Tip-Off 2018 2018-2019 Clermont County High School Basketball Preview
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Bulldogs seeking league title in 2018
PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN
The Batavia Bulldogs enter the 2018-2019 campaign looking to build on last season’s 4-19 overall record.
GO BULLDOGS! Kramer-Myers & Werring-Dickerson
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The Batavia Bulldogs started the 2017-2018 season with eight straight losses, and while the team kept several games close, the squad finished the year with a 4-19 mark. Head coach Aaron Brose
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said that while he felt the team was in several different games, they didn’t do a good enough job sealing the deal. “I thought we competed pretty well, I just didn't think we finished well in games,” Brose said. “We gave ourselves a chance a lot of games, we just couldn't get over the hump.” Several key players return for the Bulldogs this season. Corbin Richardson was named a first-team allleague performer as a junior, while teammate Nate Watson earned second-team honors. Richardson was second on the team in scoring last season, averaging just over nine points per game. Watson led the team with roughly 9.5 points per contest. ”They were our first and second leading scorers, it's good to get those guys back,” Brose said. “Nate put in a lot of work during the offseason, Corbin's put in a lot of work in the offseason. Hopefully they come back better than last year.” Kaleb Moell also returns for Batavia this season. Moell tallied the third-highest point total on the season for Batavia last year while also leading the team in rebounds with 150. “He's under size, but there aren't a whole lot of kids that play with his
enthusiasm, that play as hard as he plays,” Brose said. “He goes up for everything. If you had 100 of him, you'd be pretty good. He plays the right way.” John Witt is another player Brose said he expects to play a big role on the team this season. Witt only scored 43 total points last season, but Brose said he felt his shooting has started to improve. “[Witt's] going to have some things for us,” “He's started to shoot it really well.” Brose said he felt that one of the team’s strengths this season will be the leadership of the squad’s senors. “Our senior leadership gives us a lot,” Brose said. “We're pretty quick. We're not real tall, but we're quick and we can shoot it.” Brose said that due to the limitations in size, the team is going to have to play at a quicker tempo. “We're going to have to,” Brose said. “We're still going to be undersized. We're going to have to get out and run a bit, and we have a bunch of guys we think can do that.” The saying goes that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Batavia may not have a size advantage this season, but the Bulldogs still expect to come out on top in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s American Division. “We go in hoping to win the league title,” Brose said. “We're going to have our hands full to do that. We want to do well in the nonleague games and hopefully we can make a little noise come tournament time.” The Bulldogs open the 2018-2019 campaign with a home game against Williamsburg on Friday, November 30.
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Lady Wildcats seeking second straight district crown
PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN
The Williamsburg Lady Wildcats advanced to the regional semifinals last season.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The 2017-2018 season was one for the record books in Williamsburg. The Lady Wildcats finished last season with a district title and a 1,000 point scorer, among other accomplishments. Head coach Mike Madsen had a simple description of the team’s success last year. “Last season was amazing,” Madsen said. “It was unexpected, to get as far as we did. We won some tough games against some really tough teams. Beating Wilmington at Wilmington, beating Anna in the district title was a joy.” Several key players off of last year’s squad are back for the Lady Wildcats this year, though all three of the players that graduated last year made important marks on the program. “The thing is, we're miss-
ing a 1,000 point scorer in Peyton [Fisher] and we're missing, probably, one of the toughest players to ever put a uniform on in the county [Emily Brown]. She intimidated everybody. We have to find somebody to pick up the scoring slack and someone to pick up the slack of toughness.” Younger players will be expected to step up into the void left by Leslie Engel, Hailey Beesten, Fisher and Brown, according to Madsen. Seniors Jessica Chase, Alexis Chase and junior Emily Hart have a plethora of varsity experience, as does sophomore Paige Fisher. Everyone else, not so much. “Right now, I think we've got a bunch of sophomores that are capable,” Madsen said. “We've got some experience, with Jess, Alexis and Emily Hart and Paige Fisher. Besides those four, we don't have anyone with
what I'd consider significant varsity experience.” The Lady Wildcats are likely to be missing Alexis Chase for a few games, at least. She tore her ACL in the team’s district championship win over Anna, but she said the recovery from the injury is slow, but steady. “It's been going good,” Chase said. “It's been really slow since it's the second one on this knee, so they want to take it slower. I
don't know when I'll be cleared, but it's going fine.” Chase finished last season seven points shy of 1,000 for her career. Statistical milestones like that aren’t nearly as important as what the team does together, she said. “People are always talking about the 1,000 points, and stuff,” Chase said. “I'm not really worried about that. I'd rather see us have success as a team.” Chase is one of three
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players listed at 5-foot-10inches tall for Williamsburg. That trio will be crucial to the team’s success, as will the play of the team’s guards. “Our strength is in our guards,” Madsen said. “We still have to find some post presence, that's probably our weakness at this point. For the most part, we're trying something where we're positionless. I've told all the bigs they can bring the ball up. We're trying to go even faster than we did last year.” One of the key cogs in the Williamsburg attack, Jessica Chase, led the team in scoring last season. She said she believes this year’s team can be faster than last year’s squad. “Last season, we had more experience with the seniors that we had,” Jessica Chase said. “This year, I think we have a pretty fast team that can push the ball more and set up stuff.” Chase has spent the last three seasons at the varsity level with her sister, and this season marks the final year the duo will take the court together. “I've loved it,” Jessica Chase said. “Every single moment of it. It's our last season playing together, we're going to have fun.” Those two, along with Laurin Ellis, are the only three seniors on the team this season. The team only
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has two juniors: Camille McManus and Emily Hart. Hart noted this year’s team is the youngest it has been in a while. “We've had an older team, and this is our first year having a younger team,” Hart said. “We graduated a lot of seniors last year, which was sad, but we're going to grow and develop a lot.” Paige Fisher enters her sophomore season of play as one of the handful of returners with experience on the court. She said the seniors help the younger players calm down during game. “They chill us down when we're out on the floor,” Fisher said. “They're really good. We love them all.” Madsen said he thinks the team will have its hands full in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s National Division this year. “I know we're going to have a competitive league,” Madsen said. “East Clinton is good. Bethel is good. CNE and Georgetown could surprise some people. Georgetown has a lot of kids and a new coach, and the coach is fiery. It depends on how the kids could respond to him. They could win it all, just like everybody else.” Williamsburg opened the season on Monday, November 26 with a road trip to Goshen.
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Williamsburg basketball seeking league crown BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
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PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN
The Williamsburg Wildcats look to build on a 12-11 overall record from last season, despite several key injuries to players throughout the year.
The 2017-2018 season was an interesting one for the Williamsburg Wildcats. The team finished the regular season with a 12-11 overall record, despite several key players suffering injuries before the season even started. Even with the injury bug, head coach Dan McKibben said he couldn’t complain about last season. “Last season, we had some success,” McKibben said. “We battled a lot of injuries coming out of football and were missing some key players, but we ended up with a winning record. It's hard to complain too much about that.” Looking at his team’s strength this season, McKibben said he feels like the team has a few players who can shoot the ball at a decent clip. “We've got a few boys who can shoot the ball pretty well,” McKibben said. “A little more quickness overall. We had a couple
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players last year who were pretty quick, but this year I'd say we're a little quicker overall.” Several players are going to have to step up for the Wildcats this season, according to McKibben. “We're going to have to have big seasons from Drew McKibben, a senior, fouryear stater,” Dan McKibben said. “This is his second season starting full time. Jarrett Thatcher is one of the players that was missing from last season. Loghan Kelley was a starter last year, we expect big things from him.” McKibben said the team doesn’t have one dominant player on the squad this season. Every player is going to have to fill their respective role. “We're going to have to have four or five guys step up,” McKibben said. “I don't think we have anybody capable of scoring 25 a night.” Some roles on the team will be filled by younger players, according to McKibben. “Filling in as a defensive stopper, as a rebounder,” “Someone who can stop a shot from time to time. It's going to have to be by committee this year. In terms of goals for the season, McKibben said taking home the title in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s National Division is the foremost goal. “Our goal is to win the league, first and foremost.,” McKibben said. “Have a winning record, and try to get a pretty good show in the tournament.” Williamsburg opens the regular season on Friday, November 30 with a road game at Batavia. After a trip to Goshen on December 4, the Wildcats host BethelTate on December 7 in the team’s home opener.
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Batavia girls basketball looking for growth BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The Batavia Lady Bulldogs haven’t officially started the regular season as of this writing, but things are already off to an interesting start. Eric Brown was named the team’s interim head coach just before the start of the season, which posted some interesting challenges for him. “Getting everybody together, getting started, getting the lay of the land,” Brown said. “From the time I knew to the time we had open gyms, we had about a week.” Now that the offseason has gotten going, Taylor said that this year’s team will have several new players, which results in a lack of experience at the varsity level. “There's certainly some excitement about the opportunity to be up on the varsity, but we're low on varsity experience,” Brown said. “We only have two returning players, one coming from her freshman year to her sophomore year.” Batavia has three juniors, including Macie Mehlman and Taylor Myers. Anastasia Burton and Danielle Kulbe are the team’s two seniors. “Everyone else is new and fresh but excited,” Brown said. “They're going to give it their hardest.”
PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN
The Batavia Lady Bulldogs return several key players from last season’s team, though they did lose 1,000 point scorer Maggie Mehlman.
Mehlman finished last season fourth on the team in scoring. Brown expects her to have a big year. “I have a lot of high hopes,” Brown said. “She comes from a family of athletes, and I think she'll help lead and shine for the team this year.” The team also has five sophomores and a freshman on the roster this season. One of those sophomores, Summer Stith, got
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experience on the varsity team last season. Brown said there are several things he’s noticed that he would consider a strength this season. “Our strength really is our speed,” Brown said. “Our overall tenacity. Staying in the game throughout the game. Not surrendering ourselves to everything we see that starts turning against us.” That speed should bene-
fit the team, as Brown said he hopes that the team will play faster this season to counter a lack of height. “We're probably looking at more of a faster style,” Brown said. “We're height challenged.” In terms of goals for the season, Brown said he hopes that the team continues to improve in various aspects of the game throughout the year. “We're looking to build
some strength in various aspects,” he said. “Our overall skill level, our overall development. We're still pretty fresh at being a varsity squad. We're looking at strengthening our shooting, limiting our
turnovers, things like that.” Batavia opened the season against Blanchester on November 26. The team travels to New Richmond on Thursday, November 29 before hosting Hillsboro on December 3.
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Bethel-Tate continuing to take steps forward
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Bethel-Tate’s Griffin Reinert enters his senior year as one of several Tigers to keep an eye on, according to head coach Steve Wolf.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN
GO TIGERS! Kramer-Myers & Werring-Dickerson
Sports Editor
The Bethel-Tate Tigers enter the 2018-2019 season under the team’s third head coach in three years. Steve Wolf was tabbed to lead Bethel-Tate earlier this year, and he said the transition has been smooth so far. “It's been going really
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well,” Wolf said. “The kids have bought in, they're excited every day. I think since I got the job in May, it's been a step forward every day. The kids come out and work hard, which is all you can really ask.” Taking into account the work the team has put in during the summer and preseason, Wolf said he feels like the team is where he expected it would be. “We're about where I expected,” Wolf said. “The scrimmages we've had, everything we need to work on is what I thought we'd need to work on, the things we've been good at I thought we'd be good at. We need to pick up our spots and keep building on the high spots, and I think we'll be alright.” Wolf said there are several high spots worth noting for the Tigers this year. “We have a couple kids who can really shoot it, and we're big and strong inside,” Wolf said. “We've got some good leaders, seniors that are going to be able to pull the younger kids through. I think as the season goes on the younger kids are going to get better and better, respect the seniors and see that the work ethic is paying off.” Bethel-Tate has three seniors on the team this year. Griffin Reinert is one of the Tigers who could have a big year
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“He's got the most experience,” Wolf said. “He has a lot of game experience, a lot of leadership skills.” Sophomore Kyle Smith is another Tiger for fans to keep an eye on. It shouldn’t be hard to spot the sophomore, who is listed at 6foot-3-inches tall. “He's got a lot of potential,” Wolf said. “If he keeps working every day, he'll have a great year. He's got a bright future ahead of him.” In terms of offensive strategy, Wolf said he wants to run an up-tempo attack, but it depends on personnel. “In my heart of hearts, I want to push the ball and get up and down,” Wolf said. “I'm a Roy Williams, Dean Smith student. I've watched and studied and learned from them. Sometimes your personnel dictates. With four 6-foot-5 guys, maybe we just lob it down into the post and bang on some people. We'll see how it goes.” When it comes to measuring improvement, wins and losses could be used to see how far Bethel-Tate has come this season, but Wolf said he doesn’t have a target win total in mind. “I don't have a set number,” Wolf said. “I want it to be a program-building season, whatever that is. If it's 'x' amount of wins, it's 'x' amount of wins. From where it was when I took the job in May to where it is now, we've taken a step forward. That's a successful season. If it's 10 steps forward in February or March, that's a successful season. I can't put a number on it, but in my head I know what it is. I think people will see that the program is in a better spot.” Bethel-Tate opens the regular season with a home tilt against New Richmond on November 30.
