Trending
Basketball season is in full swing. To me, that's great news.
The local basketball season is shaping up early as one of the most balanced in a long time. There doesn't seem to be a real juggernaut and there also seems to be a lot of teams that can win a lot of games and then again they might lose a lot of games.
It's just one of those years. However, that takes nothing away from a night on the hardwood in the Ohio Valley. Obviously, prep basketball will never be as popular as football, but we're hopeful that people will come out in force and support these teams.
While, you won't see a lot of rim-rocking action like you might at some parts of the state, but you see solid fundamentals and basketball in more of an old-school style. Defense and patient offense will be keys to a lot of teams success.
Full weeks of action are on tap each of the next two weeks before teams take a couple of days off for the Christmas holiday and then after the first of the year action will resume heavily again as serious jockeying for the OVAC Tournament will begin. It's probably too early to tell just how good some teams are and you can probably get more of a feeling as to who's going to be the top dogs after the holidays. There are some teams still trying to get their basketball legs and some teams have yet to open the campaign, so in a couple of weeks, we should be able to get a really good feeling as to who's going to be good.
Also this week, the West Virginia boys teams join the frey. As Ohio moves into its third week in boys' action, the West Virginia season is just opening later this week. That fact alone makes it kind of hard to believe that the two state tournaments are on the same weekend.
SPEAKING OF TOURNAMENTS
I -- and many others -- have been constantly hitting the refresh page on our Internet browers when we are on the Ohio High School Athletic Association website trying to find out who's going to what sectionals this season. I am a strong advocate of the OHSAA and don't find much to complain about how they run their ship. But, is it too much to ask to get the website updated to let the teams and the public know where the tournaments are going to be held. It's kind of a novel idea, but maybe some of the teams and fans might want to keep track of the teams they are going to see in the sectional.
We've learned through the grapevine that St. Clairsville will host the Division III girls' sectional that used to be held at Meadowbrook. We've also learned that the Division II girls' sectional that was formerly at Buckeye Local has been moved to Indian Valley. The Division II girls' district is slated for the Ney Center at Ohio University-Eastern.
However, on the boys' side, outside of what divisions certain teams will be in, we're basically in the dark. It's been rumored that Bellaire and Martins Ferry have been shifted to the Claymont Division III sectional. Other than that, we're not sure.
Here's a thought for the OHSAA and the Eastern District Board, how about taking a couple of minutes and update the website. Believe it or not, some people really would like to know what's going on, but for some reason, everything's a big secret of late.
TOUGH OPENERS
Adam Pittis -- the first-year head coach at Harrison Central -- inherited a basketball team green in experience and he, himself, is a head coach for the first time.
His reward is opening the season with road games at Martins Ferry and Bellaire. Pittis who owns nary a head coaching win at the varsity level had to match wits with veteran mentors Jeff Sabatino and Gene Ammirante right out of the gate. Together, those gentlemen have close to 700 wins and have been to some six regionals.
In watching Pittis, there are better days ahead. This young coach gets it. He's hard-working, knowledgeable and diligent. The Huskies' program is in good hands. He comes from a basketball-crazy area in the East Central Ohio League and in time, he'll be fine.
SHOWDOWNS IN SHADYSIDE
The Tiger Den in Shadyside will play host to a couple of big games this week. It starts tonight when St. John's Lady Irish makes the short trip south to meet their arch-rival. The Lady Tigers and Irish are two of the area's premier small-school programs and hooked up in three classics a year ago.
In last year's game at Shadyside, the Lady Irish built a sizable lead only to have the Lady Tigers storm back for a victory. However, the Lady Irish eventually got the last laugh when they knocked the Lady Tigers out of the sectional in the title game.
The key for the Lady Tigers is taking care of the basketball against a suffocating pressure defense that the Green puts forth. Keep in mind, four of the Lady Irish's top six players were key contributors on their Division III state track championship squad from a season ago.
