Basketball preview 2014 by Herald-Star

Index

Dec. 5, 2014

Girls

Steubenville ............................................................ 4 Weir .......................................................................... 5 Catholic Central .................................................... 6 Madonna ................................................................ 7 Indian Creek ............................................................ 8 Toronto .................................................................... 9 Edison ...................................................................... 10 Harrison Central .................................................... 11 Brooke .................................................................... 12 Buckeye Local ...................................................... 18 Oak Glen.................................................................. 19 Wheeling Park ...................................................... 21

Boys

Steubenville .......................................................... 32 Weir ........................................................................ 33 Catholic Central .................................................. 34 Madonna .............................................................. 35 Indian Creek .......................................................... 36 Toronto .................................................................. 37 Edison .................................................................... 38 Harrison Central .................................................. 39 Brooke .................................................................... 40 Buckeye Local ...................................................... 46 Oak Glen ................................................................ 47 Wheeling Park ...................................................... 49

Previews of the Martins Ferry and St. Clairsville teams will appear in the Dec. 5, 2014, sports edition.

Steubenville Big Red

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 1 Martins Ferry Dec. 3 at Steub. Central Dec. 10 John Marshall Dec. 16 at Brooke, 5:45p.m. Dec. 18 at Weir Dec. 22 Young. East, 5 p.m. Dec. 29 at Harrison C. Jan. 3 at St. Clairs., 3 p.m. Jan. 5 Brooke Jan. 8 Weir Jan. 12 at Claymont Jan. 14 Buckeye Local Jan. 19 at Massillon, 2 p.m. Jan. 21 East Liverpool Jan. 22 at John Marshall Jan. 26 Steub. Central Jan. 29 at Edison Feb. 2 Harrison Central Feb. 7 at Howland, Noon Feb. 9 OVAC Week

JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

Casinelli’s crew ‘will need to be ready to play night in and night out’ By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview STEUBENVILLE — Following a school-record 20-3 season, the Big Red girls basketball team is facing several challenges as it prepares for the 2014-2015 season. “We lost a lot of scoring and leadership from last season so that will be among our first few challenges,” said Phil Casinelli, who enters his eighth season as the Big Red coach with an overall record of 114-60. “We need to have girls step up and become leaders on and off the court and to fill the scoring void.” Five seniors are gone from the 2013-2014 squad which set a school record for most wins in a season and captured the OVAC Class 4A regular season championship (Big Red fell in the conference tournament title game). The most notable losses are two players now competing at the next level, 1,000 point scorer Emiley Masloski and Mytia Barker. E. Masloski (she unfortunately suffered another injury which has her on the sidelines) has moved on to Columbia College in South Carolina while M. Barker has joined the Bethany

College program. Others gone due to graduation include Abby Taylor, Brittany Bodo and Dominque Wilson. “We’re obviously going to miss them,” Casinelli stressed. “They played basketball togeth-

er from the fifth or sixth grade on. They have success at Harding and had success here. As a group, they recorded the most wins in school history and won OVAC titles. They kept our program going in the right direction.

“Emiley and Mytia were leaders on and off the court. That’s something you can’t teach, it was just their personality and how they were brought up. You can’t replace See BIG RED Page 16 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Weir Red Riders

Smith’s squad ‘comes to the gym ready to work’ By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WEIRTON — The Weir High Lady Red Rider basketball team of 2014-15 will be young and inexperienced. More so than perhaps any team in veteran coach Bill Smith’s more than 20 years. Smith has senior Reagan Stead back from the 6-17 season of a year ago and that’s it. The other four starters from 2013-14 along with three others graduated including leading scorer Alyssa Shingle. Shingle took with her a 15.3 points a game average and 1,053 career points. The fouryear starter was named second team All-State. Along with Shingle, graduation has taken starters Ashlynn Drizake, Maddie Dalrymple and Selena Wolverton. Also picking up diplomas last May were Lindsey Robinson, Michayla Dobosz and Chantelle Harper.

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 2 at Oak Glen Dec. 4 at Brooke, 5:45 p.m. Dec. 8 East Liverpool Dec. 13 Magnolia, Noon Dec. 15 Steub. Central Dec. 18 Steubenville Dec. 22 at Toronto Dec. 29 Edison Jan. 3 Avella, 11 a.m. Jan. 5 Toronto Jan. 8 at Steubenville Jan. 12 at Steub. C. Central Jan. 15 at Madonna Jan. 22 Oak Glen Jan. 24 at Edison Jan. 26 at E. Liver. 5:45 p.m. Jan. 29 at Bishop Donahue Feb. 2 Madonna Feb. 5 Brooke Feb. 9 OVAC Week Feb. 16 at Magnolia JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Stead is a four-year starter who has scored 742 points in her career so she could join Shingle in Weir High’s prestigious 1,000-point club. Smith has 13 players on his varsity squad. He’ll select the other four starters from juniors Alyssa Kelly,

Ahsaray Smith, Rachel Zapotoczny; sophomores Cassidy Champ, Francesca Farran, Elizabeth Gillette, Lindsey Greathouse; and freshmen Lexey Brenneman, Beyonce Dudley, Allison Phillips, Taylor Quickle and Bailey Stead. “Along with Stead,

we’ll do it by committee,” said Smith when asked about other potential starters. “She’s the only one with varsity experience. Our sophomores and juniors played JV basketball, but they don’t have any varsity experience.” The five freshmen

girls are coming out of the Weir Middle School program and they won the Ohio Valley’s BMAC championship both as seventh and eightgraders. “That’s great, but stepping up to play varsity is See WEIR HIGH Page 15 ➪

2014-15 Schedule

Nov. 29 at Bridge., noon Dec. 1 Toronto Dec. 3 Steubenville Dec. 4 at St. J. C.., 5:30 p.m. Dec. 11 at Conotton Valley Dec. 15 at Weir Dec. 18 at Frontier Dec. 22 Oak Glen Dec. 26 Undo’s Tourney, tba Dec. 27 Undo’s Tourney, tba Dec. 29 St. John Central Jan. 5 Bridgeport Jan. 8 Madonna Jan. 10 Frontier, 2 p.m. Jan. 12 Weir Jan. 19 at Oak Glen Jan. 22 Conotton Valley Jan. 24 at Martins F., 2 p.m. Jan. 26 at Steubenville Feb. 4 at Toronto Feb. 9 OVAC Week JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Catholic Central Crusaders

Dec. 5, 2014

Looman’s team dedicates season to Cynthia Phillipson

By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview STEUBENVILLE — Catholic Central’s girls basketball squad will be playing for more than just victories during the 2014-2015 campaign. The Lady Crusaders have dedicated their season to Cynthia Phillipson. The freshman collapsed during a pre-season workout and tragically died a few days later. “Our girls will be playing for Cynthia,” said first-year CCHS coach Jess Looman. “They know her spirit will be with them each time they take the floor. The girls have shown their true character, heart and spirit since Cynthia’s passing and we’ve all benefitted from the strength of the Central family.” To remember Phillipson, the Central girls and boys teams will be wearing patches on their uniforms with her initials.

“It’s our way to paying respect to Cynthia and the Phillipson family and remembering her,” Looman noted. In addition, the Crusader girls sold commemorative T-shirts and bracelets with the proceeds going to the Phillipson family.

The fundraising efforts have been wellsupported by other area schools. “We were so impressed when we walked into Edison for a scrimmage and saw their girls wearing their praying for Cynthia shirts,” the Crusader

coach commented. “The “Those were all firstgirls from Buckeye class moves and I want Local made special blue to thank those coaches and gold hair ribbons and their players. I’ve that they wore during just been blown away by an earlier scrimmage the support we have then presented them to received from around our team. Indian Creek the area.” also sold bracelets at Looman, who is being the door when they hosted us. See CRUSADERS Page 20 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Madonna Blue Dons

Ogden’s team ‘is working hard to prove they can play’ By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WEIRTON — It will be an unusual girls basketball season for Madonna this year because the Lady Blue Dons have only 10 players out for basketball with no seniors and no sophomores. However, veteran coach Don Ogden has five letter winners (all of them juniors) back, including the leading scorer and rebounder. Being without the senior leadership is nothing new for Ogden because his team last year was void of seniors as well. That doesn’t mean he’s not missing anyone because several girls who either started or saw considerable playing time last year decided to pass up basketball this year. One of those, Rachael Grubbs, was the second leading scorer on the 13-9 team averaging 9 points a game. She, along with her twin sister, Leanne, Cameron Dowiak and Aubrey Platek were inte-

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 11 Bishop Donahue Dec. 15 at Toronto Dec. 20 Jeff. C. Christ., noon Dec. 22 Tusky Catholic Dec. 26 Undo’s Tourney, tba Dec. 27 Undo’s Tourney, tba Dec. 29 at Magnolia, 5 p.m. Jan. 3 at Oak Glen Jan. 6 at Trinity Jan. 8 at Steub. C. Central Jan. 12 Oak Glen Jan. 15 Weir Jan. 17 St. J. Central, noon Jan. 21 Clay-Battelle Jan. 26 Toronto Jan. 28 at Clay-Battelle Feb. 2 at Weir Feb. 4 Magnolia Feb. 9 OVAC Week Feb. 16 Trinity

JV games 7 p.m. unless noted

gral parts of the team a year ago. The Grubbs sisters and Dowiak, who was the point guard, were juniors last year and Platek, a sophomore. “We’ll miss them but we think that while we have only 10 girls, all

have the potential to play at the varsity level,” said Ogden, who is entering his seventh year as Blue Don coach. “All are working hard to prove they can play.” Lynchpin of the team will be Monica Bragg,

who will be in her third year as a starter. Bragg led the team with 15 points a game and 8 rebounds per contest after scoring 10 a game and pulling in 7 boards as a freshman. “Monica does so many

things well,” said Ogden of the junior forward. “We will be counting on her production every night and she’s aware of that. “She knows her role See MADONNA Page 20 ➪

Indian Creek Redskins

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 2 at Minerva Dec. 4 Edison Dec. 8 Harrison Central Dec. 11 Beaver Local Dec, 15 River Dec. 18 East Liverpool Dec. 20 at Carroll., noon Dec. 22 at Buckeye Local Dec. 29 Cambridge Jan. 2 at J. Marsh., 5:45 p.m. Jan. 3 at Harrison C., 1 p.m. Jan. 5 at Edison Jan. 8 at Beaver Local Jan. 15 at East Liverpool Jan. 22 Buckeye Local Jan. 24 at Park. S., noon Jan. 26 at St. Clairsville Jan. 29 John Marshall Jan. 31 Buckeye 8 Championship, tba Feb. 5 St. Clairsville Feb. 9 OVAC Week JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

