. Paul is
at Crestview in a huge game in the Firelands Conference on Wednesday night.
The two also play at St. Paul on February 15.
The Flyers also play Mapleton on Thursday and Western Reserve on
Saturday in conference a games against teams playing well.
St. Paul coach Steve Minor says its’s definitely a tough stretch
for them. “It certainly is.
You have got to play everybody twice eventually, so might as well get
them all in a row,” he said.
Right now, St. Paul (12-5,8-1) trails Crestview (14-2,9-0), #5 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school
division, by a game in the Firelands Conference standings.
Minor says the Cougars force them to prepare for a lot.
“The easy answer is it all starts with Justice Thompson, but I mean
they're so well coached. They
are a group that's used to winning and so they have tons of confidence going
into this going for their third conference title in a row.
The way that they've been able to play this year. I
thought they have played really well this year having to replace some key
members of their squad the last two runs.
So, we just have to be prepared for everything and anything they can
throw at us because they can man you up, they can zone you, they can full
court press you, they can trap your first pass, they can bull rush your
point. They just they throw the
kitchen sink and they do it well,” said Minor.
Minor says, of course, they wish they could blow Crestview out, but
that’s likely won’t happen. “In
a fairy tale world you'd like it, but in reality.
As long as we stay at pace with them and keep ourselves in the game
it’s crunch time that that last quarter, the last two minutes.
It might come down to the last who knows,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We have got to make plays.
Kids have got to make the plays.
We've had enough time to have everything we think we need to, but
coach (John) Kurtz is a great coach. I'm
sure everything I'm prepared for he's got other stuff that that I wouldn't
even have thought of that that's just because he's that good.” Published 2/04/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Upper
Has to Score
Upper Sandusky plays at Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leader
Mohawk on Tuesday night in a conference game.
The Rams stuffed Seneca East (50-38) last Tuesday in a conference
game.
Coach Jeff Winslow says he was really pleased with how they defended
the Tigers. “We played really
well. Going over there is tough.
It’s a little bit different type of gym with the lighting and
things and background that you have to adjust to.
A lot of times you don't shoot well over there, but we shot pretty
decent. They've won 13 games for
a reason. They have got two of
the better guards in the area. Our
guys did a really good job of limiting those two.
We got double digit lead and kind of kept it there the rest of the
game. Pretty help happy anytime
you go on the road at a place like that and get a win,” he said.
Upper (13-4,7-3) is at Mohawk (15-1,9-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com
boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Tuesday
night. The Warriors manhandled
Buckeye Central (78-37) on Thursday night in a league game and then smoked
Hillsdale (62-38) in a tournament setting on Saturday.
Winslow says they just do everything well.
“I know a lot about them, but I went and watched them live again
when they played at Smithville, and a little tournament thing, against
Hillsdale and man they're good, they're just good.
They have got a bunch of guys that can handle it. They got a bunch of
guys who can shoot it. 10
seniors on the roster. Their
point guard, he's really tough to keep out of the paint and then the two
wings really shoot the ball well. The
(Kahne) Hayman kid, one of the wings, he's a really hard guy to guard,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “He killed us the last time
because he's so strong and athletic and he gets to the rim and he can shoot
the three. Then they have got a
6’7”, athletic kid inside that alters and block shots, rebounds and can
score un putbacks and things. So,
they have got a real nice combination of guards and bigs and older guys that
have played three or four years. They're
a really good team. They are
15-1 for a reason. So, to go
over there and try to stay in the basketball game and get a win is going to
be a tough task for us to play well.”
Mohawk beat Upper Sandusky (56-30) on December 20 on a night when
then Rams were dealing with some sickness.
Winslow says they have to get better shots than they have been
getting against the really good teams they have played.
“That was the problem the first time with Mohawk. They
kind of sped us up a little bit in the half court and it was too much one on
five trying to beat people off the bounce.
We have played well lately by scoring a bunch of points.
We have moved the ball and shared ball, pass and cut.
We've got to commit to playing that type of basketball against their
aggressive style. If we do that
we can score. If we try to rely
on one-on-one dribbling then it's going to be a long night.
They're hard to score against. It’s
tough to score in the paint because the 6’7” kid alters everything.
You are going to have to go over there and shoot well to loosen them
up a little bit. Hopefully, we
do that with some good ball movement and then shot selection,” said
Winslow. Published 2/04/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Ashland
Finding it
Ashland faces a pair of games going into Sunday’s tournament draw
this week as they play at Clear Fork in a non-conference game on Tuesday and
at home against “OCC” leader Lexington in and Ohio Cardinal Conference
game on Friday night.
Coach Jason Hess liked the way they played in an “OCC” win over
Wooster (69-56) on Tuesday and a loss to Massillon (86-81) in non-conference
play on Saturday. “We actually
both games last week Tuesday and Saturday.
We played some of our best basketball of the year.
It's been exciting here the last couple of weeks to see our guys
continue to improve and to get better and play really good team basketball.
We've had three and four guys in double figures the last couple games
which makes it a lot tougher for opponents to guard us,” he said.
Clear Fork (5-12) have lost their last four games.
However, Hess says Garrett Hotz is a problem for them.
“They've got one big senior there that's really carrying the load
for them. He scores a lot.
He can score inside and outside.
It's going to be a little bit of a tough matchup because most of the
teams we've been playing lately are really guard oriented.
So, we've got just a short prep week this week, one day to prepare.
We're going to have to kind of change gears in order to start working
on guarding the post a little bit more than we have the last few weeks,”
said Hess.
Ashland (9-7,5-5) hosts Lexington (16-3,10-1), #1 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Friday night. The
Minutemen smoked Mansfield Senior (84-64) last Tuesday to take the “OCC”
lead and earned no less than co-title with a (63-49) win over Madison on
Friday. They win it outright if
they beat Ashland.
Hess says they must handle the pressure defense and compete on the
boards. “There's a reason why
they're at the top of the league. They've
got a very talented group of kids that have multiple weapons that can beat
you inside and out. One of the
things that jumps out just every time you watch them play is how hard they
play defense. How much they
pressure and disrupt things you want to do offensively,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Taking care of the basketball,
valuing the basketball is going to be extremely important.
Hopefully, we were able to learn and get some experience with that
last week against Massillon. The
other thing that's going to be key is if we can keep them off the offensive
glass. Our guys are going to
really have do a good job boxing out and rebounding there on the defensive
end.”
Lexington won the first meeting (71-54) on January 3.
Right now, Ashland stands in fourth in the RPI standings in their
division III district. Hess says
these are important wins for them. “We
have got these two games and then our draw is next Sunday.
So, it's exciting for us to have an opportunity here at division III
to maybe bump up one spot, but at least solidify that number four spot in
the district where we should be able to get a home game possibly for that
first round. It's just an
exciting time of the year. Like
I said earlier, it's exciting to see our guys playing their best basketball
here in February,” said Hess. Published 2/04/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Mansfield
Christian Must Limit Turnovers
It’s the biggest game of the season for the Mansfield Christian
Flames as they are at Kidron Central Christian for a huge game in the
Mid-Buckeye Conference on Friday night.
Right now, the Flames trail Central Christian by game in the
conference standings and this will be their final conference game of the
season.
They have won five of their last six, including a (70-49) win over
Lucas on Friday night in “MBC” play.
Coach Cary Craner says they are playing some pretty good basketball.
“We are starting to figure some things.
I can't complain, we gave Monroeville a pretty good game.
We were down I think two or four with about four minutes ago.
We had to start fouling and that happens.
We're playing pretty good basketball right now,” he said.
The Flames lost (53-46) to Monroeville of the Firelands Conference on
Saturday night.
Mansfield Christian (10-8,6-1) is at Kidron Central Christian
(12-5,6-0) on Friday night. The
Comets beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (80-58) in a conference game last
Friday.
Kidron won the first matchup (51-47) on January 3.
Craner says the Comets will show you a lot of pressure.
“Central Christian is playing a really good right now.
I think they're close to us as far as record wise.
They get up after you on defense.
They're playing pretty physical.
It's a tough place to play. We
have got to go over there in their gym and it's always a hard place to go
over and perform and play. They're
a different team. They don't
play their zone defense anymore. They
really get after you. So, I'm
looking forward to this game,” said Craner.
Craner says to get the win they must limit their turnovers, something
they didn’t do very well last time. “I
think that's one of the things that hurt us the first time we played them
down the stretch. I think we
were up close to double digits in going into fourth or so and down the
stretch we turned the ball over too much,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday night, “They do like to play a lot of full court man or a lot of
traps. So, that’s something we
have got to be prepared for and be stronger with the basketball, value the
basketball and if we can take care of the ball, I think we're in pretty good
shape.” Published 2/04/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Western
Playing Well; Facing Tough Week
Western Reserve, a winner of five of its last six, plays at
Monroeville on Thursday and at home with Norwalk St. Paul Saturday in
Firelands Conference games this week.
Last week, they beat South Central (72-27) on Friday night in a
conference game and Wellington (61-46) in non-league play on Saturday.
Coach Chris Sheldon says he likes what he sees.
“We've got a nice little stretch here where we're starting to piece
things together and play pretty well basketball wise from the offensive and
defensive side of the ball. I
think the biggest thing just keeps coming back is what I've been saying
we're taking good shots, we’re making the extra passes.
We're able to run our offense a lot more efficiently and not forcing
the issue as much. When we do
that, we've been way more consistent and that's obviously leading to better
results,” said Sheldon.
Western (7-9,6-5) makes the trip over to Monroeville (10-6,7-4) on
Thursday night. The Eagles have
won four of their last five, including a (48-38) win over Plymouth in league
action last Friday.
Sheldon says they do a good job of staying on the game plan and they
are hard to score on. “Honestly
would say the same thing, they don't beat themselves.
They play within what their ability is on the offensive end.
They play to their strengths. They're
really long and strong. They do
a great job and just keeping you in front of them defensively and make you
earn everything you get. That
combination is really boded well for them as of late.
We know they kicked our butts the first time around and we have got
to go now to their place. It's
going to be a tremendous challenge. One
that's going to require 32 minutes a really good basketball by us,” said
Sheldon.
Right now, St. Paul (12-5,8-1) trails Crestview by one and they play
them on Wednesday. The Flyers
beat Western Reserve (49-41) in their first game on January 3.
Sheldon says they will have to play very well if they are to win.
“We definitely have a tough stretch here this week.
They’re co-champs just as much as Crestview is from a year ago.
They’re only a game back and they have a lot of guys that have been
in the battles playing high school varsity basketball now with a lot of two,
three year letter winners. They're
really getting better contributions, even more balance from some of their
other guys that have joined them,” he told Swankosports.com on Monday
afternoon, “Again one of those where we've got to try to take a couple of
their strengths away to make life a little more difficult for them at the
offensive end. Then for us we've
got to make them come out and guard us.
We've got to make them guard all five spots on the floor and the best
way to do that is to play through our motion.” Published 2/04/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Calvert
to Face Improved Lakota
Tiffin Calvert, in second place, two games back, in the River
Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, travels to Lakota to face the
Raiders in a division game on Tuesday night.
They handled Sandusky St. Mary’s (59-36) in a division game on
Friday.
Coach Jon Otterbacher says they were able to dominate the paint.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of pounding the ball inside
early on and finding the open post. They
actually combined for 40 points, which obviously led the team.
So, it's hard to stop our inside game when they're both scoring and
taking care of the ball down there. (St.
Mary’s is) very improved. They
got a lot of nice guards, but we were just able to have a little bit more
size than they did and pound the ball inside on them,” said Otterbacher.
The Senecas (15-3,12-2) have relied a lot on their inside scoring
this year, but Otterbacher says their guard play has improved a lot.
“The more game experience you get, the better you're going to be.
We were pretty inexperienced coming in losing our top guards from
last year and even the last couple of years,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday night, “Starting a sophomore point guard and a junior guard, who
was on the JV team last year. I
think they've gotten more comfortable and really thrived in the situations
where teams take away the post and they're going to be open on the perimeter
and they've done a great job.”
Lakota (10-8,7-7) beat Hopewell-Loudon (45-36) in a division game
last Friday.
Calvert won the first meeting (77-52) on January 4.
Otterbacher says the Raiders have a lot of size and that can give
teams problems. “They're so
big, strong and physical and they're an up and coming group that's been
playing extremely well with I think they start three sophomores and two
juniors. So, they've got a lot
of size and athleticism inside. They've
got a couple of nice guards. They're
going to throw everything they can at us to take us off,” he said. Published 2/04/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Norwalk
Looks for Battle with Bellevue
Norwalk plays at Bellevue in a game in the Lake Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference on Friday night.
The Truckers scored more points than they been but gave up too many
in an (80-70) loss to Clyde in a division game on Friday.
Coach Adam Kreischer says they really ran out of gas in the second
half. “We scored a lot better
obviously. We handled the
pressure well. We're able to
attack that early. We got off to
a really nice start in the first quarter.
Led by four or five at halftime.
Third quarter they scored way too many points. I think we scored 18
points, but I think they might have had 29 points in the third quarter.
For the way we defend that's just giving up way too many points, but
they were able to get out in transition and made some shots. So,
they got to the foul line. I
think that just our lack of depth got to us a little bit too and just got a
little bit tired,” said Kreischer.
Norwalk (7-11,1-7) hosts Bellevue (11-6,5-3) on Friday night.
The Redmen broke a three game losing streak with a (52-48) win over
Tiffin Columbian on Saturday night.
Kreischer says at full strength Bellevue is a very good team.
“I'm not sure how many of those losses, I know at least two of
them, I'm not sure whether he played in the Crestview game or not, but I
think Ike Brown, who I think is probably their best player all around, just
a great athlete, good basketball player, they were without him for at least
two of those losses, if not all three. Very
different team with him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening,
“I know he's back, so we'll get them at full strength.
We played a nice game with them last time as we watched the film back
again this weekend. We made some
mistakes down the stretch in that game that kind of cost it for us.
It was a 36-34 game with them last time at our place.
I think our guys believe that we can play with them it's just a
matter of executing on both ends of the floor.”
Kreischer says both teams want to score more points, but it won’t
be easy. “I think that they
like a little more up tempo and we would as well, but it just comes down to
sometimes against them when both of us sit back and play good defense.
We scout each other well and know each other stuff and you can start
to take away things that the other team does really well and have to score
from second and third and even fourth options at times.
Those things don't work out as well for you sometimes on the
offensive end and that's what kind of holds those point totals down,” he
said. Published 2/04/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
More
Divisions, More Decisions
It’s a brave new world in the State of Ohio with seven divisions
instead of four and the first step in the process in the girls’ basketball
tournament began Sunday the drawling of brackets.
In division III, there is a district hosted by Buckeye Central High
School where Norwalk (19-1), the “SBC” Lake leader, is the top seed,
Ashland (13-5), the “OCC” leader second, and Tiffin Columbian (11-8)
third.
The matchups are the Arrows at the home for Mansfield Senior (2-14)
on Thursday, February 13. The
winner will play Columbian at Buckeye on Wednesday the 19th.
The lower bracket games have Mansfield Madison (7-13) at Sandusky
(7-11) and Norwalk hosting Toledo Waite (1-14). The
winners meet the 19th.
In a NE District game Wooster (3-17) plays at Louisville (8-11) on
Saturday, February 15.
Also, in the Central District, Marion Harding (7-12) visits Hamilton
Township (9-9) on Wednesday, February 12.
In division IV, most of the schools covered by Swankonsports.com play
in a district at Bucyrus High School. There
the number one seed is Bellevue (19-1), number two is Shelby (17-2), number
three is Upper Sandusky (13-6) and number four Sandusky Perkins (7-12).
“The draw went as we expected it to go.
We were seeded number one and went right in the first spot on the
bracket and figured we would end up playing Ontario at our place,” said
Bellevue coach Kory Santoro.
The games are all the gym of the higher seed on February 13.
The winners will play at Bucyrus the 19th.
Ontario (4-15) is at Bellevue and Vermilion (6-14) is at Perkins in
the upper bracket. Shelby hosts
Lexington (9-9) and Upper is home for Clyde (10-11) in lower bracket games.
“The draw went as expected. Focused
on finishing up the regular season strong.
We have three big games this week.
Then we will focus on starting tourney play,” said Shelby coach
Natalie Lantz.
River Valley (8-13) will be at home for Jonathon Alder (4-14) on
Tuesday, February 11 in a Central District game in division IV.
West Holmes (9-10) hosts Cambridge (5-12) in a contest in the East
District on February 13.
Shelby High School is the site for a Division V district where Clear
Fork (17-3) is top seeded, followed by Willard (13-6) and Port Clinton
(11-8).
“We are excited for the post season,” said Clear Fork coach Scott
Sellers, “With such a long break between games, we felt in best play
versus taking a bye.”
In the upper bracket, the Lady Colts host Galion (3-17) on February
13 with the winner playing Edison (9-11) at Shelby on February 19.
In sectional finals in the lower bracket on the 13th
Crestview (9-9) at Willard and Port Clinton hosts Huron (7-10).
“We are excited with the opportunity to play a sectional final game
on our home court and look forward to preparing for the teams we will
face,” said Willard coach Alanna Bedingfield.
In games in the Central District in Division V, Fredericktown (17-3)
hosts Columbus Academy (7-9), Marion Pleasant (15-6) hosts Worthington
Christian (8-11) on February 11, Highland (5-14) is at Fairbanks, and
Northmor (7-13) is North Union (17-2) on Valentine’s Day,
In the NE District on Wednesday, February 12, Chippewa (12-8) hosts
Warren Champion and Wooster Triway (8-12) is at Pymatuming Valley.
Games on February 15 on Akron Manchester (2-19) is at Norwayne
(15-3), Youngstown Monney is at Canton South (15-4), Massillon Tuslaw (13-6)
hosts Clearview, Orrville (6-13) is at Chagrin Falls, and Northwestern
(4-16) is at Burton Berkshire.
There is a division VI district at Willard High School.
Margaretta (20-4) is the top seed, Colonel Crawford (18-2) number two
and Wynford (15-5) in number three.
“Our district is super competitive.
There are so many quality teams who are talented and well coached,”
said Colonel Crawford coach Zac Bauer, “We’re looking forward to the
opportunity to play for a sectional championship on our home floor when the
time comes,”
In the upper bracket Western Reserve (5-13) is at Buckeye Central
(9-11) in sectional semifinal on February 11 with the winner plays Colonel
Crawford in the sectional final the 15th.
In the other final Mansfield Christian (15-3) is at New London (14-4)
also the 15th.
“Going into the draw (Sunday), I knew it was going to be tough team
regardless, because I truly believe this one of the tougher districts in the
state from top to bottom. With
that being said, I am happy with getting the four seed and at least
positioning us in the best place we could.
I know Mansfield Christian has a nice team and Megan does a nice job
with them down there. So,
we’ll get through the rest of the regular season and get prepared for the
next Saturday. This should be
fun one,” said New London coach Eric Mitchell.
In the lower bracket, there are two finals with Monroeville (13-7) at
Wynford and Margaretta is at home for Bucyrus (1-19) both February 15.
“We are looking forward to playing for a sectional championship and
being able to host with this new tournament format,” said Wynford coach
Amy Taylor-Sheldon.
As far as the Central District, Mt. Gilead (7-11) plays at Cardington
(10-0) on February 13 with the winner at East Knox (8-9) on the 18th.
Also on the 18th, Centerburg (16-3) entertains Marion
Elgin,
Over in the NE District, Hillsdale (5-14) is at LaBrae on February
12. On February 15, Dalton
(11-8) hosts East Palestine, Waynedale (10-9) is at Columbia, Smithville
(18-2) hosts Campbell Memorial, Mapleton (16-4) hosts Independence and
Loudonville (13-7) hosts Black River.
Shelby also will host a division VII district.
There Danbury-Lakeside (15-3) is the top seed, followed by Seneca
East (13-6) and Lucas (10-8).
In sectional finals on February 15, Sandusky St, Mary’s (1-17) is
at Seneca East, Plymouth (5-14) hosts Norwalk St. Paul (2-18), Danbury is at
home South Central (1-19), and Crestline (2-15) is at Lucas,
Fostoria High School also will host in division VII.
The number one seed is Tiffin Calvert (16-3), number two is Arcadia
(14-5) and number three is Arlington (7-11).
On February 12, Fremont St, Joe (4-14) is at New Riegel (1-18) with
the winner playing at Calvert on February 15.
Also on February 15, Mohawk (3-16) travels to Vanlue in the upper
bracket.
In sectional finals in the lower bracket on the 15th
Hopewell-Loudon (6-13) is at Arcadia and Old Fort (7-10) at Arlington.
In a game in the Central District, Danville (0-19) is Fisher Catholic
on February 13.
There are a couple games in the NE district, Kidron Central Christian
(10-7) is at home for Cuyahoga Heights and Rittman (0-19) at Cornerstone
Christian. |
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Clear
Fork to Play its Game
Clear Fork, the second place team in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, plays at Highland in a conference game on Friday night.
With just three games left in the regular season coach Scott Sellers
says they are still refining what they do.
“Just continued skill development.
We need to keep shooting, need to keep doing the fundamental work
every day. We're all about pace
and pressure and poise. We
preach it every day. We have got
a game (Friday). We have got two
next week, to include senior night and the tournament draw is this Sunday.
We stay super positive with our kids.
We love how we're playing. We
have three losses this year. Two
of them are the same team and Shelby, who's ranked sixth in the state and
division IV and the other one is to Bellevue we lost by two and they are
ranked number one in the state and division IV.
They are two very, very good teams.
So, there's a lot of positives from there.
If you look back at last couple of years. I
would say our style this year has worked really well against some of the
upper tier teams and it's a lot of sustaining gains that historically I
think we may have either had close ones or lost, so a lot of positives this
time of the season for us,” said Sellers.
Clear Fork (16-3,10-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Highland
(5-13,4-8) on Friday. The Lady
Colts won the first meeting (56-28) on December 28.
Sellers says Highland is going to try and do a lot of the things they
try to do. “The first time
around we were at home and shot the ball really well. I
think it was right around 30 points. Second
to us they shoot the most threes in the in the conference.
They will get it up and down. They
typically like to sit in the zone, but they do some nice things in man.
Withing the “MOAC” itself we take every game seriously.
I don't want to be cliche about that, but we do.
We watch film, we scout, we prepare, the same way against Highland as
we do against River Valley, who’s coming up next week.
The same way we do it against somebody like Pleasant.