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West Clermont boys getting defensive in ‘18 BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The West Clermont girls basketball team put together a solid season last year. The team finished 11-3 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, good for second place behind Walnut Hills. Head coach Jeff Click said last year was a good one for the team. “It was a good season,” Click said. “I think we played a really challenging schedule. From top to bottom, we played a lot of the best teams in the city. Our league was tough. We lost a couple tough ones.” West Clermont’s three league losses came by a total of six points. Two of those losses, one to Walnut Hills and the other to Loveland, were by one point. “We lost, basically, a league championship by two points,” Click said. “We lost to Walnut by one on a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer. We lost to Loveland by one at Loveland in a game that we were leading. That's our own fault. We had a lot of 'coulda, woulda, shouldas' but we didn't finish the deal.” This year, the Wolves will be without Jasmine Hale, who is playing at Wisconsin this season. Alexis Starks and Kaylin Burdick also graduated after last season. “We look a lot different without the three seniors that we lost,” Click said. “We do have some talent coming back, but we're made a little bit different. We're much smaller, a little bit less athletic without [Hale] out there. We're going to have to figure out what style to play, that's the challenge with this team. That's the goal for
the preseason, we're trying to learn about ourselves as a team, learn about our players individually. We really have to rely on the whole group to make up for the seniors that we lost.” The players that are coming back have earned the praise of Click for their work ethic. “They're hard workers,” Click said. “They want to learn. I think they're going to be very coachable. They're very good teammates. I think we have a lot of skill, a lot of talent. The size thing is going to be a challenge. In Division I, size does matter. We're going to have to find a way to make up for that.” This season, the team is senior heavy, with five seniors on the roster. Kirsten Click, Faith Howard, Dakota Reeves, Gracie Haywood and Jenna Simon all enter their final year on the hardwood this season. Haywood transferred into the program this year after playing at Greenup County High School in Kentucky last season. “She's played a lot, she has a lot of experience,” Click said. “She really blends in and fits in with our kids.” Another player expected to help the team out this season is sophomore Marissa Jenike. “[She] is a lot better this year,” Click said. “We look for her to kind of step up.” The roster for West Clermont doesn’t have a player at six feet tall or taller, with Hale leading the way at 5-foot-11. Click said that even though the doesn’t have height, the team has depth. “We don't have any size, but I don't think there is any team out there like us
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The West Clermont Lady Wolves lost three seniors from last season’s team, and this year’s team will look a little different, according to head coach Jeff Click.
that has 10 players that are all pretty skilled. We don't really have any post players. We're all guards. It looks funny when you fill out the roster, I don't think we put any forwards. We definitely don't have any centers. It's fun, if I was playing that's the way I'd want to play.” West Clermont opened
the 2018-2019 season at the Journey to the Tourney at Lakota West. The team fell to Mercy-McAuley 48-33. The Lady Wolves return to action at Hoops for Harvest at Dixie Heights High School in Kentucky. The team faces Conner at 9:20 a.m. on Saturday, December 1.
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West Clermont boys getting defensive in ‘18 BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
O D D P A G E S
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The West Clermont Wolves are expected to play tough defense again in 2018, according to head coach Craig Mazzaro.
The West Clermont Wolves basketball team enters the 2018-2019 season with an emphasis on defense. The team returns seven players from last season’s team, six of them seniors. John Aicholz is back after leading the squad in scoring last year. Ismael Ismael has played three varsity seasons, and Gavin Pitts will play a full year for the team this season after sitting out half of last year. Three players join the varsity squad from the junior varsity team. Alex Willsbough, Donte Turner Jr. and D.J. Vianella all are slated to see some action at the varsity level this season, according to head coach Craig Mazzaro. Mazzaro said last year’s team had several close contests, adding that finishing games is crucial to the team this season. “We had 11 games go
down to the last possession,” Mazzaro said. “We won seven of them. We have to be able to finish teams off. We need to work on our ball handling, rebounding and shooting. We're going to become a good defensive team, we usually are. If we can shore up a few areas, we should be in decent shape.” It would be reasonable to expect more close games this season, with the way the Wolves’ schedule shakes out. The team faces Winton Woods, St. Xavier, Fairfield, Indian Hill and Hughesin non-league action this season. One of the key players for West Clermont this season is Jackson Ames, who stands at 6-feet-9-inches tall. “He's really improving,” Mazzaro said. “He's getting a lot of looks. He works real hard, and he knows what he has to work on. He's not afraid to put the time in. We really need him to rebound and play some interior defense for us, hopefully he scores some points in there too.” Mazzaro said he thinks the Wolves’ defense should be able to up the tempo a little this season. “We're trying to get out and pick up a little bit in press,” Mazzaro said. “Just keep people in front of us and make them earn their points every time.” Mazzaro finished by saying the team is looking to have a chance to win every game this season. “We just want to do what we did last year,” Mazzaro said. “Be in every game. If we take care of our business, we'll be in every game and it just comes down to taking care of our business. Hitting free throws, making shots, someone stepping up and making a play. Hopefully we can do the same thing this year.”
Page 7
Lady Tigers hoping to continue strong run
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The Bethel-Tate girls basketball team is now under the watchful eye of former Georgetown head coach Bernie Cropper.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
Change abounds for the Bethel-Tate Lady Tigers this season. Gone is Allison Parks, who was second on the team in scoring last season. The team’s leading scorer, Reagan Leonard, transferred to Eastern Brown, and for-
mer head coach Dave Fallis is now roaming the sideline at Milford. And yet, despite all the change, there’s still a familiar feel to the team. Outside of Parks and Leonard, the Lady Tigers return every other player on the varsity roster this season, and former Georgetown coach Bernie Cropper is now the Lady
Tigers’ head coach after serving as an assistant last year. Cropper said the team’s season is off to a solid start. “They've worked hard,” Cropper said. “They're hard working girls and we're happy with that. We've got a lot of work to do, but it's a good start to the season.” There are no seniors on the Bethel-Tate roster. The team
has a total of seven juniors, including Madison Burton, who led the team in rebounds last season. “I think she's probably our best rebounder,” Cropper said. “She's a good post defender. She always gives a good effort and plays hard. She's one of the kids we're going to go to a lot.” Fellow junior Grace White was third on the team in scoring last year. “She's a quick, athletic kid,” Cropper said. “She's a very good defender, and she can score. She can shoot the three and take it to the basket.” A third junior, Sarah Gardner, is expected to handle some of the leadership duties for the team this year. “She'll play point a lot for us,” Cropper said. “She's an excellent ball-handler, and makes great decisions with the basketball. She's the glue that kind of holds things together, we look for some great leadership from Sarah.” One of the team’s juniors, Hailey Sandker, didn’t play for Bethel-Tate last season. Sandker transferred to the Tigers from Felicity. “She's a new player for us, a good player,” Cropper said. “She's one of these kids, we can post her up, she can play the perimeter. She's a good player, we're thrilled to have her with us.” Junior Jenna Carter finished second on the team last year with 40 assists.
“She's one of our most improved players,” Cropper said. “She's quick, an excellent three-point shooter. We'll use her at the point some and she can play the wing.” Taylor Bee is expected to play a key role on defense, while also providing an offensive spark for the team this season, according to Cropper. “She's one of the more athletic kids,” Cropper said. “She'll be key on our presses, she does an outstanding job defensively. She can score a lot of points for us, and she's one of the kids who really improved her game a lot.” Junior Abbie Wheeler is expected to see time at both guard spots for Bethel-Tate. “She'll play some point, and she can play the wing,” Cropper said. “She's an outstanding shooter who plays extremely hard. She's a good defender.” Sophomore Alli Stolz is one of two Lady Tigers over six feet tall. Cropper said he thinks she has improved her game from last year. “I'd put her up there as one of the most improved players,” Cropper said. “She's worked hard in the offseason. She's an inside threat,
she can score around the basket. She's a good rebounder. She plays good defense.” The team’s two other juniors, Nelle Miracle and Olivia Tiemeyer, will split time at the varsity and junior varsity levels. Cropper said he thinks one of the team’s strength will be the roster size. “The depth of the team will be a big asset for us,” Cropper said. “We've got girls that can play post or perimeter. We can go big, go quick.” The returning players are all experienced, but there are a few new wrinkles in the team’s play this year. “We've got a lot of kids that played last year as sophomores, and [Stolz] played a bit as a freshman,” Cropper said. “We're going to do some things differently, we're putting a new offensive system in, but they have some varsity experience. Last year they looked for Allison, but they really stepped up and I think they welcome the chance to be the leaders and take those big shots.” Bethel-Tate visits Williamsburg on Thursday, November 29 to kick off league play.
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CNE boys seeking consistency in 2018-2019
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The Clermont Northeastern boys basketball team was young last season and will be again this year, according to head coach Jim Jones.
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The Clermont Northeastern boys basketball team was plagued by inconsistency last season, according to head coach Jim Jones. Inconsistency has been a problem for the team the past few seasons, and last year’s team also had issues finishing games. “Like the previous year, we played well in spurts,” Jones said. “We started slow, played well in spurts and didn't finish good. I think we had a hard time closing out games last year.” Part of the issue with consistency was the amount of young players on the court for the Rockets. “We started a freshman
and two sophomores for the first part of the year,” Jones said. “Towards the end of the year, the sickness bug hurt us. We went through a two-week period where the flu hit us and everybody on the team was sick, and we never recovered from it.” Turning the page to 2018-2019, Jones said the team is still young on paper, but the players on the court have varsity experience under their belts. “We're still young, but we have experienced guys back,” Jones said. “I have a three year starter as a senior, two guys that started that are juniors, and [Schmidt’s] a sophomore starting. We're still young, and I'll probably have a freshman starting at point.” The team did lose a key player from last season’s team. Grant Fishback led the squad in total points and blocks last year. “Grant's class last year was a small class, and I saw that coming,” Jones said. “We didn't have depth in our program because that class was a small class overall. This year I have three seniors that have played. The juniors and sophomores are larger classes, and we've got some athletes in them.” Schmidt finished last season with over 13 points per game last year, second on the team to Fishback’s 16.6 points per game. “He's a totally different player for us than he was last year,” Jones said. “He's not the same player.” Ryan Martin is another player Jones expects to have a key spot on the team this season. “This'll be his third year starting,” Jones said. “I think he's going to have a very solid year. He had
some solid games for us down the stretch last year. He started slow because of an ankle injury, but he's one that just keeps working and getting better.” Jerryd Burns is another player Jones mentioned as improving during the summer. “He's improved greatly during the offseason,” Jones said. “He can shoot it well.” Forward Blake King also should provide the Rockets with important minutes this season, according to Jones. “He's a very athletic kid,” Jones said. “He had some nice games for us last year.” Schmidt was one of several players who spent the summer playing AAU ball, according to Jones. That experience should help the team this season. “We had a very good summer season,” Jones said. “The kids were buying in a lot more, getting in the weight room a lot more and realizing they have to get in the weight room to be competitive. I had several kids playing AAU in the summer, for the first time in a while. We've had one or two before, but there are several in the program now. I think that's huge for them, because they had a ball in their hand all summer, and they're usually playing against good competition, usually.” Jones finished by saying he was looking forward to the start of the season. “I'm very excited about what this team will be able to bring,” Jones said. CNE is scheduled to open the season at home against Western Brown on Friday, November 30. The Rockets have a road trip to Little Miami on the schedule for December 1.
