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A lot has been written and said about the new school Martins Ferry moved into last week and everything that's been said and written is well-deserved. The new Martins Ferry High School is the Taj Mahal of area schools and the gymnasium is simply top of the line.
The Purple Rider officials deserve major kudos for getting it done. They didn't do it half-way. They got everything they wanted both academically and athletically and again that's a credit to the school officials and the voters of the district for seizing the opportunity.
I had a chance to look around the gymnasium for a column last weekend, but I am anxious to attend Tuesday's game against St. Clairsville to see the new place when there are people in the stands and there's a game going on. The girls get to make their debut in the gym on Thursday and will play there again Saturday against John Marshall.
During the interviews I conducted with athletic director Dave Bruney, girls' coach Dave Reasbeck and boys' coach Jeff Sabatino all pointed to the great games and players that took part on the Stage. And they are correct, there were many a good player and good games on that historic court. However, it was time for a change and everyone knew it.
To christen a new gymnasium with a two-point win in overtime couldn't have probably been drawn up any better. Well, I am almost sure that Sabatino would have liked to be a little easier, but he'll take the win as he continues to chase a berth in the OVAC Playoffs.
For Ferry students, fans, alumni, it all reverts back to something Sabatino said last week, "It's a great time to be a Purple Rider."
BIG GAMES THIS WEEK
As the talk of the OVAC and state tournaments continues to draw closer, area games take on more of a meaning as seed positioning for both tournaments becomes an issue.
On the girls' side, St. Clairsville -- hanging on to the fourth spot in the OVAC standings by three tenths of a point over Magnolia -- will travel to Martins Ferry Thursday. Those Lady Blue Eagles will host a strong Monroe Central squad the same evening.
Martins Ferry -- which leads the Class 3-A race -- will tangle with John Marshall and head coach Stan Blankenship who recently achieved his 500th victory at JM.
On the boys' side, St. Clairsville treks to Martins Ferry Tuesday. It's the second game in the new Martins Ferry gymnasium and it's a battle of the Buckeye 8 leaders as well as the top two schools in this week's OVAC ratings.
Bridgeport and St. John are scheduled for Friday night. This isn't a big game in terms of standings in conferences, but it's a big game for bragging rights. The two head coaches Donnie Cash of Bridgeport and Nick Yourkovich of Martins Ferry are long-time buddies and I am guessing neither wants to lose to the other. Throw in the fact that Cash's top assistant is Nick's brother Rick.
Wheeling Park and Bellaire renew their rivalry Saturday evening at the Palace on the Hill at Wheeling Park. The Patriots are currently 6-3, while the Big Reds are 4-8, but have won three in a row.
PRESSURIZED
The St. Clairsville boys and St. John girls coaching staffs must have attended a coaching clinic together or something. They seem to mirror each other's philosophy. Both teams have probably more athletes than they do true basketball players, so what do you do in that situation?
It's pretty simple, use your athletes and prove they are better than the oppositions. Thus far, in a combined 24 games, the Red Devils and Lady Irish are 21-3. They do it on the defensive end. Both teams love to get out and pressure full-court and totally force the issue.
Neither team wants a low possession game and thus far no one has really figured out a way to dictate the tempo. In the Red Devils' two losses, they were out-gunned by Weir High and the Beallsville Lady Blue Devils overcame more than 30 turnovers to knock off the Lady Green.
When you think about these two teams, keep in mind, the Lady Irish track team won the Division III state track title last spring and the Red Devils' football team advanced to the Region 15 title game.
If you take a close look at the rosters names like Perzanowski, Kidder, Delman show up on both eligibility sheets.
Take a look at the Red Devils and one notices names like Vincent, Hynes, Jarvie, Pata, Skrabak and they show up in basketball boxscores much like they did in football.
Could there be a connection…I tend to think so.