So, for us this time of year we want to get into the tournament on a
nice role and starts (Friday),” he said.
Sellers says they have to extend their defense a little more.
“I think just the pressure and communicating, getting out and
extending a little bit and causing quite a bit of havoc.
It's worked well for us against the best teams on our schedule, like
a Bellevue or Shelby and some of the teams that aren't as good,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We're going to continue to play
the way we play. Get after it,
sub like we do, sprint the floor like we do and extend our zone and kind of
trap where we can. I like our
chances. The kids are ready.
It's nice being back in the gym after six days after a really tough
loss last week, so we're really excited to start playing again.” Published 1/31/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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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 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
||
Colonel
Crawford Can Win Outright Title
Colonel Crawford is in position to win its first ever Northern 10
Athletic Conference girls’ basketball title.
They can win it outright with a win at home against second place
Seneca East on Friday night.
A win by the Lady Tigers would create a tie at the top of the
standings.
Coach Zac Bauer says they look forward to the opportunity.
“You always want to be in a position to play for a league
championship. We tell the girls
that's the number one goal going in and they all know that.
We are very fortunate have the opportunity to play for a league
championship,” she said.
Bauer says to win a league championship takes a lot of dedication
from players and coaches. “From
both ends from not only the coaches, the coaches families and the kids and
their own families. It's a lot
of time away. A lot of mental
focus and clarity. Focusing for
two or three hours a day six days a week.
It's a grind, but you do it because you love it.
You don't do it because you have to. You like the people that you do
it with,” said Bauer.
Colonel Crawford (16-2,10-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Seneca East
(13-5,9-3), on Friday night. The
Lady Tigers lost (48-28) to third place Wynford in a conference game on
Tuesday night and fell out of a share of first place.
Crawford rocked Seneca East (54-32) on December 28.
Bauer says they Lady Tigers have scorers and they have a lot of
varsity experience too. “They're
an experienced team. A lot of
those girls have been playing basketball at varsity level since they were
freshmen. They are well coached,
big, athletic, physical and shoot the ball really well, run the floor
well,” he told Swanknsports.com on Thursday night, “Izzy Stockmaster
(15.4 ppg) is one of the top scorers in our league. Alexa
Snay (14.2 ppg) the same getting almost a double double every game.
They are solid all around and we will have our hands full.” Published 1/31/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
||
Bellevue
Needs to Make Shots
Bellevue plays at Tiffin Columbian on Saturday night in a game in the
Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division.
On Wednesday night, the Redmen lost (52-36) to Crestview, the
Firelands Conference leader.
Coach Ed Rich says they played outstanding defense, but they
couldn’t make any shots. “They
are good team. Actually, was a
really good game the whole way through until the end.
We started amping up our pressure a little bit, started fouling them.
It was a close game. We
had plenty of chances, but we're really struggling to put the ball in the
basket right now. I thought we
did an excellent job defending, especially a player of Justice Thompson’s
caliber. I thought we did a
great job defending him and defending overall,” said Rich.
Rich says they need to find some confidence on the offensive end of
the floor. “We have not shot
the ball very well since the Upper game where we went like 10-12 from three
in the second half. So, we have
not shot of very well since then and that was three games ago.
So, we're kind of searching for an answer here and searching for a
little bit of confidence and see a couple go through and we really need it
now. I think we are on a three
game skid, which is the longest skid we've had here in the last couple of
years. So, we're looking for
some shots to go,” he said.
Bellevue (10-6,4-3) visits Tiffin Columbian (9-9,4-3) on Saturday
night. Tiffin beat Sandusky
Perkins (57-47) in a division game on Wednesday night.
It was their sixth win in seven games.
The Redmen smoked Columbian (66-39) on December 20.
However, Rich says this is a different team they are playing.
“They are playing extremely well.
The first time around we played them we knew they were dangerous.
We played extremely well against them and beat them pretty soundly.
They're a lot different right now.
They're playing with tons of confidence.
They're playing with tons of good continuity with each other.
They're jumping out to early leads in some of these games,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They're just playing extremely
well on both sides of the ball offensively and defensively.
Some guys are really stepping up and knocking down shots and helping
out the (Zach) Shawberry kid. He
carries most of the load, but he's got guys around him now that are starting
to score for them as well. So,
right now they're pretty dangerous.” Published 1/31/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Willard
Needs More Depth
Willard will be home on Friday night for a game in the Bay Division
of the Sandusky Bay Conference.
In their last outing, they lost (60-49) to Huron in a division game
on Saturday.
Coach Joe Bedingfield says they still lack consistency.
“We got off to a really bad start down 15-2 at the end of the first
quarter. Down 13 going in a
second and end up losing by 11. Sometimes
we just don't play a complete game and that's been the story of the whole
year. We have just got to
continue to find ways to plug some guys in and maybe get some substitution
patterns at this point. Give
some guys some experience, but also trying to figure out a rotation it's
working. Sometimes we give some
guys a little bit of a longer leash on the court.
We have just got to continue to try to figure it out, that's part of
coaching. We're working hard,
our kids attitudes are good. We
have just got to get that one win and hopefully get to playing good
basketball at the right time,” said Bedingfield.
Bedingfield adds there are still some fundamental things his young
club is learning. “I think
winning has a lot to do with getting things turned around in the right
direction. I think we're
searching. We're showing them different mistakes that we're making whether
it's not valuing the ball, not rotating the right way defensively, not
necessarily knowing who to guard at certain times with our different
defenses that we're trying to do. I
think the biggest thing is we have got to find what works for each opponent
and we have got to find what works for our kids.
It's been kind of a lull on the offensive end of trying to score it.
We're going to try to do a better job of building confidence and
making sure that our kids are still playing Willard basketball the way they
should,” he said.
Willard (3-12,2-5) hosts Port Clinton (6-10,2-5) on Friday night.
The Redskins lost (60-59) to Edison in a division game on Tuesday
night. They beat Willard in
their first meeting (52-46) on December 28.
Bedingfield says Port Clinton will have a size advantage.
“They’ve won some games. They
had a tough one the other night against Edison.
They have two nice sized post players.
They have some size advantage with Speer and Finn inside.
They had a nice game the other night with double double for Finn.
They changed their starting lineup as well.
One guard coming off the bench Johnny Peck hit 5 threes the other
night. They haven't been
shooting the ball really well from the outside, but with their lineup change
it kind of makes them a little bit dangerous to go and double on their bigs,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They beat us last time
because we turned the ball over too much against them.
They have good size and get out passing lanes and did a good job and
they scored and converted off them. So,
we have got to take care of the ball and we're going to have to limit their
offense rebounds for sure have to a chance to win at home Friday.” Published 1/31/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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New
Philadelphia Wants to Control Tempo
New Philadelphia makes the long trip to Mansfield Senior to face the
Tygers in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on Saturday night.
The Quakers (9-7,5-4), winners of five of their last seven, hammered
West Holmes (60-32) in an “OCC” game on Tuesday night.
Coach Zach Ross says they had to overcome some adversity and they
were very unselfish on Tuesday. “I
thought our guys did a really good job.
We had a couple of depth guys get hurt before the game.
We had a starter sick before that.
So, it was kind of a good culture night for us to kind of see where
we're at. Kind of next man up
mentality. I thought our guys
did a good job of going out and doing the right things. I
thought we had 15 assists, I believe, off of the top of my head.
So, I was really proud of that and how we shared the ball and played
together,” said Ross.
Mansfield Senior (10-5,7-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, won the first meeting
between the two (62-57) way back on December 6.
On Tuesday night, Lexington drilled Mansfield Senior (84-64) in a
battle for first place.
Ross says they Tygers will likely be foul mood.
“They're probably going to be pretty pissed after that game, so
we’ll kind of make sure our guys are aware of that.
After coming off that game and then we have to go to Senior, a really
difficult place to play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night,
“I think they have got one of the best players in the league, if not the
best, in Rone. He's such an
elite basketball player with the speed he plays, he's never in panic mode.
He's such an elite passer. All
of the guys they have got shooting around him makes it really tough to
guard. Then defensively, they're
on ball defense is as good as you'll see in the league.”
To have success against Mansfield Senior, Ross says you must handle
that on ball pressure. “Kind
of a big emphasis (Thursday) in practice was handling pressure.
Trying to find ways to get easy chances.
To make sure they're not speeding you up.
It's just easier said than done.
So, it's going to be good for our guys to go into this environment
and see what happens. See if we
can get dictate the tempo and the pace to which the game is played and try
to keep it in our favor,” he said. Published 1/31/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Calvert
More Dynamic
Tiffin Calvert, in second place in the River Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference, plays host to Sandusky St. Mary’s in a division game on
Friday night.
On Tuesday night, they stuffed Hopewell-Loudon (59-38) in River
Division play.
Coach Jon Otterbacher says a good start was key.
“We came away that was a tough road game.
They always play us tough. They
have so many good athletes it's hard to tell what they're going to do to
you. I thought we played well
and got out to the early lead and sustained that and we're able to come away
with a 20 point victory,” said Otterbacher.
Calvert has won 10 of its last 11 games and Otterbacher says they
have shown a lot of improvement over the first two months of the season.
“I think we're getting more dynamic.
The more games we play, the more experience we have.
Our guards are very young and working them in and getting them more
game reps is definitely helping out a lot,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday night, “It's a lot easier when you're throwing it into 6’5”
post who knows how to finish. So,
with our shooting that's coming along great we're going to be hard to
defend.
The Senecas (14-3,11-2) entertain Sandusky St. Mary’s (5-9,5-7) on
Friday night. The Panthers has
won their last two division games, including a (53-29) blasting of Fremont
St. Joe on Tuesday night.
Calvert won the first game (45-39) December 21.
Otterbacher says they are both disciplined and athletic.
“They're just like Hopewell, they're very athletic, very well
coached, run a lot of nice sets. They
played us tough the first time. So,
we're going to have to be ready to battle for 32 minutes,” he said. Published 1/31/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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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 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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River
Valley Expects Battle With Shelby
River Valley, the outright leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, plays at home against defending league champion Shelby on
Thursday night.
Right now, Shelby trails by two games.
The Vikings (13-2,8-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, outlasted Marion
Harding (56-49) in the battle for first place last Friday.
Coach Rodney Brown says it was a quality win.
“Going on the road at a tough place to play against a good team.
We got out early and were able to never let the lead go.
Just proud of the kids for battling and playing in front of a great
crowd, packed atmosphere for them,” he said.
Chase Ebert had 21 to lead the Vikings past Harding.
However, River Valley has four players that average in double figures
and Brown says that balance is a real key for them.
“We've had, let me think about this, we've had five different guys
I believe lead us in scoring at any given night this year.
We're balanced even with the starters.
It's just been fun. The
kids work well to share it. If
somebody gets hot they know to get it to him.
It's just good basketball,” he said.
Shelby (10-6,7-3) has won four of its last five games, including a
(65-50) win over Highland in league play last Friday night.
River Valley did take them to the woodshed to the tune of (94-64) at
Shelby on December 20.
Brown says Shelby is playing well right now and they are hard to
defend on the offensive end. “They're
going to want to get the pay back. They're
playing well right now. So, we
have to stop DeVito or two to slow him down the best we can.
He's playing really, really well right now,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We got to defend again.
It seems like the M.O. right now.
Teams have got shooters, have got a lot of guys capable of making
baskets, and they rebound hard. So,
we're going to have to move the basketball, box out, get all the loose balls
and get try to get another win at home.” Published 1/30/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Clear
Fork Still Having Fun
Clear Fork has a couple of games this week in play in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference as they are at home for Marion Harding on Thursday and
at Shelby on Saturday.
The Colts were outscored (82-68) by Galion in an “MOAC” game on
Monday night.
They have lost three of their last four, but coach Brandon
Baumgardner says they are still having fun and working hard.
“I was telling them the other day how proud I am of the work ethic.
With the way the season has kind of gone for them a little bit this
year. How hard they're still
working and practicing and wanting to learn and get better every day,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “I'm very pleased with how
we're working still. Trying to
still keep the legs fresh. It's
a grind and so some days a little better than others, but still working hard
and having fun.”
Clear Fork (5-10,2-7) hosts Marion Harding (14-3,8-2), #5 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Thursday night. They
lost the game for first place to River Valley (56-49) last Friday.
They beat the Colts (59-39) on December 20.
Baumgardner says they are a very disciplined team and have good
balance. “They are a very
disciplined team. They do a good
job with their sets. They have a
point guard in Thrapp who leads the league for the second year in row in
assists. He really gets him into their offense and a good lead on the floor
for them. The coach's son
(Boston) Pearson, he's a big man down low, he’s hard to contain.
It's going to be a challenge for us (Thursday) night,” said
Baumgardner.
Shelby outlasted Clear Fork (59-55) on December 27 at Les Hauenstein
Gym.
They have won four their last five and Baumgardner says they are
going to be tough to deal with. “The
going to be tough competition. They’re
one of the top teams in the conference.
They've been the conference champ for how many years running now.
There is never going to be an easy one with them,” he said. Published 1/30/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Harding
With Different Kinds of Challenges
Marion Harding, the second place team in the Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference, plays at Clear Fork on Thursday night and at home against
Ontario in conference games this week.
They fell out of a share of the league lead when they lost to (56-49)
to River Valley last Friday.
Coach Jamie Pearson was pleased with how they responded in a (70-49)
non-conference win over Madison on Tuesday night.
“Yeah, it was a tough loss for us.
I know the kids were disappointed. I
was disappointed. River Valley,
not only were they the top of the league rival, but they're a county rival.
Their school is probably 10 minutes away from our school.
So, definitely not how we wanted the game to go,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Fortunately, until you get to
the very end of the season you always get a chance to bounce back.
We have three games this week and it started off for us on Tuesday
night. Madison came to our place
and we had one of our best halves of the year to start out the game.
We were able to get them. So,
I was pleased how we responded, but two giant league games coming up this
week. We have got to make sure
we're ready for those and the challenges they bring.”
Marion Harding (14-3,8-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, visits Clear Fork
(5-10,2-7) on Thursday night. The
Colts are coming off a (82-68) shellacking from Galion on Monday night in
conference action.
Harding won the first meeting (59-39) on December 20.
Pearson says playing at Clear Fork can be tough.
“They always play us tough. We
got them by 20, but it was tight going in the third quarter.
They have one of the best players in the league in Garrett Hotz.
I think he's second or third in the league in scoring at 18 points
per game. He's also I think the
only first teamer returning to the league.
So, it all goes through him and you do what you can to try to contain
him. You can never stop him.
Then they have some other good young players coming around. Carter
Coole really has it going on, one of their guards.
When you go to their place it's a little different gym.
The fans are right on top of the court.
They have great community support.
So, we definitely know it's going to be a challenge.
So, we're getting the kids ready for it on a little bit of a short
turn around,” said Pearson.
The Presidents edged Ontario (42-41) back on December 23.
Pearson calls the Warriors athletic and well coached.
“It starts with their freshmen Flenoury and Brown.
They're two of the leading scorers in the league.
Definitely the future is bright.
Coach (Jerry) Moton is doing a great job over.
Their youth and how hard they're playing.
They took us down to the buzzer.
We had to hit one with 20 seconds left.
Boston Pearson had a put back to give us a one point lead and then
we're able to shut them down. Definitely
respect them. We know they have
a lot of talent, they're well coached. We
barely got out of there with win last time.
So, definitely will be a challenge for us and they definitely have
some talent over there,” he said. Published 1/30/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Sandusky
Can Win Lake Division
Sandusky can win another title in the Lake Division of the Sandusky
Bay Conference with a win on Saturday night at archrival Perkins.
It would be their fourth title in a row.
They beat Toledo Start (68-60) in a non-conference game on Tuesday
night.
Coach DeMar Moore says they got better.
“I think we played very well. Start
is a solid team. It was a very
competitive game. I just thought
we learned a little bit ourselves as far as some of the different things we
can do defensively,” said Moore.
Sandusky (11-5,7-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Perkins (10-7,3-4) on
Saturday night. The Pirates lost
(57-47) to Tiffin Columbian in a division game on Wednesday night.
The Blue Streaks beat Perkins (80-64) back on December 20.
Moore says Perkins will be fired up to play them.
“I think they took a tough loss (Wednesday) night against Tiffin.
Whenever we play against Perkins you throw the records and all that
stuff out the window because it’s such a good rivalry game,” he said.
Moore says they know what is at stake Saturday and they are preparing
with that in mind. “If we win
Saturday we clinch the league this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday night, “So, we know it's a championship game for us and we're
preparing for it as so. We are
forward to competing on Saturday night.” Published 1/30/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Norwayne
Must be Focused at Dalton
Norwayne, the Wayne County Athletic League leader, plays at Dalton on
Friday night in a league game.
Tuesday night, they beat a very good Canton Central Catholic (61-52)
in a non-conference game.
Coach Brian West says that was a very big for them in a number of
ways. “They were ahead of us in the seeding going into Tuesday night's
game. Ranked ahead of us in all
the polls. So, our kids knew
what was at stake. It was a
tournament type atmosphere. It
was definitely tournament type as far as the competition level.
They have got a guard that's going to Walsh.
Their big kid, their 6’8” kid, did not play, but they also
replaced him with another 6’8” kid.
So, it was nice to play against that type of competition.
I think it's definitely going to get us ready down the road,” said
West.
West says he believes they are starting to peak.
“You want to win the league, that's our number one priority, but I
feel like here in the last week or so we're starting to play our best
basketball and any coach will tell you that they want to play their best
basketball down the stretch leading into the tournament.
We've had two in a row that I feel that we've played really, really
well and hopefully that can continue into this week,” he said.
Norwayne (15-2,9-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, is at Dalton (9-7,6-4) on Friday
night. Norwayne won the first
meeting (57-30) on December 20.
West says playing at Dalton is tough.
“Dalton it is definitely scary to play at their place, it's a
different type gym. They have
got the (Carter) Hignight boy is very, very good and very dangerous on the
perimeter and scores off the dribble pretty well.
The (Coy) Wenger boy shoots it pretty well from the perimeter if he
catches fire and they feed off of each other they're very hard to guard,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “The (Matthew) Heatwole
boy inside is very strong, very physical and does a great job around the
glass. So, that's going to be a
big test. There are times we
struggled in their gym and being on the road with everything that we have on
the line hopefully our kids come out relaxed, and they come out focused and
play hard.” Published 1/30/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Seneca
East Showing Good Things
Seneca East will be home for a pair of games in the Northern 10
Athletic Conference this week with Upper Sandusky on Thursday and Buckeye
Central on Saturday.
With a record of (12-5,6-4) coach Anthony Langhurst is pretty proud
of the path this team is on. “You're
kind of aware of the record, but then someone kind of set it out loud to me
and probably smiled and shook my head a little bit because we weren’t
really sure what to expect with the pieces.
The guys are doing a nice job of staying together kind of riding the
ups and the downs,” he said.
Upper Sandusky (12-4,6-3) comes calling on Thursday night.
The Rams hammered Wynford (76-41) in a conference game last Friday.
Langhurst says with their experience and talent, the Rams are an
excellent team. “I put them
right up there with Mohawk and Crawford, that's the cream of the crop.
We're trying to claw our way up there to be at that level.
They have got great upperclassmen, great balance, defend really well
and I think their biggest strength is that they played together,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “That group has been together for
three years in a row. You just
kind of tell they're comfortable with the system that coach (Jeff) Winslow
has got there. They're
comfortable with each other, trust each other and they're real deliberate
with the ball. So, it's going to
be a tough matchup for us. We'll
be able to hopefully you clean up some things from the first matchup that we
had and give them a little better game.”
Upper won the first game between the two teams (52-34) on December
14.
Seneca East beat Buckeye (67-46) on December 20 in New Washington.
Langhurst says the Bucks are good shooters.
“They’re kind of a dangerous team. They
have got some guard play. They
kind of gave us all we needed in the first half.
They shot the ball really well against us at their place.
So, that's going to be definitely something I bring up making sure
guys are accounted for, making sure they're not puncturing our zone.
They kind of knocked us on our heels a little bit when they were at
their place. So, I'll make sure
I bring that up to the guys and make sure we have a good game plan as far as
making sure we locate the shooters and hopefully can attack them
defensively,” said Langhurst. Published 1/30/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Norwalk
Looking for More Depth
Norwalk entertains the Clyde Fliers in a game in the Lake Division of
the Sandusky Bay Conference on Saturday night.
The Truckers made some shots in the second half and they beat Oberlin
Firelands (55-42) in a non-league game Tuesday night.
Coach Adam Kreischer says they were able to get that lid off the
basket. “We scored well in the
second half. Firelands is an 11
win team, so they beat some guys this year.
For us to be able to come out with second half after not scoring well
in the first half once again, but we're able to speed them up a little bit.
Played a few more guys and guys just really got us out in transition.
Still didn't shoot it really well from the three or anything.
Still looking for us to add that to our offensive repertoire.
If we're able to do that I think we can really explode here
offensively at the end of the year,” said Kreischer.
Kreischer says they need to be able to play more kids.
“We're continuing to make the same demands on kids at the defensive
end and rebound the basketball. I
think that sometimes we do that for stretches and then we get a little bit
tired for lack of depth. We've
just got to start trust in some more of our guys like we did (Tuesday) night
and make us a little deeper and some of our starters a little bit fresher.
Hopefully, that's able to get us, like I said, out in transition and
get some easier baskets at times. We're
looking to have our offense catch up with our defense here the end of the
season,” he said.
Norwalk (7-10,1-6) is at Clyde (9-8,2-5) on Saturday.
The Fliers beat Bellevue (61-43) in a division game last Saturday and
then beat Huron (60-57) on Tuesday.
Norwalk won the first game between the two (60-59) on December 20.
Kreischer says they are looking for some easier looks.
“They're playing well right now.
They beat, what I think is a really good Bellevue team, Ed Rich is
doing nice shot with that team this year and they got them by about 20 last
week at their place. So, Clyde
is playing really well right now. They
have a lot of guys that can score it. They
want to be up tempo,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening,
“That's kind of the way that we played against them a little bit last
time. We don't necessarily want
that game up in the 70s and 80s, but sometimes the pressure on us allows us
to score a little better. So, we
attack pressure pretty well at times and really attack the basket and some
of that is easier for us to put in the basket and get some points on the
board rather than going against a packed in man to man defense pack line
defense. So, some of that could
work in our favor if we handle the pressure well.” Published 1/30/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Crawford
With Two
Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Colonel Crawford plays two
games in the league against second division teams in Bucyrus on Thursday and
Carey on Saturday.