Page 17
Lady Lions hoping to build on strong year BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The 2017-2018 New Richmond Lions girls basketball team rebounded strongly from a three-win season the year prior. Last season, the team finished with 12 wins, culminating with a third-place finish in the Southern Buckeye Conference American Division. Head coach Tom Wessner said he believed the team exceeded expectations last year thanks to the players that stepped up. “Last season, I think we kind of turned a corner,” Wessner said. “Two years ago, we only had three wins. We went up to 12. I think we exceeded expectations, having no seniors and just three juniors we had a lot of freshman and sophomores step up.” Wessner said this season’s team is ahead of where last season’s squad was at this time. “We're a little bit further along than we were last year as far as basic things we've been trying to do.,” Wessner said. “We'll be able to stand on those things when the season comes. We're a little bit further than we were last year at the beginning.” Three of the Lions’ key players this season are upperclassmen. Senior Hailey Kramer and juniors Carley Clift and Addie Fagan are all expected to play important roles on the team this year. “All three of them have varsity letters,” Wessner said. “They bring a lot of experience, they know what we're looking for, what we're trying to do. The big thing they do is they really limit their mistakes. They don't make a lot of them, which really helps people who are trying to follow
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The New Richmond Lions have five seniors on the team this season. The team finished the 2017-2018 campaign with a 9-14 overall record.
what they're doing.” Some of the team’s younger players are also going to see a larger role this season. Sophomore Abby Maness is expected to play an important role on the team’s defense this year. “She played a little varsity last year, but her role is going to expand defensively this year,” Wessner said. “She'll get a lot more minutes and a lot more playing time.” Another sophomore, Alyssa Weitzel, will also make an impact at the varsity level after a strong offseason, according to Wessner. “She's done really well,” Wessner said. “She was in
that spot where I didn't know where she was going to fit in, but she'll be a strictly varsity player this year. She shoots the ball really well, we're looking for big things from her too.” One of the biggest strengths of this season’s team is familiarity, accord-
ing to Wessner. “They've been playing together for two years, some of them have been playing together for three years,” Wessner said. “That familiarity with each other, trying to figure out what they're doing and where they're going, always being
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on the same page. That's where we're trying to go.” In terms of goals for the season, Wessner said the team’s goals are fairly simple. “We always try to look for a winning season,”
Wessner said. “We try to beat the people we're supposed to beat and upset a few people along the way. That's what we look to do.” New Richmond hosts Batavia on Thursday, November 29.
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Senior-laden Lions expecting improvement
O D D P A G E S
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The New Richmond Lions have five seniors on the team this season. The team finished the 2017-2018 campaign with a 9-14 overall record.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The 2017-2018 season was a season of growth for the New Richmond boys
basketball team. The team finished the year 9-14 overall and 3-7 in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s American Division.
Head coach Brian McMonigle said last season was a learning experience for the team. “Last season was last season,” McMonigle said.
“I think we learned a lot about ourselves. We had some good times and bad times. You live, you learn, and you try to progress and come out of those sit-
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uations on top. We had a couple tough losses that we were disappointed about. “ This year’s team has five seniors on the roster, and all of them have significant experience at the varsity level. “It's the biggest senior class I've had in four years,” McMonigle said. “A lot of these kids have been playing varsity since their sophomore year, [Nick] Ernst since his freshman year. We have a lot of experience from that side of it, and that group of seniors is really close.” The team has two sophomores and a freshman on the varsity squad this season. Luke Lytle and Shep Lansaw enter their second season, while Justin Ackerman has a spot on the varsity team as a freshman. ”We have some good younger kids who have really worked hard to get where they're at right now and do some good things,” McMonigle said. “I think they're going to give us a lot of good minutes this year.” Senior Alex Stephen is one of the five seniors this season.
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“He's looking really good so far,” McMonigle said. “He's looking really confident and playing hard and employing good defense and I think he's going to surprise some people.” Herwens Horgan, Griffin DeLisle, Jonathan Lang and Max Ernst also enter their final season for the Lions this year. The four will travel with the team to the King of the Smokies Classic in Tennessee later in the season. “That's a really good tournament,” McMonigle said. “There's actually 24 teams and there's three different tournaments. You break them up into eight team tournaments, so there's all kinds of teams and you get to watch all kinds of games. We stay in a cabin, and we get to spend about four or five days in Pigeon Forge. We all get to hang out and we do some hiking and some other things and hang out in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and of course enjoy the tournament as well.” McMonigle finished by saying the team hopes to correct the issues that plagued them last year. “We want to progress a lot from last year,” McMonigle said. “We know we finished 9-14 but we really felt like we should have finished with a winning record. We want to progress on all the things that caused us to lose the game last year. We're correcting those things. We've come a long way and I think that the kids are kind of ready for the season.” The Lions start the season at Bethel-Tate on November 30. The team hosts Batavia on December 7.
Page 9
Portmann bringing up-tempo vibe to CNE
PHOTO / PROVIDEDN
The Clermont Northeastern Lady Rockets return several key players from last season’s team, and welcome new head coach Doug Portmann in 2018.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The Clermont Northeastern Lady Rockets enter the 2018-2019 season with a new head coach and a new system. Doug Portmann takes over the team this season, and he said the transition has gone well so far. “I think they're going well,” Portmann said. “The girls are learning a new system, and they're doing a great
job adapting.” The team has several players returning, including junior Natalie Bockman. “We have a couple key players returning that I think will help,” Portmann said. “Boeckmann was the leading scorer last year. She's going to have to step up on both ends of the court, and I think she will.” One player who will not play for the team this season is senior guard Kiley Cooper, who suffered a torn ACL,
MCL and meniscus and will be out for the season. “We'll be missing her tremendously this season,” Portmann said. “That was a blow you don't expect to have.” Junior Mackenzie Reece returns this season, and Portmann said she’ll be an important member of the team’s defense. “Our starting point guard is back,” Portmann said. “She'll do a good job filling some of that void, especially
defensively. Kirby is coming over from volleyball, and she's a physical player that will take up some of that slack too.” The varsity roster consists of five seniors and five juniors, but there are several younger players who could see time at the varsity level this season. “We have some freshman right now that are going to contribute on the JV and varsity level,” Portmann said. “We have some really quali-
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ty players coming up in the program. I'm real excited about the future of this program right now, there are some kids that really want to be out there and learn. They have some real talent, and I think that if they stick with it we're going to be heading in the right direction for sure.” The group of players on the team this year will be expected to play tough on the defensive side of the ball, according to Portmann. “We have a lot of girls that come in with experience,” Portmann said. “Once they learn the new system, they're going to be able to push the ball down the court and play good, aggressive defense. I've been stressing through the whole camp that if the other team only scores one point, we only have to score two. We have the athletes there on defense that will be able to turn this into a good season.” That speed is not limited to the defensive side of the ball. The offense for CNE will also be at a quicker tempo this season, according to Portmann. “We're going to be a much faster-moving team on both ends of the court,” Portmann said. “We're looking to push up and down the court every
chance we get. We want to get a lot of shots off. I think it's going to be an exciting style to watch.” In terms of goals for the season, Portmann said he hopes to start the process of turning the Lady Rockets into a contending team. “We want to turn the program back into a winning program, and I think we can do that,” Portmann said. “To start with, we want to compete in every game we're in. We want to make sure that every team we play knows that CNE is back on the map and we're going to give everything we can. Each team is going to know that they just got done playing CNE. We want to leave our mark, especially these seniors that are going out.” Portmann finished by praising the Southern Buckeye Conference’s National Division, noting the challenge that lies ahead for the Lady Rockets. “I'm just very excited to be in the league with all the teams that are in here,” Portmann said. “I know there are some great teams in the league. I've got some great kids, and I'm lucky enough to walk into a program that had good kids in the program. That makes it more fun.”
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Felicity boys picking up the tempo in 2018 BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The Felicity-Franklin boys basketball team hopes to up the tempo under second-year head coach Jason Thompson.
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The Felicity Cardinals boys basketball team took an important step forward last season. The team finished with an overall record of 3-21, but the record doesn’t tell the whole story. “I thought last season was a big progression in terms of what we were trying to build,” head coach Jason Thompson said. “I learned a lot last year. Naturally, on Tuesdays and Fridays you want to win games, but it's bigger than that. Last year I think we started to build on the small things and were able to win that sectional tournament game.” Felicity defeated Oyler 4239 in the sectional tournament last season, an important win according to Thompson. “That was monumental for our program,” Thompson said. “They know they can win.” That mindset is key for the team, especially since most of
the players from last season are returning this year. “A lot of the guys we played last year were sophomores,” Thompson said. “I'm expecting some leadership from them, because they've got 23, 24 games under their belt. I'm expecting some of those guys to lead us, to help push the younger guys. We're probably going to have to play some young kids.” In terms of on-court play, Thompson said he thinks the team’s pace will be quicker this season than last year. “We're probably going to play fast,” Thompson said. “Some guys that played last year may find that their minutes decrease a bit when we get into faster games. Last year we tried to slow the game down, win possessions, then try to score from winning possessions. That was a lot different than my coaching style.” Thompson said he thinks the team’s offense will be improved over last season, thanks to an infusion of speed
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and a better understanding of the game itself. “We'll be a bit better offensively than last year,” Thompson said. “We're going to be faster than last year's team, and I think we'll be smarter than last year's team. I think last year's team didn't have a high basketball IQ, and I think this year's team, the incoming guys are smarter players and last year's guys have learned how to play.” Thompson and the Cardinals competed at the Ripley Pepsi Classic last season. This year, they’re heading north. “We're going to play at the University of Rio Grande on December 8,” Thompson said. “We were invited up there. That's a big opportunity for our kids.” Opportunities like that are a key part in the overall experience Thompson hopes to provide his players. “My biggest thing is creating life experience memories for these kids,” he said, “The reality is with a school this size, competing for state championships is few and far between. If you look at the coaches that have gotten there from this area, they've either had a plethora of talent or they've built the program from the ground up. Building the program is what we're doing.” Another one of those experiences involved the team attending the Xavier men’s basketball game against Evansville earlier this season. Thompson also has a new addition to the team’s staff this season, bringing his uncle, Dean, out of retirement to coach the freshman team. Dean Thompson has 25 years experience as a coach. Felicity opens the 20182019 regular season with a road trip to Manchester on Saturday, December 1. The team’s home opener is December 3 against Whiteoak.
Page 15
Milford girls under new leadership in 2018 BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The Milford Eagles girls basketball team has a new head coach on the sideline this season. Former Bethel-Tate head coach Dave Fallis will lead the Eagles this year. He said the move north has been a smooth one thus far. “The transition has been great,” Fallis said. We've got a great group of student-athletes and we have a great coaching staff assembled and I think we all really get along extremely well. We understand each other.” Fallis said he the team is ready to put in the work necessary to win games. “We're just really focused on the daily process,” Fallis said. “You know the work you have to do every day to be competitive in the ECC. They're committed to the work. They're still in the weight room come into practice early stay and after so we're extremely happy with this group right now in terms of the composition of the roster this season.” The team has four seniors on the roster this year, along with two juniors and sophomores. The squad also has a few freshman this season. Fallis said he hopes the seniors on the team are
able to lead the younger players. ”I expect the seniors to be leaders,” Fallis said. “I expect them to help build a mindset that will help our program this year and in the future. A mindset of 'We're going to do whatever it takes to compete at a high level in the ECC and make sure we're doing the best that we can every day in practice.'” Fallis said he thinks that one of the team’s strengths this season will be how fast the players are, and that he thinks the team’s defense will come along sooner than the offense. “I believe we have some speed,” Fallis said. “Without question, I think we're going to utilize that. You know, everyone this time of year says they want to run a fast break and realistically it's not going to happen. Most times, people will try and take advantage of it when the situation rises, but I think we can use our team's speed on defense and I really see the defensive side of the ball being our focus. I think that's where we'll show massive improvement a lot quicker than we will in the offense.” Fallis said he thinks that the team’s speed will help the defense come along quicker. “The offense is going to
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The Milford Lady Eagles and head coach Dave Fallis started the season on a strong note, defeating McNicholas 3433 in the team’s season opener on November 24, 2018.
take a long time to gel,” Fallis said. “We're still working on the fundamentals and the overall system. But on the defensive side, we've got some kids that are extremely athletic, quick, and fast and we are really focused on the defensive side of the ball.” The Eastern Cincinnati Conference is going to be a tough test for the Lady
Eagles, according to Fallis. “I believe this is one of the best leagues in the city,” Fallis said. “Some excellent players live in the other schools and some great coaches. I think it's going to be a dogfight at the top of the conference this year. We hope to compete at a high level. Our goal is to really see if we can disrupt the ECC a little
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bit our first year here and move forward from there.” Fallis said he thinks that the team’s schedule will provide plenty of chances for the team to show just how much improvement there has been. “We're going to get tested early, we're going to get tested often and that's why we do this,” Fallis said. “Seeing what kind of
improvement, measurable improvement, we have from week to week game to game. It's going to be a lot of fun, that's for sure.” The Milford Eagles return to action on Saturday, December 1 with a road contest against Kings. The team returns home to take on Withrow on December 5.