DeSantis’ squad ‘a great group of girls willing to get better’ By AARON PETCHAL Basketball Preview WINTERSVILLE — The Indian Creek girls’ basketball team has just one senior on the roster this season, but she is a big one. The Redskins ended last year with a record of 14-8, and Indian Creek saw its season come to a close thanks to a 37-33 loss to Cambridge in the Ohio Division II Eastern District Quarterfinals at Union Local High School. The Redskins lost three seniors from last year’s team — Kiarra Kamarec, Brooke Mains and Kristen Shimko. Kamarec is currently a freshman on the Wheeling Jesuit women’s basketball team. “I am hoping to build on where we finished last season in terms of getting our younger kids more experience,” Indian Creek head coach Erin DeSantis said. “We are really young and I believe the

first half of the season will be spent on gaining playing time and getting the girls to have confidence in their ability.” Standout senior Bre Berryman (6-5) is the lone senior on the roster for Indian Creek this year. Berryman,

who has started each of her first three seasons, recently signed to play basketball at Division I Youngstown State. “Obviously having Bre as our only senior puts a great deal of the leadership duties on her shoulders,” DeSantis said. “I believe she has

the respect and qualities to lead these young girls in the right direction. The younger girls look up to her (no pun intended) as a role model and they are excited to get the opportunity to say they get to play with a player who has been an all-

Ohioan for the past three years. She averaged 24.9 points per game her freshman season en route to being named first team All-Ohio. Berryman has averaged 22.2 points per game See REDSKINS Page 17 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Toronto Red Knights

Blanton begins sixth season with team ‘hopeful, humble and hungry’ By MATTHEW PEASLEE Basketball Preview TORONTO — Despite ending its season in the second round of the 2014 sectional tournament, the Toronto girls basketball team is riding momentum into a new campaign. By knocking off Bellaire St. John in last year’s tournament, the Red Knights won their first postseason game in eight years. “I’m excited about our full program chemistry,” said sixth year head coach Mallory Blanton. “We are hopeful, humble, and, above all, hungry.” Toronto beat St. John, 54-51 for the first-round win and then fell to eventual regional champion Zanesville Bishop Rosecrans. “The girls saw great competition last year and know what it takes to compete against some of the area’s top teams,” Blanton said. The Red Knights return seven letterwin-

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 1 at Steub. C. Central Dec. 8 at Bridgeport Dec. 11 at St. J. C., 5:30 p.m. Dec. 15 Madonna Dec. 18 at Oak Glen Dec. 20 at Bishop D., 1 p.m. Dec. 22 Weir Jan. 5 at Weir Jan. 7 St. John Central Jan. 10 at Wellsville, 1 p.m. Jan. 12 Bishop Donahue Jan. 14 Oak Glen Jan. 15 at Edison Jan. 22 Bridgeport Jan. 26 at Madonna Jan. 31 Caldwell, Noon Feb. 2 at Conotton Valley Feb. 4 Steubenville Central Feb. 6 Edison Feb. 9 OVAC Week

JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

ners, including three starters. Senior Lexie Berger, a Division IV Eastern District Special Mention from a year ago, returns for her fourth year as the team’s starting point guard. “She has developed well and has turned into a better player each

year,” Blanton said. Berger was also a special mention in the 201213 season and her senior campaign will undoubtedly be her best on the court. She came through in the clutch numerous times last year, but perhaps no bigger moment came than on Dec. 19 at

home. Berger drilled a 3pointer with 11 seconds remaining in regulation to give the Red Knights a 47-44 win over Oak Glen. Berger scored 19 points in that contest and would finish in double figures for 17 other games in the year.

Makayla Baumann, also a senior, is a twotime honorable mention and joins Malaysia Harrison and Berger as the returning starters. “The girls have been in the program for a while and know the sysSee TORONTO Page 15 ➪

Edison Wildcats

2014-15 Schedule

Nov. 29 at Harrison Cent. Dec. 4 at Indian Creek Dec. 8 St. Clairsville Dec. 11 East Liverpool Dec. 15 at Buckeye Local Dec. 22 Beaver Local Dec. 29 at Weir Jan. 5 Indian Creek Jan. 7 Oak Glen Jan. 8 at East Liverpool Jan. 12 Buckeye Local Jan. 15 Toronto Jan. 19 Union Local Jan. 22 at Beaver Local Jan. 24 Weir Jan. 26 at Martins Ferry Jan. 28 at Oak Glen Jan. 29 Steubenville Jan. 31 Buckeye 8 Championship, tba Feb. 6 Toronto Feb. 9 OVAC Week

JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

Ensinger looking for new players to ‘step up and become leaders’ By AARON PETCHAL Basketball Preview RICHMOND — The Edison girls’ basketball team is looking to get back on top, but it will not be easy for the Wildcats. Edison opened the 2014-15 season Saturday night at Harrison Central, and the Huskies defeated the Wildcats, 67-19. “We are going to be a work in progress this season,” said Edison head coach Jason Ensinger. “We graduated a lot points with our seniors. We are going to have to develop some new lead dogs this season. “Our leaders graduated. The seniors played primarily on the varsity for the last two or three years. “We are going to need some new girls to step up and become leaders. We need the girls to not only elevate their game but to also elevate their teammates.”

Edison entered this season coming off of a 320 campaign which ended with a 101-18 loss to undefeated and eventual state champion West Holmes in sectionals. The Wildcats lost five seniors from last year’s squad. They are Pollock, Kayli Stewart, Lynsey

Morrison, Abby Fonow and Meghan Scott. The Wildcats were hit hard by graduation, but Edison does return 10 players from last year’s squad. Edison has four seniors on the roster this season, and all four will start.

The Wildcats will use a three-guard lineup this year. The starting backcourt will consist of seniors Amara Proffitt and Ashlee Miller and sophomore Skylar Fankhauser. “We have four seniors this year,” Ensinger said. “One of our seniors,

Shelby Phipps, quit. She hadn’t played since the seventh grade. “Our starters are going to be our four seniors and Skylar Fankhauser, who is a sophomore.” The frontline will conSee EDISON Page 22 ➪

Harrison Central Huskies

Dec. 5, 2014

Yourkovich’s contingent ‘will develop into one that is very deep’ By BUBBA KAPRAL Basketball Preview CADIZ — Harrison Central is riding the wave of a dream season. Coach Nick Yourkovich guided his charges to a 20-5 campaign last winter, one in which the Lady Huskies bagged their first OVAC championship. The 20 wins also represent the high-water mark in school annals. The first order of business for Yourkovich is to replace three graduated nuggets. Gone are Kara Dunfee, Jesse Ledger and Ronna Orr. Ledger has taken her talents to Muskingum University. “We lost a ton of leadership and heart from last year’s team, not to mention some pretty good basketball players,” noted the former Martins Ferry athletic standout. “It’s not going to be easy to replace those three seniors that helped us win the OVAC and sectional tournaments

last year.” Harrison Central brings back five letterwinners. In that group is one of the OVAC premier posts in 5-9 Katie Ellzy. The three-year letterman, who recently inked a pitching scholarship with Robert Morris University, has already eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau. She is a nightly doubledouble machine.

“Katie is the rock of our team. She is a model of consistency and has the capability to dominate every time she steps onto the floor. Katie is going to be the heart and soul of this team,” Yourkovich said. “She has worked hard at improving her range and her off dribble skills, which will make her much more difficult to defend. Katie has the

chance to end her career with the best statistical numbers of anyone who has ever played at Harrison. “We will lean on her heavily.” Much to his credit, Yourkovich has beefed up his schedule. He added powers Garaway, Steubenville, John Marshall and Linsly. Gone are Shadyside, Beaver Local and Oak Glen.

“I think that this team will develop into one that is very deep, which will allow us to play a little more up-tempo both offensively and defensively. Early on, we will rely on our veterans to carry the load for us.” “I’ve been anxiously waiting the beginning of this season since early March. I really look forSee HUSKIES Page 43 ➪

2014-15 Schedule

Nov. 29 Edison Dec. 1 at Buckeye Local Dec. 4 at Bellaire Dec. 6 Linsly, 1 p.m. Dec. 8 at Indian Creek Dec. 11 Martins Ferry Dec. 15 at St. Clairsville Dec. 17 John Marshall Dec. 22 at Union Local Dec. 29 Steubenville Jan. 3 Indian Creek, Noon Jan. 5 Bellaire Jan. 8 at Martins Ferry Jan. 12 St. Clairsville Jan. 17 at J. Marsh., 1 p.m. Jan. 19 at Garaway Jan. 22 Union Local Jan. 26 Buckeye Local Jan. 31 Buckeye 8 Tournament at Bellaire Feb. 2 at Steubenville Feb. 9 OVAC Week

JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Brooke Bruins

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 2 Wheeling Park Dec. 4 Weir

Dec. 5 at North Marion Dec. 16 Stuebenville

Dec. 22 at John Marshall

Dec. 30 Park. South, noon Jan. 3 N. Marion, 1 p.m.

Jan. 5 at Steuben., 6 p.m. Jan. 12 at Wheeling Park Jan. 15 at Morgantown

Jan. 17 at Park. South, noon Jan. 20 University

Jan. 21 Morgantown

Jan. 24 at Ringold, Noon Jan. 26 John Marshall Feb. 5 at Weir

Feb. 7 at E. Fairmont, 2 p.m. Feb. 9 OVAC Week

Feb. 18 at University

JV at 5:45 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

Scherich says ‘plenty of possibilities and things to be excited about’ By TRACY WATSON Basketball Preview WELLSBURG — With a strong senior class, some talented younger girls and one of the best players in the state of West Virginia, Ryan Scherich’s fourth campaign as the Brooke girls’ basketball coach may very well be his best. There is no question that everything will start right in the middle with 6-foot-2 senior standout Angela Staffileno, who was the captain of the Class AAA all-state second team as a junior. Staffileno averaged nearly a triple-double last year with 25 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots. She enters her final campaign with 1,365 points and 863 rebounds, and if she can continue last year’s pace will be very close to breaking the 2,000-point barrier and well more than 1,000 rebounds for See BROOKE Page 27 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Toronto

Weir High Continued from Page 9

tem,” Blanton said. “They’re all very coachable and are ready to have successful senior seasons.” Josey Jones, Miranda Robinson, Lindsey Winstel and Sam Roberts are also candidates for starting roles. “We are able to coach strategically with a dynamic starting lineup,” Blanton said. “Right now we’re trying to see who is the best fit in the best spots.” The team includes underclassmen Maisie Swartz, Sydney Taggart, Gina Fogle, Jenna Leasure and Kaylee Birch and Brianna Cooper. “Our numbers are down compared to previous years,” Blanton said. “But it is a pleasure to have such leadership in our seniors. Our underclassmen are reaping the benefits of their expertise and comraderie. “Some of the girls who have a

good idea of what we expect are grabbing the other girls and catching them up to speed. Helping with the plays, showing the proper way to do a drill or even just encouraging each other and building each other back up.” Toronto finished 12-10 in 2013-14. It’s a two-game drop off from a 14win campaign in 2012-13, despite losing in the first round of the playoffs to Sugarcreek Garaway, but still a stellar improvement from the seven wins in 2011-12. “We’re still trying to improve in every fashion of the game,” Blanton said. “We were successful last year and look to take a greater step this year. “We learned how to win close games and we must continue to do that. We just have to keep taking the next step.”