The Eagles, also the leader in their division VI RPI district, have
won 14 in a row. Last week, they
used a big second half to beat Buckeye Central (62-39) in an “N10” game
on Friday and downed Knox Morrow Athletic Conference leader Fredericktown
(69-53) on Saturday.
Coach David Sheldon says they have their eyes on their goal.
“First, we got a league win. Credit Buckeye they came out and
that's a much improved Buckeye team and they've made some great growth over
the course of the year. Then
Saturday night was a great non league game against a very good Fredericktown
team, that’s very explosive with an offense averaging over 70 a game.
I thought that was just a really good non league game between the
“KMAC” leader and the “N10” leader at the present time,” said
Sheldon.
On Thursday night, Crawford (14-1,9-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com
boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Bucyrus
(1-15,1-9) in a game the Redmen see as a rivalry.
The Eagles won the first meeting (73-33) on December 14.
Sheldon says they need focus. “Last
week they won at home against Buckeye. It
was their first win of the year. We
have got to go on the road. Just
like last Friday going on the road. This
is game 10 of this 14 game “N10” journey and you have got to bring it
every night because you get everybody's best shot this time of year,” he
said.
They travel to Carey (4-10,4-5) on Saturday night.
Again, the Eagles won the first game between the two (72-49) on
December 20.
Sheldon says games against Carey are always physical ones.
“It's always been a great rivalry for us and Carey whether it's
football or basketball. They're
a physical basketball team with great athletes on the floor.
It'll be a challenge with game two.
That's the great thing about in the league playing home and away,”
he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It'll be a challenge with
them. They had a good first half
against Mohawk. They're playing
a little bit different lineup now than the first time feeling their way with
the brand new group of kids to start the year with the great senior class
they lost last year. So, it will
be a challenge anytime it’s Colonel Crawford-Carey no matter what the
sport is.” Published 1/29/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Ontario
Wants to Dictate Game
Ontario plays host to Marion Pleasant in a game in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference on Thursday night.
Last Saturday, they picked up their best win of the season when they
scored at the buzzer to beat Firelands Conference leader Crestview (61-59)
after trailing by six with 30 seconds left.
Coach Jerry Moton says it was a great win.
“It's one of those wins as younger team that we have they'll never
forget,” he said.
The Warriors (5-10,3-5) have won three of their last six and all
three have been by two points or less.
Moton believes they are becoming winners.
“Like I said it's a young team and we're learning how to win.
Early on in the season we were losing those games and now we're
coming out on top. So, the
improvement is coming, the growth is coming, I see it, we're just getting
better every day,” said Moton.
Marion Pleasant (6-8,4-5) as not played since January 18 when they
lost (56-48) to “MOAC” leader River Valley.
The Spartans won the first matchup with Ontario (55-53) on December
17.
Moton says they want Pleasant to play faster.
“I think Pleasant is a very good team, very well coached,
disciplined. They try to force
the opposing team to play their style,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday afternoon, “That's something that we're going to try to do.
We're going to get them to just to do the opposite.
We're going to get them to play our style of ball.” Published
1/29/25 ©
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St.
Paul is Building
Norwalk St. Paul, in second place in the Firelands Conference, at New
London in an “FC” game on Friday night.
They host Sandusky St. Mary’s in a non-league game on Saturday.
The Flyers (10-5,7-1) trail Crestview by a game in the conference
standings. They play them twice
in February.
They are also first in their division VII RPI district.
Coach Steve Minor says they have to keep working.
“We have put ourselves in a pretty good position.
We don't want to set ourselves up for a let down toward the end of
the season here. We want to keep
going toward where our goal is. So,
far we're right where we wanted to be. So,
we're happy, but we're not satisfied,” he said.
New London (2-13,1-7) lost (52-34) to Crestline in a non-conference
game on Tuesday. They lost
(54-44) to Western Reserve in a Firelands Conference game on Friday.
Minor says the New London gym can be a tough place to play.
“Tom Howell’s teams don't get worse.
He's been in the game long enough.
He always gets the most out of his teams and they're playing better
now, which you would hope for and he's right on with that.
They just had a really close game with a Western Reserve team that
seems to have turned it around recently.
So, we're definitely going to have our hands full.
New London traditionally in the past has been a tough place to play
and I think they're trying to get it back to being a tough place to play
again. So, we have got to really
respect our opponent this week and be ready for anything they throw at
us,” said Minor.
St. Mary’s also won on Tuesday in whipping Fremont St. Joe (53-29)
in an “SBC” River division game.
Minor says traditionally the Panthers have given them problems.
“Their record can be deceiving with four, five wins, but they're
still I believe third in the RPI in our district and that's due to the
schedule they play there in that SBC mega conference.
With crossovers from the Bay and the Lake they get a look at a lot of
different levels of teams and just every different kind of style of play you
can imagine,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They're going
to be battle tested. They've had
our number for the last couple of years.
So, we have got to turn right back around and luckily we're at home.
“The Den” is a rough place to play after you've been on the road,
but hopefully we can keep things going and be ready for them Saturday as
well.” Published 1/29/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Galion
Must Rebound
Galion, riding a three game winning streak, will host Highland in a
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Thursday night.
They will be at Marion Pleasant on Saturday in league play.
After an (82-68) win at home over Clear Fork in “MOAC” play on
Monday night, the Tigers (5-11,3-7) have won three in a row.
Coach Tyler Sanders says they are playing with more confidence.
“I think just finally seeing the basketball through the hoop.
Something just clicking right now.
I don't think we changed a whole lot. I
think we've just stayed the course and what we believe in and it's finally
sophomores catching up to what varsity basketball is like.
It's been really fun to see hopefully we can start getting some stops
on the defensive end and we'll feel a little bit better,” said Sanders.
Galion started the season with very little experience, is starting to
figure out varsity basketball. “The
growth that we've seen from our kids from the beginning of the year to now
it's just night and day. It's
been fun though because I mean we were a team that was really we're
struggling to get to 50 and now we've had five games in a row here where
we've been 67 points or higher. So,
it's just good to see it from the kids and then to put up 82 (Monday) night
hit 14 threes it was a fun night,” he said.
Highland (6-11,2-7) lost (65-50) to a Shelby in a conference game
last Friday. Galion won the
first meeting (53-47) on December 20.
Sanders they have keep Highland off the boards.
“Same as before, they're just super long and athletic.
One of the more athletic teams in the conference and they present
problems that way and can defend you at the rim and they really hit the
glass hard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We were
fortunate enough to go in there and really battle on the glass and secure a
win. I think that that's going
to be the key to Thursday night is just containing them on the boards and
not allowing them to get second chance points.” Published 1/29/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Tiffin
Becoming a Team
Tiffin Columbian is going to play Sandusky Perkins for the second
time in less than a week this time at home on Wednesday night in play in the
Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division.
The Tornadoes (8-9,3-3), after beating Perkins (71-68) last Thursday
and adding a (52-45) non-conference win over Bowling Green on Saturday, have
won five of their last six games.
Coach Ryan Fretz says they are developing good team chemistry.
“Just putting things together, filling roles, accepting roles and
coming together as a unit and playing for each other you know.
Our boys are pretty tight unit as it is already and now they're
putting the putting the team first and putting others first and it's
starting to show,” he said.
Fretz this game on Wednesday was originally scheduled for much early
in the season. “It's a makeup
game from football. You have got
to find an agreed upon time you know to be able to make up that game.
This was a good day for both Perkins and us.
Now granted it ended up being a week after we played them before, but
we want to get the games we in. We
don't want to try to play four games a week.
Perkins had to reschedule a number of their games.
We rescheduled a couple of ours at the beginning of the season,”
said Fretz.
Fretz says getting ready for a game like this is a little bit
different because they just played the Pirates (10-6,3-3).
“Going into a game where you just played a team last week not much
scouting has to go into because you just did most of the scouting.
Now, you get a lot more out of film study.
You can go in there and look at film and you can get some direct
correlation into the next game. It
means a lot more because you don't have to wait maybe a month or a month and
half until you play a league team again,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday evening, “There's been a little bit of that.
You have the focus of the boys in practice as well because it was a
pretty close game. We had to
handle the ball and take care of business at the end.
There was some excitement in that game and the boys excited to play
another round with Perkins again at our place.” Published 1/29/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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||
Lucas
Will be Back on the Floor
Lucas didn’t play last week, but they return to the hardwood on
Friday night against Mansfield Christian in a game in the Mid-Buckeye
Conference.
They play at Plymouth in a non-league game on Saturday.
It’s been a tough year for Lucas (3-12,2-3), but coach Taylor
Iceman says he sees light at end of the tunnel.
“Some good things. We
didn't play last weekend, which was kind of nice.
We had a weekend off, which is rare this time of year.
So, we got a lot of practice in and it was kind of nice with the way
the weather was last week anyways and with school being cancelled it worked
out,” he told Swakonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We've shown some
improvement. It's been a tough
year for us, but we're excited to get back to playing.
We have got Mansfield Christian over there, which was a tough place
to play. We played them tough
last time. We got beat in
overtime. It was a game we
probably should have won. So,
we're hoping we can go in and play well.”
The Flames won that first game (58-50) on December 20.
Mansfield Christian (9-7,5-1), in second place in the conference
standings, beat South Central (73-61) in a non-conference game on Saturday.
They beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (51-49) in a conference game on
Friday.
They are led by Davion Mack and Iceman says he’s hard to control.
“They're tough, especially over there in that little gym.
They like to pressure the ball. Davion
Mack, he's one of the better athletes and basketball players in the area.
Once they put him in that in that little gym with not a whole lot of
spacing with his length he causes a lot of trouble for you.
We have got to take care of the ball.
He's also pretty good on offense when he has the ball.
So, we're going to have to know where he's at and keep him out of the
paint,” said Iceman.
One of the Cubs problems this season has been turnovers.
Iceman says they have to eliminate those on Friday.
“We need to not turn the ball over, that's been our biggest issue
this year. That concerns me
going over there again and playing in that small gym with them and their
pressure. So, we will have to
take care of the ball to give ourselves a shot,” he said. Published 1/29/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Upper
Sandusky Starting to Peak
Upper Sandusky has won seven of its last nine heading to a meeting
with Seneca East in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Thursday night.
Last weekend, the Rams drilled Wynford (76-41) in an “N10” game
on Friday and beat Riverdale (56-43) in non-conference action on Saturday.
Coach Jeff Winslow says their outstanding play began on the defensive
end. “We had a nice weekend.
It all started at the defensive end.
We're playing well defensively and rebounding ball.
Then offensively we're just really moving the ball well and sharing
and making extra passes. We are
putting four to five guys in double figures and when you do that you usually
come out on top,” he said.
Upper Sandusky (12-4,6-3) plays at Seneca East (12-5,6-4) on Thursday
night. The Tigers smoked
Ridgedale (61-31) on Tuesday night in a non-conference game.
They lost to Carey (62-53) in their last conference game last Friday.
Winslow says they have to contain Luke Mason and Lucas Bordner, who
both average between 15 and 18 points a game.
“They have got two dynamic guards that can really score it back
from last year. So, they have
plenty of experience there and you have got to make sure you stop those two
because those two can win games by themselves.
Anytime you play two guards like that.
That's the scary part about that because those two guys can go off at
any moment. So, you have got to
make sure that you make them earn their points and then keep the other guys
off the glass and things like that,” said Winslow.
With six regular season games to play, Winslow says he likes the way
they look heading toward the post season.
“I think the most important thing is our kids are playing a lot of
confidence. So, they just have
really bought into defensive end and the scary part about us now is we're
starting to shoot the ball so well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
night, “The big thing about that is because playing inside out.
We're getting the ball to the paint.
We're throwing it into the post or we're getting there off the bounce
and making extra passes and making inside out threes.
Those are just so much easier to put it in the basket.
I like the way they're playing, I like our chances.” Published 1/29/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Pleasant
Back at it
Marion Pleasant makes the trip to Ontario to take on the Warriors in
a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game on Thursday night.
It will be their first action since January 18.
Coach Ben Snively says they can’t wait to get back on the floor.
“We were talking as a team (Tuesday) and I said it's almost like a
preseason all over again. Hopefully
this gives us a little time to recover and I think our kids will be hungry
to get back on the court Thursday night against an Ontario team that is
playing well, they beat Crestview the other night,” he told
Swankosports.com on Tuesday evening, “I think it's going to be a challenge
with their athleticism and the way they like to get up and down the court
press a little bit. So, a big
challenge for us on Thursday night, but we're ready to get back out
there.”
Pleasant (6-8,4-5) is at Ontario (5-10,3-5) on Thursday night.
The Warriors lost (66-57) to Galion in a conference game last Friday.
They beat Firelands Conference leader Crestview (61-59) on Saturday
afternoon.
Snively says they are going to want to push the pace.
“The last game they jumped out on us early and then we were able to
slow the pace a little bit and hit some shots.
The first thing we got to do is beat the press.
We have got to get the ball past half court and I think once we do
that we're going to have to be patient because again they're just the team
that if you let them out and they get going they can be a really dangerous
team when they get going,” he said.
Pleasant won the first matchup with Ontario (55-53) on December 17.
Snively says perimeter defense will be a key for them.
“We have got to go there this time.
Teams are always looking for revenge, so that makes it a little bit
tough when anytime you're on the road it makes it tough.
We do have a presence in the in the paint, but like I said they've
got three of four kids that can shoot it and they're good slashes to the
basket. They’ve got a lot of
kids that that'll put the ball up from three.
So, we'll just have to do a good job of getting hands in their face
and trying to do the best we can and not give them second chance
opportunities,” said Snively. Published 1/29/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Lexington
Plays Mansfield Senior for First Place
Lexington is up at Mansfield Senior with first place on the line in
the Ohio Cardinal Conference on Tuesday night at Pete Henry Gym.
The winner takes first place to itself and likely the title for this
season.
Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says it’s a great time of the year
and it should be an outstanding matchup.
“When you get down to the middle, end of January, first of February
and conference positioning is being decided you want those matchups for
whatever conference you’re in, it doesn't matter, you want those matchups
to matter going down the stretch. So,
here in late January it's a big match up.
We both have a single loss in the conference and it's going to be
another exciting game between Lexington and Mansfield,” he said.
Lexington (14-2,8-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, won the first matchup (74-70) on
December 20.
Hamilton says this is kind of a different type of Mansfield Senior
team. “That's one of the
things. They brought in a
freshman that came in and he's been shooting the ball well.
They're giving him a lot of freedom to be able to try to make plays.
They've kind of moved some guys around.
Rone has been there, he’s a four year player as a senior.
This year he's moved more from an inside power forward combo guard
out to be a facilitator as a point guard/shooting guard, but still has the
skill and the ability to take somebody to the block.
So, they're mixing things up a little bit.
They may have a little less size than what they've had in the past,
but they're playing very well with the guys that they have and that's what
you'd expect from a well coached program,” said Hamilton.
Mansfield Senior (10-4,7-1), #2 in our poll, is coming off a (72-71)
overtime win over Ashland last Friday in conference play.
Of course, Lexington’s Brayden Fogle, the defending “OCC”
player of year, did not play in the first game.
Hamilton says there will be some changes in personnel.
“They were missing Ny Petty the first time we played too, so
there's going to be a couple new faces in the rotation when we face each
other this time. They had Ny
Petty to start the season and he got injured.
We're just kind of getting Brayden back and figuring out his
positioning and rotation and then the chemistry so to speak,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Obviously, he's got definite
basketball background. So, yeah
just kind of have some new faces out there.
Again, I think it'll add to the interest and add to the excitement.
Unfortunately, it's just the way that the scheduling goes, but it's
just too bad this is a Tuesday night game.
I know some people will miss out on being in the stands because it's
Tuesday, but I think it's going to be an exciting game and well attended
game nonetheless.”
Hamilton predicts this will be a four quarter game and they are going
to have to make plays late to win. “It's
going to come down to the to the end because I don't think that any lead
will be safe during the course of this game.
You're going to have to be a full 32 minutes focused and locked in on
what you're trying to do and what you're trying to accomplish.
I think when it comes right down to it when you have got two teams
that can apply some pretty good pressure and put defense out there, you're
going to have to just rely on kids to make good decisions and make plays,”
said Hamilton. Published
1/28/25 ©
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Tygers
Have to Make Plays
Mansfield Senior and Lexington share first place in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference and they clash on Tuesday night at Pete Henry Gym.
The winner likely will be the conference champion.
Senior High coach Marquis Sykes says these are the kind of games kids
dream about. “For me at least
growing up playing ball in the backyard, in the parks, or wherever.
We always thought about these kinds of games, championship games, or
games between teams in first place. All little kids did the count down
taking the last second shot and all those things.
So, these kinds of games that's what we prep for in the offseason.
That's why we schedule really tough non conference games to help us
prepare for these kinds of moments. So,
hopefully our guys are prepared and ready to roll step up in the way that
we'll need to in order to come out with a win,” said Sykes.
Lexington (14-2,8-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, won on their home floor (74-70)
on December 20.
Defending “OCC” play of the year Brayden Fogle did not play in
that game for the Minutemen.
Sykes says he’s a load. “He’s
one the best players in the area and one of the best players in the state.
A two sport athlete. A
high major recruit on the football field and basketball court.
So, we know what he brings to the table.
His size and strength and athleticism creates a difficult task for
us. So, we're going to have to
be strong in the paint and have to be physical and have to figure out ways
to keep him off the glass and keep him out of the paint,” said Sykes.
Mansfeld Senior (10-4,7-1), #2 in our poll, is always a tremendous
rebounding team and Sykes says so is Lexington.
“For years that's been a big emphasis for Lexington basketball, so
no difference this season and they do a tremendous job on the boards on both
ends of the floor. It really can
change games if they're hitting offensive glass and if you allow them to get
14, 15, 16 offensive rebounds it could really be a major game changer and
flip the score of the game,” he said.
Sykes says in games like this you have to make more plays than the
other guys and that includes little plays.
“Basketball that's how the game is played down the stretch you have
to make a game winning plays. What
we teach is game winning plays can be a number of things.
It can be something as simple as an offensive rebound, could be the
first guy to dive on the floor, it could be a toughness play stepping in and
taking the charge,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Those
are the kind of game winning plays that that we need all of our guys to
make, whether it be the beginning of the game or closing out a quarter or at
the very end of the game. That's
the way we teach and hopefully our guys will be ready to make some impactful
game winning plays.” Published 1/28/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Crestview
Takes on Another Big School
Crestview plays host to the Bellevue Redmen out of the Sandusky Bay
Conference Lake Division on Wednesday and travel to Mapleton to face the
Mounties in a Firelands Conference game on Friday.
The Cougars (12-2,8-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, leads the “FC”
standings by a game over Norwalk St. Paul.
They kind of gave one away on Saturday in losing (61-59) to Ontario
form the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. The
Warriors tied the game with a three, stole the inbounds pass and then scored
at the horn.
Coach John Kurtz says his team did not execute.
“The last things we worked on in practice on Thursday was the
pressure and how we're going to handle the late game situations.
In both areas we just didn't do a good job.
In those games against a bigger school, you have to execute.
I think we had maybe like a five or six point lead with like 30
seconds to go. Those 30 seconds
can seem like an eternity, especially if you don't execute and do what
you're supposed to do. We just
didn't do a good job of it. It
can be a real learning experience if we take it the right way and try to
work on the things we need to in those situations and do a better job,”
said Kurtz.
Bellevue (10-5) comes calling on Wednesday night.
Kurtz says Bellevue will be another big challenge for them.
“They're going to create a different set of problems.
They're big and Ed (Rich) does a great job with those kids.
The program has had a lot of success.
I think they present more problems with their size and their guards
can shoot the ball. It's a jump
for us again. It's a D4 school
and they're really doing well this year.
So, we're going to have to make sure that we don't have a lot of
turnovers because I think if you dig yourself a hole against them it's
really hard to get out of,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening,
“I think the other thing is in games like that rebounding ends up being
really a key to whether you can stay in that game or not.
So, we started working on them (Monday). We
have one more day, but they're going to be challenging and we've talked to
our kids about looking at this game as a game that is going to present
challenges that you may see down the road in the tournament if you're lucky
enough to get that far.”
Mapleton (9-5,4-4) has lost its last three.
Crestview won the first meeting (63-55) on December 21.
Kurtz says the Mounties are explosive.
“They just have the ability to score. I
think their guards are really good. Hickey
is really good. He’s better
now beating you off the dribble than he was I think in his previous years.
He still really carries them and he makes a lot of shots.
They've got other kids that can make threes that you just have got to
be careful not spending too much time and you just let those guys go.
So, that's the problem there that you have to be careful with,” he
said. Published 1/28/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Ashland
and Wooster are Similar
Ashland entertains Wooster in one of these Tuesday night games in the
Ohio Cardinal Conference this week.
The Arrows (8-6,4-5) are coming off a tough (72-71) loss in overtime
to conference co-leader Mansfield Senior last Friday.
Coach Jason Hess says really they played as about as well as they
have all season last Friday. “I
thought we played one of our better ball games of the year.
Unfortunately, Mansfield made some plays down the stretch and hit
their free throws. We didn't
capitalize on some opportunities we had to score in the overtime and kind of
went cold shooting from the field. Overall,
I thought the effort wise our kids really put out a great effort.
Like I said, one of the better efforts we put out all season for a
complete game,” said Hess.
Wooster (7-7,5-3) lost last Friday to the other co-leader in the
“OCC” (74-68) to Lexington.
The Generals won the first meeting in this series (67-62) on December
20.
Hess says they need to just a little more than they got last week.
“They're a team that we played a very competitive game with over at
their place back in December. It
seems like it's been a long time ago since we were over there.
I think it's a team that we match up fairly well with.
Hopefully, we'll be able to have another great effort like we did
Friday night at Mansfield and get a different outcome this time around,”
he said.
Both teams have very good guard play and Hess says perimeter defense,
and who plays it well, is going to have an impact on this game.
“It's going to be extremely important.
They've got a couple good senior guards that do a nice job shooting
the basketball and score really well. That's
kind of their basic offense that they're going for is their perimeter guys.
I think we're very similar built in the same manner where we're
relying a lot on our guard play to score,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Monday night, “It should be a very good basketball game.