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Consistency key for Milford boys basketball BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
O D D
PHOTO/GARTH SHANKLIN
The Milford Eagles enter the 2018-2019 season coming off a fourth place finish in the Eastern CIncinnati Conference.
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An experienced Milford squad opens up the 20182019 season looking to improve on a fourth-place league finish last year. Head coach Joe Cambron said the Eagles had several players on last season’s team with little experience at the varsity level. “Last season was a roller coaster,” Cambron said. “We had so many new varsity guys. We had a lot of juniors that were first time varsity guys, and our season started off really well. Then we had a slump in the middle, and then we bounced up and down a little bit with some wins and some losses and some good wins and some tough losses. Towards the end we started playing better.” The Eagles finished the season 11-12 overall, 8-6 in league play. This year’s
team returns a host of players from last season, including Jake Ayler, who led the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game. Steven Huxell also returns for the Eagles after averaging just over 10 points per contest last season. Ayler is listed as a guard on the Milford roster. Cambron said the Eagles’ guards amble to play both inside and outside. ”We have guards that can handle the ball and score,” Cambron said. “We have guards that can defend. We have big guys that can score. We have big guys that can defend the paint. Our guards and our big guys rebound, so really we won't be a one pony show. We don't have any selfish players.” Cambron said he hopes that people who observe the Eagles this year see a team that isn’t afraid to pass the basketball. “You watch our team play, and hopefully an out-
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sider would say, 'Man, do they play hard and they really share the basketball,” Cambron said. “I mean, the reality of public high school is that you get the players you get and you mold them into what you want them to be. I think this team is exactly what we want Milford to be known for. They play really hard and great defense and they share the basketball.” Part of the reason Milford has been able to stay near the top of the ECC standings year in and year out is due to a stable coaching staff, according to Cambron. The Eagles have finished in the top half of the league five out of the last six seasons. “Stability has been a big part of our program,” Cambron said. “We had the same junior high coaches for years. My assistant varsity coach has been with me for 12, 13 years, maybe 15 years. We have some new JV and freshman coaches, but I think stability has gotten these kids to understand what we want to do and I think that's a big part of our success.” With seven returning players and a host of experience, Cambron said a league title is not out of question for the team this season. “I think the kids would say, very easily, we want to compete and win the ECC and make a deep tournament run,” Cambron said. Milford’s quest for an ECC title begins with a non-league tilt against Sycamore on Friday, November 30. The team also hosts Harrison on December 4 before houting the road against Kings on December 7 to open league play.
Page 11
Felicity Lady Cardinals seeking leadership
PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN
The Felicity-Franklin Lady Cardinals won just two games in the 2017-2018 season, but the team returns several contributors from that squad in 2018, including Madison Baird.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
It’s hard to get the full story from a final score. Sometimes, the result doesn’t quite show everything about a team. That’s the case for the Felicity
Cardinals’ girls basketball squad in the 2017-2018 season. “We definitely didn't play up to our potential,” head coach Kerry Stamper said. “We started improving at the right time, at tournament time. We gave it a
good effort there, that was good to see.” The team lost four seniors off of last year’s squad, including Kylie Sponcil. Sponcil led the team in scoring with 135 total points. “She played varsity all four years,” Stamper said. “Knowing what was going on, running the floor.” Madison Baird returns having totaled the secondmost points on the team last year with 128. She is one of several juniors on the team’s roster that Stamper expects to play a big role this season. “We need some leaders to step up,” Stamper said. “We have no seniors on the team at this point, so our juniors are going to have to step up and take the leadership role. Several of them have played varsity, so they know what's going on.” This year’s squad consists of a trio of juniors, a sophomore and four freshman. Those juniors are the ones that Stamper said she expects to take the leadership reigns this year. “I'm expecting the three juniors to step up and lead by example,” Stamper said. “Baird, [Madison] Moore and [Elise] Botkin have never really been consistent scorers, but they can be if they wanted to. We're looking for that to take place for them so they can lead by example.” Stamper said she thinks
the team’s four freshman are good shooters, but they need to improve on getting shots off quicker. “They have shooting ability,” Stamper said. “They're hard-pressed to get it off quickly. They're not used to that defense. If you give them five minutes to get set up at the free-throw line, they're going to make it. They're good shooters, they just have to learn to shoot it quicker.” Those freshman are also expected to play well on defense for Felicity. “We've got a couple that are good on defense, we're
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looking for some defensive help too,” Stamper said. “We've got one that can play inside, which will help us out there. We only have two bigs, we're struggling there too.” Stamper acknowledged that the Lady Cardinals have a tough task ahead of them, but she thinks they
can handle it. “It's going to be a rough road, but I think they're up for the challenge,” Stamper said. “I expect a lot of improvement, that's what we're looking at this year. We're young, so everyone that is playing will be back next year. We'll see what happens.”
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Page 13
Goshen boys basketball reloading for 2018 run
Senior-laden Lady Warriors seek postseason
BY GARTH SHANKLIN
BY GARTH SHANKLIN
Sports Editor
Sports Editor
The first 15 games of the 2017-2018 season for the Goshen Warriors were uneven, to say the least. The team started the season 5-0 before dropping six straight contests. The team followed that streak with four straight wins, before finishing the season 12-11 overall. Head coach Brandon Baker said there were several factors that contributed to the team’s play last season. “Last season was a rollercoaster ride,” Baker said. “We had some guys go through some injuries. Our roster was up and down. I thought we did well, especially considering with us pressing all year and with the weather last year. We ended up getting so many snowed out that we’re playing three games a week for last three weeks of season.” Heading into his second season at the helm, Baker said there will be a few changes to the pace this season. “Last year, I think we pressed every single possession of the season,” Baker said. “That won't be the case this year, partly because of a few people that we need on the floor but also because of depth.” This year’s team has just two seniors. Christian Kollmorgan is the team’s lone returning starter, while
The Goshen Lady Warriors enter the 20182019 campaign looking to extend an impressive streak. The team has advanced to the district finals each of the last two seasons. It didn’t look like last year’s team would be able to advance that far in the tournament. With one regularsesaon game left, the squad was 10-11 overall. However, the team won that game, defeated Batavia in the SBAAC Crossover game and picked up wins over Bethel-Tate and McNicholas in the tournament to earn a chance at a district title. Head coach Mark Short enters his second season at the helm, and said that he hopes that tournament run will help the team this season. “It was a challenge early on, but we got better late obviously and then had a nice run through the tournament, which I'm hoping will really benefit my kids this year,” Short said. One of the top players in the county, if not the state returns for Goshen this season. Paige Garr signed her National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Cedarville University earlier this month, and Short says he thinks having that decision out of the way will benefit her. “She has been very consistent, she's an extremely hard worker,” Short said. “I think the fact that she's already signed seems to have relaxed her a little bit, taken some of the pressure off to just focus on what we need to do.” In addition to Garr, six other Goshen players return to the team this season. One senior, Kayla Tuerck, tore her ACL in the preseason and will not play this year.
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The Goshen Warriors enter season number two under head coach Brandon Baker in 2018. Christian Kollmorgan is the team’s lone returning starter from last season.
senior Victor Hill is also expected to take on a bigger role at the varsity level this season. “He's strong enough to score on the block and the drive and if he's able catch and shoot the three and drive by people and make plays for us. he's going to be a tough matchup at the
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five,” Baker said. Hunter Slusher also returns this season for Baker. “Hunter is going to he's going to be our general on the floor,” Baker said. “He's the point guard, he's the general of the team. We go as he goes.” Two players are expected to make the jump to the varsity level this season. Juniors Dylan Ashcraft and Josh Hice have roles on the squad this season, according to Baker. “Ashcraft as a defensive menace and his energy is so important to our team,” Baker said. “Hice is another shooter, both full time JV players.” A third player on the junior varsity squad last year, sophomore Bradley
Moore, will also have a role on the team this season. Moore is the younger brother of Tony Moore, who graduated last season after scoring over 1,000 points for the Warriors. The younger Moore tore his labrum during the preseason. “We're not sure what that means for him yet,” Baker said. “We don't think he's out for the year so it may come down to pain tolerance, we're not sure. It’s up in the air. He's a big part of what we're doing.” Another player new to the varsity team this season is Trey Wilson. Wilson played on the freshman team last season, but after growing four inches over the summer he’ll see some time at the varsity level, according
GOSHEN
to Baker. “He's a 6-foot post playing full time freshman last year and now he’s a 6-foot 4-inch post that's getting in varsity scrimmages because we don’t have anybody else who is 6-foot-4,” Baker said. Goshen finished third in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s American Division last year with a 5-5 record. Wilmington finished undefeated in the league at 10-0, with Western Brown second at 6-4. Baker said this year’s conference standings will be hard to predict. “Our league is an interesting spot,” Baker said. “The teams finished first, second or third all graduated over 75 percent of their scoring. The teams finished
fourth fifth and sixth bring back everybody. So I think the league is a toss up. I'm not really sure what to expect.” In terms of goals for the season, Baker said the team hopes to keep building on what they started last season. “Continue setting the tone,” Baker said. “Your first few years coaching a program, you want guys can build the culture and the build the way things are done. This is a great group for that. they work hard they work together.” Goshen opens the 20182019 season at home on Tuesday, December 4 against Williamsburg. The Warriors begin league play three days later with a road trip to Western Brown.
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The Goshen Lady Warriors have advanced to the district championship game for each of the last two seasons. The team returns seven players from last year’s squad.
The other six have various levels of varsity experience, but Short said he believes they will step up this season. “I think that we we've challenged them a little bit now with a year under their belt,” Short said. “For some of them, it was the first year for varsity last year. We challenged them to step up. We set some goals for us and the team. We hope going into their last year that that experience from last year and what they went through really helps them.” Short added that he believes the experience is one of Goshen’s strengths this season. “I would say that the fact that they have had that experience,” Short said. “That they've been to the district the last two years is going to
help them in the long run. I think the league is going to be a little bit more balanced this year. I don't think there'll be an easy night for anyone so I'm hoping that experience pays off for us.” Goshen does not have a junior on the roster this year. The team has three sophomores and four freshman listed, and short said those younger players will be expected to play minor roles this season. “We're looking at this year for the younger players to just fill some spots and give us some good minutes,” Short said. “It's sort of a two-fold situation, where you lose everybody next year but we want those kids to have that experience, at the same time hopefully giving us important minutes
this year.” Short finished by saying the team has a few goals in mind for the season, including avenging a few losses to other teams on their schedule. “You always look at trying to finish as high as you can in the league,” Short said. “Then there's the postseason as a separate thing. We want to look at trying to improve how far we got last year and hopefully go further. There are a couple teams that we haven't been able to beat that we'd like to beat for these kids in their senior year.” Goshen started the 20182019 campaign with a 37-34 win over Ross on November 24. The team faces Western Brown on the road on Thursday, November 29.