PEAKING AT THE
RIGHT TIME
The Beallsville Lady Blue Devils came into the season with high hopes. They knew they had a strong team coming back from a unit that finished 14-8, but they got off to a sluggish start. However, they are starting to click on all cylinders. Nearly two weeks ago, they knocked St. John Central from the ranks of the unbeaten and then this past Thursday they traveled to Morristown and thumped Union Local.
They got both of those victories thanks to the inside work of their bigs. Savannah Burke is arguably the area's most versatile player. She is long, can shoot, can take you on the block and does good things on the boards.
Against the Lady Jets, Burke scored 25 points and had 27 rebounds. Yes, you read that correctly. Alyssa Headley is also a force inside.
GET WELL WISHES
We in The Times Leader Sports Department would like to send get-well wishes to Darrah Metz who is undergoing a major medical procedure this week in Indiana. Metz' father -- Ed -- is the head girls' basketball coach at Bridgeport and one of the finest gentlemen in the game. We hope everything works out okay for Darrah and the entire family. Ed Metz is actually taking a leave of absence this week from basketball, so he and his wife can travel to Indiana to be with their daughter. Ex-Beallsville High all-Ohioan Charity Street will serve as the head coach.
RED-HOT BIG REDS
The Bellaire Big Reds started the season with a win over Harrison Central. However, that proved to be their final win until last Tuesday when they grounded the Union Local Jets. They continued their momentum with a win over Harrison Central on Friday and then returned home to avenge a loss to Buckeye Local.
The thing about the Big Reds is that they appeared to be dead in the water. They had a lengthy losing streak, players defecting and the bench was shrinking daily. However, winning can be a cure-all and it's all underclassmen doing the labor.
Sophomores Ryan Feller and Levi Crozier have been strong along with junior sharpshooter Anthony Hocker. Freshman Travis Crook had 14 points last Saturday against Buckeye Local.
Gene Ammirante always seems to find a way. No matter how grim things look for the Big Reds, this guy seems to find a way. That's a sign of a couple of things. 1. He can coach. 2. He's got a solid program.
TOUGH STRETCH
The Union Local Jets are in dire need of a victory. They are in one of the toughest stretches of the season and have dropped two games in a row since knocking off Barnesville some 10 days ago. The Jets were knocked off at Bellaire, handled by St. Clairsville last week. Now, all they have to look forward to is a visit from Shadyside Tuesday and then a road trip back to St. Clairsville. They still have tough games with Martins Ferry, a road trip to Edison remaining on the docket.
The Jets realized once again they can't afford injuries or foul trouble if they are going to be competitive. They dealt with both problems Saturday and they weren't all that competitive, falling 82-57 to St. Clairsville. It wasn't due to lack of effort, but it was due to once you get past Jordan Barbina, Joby Barr, Kyle Blackman and Zach Azallion, there's a definitely and offensive drop off.
KIDS THESE DAYS
Let me preface this section by saying that I don't have any children, and that I have never coached anything more than a summer youth basketball team when I was in high school. However, I have covered more than 40 hoop games already this winter and each game something new happens that makes me wonder if 10 years ago when I was in high school if kids acted like they do today. I certainly hope not, and if they did let me apologize for them!
I have been to a game the past two Fridays where a player has hung it up. There have been instances of players yelling at the coaches, yelling at the officials, so on and so forth. I just don't understand what's going on here. I am not naive enough to think that kids and adults don't quit things all the time, but do you have to make a spectacle to quit, like taking your jersey off and dropping it at the feet of the coach?
The thing about all of this is that the players in this valley aren't nearly as good as they seemingly think they are. Do the players think the coaches are all out to spite them? They may sit out in a stretch to discipline them, but that's about teaching lessons and when these kids get into the real world, and let's be honest, playing high school basketball isn't the real world, they'll hopefully realize that coaches did what they did to help them down the road.
Hopefully, what's been going on during the past couple of weeks isn't a growing trend in prep sports. Prep sports are one of the actually pure things we have and it seems as if egos are starting to invade that area as well.