Like I said, over there in December when we were at Wooster it was a
back and forth game for a while. We
had a lead there and they were able to come back and make the plays down the
stretch and pull that one out. I
expect to be a similar type game where it's up and down fairly high scoring
and a lot of guard play.” Published 1/28/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Old
Fort Looking to Bounce Back
Old Fort, the leader in the River Division of the Sandusky Bauy
Conference, hosts Woodmore in a division game on Tuesday night.
They play at Danbury-Lakeside on Friday.
They maintained their two game lead on Tiffin Calvert with a (90-16)
destruction of Fremont St. Joe on Friday night.
Saturday night, they were hammered by unbeaten Margaretta, the Bay
Division leader, (80-43) in a crossover.
Coach Eric Hoover says Saturday was kind of a nightmare.
“It was definitely two opposites from those two games for us.
On Saturday, just about everything that we needed to go, we needed to
do, we did the opposite. So, you
see the result you saw. We just
didn't execute at all against their press.
We were really unorganized and just could never really put it
together until it was too late. It
was unfortunate because it was a really great atmosphere and a lot of fun.
Really early on it became not so fun and we were just treading water
the whole time,” he said.
Old Fort (13-2,12-0) plays at home against Woodmore (4-9,3-7) on
Tuesday night. The Wildcats
spilt their division games last week in beating Lakota (55-39) on Friday and
losing (63-25) to New Riegel on Saturday.
Old Fort smoked Woodmore (66-39) December 19 in the first round.
Hoover says the Wildcats gave them fits with a combination defense.
“We have played them forever. I
know we used to play them even back when I was in school a long, long time
ago. They played us tough the
first time. It was within 10
just a couple of minutes to go in the third quarter.
They are really the only ones who have run a box and one for extended
period of time on us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “It
was my fault we were not prepared for that.
It took us a little while to figure it out.
If they want to do that this time, we'll be a little more prepared.
They had a big win last week beating Lakota and played really well.
So, they're playing well right now and we have got to be ready to go
and bounce back from Saturday.”
Old Fort also leads its district RPI in division VII and Hoover says
wins at this time of the year are vital.
“We have six league games left and only one non league.
It is every night when you're playing for the league championship and
a lot of teams that are capable of knocking you off on a given night, so you
have got to be ready to go. It
is also tournament seeding time. We
have got a tight district with Arlington, us, and Calvert all and at the top
right now. So, nobody can really
afford to slip up or you're going to find yourself moving down in the in the
rankings. So, really have got to
be sharp this time of year,” said Hoover. Published 1/28/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Mohawk
Still Working on Getting Better
Mohawk plays at Hardin-Northern in a non-conference game on Tuesday
night and they at home for Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic
Conference game on Friday.
Right now, they trail Colonel Crawford by a game in the conference
standings. The rematch with the
Eagles is February 12.
They won two conference games last weekend in beating Bucyrus (82-37)
on Friday and Carey (68-38) on Saturday.
Coach Paul Dunn says on Saturday they responded to an early challenge
by the Blue Devils. “I thought
our kids offensively did a great job Friday and then Saturday the score
might not tell the whole story in that game. I
thought Carey played really well early and did a lot of things that made it
tough on us. Our kids kind of
weathered the storm were able to find something going into halftime and then
third quarter our kids really started to play better and kind of pull
away,” said Dunn.
Mohawk (12-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the small school division, plays at Hardin-Northern (5-11) on
Tuesday night.
The Polar Bears have lost five in a row, but Dunn expects a solid
challenge from them. “They are
similar in the sense that they start five seniors like we do.
Coach (Aaron) Rich we're close friends, acquaintances, so kind of got
a chance to know him pretty well. I
know he's new to coaching, but he's done a good job getting those guys, they
play hard for him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They
have some kids that have come back the last couple of years and have played
a lot of varsity. So, they're
going to be tough. They
struggled here as of late, but I know they got talent and we have to be
ready to play.”
Buckeye Central (6-9,3-7) also has a sub .500 record.
The Warriors beat them (76-37) on December 14.
Dunn says they can’t overlook these teams and they must continue to
work on getting better. “At
this point in the season you get to late January you know every coach wants
to start seeing the improvement continue.
You're trying to get to that point at the end of the season when
you’re running on all cylinders. That's
the mindset and we talked about that at practice every day that we've got to
find a way to do something today to get better.
It could be as small as just getting better ball handling, whatever
it is, but we have got to find something that we can improve upon,” said
Dunn. Published 1/28/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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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 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Perimeter
Defense Key for Lexington
Lexington hosts Wooster in an important game in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference on Friday night.
The Minutemen share first place in the conference with Mansfield
Senior. Wooster is a game back.
Lexington plays at Mansfield Senior this coming Tuesday night.
Last Friday, the Minutemen made some free throws and made some plays
late to edge and improved New Philadelphia (56-49) in league play.
Coach Scott Hamilton says they made the winning plays.
“We were able to get a lead late and did some things down the
stretch. Did a nice job hitting
some free throws and that took care of the ball late in the game and got
that good win in the “OCC”. They
are a very disciplined team, they've got some shooters, they like to spread
the floor and make driving lanes and shooting spots.
So, I was really pleased with the way the guys played to get that
win,” he said.
Lexington (12-2,7-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Wooster (7-6,5-2) on Friday
night. The Generals have lost
four of their last five.
They did beat Lexington (75-68) on December 17.
Hamilton says they must play very sound defense.
“They shot the ball just so well.
They had five guys in the scoring column and four of them double
digits, you know big numbers. They
shot the ball just so well and a lot of those shots fell for them with a
hand in their face,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon,
“We've got to make sure that we're right there.
It's not very often that we give up 75 points, but it was over at
their place. We've got to make
sure that we're right there on these catches this game and make sure that
we're ready for those guys to play a full 32 minutes.
We were up nine late in the third and let it get away from us.
So, we've got to make sure we play a full 32 minutes against those
guys.”
Hamilton says you must be ready for every game in the “OCC”.
“I say this all the time, and I know I'm not the only one in the
“OCC”, but it is a very competitive league.
Even if the team that's in the first place is playing the team that's
in seventh place, you're going to be in a battle.
It's still going to be a good test and that's one of the things that
all of us coaches that are in the “OCC” what we really like about it,”
he said. Published 1/24/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
||
River
Valley Must Execute
River Valley tangles with Marion Harding in a meeting of co-leaders
in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference at Harding on Friday night.
The Vikings only loss in conference play this season came early in
the season to Pleasant. The
Spartans had a fourth quarter lead on Saturday night before River Valley
rallied for a (56-48) win.
Coach Rodney Brown says they did it with defense.
“We got out early and had a pretty decent lead.
They just clawed back and right at the beginning of the fourth they
took the lead. Then we were able
to hold them scoreless for about four and a half, five minutes after that.
We did have to dig. We
definitely have to dig deep and that was good to see the kids overcome,”
he said.
River Valley (11-2,7-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Marion Harding
(13-2,8-1), #5 in our poll, on Friday night.
The Presidents beat Highland (52-42) in their Saturday night league
game.
Brown says Harding is very disciplined.
“They run a lot of sets. They
are good at what they do. Running
their sets, they get the ball inside to (Boston) Pearson and he's very good
inside. The Thrapp kid playing
point guard stuff and then they got a couple shooters.
They are just patient. Jamie
(Pearson) does a good job with them and they do a good job of trying to stay
with what they're doing. He
tries to keep them from getting away from that,” said Brown.
River Valley beat Harding (64-56) on December 14 at River Valley.
Brown says they must play outstanding defense and take good shots.
“We're going to defend. I
haven't been super thrilled with our defense the last couple games.
We have got to defend them. We
have got to do the best job we possibly can inside on Boston (Pearson)
trying to slow him down. We have
got to limit their shooters. We
have got to limit their looks. No
straight line drives. We're
going to have to rebound the ball. Offensively,
take care of it and share it, move it, and hopefully knock down some shots.
We can't settle for just jumpers.
We have got to finish at the rim and we struggle with that a little
bit at times. I know we have the
capabilities of finishing that around the rim with contact.
We just have to a better job.” Published 1/24/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Colonel
Crawford Continues to Produce
Colonel Crawford, the leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference,
heads up the road to play Buckeye Central in a conference game on Saturday
night.
They started the second half of the “N10” schedule last Saturday
night with a (53-31) destruction of the Upper Sandusky Rams.
Coach David Sheldon says they were very good on both ends of the
floor. “I was proud of our
guys. It just shows the growth
we have made from the beginning of the season because that's a very good
Upper team. I thought we did a
great job sharing the basketball. Putting
four guys in double figures with some of the things Upper did defensively.
Then also on the defensive end we were very good.
We have got to play great one-on-one defense. They
have got so many scorers and I thought we did a really good job defensively
against a very explosive team,” he said.
Colonel Crawford (12-1,8-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is up state route 602
at Buckeye Central (6-7,3-6) on Friday night.
Buckeye is coming off a (54-42) win over Wynford in “N10” play.
Crawford overwhelmed the Bucks (85-30) on December 12.
Sheldon reminds this is another game in a process.
“We look at this as game nine. This
is the most important game nine of a 14 game in an “N10” journey and the
most important game is Buckeye. We
are the hunted now with where we're at.
That game earlier in the year, we just shot lights out, and yes
we’ve shot it well throughout the entire year,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We've got to come out and go on
the road and it’s one of these type of games you want to get off to good
starts versus a team like Buckeye. They're
coming off a win last weekend against Wynford.”
Fredericktown (12-2) plays at Colonel Crawford in a non-conference
game on Saturday night. They are
in first place in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.
Sheldon says it will be a test. “It's
a very good basketball team. They're
going to come into our place Saturday night 12-2 and in first place in the
“KMAC”. This is what we try
to do with our non league games. You
look at Old Fort is in first place in the “SBC” River, Crestview first
place in the Firelands and this is another very good basketball team.
We went down there last year and they put it to us.
So, it's a very solid basketball team with multiple weapons and it's
going to be a great non league test come Saturday evening,” said Sheldon. Published 1/24/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Mohawk
With an “N10” Double Weekend
Mohawk, in second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, has
two conference games this weekend as they are at Bucyrus on Friday and at
Carey on Saturday.
They continue to trail Colonel Crawford by a game.
Last Saturday, they blasted Carey (72-36) at home.
Coach Paul Dunn says thy made some quality adjustments.
“I thought our kids did a good job.
The first quarter was back and forth, but we made some slight
adjustments kind of working on getting through screens differently.
I thought our kids were attentive to that second quarter and did a
good job of offensively kind of getting back to who we have to be to be
successful at that end of the floor,” said Dunn.
Mohawk (10-1,6-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Bucyrus (1-13,1-8) on
Friday night. Bucyrus beat
Buckeye Central (56-44) last week to get their first win.
Dunn says they are improving. “They're
one of the teams that just continue to improve.
They've got three players that pose a challenge.
Two guys that get you off the dribble and create for themselves and
knock down jump shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening,
“Anytime you get a 6’5” guy that can make plays like they have in
(Dylan) Coppler that poses a challenge.
Defensively, we have to make sure that we know what they want to do
and try to deter them from that and try to make it as hard as possible.”
They play Carey for the second time in a week on Saturday. Dunn says that
can be an issue. “Definitely
seeing a team that quickly they obviously know exactly what we did.
The play calls will be fresh in their head and kind of the feel of
the game. You have got to be
aware of that. They had some
good spurts and that's going to be something they’re going to look to
build on the things they got us with. We
have got to make sure we tighten that up in practice and make sure we're
aware and try to not let them get to that too often,” he said. Published 1/24/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Norwayne
Has to Make Some Shots
Norwayne, the Wayne County Athletic League leader, will be at home
for Hillsdale in a league game on Friday night.
Norwayne leads Smithville by a game.
Hillsdale is three back in third place.
The Bobcats (13-2,8-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, destroyed Rittman
(92-16) in a league game on Tuesday night.
That was after losing (54-51) to division II Massillon Perry on
Saturday.
Coach Brian West says they leaned from that loss.
“Yeah kids came out pretty fast on Tuesday.
Like we normally do, we pressed a lot and we're able to turn them
over. Honestly, you don't want
to lose any games at all, but I think Saturday might have been a wakeup call
for us a little bit, even though we're having pretty good season overall.
We had a pretty lengthy film session on Monday and studied ourselves
quite a bit and I think we're starting to fix some of the issues we have,”
said West.
Hillsdale (10-3,5-3) beat Dalton (50-45) last Friday and then beat
the Bulldogs again (51-37) on Tuesday.
West says they expect to see a lot of zone.
“They beat Dalton twice in the last week. Their
schedule is a little different with the long football run they had.
They actually played Dalton on Friday and then turned around again
and played them on Tuesday. We
just played them two weeks ago,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
night, “They've beaten Dalton twice here in the last week.
They've got some momentum. They're
starting to play pretty well. They
are starting to play a lot more zone defense, so we'll have to be able to
hit some shots from the perimeter (Friday).”
Norwayne can score a lot of points, but their defense is pretty good
too, which is evidenced by their (66-40) win over Hillsdale on January 10.
West says they are pretty good defenders.
“Not too bad. Again,
started fast and in the second quarter kind of got into a slowdown game
little bit. We were able to hold
them to I believe 40 points. We're
actually averaging giving up 38 points a game.
So, as fast as we play that's something to be proud of as a coach,”
he said. Published 1/24/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Crestview
to Play Dangerous Monroeville
Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, takes the bus to
Monroeville to challenge the Eagles in a conference game on Friday night.
Last week, they hammered New London (74-50) in conference action on
Saturday night.
Coach John Kurtz says New London gave them some problems.
“I thought New London is really improved.
The kids seem a little bit more confident.
They made shots and it was a better game than it was the first time.
I credit Tom (Howell) for the job he's done there.
We were able to I think kind of wear them down in the second half and
able to pull out that game,” he said.
Crestview (11-1,7-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, is at Monroeville (7-5,6-3) on
Friday night. The Eagles beat
South Central (62-40) last Thursday in “FC” play.
The Cougars won at home versus Monroeville (66-48) on December 27.
Kurtz says Monroeville has been a tough place for them to play over
the years. “The films we
watched with them they are really good at hanging around in games and then
try to win them late. I think
they've shown great improvement even from the first time we played them,
which in that game, in the second half we were probably only up 10,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “They are a lot better at home
and to me they're a scarry team in the league. They
have got a lot of size. To be
honest with you, we haven't played really that well in their gym for years.
So, it'll be quite a challenge going there.
They’re still kind of in the hunt in the league.
We've been working pretty hard on Monroeville and then obviously we
have a tough one on Saturday.”
On Saturday afternoon, the Cougars play at division III Ontario (4-9)
out of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Kurtz says that will be a challenge in many ways.
“They are young and talented. It
seems like you'll see them one night show their youth in in a game, but then
other nights you'll see them really be able to take you off the dribble and
shoot the ball really well. They
press quite a bit. So, those are
all things that you have to be aware of.
I think especially in their gym where the building is bigger, the
gym, the court is bigger it makes it tougher to stay in front of them.
So, that's a game that for us being a D6 and going to play somebody
that size, it's challenging all the way around,” said Kurtz. Published 1/24/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Upper
Has Things to Play for
Upper Sandusky is at home for Wynford on Friday night in play in the
Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
The Rams likely fell out of title contention when first place Colonel
Crawford stuffed them (53-31) on Saturday.
Coach Jeff Winslow says they just couldn't make shots.
“We just couldn't put the ball in the basket.
I thought we did some good things offensively and sometimes it just
comes down you have to make some shots.
You make some shots it makes things easier for you and we just
couldn't get the ball to go. They
played really well, so it's one of those games,” he said.
Upper Sandusky (10-4,5-3) entertains Wynford (1-11,1-8) on Friday
night. The Royals are coming off
a (54-42) loss to Buckeye Central in conference play last Saturday.
Upper won the first matchup (63-41) on December 12.
Winslow says Wynford has an athletic guard, but they have had trouble
scoring this year. “A lot of
Western Prenger, he's a really good player.
One of the better players in the league.
He can score a lot of different ways, a really athletic kid.
He's a tough person to guard because he can shoot from anywhere and
extremely quick and athletic,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
night, “They've started playing a little 1-2-2 and mixing up their
defenses a little bit. So,
something different than they've had in the past.
They struggled to score. Let's
hope that we can come on out and defend and keep that up.
We'd like to get in transition and get some easy ones.”
Upper may not win the “N10” title, but Winslow says there are
other titles they can win. “It
doesn't look good for that, but like I told the team with the Ohio State
Buckeyes they didn't win their league and they're sitting right now.
So, we've got stuff to play for.
We've got district titles and regional titles and things like that to
play for. If we don't get the
league title nobody is even think about that if we can keep getting better
and working toward those type of goals that we've had before the season
started. So, we have still got a
lot of things to play for and we think we have got a good enough team that
we could get there,” said Winslow. Published 1/24/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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St.
Peter’s Must Close Out
Mansfield St. Peter’s hosts rival Mansfield Christian Friday night
in a game in the Mid-Buckeye Conference.
They lost (53-52) to Lucas in a conference game last Friday.
Coach Rou Shoulders says they just couldn’t put it away.
“I thought for three quarters, we really did a great job
controlling the tempo of the game and the flow of the game.
Just like what has been a problem for us in several other games, we
didn't close out, we didn't do the things necessary in the fourth quarter
and give Lucas all the credit, they did.
We've had three one point losses and a four point loss.
We're sitting here at 2-5 and we easily could possibly be 6-1, but
the reality is we are what our record is at this point,” he says.
Shoulders says they are trying to look at the game in smaller
portions. “We have spent a
great deal of time stressing to the guys that quite honestly three quarters
doing the job, that's great, but it's not complete until you do all the
necessary things in the fourth quarter.
So, we have put an emphasis really on of dividing the quarter into
two halves. We have spent a
great deal of time talking about four minute stretches.
Friday night against Mansfield Christian, the first minutes, what are
we going to do to establish ourselves offensively and defensively.
Let's worry about these four minutes, let's control these four, then
when that four is over, let's look at the second half of the first
quarter,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, “I think
especially when we get into the fourth quarter and we're looking at doing
the things necessary and mentally being tough to do the things necessary.
That's what we're hoping by maybe mentally shortening the quarter
down to four minute stretches and what can we do in this four minutes
positively to help ourselves. It
really has been a stretch here or there in some of these games that we've
talked about. We're hoping that
we can continue to grow and get to a point where that's not a factor we have
to be concerned with.”
St. Peter’s (2-5,0-4) is at Mansfield Christian (7-7,4-1) on Friday
night. The Flames hammered
Crestline (74-54) in a league game last week.
Shoulders says their defensive focus must be on Davion Mack.
“I don't think Davion (Mack) gets the credit for the basketball
player that he is. He's a
tremendous athlete but he's a tremendous basketball player.
When you're playing Mansfield Christian that has to be your primary
focus is how are you going to defend him.
You have to take away something, but you are going to give up
something. So, it all starts
with Davion. When we close out
on Davion what are we attempting to take away.
He can be a tough match up when his jumper, his three pointer is
flowing. You crowd him a little
bit, he's able to put the ball on the floor.
So, our defensive focus is obviously making sure that we're all aware
of where he is,” said Shoulders.
Shoulders says the Flames has other players to surround Mack.
“I think Hager's been very good this year running the show.
Morrow has been so much better and Hahn so much better down the
stretch. Hahn has been a lot
more active in the post and Keib same way.
You have got a tremendous three point shooter coming off the bench in
Cyphers. So, they're really a
well-rounded team. I have a lot
of respect for what Carey (Craner) has done with his guys.
So, we know we have our hands full, but as always we're really
looking forward to the challenge because we just think it makes us better
playing very good, great competition like this,” said Shoulders. Published 1/24/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Clear
Fork Has to Make Shots
Clear Fork has a chance to move into a share of the lead in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this week if they can beat Marion Harding and
Shelby.
They trail the Lady Whippets by a game in the conference standings.
They play at Marion Harding (6-9,4-6) on Thursday.
The beat the Lady Presidents (61-22) on December 19.
Coach Scott Sellers says they are dangerous.
“The first year I was at Clear Fork, this is my fifth year, they
won the league that year. They
had the player of the year and they beat us pretty bad pretty bad that year.
Since then, we've won every game, but we've had some really close
games. They have a kid named
Aniya Mitchell (16.3 ppg), who is fantastic.
She will probably get first team all conference again for the fourth
straight year. So, she's really
good. They have some shooters.
We're playing at their place, which historically has tighter rims, so
a little bit tougher to shoot with the depth perception.
So, we understand that going in.
We had a really good practice (Wednesday) focusing on specifically
Marion Harding. We're ready to
go (Thursday). I think the kids
are excited to be back at it,” he said.
Clear Fork (15-2,9-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at home against
Shelby (14-1,10-0), #1 in the large school poll, on Saturday night.
Sellers says the Lady Whippets are just outstanding.
“They play hard one through eight.
They're very well coached, not just, coach (Natalie) Lantz.
Coach Gurney does a great job. Amy Dillon-Bogner does a great job,
Demi Hipp is on their staff and does a great job.
So, I think they're coaching staff is fantastic. I
think they have great players. I
think they have one of the best players maybe in state and Eve Schwemly
(20.8 ppg), who I think is just a really high level, smart player.
So, every team that's played them this year has their hands full.
We have got to go into that game really ready to play.
It is at home, which is nice. I
don't know what else to say other than they are 14-1 for a reason.
They've won six straight titles for a reason.
Every team that plays them this year will have a very scrappy,
competitive game against them and that's what we expect as well,” said
Sellers.
Shelby won the first game (49-36) on December 9 at Shelby.
Sellers sats they need to be very good rebounders and make open
shots. “I think we went into
halftime up one or two maybe. I
know we had a turnover literally with four seconds left in the half up four
to go you know only up two. I
think that's a pretty big momentum swing.
They did what really good teams.
There was about three minutes they went on a 7-0 run and we just
seemed to never recover. Luckily
for us, that was a really nice learning experience at the beginning of the
season. I think we were 4-0 at
that time. We lost that game and
48 hours later we lost to Bellevue 46-44, so we got them at a good time of
year. I think to evolve as a
team as your goes on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening,
“Hopefully, you're playing your best basketball at the end of the season.
I think that's every coach's goal.
For us, I think we need to take care of the basketball. I
think we need to be a really good rebounding team that game.
We have to have a lot of confidence and knock down our shots.