Continued from Page 5 difficult,” Smith said of his talented freshman class. “So far all the girls have been really responsive to coaching. They come to the gym ready to go to work.” Smith said he hopes to have a better idea of what his inexperienced girls can do in pre-season scrimmages against Bellaire St. John and Indian Creek. “We have one starter returning. All the other positions are open,” said Smith. “We’ll have to see who is going to step up and accept the challenge.” Freshman Bailey Stead, Reagan’s sister, is the tallest girl on the squad. “We’ve had enough girls to play a freshman schedule the last couple of years, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to do that this year,” Smith explained. “Those freshmen will have to get their feet wet at the JV level this year.” The Lady Red Rider schedule is similar to a year ago with the addition of Toronto. The Lady Red Knights are back on the

schedule with home-and-home games after a hiatus of a few years. Smith expects every game to be a challenge for his young team as every one of them has several starters and letter winners returning. “Someone said a long time ago that if you want to be the best, you have to play the best,” he said. “We’ve got our hands full. Realistically, we’ll try to win as many games as we can during the regular season and hopefully by the time tournaments roll around, we’ll be ready.” Assisting Smith is Rick Stead. Jim Davis, who has been on Smith’s staff the past several seasons, has volunteered to fill a vacancy as the Weir Middle School coach. “That’s important and I’m glad Jim has accepted that challenge,” said Smith. “Those girls are our future and I’m confident that Jim can teach them the fundamentals they need to play high school basketball.”

Dec. 5, 2014

Big Red Continued from Page 4 seniors that leave; you just trip to fill in the gaps they leave behind. Our other three graduated seniors also were very good on and off the court. They led by example and understood their roles. We will miss all five.” As he prepared his team to start the season, Casinelli noted “the biggest challenge we’re facing is trying to find leadership.” “We’re looking for girls who are going to be vocal in a positive way,” he continued. “We’re definitely looking at some of the younger girls and trying to figure out who is going to be that leader. “Then obviously from a statistical standpoint, we lost a lot of scoring with Emiley and Mytia graduating. Every girl on our squad will have to become a scoring threat at some point during the season.” Taylor Young is Big Red’s lone returning senior. She lettered a season ago and also earned some starts as did juniors Lysaih Rice and Hannah Masloski. “Taylor will need to step up in different ways,” the Big Red coach commented. “She will need to become a leader on and off the court as well as statistically.

“Hannah and Lysaih also will have to play different roles. Lysaih has to understand that with Emiley and Mytia gone, her scoring is not going to be as easy as it was. She will have to adjust to being in the spotlight and being keyed on. We’ll have to see how they adjust to the ups and downs of game situations.” Other players Casinelli is counting on include juniors Tenia Barker, Amyra Forte (a transfer from central Ohio), Elise Watts, Janelle Dokes and Dae Dae Herrin. Sophomores battling for playing time are Rhiannon Petrisko and Na Banks. Forte will not be eligible to take the floor until later in the season. “We have a young team with only one senior,” Casinelli, who again is being assisted by Mark Masloski and Angie Forte, pointed out. “We are going to be very athletic. We will have to combine that and focus on becoming more fundamentally sound and becoming better decision makers on the court. We look forward to improving those aspects and becoming more mature as the season progresses. “We’re looking forward to seeing how Petrisko does playing all varsity since she played mainly JV last year. Dokes, Banks, Herrin, T. Barker and Watts

all have been in our program for a while and we have high expectations for them and they know it. We’ll have to see how it works out.” The other key challenge facing Casinelli’s squad is the 2014-2015 schedule. “Our schedule is very demanding, in fact it might be the most demanding we’ve had in my years as coach,” Casinelli stressed. “We have 11 road games with just nine at home. We have road trips to Massillon Perry and Howland facing us. We know we will need to be ready to play night in and night out.” John Marshall is back on Big Red’s schedule as is Harrison Central and St. Clairsville. Casinelli’s club also will test Claymont. “The rivalry games we retained are with teams that always give us trouble,” he stated. “We understand as Big Red that teams will bring their best game to us, especially teams from the valley. “We’re very optimistic and looking forward to the start of the season. Hopefully, we are prepared for seeing everyone’s best effort. It’s a long season and we’re hoping we mature while finding some girls to fill the gaps left behind by the seniors.”

Dec. 5, 2014

Redskins Continued from Page 8 the last two seasons, and she was named second team all-Ohio following her sophomore and junior seasons. Berryman recorded 18.4 rebounds per game last year. Berryman surpassed the 1,000 point mark in a game on Dec. 9, 2013. Berryman is the only player in school history to reach that plateau. According to ESPN, Berryman is a five-star recruit, she is ranked as the 17th best center in the country, and she is the 21st best player in the region and the third best overall in Ohio. Also, Blue Star Basketball ranks Berryman at No. 142 on its list of best players in the country. “The junior class will also provide leadership as well,” said the coach. “We have one senior, three juniors, five sophomores and 11 freshmen.” The juniors are Bethany Davis,

Ashley Durbin and Alaina Taylor. The sophomores on the team this year are Taylor Massaferro (injured, out for the year), Hallie Schmitt, Juanita Slappy, Madison Smith and Kaitlyn Whittaker. “Our goal is for each girl to understand their role on the team and be willing to do whatever we ask them to do,” DeSantis said. “We have a really great group of girls who are willing to work to get better and as a coach, that’s all you can ask for.” The Redskins roster this season is rounded out by their talented freshmen class. The freshmen are Renee Antonelli, Rachel Cooper, Page Hilderbrand, Julia Holman, Makayla Marko, Jocelyn Mattern, Spencer Neville, Katie Scott, Abby Thomas, Mazzie Tipton and Madelyn Yoho. “For us to be successful we need to have each girl understand their

role and to work together as a team,” DeSantis said. “We are extremely young and inexperienced, but hopefully we will gain confidence and be competitive as the season progress.” Indian Creek opened the 2014-25 season Tuesday night at Minerva, a 71-47 loss. “We just have to get better gameby-game,” said DeSantis. “We’ll get better.” Heading into the start of the season, the Redskins did not have their rotation set, including which five girls were going to be in the starting lineup. “We’re still trying to figure out who are starters are going to be,” DeSantis said. DeSantis said the starters could change on a game-by-game basis. “As far as starters go, I believe it will be a game-by-game decision

until we can find the right combination, it really depends on our opponent,” she said. Along with practice, Indian Creek took part in multiple scrimmages in the preseason in order to prepare for this season. The Redskins did well when they were on the court against other schools. “Our scrimmages went well and they allowed us to take a look at different lineups,” DeSantis said. “We preach to the girls that this is a process and we want to see improvement on a daily basis. Each game we want to do better than the previous game and feel that we can be competitive in our league.” This season, DeSantis is joined on the bench by assistant coaches Gene Evans, Ray Case and Gabbi Davis, who played for DeSantis at Indian Creek.

Buckeye Local Panthers

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 1 Harrison Central Dec. 8 Union Local Dec. 11 St. Clairsville Nov. 13 at Martins Ferry Dec. 15 Edison Dec. 18 at Beaver Local Dec. 22 Indian Creek Dec. 29 Martins Ferry Jan. 5 East Liverpool Jan. 7 at East Liverpool Jan. 12 at Edison Jan. 14 at Steubenville Jan. 15 Beaver Local Jan. 22 at Indian Creek Jan. 26 at Harrison Central Jan. 29 at St. Clairsville Jan. 31 Buckeye 8 Tourney at Bellaire Feb. 2 at Bellaire Feb. 5 at Union Local Feb. 9 OVAC Week Feb. 11 Bellaire

JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

Figurski’s players ‘are really excited about the season’ By RICK DeLUCA Basketball Preview RAYLAND — There’s one major difference in Tom Figurski’s first season as the Lady Panthers’ head coach and his second. This season the Buckeye Local boss had a lot more time to plan out his approach. Last season, Figurski didn’t assume the head coaching post until late October. A coaching carousel left Buckeye without a coach heading into the first weeks of practice, but once Figurski found himself in the driver’s seat, he took control from there. “We finished at 3-20 last season, but the way in which our season got started, we just could seem to get untracked. We had four or five games that we could have won last year, but we just could seem to finish,” the Buckeye boss said. Figurski and his staff are planning to see a big change in the squad

after a productive offseason and a complete change in attitude. “Their attitude has been tremendous,” Figurski said. “Not one

problem and they have been working extremely hard. Truthfully, I really think they are tired of losing and want to do something about that

this season.” Buckeye graduated three players from last season’s squad including three-year letter winner Morgan

Fedorko, Karlee Leonard and Chanler Long. The group provided a great deal of leadership on the floor and will be missed. “The girls are really excited about the season and so are the coaches,” Figurski said. “We probably could have won a few more games last season, but we just weren’t ready. This season, I think we will be in a much better position to finish games that we open strong.” “We have a lot of players who can really help us in so many ways this season,” he pointed out. “Swiger has probably grown three inches and will be able to play the post and wing effectively this year. Carly Banal has gained a lot of confidence and that will make her a much better player. Becky Zeroski is a great shooter and Petrella and Dvorcek will play big roles for us.” See PANTHERS Page 30 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Oak Glen Golden Bears

Wells comes home to take over squad at alma mater By RALPH COX Basketball Preview NEW MANCHESTER — When Ryan Wells got the opportunity to come home in June, he jumped at the chance and when he greeted five letter winners including two starters at the first Oak Glen girls basketball practice he felt even better. Wells graduated from Oak Glen in 1998 and after he got his degree in education and history at Fairmont State University he ended up in Edgcombe County, N.C. Now the behavior coach in the special education Department at Oak Glen he is sharing the experience he’s had not only in the classroom but in 11 years of coaching football and girls basketball in North Carolina. “I’m so grateful that Scott Wylie and his staff did such a great job with the girls basketball program,” Wells said. “This is not a rebuilding process as you might

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 2 Weir Dec. 6 at Wellsville Dec. 12 Cameron Dec. 18 Toronto Dec. 22 at Steubenville Central Dec. 27 Bvr Local, 3 p.m. Dec. 20 Wellsville Jan. 2 East Liverpool Jan. 3 Madonna Jan. 7 at Edison Jan. 12 at Madonna Jan. 14 at Toronto Jan. 16 at W. Park, 5:45 p.m. Jan. 19 Steub. Central Jan. 22 at Weir Jan. 26 at Beaver Local Jan. 28 Edison Feb. 2 at East Liverpool Feb. 9 OVAC Week Feb. 16 at Cameron JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

expect when coming into a new situation. We’re just reloading.” Wells will be reloading without the services of one of the leading scorers in the Ohio Valley the last couple of years. Vanessa Hissam, who graduated last May, scored more than 1,000 points during her fouryear career to join a spe-

cial club on the Golden Bear campus as one of the top scorers in school history. She also is among the better rebounders that Oak Glen has ever had. The six veterans that Wells will build the 201415 club around are seniors Brie Evans, Jess Stivason, Aly Snow, juniors Logan Andrews, Alex