GOSHEN
E V E N P A G E S
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Page 13
Goshen boys basketball reloading for 2018 run
Senior-laden Lady Warriors seek postseason
BY GARTH SHANKLIN
BY GARTH SHANKLIN
Sports Editor
Sports Editor
The first 15 games of the 2017-2018 season for the Goshen Warriors were uneven, to say the least. The team started the season 5-0 before dropping six straight contests. The team followed that streak with four straight wins, before finishing the season 12-11 overall. Head coach Brandon Baker said there were several factors that contributed to the team’s play last season. “Last season was a rollercoaster ride,” Baker said. “We had some guys go through some injuries. Our roster was up and down. I thought we did well, especially considering with us pressing all year and with the weather last year. We ended up getting so many snowed out that we’re playing three games a week for last three weeks of season.” Heading into his second season at the helm, Baker said there will be a few changes to the pace this season. “Last year, I think we pressed every single possession of the season,” Baker said. “That won't be the case this year, partly because of a few people that we need on the floor but also because of depth.” This year’s team has just two seniors. Christian Kollmorgan is the team’s lone returning starter, while
The Goshen Lady Warriors enter the 20182019 campaign looking to extend an impressive streak. The team has advanced to the district finals each of the last two seasons. It didn’t look like last year’s team would be able to advance that far in the tournament. With one regularsesaon game left, the squad was 10-11 overall. However, the team won that game, defeated Batavia in the SBAAC Crossover game and picked up wins over Bethel-Tate and McNicholas in the tournament to earn a chance at a district title. Head coach Mark Short enters his second season at the helm, and said that he hopes that tournament run will help the team this season. “It was a challenge early on, but we got better late obviously and then had a nice run through the tournament, which I'm hoping will really benefit my kids this year,” Short said. One of the top players in the county, if not the state returns for Goshen this season. Paige Garr signed her National Letter of Intent to play basketball at Cedarville University earlier this month, and Short says he thinks having that decision out of the way will benefit her. “She has been very consistent, she's an extremely hard worker,” Short said. “I think the fact that she's already signed seems to have relaxed her a little bit, taken some of the pressure off to just focus on what we need to do.” In addition to Garr, six other Goshen players return to the team this season. One senior, Kayla Tuerck, tore her ACL in the preseason and will not play this year.
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The Goshen Warriors enter season number two under head coach Brandon Baker in 2018. Christian Kollmorgan is the team’s lone returning starter from last season.
senior Victor Hill is also expected to take on a bigger role at the varsity level this season. “He's strong enough to score on the block and the drive and if he's able catch and shoot the three and drive by people and make plays for us. he's going to be a tough matchup at the
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five,” Baker said. Hunter Slusher also returns this season for Baker. “Hunter is going to he's going to be our general on the floor,” Baker said. “He's the point guard, he's the general of the team. We go as he goes.” Two players are expected to make the jump to the varsity level this season. Juniors Dylan Ashcraft and Josh Hice have roles on the squad this season, according to Baker. “Ashcraft as a defensive menace and his energy is so important to our team,” Baker said. “Hice is another shooter, both full time JV players.” A third player on the junior varsity squad last year, sophomore Bradley
Moore, will also have a role on the team this season. Moore is the younger brother of Tony Moore, who graduated last season after scoring over 1,000 points for the Warriors. The younger Moore tore his labrum during the preseason. “We're not sure what that means for him yet,” Baker said. “We don't think he's out for the year so it may come down to pain tolerance, we're not sure. It’s up in the air. He's a big part of what we're doing.” Another player new to the varsity team this season is Trey Wilson. Wilson played on the freshman team last season, but after growing four inches over the summer he’ll see some time at the varsity level, according
GOSHEN
to Baker. “He's a 6-foot post playing full time freshman last year and now he’s a 6-foot 4-inch post that's getting in varsity scrimmages because we don’t have anybody else who is 6-foot-4,” Baker said. Goshen finished third in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s American Division last year with a 5-5 record. Wilmington finished undefeated in the league at 10-0, with Western Brown second at 6-4. Baker said this year’s conference standings will be hard to predict. “Our league is an interesting spot,” Baker said. “The teams finished first, second or third all graduated over 75 percent of their scoring. The teams finished
fourth fifth and sixth bring back everybody. So I think the league is a toss up. I'm not really sure what to expect.” In terms of goals for the season, Baker said the team hopes to keep building on what they started last season. “Continue setting the tone,” Baker said. “Your first few years coaching a program, you want guys can build the culture and the build the way things are done. This is a great group for that. they work hard they work together.” Goshen opens the 20182019 season at home on Tuesday, December 4 against Williamsburg. The Warriors begin league play three days later with a road trip to Western Brown.
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The Goshen Lady Warriors have advanced to the district championship game for each of the last two seasons. The team returns seven players from last year’s squad.
The other six have various levels of varsity experience, but Short said he believes they will step up this season. “I think that we we've challenged them a little bit now with a year under their belt,” Short said. “For some of them, it was the first year for varsity last year. We challenged them to step up. We set some goals for us and the team. We hope going into their last year that that experience from last year and what they went through really helps them.” Short added that he believes the experience is one of Goshen’s strengths this season. “I would say that the fact that they have had that experience,” Short said. “That they've been to the district the last two years is going to
help them in the long run. I think the league is going to be a little bit more balanced this year. I don't think there'll be an easy night for anyone so I'm hoping that experience pays off for us.” Goshen does not have a junior on the roster this year. The team has three sophomores and four freshman listed, and short said those younger players will be expected to play minor roles this season. “We're looking at this year for the younger players to just fill some spots and give us some good minutes,” Short said. “It's sort of a two-fold situation, where you lose everybody next year but we want those kids to have that experience, at the same time hopefully giving us important minutes
this year.” Short finished by saying the team has a few goals in mind for the season, including avenging a few losses to other teams on their schedule. “You always look at trying to finish as high as you can in the league,” Short said. “Then there's the postseason as a separate thing. We want to look at trying to improve how far we got last year and hopefully go further. There are a couple teams that we haven't been able to beat that we'd like to beat for these kids in their senior year.” Goshen started the 20182019 campaign with a 37-34 win over Ross on November 24. The team faces Western Brown on the road on Thursday, November 29.
GOSHEN
E V E N P A G E S
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Consistency key for Milford boys basketball BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
O D D
PHOTO/GARTH SHANKLIN
The Milford Eagles enter the 2018-2019 season coming off a fourth place finish in the Eastern CIncinnati Conference.
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An experienced Milford squad opens up the 20182019 season looking to improve on a fourth-place league finish last year. Head coach Joe Cambron said the Eagles had several players on last season’s team with little experience at the varsity level. “Last season was a roller coaster,” Cambron said. “We had so many new varsity guys. We had a lot of juniors that were first time varsity guys, and our season started off really well. Then we had a slump in the middle, and then we bounced up and down a little bit with some wins and some losses and some good wins and some tough losses. Towards the end we started playing better.” The Eagles finished the season 11-12 overall, 8-6 in league play. This year’s
team returns a host of players from last season, including Jake Ayler, who led the team in scoring at 12.2 points per game. Steven Huxell also returns for the Eagles after averaging just over 10 points per contest last season. Ayler is listed as a guard on the Milford roster. Cambron said the Eagles’ guards amble to play both inside and outside. ”We have guards that can handle the ball and score,” Cambron said. “We have guards that can defend. We have big guys that can score. We have big guys that can defend the paint. Our guards and our big guys rebound, so really we won't be a one pony show. We don't have any selfish players.” Cambron said he hopes that people who observe the Eagles this year see a team that isn’t afraid to pass the basketball. “You watch our team play, and hopefully an out-
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sider would say, 'Man, do they play hard and they really share the basketball,” Cambron said. “I mean, the reality of public high school is that you get the players you get and you mold them into what you want them to be. I think this team is exactly what we want Milford to be known for. They play really hard and great defense and they share the basketball.” Part of the reason Milford has been able to stay near the top of the ECC standings year in and year out is due to a stable coaching staff, according to Cambron. The Eagles have finished in the top half of the league five out of the last six seasons. “Stability has been a big part of our program,” Cambron said. “We had the same junior high coaches for years. My assistant varsity coach has been with me for 12, 13 years, maybe 15 years. We have some new JV and freshman coaches, but I think stability has gotten these kids to understand what we want to do and I think that's a big part of our success.” With seven returning players and a host of experience, Cambron said a league title is not out of question for the team this season. “I think the kids would say, very easily, we want to compete and win the ECC and make a deep tournament run,” Cambron said. Milford’s quest for an ECC title begins with a non-league tilt against Sycamore on Friday, November 30. The team also hosts Harrison on December 4 before houting the road against Kings on December 7 to open league play.
Page 11
Felicity Lady Cardinals seeking leadership
PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN
The Felicity-Franklin Lady Cardinals won just two games in the 2017-2018 season, but the team returns several contributors from that squad in 2018, including Madison Baird.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
It’s hard to get the full story from a final score. Sometimes, the result doesn’t quite show everything about a team. That’s the case for the Felicity
Cardinals’ girls basketball squad in the 2017-2018 season. “We definitely didn't play up to our potential,” head coach Kerry Stamper said. “We started improving at the right time, at tournament time. We gave it a
good effort there, that was good to see.” The team lost four seniors off of last year’s squad, including Kylie Sponcil. Sponcil led the team in scoring with 135 total points. “She played varsity all four years,” Stamper said. “Knowing what was going on, running the floor.” Madison Baird returns having totaled the secondmost points on the team last year with 128. She is one of several juniors on the team’s roster that Stamper expects to play a big role this season. “We need some leaders to step up,” Stamper said. “We have no seniors on the team at this point, so our juniors are going to have to step up and take the leadership role. Several of them have played varsity, so they know what's going on.” This year’s squad consists of a trio of juniors, a sophomore and four freshman. Those juniors are the ones that Stamper said she expects to take the leadership reigns this year. “I'm expecting the three juniors to step up and lead by example,” Stamper said. “Baird, [Madison] Moore and [Elise] Botkin have never really been consistent scorers, but they can be if they wanted to. We're looking for that to take place for them so they can lead by example.” Stamper said she thinks
the team’s four freshman are good shooters, but they need to improve on getting shots off quicker. “They have shooting ability,” Stamper said. “They're hard-pressed to get it off quickly. They're not used to that defense. If you give them five minutes to get set up at the free-throw line, they're going to make it. They're good shooters, they just have to learn to shoot it quicker.” Those freshman are also expected to play well on defense for Felicity. “We've got a couple that are good on defense, we're
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looking for some defensive help too,” Stamper said. “We've got one that can play inside, which will help us out there. We only have two bigs, we're struggling there too.” Stamper acknowledged that the Lady Cardinals have a tough task ahead of them, but she thinks they
can handle it. “It's going to be a rough road, but I think they're up for the challenge,” Stamper said. “I expect a lot of improvement, that's what we're looking at this year. We're young, so everyone that is playing will be back next year. We'll see what happens.”
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Felicity boys picking up the tempo in 2018 BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The Felicity-Franklin boys basketball team hopes to up the tempo under second-year head coach Jason Thompson.