Whatever happens, happens. I
know that we're really excited for it. We're
not looking past anybody, neither are they, they have got River Valley you
know (Thursday). I think it's a
great game, not just for us, but for them, and I think it's a great game for
the area. Our kids are certainly
excited about it.” Published
1/23/25 ©
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First Source for All Things Sports “Out
of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight “Sports
Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM |
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Tygers
Have to Slow Ashland Down
Mansfield Senior, the co-leader in the Ohio Cardinal Conference, will
host the Ashland Arrows in an “OCC” game on Friday night.
The Tygers share first place with Lexington and play the Minutemen
next Tuesday, but Ashland comes first.
They beat rival Madison (68-42) in an “OCC” game last Friday.
They lost (65-60) to Big Walnut in a non-conference game on Saturday
afternoon.
Coach Marquis Skyes believes they learned from that loss.
“Playing the good teams, it'll expose your weaknesses and certainly
that was what Big Walnut was able to do.
So, I feel like this week during our practices we learned quite a bit
from a lot of our mistakes and issues from that game,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night. “I feel like certainly we will be
better moving forward and was able to get a bit of a wake up call and a
humbling experience just all of last week with Big Walnut and Bishop Hartley
and our non-conference schedule in general.
I think we had a tough stretch, but at the same time we're able to
learn and grow and get better from the experience.”
Mansfield Senior (9-4,6-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, entertains Ashland
(8-5,4-4) on Friday night. The
Arrows belted West Holmes (84-57) in an “OCC” game last Friday.
Sykes says they have multiple shooters and a rim protector in Zach
Bernhard. “They shoot the ball
really well. They get up and
down the floor as well. They
have a big that will bang and rebound for them.
So, certainly a tough challenge.
Ashland always plays us tough whether we are at home on the road.
So, we expect a dog fight. We're
going to get their best effort. I
pray that that the Tygers come ready to play and we give our best effort,”
said Sykes.
The Tygers won at Ashland back on December 17 (66-59) at Arrow Arena.
Sykes says perimeter defense and getting back in transition are key
to their success. “You really
have got to put a high emphasis, heavy emphasis on guarding the three-point
line. Put the emphasis on the
defensive transition. If you do
those two things you can slow them down a bit, but you have got to really
make sure that's the key part of the game plan and locked in on it and
execute it,” he said. Published 1/23/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Wooster
to Face Very Good Lexington
Wooster is the only team to beat Lexington in an Ohio Cardinal
Conference game this year and they get another chance on Friday as they
travel to Lexington.
They trail the Minutemen and Mansfield Senior by a game in the
conference standings.
They beat Lex (75-68) on December 17 at Wooster.
Coach Che Richardson says they were just very good that night.
“I told our guys to beat a team like Lexington you have to play
perfect and you have to do everything just the right way.
I feel like we shot the ball really well. I
feel like when they went on their runs, we didn't get rattled.
We were able to handle all their runs.
I feel like we just played together as a team.
We just did everything that we were supposed to do to win a game like
that,” said Richardson.
Of course, in December the Minutemen didn’t have Brayden Fogle, the
reigning “OCC” player of the year, who was dealing with a hand injury.
Richardson says Fogle is a difference maker.
“He just adds like another layer.
I mean obviously he's the “OCC” player of the year last year and
he's a really good football recruit. He
just adds a different level of athleticism.
They have a guy that they could go to when they need a bucket.
He just adds that extra layer that honestly makes them probably one
of the best teams in the state,” he said.
Lexington was already an athletic team with the likes of guard Seven
Allen and post Joe Caudill. Richardson
says their schedule prepares them for teams that are good offensive
rebounders. “The best thing
that happened to us is we played against a team like Massillon where like
they're just as athletic as Lexington. So,
we've have known we have to make some adjustments to help us rebound better
and just kind of continue to grow within that,” he told Swankonsports.com
on Wednesday night, “I think with our schedule that we play, we play
against similar teams in our non-league that play a similar style of
basketball. I would say it just
prepares us for going into conference.” Published 1/23/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Harding
Wants to Run
Marion Harding and River Valley collide in a battle between
co-leaders in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference on Friday night.
Harding has its last 10 games, including “MOAC” wins over Shelby
(46-40) and Highland (52-42) last week.
Coach Jamie Pearson says they sort of held serve if you will.
“Just really impressed with how Shelby's coming along. I
know they've had a lot of uh things going on in terms of injuries and
whatnot, but they came into our place and played exceptionally hard and it
was a really tight game. We were
fortunate enough to come up on top and I was pleased with our effort. Then
any time with our league this year any time you go on the road it's
anybody's game. Highland has a
lot of length. I have a lot of
respect for what they're doing with their program.
We were able to get out of there on top.
So, we kind of hold serve if you will and that sets up a big game for
us this week,” he said.
Marion Harding (13-2,8-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is at River Valley
(11-2,7-1), #3 in our poll, on Friday night.
The Vikings beat Pleasant (56-48) on Saturday in league play.
They whipped West Liberty-Salem (76-50) in a Monday holiday
tournament game.
Pearson says they have tremendous depth.
“I think it starts with their point guard Chase Ebert.
Just as a team they're one of the best passing teams that I've seen
and then they all shoot it. You
look at their stats and they're all close to 40% shooting from the three.
So, they really know how to play basketball.
When you talk about Ebert, the senior, he does it all.
Then they got a couple kids that can shoot.
They have got Weston, the other guard, that can do a little bit of
everything. Then they got Chase
Smith, who's definitely phenomenal too.
Their leading scorer is Meyers, the sophomore, who's doing some
really good things. Then they
have some good bench pieces with #13 coming off the bench and then they have
got a good big kid in #0. So,
very, very well-rounded team. They
got the better of us at their place earlier in the season.
We're looking forward to a rematch.
We're glad it's in our place but it will be quite a challenge for
us,” said Pearson.
River Valley won the first matchup (64-56) on December 14.
Pearson says there are a number of things they need to do better, but
first on his list is rebounding and transition offense.
“We have got to make a few more shots.
We have got to guard them harder.
The way they play they play, they're very spurtable.
So, when they get it going, they really get it going.
So, you have got to be able to contain them when they go on their
runs. You have got to be able to
answer when they score, you have got to be able to score.
You have got to take care of the basketball,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Really to me a big key in this
game with be transition. They do
a great job of pushing the ball down the floor.
We have got to get back, stop the ball, and match up.
Then we have got to try to get our transition going a little bit as
well. Then just some of the
little things like the rebounding. They
do such a good job rebounding. They're
not overly big in terms of height, but they all go after the ball.
They shoot it a bunch and then they know how to chase it down.
So, I think transition and rebounding is a great key to focus on and
whoever wins that likely is going to win the game.” Published 1/23/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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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 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Madison
Still Learning
Madison hosts West Holmes in an Ohio Cardinal Conference game on
Friday night.
They are at home for Shelby in a non-league game Saturday.
The Rams lost (68-42) to arch rival Mansfield Senior in “OCC”
play last Friday.
Coach Davey Hipp says they still suffer from inconsistency.
“Senior High is always a tough place to play, especially when it's
Madison-Senior High rival game. We
played really well for two or three quarters and then a couple possessions
here and there and it’s snowballing into a 20 point loss,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “It's kind of been the common
theme of our year. We play a
couple of good quarters and kind of let it go.
So, something to build on keep improving.”
The Rams (4-11,1-7) are at home for West Holmes (0-11,0-8) on Friday.
Madison beat West Holmes (52-41) on December 17.
Hipp says they can not take a win from granted.
“West Holmes has a couple good guards and they have the (Manny)
Camacho kid, who is 6’7” and they rebound the ball well.
They're still looking for their first win, but they still play really
hard even though they haven't got one yet.
So, we have got to ready to go Friday,” said Hipp.
Hipp played and coached in the Shelby system and he admits Saturday
is not just another game. “It’s
a little different obviously it's not being in being in different colors
this time here in Madsion, but same old game, done already this year.
Just play a normal game, so nothing too different, but it is a little
different,” he said. Published 1/23/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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St.
Paul Just Wants to Play
Norwalk St. Paul just wants to play some basketball as they are
scheduled to play at Edison in a non-conference game on Thursday and at home
against South Central in Firelands Conference action on Friday.
They have not played since January 11.
Coach Steve Minor says isn’t sure how they will respond to the
layoff. “Well, it depends on
how we come out of this next stretch. I
mean we haven't had a game in almost two weeks.
We've only had a few practices because of weather and the way it
falls and school being cancelled and everything.
So, if we can come out of this stretch okay and we're rolling pretty
well,” he told Swankonports.com on Wednesday evening, “It gives us a
little bit to build on, but if you get tripped up and you go stumbling into
a bunch of games at the end that that could be a problem.
So, we have got to be sharp these next couple games.
That's going to be hard to do with practicing twice since Friday.
So, we'll just have to wait and see.”
St. Paul is at Edison (1-9) on Thursday.
Minor calls the Chargers dangerous.
“I know their coach pretty well.
They probably are the most dangerous one win team that will play this
year. I mean play a meat grinder
of a schedule in that “SBC”. They've
been really close in a lot of their games.
They did trip up Mapleton at Mapleton earlier in the year.
They just have not been able to get back in the win column.
I planned to go watch them two days ago when the weather got us, so
that all I've seen is film of them, I haven't seen them in person.
They scrap, they're active, their hands are active, they just they
have no quit in them and they're really dangerous,” he said.
The Flyers (8-5,6-1), in second place in the Firelands Conference, a
game behind Crestview, hosts South Central (2-10,0-9) on Friday.
They hammered the Trojans (72-43) December 19.
Minor says they are hungry too. “It
will be at our place and it's a bigger floor.
I thought the smaller floor at their place helped us out.
They’re hungry to get back in win column too.
They're in the same boat as everybody else having big layoffs and
waiting. I think they snuck a
game in last week. I think half
the league was off with weather last week and half of them rolled the dice
and played. So, they probably
haven’t been on the floor and much longer than we have either.
They're going to be hungry to be after it going towards the end of
the season trying to build some momentum going into the draw and to finish
up their schedule strong,” said Minor. Published 1/23/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Calvert
Has to Get Back to Winning
Tiffin Calvert, now two games back in the Sandusky Bay Conference
River Division, plays at Gibsonburg on Thursday night in division play.
They host Fremont St. Joe on Saturday.
They fell two back when division leader Old Fort beat them (66-53) on
Friday night. Coach Jon
Otterbacher says they weren’t consistent enough.
“I don't think we played extremely well for the duration of the
game. We had them in the first
quarter, had a small little lead, and then we had a two minute stretch of
miscues where they hit a couple threes.
We had a couple turnovers and a close game and your down five.
Did that another time in the third and once in the fourth and close
games go from two to four to 10 real quick,” said Otterbacher. Calvert
(11-3,8-2) is at Gibsonburg (9-4,6-3) on Thursday night.
The Golden Bears rocked Danbury (76-49) on Friday.
The Senecas beat Gibsonburg (65-34) on December 10. Otterbacher
says they have a nice overall team. “They
are playing extremely well. They
should have beat Old Fort a couple weeks ago.
They're up double digits in the second half and Old Fort just made a
couple extra plays down the stretch to beat them,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “They're playing at home and they're
always tough at home. They have
got three really good guards and a nice post presence inside that might try
to neutralize Gavin Wagner a little bit.
So, it'll be another tough “SBC” battle.” With eight
games left to play in the division, the race isn’t over.
Otterbacher says they have to take things one game at a time.
“We always talk about the one game that's in front of us.
We know that we still have eight to 10 games left in the regular
season, but the one that we're worried about is the one we're playing
Thursday night. So, we don't
look ahead at any of the other schedule or anything like that.
We have got to take care of business on Thursday night,” he said. Published
1/23/25 ©
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Source for All Things Sports “Out of
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Columbian
to Face Athletic Perkins
Tiffin Columbian plays at Sandusky Perkins in a game in the Lake
Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Thursday.
They are at Bowling Green for a non-conference game on Saturday,
They edged Clyde (65-62) in a division game last Friday.
Coach Ryan Fretz says their play was not exceptional, but it was
pretty good. “It was a good
win. We didn't play our best
basketball, but we played better than what we have so far this year.
We put four quarters together and that's what we have been looking to
do. Clyde's pretty good at
creating live ball turnovers and scoring off of those and I thought you know
our guards and our big guys did a better job of taking care of the
basketball, which gave us more opportunities to get shots.
Instead of scoring 56 points like we did the first time we were able
to put up 65 and then limit their easy buckets going the other way.
So, it wasn't a perfect game by any means, but it was a game where we
had to fight it out and hit some shots and do what we needed to do down the
stretch to get the win,” said Fretz.
Columbian (5-9,2-3) is at Perkins (9-5,3-2) on Thursday.
Th Pirates share second place in the division with Bellevue.
They beat Norwalk (73-34) in a division game last Friday.
Fretz says they can do a lot of things.
“They're pretty deep and they're pretty athletic.
They've got a lot of guys from their state runner up football team.
There's some height there, there's experience, so it’s nothing easy
to prepare for when you're in practice.
They'll pressure us a little bit.
Coach (Eric) Kochendoerfer has got them playing some pretty good
physical defense both in the full court and in the half court,” he told
Swankosports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I think offensively they're a
freight train. They're going to
come at you. They really
transition out and really look to push the pace.
They have got a handful of guards that can drive the ball, but a
number of shooters that they put on the three-point line that are tough to
find and tough to guard. Then
you add Tim Boales on the inside that can post up, set screens and set ball
screens and rebound.”
Fretz says it will be a test for them.
“They're a tough guard for us.
That doesn't mean we're not going to be prepared and we haven't been
practicing for it. We're
definitely going to have a test for us (Thursday), but we're looking forward
to heading to Perkins and giving it our best shot,” he said. Published 1/23/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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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 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Clear
Fork Prepared for Pleasant
Clear Fork will play at Marion Pleasant on Wednesday night in a game
in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
Last Saturday, the Colts had a chance with the last shot, but lost
(47-46) to Ontario in a conference game.
Coach Brandon Baumgardner says he was pretty pleased with how the
kids executed in that game. “To
be honest, I very happy with the way the boys played.
We were dealing a lot of adversity last week with the passing of a
student, a friend of theirs, a cheerleader in the program.
So, as the first game back after that happening.
The way our boys played, they played hard.
We just didn’t do a few little things down the stretch.
That's what we are working on here going into Pleasant. I
think we're doing a lot of the main stuff well.
We had the lead a lot of times in that game just to do little things
to put it away and they got us down the stretch,” said Baumgardner.
Clear Fork (5-9,2-6) visits Pleasant (6-8,4-5) on Wednesday.
It’s a game that was originally supposed to be Tuesday, but was
moved due to extremely cold temperatures.
The Spartans had a one point fourth quarter lead Saturday against
co-leader River Valley for falling (56-48) to the Vikings.
The Colts won the first matchup (48-41) in one of their better
performances of the season.
Baumgardner says Pleasant is a tough team to get a reading on.
“They're a very well coached team.
I really can't figure them out at times to be honest.
We’ve played a lot of teams close. Just
can't win some of the close ones lately.
They're the one team in the conference that's really given River
Valley fits,” he told Swankopnsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They
beat them the first time and just played another close one with them last
week. Still trying to figure out
if it’s just matchups with them or we just shot well the first time.
I feel like we have got a good game plan going in (Wednesday) and
looking forward to match up.”
Whatever happens on Wednesday, Baumgardner says they must be able to
adjust. “That's one thing I
really love about coaching basketball is the adjustments within the game.
The chess match with the other team.
It makes it fun trying to find out how to attack and what they're
doing and what the changes are as you go,” he said. Published 1/22/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Ontario’s
Goals Still in Front of Them
Ontario plays at Galion on Friday night in a game in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference.
The Warriors are coming off a league win on Saturday night when they
held on to beat Clear Fork (47-46) on the road.
Coach Jerry Moton calls it a game where they did a good job battling
adversity. “It was an
emotional game that was very hard fought. I
think our guys learned how to play through adversity.
That's one of the first times that we stayed together and fought and
came up with the “W,” he said.
Ontario (4-9,3-4) plays at Galion (2-11,1-7) on Friday night.
The Warriors produced their most lopsided win of the season on
December 14 they crushed Galion (79-47) at Ontario.
Moton says Galion is better now.
“Galion has been playing better as of late.
I can't think right off of hand of the teams that they have played
and actually won against, but I do know that they've been playing better
lately,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I expect them
to be up for the game. We're on
the road and on the road is always tough to win, so we're going to have to
fight.”
Galion has lost its last four games.
Their last win came (77-57) over Lucas on January 4.
Moton says his team is also improving and that their goals are still
attainable. “I see us growing.
The guys are working hard. It's
just fine tuning everything, paying attention to details.
Just gearing up towards making this conference run and into the
tournament. Everything is in
preparation for those two things right there,” said Moton. Published 1/22/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Western
Making Good Shots
Western Reserve has a double weekend in the Firelands Conference as
play at New London on Friday and at Plymouth on Saturday.
There is no question they are coming off their best weekend of the
season in handling Plymouth (66-47) on Thursday and Mapleton (66-54) on
Saturday.
Coach Chris Sheldon says they executed well on both ends.
“We've been talking and preaching all year about trying to find
better chemistry and consistency more than anything on the floor on both
sides. We've been pretty
competitive most nights it up to that point and right there in ball games
against good teams with an opportunity to win, but just couldn't do it for
32 minutes. We really did a nice
job of that on both sides starting with our defense on Plymouth’s best
player the (Jarrett) Burr kid and Mapleton's best player the (Scott) Hickey
kid. Then did a really nice job
then offensively of sharing the basketball, moving without it, and knocking
down shots. That goes a long way
in this game. We were able to
finally do that now can we do it for more than one week is the next step in
the progression,” said Sheldon.
Sheldon says last week they were finally able to make shots and he
says not it’s about consistency. “For
us, so much of it been we hadn't been able to make shots.
So, when you’re not making shots your other mistakes exponentially
become more glaring because you're not able to make up for it on the
offensive side of the ball. Not
only are we making shots, we're taking good shots.
We're not taking bad shots, so we're not rushing shots.
We're not forcing the issue. We're
actually playing out of the offense and really taking what the defense is
giving us and then we're finishing those plays.
For us to continue to grow in that area and do those things is where
you talk about the consistency standpoint.
If you're going to get over the hump and start winning more games and
becoming a better basketball team those things have got to continue,” said
Sheldon.
Western Reserve (4-8,4-4) is at New London (1-11,1-6) on Friday.
New London lost to conference leader Crestview (74-50) last Saturday.
Western won the first game (73-36) on December 19.
Sheldon says New London is better and they have to stay hungry.
“They were in the second half only down single digits.
They were in that basketball game for a while and Crestview did wheat
Crestview does to a lot of us and eventually overwhelmed them.
They were able to fight and scratch and claw and really compete. I
thought they handled Crestview’s pressure fairly well and we're able to
stay in the game because of that. Defensively,
they do a nice job of just staying in front of you and making you have to
hit shots. They did that fairly
well as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They're
getting better for sure and you can see their confidence starting to
grow,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “At their place
it's never been an easy place to play for us.
Just because of what we did in game one doesn't mean anything for
game two. We've got to go in and
continue to remain hungry and focused on what our assignments are and what
we're supposed to do if we want to give ourselves a chance to win.” Published 1/22/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
New
Philadelphia With Opportunities
New Philadelphia takes a break from play in the Ohio Cardinal
Conference this week and will play a non conference game against Indian
Valley on Saturday night at home.
The Quakers (8-6,4-4) really challenged “OCC” co-leader Lexington
before falling (56-49) last Friday.
Coach Zach Ross says the Minutemen made more plays down the stretch.
“I thought we did a lot of good things Friday night.
We wanted to limit our turnovers and try to keep them off the glass
as much as we can. We did a
really good job of both of those. Obviously,
the addition of the player of the year in the league from last year really
helps them out. I thought they
did a great job. They're well
schooled. I thought they had a
really good game plan of running our three point shooters off the line.
Just needed a couple more plays and they ended up making them and
helped them win the game,” he said.
With eight games still left on the schedule, Ross says they have a
lot opportunities to get better. “It's
kind of awkward right now. I
think everybody is in this limbo situation where you have got a lot of
different postponements. You're
trying to fit all this in, but you're looking at the schedule like there's
not much time left. All of a
sudden you're thinking about the tournament draw here coming up in a few
weeks,” he told Swankonspots.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We have got a
lot of good opportunities. Our
league presents a ton of challenges. There
are no off nights. Then with our
non league games we're playing some high quality teams.
Every one of them has got a winning record and first or second their
leagues that they're in. So, we
have got a lot of good tough tests that should help us get this battle ready
for the tournament.”
Ross says Indian Valley will be a very good opponent for them on
Friday night. “They’re kind
of like a local rivalry, an in county team.
They have got a really good team.
They have got a couple dynamic kids that can really score the
basketball. They’re second the
Inter Valley Conference right now. Well
coached, they're well schooled. They're
going to win a lot of basketball games. They
beat us last year at their place. They
have a kid that was a freshman All Ohio last year, now he is a sophomore.
He was the quarterback for the state championship team, so obviously
he knows how to win. They have
got a lot of kids around him that are really tough and can shoot the
basketball. So, it will be a
huge test for us. I'm sure it
will be a great crowd Saturday night in our place,” said Ross. Published 1/22/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
Old
Fort in Good Spot
Old Fort had taken a two game lead in the River Division of the
Sandusky Bay Conference and they play Fremont St. Joe in a division game on
Thursday night.
After sweeping second place Tiffin Calvert (66-53) on Friday and
Sandusky St. Mary’s (78-40) on Saturday, the Stockaders have built a two
game lead.
Coach Eric Hoover likes their position, but he knows there is still a
lot of basketball to play. “We
have seven league games left and a two game two game lead, so we're
definitely in a good spot. We
did have some close games with some of those people that we have left.
We're just trying to keep improving.
Our goal is always to do better the second round than we did the
first. So, we want to play
better the second time against people than we did the first,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “If we get more of our team goals.
Not necessarily win by more points, but get more of our team goals.
Just play better throughout the game than we did the first time.
So, we're going to keep plugging away.
There are definitely things we can improve and we're going to keep
working on those every day.” Old Fort
(12-1,11-0) plays at home against Fremont St. Joe (1-12,1-9) on Thursday.