Arnott and sophomore Maisie Witherow. Also working hard to impress the new coach are juniors Tori Fryer and Megan Stepic and sophomore Taylor McKay. “I got back here in time to work with the girls during the threeweek camp time in June and we did a lot of team

building during that time,” Wells explained. “The girls conditioned hard during the summer, so we’ll have enough legs to work the fast-paced style that I like to run. “The girls have bought into the fast pace and I think they like it. We have some young See OAK GLEN Page 22 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Madonna Continued from Page 7 and she’s working to fulfill it. She played some AAU ball in the spring and through our off season workouts she has become stronger. “Monica has another year under her belt and I notice a lot more maturity and consistency as a ballplayer.” The other juniors who saw plenty of action last year are Becca Holt, Katie Lammers, Isabella Rosso and Mikaela Lenhart. Ogden has three other juniors, two of whom did not play for the Blue Dons a year ago. Megan Boniti was a promising guard as a sophomore, but sustained a knee injury that knocked her out of playing as a sophomore. She’s back and Ogden feels that she’ll help the Blue Dons with her outside shooting. Sarah Travaglino played primarily on the junior varsity last year, but dressed and played some on the varsity club. Ogden expects her to give him

some depth in the post area. The other is Maddie Moore, who transferred to Madonna when her family moved to the area. Moore, who played on the Blue Don volleyball team, has caught Ogden’s eye as being athletic. And she has some experience playing varsity basketball last year so its almost like another letter winner returning. Ogden also has freshmen Halle Payne and Kasey Camei and he expects both to contribute, Payne at point guard and Canei in the paint. Ogden feels that when teams double team and pressure Bragg that the other nine girls will step up. “I have confidence that any one of those girls will fill in when Monica has an off night,” he said. “For example, Lammers was our high scorer in a scrimmage.” Because of the inside play of Lammers, Canei, Travaglino and Lenhart, Bragg will be able to be more

diversified and play outside more, according to Ogden. “Our opponents all know about Monica and will set their defenses to stop her,” Ogden continued. “Hopefully, that will open things up for the other girls to have scoring opportunities.” Ogden said he wants the Lady Blue Dons to bring intensity from baseline to baseline. “With intensity, we can overcome a lot of mistakes,” he exclaimed. Ogden said the small group of girls allows him and Rusty Hodgkiss and Becky Brancker, the assistant coaches, time to do a lot more in practice in terms of repetitions. “I also think we have enough size to compete and depth, which should improve as the season progresses and the girls gain experience,” he said. Ogden said that with the development of Dowiak at point guard, Holt was able to move to the two guard slot

last year, but Holt will transition back to point guard, the position she started at as a freshman two years ago. Payne and Moore will back her up there. He feels that outside shooting could be a strength of the Lady Dons. “We have some excellent outside shooters when given the space to shoot with normal rhythm,” he said. “Bragg, Rosso, Lenhart, Holt, Moore and Boniti all shoot well from the perimeter. “One of the biggest assets of this group is their willingness to accept coaching and buying into what we’re trying to do,” Ogden continued. “You can’t do anything until you have that in place.” Defensively, Ogden plans to use a lot of matchup pressure although that is not cut in stone. “Over the years I’ve found that we do best with whatever defense gives us the best chance to stop our opponent, so we’ll probably mix it up,” he said.

Hartzell missed all of last season with an injury. Kakascik returned to the team after not playing during her sophomore year. “We will need major contributions from all of our juniors,” Looman pointed out. “Hartzell, Virtue and McComb all will see time at post positions. Hunt makes things happen on the floor and we’ll be counting on her. Kakascik is really coming on after not playing last season.” Central has a talented group of sophomores including returning letter winners Samm Simmons, Shayna Mirabella, Brittany Bertoia and Gabby Capaldi. Natalie Mastroianni is the other 10th grader battling for playing time. “Our sophomores really need to step up for us,” the Crusader coach noted. “Bertoia will be our point guard and she is really developing. We’ll need Simmons to take charge inside and use her size and physical ability to control the boards. “Mirabella is an outstanding defender and has shown improvement on the offensive end. Capaldi is another outstanding shooter and we’ll need her to

deliver points.” Six freshmen (Grace Godich, Leia Hunt, Maisy Krystek, Anna Meyers, Isabella Schmitz and Tia Taglione) also are on the roster. “We’re young and I’m sure we’ll have some growing pains early in the season,” Looman commented. “We’re very excited about our younger players. They have had success at the junior high level and the future looks bright for our program. “The girls showed great improvement during our pre-season scrimmages. They made huge strides from the first to the last. We still have much to work on but they definitely are getting better day in and day out.” Two seniors are gone from the 20132014 squad — Micca Mirabella and Renee Dziewatkoski. Hannah Ondos, who lettered as a sophomore, is no longer a student at CCHS. Looman is looking to have 12 girls in her varsity rotation as the Lady Crusaders seek to play an up-tempo style of basketball. “We’ll be looking to push the ball every chance we get,” she stated.

“Defensively, we’ll apply pressure all over the court. To achieve our goals, we’ll be moving players in and out of the lineup frequently.” The new coach voiced her appreciation for the warm welcome she has received from the Central administration and players. “I want to offer my thanks to Principal Rich Wilinski and Athletic Director Steve Daley for this opportunity,” she said. “The girls have given me a warm welcome and have really worked hard in practice. That’s all my coaches and I can ask for. “We’re looking forward to getting the season started and representing the school in a positive manner.” Central’s schedule includes an appearance in the Undo Holiday Tournament as well as home and home games with Frontier, a new opponent. In addition, the Crusaders will play traditional rivals Big Red, Toronto and Madonna. “Our schedule is very challenging,” said Looman. “The girls know they’ll have to be ready game in and game out.”

Crusaders Continued from Page 6 assisted by Natasha Canella and Jess Meadows, has 18 players on her roster, including nine letter winners. Topping the list of returnees are seniors Miranda Parkinson and Michaela Torrance. Parkinson is a three-year starter at guard for the Crusaders. “They’ll definitely be our leaders,” Looman, who was named to the coaching position in late October, stated about her seniors. “Miranda has a ton of experience and we’re looking for her to have an outstanding final year as a Crusader. She is a great spot-up shooter and we need her to be among our scoring leaders. “Michaela is a true team player and has been working extremely hard in practice. Once she recovers from an injury sustained in the pre-season, we’re counting on her to give us meaningful minutes in the post.” Torrance is expected to miss some action early in the season because of the injury. Junior letter winners back are Nicole Virtue, Alex McComb and Lauren Hunt. Other juniors in the mix are Haley Hartzell and Kara Kakascik.

Dec. 5, 2014

Wheeling Park Patriots

Squad under direction of first-year coach Ryan Young By SHAWN RINE Basketball preview WHEELING ä Short on height and long on experience, Wheeling Park first-year girlsá basketball coach Ryan Young is excited to find out how this season is going to unfold. ààI think if you look at the success the last two coaches, Dee Davis and Meredith Dailer had, it does add pressure,áá Young said. ààBut at a school like Park the expectations should be high.áá And they are, thanks in large part to a senior contingent that numbers five. ààNice combination of experience and youth.áá Itás starts with guard Chloe Robb (5-foot-5) and forward Kendra Johnson (5-10), both of whom will be contributing for a fourth consecutive season. ààKendra is the type of player who is going to determine what kind of season we have,áá Young

said. ààShe is going to be someone we rely on to score, rebound and lead. ààChloe has definitely been asked to go against some great guards in her career. She will be asked to play a huge role as far as running the offense and locking down some of the best in the state.áá Without question, because Park plays in one of the toughest regions in the state, one that includes the defending West Virginia Class AAA state champion in Morgantown, as well as the team nobody thought could be beaten, Parkersburg South, which fell to the Mohigans in the title game. ààWe clearly understand that to get where we want to get, we have to go through some pretty talented teams,áá Young said. ààI wonát be surprised to see those teams ranked 1-2 to start the season. ààThen you have John Marshall, University and Brooke with

(Angela) Staffileno, so itás going to be a challenge. ààYouáre talking about programs that are going to be good for foreseeable future.áá Senior Skylar Carrington is back, and according to the coach is the unquestioned leader ä on and off the court ä of the team. Sheás joined by Sydnie Stewart, who Young said could well end up being the Patriotsá X-factor, and Morgan Karnell, who will see plenty of minutes, perhaps coming off the bench. The only junior on the squad is a good one in Tamara Bumgardner. She will be expected to do a little of everything for Park, and seems quite capable. ààShe is probably one of the best athletes in the school and I donát know if she realizes how good at basketball she is,áá young said. ààTamara brings that extra dimension defensively and she is going to have

to shut down top offensive players. ààWe talked to her about that and she has made it a point of emphasis.áá A pair of sophomores ä Josie Daugherty, daughter of football coach Chris Daugherty, and Emma Kendle ä are expected to be contributors. Daugherty ààis a pure shooter and someone who gained a little bit of experience last year. A great attitude and improvement every day,áá Young said. Kendle ààhasnát played a lot, but is probably our biggest kid, and she can get up and down the court. She wonát lead us is scoring, but will clean up in the paint,áá the coach said. Freshman Lauren Schultz, who burst onto the scene by helping to lead the soccer team to a state-tournament appearance, could well do the same on the hardwood. At least thatás Youngás hope.

ààShe will definitely contribute this year and can play right away,áá Young said. ààShe is another one of best athletes in the school and her ceiling is just as high in basketball as soccer. ààShe can do it all ä shoot it, get the ball up court and is very instinctive on defense.áá Sheás joined by classmate Laurel Robb, Chloeás sister, who will see time with the varsity ààWeáre not a big team so weáve got to use our athleticism,áá Young said. ààOur philosophy is to push the ball and get up and down. ààAt the same time, we do have a couple girls ä Stewart and Kendle ä who have no problems battling down low.áá Young is assisted by Shane Glass and former Park standout Katelyn Hackathorn, while Jason Chambers is the head freshman coach and is joined by Dwane Bennett.