The key for the Lady Irish is forcing the issue. They will not want to allow Shadyside to get into a half-court offensive set. The Green wants an extremely high possession game. When the game does get into the half-court, the Lady Tigers will need to make shots. They won't be able to afford many empty possessions and they must take care of the basketball.
The other big game in Tiger Town comes Friday when the Tiger boys roll out the red carpets for Wheeling Central. The Tigers are one of the area's premier teams this winter, but they will need to shoot the ball well against the Maroon Knights who were the beneficiaries of a transfer in Shane Phillips who came to Central via Mt. Lebanon, Pa. The Tigers will need to contest his shot as according to several sources this Maroon Knight can be deadly from the perimeter.
Before Shadyside can worry about that game, it's got a big test Tuesday on the road at River.
FOUL TROUBLE
Union Local Jets first-year coach Ben Porter learned something firsthand that he probably already knew about his club during Friday's game at Indian Creek. He learned that if the junior trio of Jordan Barbina, Joby Barr and Kyle Blackman gets into foul trouble, his Jets could struggle for an offensive flow.
Case in point was Friday night in their loss to Indian Creek where all three of the aforementioned players eventually were disqualified due to fouls. There was a point in the first half when Barbina and Blackman were on the pine and Indian Creek extended a two-point lead into a 12-point lead in a matter of moments. Depth is a concern without a doubt, but having said that, if all three are on the floor for ample minutes then the Jets could be a handful.
Barbina and Barr are lightning quick guards who have the ability to slash or shoot from the perimeter, while Blackman is a 6-ft-3 force on the interior as a shot blocker and rebounder and is a strong finisher. The Jets also got solid minutes from senior Zach Azallion and they will continue to need that production as the season moves along.
COACHING ATTIRE
This writer has been watching basketball for the better part of the last 25 years. Never has he seen a season where so many coaches are going casual with their attire. By casual, golf shirts aren't being talked about. It's referring to the amount of coaches who are wearing jeans and even tennis shoes. I understand this isn't the NBA or major college, but those guys wear suits. A lot of high school coaches wear shirts and ties, and it's nice to see. I think, and this is strictly my opinion, dressing up really demonstrates how serious the game is. Golf shirts are totally acceptable, but jeans shouldn't be welcome on the sidelines. It's a wonder, the OHSAA or National Federation hasn't done something to limit that. Earlier this season, I saw a girls varsity coach wearing a sweatshirt. I mean come on. That's embarassing. Then I came to find out from a local coach that during their game last year, this same coach wore wind pants, a sweatshirt and enjoyed her favorite lolly-pop. That's an utter embarassment to the school, sport and most importantly herself.
CANCELLATIONS
Well, the girls season is a shade over three weeks old and the boys is two weeks old and already Old Man Winter made his presence felt this week. The majority of the Friday card was snowed out despite there being maybe an inch of snow in the morning and it basically had melted by the early afternoon when the temperatures soared above freezing. Anyway, being an athletic director in this time of the year is thankless when the snow starts falling and you are forced to jockey games around. This year, it's even more important to make sure games get re-scheduled because of the inaugural OVAC Tournament. I would personally like to thank athletic directors who made us, the media, aware of their changes. Please continue to do that if and when games are forced to be postponed due to weather problems.
MILESTONE SCORING
There's a small Christian school tucked away in Belmont that not many people are aware of. Faith Community Christian High School's boys basketball team has a good player that not many know about. Senior guard Matt Roten scored 27 points in a game last week against Olney Friends School and went over the 1,000-point mark. His on track to become the school's all-time leading scorer. Roten and company are in action tonight against East Liverpool Christian, which is coaches by ex-Potter great Brett Green. The game is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
BUCKEYE 8 GIRLS
Before the season, when we were making our rounds talking to coaches about the upcoming season, there seemed to be a consenus that the Buckeye 8 was going to be wide-open. Boy, were they right so far. It's already been a league of predicting the unpredictable.
It's also been a defensive league. No team in the league really has the ability to score in the 80s. So, coaches have tried to off-set that by digging in on the defensive end.