The Crimson Streaks lost (77-43) to New Riegel in a league game last
Friday. Old Fort overwhelmed
them (93-26) on December 10. Hoover says St.
Joe is improved. “That's the
kind of game where you probably judge yourself on how you do.
They do have some different guys than they had the first time.
Some bigger guys that didn't play the first time.
They will be physically a definitely a better challenge.
They scored a lot more against New Riegel last week than they had.
New Riegel an outstanding defensive team, probably has the lowest
defensive average in the league. Certainly,
they're doing some good things and they have improved, so we're going to
have to be ready to go,” he said. They play
Margaretta (15-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches
poll in the small school division, on Saturday. Hoover that
will be a tremendous, but fun challenge.
“That's always a fun game. We've
had a lot of close games with them over the years.
They’re one of the better teams probably, I'm not sure where their
ranked in division V, but have got to be up there.
They have a outstanding individual player in Julian Washington, who
is probably going to be playing Division I basketball here in a couple of
years. So, you don't get that
too often at our level when you get to play against a player like that.
We're going to go out there and compete and enjoy that experience,”
said Hoover. Published
1/22/25 ©
Swankonsports.com Your First
Source for All Things Sports “Out of
Bounds” every Friday night 10 to midnight “Sports
Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM |
||
Willard
Has to Score
Willard is a basketball team that is struggling to score and Thursday
they play Clyde, a team that really scores a lot, in an “SBC” crossover.
The Flashes (3-10) lost a Bay Division game (42-37) to Vermilion on
Saturday night.
Coach Joe Bedingfield says they just had a lot of trouble making
shots. “Against Vermilion we
just couldn't put in the basket. We
have got to do a better job as coaches to try to get them better looks.
We'll continue to work on that. We
didn't shoot a high percentage from the free throw line.
We were 8-20. We still
had a chance to tie the game even shooting 28% from the floor.
We didn't convert. We
missed all three free throws,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “I feel bad for kids because the kids are still working hard.
They still put in some extra time here lately.
They still believe that we can win some basketball games and they're
doing a good job of working to improve.
They still have a lot of fight in them.
So, we just have got to continue to find ways to get better easier
baskets.”
Willard has not scored more than 44 points in their last three games.
Clyde (6-8) has for times this season scored more than 90 points in a
game, including a (91-63) win over Fostoria on Saturday.
Bedingfield says they are going to push the pace.
“They have 10 seniors. They
have a lot of kids that have experience with Olson and Wilson.
They have the green light as soon as they cross half court.
They're going to pressure you. They
will leave their guys at times to go and trap the ball.
They want to play up tempo ball.
We are going to have to do a very good job of stepping through some
traps and flashing to the middle of the floor and be strong with the ball
and squaring up and not backing away from the pressure,” said Bedingfield.
Bedingfield says they need to take smart shots.
“They'll be a lot of opportunities, but there's also sometimes when
teams play like that, they're also speeding you up to take some bad shots.
We want to take some good shots.
There's nothing wrong with playing fast, but you want to play under
control and look for those opportunities.
If we don't score more than 37 points against Clyde we will be in
real trouble because they score a lot of points in bunches,” he said. Published 1/22/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
Norwalk
Must be More Consistent
Norwalk plays at Vermilion in an “SBC” crossover on Thursday and
will host Lake Division leading Sandusky on Saturday.
They lost a pair of games last week when Perkins smoked them (73-34)
in a division game on Friday and Huron topped them (54-46) in a crossover on
Saturday.
Coach Adam Kreischer says they were kind of outmanned against
Perkins, but played better versus Huron.
“Obviously, the Perkins game was going to be a difficult one for
us. The first time we played
them we had Rothhaar we had Jordan Parriott and we didn't have either one of
them on Friday night. Jordan due
to sickness and we've moved on without Ben at this point being that he's at
Rutgers. We were a little
outmanned. They're a very deep
team and can come at you in waves and kind of got out of hand there on
Friday for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Versus
Huron, we went over there and played well at times.
They had a kid knock down I think maybe six threes, a couple of deep
ones. Knocking down shots like
that sometimes wins basketball games and for them in the second half it did
just that. We had Garrett Demuth
start shooting the ball well. He
has in the past couple of games has really scored it for us over at Huron.
Mason Gamble had a really nice game over at Huron.”
Kreischer says they must become more consistent on offense.
“We talked a lot this week about you know putting it all together
now because we just need to find some consistency with our with our offense.
Jordan Parriott will have a great game and then not a very good game.
Same with Brock Kuhl, same with Mason Gamble, same with Garrett
Demuth. We need those four in
particular to score more consistently in the eight to 10 to12 point range
for us to be successful offensively,” he said.
Norwalk (5-9) plays at Vermilion (4-7) on Thursday.
The Sailors beat Willard (42-37) in a Bay Division game last Friday.
Kreischer says they have some guys that can score.
“They're similar to us. They
can really shoot the three though. We
might have a little bit of advantage as far as maybe athleticism, maybe
rebounding the basketball, but they can really shoot the ball.
We're going to have to get out on the shooters.
They have got a couple of kids they can really play.
#4’s name is slipping my mind right now, but he is a really nice
player. #30 Mason Cooper can
really shoot the ball and score it. So,
especially those two we’ll have to do a nice job on Thursday,” said
Kriescher. Published 1/22/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Ashland
Starting to Shoot
Ashland plays at Mansfield Senior against the “OCC” co-leading on
Tygers at Pete Henry Gym Friday night.
A non-conference game with Shelby on Tuesday has been postponed due
to anticipated cold temperatures.
The Arrows (8-5,4-4) smoked West Holmes (84-57) on Friday night in an
“OCC” game.
Coach Jason Hess says they shot the ball very well from the
perimeter. “Offensively we
played really well. We were able
to make a lot of shots. We hit
15 threes, which is the most we have made in the game all year.
So, obviously when the ball is going in the basket it makes you feel
pretty good about yourself. When
we were able to put up the number of points we did that also helps getting
the victory,” said Hess.
Mansfield Senior (9-4,6-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has lost three of
their last four, all non-conference games.
They won their “OCC” game last Friday in beating rival Madison
(68-42) at home.
The Tygers won the first game between the two (66-59) on December 17
at Arrow Arena.
Hess says they need to play a full 32 minutes this time.
“Mansfield is right at the top of our league, tied it in first
place in the league standings. So,
it is going to be a challenge for us to go over to Mansfield on Friday, but
I'm looking forward to it, I think we've improved.
Hopefully, we've learned some things from that first time on what was
effective against them. Hopefully,
we'll be able to implement those strategies for the entirety of the game as
opposed to just late in game when we we're behind.”
The Tygers share first place in the league with Lexington.
Ashland trails by three games.
Hess says it would be great if they could shoot from the outside like
they did last week. “Hopefully.
we'll be able to continue to make shots like we did last Friday and give
ourselves a chance to win that basketball game,” he said. Published 1/21/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Bellevue
Must Handle Pressure
Bellevue,
of the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division, is at Ontario, of the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference, on Tuesday night in a non-league game.
The Redmen share second place in the division with Perkins, two
behind Sandusky.
They lost (61-55) to Sandusky on Friday night.
Coach Ed Rich says they played well, but they just could never get
the lead against the Blue Streaks. “I
think they got they up on a 16-6 in the first quarter. I
think we outscored in the second, played even in the third and outscored
them in the fourth. We got as
close as one in the third, but turnovers killed us.
We had 18, which against them isn't necessarily horrible, but a
little bit more than we wanted. We
asked our kids to battle and they battled.
We wanted a chance in the fourth and we gave ourselves a chance.
We just couldn't get it done,” said Rich.
Bellevue (10-4), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, is
at Ontario (4-9) on Tuesday night, weather permitting.
The Warriors held off Clear Fork (47-46) in a “MOAC” game on
Saturday night.
Rich says Ontario has some very good, young talent.
“They are extremely young. I
think they started four freshmen Saturday night against Clear Fork that I
watched. He's changed lineups a
couple times in the last couple games. Yeah,
they have got two really, really good guards in #25 and #30.
Those are the guys I think everyone needs to focus on and that's what
we're going to focus on. They're
young, but they have got some talent. If
something clicks with them, they could be extremely dangerous,” he said.
Rich says Ontario will show them a variety of presses and they have
to be able to handle them. “A
little bit here and there they throw the old school traditional 1-2-1-1
diamond, which I haven't seen in a while and also get up into you in the
man. It could be very
effective,” he told Swankonsports.com. “Like sharks, if they smell blood
in the water, they're going to jump all over it.
So, I have saw it be very effective against some teams and I've saw
other teams handle it fairly well. So,
it's just going to come down to how we handle it initially on Tuesday night
and if we handle initially, I think we'll be okay.” Published 1/21/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
Seneca
East Expects Different Carey
Seneca East will play host to Carey in a game in the Northern 10
Athletic Conference on Friday night.
Right now, the Tigers stand in a share of third place in the
conference standings, three games behind Colonel Crawford.
They beat Bucyrus (48-39) on Saturday in an “N10” game.
Coach Anthony Langhurst says they had to make some plays in the end
to secure the win. “We kind of
knew that coming in that they're playing probably the best basketball
they've played in a couple years. Guys
are getting a lot better. They
found a defense that kind of works for them, shortens the game a little bit.
They have a couple athletes there on the outside playing on the
perimeter. Floyd is getting
going too. He's really
efficient. I'm really impressed
with what he could do without really having to force a lot of things.
So, we're just fortunate enough to make a couple big shots. Our role
players stepped up. Just anytime
it’s good when you can go on the road in the “N10” and get a “W,”
he said.
Langhurst says winning on the road in the “N10” is always tough
no matter where it is. “The other team they have got some you know
comfortability there. Their fans
are at you. There's an
unfamiliarity with the floor and everything.
So, just takes you out of your comfort zone.
If you can see the ball go in a few times that helps some.
We started off the game pretty decent.
I think we only had like a one point lead, but I felt good about the
way we were playing. Going into
halftime, we stretched the lead out a little bit.
It’s a credit to Bucyrus, they just kept battling and won the third
quarter. Like I said, luckily we
just made enough clutch plays in the fourth quarter to extend our lead and
win at the end,” said Langhurst.
Seneca East (10-4,6-3) host Carey (3-9,3-4) on Friday.
The Blue Devils taken to the woodshed (72-36) by second place Mohawk
on Saturday. Seneca East won the
first meeting between the two (72-51) on December 12.
Langhurst expects a close game this time.
“Those scores are a little bit deceiving because they're playing
against some really good competition. I
think we were fortunate playing early in the season.
Probably still playing on some football legs. They
weren’t shooting ball particularly well at that point.
They're going to be a completely different team, so luckily we have
them at home this time around,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
evening, “It’s tough playing at their place.
Hopefully, we can play like we did the first time against them.
We had some role players step up and play real well.
Justin Reiter did some nice things for us.
Lucas Bordner had a big game too.
So, hopefully those guys can have the kind of same kind of production
they had before. Luke Mason can
get going a little bit and we can keep their guards and their bigs under
control.” Published 1/21/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
||
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 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
||
Mohawk
Needs to be Smart Physical
Mohawk, the second place team in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference,
will be at home on Saturday night for the rival Carey Blue Devils in a
conference game.
The Warriors trail Colonel Crawford by a game in the conference
standings after losing (53-50) in overtime to the Eagles last week.
Of course, they play them again February 12, this time at home.
However, coach Paul Dunn cautions these other league games are just
as important. “As coaches we
know that and as players you know we've tried to convey that to them and
they understand. It's an older
group they understand what's in front of them.
Every game is important and in this league everybody knows everybody
and it's a physical league. When
you play in a league like that anything can happen on any night, especially
in a game with Carey. It's a
rivalry game, these kids it means a lot to both sides, so I got to be ready
to play,” said Dunn.
Mohawk (9-1,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Carey (3-8,3-3) on Saturday
night. The Blue Devils lost
(60-51) to Upper Sandusky last Friday in a league game.
Zach Bame is a first year coach at Carey, but Dunn says this team has
a lot of elements we familiar with when it comes to Carey.
“With a new coach coming in they're figuring out some new stuff.
They have got some carryover coaches that kept some of the continuity
of their form. They're
improving, that's one thing you can notice on film when you look at the
games they played recently,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night,
“They're taking steps in the right direction and with Carey you're always
expecting an extremely physical team, extremely athletic team and they
definitely fit the bill with that. They
pose a lot of problems with their physicality and we're going to have to
really handle the ball. Defensively,
we have got to keep them in front.”
Dunn says they want to be physical and aggressive, but they don’t
want to be in foul trouble. “You
can't pick and choose the fouls. You
try to tell the kids you got to kind of feel out how the games being called
and be aware and be smart. In a
physical game you really have got to intentionally avoid the really, really
silly fouls. Unfortunately, in
the games that we struggled we didn't avoid those and we put ourselves tough
spots then we actually did pick up legitimate fouls that was the second or
third. So, you have got to be
smart and kind of feel the game out in that sense,” he said. Published 1/17/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
||
Madison
is Dangerous
Madison takes its act to archrival Mansfield Senior for an Ohio
Cardinal Conference game on Friday night.
It’s called the “Battle of Mansfield” and Madison coach Davey
Hipp understands that anything can happen.
“It’s a pretty big rival. I
know it's pretty easy for the kids involved in the game to be ready to go,
so you don't really worry about that. They
all know each other,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They
know pretty much everything about each other.
So, it just comes down to when it gets about 7 PM on Friday, who will
be get ready to go.”
Madison (4-10,1-6) plays at Mansfield Senior (8-3,5-1), #1 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Friday. The Tygers
did get thumped (82-52) by Columbus Bishop Hartley on Tuesday in a
non-league game.
In the first game between the two, Mansfield Senior won (85-69) on
December 13.
Hipp says they know they can score.
“We scored almost 70 points, but when you give up over 70 you're
always put yourself in lower chance of winning.
It's something we have got to work out and try to plan on doing
better this game is really sitting down in the half court and making them
work and also keep scoring the ball,” he said.
Hipp says they are certainly the underdog in this game based on what
we have seen earlier. However,
he thinks they are dangerous. “Obviously
people are going to count us out this one even if they don't know much they
can see records, but especially in a rivalry game like this anything can
happen. My guys play super hard
and we are figuring things out. I
think we're a dangerous team to be messed with right now,” said Hipp. Published 1/17/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Old
Fort Looking to do it Again
Old Fort, the leader in the River Division of the Sandusky Bay
Conference, is at home for second place Tiffin Calvert in a huge mid season
game in the division on Friday night.
The Senecas trial by just a game.
Old Fort destroyed a good New Riegel team (73-39) in a division game
on Tuesday night.
Coach Eric Hoover says they got a really good start.
“We really came out of the gate well.
We're up 13-0 and didn't really relax.
That was probably the most complete game we've had offensively and
defensively. We did a great job
making everything tough. We
created a bunch of turnovers and did a great job moving the ball.
So, I was very happy with the effort on Tuesday,” said Hoover.
Old Fort (10-1,9-0) hosts Tiffin Calvert (10-2,8-1) on Friday night.
Calvery also had a blowout win on Tuesday night when they smoked
Danbury Lakeside (70-25) in a division game.
Hoover says the Senecas are sound led by play of post player Gavin
Wagner. “They're very good,
very disciplined, they can score inside and out.
That makes them very challenging.
An outstanding big man in the middle in Gavin Wagner, he is averaging
19.5 a game. He is really just
having a great year. He has
continued to improve every year and really improved his athleticism in the
off season. So, he's a load to
deal with. So, they give us a
lot of different challenges,” he said.
Old Fort won the first meeting (67-65) at Calvert on December 30 on a
layup with less than a second. Calvert
got back in the game with a number of threes and Hoover says they must
adjust their defensive game plan. “It
is certainly something we have to adjust just to.
We played a lot of zone the first game and they had some actions that
we just struggled really to guard out of it,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Thursday night, “We're going to have to do that better.
We'll probably mix it up a lot more defensively, so they don't get
too comfortable. We had built a
nice lead offensively. We played
well in that game, but then we just didn't get it done defensively in the
fourth quarter. We let them back
in, but found a way to win there in the end.” Published 1/17/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Seneca
East Moving in the Right Direction
Seneca East travels to Bucyrus to face the Redmen on Friday night in
a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.
The Tigers (9-4,5-3) have won three its last four games, including
(66-49) win over Wynford last Saturday.
Coach Anthony Langhurst says the players have bought into some new
things they are introducing. “The
kids are playing good basketball. We're
trying to do a couple different things offensively and defensively to keep
guys contributing on both ends of the floor.
We are throwing some new things at them and the guys are picking it
up. We're just taking advantage
of some of the game time and working through some things hopefully so that
way we're playing good once tournament time rolls around,” said Langhurst.
A couple of kids in Bryler Beamer and Justin Reiter, who didn’t
play last year when the Tigers went to the regional tournament, have made an
impact. Langhurst they have
brought a lot to the table. “I
think the athleticism and physicality that Bryler Beamer and Justin Reiter
give us are key. Good guard play
can take you so far, but you have got to get rebounds and defend.
It's a physical conference, so Bryler does some really nice things
defensively and he's been pretty consistent scoring wise,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Justin's been pretty solid, just
doesn't really make a whole lot of mistakes and does some really nice things
defensively rebounding the basketball. Without
those guys we definitely would be a completely different team.
So, it's nice to see those guys contributing.”
Bucyrus just won their first game of the season on Thursday night in
beating Buckeye Central (56-44) on Thursday in an “N10” game.
Langhurst says they will come in Saturday with some confidence.
“They were playing with some confidence (Thursday).
They played at home and won and got their first conference win.
So, they're going to be back at home on Saturday against us and
feeling pretty good. They have
got really good athletes at the guard position.
So, we're going to have to stay locked and hopefully locate shooters
and try to do some good things on offense moving the ball around and
hopefully put the ball in the hole more than they do,” said Langhurst. Published 1/17/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Wooster
Needs to Finish Wooster does
not play an “OCC” game this week instead they are at Massillon to do
battle with the Tigers in non-conference play on Friday night.
Coach Che Richardson says playing games like this one is important.
“That’s what I've always told our guys is everything we do right
now is preparing for tournament and to go against teams like Massillon
you're preparing for teams that would be more athletic.
Also, being at Wooster everything is 30 minutes or further away, so
you're preparing yourself on those bus rides to be able to one get yourself
mentally prepared for a game and then kind of go out there and compete
against some of the best teams,” said Richardson.
When it comes to personnel, Richardson says Massillon reminds him of
a couple league schools. “They're
good, they're athletic, they press well. I
would say they compare to in our league probably like Lexington or
Mansfield. They score well. I
think they're averaging close to almost 70 points a game.
So, they do a lot of scoring. We're
just going to have to be able to just sit down and get stops and be able to
score ourselves,” he said.
Wooster (7-5) has played well at times, they beat Lexington earlier
this year, but Richardson says they must be more consistent.
“I would say just playing two halves.
Right now, I feel like we're playing one good half and then either
the first half was good and the second half was bad or the first half was
bad and the second half was good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday
evening, “I just think we're just trying to figure out a way to play
complete games and just finish out games as well as I think we can.
I told our guys the biggest thing is you don't want to hit your
stride too early. The good thing
is like we've kind of run through some adversity and still trying to learn
some things. I'm hoping that we
could start hitting our stride here soon and kind of get things rolling
again.” Published 1/17/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Clear
Fork Maturing
The weekend schedule for the Clear Fork Colts boys’ basketball
remains unclear at this point in the wake of the death of a high school
student on Tuesday.
Students in the district are being offered grief counseling as they
deal with the loss of a classmate.
We at Swankonsports.com, located in the Clear Fork valley, want to
express our heartfelt condolences to the family in the face of this
unthinkable tragedy. We hope
this community will come together as one to assist the family in every way
possible.
Clear Fork was to play Galion on Thursday and Ontario on Saturday in
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference games.
The Colts (5-8,2-5) did win a non-conference game on Tuesday night
when they beat Willard (54-44) at Les Hauenstein Gym.
Coach Brandon Baumgardner says it was a quality win for the team.
“It feels good to get those W's, but there's still a lot of things
we want to work on. (Tuesday)
night, on the scoreboard it was a 10 point win, but it was actually a closer
game than that. We pulled away
late. I like some things that
we're doing, but there are still a lot of things that we want to get better
at doing,” said Baumgardner.
Clear Fork has a very young squad and Baumgardner says they are
growing and maturing as a team. “These
young guys are learning to step up in big moments.
I know Carter Coole made another big three to tie the game and we ran
a set for him and he made a big bucket late to pull us back out and put the
pressure back on them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night,
“It's really, really good experience for these younger guys to be in those
clutch moments to help the pressure not get to them too much.” Published 1/16/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1 PM |
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Tygers
Have to Play Harder
Mansfield Senior, the Ohio Cardinal Conference co-leader, plays at
home at Pete Henry against traditional rival Madison on Friday night.
They share first with Lexington.
They had likely their worst performance of the season on Tuesday
night when they were blitzed (82-52) by Columbus Bishop Hartley in a
non-conference game.
Coach Marquis Sykes says they were not at their top form.
“We simply weren't ready to play.
Bishop Hartley is certainly one of the best teams in division III and
probably one of the better teams in any division.
You can't come into their place not ready.
I didn’t have our guys ready to play and we got a good old
fashioned buck kicking,” he said.
Sykes says they really can’t wait for Friday night to get here so
they can play another game. “We
really need to get this this bad taste out of our mouths.
All of us we're really disappointed in our game (Tuesday) from our
coaching staff all the way down all of our players.
We got on the practice for (Wednesday) after watching film and we
were able to get the taste out a little bit, but we won't really be able to
feel it until Friday. So, we
feel like we'll be much better prepared coming up this Friday against our
rival and hopefully our guys will play intense, play upset and are ready to
have a much better showing,” said Sykes.
Mansfield Senior (8-3,5-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Madison
(4-10,1-6) on Friday. The Rams
lost (58-45) to Norwalk in a non-league game on Tuesday.
The Tygers took the first game between the two rivals (85-69) on
December 13.
Sykes expects a closer game this time.
“They have a new coach, a new system, so we expected that it will
take a little time for those guys to really take in what coach (Davey) Hipp
is trying to do, but we certainly can see the improvement from watching film
on those guys. We can see the
improvement over the course of the season.