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 2 at Brooke Dec. 5 at Fairmont Dec. 6 Lincoln County, 12:30 p.m. Dec. 9 at Morgantown Dec. 10 Parkersburg Dec. 13 Pksbg. South Dec. 15 at Zanesville Dec. 18 University Dec. 26 at Parkersburg, 5:45 p.m. Dec. 27 at Winfield, 4 p.m. Jan. 3 at Marietta, 1 p.m. Jan. 8 Morgantown Jan. 12 Brooke Jan. 15 John Marshall Jan. 16 Oak Glen Jan. 22 at Pksbg. South Jan. 27 at University Feb. 5 at Oak Glen Feb. 9 OVAC Week Feb. 11 Zanesville Feb. 19 at John Marshall JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

Oak Glen Continued from Page 19 shooters that are getting better every day.” Wells knows that with the loss of Hissam, the Lady Golden Bears might struggle at times in the post area, but he’s confident the four-player post rotation that he plans will be enough to fill the void. Stivasson, a two-year starter, returns as the tallest of the Lady Bears. The other post players Wells is counting on are Evans, Snow and Andrews. All four of the post players are letter winners. Arnott and Witherow lead the remaining group of guards. “We have nine girls on the varsity

who can play and all will give us good minutes throughout the year,” said Wells, who said he likes to pressure on defense and run. “We have an athletic team that I think will be able to dictate the tempo of the game. If we want to press, we can. I don’t want us to be limited to a half court set every time down the floor. “I know a lot of the offense flowed through Hissam last year. We may not have a go-to girl like that this year, but I think we’ll score by committee. I want to use a free lance motion style of offense with our girls learning to read defenders.” Wells said that freshman Emmy

Severs already has caught his eye. “She’s a point guard that will start out on the junior varsity, but she will likely see varsity duty before the season is over,” said Wells. “I’ve also been working with the middle school program every day to get them accustomed to my system.” Wells said the Oak Glen guards don’t have a lot of varsity experience, but have gotten a lot of playing time with travel ball and they played five weeks in the fall league in Steubenville. “We’re senior heavy in the post where we’ll rely on their seniority and experience,” he continued. “The girls

in the post can play and I think that will take some of the pressure off of our inexperienced guards where we have two sophomores and a junior.. “I’m walking into a great situation. By mid-season we should be playing different presses and when we play zone they will match up so it will look a lot like man defense. We’ll have at least three different defenses ready for each game, but the backbone of the Lady Golden Bears will be the man defense.” Sherrie Garner will be the varsity assistant with Kasey Arnott serving as junior varsity coach. Jeremy Krzys also is a member of the coaching staff.

Edison Continued from Page 10 sist of seniors forwards Paige Reynolds and Kaylinn Drabick. “I really like the level of competition that I see in practice each day,” Ensinger said. “I’m excited about what the underclassmen bring to the program. They are far from a finished product, but they come in and push the upperclassmen. This I feel has really led to a lot of improvement from the older girls. “This is my fourth year with the program and so my returning seniors are in year four with me. I am excited to see what they will do with their opportunities now that they sit atop the depth chart.” Miller is the team’s leading returning scorer averaging 3.7 points per game, while Proffitt and Drabick each averaged just shy of three points per game. “We are going to have a 10-man rotation,” Ensinger said. “Right now, we have our four seniors, two sophomores and two freshmen who will rotate. You want to have an eight or 10 man rotation. I think we will eventually have 10 girls in the rotation.” “We are just going to see how it goes. The girls work hard in practice every day. They have a chip on their shoulder. They want to get back to being at a high level. Things have not gone well for us the last few years. “I am looking for some of our seniors to step up and take the reins. If

not, we have some younger girls who can step up and do that. I am looking forward to the competition.” The other returners to the team this year are sophomores Rachel Cline, Charli McConnell, Sarah Anderson, Brittany Jenkins and Maddy Shannon. The newcomers to the program this year are freshmen Kayla Huff, McKenzie Morrison, Tommi McConnell, Emily Ferrell, Sami Springer and Kierstyn Simeral. “We have battled injuries the last couple of years,” Ensinger said. “Priority No. 1 is to stay healthy. Before every game I stress the importance of winning the turnover margin and rebounding margin. Given our lack of size the later of those may be difficult, but we just have to make sure we are getting a body on someone and are crashing the boards. “Transition offense and defense are two areas that we focus in on a lot at practice. Our underclassmen have to step up to provide depth. Optimally, I would like to be able to work off an eight-to-10 person rotation. “We have to develop some go-toscorers. We graduated a large percentage of our scoring from last year. Amara Proffitt and Skylar Fankhauser came on strong in that regard towards the end of last year so I’m hoping that rolls into this year. Forwards Paige Reynolds and Kaylinn Drabick have shown a lot of progress putting the

ball in the hoop this summer and early on in practice.” One area in which the Wildcats are lacking is in the height department. “Our tallest girl is 5-8,” Ensinger said. “She may be 5-9 if she stands on her tip toes. We don’t really have any height or any real size. We struggled with that yesterday against Harrison Central. We struggled with their girl inside. We struggled to body up to her size. “We lack size. All of our girls have the same body build. We are still looking for one girl to step up to help recoup some of the scoring we lost. “We do have some younger girls who can help us as the season progresses. As far as scoring goes, we have some sophomores and some freshmen who can step up and contribute at the varsity level. We are going to have to see how it goes.” The schedule is different with the split of the Buckeye 8 to the Buckeye 10 North and South. “I like our schedule,” Ensinger said. “It is tough for us. St. Clairsville is a really good team. Harrison Central, we got it handed to us by them last night. They will be right there in the OVAC. Union Local has been a strong team the last few years. I know they lost some girls from last year. Indian Creek still has (Bre) Berryman, all 6-5 of her. She is going to be a match up problem for us. Indian Creek is going

to have a solid post presence. “I like our schedule. It has its challenges. There are some matchups we are going to build up for. We are trying to get to that level. Hopefully, we can be successful.” The Wildcats had multiple scrimmages to prepare for this season. “We scrimmaged Southern Local, Wellsville and Catholic Central,” Ensinger said. “We played well against them. We did some positive things. We shot really well. We did not shoot well against Harrison Central yesterday. Hopefully, we can regain our form. “In the early stage, our outside shooting has improved from where it left off last season. That is a positive. “Defensively, we have some younger girls who bring a lot to the table. Rachel Cline is a sophomore, and she goes all out all the time. She plays with a lot of intensity on defense. Hopefully, her intensity on defense will rub off on some of the other girls. She could factor into the starting lineup.” Ensinger, who is in his third season as head coach and fourth season with the Wildcats, will be assisted by Jeff Stone. Ensinger spent his first season at Edison as an assistant coach to former head coach Tony Kovalesky. “Simply put, our goal is to get better each and every day,” Ensinger said.

Dec. 5, 2014

Brooke Continued from Page 12 her career. “If I was in a pickup game and Angela was available, she would definitely be my first pick,” Scherich joked. “She is a very unselfish player, so much to the point that sometimes she passes too much and passes up some good looks. “Angela just really plays the game like it is meant to be played. And one of her biggest qualities is how much she improves everyone around her.” And there is plenty around her with classmates Krista D’Ulisse (5-6) back at a guard/forward spot along with Lauren Altobell (5-6) at a guard spot. Junior Payge Farmer (5-6) will be a guard along with sophomore Gabbie Velegol (5-9) at forward. “There are plenty of possibilities and things to be excited about,” Scherich admitted. “I am hoping that Payge Farmer and Gabbie Velegol take the next steps in improving their games. Both have put in a lot of extra

time and effort and I expect a lot from them. “We lost a good one in Michaela Hinerman, who did so much for us, and someone is going to need to step in and fill her role. She was a scorer and our best defensive player and that is not going to be easy.” A player who Scherich will be counting on is sophomore point-guard Kelsea Wensyel, who really came on at the end of the year and finished averaging nearly seven points a night as a freshman. Also in the mix will be juniors Jessica Gaston (5-5, forward) and Abbey Jackson (5-8, forward) along with sophomores Madisyn Reynolds (5-5, guard/forward) and Karli Celestin (55, guard), who transferred in after playing her freshman season at Indian Creek. There are also four freshmen who could find themselves in the mix in Marissa Elliott (54, point-guard), Alaya Edgar (54, guard), Kiley Byers (5-4, guard) and Grace

Dobson (5-4, guard). “Our roster has had a lot of freshmen and sophomores the last couple of years and we haven’t won many games, but I think we have the chance to get over the hump this year and making the OVAC tournament is not out of the question,” said Scherich. “Scoring has gone up in each of the last few seasons and we have been building on the little things. I just want this team to keep getting better and I think we are heading in the right direction. “Our biggest thing right now is finding a ball-handler right away. Hinerman had the ball in her hands 90 percent of the time last year. But these kids play hard all the time and I could never fault the effort. We will keep looking until we find someone who wants to, and can, handle the basketball.” However, while Scherich wants to finish about .500, he knows that the

biggest obstacle is an extremely difficult schedule. The Bruins opened the season with a 70-40 home loss to Wheeling Park. “I believe we might play the toughest schedule in the entire state,” he added. “We play defending state champion Morgantown twice, runner-up Parkersburg South twice, then throw in University, Wheeling Park, John Marshall and a trip to the Big Atlantic Classic in Beckley. “It is very daunting and we will need to come ready to play each and every night.”

Dec. 5, 2014

Panthers Continued from Page 18 Along with those graduation losses, the Lady Panthers will be without returning senior starter Kierstyn Czuchran, who was forced to skip the season due to a knee injury, and junior Hunter Johnson. Despite those losses, Figurski’s cupboard certainly isn’t bare. He returns a pair of talented scorers including one of the area’s top players in senior Lauren Swiger. Swiger has been a regular with the Lady Panthers since her freshman year and after a very successful junior campaign, she is nearing the coveted 1,000-point mark in career scoring. The 5-11 post/wing finished last season with a 16.7 points per game, 8.4 rebounds and 4.2 steals. She earned first-team All-Buckeye 8, second team All-OVAC, honorable mention all-Eastern District Division III and All-Times Leader team.

Figurski had high praise for Swiger, noting that she is “a true competitor and certainly a key to any success that the Lady Panthers will enjoy this season.” Another key returnee is junior twoyear letter winner Becky Zeroski. After just two seasons, the 5-3 wing/point has established herself as one of the better returning scorers as well. Well over halfway to 1,000 career points, Zeroski scored at a 13.6 point per game clip last season, hitting on 80 percent of her free throws. She earned second-team OVAC and honorable mention Buckeye 8 as a sophomore. Figurski returns two other senior letter winners. The pair include 5 foot 5 wing/point guard Carly Banal and 5 foot post/wing Kayla Petrella. Figurski indicated that the senior trio will be counted on heavily as the Lady Panthers look to turn their fortunes

around this season. Aside from Becky Zeroski, the Lady Panthers return another Zeroski letter winner in Becky’s sister, Rachel. A 5-6 post/wing, Rachel might not put up the numbers that her sister does, but is invaluable in the paint and will be a main cog in the Buckeye machine. Adding to the junior contingent are 5-5 Rachel Vince, a wing, and another sister tandem, 5-7 Kate and Kylee Torok who will have a major presence in the post. One of the six sophomores could very likely open the season as the Lady Panthers starting point guard in the person of 5-3 Danielle Dvorcek. The remainder of the sophomore group will open the season on the jayvee squad including 5-2 post Logan Cunningham, 5-6 post Emily Fox, 5-3 wing Shannon Good, 5-4 post/wing

Shelby Gorlock and 5-5 wing Lexie Swiger. “We don’t have a lot of height, but we do have a lot of speed,” Figurski said in assessing his squad. “We have a lot of speed and so we planning on running up and down the floor a lot this season. We are hoping to score a lot of transition points this season.” Figurski also has a staff that brings a lot to the game. His assistants include varsity assistant Charlie Nest, jayvee coach Ed Nest, freshmen coach Christine DeFede and jayveefreshmen assistant Bob Czuchran. A slight change will occur in the Lady Panther schedule again this year. Beaver Local has been added for two games and a Buckeye 8 place game was added. To make room for those changes, Buckeye eliminated two games with Bridgeport and one with Brooke.