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The Felicity Cardinals boys basketball team took an important step forward last season. The team finished with an overall record of 3-21, but the record doesn’t tell the whole story. “I thought last season was a big progression in terms of what we were trying to build,” head coach Jason Thompson said. “I learned a lot last year. Naturally, on Tuesdays and Fridays you want to win games, but it's bigger than that. Last year I think we started to build on the small things and were able to win that sectional tournament game.” Felicity defeated Oyler 4239 in the sectional tournament last season, an important win according to Thompson. “That was monumental for our program,” Thompson said. “They know they can win.” That mindset is key for the team, especially since most of
the players from last season are returning this year. “A lot of the guys we played last year were sophomores,” Thompson said. “I'm expecting some leadership from them, because they've got 23, 24 games under their belt. I'm expecting some of those guys to lead us, to help push the younger guys. We're probably going to have to play some young kids.” In terms of on-court play, Thompson said he thinks the team’s pace will be quicker this season than last year. “We're probably going to play fast,” Thompson said. “Some guys that played last year may find that their minutes decrease a bit when we get into faster games. Last year we tried to slow the game down, win possessions, then try to score from winning possessions. That was a lot different than my coaching style.” Thompson said he thinks the team’s offense will be improved over last season, thanks to an infusion of speed
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and a better understanding of the game itself. “We'll be a bit better offensively than last year,” Thompson said. “We're going to be faster than last year's team, and I think we'll be smarter than last year's team. I think last year's team didn't have a high basketball IQ, and I think this year's team, the incoming guys are smarter players and last year's guys have learned how to play.” Thompson and the Cardinals competed at the Ripley Pepsi Classic last season. This year, they’re heading north. “We're going to play at the University of Rio Grande on December 8,” Thompson said. “We were invited up there. That's a big opportunity for our kids.” Opportunities like that are a key part in the overall experience Thompson hopes to provide his players. “My biggest thing is creating life experience memories for these kids,” he said, “The reality is with a school this size, competing for state championships is few and far between. If you look at the coaches that have gotten there from this area, they've either had a plethora of talent or they've built the program from the ground up. Building the program is what we're doing.” Another one of those experiences involved the team attending the Xavier men’s basketball game against Evansville earlier this season. Thompson also has a new addition to the team’s staff this season, bringing his uncle, Dean, out of retirement to coach the freshman team. Dean Thompson has 25 years experience as a coach. Felicity opens the 20182019 regular season with a road trip to Manchester on Saturday, December 1. The team’s home opener is December 3 against Whiteoak.
Page 15
Milford girls under new leadership in 2018 BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The Milford Eagles girls basketball team has a new head coach on the sideline this season. Former Bethel-Tate head coach Dave Fallis will lead the Eagles this year. He said the move north has been a smooth one thus far. “The transition has been great,” Fallis said. We've got a great group of student-athletes and we have a great coaching staff assembled and I think we all really get along extremely well. We understand each other.” Fallis said he the team is ready to put in the work necessary to win games. “We're just really focused on the daily process,” Fallis said. “You know the work you have to do every day to be competitive in the ECC. They're committed to the work. They're still in the weight room come into practice early stay and after so we're extremely happy with this group right now in terms of the composition of the roster this season.” The team has four seniors on the roster this year, along with two juniors and sophomores. The squad also has a few freshman this season. Fallis said he hopes the seniors on the team are
able to lead the younger players. ”I expect the seniors to be leaders,” Fallis said. “I expect them to help build a mindset that will help our program this year and in the future. A mindset of 'We're going to do whatever it takes to compete at a high level in the ECC and make sure we're doing the best that we can every day in practice.'” Fallis said he thinks that one of the team’s strengths this season will be how fast the players are, and that he thinks the team’s defense will come along sooner than the offense. “I believe we have some speed,” Fallis said. “Without question, I think we're going to utilize that. You know, everyone this time of year says they want to run a fast break and realistically it's not going to happen. Most times, people will try and take advantage of it when the situation rises, but I think we can use our team's speed on defense and I really see the defensive side of the ball being our focus. I think that's where we'll show massive improvement a lot quicker than we will in the offense.” Fallis said he thinks that the team’s speed will help the defense come along quicker. “The offense is going to
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The Milford Lady Eagles and head coach Dave Fallis started the season on a strong note, defeating McNicholas 3433 in the team’s season opener on November 24, 2018.
take a long time to gel,” Fallis said. “We're still working on the fundamentals and the overall system. But on the defensive side, we've got some kids that are extremely athletic, quick, and fast and we are really focused on the defensive side of the ball.” The Eastern Cincinnati Conference is going to be a tough test for the Lady
Eagles, according to Fallis. “I believe this is one of the best leagues in the city,” Fallis said. “Some excellent players live in the other schools and some great coaches. I think it's going to be a dogfight at the top of the conference this year. We hope to compete at a high level. Our goal is to really see if we can disrupt the ECC a little
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bit our first year here and move forward from there.” Fallis said he thinks that the team’s schedule will provide plenty of chances for the team to show just how much improvement there has been. “We're going to get tested early, we're going to get tested often and that's why we do this,” Fallis said. “Seeing what kind of
improvement, measurable improvement, we have from week to week game to game. It's going to be a lot of fun, that's for sure.” The Milford Eagles return to action on Saturday, December 1 with a road contest against Kings. The team returns home to take on Withrow on December 5.
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Senior-laden Lions expecting improvement
O D D P A G E S
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The New Richmond Lions have five seniors on the team this season. The team finished the 2017-2018 campaign with a 9-14 overall record.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The 2017-2018 season was a season of growth for the New Richmond boys
basketball team. The team finished the year 9-14 overall and 3-7 in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s American Division.
Head coach Brian McMonigle said last season was a learning experience for the team. “Last season was last season,” McMonigle said.
“I think we learned a lot about ourselves. We had some good times and bad times. You live, you learn, and you try to progress and come out of those sit-
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uations on top. We had a couple tough losses that we were disappointed about. “ This year’s team has five seniors on the roster, and all of them have significant experience at the varsity level. “It's the biggest senior class I've had in four years,” McMonigle said. “A lot of these kids have been playing varsity since their sophomore year, [Nick] Ernst since his freshman year. We have a lot of experience from that side of it, and that group of seniors is really close.” The team has two sophomores and a freshman on the varsity squad this season. Luke Lytle and Shep Lansaw enter their second season, while Justin Ackerman has a spot on the varsity team as a freshman. ”We have some good younger kids who have really worked hard to get where they're at right now and do some good things,” McMonigle said. “I think they're going to give us a lot of good minutes this year.” Senior Alex Stephen is one of the five seniors this season.
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“He's looking really good so far,” McMonigle said. “He's looking really confident and playing hard and employing good defense and I think he's going to surprise some people.” Herwens Horgan, Griffin DeLisle, Jonathan Lang and Max Ernst also enter their final season for the Lions this year. The four will travel with the team to the King of the Smokies Classic in Tennessee later in the season. “That's a really good tournament,” McMonigle said. “There's actually 24 teams and there's three different tournaments. You break them up into eight team tournaments, so there's all kinds of teams and you get to watch all kinds of games. We stay in a cabin, and we get to spend about four or five days in Pigeon Forge. We all get to hang out and we do some hiking and some other things and hang out in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg and of course enjoy the tournament as well.” McMonigle finished by saying the team hopes to correct the issues that plagued them last year. “We want to progress a lot from last year,” McMonigle said. “We know we finished 9-14 but we really felt like we should have finished with a winning record. We want to progress on all the things that caused us to lose the game last year. We're correcting those things. We've come a long way and I think that the kids are kind of ready for the season.” The Lions start the season at Bethel-Tate on November 30. The team hosts Batavia on December 7.
Page 9
Portmann bringing up-tempo vibe to CNE
PHOTO / PROVIDEDN
The Clermont Northeastern Lady Rockets return several key players from last season’s team, and welcome new head coach Doug Portmann in 2018.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The Clermont Northeastern Lady Rockets enter the 2018-2019 season with a new head coach and a new system. Doug Portmann takes over the team this season, and he said the transition has gone well so far. “I think they're going well,” Portmann said. “The girls are learning a new system, and they're doing a great
job adapting.” The team has several players returning, including junior Natalie Bockman. “We have a couple key players returning that I think will help,” Portmann said. “Boeckmann was the leading scorer last year. She's going to have to step up on both ends of the court, and I think she will.” One player who will not play for the team this season is senior guard Kiley Cooper, who suffered a torn ACL,
MCL and meniscus and will be out for the season. “We'll be missing her tremendously this season,” Portmann said. “That was a blow you don't expect to have.” Junior Mackenzie Reece returns this season, and Portmann said she’ll be an important member of the team’s defense. “Our starting point guard is back,” Portmann said. “She'll do a good job filling some of that void, especially
defensively. Kirby is coming over from volleyball, and she's a physical player that will take up some of that slack too.” The varsity roster consists of five seniors and five juniors, but there are several younger players who could see time at the varsity level this season. “We have some freshman right now that are going to contribute on the JV and varsity level,” Portmann said. “We have some really quali-
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ty players coming up in the program. I'm real excited about the future of this program right now, there are some kids that really want to be out there and learn. They have some real talent, and I think that if they stick with it we're going to be heading in the right direction for sure.” The group of players on the team this year will be expected to play tough on the defensive side of the ball, according to Portmann. “We have a lot of girls that come in with experience,” Portmann said. “Once they learn the new system, they're going to be able to push the ball down the court and play good, aggressive defense. I've been stressing through the whole camp that if the other team only scores one point, we only have to score two. We have the athletes there on defense that will be able to turn this into a good season.” That speed is not limited to the defensive side of the ball. The offense for CNE will also be at a quicker tempo this season, according to Portmann. “We're going to be a much faster-moving team on both ends of the court,” Portmann said. “We're looking to push up and down the court every
chance we get. We want to get a lot of shots off. I think it's going to be an exciting style to watch.” In terms of goals for the season, Portmann said he hopes to start the process of turning the Lady Rockets into a contending team. “We want to turn the program back into a winning program, and I think we can do that,” Portmann said. “To start with, we want to compete in every game we're in. We want to make sure that every team we play knows that CNE is back on the map and we're going to give everything we can. Each team is going to know that they just got done playing CNE. We want to leave our mark, especially these seniors that are going out.” Portmann finished by praising the Southern Buckeye Conference’s National Division, noting the challenge that lies ahead for the Lady Rockets. “I'm just very excited to be in the league with all the teams that are in here,” Portmann said. “I know there are some great teams in the league. I've got some great kids, and I'm lucky enough to walk into a program that had good kids in the program. That makes it more fun.”
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CNE boys seeking consistency in 2018-2019
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The Clermont Northeastern boys basketball team was young last season and will be again this year, according to head coach Jim Jones.
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The Clermont Northeastern boys basketball team was plagued by inconsistency last season, according to head coach Jim Jones. Inconsistency has been a problem for the team the past few seasons, and last year’s team also had issues finishing games. “Like the previous year, we played well in spurts,” Jones said. “We started slow, played well in spurts and didn't finish good. I think we had a hard time closing out games last year.” Part of the issue with consistency was the amount of young players on the court for the Rockets. “We started a freshman
and two sophomores for the first part of the year,” Jones said. “Towards the end of the year, the sickness bug hurt us. We went through a two-week period where the flu hit us and everybody on the team was sick, and we never recovered from it.” Turning the page to 2018-2019, Jones said the team is still young on paper, but the players on the court have varsity experience under their belts. “We're still young, but we have experienced guys back,” Jones said. “I have a three year starter as a senior, two guys that started that are juniors, and [Schmidt’s] a sophomore starting. We're still young, and I'll probably have a freshman starting at point.” The team did lose a key player from last season’s team. Grant Fishback led the squad in total points and blocks last year. “Grant's class last year was a small class, and I saw that coming,” Jones said. “We didn't have depth in our program because that class was a small class overall. This year I have three seniors that have played. The juniors and sophomores are larger classes, and we've got some athletes in them.” Schmidt finished last season with over 13 points per game last year, second on the team to Fishback’s 16.6 points per game. “He's a totally different player for us than he was last year,” Jones said. “He's not the same player.” Ryan Martin is another player Jones expects to have a key spot on the team this season. “This'll be his third year starting,” Jones said. “I think he's going to have a very solid year. He had
some solid games for us down the stretch last year. He started slow because of an ankle injury, but he's one that just keeps working and getting better.” Jerryd Burns is another player Jones mentioned as improving during the summer. “He's improved greatly during the offseason,” Jones said. “He can shoot it well.” Forward Blake King also should provide the Rockets with important minutes this season, according to Jones. “He's a very athletic kid,” Jones said. “He had some nice games for us last year.” Schmidt was one of several players who spent the summer playing AAU ball, according to Jones. That experience should help the team this season. “We had a very good summer season,” Jones said. “The kids were buying in a lot more, getting in the weight room a lot more and realizing they have to get in the weight room to be competitive. I had several kids playing AAU in the summer, for the first time in a while. We've had one or two before, but there are several in the program now. I think that's huge for them, because they had a ball in their hand all summer, and they're usually playing against good competition, usually.” Jones finished by saying he was looking forward to the start of the season. “I'm very excited about what this team will be able to bring,” Jones said. CNE is scheduled to open the season at home against Western Brown on Friday, November 30. The Rockets have a road trip to Little Miami on the schedule for December 1.