We know they're going to give us a tough test no matter where the
game is played and no matter what part of the season is played in,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We expect them to come in and
play extremely hard. We have to
match and exceed their intensity and be ready to play some of our best
basketball this season. We've
reached the midway point it's really time to start getting ourselves
prepared for the conference run stretch and into our tournament stretch.” Published 1/16/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Lady
Eagles Need Focus
Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader, plays
host to Bucyrus on Friday night in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic
Conference.
Tuesday night, they drilled Buckeye Central (57-24) in a conference
game.
Coach Zac Bauer says they were pleased.
“We're happy with how we played offensively and defensively.
It helps when your kids are playing with a lot of confidence and they
take things as seriously as they do,” he said.
Crawford leads Seneca East by one game and Wynford and Carey by two
in the standings.
Bauer says they have a group that is very focused on the little
things of the game. “Everybody
has the same goals. Everybody's
coming out to play to win every night, but it's the teams that are going to
push themselves to be attentive to little things.
I think that we have seniors right now that help to pull that
attitude and that attentiveness into practice.
We're very fortunate with the senior group that we have and as hard
as they work physically they're pretty locked in mentally too on practice
days and on prep days and things like that.
So, we've been very lucky there,” said Bauer.
Colonel Crawford (13-1,9-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Bucyrus
(1-13,1-9) on Friday. Crawford
won the first meeting (54-24) on December 13.
Bauer says their focus has to be on what’s ahead.
“You have to deal with what's in front of you.
You can't think about what happened last time because that's over.
In any situation whether you win or you lose, you win big or you lose
big you have to focus on what's in front of you,” he told
Swankonspoorts.com on Wednesday evening, “Adaptability has been a big
focus of ours for the last two or three weeks and especially going in the
second round you can't predict what other teams are going to do to you and
how they're going to adjust. You
can only deal with what you see and be able to change on the fly.
So, it's not reflective of what happened, but it's going to be about
who comes out and executes. It's
just like any other game in the “N10”.
You have to come out and execute, you have to be sharp and focused
and attentive to details and if we can do that, I think that we'll be in a
good spot.” Published 1/16/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Ontario
With Limited Time to Prepare
Ontario wants to get back on the basketball floor and they have two
chances to do it this week as they host “MOAC” co-leader River Valley on
Thursday and travel to Clear Fork on Saturday for Mid-Ohio Athletic
Conference games.
They have had a game with Highland postponed due to weather twice in
the last week.
Coach Jerry Moton says not only did they not get to play, but they
couldn’t practice either. “It's
frustrating. The only thing it
does it just condenses our schedule even more than what it already has been
because we have to reschedule games in the beginning of the year because of
the football run, you know the football team.
So, it just really limits the amount of practice time that we truly
get with our players,” said Moton.
Ontario (3-8,2-3) hosts River Valley (8-2,5-1) on Thursday night.
The Vikings share the conference lead with Marion Harding.
They walloped Clear Fork (80-37) in a conference game last week.
Moton says they are very good on offense and defense.
“They have a high octane offensive.
They hit the boards hard. They
have got some great shooters on the team.
They play really good defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday afternoon, “They're just all around good team and we're going
have to be up and ready for the physicality that they bring.”
Ontario beat Clear Fork (50-39) on December 12.
Moton says this will be a tougher challenge.
“That's going to be a fun game.
It's on the road, so it's always tough to win on the road. I
don't care who you play and or what their record is when you come to
somebody’s home territory they always play with a little more pride and
intensity,” he said. Published 1/16/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
PM |
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Harding
Doing What it Takes
Marion Harding, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
will be at home for defending champion Shelby on Thursday night in league
play.
They play at Highland on Saturday.
The Presidents (11-2,6-1) has won its last eight games and coach
Jamie Pearson says they have a nice combination of players with experience.
“This is my fourth year at Harding.
We kind of have a system in place.
We've had a lot of kids buy into the system, so that's been a big
plus for us. The senior class
now were freshmen when I was first here.
Guys like Parker Iden, one of our senior guards, this is his fourth
year with me. So, I think
experience matters, familiarity with the system matters and I think that's
really important. I think the
second thing that we're strong with is our guard play. We
have two senior guards. We have
got, as I mentioned, Parker Iden is our shooting guard and he's really been
shooting well lately. Then Logan
Thrapp leads the “MOAC” in assists and he's also scoring the ball for
us. So, we have got pretty good
guard play and then throw in our 6’6” junior kind of big man Boston
Pearson,” said Pearson.
Pearson says they have high expectations for the season.
“It's a good place to start when you have a good point guard and
you have got a little size inside that can score.
Then just kind of fill in the pieces with some other guys that are
willing to do whatever role you need to do.
We have some sophomores that have stepped up and do that we got a
couple of juniors we've done that too. So,
I give a lot of credit to our kids. I
have a lot of expectations for our program, for our kids, and I expect a lot
out of them and so far in the season they've lived up to that,” he said.
Shelby (7-5,5-2) is a game back in the standings.
They are coming off a (60-50) win over Pleasant in a conference game
on Saturday.
The Presidents beat Shelby (78-70) in overtime December 10.
Pearson still believes the road to the conference title goes through
Shelby. “We're halfway through
this league, so a lot can still happen.
Since I've been here Shelby's won the league every single year I
think, so to me they’re still the team to beat and we're treating it as
such. We felt very fortunate to
go over there and get a win. It's
one of the toughest gyms and places I've ever played as a coach.
So, we're looking at still if we want to be the best in the league,
we have got to beat the team that's been the best and to me that's still
Shelby,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “They have got
a great point guard. They have
some other players with some experience as well. I
think they'd have a really good coach and they have a system and they have a
bunch of kids that win it whatever they do.
So, we're taking this like it's as important game as any on our
schedule. We know it's going to
be a great challenge. We've
really had a good week to prep for them.
So, when they throw the ball up on Thursday night we'll see what
happens but, I think our kids will be ready.” Published 1/16/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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New
Philadelphia Doing Good Things
New Philadelphia, a winner six of its last seven, plays at Ohio
Cardinal Conference co-leader Lexington on Friday in conference action.
They beat Canal Fulton Northwest (56-49), The Principal’s Athletic
Conference leader, Tuesday night in non-conference action.
Coach Zach Ross they are playing good basketball right now.
“Yeah it feels really good. You
kind of get caught up in game by game. I
feel like it's been game, two days prep, game, two days prep, and you kind
of forget about kind of a little bit of a run that we're on.
I don't want our guys to be too enamored with that, but it's really
just been our young guys starting to believe themselves, buying into the
culture that our staff is trying to put in place for them.
We have got a lot of young guys starting to step up and we're playing
well, we're sharing the basketball well, our team defense has got
tremendously better and looking forward to a great challenge Friday
night,” said Ross.
New Philly (8-5,4-3) is at Lexington (11-2,6-1), #2 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school
division, on Friday. The
Minutemen blasted West Holmes (71-32) on Wednesday night.
They also beat the Quakers in the first matchup (47-34) on December
13.
Ross says the Minutemen run the floor well and they get a lot of easy
looks. “They’re elite as far
as getting out and getting easy scores whether it's off of rebounds or off
live ball turnovers. That's
obviously a huge key that we've circled right off the bat whenever you scout
them. Kind of the last couple
years with them with or without
(Brayden) Fogle then that's a huge part of their offense is having the
ability to get easy scores with their guys that play extremely hard,” he
said.
Lexington has had the habit this season of producing a lot of big
runs and taking over close games.
Ross says they can’t have that happen Friday.
“I think I would be okay with six or eight for right now.
Let's try to avoid those ones where they're going on 12, 13, 15-0
runs. In a lot of those films
you're seeing like somebody's hanging around, hanging around and all of a
sudden you blink and then they throw that knockout punch and all of a sudden
it's a 15, 16 point game just like that,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday evening, “They have that ability with that.
They're great in transition, they're great at getting offensive
rebounds and with that and they have got a lot of dynamic kids around Seven
Allen that play well. The
Caudill kid inside is such a huge load and then they got a plethora of guys
that are extremely athletic and play great defense as well.” Published 1/16/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Western
Has to Clear That Last Hurdle
Western Reserve plays a pair of Firelands Conference games this week
as they are at home for Plymouth on Thursday and Mapleton on Saturday.
They came close to breaking a three game skid last Saturday when they
lost (60-50) in overtime to Huron in non-league play.
Coach Chris Sheldon says they were right there.
“They're a good basketball team.
We made some adjustments with our rotations with some of our
personnel just because we're at that point right.
We had up to that point played nine games and haven't been very
productive or consistent from a lot of our guys.
We were just trying to do something maybe a little different.
Seeing if we can get a little bit of spark and I thought we did and
played fairly well. We had a
chance with the ball in our possession on the last play of the fourth
quarter and unfortunately it didn't go in.
They took advantage early in overtime.
When you get the lead early in overtime that's such an advantage with
the shorter period that we just could never get back into it.
Steps in the right direction, but still a long way to go,” he said.
Western Reserve (2-8,2-4) hosts Plymouth (5-6,2-4) on Thursday night.
Sheldon says the Big Red has a nice combination of players.
“The (Jarrett) Burrer kid can really play and he makes life pretty
easy for those guys around him. They
put a couple shooters around him, a couple bigs that are really active on
the glass. They just do a nice
job and some of the things they're trying to run offensively.
Really moving the basketball and getting good, quality looks.
They have some length to them across the board.
There's only one guy that's really under 6 foot tall and they use
that length to just keep people in front of them and really holding their
opponents to one shot and out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday
evening, “They do a nice job of that and because of those two things
they're in every game. They're
right there on the cusp of beating some really good basketball teams.
So, we definitely have our work cut out for us.
We have got to try to build on what we did offensively and
defensively Saturday night and see if we could try to connect that type of
rhythm and execution two games in a row would be something we haven't been
able to do so far this year.”
When it comes to Mapleton (9-3,4-2) they beat Western (48-31) on
December 13.
Sheldon says Scott Hickey is an explosive scorer.
“Hickey is right there with Thompson in our league.
He's just such a hard matchup because he can do it all and he's so
athletic, great body control, great strength and explosiveness.
We have got to give him a lot of attention.
He almost beat us single handedly the first time where he had 28 and
we only had 31 and that's usually not good for your basketball team when one
guy almost beats you. They have
got the two bigs and their wings are playing with confidence.
So, they're again going to be another night out in our league for us
that’s very, very competitive. We've
been in a lot of basketball games and for us it's a matter of when are we
going to put four quarters together and be able to get over the hump.
It doesn't matter whether it's Thursday night or Saturday night
that's got to be our mindset and our goal and because we're right there it's
just a matter of getting over the hump,” said Sheldon. Published 1/16/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Calvert
With an Opportunity
Tiffin Calvert, a game back in the River Division of the Sandusky Bay
Conference, plays at division leader Old Fort on Friday night.
They trail the Stockaders by a game.
They buried Danbury-Lakeside (70-25) in a non-league game on Tuesday
night.
Coach Jon Otterbacher says they accomplished a goal.
“We wanted to make sure we continue to stay balanced and continue
to get key contributions from five, six, seven guys.
I thought we did a pretty good job of that on Tuesday,” he said.
Calvert (10-2,8-1) is at Old Fort (10-1,9-0) on Friday.
The Stockaders destroyed a pretty good New Riegel team (73-39) in
division play on Tuesday.
Otterbacher says they just have a of skill on both ends of the court.
“They're just so athletic and so well coached.
Everything they do they do with a purpose whether it's their zone
defense, that is just confusing to most teams or their offense, where just
all five guys can handle the ball and can attack basket and can finish,”
said Otterbacher.
Old Fort got past Calvert (67-65) on December 30, scoring with less
than a second to play.
Otterbacher says they need to get off to a better start and be more
fundamental in their play. “We
didn’t do a very good job first two and half quarters almost three full
quarters of taking care of the ball and being in the right positions
defensively and we got down pretty big,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Wednesday night, “Luckily, we had Grady (Otterbacher) come in and decide
he wanted to hit nine threes that game to pull us back in.
We had an opportunity to send it to overtime and they just had the
ball at the end of the game and scored.” Published 1/16/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Norwalk
Has to Get Back
Norwalk will entertain the Perkins Pirates in a Sandusky Bay
Conference Lake Division game on Friday night.
The Tuckers won their last time out when they beat Mansfield Madison
(58-45) in a non-league game on Tuesday.
Coach Adam Kreischer says their offensive execution was improved.
“We played pretty well offensively.
We just looked a lot better. Starting
to learn how to play without Rothhaar. It
just changed how we play and spacing things a little differently for us.
We got out in transition and really moved the basketball well.
Like I said offensively, we kind of got things cooking a little bit
there at times on Tuesday that we haven't necessarily done lately or even a
whole lot this year really at the offensive end.
We continue to get better defensively and find a way to guard and
play really hard. If we can get
our offense continuing to improve as it did on Tuesday we'll be a better
team here towards the end of the year,” said Kreischer.
Ben Rothhaar is now attending classes at Rutgers and preparing for
next fall’s college football season.
Kreischer says they have made the needed adjustments.
“I think all of us knew what was coming from players to coaches and
everything. Yeah it changes
things and there's a little bit of an adjustment period, but I do think that
we have made the adjustment. I
think that our guys have moved on. Our
practices have been really good, especially like the last five or so.
Just really a real concentration at the defensive end.
Really focusing on details at both ends and then just trying to put
some different things in offensively that we think can help us towards the
end of the year,” he said.
Norwalk (5-7,1-4) hosts Perkins (8-4,2-2) on Friday.
They just played last week and Perkins smoked the Truckers (74-46).
Kreischer says Friday night they have to get back on defense.
“I'm not going to say that it's going to be the end all be all and
what's going to change the outcome of the game, but if we're just talking
about the last game against them something we need to do definitely this
game is we need to get back in transition defensively,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We didn't turn it over a ton
against them, but man we did not get back on the defensive end.
We did not stop dribble penetration really from anybody that night.
For whatever reason, that just was not a good game for us.
Probably about the worst we've looked all year, especially the
defensive end of the floor works. So,
what do we need to do differently? We need to get back in transition and
make them beat us in the halfcourt.” Published 1/16/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Clear
Fork Hosts Pleasant in Key Matchup
Clear Fork hosts Marion Pleasant in a key matchup in the Mid-Ohio
Athletic Conference on Friday night at Les Hauenstein Gym.
The Lady Colts are in second place in the “MOAC”, a game behind
Shelby. Pleasant is two back.
On Monday night, Clear Fork downed West Holmes (45-31) in a
non-league game.
Coach Scott Sellers says it was a good test for them.
“It was a great win for us. This
is the third time we played them. We
picked them back up two years ago. Lost
by six I believe it was here. Went
on the road last year and lost a close one by I believe three. The
girls have been playing well. They
were really excited for the game. They
understand the history and the culture that West Holmes has. They
get up in your face and they play tough, physical defensive.
It's a great game for us every year. I'm
really happy with how we performed and to be able to beat them, to hold them
to 31, was a really solid all around game for us, so really happy with that
win,” he said.
Clear Fork (14-2,8-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, entertains Pleasant
(11-5,7-2) on Friday. The Lady
Spartans beat River Valley (39-21) in a league on Saturday.
Sellers says they are aggressive in their play.
“It'll be a tough, scrappy, physical game.
They switch up defenses pretty well.
They have got a kid in Steele that can really shoot the ball.
We'll have to understand where she's at.
They crashed the boards both defensively and offensively really hard.
They're skilled. They
have a culture of winning. They
go out and compete. We were down
maybe a month ago and beat them by three.
They played us tough and they played Shelby tough, I think they lost
to Shelby by five, “We expect a tough game in our building on a Friday
night. We're just getting ready
to start practice (Tuesday). (Tuesday)
will be some prep and (Wednesday) some prep.
The only other game we have this week is with Pleasant.
So, all of our focus will be towards them.
I've said this before, it's a great time of year for us to go from
game to game to game. Everything
means something for both a conference championship and the RPI district
seeding, so great time of year we're really excited.”
Clear Fork won the first game between the two (42-39) December 13 at
Pleasant.
The Lady Spartans will show a lot of looks, but Sellers says is
confident his kids will adjust. “We
try to help them from the bench as much as we can, but the true benefit of
having two seniors that will be four year lettermen is they have the ability
now to understand and to see things on the floor as quickly as coaches, so
it is a nice luxury to have. We
don't have it every year. This
year we have it between Mel Blubaugh and Lilly Weikel, two of the smartest
kids that I've ever coached. They
are kind of coaches on the floor. So,
it does make that transition a lot better for us game to game and even
series to series within a game because they have got a real high IQ and they
understand the game at a high level and it makes our job so much easier
because of that,” said Sellers. Published 1/15/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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It’s
About Making Plays for Crawford
Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader, has a
big test on Saturday night when they host the Upper Sandusky Rams.
Upper trails Crawford by two games.
Crawford took sole possession of first place in the league when they
edged Mohawk (53-50) in overtime last Friday.
Coach David Sheldon says they made some big plays at crunch time.
“It was a game between two very good teams, it was a battle, and
fortunately we came up on top. We
held serve at our home court because we know that it's round robin in this
league and we still have to go to Mohawk and in the middle of February.
So, proud of our guys. You
talk about the end of the game. We
got some key turnovers and made some big plays down the stretch.
We were very fortunate in overtime to score first basket and make
free throws down the stretch,” he told Swakonsports.com on Tuesday
afternoon, “I told everybody that pregame Friday in North Robinson with
two very good basketball teams was better than watching Lee Corso and
Herbstreit for pregame of the Ohio State game.
So, it's one game and it was game seven of a 14 game “N10”
journey and we've got a big game eight coming Saturday night.”
The Eagles also beat Upper Sandusky (44-42) on December 6 in a game
that was very similar to last week.
Sheldon says they prepare for such situations.
“We preach one possession at a time our way in our program.
I think that's the key. You
can't get too high and you can't get too low when you go throughout a 32
minute game. Last Friday, it
took 36 minutes. So, our kids
have been in these situations and we played some very good non league games
early on in the season that helps prepare you for these as well.
I think that's a key as you move forward as you go through a long
season of high school basketball,” he said.
Colonel Crawford (11-1,7-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays host to Upper
Sandusky (10-2,5-2) on Saturday night. The
Rams have won nine of their last 10 games.
Sheldon says Upper has a lot of scorers.
“It's a very good basketball team.
You look at them and they are 10-2 and they have played a very good
non league schedule and went undefeated non league wise.
It's very similar to Mohawk. They
have got five guys that can score on the floor and we're going to have to
play great one-on-one defense when you look at them.
They're going to be well prepared.
It’s going to be kids making plays.
Just like I said last week, when you have got two very good
basketball teams it comes down to kids making plays in games like this,”
said Sheldon.
Colonel Crawford has had great success over the years at Mac Morrison
Gym and Sheldon says that can be a big plus for them.
“Anytime you can play in the “MAC” in North Robinson it's a
great atmosphere. Our student
section and then our community the way they support our high school athletes
here at Colonel Crawford. So,
it'll be a great atmosphere Saturday night and we've had a great historic
run back and forth with Upper Sandusky and it's two good basketball programs
that'll battle it out come Saturday night,” he said. Published 1/15/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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St.
Paul Can Move into First Place
Norwalk St. Paul plays at Firelands Conference leader Crestview on
Thursday and a would put them in share of first place with the Cougars.
Last week, they won a pair of conference games in edging Plymouth
(47-46) on Friday and downing rival Monroeville (51-38) on Saturday.
Coach Steve Minor says those were good wins for the team.
“We knew we'd have our hands full with both games.
We talked about how well Plymouth is playing.
It's evident too how well Monroeville is playing coming off that big
win over a really good Mapleton team. So,
those were big games for us to take care of last week,” he said.
The Flyers (8-5,6-1) are at Crestview (10-1,6-0), #4 in the
Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school
division, on Thursday night.
Minor says the Cougars revolve around the play of Justice Thompson,
one of the area’s leading scorers (26.1 PPG) in the area.
“They're coaching is phenomenal.
Fortunately for them, it's hard for them to lose.
The easy way is to say it starts with Thompson.
He makes everybody around him better,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday evening, “We were talking about it (Tuesday) breaking down film if
they're having trouble bringing the ball up, he'll bring the ball up.
If they're having trouble inside, he'll play inside. I
mean he just does everything for them. But
the guys around him are gaining confidence because I think he's showing
confidence in them and they're just getting better every time out.”
Last season, St. Paul beat Crestview by a point and ended up sharing
the conference title with them.
Minor says that gives them a little bit of confidence going into
Thursday night. “I think it
helps us that that we have that in our memory banks all the guys on this
roster. It's a lot different
than facing them after losing to them as bad as we did last year (in the
first gme). Now, we're coming in
realizing, hey, we can compete here. We're
just as good as they are, we just have to stay focused,” he said. Published 1/15/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Bellevue
With Huge Comeback
Bellevue rallied from 20 down at the half to beat Upper Sandusky
(53-47) on Tuesday night in a non-conference game.
Now, they host Sandusky in a Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division
game on Friday and a win would move them into a share of first with the Blue
Streaks.
Coach Ed Rich says they found some confidence shooting the ball in
the second half. “They are
definitely a really good team. They
have got a really good starting five and we don't match up very well with
them. They have got some size.
We came out a little flat, kind of a little deer in the headlights
look. Unfortunately, one of our
better players, arguably our best player (Ike Brown), was out with a broken
nose. So, we're hoping to get
him back soon, but our guys kind of were a little worried and it bothered
them a little bit. We talked
about that at half and they responded that halftime.
We came out and banged 10 threes and went 10-14 from three in the
second half and found a way to win,” said Rich.
Bellevue (10-3,4-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, hosts Sandusky (8-4,5-0), #4 in
our poll, on Friday night.
Rich says the Streaks record is deceiving.
He says this a huge game really for both sides.
“With the inconsistencies the major factor with that is they have
played a brutal schedule. They
have played some big time teams and will continue to play big time teams.
We're going to go out there and try to battle.
It's a game that could decide the SBC Lake.
We still have an outside chance of trying to take it from them or
share it with them. We're going
to have our hands full, they're playing well, they're at full strength and
we have got to take care of the basketball against them,” he said.
In their first meeting back on December 10, Sandusky had to rally to
win (53-48) in a nail biter.
Rich says the will come into the game with a measure of confidence.
“I think we talked about it before, they were pretty confident they
were going to go 22-0 in the regular season.