Steubenville Big Red

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 13 Canton C. Catholic at Malone College (V), 7:45 p.m. Dec. 16 at C. Mooney Dec. 22 at Caldwell Holiday Tourney, tba Dec. 23 at Caldwell Holiday Tourney, tba Dec. 27 Indian C., noon Dec. 30 Union Local Jan. 3 Steubenville Central Jan. 6 Weir Jan. 10 at West Branch Jan. 16 at Steub. C. Central Jan. 20 at J. Mar., 5:45 p.m. Jan. 21 at Brooke, 5:45 p.m. Jan. 24 John Marshall, 3:30 p.m. Jan. 27 at Weir Jan. 30 Wheeling Park Feb. 3 New Philadelphia Feb. 6 Brooke Feb. 10 at Cambridge Feb. 13 at Martins Ferry Feb. 17 OVAC Week JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

Haney’s club ‘to play at a fast pace and play a full-court pressure defense’ By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview STEUBENVILLE — Mike Haney, Big Red’s boys basketball coach, follows a fairly simple philosophy when it comes to how his team plays — go score! “Our plan is to play at a fast pace and play a full-court pressure defense,” said Haney, who is entering his seventh season as the Big Red court boss. “We like to get the ball up the floor quickly and get shots off before we throw the ball away. Our philosophy is to go score.” Haney has two starters back from his 2013-2014 squad which went 21-4 and captured the OVAC Class 4A championship. They are senior point guard Lucas Herrington and 6-5 sophomore post Charles Reeves. Herrington, an honorable mention all-district selection as a junior, averaged 7.5 points per game and dished out a

team-high 88 assists. Reeves scored nearly 10 points a game while recording 44 blocks. “We’re looking for Lucas to fill a big leadership role for us this season,” Haney stated. “He did a solid job for us last year but we’ll probably need more scoring out of him this season. I’m sure he will be fine with that. We’re expecting big things out of him.” Haney also expects Reeves to step up his

game following a successful season playing with an AAU team out of Pittsburgh. “Charles gave us some very valuable minutes last season and was a big contributor to our success,” he noted. “We’re expecting him to come through and play a much bigger role as a sophomore.” Other lettermen back include seniors Dionee Wallace-Jones (who served as Big Red’s sixth

man last season), Devin Smith, Travis Wolfe and Shakur Thomas-Miller. Junior Dimitri Collaros earned a letter as a sophomore. “Devin (Smith) really needs to step up his game this season,” the Big Red coach commented. “He started a few games for us last season and we’re looking for him to control the boards and really help inside. He is coming off a very strong summer.”

Haney described Wallace-Jones as a “good ball defender and a great rebounder for his size.” “He provided some great minutes last season coming off the bench,” Haney continued. “He can make things happen going to the basket and dishing the ball. He’ll play a key role for us.” Wolfe is, according to Haney, “a good spot up shooter. He has made See BIG RED Page 48 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Weir Red Riders

2014-15 Schedule

Granato’s group ‘starting to gain experience’

Dec. 9 at Oak Glen Dec. 12 Edison Dec. 16 at J. Mar., 5:45 p.m. Dec. 19 at Indian Creek Dec. 23 Toronto Dec. 27 at Madonna Dec. 20 at Toronto Jan. 3 at Burgettstown Jan. 6 at Steubenville Jan. 13 Steub. C. Central Jan. 16 Madonna Jan. 20 Oak Glen Jan. 23 Brooke Jan. 27 Steubenville Jan. 30 Indian Creek Feb. 3 at Edison Feb. 6 Buckeye Local Feb. 10 at Brooke, 5:45 p.m. Feb. 13 at Harrison Central Feb. 17 OVAC Week Feb. 24 John Marshall

By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WEIRTON — When it didn’t seem like it could get worse for the Weir High boys basketball team, it did. The Red Riders went from 2-20 in 2012-13 to 1-20 last year and now that team owns the worst record in Weir High basketball history. Back-to-back down years are enough for Red Rider head coach Mike Granato and he thinks he has enough experience and athletic ability for the 2014-15 team to begin the long road back to winning basketball. “We’re starting to gain experience,” said Granato, who is beginning his 16th season as the head man of the Weir High basketball program. “If there is anything good about the last two years, it’s that we played a lot of people. “Our young kids took their lumps and are

JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

ready to compete at a high level. Even after two down years in a row, our numbers are up and that left us with having to make some difficult cuts this year.” What’s left is a group

of six letter winners including three seniors (two of them starters). Back are seniors Michael Curtis (5-10), Chris Wood (6-2) and Vince Gaudio (5-8), junior Jonathon West (5-11)

and sophomores Cody Enrietti (6-2) and Chayton Luevano (5-10). Curtis and Wood are the returning starters (Curtis has started the last two years). “A lot of kids played

a lot of basketball last year both at the varsity and junior varsity levels,” Granato explained. “Hopefully, that’s created a lot of depth for us.” See RIDERS Page 41 ➪

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 5 at Toronto Dec. 12 at B. Donahue Dec. 12 at Shadyside Dec. 16 Oak Glen Dec. 19 at Madonna Dec. 26 Undo’s Tourney, tba Dec. 27 Undo’s Tourney, tba Jan. 2 Toronto Jan. 3 at Steubenville Jan. 9 at Bridgeport Jan. 13 at Weir Jan. 16 Steubenville Jan. 23 Madonna Jan. 27 Conotton Valley Jan. 28 Wheeling Central Jan. 31 Strasburg Feb. 3 Bridgeport Feb. 6 at Oak Glen Feb. 7 Shadyside Feb. 14 at Malvern Feb. 17 OVAC Week JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Catholic Central Crusaders

Dec. 5, 2014

Tucker’s team ‘has young players who want to put in the time’ By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview STEUBENVILLE — Sean Tucker knows his 2014-2015 Catholic Central boys basketball team will be “very young and inexperienced at the varsity level.” At the same time, however, he feels “this is a great thing.” “Our being very young and inexperienced is a great thing because these guys want to be here,” Tucker, who is entering his seventh season at the Crusader helm, said. “They want to put the time in to be successful and that is one thing I will not question. “Having a young team can either be good or bad. Young teams can be bad if you have players who just show up and are not willing to put in the time to

get better. It’s good when you have young players who want to put in the time, do the things needed to be better and are willing to go above and beyond their comfort levels to be good. That’s what we have here at Central.”

Tucker’s 20132014 squad was loaded with seniors and finished with an outstanding mark of 18-7. The Crusaders were the OVAC 3A runnerup, captured a Division IV sectional title and fell to Malvern in the districts.

Gone via graduation are Ryan Fletcher, who earned first-team all-Ohio Division IV honors; Michael Barber, an all-district selection; Matt Martello, an all-district choice, Michael Manfresca, Brenton Colabella and J.P. Dombrows-

ki. The latter three also earned postseason awards. Following the campaign, Tucker was named the District 5 coach of the year. The six seniors accounted for 90 percent of Central’s scoring. “They meant everything seniors

should mean,” Tucker stated about his former players. “They were everything the school stands for and they represented our program extremely well. “They’re definitely missed and See CCHS Page 50 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Madonna Blue Dons

Vargo: ‘We all, coaches and players, must show up each night’ By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WEIRTON — After two straight 14-9 seasons, the Madonna boys basketball team is looking to put it all together for another state championship run, like the one in 2011. It won’t be an easy task for veteran coach George Vargo, but despite losing eight members of last year’s team to graduation, he thinks the 2014-15 edition of the Blue Dons can be a strong team. He bases that opinion on 21 years of experience, seven returning letter winners and the return of 6-foot-5 senior James Carnes. Carnes started all 23 games as a sophomore after transferring to Madonna from Weir High, but decided he needed more time in the classroom than on the basketball court so he sat out last year. “Carnes comes back with more maturity,

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 17 at St. J. C., 5:30 p.m. Dec. 19 Steub. C. Central Dec. 20 Bishop Donahue at Cameron, tba Dec. 17 Weir Jan. 3 at O. Glen, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 7 Clay-Battelle Jan. 9 at Toronto Jan. 10 at Wheel. C., 4 p.m. Jan. 13 at Clay-Battelle Jan. 16 at Weir Jan. 21 Trinity Jan. 23 at Steub. C. Central Jan. 24 Tyler Consolidated at Magnolia, tba Jan. 27 Toronto Jan. 28 Williamstown Feb. 3 at Trinity Feb. 10 Oak Glen Feb. 14 at Bishop Donahue Feb. 17 OVAC Week Feb. 23 St. Marys Feb. 25 Magnolia JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

strength and a wide body,” said Vargo. “He’ll fit right in with the talented seniors, a junior and two sophomores to make Madonna a strong team.” The letter winners returning are seniors Levi Shreve (6-0), Nick Mazur (6-2), Grant Ret-

ton (6-4), Marquise Jeter (6-2), George Stakias (62), and sophomores Joey Ewusiak (6-2) and Tavon Jeter (6-1). Vargo also will have senior Jarod Taflan (63), out for basketball for the first time, and junior Nick Higgins (6-1) and senior Matthew

Lyons (6-2). He’ll also dress three or four members of a talented sophomore class that will play primarily on the junior varsity team, but dress for varsity games. They are Dustin Brown, Justin Canei, Max Carey, Joey DeFelice, Chase DiBar-

tolomeo, Jake Gasvoda, Jimmy Mazzone, Kyle McAfee, Hunter Payne and Tim Seech. Joey Ewusiak worked his way into the starting lineup as a guard last year and was being counted on by Vargo to See BLUE DONS Page 48 ➪

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 5 Beaver Local Dec. 6 Carrollton, 1 p.m. Dec. 9 at St. Clairsville Dec. 12 at Buckeye Local Dec. 16 East Liverpool Dec. 19 Weir Dec. 23 at Harr. Central Dec. 17 at Steub., noon Dec. 30 St. Clairsville Jan. 3 at East Liverpool Jan. 6 at Edison Jan. 9 at Beaver Local Jan. 13 Buckeye Local Jan. 20 Harrison Central Jan. 23 at Martins Ferry Jan. 27 Edison Jan. 30 at Weir Feb. 3 Martins Ferry Feb. 7 Buckeye 8 Championship, tba Feb. 13 at Brooke Feb. 17 OVAC Week

JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Indian Creek Redskins

Dec. 5, 2014

Dunlevy’s club ‘trying to develop depth’

By AARON PETCHAL Basketball Preview WINTERSVILLE — The Indian Creek boys’ basketball team is a work in progress. Due to injuries, the Redskins entered their final week of preparation for the 2014-15 season without having the full team practice together one time. “We play at home Friday (Beaver Local) and Saturday (Carrollton),” Indian Creek head coach Joe Dunlevy said. “Things are going well. We are just trying to develop depth. We are OK. You can’t win with just five guys. You need eight or nine guys. We are trying to develop depth. We are a work in progress right now.” Though Indian Creek was hard hit by graduation from last season (six, four starters), the cupboard is not bare heading into this season as the team has plenty

of talented players to put on the hardwood again this year. “The strength of the team is their youthful exuberance,” Dunlevy said. Indian Creek returns six lettermen — Zach Connor, Aaron Foldi,