OVAC TOURNAMENT
There was a media session late last week to explain more details of the upcoming OVAC Basketball Tournament. We honestly believe that this tournament could take the place of the Rudy Mumley All-Star Football Game and the Ron Mauck OVAC Wrestling Tournament as the premier event in the area.
Plenty of planning has gone into this. Director Rick DeLuca, OVAC Executive Secretary Tom Rataiczak and their trusted committee have put in many hours in breaking this down and trying to not leave a stone unturned.
It's actually about time for the planning and talking to end because the cut-off date for the girls' tournament is quickly approaching. The last day for games to count is on Jan. 24 and the boys will be the following Friday.
The girls' finals will be held on Feb. 2 at OUE and the boys will be held the following Saturday at the same venue.
Remember, The Times Leader will publish a special section for both the boys and girls tournaments on the Friday preceeding each tournament.
SPEAKING OF TOURNAMENTS
Can you believe that one week from today in this column, you'll be reading about the girls' tournament brackets for the Ohio sectional tournament.
If you check your calendar it says it's only Jan. 20. Rather early for what used to be known as March Madness, but the calendar in the winter works around the Easter holiday. If you are wondering why the state tournaments are so early this year, check out where Easter falls and remember that the OHSAA will never allow the boys' state tournament to fall on Easter weekend.
Local girls teams will compete at Indian Valley (Divison II), St. Clairsville (Division III) and Union Local (Division IV). OUE's Health and Physical Education Center will hold the Division II district, while Division III is once again at Steubenville and the small schools return to Indian Valley.
ATMOSPHERES
In this column in years' past, I have taken the time to offer kudos to certain fan sections for their efforts to make local basketball games more exciting. The groups at St. Clairsville and Shadyside are two of the best going. I was in attendance at the St. Clairsville-Weir High game last Friday and it was a tournament-like atmosphere. The fans of all ages were into the game and rightfully so because it was a heck of a game that came right down to the wire.
Shadyside has excelled at girls' games with the efforts of their student section and deserve to be recognized as well. It's a shame that every school doesn't show this kind of support.
I am a huge high school hoops fan, but when you are sitting at a game and it's got the feel of a funeral, it's not too exciting.
TECCA SHINES
Akron Hoban was ranked second in the initial Associated Press Girls Basketball Poll released last week. Hoban's premier player has Ohio Valley roots. Junior swing player Rachel Tecca is the leading scorer at close to 20 points per game and is closing in on becoming the school's all-time leading scorer. She's the daughter of St. John Central High product Kelly Saffield. Her grandfather is former Union Local High basketball coach Rich Saffield. I had the opportunity to attend a recent Hoban game against Cuyahoga Falls Walsh Jesuit, which Hoban lost. In my opinion, the loss came down to the fact that Walsh Jesuit made a conscious effort to take Tecca away and the Hoban guards were unable to get her involved thanks to a stingy zone defense. However, this is for sure, Tecca is too talented to be held down for too long. She and her aunt, Rachel Tecca, were featured in an article in the Akron Beacon Journal last week.
LOCAL COLLEGES
Two former Bellaire High standouts continue to make their presence felt on the college basketball scene. Ashley Vavrek -- the Lady Big Reds' all-time leading scorer with more than 2,000 points -- scored 20 points for Fairmont State to lead the Falcons to a 68-65 win over Alderson-Broadus Saturday. Fairmont Starte is ranked #22 in the nation.
Nikki Driscoll is a reserve guard for Marietta College. She's seen action in all 11 games thus far. She's averaging 6.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the season.
Former St. John Central standout Erin Nicola is also a member of the Lady Pioneers' hoop team.
Ex-Buckeye Local standout Chase Groves is enjoying a solid season for Glenville State. The former Panther is the starting point guard for the Pioneers. He's averaging 12 points a game for the 4-7 squad.
Staskey can be reached at sstaskey@timesleaderonline.com