Indian Creek appeared to be on a collision course with the team title after seemingly rolling past everyone in its way and then upstart Harrison Central came along this past Thursday and knocked off the Lady Redskins.
If I were a betting man, I wouldn't expect that to be the last time there's an upset through the course of the Buckeye 8 season.
FINALLY!!
The St. Clairsville Red Devils were last heard of in boys athletics three weeks ago when they were knocked off in the Region 15 football championship game by Williamsport Westfall. Now, after a lot of schedule changes and practices, the Red Devils will finally make their basketball debut Tuesday at Indian Creek. Coach Kim Clifford's team figures to be one of the area's stronger quints this season despite losing a quality group to graduation last year.
On a side note, we hope Red Devils' assistant coach Justin Clifford is doing well. The former Red Devil and Muskingum College standout became ill and was hospitalized over the weekend, while scouting a game on Friday night. Again, hopefully, Justin is recovering well and will be on the sideline Tuesday.
CANCER RESEARCH CLASSIC
If you are a high school hoops junkie, you won't want to miss this Saturday at Wheeling Jesuit University. In our opinion, one of the finest high school sporting events ever to come to the area in terms of individual talent will be on display. If you want to see the next stars of the NCAA Basketball Tournament or probably even some future NBA talent come to the McDonough Center Saturday afternoon. The inaugural Cancer Research Classic will be held. For the measly cost of $10, fans will be treated to five games running from noon until 8 p.m.
The schedule of games includes: Wheeling Park vs. East Liverpool (Noon); St. Frances Academy (Baltimore) vs. Simon Gratz (Philadelphia), 2 p.m.; Wheeling Central vs. St. Joseph's Prep (Philadelphia); Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia) vs. Archbishop Carroll (Hyatsville, Md), 6 p.m.; The Patterson School (Lenoir, N.C.) vs. American Christian School (Philadelphia).
In that nightcap, American Christian School is the home to Tyreke Evans, a 6-ft-5, guard. He's a five-star recruit and listed sixth on the Rivals 150 list. He's got Louisville, Villanova, Connecticut, Memphis, Seton Hall and Texas on his list of possible destinations. Also on the American Christian roster is Jeremiah Kelly who's a 6-ft-1 guard headed to DePaul.
The Patterson School has Nate Miles, who's headed to UConn. Miles formerly played at Toledo Libbey, but has bounced around and is now at Patterson and will be in Wheeling Saturday. Also on the Patterson roster is Courtney Fortson who's headed to Arkansas and listed as the 59th best player in the nation.
The list of players goes on and on. So, if you like basketball played above the rim, head over to Jesuit Saturday and in the process support one heck of a good cause in Cancer research.
It's our hope that the event is well-received and well-attended. I was a big fan of the Bugsy's Tournament, which used to be held at WesBanco Arena, but went by the boards since it got little support. In case you may have missed it, the Bugsy's Tournament once played host to Chris Webber. So, 10 years from now don't look back and realize you may have missed an opportunity to see some of the finest players in the game.
The good news is, Dr. Gregory Merrick at Wheeling Hospital -- who's spearheading this tournament is a total hoop junkie -- has already promised that the 2009 tournament will be even better.
LOCAL COLLEGES
Former Buckeye Local standout Chase Groves is continuing to impress at Glenville State. He's started all eight games at point guard and is averaging close to 14 points a game.
Former Martins Ferry standout Ryan Mirich has started four games for West Liberty and is averaging 9.4 points a game. He's been the top sub for the Hilltoppers.
Former Bellaire High ace Ashley Vavrek is a significant contributor for Fairmont State's squad. She's averaging 13.2 points a game and has started all six games.
Former Shadyside High standout Shayla Holenka is playing a key role for the Wheeling Jesuit Lady Cardinals this winter. She's seen quality minutes all of the Lady Cards' games.
Two former area players are currently competing for Marietta College. Ex-Bellaire High ace Nikki Driscoll is the starting point guard for the Lady Pioneers. She's averaging 5.5 points a game. Also playing in nearly every game is former St. John Central ace Erin Nicola.
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com