Adrian Greco, Greg Wade, Robert Coppa and Seth Starkey. Austin Freshwater and Sean Tipton also return from last year’s team. Of the group of returners, Foldi is the team’s lone returning starter heading into

this season. “Zach Connor will start,” Dunlevy said. “He is a senior. He is our only senior starter. Aaron Foldi will start. Greg Wade will start. Adrian Greco will start. The other starter will be either Robert Coppa

or Austin Freshwater. “We still have a long way to go.” While the Redskins return a good group of players, Indian Creek also has some talented newcomers to the lineSee CREEK Page 50 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Toronto Red Knights

Leary’s squad ‘expecting to have a very solid deason’ By MATTHEW PEASLEE Basketball Preview TORONTO — Graduating just two seniors, the Toronto boys basketball team returns as a cohesive unit for the 2014-15 season. “We even return eight of the nine players who started in games for us,” said Red Knights head coach John Leary. Blaze Glenn, a junior, leads the returning group as a first-team alldistrict selection from last year. Glenn has fully recovered from a leg injury that forced him to miss eight weeks of the high school football season. He returned for a Week 10 match-up against Madonna and played a big role in Toronto’s toeto-toe showdown with Western Reserve in the first round of the football playoffs. “Obviously we look to Blaze for leadership, he has returned very strong from injury he sustained during foot-

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 5 Steub. C. Central Dec. 9 Bellaire Dec. 12 at St. J. C., 5:30 p.m. Dec. 16 Beaver Local Dec. 19 at Bridgeport Dec. 23 at Weir Dec. 30 Weir Jan. 2 at Steub. C. Central Jan. 6 at Conotton Valley Jan. 9 Madonna Jan. 10 at Edison Jan. 13 at Oak Glen Jan. 20 Conotton Valley Jan. 23 Bridgeport Jan. 27 at Madonna Jan. 30 at Beaver Local Feb. 3 at Bellaire Feb. 6 Edison (V), 7:30 p.m. Feb. 10 St. John Central Feb. 13 Oak Glen Feb. 17 OVAC Week JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

ball season,” Leary said. “He looks fine and ready to go.” Glenn, the team’s point guard, will be one of the better ballhandlers in the area. He is strong off the dribble and possesses a skillful shooting touch.

Don’t let his smaller stature (5-foot-8) fool you — Glenn isn’t afraid to go body-to-body in the lane. Though he can shoot well from behindthe-arc, his best attribute may be his play around the hoop. “He’s an old-school

kid,” Leary said. “Blaze is just a kid that is very competitive and aggressive in his play.” Nate Stewart and Tyler Roush are second team and honorable mentions, respectively, from the 2013-14 district team. They’re both sen-

iors, as is Charles Ross III who is out for basketball for the first time. Ross III starred on the football field for the past four years as a running back and linebacker. See KNIGHTS Page 45 ➪

Edison Wildcats

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 5 at East Liverpool Dec. 12 at Weir Dec. 16 at St. Clairsville Dec. 19 Beaver Local Dec. 20 Harrison Central Dec. 23 Southern Local Dec. 26 at Buffalo Wild Wings Holiday Classic at Philo HS, tba Dec. 27 at Buffalo Wild Wings Holiday Classic Jan. 3 Buckeye Local Jan. 6 Indian Creek Jan. 9 East Liverpool Jan. 10 Toronto Jan. 16 at Beaver Local Jan. 17 Minerva Jan. 20 at Martins Ferry Jan. 23 at Buckeye Local Jan. 27 at Indian Creek Feb. 3 Weir Feb. 6 at Toronto, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 7 Buckeye 8 Championship, tba Feb. 17 OVAC Week JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

‘There is a lot of competition’ for Moses’ contingent By AARON PETCHAL Basketball Preview RICHMOND — The Edison boys’ basketball team is looking to take the next step on its journey this season. The Wildcats took a big step forward last season, and Edison is looking to continue to play well this season. “Practices have been competitive and our scrimmages have been a little inconsistent,” Edison head coach Nate Moses said. “We must shore up some things on both ends of the floor and continue to improve.” Edison opens the 201415 season against Buckeye 8-rival East Liverpool tonight at Potter Fieldhouse. The Wildcats came on strong at the end of last season, which ended at the sectional tournament. Edison does return an experienced roster this season. The Wildcats return seven lettermen from last year’s 10-13 squad — Erik Lee, Austin

Horan, Austin Hyndman, Skylar Wilken, Joe Nave, Bryce Piatt and Josh Woika. Lee led the team last season with 262 points, and he tallied 168 rebounds, 47 assists, 34 steals and three blocked shots. Wilken netted 219 points, 128 rebounds, 43 assists, 39 steals and three blocked shots. Hyn-

dman ended up with 149 points, 61 rebounds, 26 assists, 36 steals and one block. Finally, Horan contributed 143 points, 59 points, four assists, 19 steals and four blocked shots. The Wildcats also return Dom Rogers, Zac Kramarich, Connor Bahen, Shane Layman, Michael Speedy and

Hunter Talkington to the lineup this season. Edison has added a good group of newcomers to the mix this season — Josh Gault, Dakota Swearingen, Connor Hyndman, Evan Maple, Sam Elson and Justin Montgomery. As November turned to December, the Wildcats still had not set their

rotation, including which five guys would be in the starting lineup. “There is a lot of competition,” Moses said. The starters will be selected from a group that includes Lee, Wilken, Horan, Hyndman, Nave, Piatt, Woika, Rogers, Kramarich and Talkington. See WILDCATS Page 52 ➪

Harrison Central Huskies

Dec. 5, 2014

Clifford’s crew ‘is a fun group to be around’

By SETH STASKEY Basketball Preview CADIZ — The Harrison Central Huskies have 19 players on their basketball roster this winter. Justin Clifford, who is embarking on his sixth season at the helm of the Huskies, issn’t singing the blues. “We don’t have a big number, but we have the right number,” Clifford said. “We have guys who want to be here, want to work and are ready to step up to the plate for the challenge. Our kids are working hard and they’ll be fine.” The Huskies are coming off a 15-win season which ended in the sectional co-final to Fort Frye. A handful of injuries and a few players opting not to play this season have limited the numbers, but again, Clifford won’t let those issues become a distraction. “We don’t talk about injuries or anything

else,” Clifford said. “We have a lot of guys who put in a lot of time in, have played a lot of basketball and are ready to get in there and show what they have.” One thing that the Huskies deem a strength, according to their head coach, is their overall team chemistry and maybe having “the right number” plays a role in that, too. “Our practices have

been enjoyable since Day One, our younger kids are getting better and these kids all genuinely like each other,” Clifford offered. “It’s a fun group to be around, so what else could you ask for?” Clifford expects his team to be involved in high possession games and they won’t be looking to slow the tempo at any time. “We’ve got some guys who’ve spent a lot of time

in the gym and we’re not going to come down and make 60 passes and then shoot it three or four times a game,” Clifford said. “We’re going to show off the talented players we have and let them reap the rewards for the time and effort they’ve put in.” Included in the roster are eight freshmen, so one of Clifford’s biggest concerns is experienced depth.

“We have some kids who’ve not been thrown into the fire yet for any sport,” Clifford said. “They’re going to have to learn quickly, but I think they’re ready for it and will step up to the challenge and handle it well. Our experienced guys will have to carry more of the load early until those newer guys get the experience.” See HARRISON Page 44 ➪

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 5 Buckeye Local Dec. 6 at River View Dec. 12 Union Local Dec. 19 at St. Clairsville Dec. 20 at Edison Dec. 23 Indian Creek Dec. 27 Rosecrans, 2 p.m. Jan. 3 Bellaire Jan. 6 at Martins Ferry Jan. 9 at Buckeye Local Jan. 10 Shadyside Jan. 13 at Union Local Jan. 16 St. Clairsville Jan. 20 at Indian Creek Jan. 23 at Bellaire Jan. 24 Beaver Local Jan. 27 Martins Ferry Jan. 30 at Shadyside Feb. 7 Buckeye 8 Tourney, at Harrison Feb. 13 Weir Feb. 17 OVAC Week

JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Brooke Bruins

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 12 Parkersburg South Dec. 19 Parkersburg South Dec. 23 at Parker., 5:45 p.m. Dec. 26 at George Wash. Dec. 27 at Logan, tba Dec. 29 Bisco Holiday Tourney, 6/8 p.m. Dec. 30 Bisco Holiday Tourney, 6/8 p.m. Jan. 6 St. Clairsville Jan. 9 Wheeling Park Jan. 13 John Marshall Jan. 16 at University Jan. 21 Steubenville Jan. 23 at Weir, 6 p.m. Jan. 27 Morgantown Jan. 30 at John Marshall Feb. 3 at Wheeling Park Feb. 6 at Steub., 6 p.m. Feb. 10 Weir Feb. 13 Indian Creek Feb. 17 OVAC Week JV 5:45 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

Reitter’s kids ‘are going to have to come together, be cohesive’ By TRACY WATSON Basketball Preview WELLSBURG — Having lost seven seniors, including its playmaker, it may look on the outside that the Brooke boys’ basketball team might have to start from scratch to try and be competitive during the 2014-15 season. And while there are still plenty of roles that need filled and experience to be gained, coach Dave Reitter has plenty of height and a very good player to build around in the middle. “We graduated a nice senior group, led by Russell Schwerteger, who is going to be very hard to replace, but we have another good group coming in,” Reitter admitted. “Russell did so much for us and really asserted himself on the court the last couple of years. “Honestly, we felt he could go out and play against anyone, and his confidence just oozed down to the younger kids. That is something that we

hope stays with them and will carry over.” Leading the way will be three juniors and a senior transfer. The big man in the middle will be 6-5 junior standout Thomas Cole, who is coming off a sensational season as a wide receiver on the football team. All Cole did as a sophomore was average 14.3

points a game and 12 rebounds. Cole has scored 508 points in his two-years and pulled down 415 rebounds, which already has him as the eighth leading rebounding in school history. “Thomas is very good, but he is going to have to realize that teams are going to try to lock in on him,” Reitter added. “He

is also going to have to make the players around him better.” Nathan Green, a 6-6 forward, is back for his junior campaign after scoring 4.7 a game last year, along with 6-1 guard Justin Laugherie. Senior Garrison Mathison (6-3) has transferred from Jefferson County Christian, where he was a

force. Mathison scored 19 points a game, pulled down 10 rebounds and handed out eight assists a night. The fifth starter, the team’s point-guard, will come from a group of five and could be anyone on any given night. Included in the mix are See BRUINS Page 48 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Riders Continued from Page 33 Granato has three other players who saw some varsity playing time last year. Marquis Smith (6-0), a junior, was heavily involved in the first part of the season, but was disciplined and didn’t finish last year. Another junior,

Ethan Gilbert (5-11) got playing time on both JV and varsity and so did Domenic Murphy (6-0) as a freshman last year. Senior Marcello Magnone (6-3) is out for basketball for the first time and so is junior Matt Thompson (5-11,