Page 17
Lady Lions hoping to build on strong year BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The 2017-2018 New Richmond Lions girls basketball team rebounded strongly from a three-win season the year prior. Last season, the team finished with 12 wins, culminating with a third-place finish in the Southern Buckeye Conference American Division. Head coach Tom Wessner said he believed the team exceeded expectations last year thanks to the players that stepped up. “Last season, I think we kind of turned a corner,” Wessner said. “Two years ago, we only had three wins. We went up to 12. I think we exceeded expectations, having no seniors and just three juniors we had a lot of freshman and sophomores step up.” Wessner said this season’s team is ahead of where last season’s squad was at this time. “We're a little bit further along than we were last year as far as basic things we've been trying to do.,” Wessner said. “We'll be able to stand on those things when the season comes. We're a little bit further than we were last year at the beginning.” Three of the Lions’ key players this season are upperclassmen. Senior Hailey Kramer and juniors Carley Clift and Addie Fagan are all expected to play important roles on the team this year. “All three of them have varsity letters,” Wessner said. “They bring a lot of experience, they know what we're looking for, what we're trying to do. The big thing they do is they really limit their mistakes. They don't make a lot of them, which really helps people who are trying to follow
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The New Richmond Lions have five seniors on the team this season. The team finished the 2017-2018 campaign with a 9-14 overall record.
what they're doing.” Some of the team’s younger players are also going to see a larger role this season. Sophomore Abby Maness is expected to play an important role on the team’s defense this year. “She played a little varsity last year, but her role is going to expand defensively this year,” Wessner said. “She'll get a lot more minutes and a lot more playing time.” Another sophomore, Alyssa Weitzel, will also make an impact at the varsity level after a strong offseason, according to Wessner. “She's done really well,” Wessner said. “She was in
that spot where I didn't know where she was going to fit in, but she'll be a strictly varsity player this year. She shoots the ball really well, we're looking for big things from her too.” One of the biggest strengths of this season’s team is familiarity, accord-
ing to Wessner. “They've been playing together for two years, some of them have been playing together for three years,” Wessner said. “That familiarity with each other, trying to figure out what they're doing and where they're going, always being
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on the same page. That's where we're trying to go.” In terms of goals for the season, Wessner said the team’s goals are fairly simple. “We always try to look for a winning season,”
Wessner said. “We try to beat the people we're supposed to beat and upset a few people along the way. That's what we look to do.” New Richmond hosts Batavia on Thursday, November 29.
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West Clermont boys getting defensive in ‘18 BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
O D D P A G E S
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The West Clermont Wolves are expected to play tough defense again in 2018, according to head coach Craig Mazzaro.
The West Clermont Wolves basketball team enters the 2018-2019 season with an emphasis on defense. The team returns seven players from last season’s team, six of them seniors. John Aicholz is back after leading the squad in scoring last year. Ismael Ismael has played three varsity seasons, and Gavin Pitts will play a full year for the team this season after sitting out half of last year. Three players join the varsity squad from the junior varsity team. Alex Willsbough, Donte Turner Jr. and D.J. Vianella all are slated to see some action at the varsity level this season, according to head coach Craig Mazzaro. Mazzaro said last year’s team had several close contests, adding that finishing games is crucial to the team this season. “We had 11 games go
down to the last possession,” Mazzaro said. “We won seven of them. We have to be able to finish teams off. We need to work on our ball handling, rebounding and shooting. We're going to become a good defensive team, we usually are. If we can shore up a few areas, we should be in decent shape.” It would be reasonable to expect more close games this season, with the way the Wolves’ schedule shakes out. The team faces Winton Woods, St. Xavier, Fairfield, Indian Hill and Hughesin non-league action this season. One of the key players for West Clermont this season is Jackson Ames, who stands at 6-feet-9-inches tall. “He's really improving,” Mazzaro said. “He's getting a lot of looks. He works real hard, and he knows what he has to work on. He's not afraid to put the time in. We really need him to rebound and play some interior defense for us, hopefully he scores some points in there too.” Mazzaro said he thinks the Wolves’ defense should be able to up the tempo a little this season. “We're trying to get out and pick up a little bit in press,” Mazzaro said. “Just keep people in front of us and make them earn their points every time.” Mazzaro finished by saying the team is looking to have a chance to win every game this season. “We just want to do what we did last year,” Mazzaro said. “Be in every game. If we take care of our business, we'll be in every game and it just comes down to taking care of our business. Hitting free throws, making shots, someone stepping up and making a play. Hopefully we can do the same thing this year.”
Page 7
Lady Tigers hoping to continue strong run
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The Bethel-Tate girls basketball team is now under the watchful eye of former Georgetown head coach Bernie Cropper.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
Change abounds for the Bethel-Tate Lady Tigers this season. Gone is Allison Parks, who was second on the team in scoring last season. The team’s leading scorer, Reagan Leonard, transferred to Eastern Brown, and for-
mer head coach Dave Fallis is now roaming the sideline at Milford. And yet, despite all the change, there’s still a familiar feel to the team. Outside of Parks and Leonard, the Lady Tigers return every other player on the varsity roster this season, and former Georgetown coach Bernie Cropper is now the Lady
Tigers’ head coach after serving as an assistant last year. Cropper said the team’s season is off to a solid start. “They've worked hard,” Cropper said. “They're hard working girls and we're happy with that. We've got a lot of work to do, but it's a good start to the season.” There are no seniors on the Bethel-Tate roster. The team
has a total of seven juniors, including Madison Burton, who led the team in rebounds last season. “I think she's probably our best rebounder,” Cropper said. “She's a good post defender. She always gives a good effort and plays hard. She's one of the kids we're going to go to a lot.” Fellow junior Grace White was third on the team in scoring last year. “She's a quick, athletic kid,” Cropper said. “She's a very good defender, and she can score. She can shoot the three and take it to the basket.” A third junior, Sarah Gardner, is expected to handle some of the leadership duties for the team this year. “She'll play point a lot for us,” Cropper said. “She's an excellent ball-handler, and makes great decisions with the basketball. She's the glue that kind of holds things together, we look for some great leadership from Sarah.” One of the team’s juniors, Hailey Sandker, didn’t play for Bethel-Tate last season. Sandker transferred to the Tigers from Felicity. “She's a new player for us, a good player,” Cropper said. “She's one of these kids, we can post her up, she can play the perimeter. She's a good player, we're thrilled to have her with us.” Junior Jenna Carter finished second on the team last year with 40 assists.
“She's one of our most improved players,” Cropper said. “She's quick, an excellent three-point shooter. We'll use her at the point some and she can play the wing.” Taylor Bee is expected to play a key role on defense, while also providing an offensive spark for the team this season, according to Cropper. “She's one of the more athletic kids,” Cropper said. “She'll be key on our presses, she does an outstanding job defensively. She can score a lot of points for us, and she's one of the kids who really improved her game a lot.” Junior Abbie Wheeler is expected to see time at both guard spots for Bethel-Tate. “She'll play some point, and she can play the wing,” Cropper said. “She's an outstanding shooter who plays extremely hard. She's a good defender.” Sophomore Alli Stolz is one of two Lady Tigers over six feet tall. Cropper said he thinks she has improved her game from last year. “I'd put her up there as one of the most improved players,” Cropper said. “She's worked hard in the offseason. She's an inside threat,
she can score around the basket. She's a good rebounder. She plays good defense.” The team’s two other juniors, Nelle Miracle and Olivia Tiemeyer, will split time at the varsity and junior varsity levels. Cropper said he thinks one of the team’s strength will be the roster size. “The depth of the team will be a big asset for us,” Cropper said. “We've got girls that can play post or perimeter. We can go big, go quick.” The returning players are all experienced, but there are a few new wrinkles in the team’s play this year. “We've got a lot of kids that played last year as sophomores, and [Stolz] played a bit as a freshman,” Cropper said. “We're going to do some things differently, we're putting a new offensive system in, but they have some varsity experience. Last year they looked for Allison, but they really stepped up and I think they welcome the chance to be the leaders and take those big shots.” Bethel-Tate visits Williamsburg on Thursday, November 29 to kick off league play.
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Bethel-Tate continuing to take steps forward
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Bethel-Tate’s Griffin Reinert enters his senior year as one of several Tigers to keep an eye on, according to head coach Steve Wolf.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN
GO TIGERS! Kramer-Myers & Werring-Dickerson
Sports Editor
The Bethel-Tate Tigers enter the 2018-2019 season under the team’s third head coach in three years. Steve Wolf was tabbed to lead Bethel-Tate earlier this year, and he said the transition has been smooth so far. “It's been going really
45 West Main St., Batavia
well,” Wolf said. “The kids have bought in, they're excited every day. I think since I got the job in May, it's been a step forward every day. The kids come out and work hard, which is all you can really ask.” Taking into account the work the team has put in during the summer and preseason, Wolf said he feels like the team is where he expected it would be. “We're about where I expected,” Wolf said. “The scrimmages we've had, everything we need to work on is what I thought we'd need to work on, the things we've been good at I thought we'd be good at. We need to pick up our spots and keep building on the high spots, and I think we'll be alright.” Wolf said there are several high spots worth noting for the Tigers this year. “We have a couple kids who can really shoot it, and we're big and strong inside,” Wolf said. “We've got some good leaders, seniors that are going to be able to pull the younger kids through. I think as the season goes on the younger kids are going to get better and better, respect the seniors and see that the work ethic is paying off.” Bethel-Tate has three seniors on the team this year. Griffin Reinert is one of the Tigers who could have a big year
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“He's got the most experience,” Wolf said. “He has a lot of game experience, a lot of leadership skills.” Sophomore Kyle Smith is another Tiger for fans to keep an eye on. It shouldn’t be hard to spot the sophomore, who is listed at 6foot-3-inches tall. “He's got a lot of potential,” Wolf said. “If he keeps working every day, he'll have a great year. He's got a bright future ahead of him.” In terms of offensive strategy, Wolf said he wants to run an up-tempo attack, but it depends on personnel. “In my heart of hearts, I want to push the ball and get up and down,” Wolf said. “I'm a Roy Williams, Dean Smith student. I've watched and studied and learned from them. Sometimes your personnel dictates. With four 6-foot-5 guys, maybe we just lob it down into the post and bang on some people. We'll see how it goes.” When it comes to measuring improvement, wins and losses could be used to see how far Bethel-Tate has come this season, but Wolf said he doesn’t have a target win total in mind. “I don't have a set number,” Wolf said. “I want it to be a program-building season, whatever that is. If it's 'x' amount of wins, it's 'x' amount of wins. From where it was when I took the job in May to where it is now, we've taken a step forward. That's a successful season. If it's 10 steps forward in February or March, that's a successful season. I can't put a number on it, but in my head I know what it is. I think people will see that the program is in a better spot.” Bethel-Tate opens the regular season with a home tilt against New Richmond on November 30.