That ended game one for them when they lost to Elyria, but they're
loaded with talent. They were
missing a couple guys the first game we played them, but they still had top
three and Aaron, Henlon, and Kobe Brown,” he told Swankonsports.com on
Tuesday night, “The guys that are coming here definitely help, but our
guys have some confidence I think playing against them.
They’re going to come to our place on Friday and we're going to
give it our best shot.” Published 1/15/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Ashland
Still Looking for Consistency
Ashland returns to action on Friday night as they are at home for
West Holmes for a game in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
Last Saturday, they dropped a (63-49) decision at New Philadelphia in
a conference game.
Coach Jason Hess says they are still looking to find rhythm in games
and in their season. “When you
watch the film after Saturday night. It
was just one of those nights we didn't get a good rhythm.
We didn't play well. We
put a little bit of a fight there at the end, but too little too late and we
came up on the short end of the stick. That's
one of the things we're struggling with right now trying to get a rhythm.
Some of these weather delays and cancellations make it difficult for
our guys just to get into that basketball rhythm.
Basketball is such a game of rhythm and feel.
We're really struggling right now just trying to get that back and
trying to get a roll going here as we get ready to start the second half of
the season,” said Hess.
Hess says they still have a lot of potential.
“We're very excited and still very happy with our group.
We just have to find a way to get the sum of our team to be greater
than the individual parts. Right
now, we haven't got that to click yet, but we've still got a lot of
basketball left. Hopefully this
week have a good week of practice and we're able to get that straightened
out and get some momentum going here as we start stretch run of the
season,” he said.
Ashland (7-5,3-4) is at home for West Holmes (0-9,0-6) on Friday
night. The Arrows won the first
meeting (60-48) on December 13.
Hess says while West Holmes is young, they are still dangerous.
“They're definitely young, but they're a team that's got a lot of
potential. I know that when we
saw them there early in the season it was just the second weekend and you
know their coach was extremely excited about his group.
He's got a lot of sophomores and juniors playing.
He doesn't have a single senior on the roster,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “He's definitely continuing to
build what he's got going with these young guys counting not only on the end
of this year trying to get some success and some wins, but getting things
ready to get momentum going into next season with everybody coming back for
them. They're a dangerous team
because they play hard even though they've had a hard time coming up with
wins this year they're playing in some close games and they don't quit they
just keep competing the entire time.” Published 1/15/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Norwayne
Goes for the Lead
It’s a battle of co-leaders on Friday night as the Norwayne Bobcats
are at home against Smithville in a game in the Wayne County Athletic
League.
Both are unbeaten in league play as Friday night wraps up the first
round for both teams.
Norwayne (11-1,6-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, smoked Hillsdale (66-40) in a
league game played Saturday night.
Coach Brain West says they played very good defense.
“I thought we were pretty solid defensively even in the half court.
Our M.O. at this point is to get up the floor and pressure teams and
try to turn them over. I thought
even when they were able to break our pressure, we were able to play
fundamentally sound defensively and limit them to one shot per possession
and be able to get out and run in transition,” he said.
Smithville (11-1,6-0) is coming off a (56-50) win over the same
Hillsdale Falcons in a game played last Friday.
West says this is a team that going to try and be physical.
“First and foremost they're very well coached.
Coach (Corey) Kaufman does a great job.
They do a great job running their system.
They're very physical defensively.
Their on ball pressure is very good.
They limit what you do offensively as much as they can through
physicality. Offensively, they
screen really well. They run a
lot of sets and they execute those very well.
So, we're going to have to be able to try to speed the game up and
play our style and not let their half court style affect our tempo,” said
West.
Right now, the Bobcats are not as deep as they normally are and West
says they need to play smart when it comes to their aggressiveness on
Friday. “I'm not making
excuses, but at this point, we have got some kids that are injured.
The flu is definitely going through our team right now, so we may not
have the depth that we normally have this Friday,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We're hoping to keep kids out of
foul trouble, but still we don't want to go away from what we do.
We are who we are and we just have got to be a little bit smarter and
kind of pick and choose when we want to try to gamble a little bit
defensively and hopefully not pick up any cheap fouls.” Published 1/15/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Can
Pleasant Do it Again Pleasant is the
only team to beat River Valley in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game this
year and they get another chance on Saturday night in suburban Caledonia.
On Saturday night, they lost (60-50) to Shelby in an “MOAC” game.
Coach Ben Snively says they could not maintain their play from early
in the game and the Whippets physicalness hurt them.
“We jumped out. We got
out to an early lead and things were looking good for us.
Their guard that transferred he's done playing for the season, so
they had a couple guys actually missing that evening.
We jumped out early and then (Brayden) DeVito took over the game and
their physical presence and just how physical they played with us kind of
hurt us. We just weren't able to
get much done against them defensively, but we know they're a tough
basketball team and good program, so we're looking to bounce back from
that,” he said.
Before River Valley, Pleasant (5-7,3-4) plays at home against
Highland. The Fighting Scots
beat Pleasant (48-41) on December 6.
Snively says they have to shoot better.
“The first game we didn't shoot real well and to their credit they
did shoot well. It was one of
those games that we got down early and we fought our way back about midway
through the third quarter we actually took a one point lead.
From that point forward they hit a bunch of threes that night.
Every time we make a little run at them, they would hit the three.
Every kid on their team is fearless.
They will shoot it from anywhere.
They like to trap a little bit. So,
I think the biggest thing is handling their pressure and then just shooting
the basketball better. Hopefully,
the homecourt advantage will be able to help us out this Thursday night to
get through that game,” said Snively.
On December 12, the Spartans beat River Valley, the “MOAC” co
leader, (51-48) at Pleasant.
Snively says they point to that game when it comes to the potential
they have as a team. “We
really used that as a stepping stone as far as we beat probably one of the
two best teams in the league. Again,
we know we can play that way. I
think a game like that gives you the confidence to do that.
I think they're going to have a different focus level this time and
we have got to go to their court,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday
evening, “We know it's going to be a difficult match up, but hopefully we
can control the tempo. If you
shoot the basketball well and take care of it, don't give up a lot of
offensive rebounds, you give yourself a chance win about any basketball
game.” Published 1/15/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Galion
Must Continue to Rebound
Galion will be at Clear Fork on Thursday and at home for Shelby on
Saturday in games in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference this week.
Last week, they played two of the better teams in the area and lost
both games. Marion Harding, the
league co-leader, beat them (63-46) in a “MOAC” game last Thursday and
“N10” leader Colonel Crawford smoked them (58-31) on Saturday.
Coach Tyler Sanders says they just made too many mistakes against
good teams. “Marion Harding
and Colonel Crawford they are at the top of their leagues.
They're just both really good teams with good big guys and good
guards. It's just a lot of tough
things about those teams and trying to execute against those teams.
If you miss the littlest assignment it shows up big on the
scoreboard. We just had too many
of those and just weren't able to kind of minimize the mistakes and it ended
up biting us,” said Sanders.
Sanders says he believes his young team is making progress this year,
especially in a couple of key areas. “We
definitely haven't seen it in the win and loss column like I know we hoped.
We played such a tough schedule.
It's just one of those things where I think if you get fixated on the
wins and losses then it's easy to kind of get down in the dumps.
So, we are just trying to minimize mistakes.
Some of the mistakes that we were making earlier in the season we're
trying to make progress in those areas and kind of turn the corner,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Less turnovers, we've been
winning the rebounding battle, which was an important thing for us earlier.
Despite losing we continue to win in those areas.
So, those are good things, those are good signs, it's just come down
here to the home stretch as we're making the second half of the season just
play as good at basketball as we can heading into the tournament.”
Galion (2-9,1-6) is a Clear Fork (5-8,2-5) in an “MOAC” game on
Thursday night. The Colts beat
Willard (54-44) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.
Clear Fork beat Galion (51-36) on December 6.
Sanders says they need to continue to rebound the ball.
“They can spread you out. The
(Garrett) Hotz can be a problem. We're
just going to do a good job minimizing him.
The last time we played them they really hurt with second chance
opportunities. I think since
that game it kind of woken us up and made us a much better rebounding
basketball team. So, I think if
we can just hold them to one possession, we’ll give ourselves a chance,”
he said. Published 1/15/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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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 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Lexington
Wants to Take the Next Step
Lexington, the “OCC” co-leader, will play at West Holmes on
Wednesday and at home against New Philadelphia on Friday in Ohio Cardinal
Conference games.
The Minutemen share first with Mansfield Senior.
Saturday, they beat Perkins (62-56) in a non-conference game.
Coach Scott Hamilton says they had to rally in the second half to do
it. “That was an all around
good game for us. Not a good
first half, but I thought the guys rallied and made some adjustments and
things at halftime. I thought
the guys did a nice job down 11 at halftime.
We tied it up after three and then went on for the win.
So, I think we had a little bit of that sluggish start from the last
game when we came off that loss. We
reminded the guys a little bit about some things that we wanted to do
against this new team, not like the one we had lost too. I thought they did
a nice job recovering from that and we walked off the court with a win and
that's what you're always trying to do,” said Hamilton.
Lexington (10-2,5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the large school division, is at West Holmes (0-9,0-6) on
Wednesday night. The Minutemen
won the first meeting (72-44) on December 6.
Hamilton says they must have focus.
“They're a very young team. They
play a lot of sophomores, just have one junior in their starting lineup, but
they play a lot of sophomores here. So,
the future potentially is bright for them over there, but right now they're
going through their struggles. A
lot of what they're doing right now is just a learning process.
We still respect them and what they're capable of.
We try to treat them just like every opponent and break them down
individually and then recognize what they do as a team.
They've got some talent over there.
We have got to make sure that we're going into their place as
prepared as we can be,” he said.
Tuesday is a big day for the Lexington program.
Junior Brayden Fogle and his family will meet with his medical team.
They hope he will be cleared to play.
He has been out all season with a hand injury suffered in football.
Hamilton says with a month left in the regular season now is when you
want to make final preparations. “You've
got to continue to grow and we're at the halfway point of the season right
now beginning of January and such. Your
kind of catching your second wind, you're looking forward to some things,
but you're also kind of managing legs and stuff like that as well,” he
told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Your kind of putting those
pieces in their final place that we talked about back in November and
December where you're trying to figure out your team.
So, now that's starting to come together and you're putting all in
your playbook and all that stuff. You
hope to just start executing well.”
New Philadelphia (7-5,4-3) has beat Wooster (54-52) and Ashland
(63-49) in “OCC” games last week.
Hamilton says the Quakers are playing well.
“Two “OCC” games in a week, it doesn't happen very often.
The second one for us is New Philly on Friday, luckily we've got that
one at home. We were able to
pull out a win over at their place and they and that was early in the
season. So, they've definitely
improved, they’ve got a lot of their pieces are working very well together
right now. Coach (Zach) Ross
does a nice job getting those guys to believe in themselves and to do the
little things, the fundamentally sound little things that successful teams
do and that's no surprise that they're playing well mid season,” said
Hamilton. Published 1/14/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Crestview
has to be on Game
Crestview, the Firelands Conference leader, plays at home against
second place Norwalk St. Paul in a crucial game in the conference on
Thursday night.
The Flyers trail by just a game.
After their first loss of season to Highland (54-50) last Tuesday,
the Cougars buried Western Reserve (75-50) in a conference game on Thursday
and Mansfield Christian (83-56) on Saturday.
Coach John Kurtz says they responded well.
“Looking back on the Highland game, looking at the stats and I got
a chance to look everything over, watch the film a little bit more closely.
It's kind of like the intensity was there and the preparation was
there, but we had a very off night shooting the ball.
We shoot in the 50s from two and that night we shot 18 percent.
It's just going to really be hard to win games when you do that.
So, I didn't fault the kids for the effort, but we just felt like we
didn't shoot the ball very well. We
came out with a real intensity in the next two games and that really
propelled us to two pretty good wins,” he said.
Crestview (10-1,6-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball
coaches poll in the small school division, plays host to Norwalk St. Paul
(8-5,6-1) on Thursday. The
Flyers swept a pair of conference games last week in beating Plymouth
(47-46) on Friday and Monroeville (51-38) on Saturday.
Kurtz says St. Paul has experience playing this kind of game.
“At the beginning of the year and when you looked at the league you
had to say you know they have just everybody, about everybody, back from
last year. So, these kids have a
lot of experience and they've played together for a while.
So, I think that's an advantage for them wherein like our team we
lost five seniors from last year's team.
I think that's part of it, the experience and the fact that they've
been in some league games and some non league games that have been very
tough,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We expect it to
be a really good game. We hope
that we play well throughout the game. There's
a lot of different things that we're going to have to work on and work to be
better at to compete in that game so we're just kind of spending the next
three days doing that.”
Kurtz says St. Paul does good things on both ends.
“They have some kids that can take the ball to the rim and I think
they do it better than they did last year.
Then you have got (Nolan) McCall, which is in there changing shots.
You have to be careful when you're in there if you’re just going
straight up you're probably going to get your shot blocked.
You have to show them the ball a little bit.
We’ve got to make him play in space some.
So, those are things. I
think our kids have played them enough to know that.
It’s just about executing. I
feel like at this stage in the game as the year goes on you have got to be
prepared for these kinds of games. I
think our kids have been very tested to this point,” said Kurtz. Published 1/14/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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Upper
Faces Must Win
Upper Sandusky has a couple of tough games on the schedule this week
as they are at Bellevue for a testing non-conference game on Tuesday and
have a rematch with Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Colonel Crawford
in North Robinson on Saturday.
Upper beat Carey (61-50) in a conference game on Friday and Kenton
(73-47) in a non-league game on Saturday.
Coach Jeff Winslow says they continue to make a lot of shots.
“We have got guys believing in themselves.
We're playing good defense and rebounding the ball and that's
allowing us to get out and get some easy ones and get comfortable.
We're moving the ball really well, which has really allowed us to
shoot the ball really well. We
made seven threes Friday night and then another 10 on Saturday.
When you shoot the ball like that it gives you a really good chance
to win,” he said.
Upper is at Bellevue (9-3), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the league school division, on Tuesday night.
The Redmen are second place in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay
Conference.
Winslow says the Redmen have shooters and they still play outstanding
defense. “It's kind of
different from the last few years. They
haven't really been a very good shooting team.
They've had some size and a really, really good defensive team.
Now they're a good defensive team that can shoot it.
They play basically four guards most of the night.
Not only can they shoot they can get to the paint and that leads to a
lot of good shots for them because when they kick it out and those inside
out threes or are really makeable. They
have got some kids that can shoot the ball even coming off the bench.
So, it's going to be a night where you have to do a good job of
staying in front of people, so they don't get into the paint then have good
close outs,” said Winslow.
Upper (10-2,5-2) is at Colonel Crawford (11-1,7-0), #3 in our small
school poll, on Saturday night. The
Eagles won the first game (44-42) on December 6.
However, the Rams led by eight with 2:30 to play in the game.
Winslow says they just have to finish the game.
“We always look forward to that game, it's a lot of fun, it'll be a
packed house, great atmosphere all the kids have fun, it's always a good
game. We feel like we kind of
blew that one. They earned it,
they made some plays to earn the win. We
put ourselves in a good position to win late in the ball game and didn't
come through, but we learned a lot from that game and have gotten a lot
better at those things since then,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday
night, “Sometimes as tough as it is to lose a game you learn a lot about
yourself and you get a lot better from it. I
think we got a lot better from that loss by seeing some of the things we
need to do to beat good teams. So,
really quality team that's really well coached by David (Sheldon) and it
should be a fun one. If we want
to stay in this race, it's pretty much a must win for us.” Published 1/14/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Sandusky
Must Contest Shots
Sandusky, the leader in the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay
Conference, travels to second place Bellevue in a division game on Friday
night.
Last week, the Blue Streaks (8-4,5-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com
boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, beat Clyde
(72-60) in a division game.
Coach DeMar Moore says it was their kind of game.
“It was a really good game for us.
Clyde likes to play fast, so that was a fast-paced game.
They play a similar style to us.
It was a fun game. That
was really good. We weren’t as
sharp as I would like us to be, but we came out there with a win and that's
always a good thing,” said Moore.
Sandusky won the first meeting with Bellevue (53-48) on December 10.
Bellevue (9-3,4-1), #5 in our poll, beat Perkins (65-60) last Friday
to take second place to themselves. The
Redmen make 33% of their three point attempts and they have made 88 of them
in 12 games.
Moore says must get a hand in their face.
“They have got they got a bunch of guys that can really shoot the
ball. We know we can't afford to
miss our rotation and things like that because they will knock down the
shot,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “So, we really are
looking to get out on their shooters and contest every jump shot.”
Moore says they can’t let the Redmen get hot.
He says they are capable of lighting them up.
“Anytime that ball goes in the hole you have got a chance and they
do it pretty well from three. So,
we just got to contest and make it as tough as possible for them and finish
it with a rebound,” he said. Published 1/14/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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River
Valley Understands the Task
River Valley, the co-leader in the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference,
plays at Ontario Thursday and home with rival Marion Pleasant on Saturday in
conference games.
The Vikings smoked Clear Fork (80-37) last Wednesday in a conference
game.
Coach Rodney Brown says a good start was key for them, plus they
continue to be unselfish. “We
had a good start, those things we talk about.
The kids shared the ball well, a lot of guys got involved offensively
and I really was really, really happy with their defensive intensity to
start the game,” he said.
River Valley (8-2,5-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’
basketball coaches poll in the large school division, plays at Ontario
(3-8,2-3) on Thursday night. The
Warriors broke a seven game losing streak with a (62-60) win over Willard
last week. Their last conference
game was a (68-59) loss to Shelby on January 2.
Brown says the Warriors have a lot of exciting young talent.
“They have got a lot of young guys are playing right now, but
skilled. Their young guards are
skilled and they move the ball fairly well with each other.
They have got a lot of guys that can score.
We're going to have to play really well.
They have plenty of guys that can score it for them,” said Brown.
Pleasant is the only league school to beat River Valley this year,
(51-48) December 12,
Browns says that was kind of a wake up call for the talented Vikings
this year. “We're playing a
lot better than we did at that point of the year.
I think you know that loss really kind of made us who we are at this
point,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We just have got to
make sure that we're not looking past Thursday for Saturday.
That was the emphasis (Monday) in practice.
You have got to play Ontario first. Saturday
doesn't really matter if you don't win Thursday.” Published 1/14/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
midnight “Sports Saturday” every week 10 AM to 1
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Willard
Learning the Ropes
Willard will be down at Clear Fork to take on the Colts in a
non-league game on Tuesday night.
The Flashes were hammered (70-41) by unbeaten Margaretta in a
Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game on Friday night.
Coach Joe Bedingfield says the pressure got to the young team.
“Credit to Margaretta, I thought they played pretty well.
They shot the ball really well early on.
Jude Keller made four threes for the game, he made three threes in
the first half. You have got to
give something up to really good teams.
I thought our kids did and okay job of taking away Washington as much
as we could. I mean you don't
really take a player like that away, but we held him to about 12.
The problem is they have seven guys and they're all unselfish and if
they're shooting well and sharing the ball well.
Our kids, as much as I hate saying this, but at halftime we thought
we were in a good spot only being down nine and then they kind of turn up
the pressure. When they do that,
they're very good basketball team and they're going to be a tough team down
the road in the tournament for sure,” said Bedingfield.
Bedingfield says last week was a good learning experience for the
Flashes. “It gives you a lot
of examples on film where you use as teaching tools and trying to pivot your
drills and situations and decision making drills to help those young kids
play at a certain speed that you have to play at make decisions a lot
faster. It definitely lets you
know what varsity basketball at a championship level is about because that's
the championship level team. They're
very good team and they've proven that in a lot of games, so I think we use
that as a learning tool going into Clear Fork.
Hopefully playing some of these good teams that we played on our
schedule will help here as we start the second half of the season,” he
said.
Willard (3-8) is at Clear Fork (4-8) on Tuesday night.
The Colts were whipped by Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference co-leader
River Valley (80-47) last week.
Bedingfield says Clear Fork has some young talent to go with Garrett
Hotz. “They have a nice
sophomore class, a lot of good guards. They
just do a nice job of sharing the ball, but they also have Hotz inside who
is kind of inside out. He has a
nice little pivot game inside and does a really good job of rebounding the
ball and can step out and shoot it. I
think they play a lot of guys and they could pressure you in full court or
half. I just think they have a
solid sophomore class and they have a really, really good player in Hotz,
but I think overall they kind of trying to find that identity too.
They have played some really good opponents and have been in some
tough games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They've
won some good games and they're just kind of like finding their second half
too. So, it should be pretty
good game. We both lost a tough
one last time we played. They
played River Valley, we played Margaretta, so there are two really good
programs. Were both coming off
of two tough losses, so we'll see who shows up on Tuesday and hopefully we
can learn from our mistakes and do a good job of rebounding and playing some
defense.” Published 1/14/25 © Swankonsports.com Your First Source for All Things Sports “Out of Bounds” every Friday night 10 to
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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 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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Ontario
is Maturing
Ontario hosts Highland at Balogh Court on Friday in play in the
Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.
It is a 5 PM tip off for the varsity game.
The Warriors broke a seven game losing streak with a (62-60) win at
Willard in non-conference game on Tuesday night.
Coach Jerry Moton says they did a good job sealing that victory.
“Closing out games has been one of the emphasis.
The guys hung tough and closed it out and it was a good team win,”
he said.
Ontario plays at least three freshman significant minutes and Moton
says they are benefiting from the maturing those kids are doing.
“We're midway through the season.
I kind of joked with them like hey you're not freshmen any more you
are now sophomores because it’s the second half of the season,” he told
Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We're getting ready to go down a
hard stretch and get ready to prepare for the tournament. I
think every game, every minute that they get is valuable.
It's going to be precious to them.
I think we're getting better and better each and every day.”
Ontario (3-8,2-3) plays at home against Highland (6-6,2-4) on Friday
evening. Highland has won its
last three, including a (63-57) win over Clear Fork in league play last week
and Tuesday night they handed Crestview their first loss of the season
(54-50) in non-conference action.
Moton calls them aggressive. “They
play a very aggressive style of defense.
Even when the opposing team gets a rebound, they're sort of trapping
that person. If they turn the
ball over, they're trapping. So,
they like to trap, they like to be aggressive, they like to push the ball,
they have some decent shooters. I
like what I see from Highland as opposed to their team last year, they're
very different,” said Moton. Published 1/10/25 © Swankonsports.com Follow our scoreboard Friday night For constant updates beginning with the tip |
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