Page 19
West Clermont boys getting defensive in ‘18 BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The West Clermont girls basketball team put together a solid season last year. The team finished 11-3 in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference, good for second place behind Walnut Hills. Head coach Jeff Click said last year was a good one for the team. “It was a good season,” Click said. “I think we played a really challenging schedule. From top to bottom, we played a lot of the best teams in the city. Our league was tough. We lost a couple tough ones.” West Clermont’s three league losses came by a total of six points. Two of those losses, one to Walnut Hills and the other to Loveland, were by one point. “We lost, basically, a league championship by two points,” Click said. “We lost to Walnut by one on a three-quarter court shot at the buzzer. We lost to Loveland by one at Loveland in a game that we were leading. That's our own fault. We had a lot of 'coulda, woulda, shouldas' but we didn't finish the deal.” This year, the Wolves will be without Jasmine Hale, who is playing at Wisconsin this season. Alexis Starks and Kaylin Burdick also graduated after last season. “We look a lot different without the three seniors that we lost,” Click said. “We do have some talent coming back, but we're made a little bit different. We're much smaller, a little bit less athletic without [Hale] out there. We're going to have to figure out what style to play, that's the challenge with this team. That's the goal for
the preseason, we're trying to learn about ourselves as a team, learn about our players individually. We really have to rely on the whole group to make up for the seniors that we lost.” The players that are coming back have earned the praise of Click for their work ethic. “They're hard workers,” Click said. “They want to learn. I think they're going to be very coachable. They're very good teammates. I think we have a lot of skill, a lot of talent. The size thing is going to be a challenge. In Division I, size does matter. We're going to have to find a way to make up for that.” This season, the team is senior heavy, with five seniors on the roster. Kirsten Click, Faith Howard, Dakota Reeves, Gracie Haywood and Jenna Simon all enter their final year on the hardwood this season. Haywood transferred into the program this year after playing at Greenup County High School in Kentucky last season. “She's played a lot, she has a lot of experience,” Click said. “She really blends in and fits in with our kids.” Another player expected to help the team out this season is sophomore Marissa Jenike. “[She] is a lot better this year,” Click said. “We look for her to kind of step up.” The roster for West Clermont doesn’t have a player at six feet tall or taller, with Hale leading the way at 5-foot-11. Click said that even though the doesn’t have height, the team has depth. “We don't have any size, but I don't think there is any team out there like us
PHOTO / PROVIDED
The West Clermont Lady Wolves lost three seniors from last season’s team, and this year’s team will look a little different, according to head coach Jeff Click.
that has 10 players that are all pretty skilled. We don't really have any post players. We're all guards. It looks funny when you fill out the roster, I don't think we put any forwards. We definitely don't have any centers. It's fun, if I was playing that's the way I'd want to play.” West Clermont opened
the 2018-2019 season at the Journey to the Tourney at Lakota West. The team fell to Mercy-McAuley 48-33. The Lady Wolves return to action at Hoops for Harvest at Dixie Heights High School in Kentucky. The team faces Conner at 9:20 a.m. on Saturday, December 1.
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Williamsburg basketball seeking league crown BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
O D D P A G E S
PHOTO / GARTH SHANKLIN
The Williamsburg Wildcats look to build on a 12-11 overall record from last season, despite several key injuries to players throughout the year.
The 2017-2018 season was an interesting one for the Williamsburg Wildcats. The team finished the regular season with a 12-11 overall record, despite several key players suffering injuries before the season even started. Even with the injury bug, head coach Dan McKibben said he couldn’t complain about last season. “Last season, we had some success,” McKibben said. “We battled a lot of injuries coming out of football and were missing some key players, but we ended up with a winning record. It's hard to complain too much about that.” Looking at his team’s strength this season, McKibben said he feels like the team has a few players who can shoot the ball at a decent clip. “We've got a few boys who can shoot the ball pretty well,” McKibben said. “A little more quickness overall. We had a couple
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players last year who were pretty quick, but this year I'd say we're a little quicker overall.” Several players are going to have to step up for the Wildcats this season, according to McKibben. “We're going to have to have big seasons from Drew McKibben, a senior, fouryear stater,” Dan McKibben said. “This is his second season starting full time. Jarrett Thatcher is one of the players that was missing from last season. Loghan Kelley was a starter last year, we expect big things from him.” McKibben said the team doesn’t have one dominant player on the squad this season. Every player is going to have to fill their respective role. “We're going to have to have four or five guys step up,” McKibben said. “I don't think we have anybody capable of scoring 25 a night.” Some roles on the team will be filled by younger players, according to McKibben. “Filling in as a defensive stopper, as a rebounder,” “Someone who can stop a shot from time to time. It's going to have to be by committee this year. In terms of goals for the season, McKibben said taking home the title in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s National Division is the foremost goal. “Our goal is to win the league, first and foremost.,” McKibben said. “Have a winning record, and try to get a pretty good show in the tournament.” Williamsburg opens the regular season on Friday, November 30 with a road game at Batavia. After a trip to Goshen on December 4, the Wildcats host BethelTate on December 7 in the team’s home opener.
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Batavia girls basketball looking for growth BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The Batavia Lady Bulldogs haven’t officially started the regular season as of this writing, but things are already off to an interesting start. Eric Brown was named the team’s interim head coach just before the start of the season, which posted some interesting challenges for him. “Getting everybody together, getting started, getting the lay of the land,” Brown said. “From the time I knew to the time we had open gyms, we had about a week.” Now that the offseason has gotten going, Taylor said that this year’s team will have several new players, which results in a lack of experience at the varsity level. “There's certainly some excitement about the opportunity to be up on the varsity, but we're low on varsity experience,” Brown said. “We only have two returning players, one coming from her freshman year to her sophomore year.” Batavia has three juniors, including Macie Mehlman and Taylor Myers. Anastasia Burton and Danielle Kulbe are the team’s two seniors. “Everyone else is new and fresh but excited,” Brown said. “They're going to give it their hardest.”
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The Batavia Lady Bulldogs return several key players from last season’s team, though they did lose 1,000 point scorer Maggie Mehlman.
Mehlman finished last season fourth on the team in scoring. Brown expects her to have a big year. “I have a lot of high hopes,” Brown said. “She comes from a family of athletes, and I think she'll help lead and shine for the team this year.” The team also has five sophomores and a freshman on the roster this season. One of those sophomores, Summer Stith, got
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experience on the varsity team last season. Brown said there are several things he’s noticed that he would consider a strength this season. “Our strength really is our speed,” Brown said. “Our overall tenacity. Staying in the game throughout the game. Not surrendering ourselves to everything we see that starts turning against us.” That speed should bene-
fit the team, as Brown said he hopes that the team will play faster this season to counter a lack of height. “We're probably looking at more of a faster style,” Brown said. “We're height challenged.” In terms of goals for the season, Brown said he hopes that the team continues to improve in various aspects of the game throughout the year. “We're looking to build
some strength in various aspects,” he said. “Our overall skill level, our overall development. We're still pretty fresh at being a varsity squad. We're looking at strengthening our shooting, limiting our
turnovers, things like that.” Batavia opened the season against Blanchester on November 26. The team travels to New Richmond on Thursday, November 29 before hosting Hillsboro on December 3.
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Bulldogs seeking league title in 2018
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The Batavia Bulldogs enter the 2018-2019 campaign looking to build on last season’s 4-19 overall record.
GO BULLDOGS! Kramer-Myers & Werring-Dickerson
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The Batavia Bulldogs started the 2017-2018 season with eight straight losses, and while the team kept several games close, the squad finished the year with a 4-19 mark. Head coach Aaron Brose
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said that while he felt the team was in several different games, they didn’t do a good enough job sealing the deal. “I thought we competed pretty well, I just didn't think we finished well in games,” Brose said. “We gave ourselves a chance a lot of games, we just couldn't get over the hump.” Several key players return for the Bulldogs this season. Corbin Richardson was named a first-team allleague performer as a junior, while teammate Nate Watson earned second-team honors. Richardson was second on the team in scoring last season, averaging just over nine points per game. Watson led the team with roughly 9.5 points per contest. ”They were our first and second leading scorers, it's good to get those guys back,” Brose said. “Nate put in a lot of work during the offseason, Corbin's put in a lot of work in the offseason. Hopefully they come back better than last year.” Kaleb Moell also returns for Batavia this season. Moell tallied the third-highest point total on the season for Batavia last year while also leading the team in rebounds with 150. “He's under size, but there aren't a whole lot of kids that play with his
enthusiasm, that play as hard as he plays,” Brose said. “He goes up for everything. If you had 100 of him, you'd be pretty good. He plays the right way.” John Witt is another player Brose said he expects to play a big role on the team this season. Witt only scored 43 total points last season, but Brose said he felt his shooting has started to improve. “[Witt's] going to have some things for us,” “He's started to shoot it really well.” Brose said he felt that one of the team’s strengths this season will be the leadership of the squad’s senors. “Our senior leadership gives us a lot,” Brose said. “We're pretty quick. We're not real tall, but we're quick and we can shoot it.” Brose said that due to the limitations in size, the team is going to have to play at a quicker tempo. “We're going to have to,” Brose said. “We're still going to be undersized. We're going to have to get out and run a bit, and we have a bunch of guys we think can do that.” The saying goes that it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Batavia may not have a size advantage this season, but the Bulldogs still expect to come out on top in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s American Division. “We go in hoping to win the league title,” Brose said. “We're going to have our hands full to do that. We want to do well in the nonleague games and hopefully we can make a little noise come tournament time.” The Bulldogs open the 2018-2019 campaign with a home game against Williamsburg on Friday, November 30.
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Lady Wildcats seeking second straight district crown
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The Williamsburg Lady Wildcats advanced to the regional semifinals last season.
BY GARTH SHANKLIN Sports Editor
The 2017-2018 season was one for the record books in Williamsburg. The Lady Wildcats finished last season with a district title and a 1,000 point scorer, among other accomplishments. Head coach Mike Madsen had a simple description of the team’s success last year. “Last season was amazing,” Madsen said. “It was unexpected, to get as far as we did. We won some tough games against some really tough teams. Beating Wilmington at Wilmington, beating Anna in the district title was a joy.” Several key players off of last year’s squad are back for the Lady Wildcats this year, though all three of the players that graduated last year made important marks on the program. “The thing is, we're miss-
ing a 1,000 point scorer in Peyton [Fisher] and we're missing, probably, one of the toughest players to ever put a uniform on in the county [Emily Brown]. She intimidated everybody. We have to find somebody to pick up the scoring slack and someone to pick up the slack of toughness.” Younger players will be expected to step up into the void left by Leslie Engel, Hailey Beesten, Fisher and Brown, according to Madsen. Seniors Jessica Chase, Alexis Chase and junior Emily Hart have a plethora of varsity experience, as does sophomore Paige Fisher. Everyone else, not so much. “Right now, I think we've got a bunch of sophomores that are capable,” Madsen said. “We've got some experience, with Jess, Alexis and Emily Hart and Paige Fisher. Besides those four, we don't have anyone with
what I'd consider significant varsity experience.” The Lady Wildcats are likely to be missing Alexis Chase for a few games, at least. She tore her ACL in the team’s district championship win over Anna, but she said the recovery from the injury is slow, but steady. “It's been going good,” Chase said. “It's been really slow since it's the second one on this knee, so they want to take it slower. I
don't know when I'll be cleared, but it's going fine.” Chase finished last season seven points shy of 1,000 for her career. Statistical milestones like that aren’t nearly as important as what the team does together, she said. “People are always talking about the 1,000 points, and stuff,” Chase said. “I'm not really worried about that. I'd rather see us have success as a team.” Chase is one of three
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players listed at 5-foot-10inches tall for Williamsburg. That trio will be crucial to the team’s success, as will the play of the team’s guards. “Our strength is in our guards,” Madsen said. “We still have to find some post presence, that's probably our weakness at this point. For the most part, we're trying something where we're positionless. I've told all the bigs they can bring the ball up. We're trying to go even faster than we did last year.” One of the key cogs in the Williamsburg attack, Jessica Chase, led the team in scoring last season. She said she believes this year’s team can be faster than last year’s squad. “Last season, we had more experience with the seniors that we had,” Jessica Chase said. “This year, I think we have a pretty fast team that can push the ball more and set up stuff.” Chase has spent the last three seasons at the varsity level with her sister, and this season marks the final year the duo will take the court together. “I've loved it,” Jessica Chase said. “Every single moment of it. It's our last season playing together, we're going to have fun.” Those two, along with Laurin Ellis, are the only three seniors on the team this season. The team only
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has two juniors: Camille McManus and Emily Hart. Hart noted this year’s team is the youngest it has been in a while. “We've had an older team, and this is our first year having a younger team,” Hart said. “We graduated a lot of seniors last year, which was sad, but we're going to grow and develop a lot.” Paige Fisher enters her sophomore season of play as one of the handful of returners with experience on the court. She said the seniors help the younger players calm down during game. “They chill us down when we're out on the floor,” Fisher said. “They're really good. We love them all.” Madsen said he thinks the team will have its hands full in the Southern Buckeye Conference’s National Division this year. “I know we're going to have a competitive league,” Madsen said. “East Clinton is good. Bethel is good. CNE and Georgetown could surprise some people. Georgetown has a lot of kids and a new coach, and the coach is fiery. It depends on how the kids could respond to him. They could win it all, just like everybody else.” Williamsburg opened the season on Monday, November 26 with a road trip to Goshen.
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