250). Junior Angelo Cassiadoro (5-11) played on the reserve team as a freshman two years ago, but decided not to play basketball last year. He’s back and so is sophomore Levi Mikula (5-11), who played JV ball last year. “We have a good mix of perimeter and post people,” said Granato, who lost Mitch Viakely and Kody Knight to graduation and junior letter winner Ryan Kirk who decided against playing basketball this year. “That will give us different options. We can go small and we have two pretty good post players in Curtis

and Cody Enrietti. There are a lot of different ways we can line up and play. “I’m excited about our pre-season because we’ll have some competition for starting spots and to see how our depth will be. It will be interesting to see how all that plays out.” Granato said he likes his team speed and scoring ability, but he feels a lot of the preseason will be spent working on defense and rebounding. “We have several football and soccer players that have to get their basketball legs back and that will take

some time, but they gained strength and maturity playing there,” he said. Granato is buoyed by the return of Jonathan West, who started the first couple of games last year, but an injured knee cut his season short. “Jo Jo recently was released to play by the doctor and is working on getting back into shape. He worked his tail off in rehab,” Granato said. “We’re still a pretty young team. We’ll be looking in pre-season at how they gel and how willing guys will be to sacrifice for the team and one another. It is

important that they are willing to give something up for the next guy.” Granato said the Red Riders should be able to run on offense. “I think we’ll be better in transition and we definitely want to be better on defense than the last couple of years,” he said. “We need to get back to playing solid man defense and allow the defense to become the offense. “We’ll also try to use our depth as a weapon. Our sophomores are really athletic. They had some good seasons at the middle school level and on last year’s JV team. They need to play to get experience. Granato is counting on Luevano, Wood, Smith, West, Gaudio, Gilbert, Mikula and Cassiadoro to all be part of the outside rotation. Curtis, Enrietti, Murphy, Thompson and Magnone will be the goto guys in the paint. “Most of these guys played together in our summer league program, but because of their youth we’ll have to see what we have during the pre-season practices and scrimmages. It sounds like a cliche, but we’ll have to play the games one at a time and work hard to make those down years a fading memory. “We want to be a team that’s fun to watch and I think we have the personnel to do that.” Assisting Granato are Mike Shockley, Ron Smith, Anthony Piccirillo, Jason Angle and Joseph Jimboy.

Dec. 5, 2014

Huskies Continued from Page 11 ward to watching this group grow together as a team and see how far they can go.” A little icing on the cake last season was a sectional crown as well. “We finally got over the hump last year and took the next step in developing our program. The OVAC and sectional championships are very meaningful to me, the girls, and this program, but we have to put that behind us quickly,” Yourkovich noted. “We need to build from the steps we took last year if we want our program to keep moving forward. Those wins are great, but they don’t mean much this season.” Harrison Central is poised to build on last year’s success. Several key performers are back in the fold. The Lady Huskies have the luxury of a solid playmaker in Paige Richards. She is a 5-5 battle-tested junior. “Paige is lightning quick with the ball and will take over the pri-

mary ball-handling duties this year. She sees the floor better than anyone I have coached here at Harrison,” Yourkovich said. “Paige has all the physical tools to be a dynamic perimeter player, both offensively and defensively.” D.J. Keesey is veteran fixture in the post. The 5-11 junior has the size to work with Ellzy quite nicely in the paint. “D.J. is a presence in the paint offensively and defensively when she plays aggressively. She has put in some time to improve her touch around the basket, which will take some of the pressure off of Katie in the post,” Yourkovich said. “We need D.J. to be more consistent, more confident and more aggressive. She has the ability to be a very good player.” Junior Shianne Nameth provides the Lady Huskies with another potent scoring option. The 5-9 talent possesses fine shooting range with versatility

and athleticism. “Shianne really came on at the end of last year with her offensive ability and confidence. She is really athletic, can shoot from distance and has the ability to put the ball on the floor,” Yourkovich said. “Her size is going to make her a tough matchup for our opponents. We are looking for Shi to help us on the glass a little more this year.” The fifth and final returning letter-winner is Alexis Yoho. The 5-4 guard made the most of her opportunity as a freshman. She broke into the starting lineup due to an injury

but remained in it due to her quality play. A year’s experience should elevate her game even further. “Alexis started 13 games for us last year, at first out of necessity due to injury, but stayed in the lineup because of her stellar play,” Yourkovich offered. “She is a very good on ball defender who accepted her role on the team. She is a very good rebounder for her size.” The five returning veterans provide a solid foundation for another banner year in Huskieland. How successful Harrison Central becomes may rest in the

hands of six sophomores. Yourkovich is counting on positive production from Alexia Dowdle, Megan Stackhouse, Maddy Doty, Hannah Warrington, Rachel Morrison and Morgan Carter. The varsity roster is rounded out by 5-4 freshman guard Emilee Yoho and 5-5 freshman forward Taylor Hunt. “This team has been working hard all off-season, and early on in the pre-season. We have some very talented pieces both returning and coming up to the varsity level from last year, but those pieces need to gain experi-

ence,” Yourkovich said. “A big hurdle facing this team is chemistry, as most of the people we plan on playing major minutes have not played together as a group. But, hopefully, that will get ironed out in the scrimmages and early on in the regular season. We just need to learn how to communicate with each other on the court and learn to trust each other in our schemes.” Yourkovich has a quality and veteran coaching staff. Jay Smith is the varsity assistant. John Visser is the reserve coach while Sarah Wilden is the reserve assistant.

Dec. 5, 2014

Harrison Continued from Page 39 Though there are some concerns with depth and inexperience, to a degree, don’t look for the Huskies to change their approach, which will include an up-tempo offensive and defensive style that involves fullcourt man defense and a

“version of the Princeton offense.” “We always talk about having an identity and sticking with it,” Clifford said. “Good teams and programs — regardless of the sport — don’t change their identity based on who they play

or anything. We like to get after people on defense, run the floor on offense.” The Huskies leader is expected to be senior point guard Austin Kowalski (5-11), who is embarking on his fourth season of varsity basketball. He’s coming off a junior campaign in which he averaged 15 points a night en route to a host of postseason honors. “We’re going to look for Austin to handle the ball, score and guard the other team’s best player, but other than that he won’t have to do much,” Clifford laughed. “I think he’s been waiting on this opportunity. He’s worked

hard, put on some muscle and we’re going to lean on him.” Junior Brandon Mitchell (5-11) is coming off a brilliant football season for the Huskies in which he played basically every skill position needed. “Like they did in football, we’re going to look for him to do a lot for us, too,” Clifford said. “Brandon’s one of our better on-the-ball defenders and he’s aggressive on offense.” Junior Dustin Redish (6-1) is another who saw some time last season and is expected to take on a much larger role. Junior Tison Johnson

(5-10) will be one of the starters for the Huskies. Sophomore Tyler Redish (6-2), similar to his older brother, simply loves to compete, according to Clifford. A battle for the other minutes has been ongoing during practices and scrimmages. Clifford believes sophomore Jacob Barr (6-2), sophomore Zach Henry (5-9), freshman Caden Arbaugh (5-10) and junior Keshaun Muckle (511), who is a transfer from Indian Creek, could all log valuable minutes off the bench. The Huskies’ mentor also mentioned junior Hunter Sloan (5-10) and

sophomore Kyle Roberts (6-0) as two other players who could see action. “We’ve got a lot of kids getting a lot of reps and working to get better,” Clifford said. “I’ve been very pleased with how our kids have been working.” Senior Cory Yoho (6-2) is one of the Huskies on the injury list at this point. He was expected to take on a bigger role, but suffered an ankle injury during pre-season workouts. Clifford expects him back, however. Clifford is aided by Serge Genetile, Blake Allen, Chad Figurski, Mark Kowalski and Willy Walker.

Dec. 5, 2014

Knights Continued from Page 37 “We have seven other (football) players who should work into our regular rotation and all had varsity playing experience last season,” Leary said. The team also includes experienced players in juniors Blaine Rawson, Riley Kiersey, Hank Clegg, Troy Hill and sophomore Ty West. Junior Joe Jordan, sophomores Dan Zdinak and Sante Carducci and freshman Jake Keenan will also see some varsity time. “We are expecting to have a very solid season,” Leary said. “We have a very strong schedule but fully

expect to be competitive with every team on our schedule. “Our first goal is to have winning season; our second goal is to make the OVAC playoffs and our third goal would be to win postseason games.” Leary has been a coach in the Ohio Valley for more than 30 years. This is his fourth season leading the Red Knights after previously serving as the head coach of the Brooke girls team. Leary has also served as an assistant at various area middle schools. “There’s really nothing new that’s been

invented in basketball in the last 75 years,” he said. “The more you make them think, the

less they actually will think.” Toronto improved from a 4-17 record in

Leary’s first year at the helm to 11-12 in the 2012-13 season. Last year, the Red

Knights fell to Frontier in the sectional tournament to finish with an 815 record.

Buckeye Local Panthers

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 5 at Harrison Central Dec. 12 Indian Creek Dec. 16 at Bellaire Dec. 19 at East Liverpool Dec. 23 St. Clairsville Dec. 26 Martins Ferry Jan. 3 at Edison Jan. 6 at Beaver Local Jan. 9 Harrison Central Jan. 13 at Indian Creek Jan. 16 East Liverpool Jan. 20 at St. Clairsville Jan. 23 Edison Jan. 24 at Martins Ferry Jan. 27 Beaver Local Jan. 30 Bellaire Feb. 3 Union Local Feb. 6 at Weir Feb. 8 Buckeye 8 Tourney at Harrison Central Feb. 13 at Union Local Feb. 17 OVAC Week

JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

Dec. 5, 2014

Haberfield’s team ‘is going to have to play as a team’ By RICK DeLUCA Basketball Preview RAYLAND — Greg Haberfield may have gotten that first year getting-your-feet-wet season under his belt, but his second year build-fromthe-ground-up season is staring him right in the face. Losing the school’s first career 1,000-point scorer and nearly all of its point production and rebounding from a year ago will mean that Haberfield will have his Buckeye Local basketball program right where he wants it. Building from the ground up and building his way for the long haul. “When you lose your top three scorers, you sit back and think about what you are going to have to do to win,” Haberfield said in trying to assess the coming season “We are going to have to play as a team because we don’t have that individual who sticks out more than anyone

else.” Of course, nothing stung the Panther roster more than the loss of AllOhioan Brennan Czuchran, who became the school’s first 1,000point scorer late last season. The ultra-talented hoopster was a four-year starter at Buckeye and closed as the school’s top scorer, one of top rebounders and assist men all-time. Filling his

shoes and replacing his scoring will one tall task for Haberfield. Czuchran averaged 21.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game last season. “Losing Brennan was a tremendous loss,” Haberfield said. “Just what he brought to the floor in leadership will be hard to replace. He had a very high basketball IQ. It’s really hard to fill those

leadership roles on the offensive end.” “He seems to be doing well at Capital. “He is seeing a lot of playing time already.” Haberfield knows that although the Panther basketball has made great strides over the past couple years, it has taken a major hit the past two seasons by graduation. A promising young coach, Haberfield continues to

gain experience along with his young cagers. Buckeye will miss its third-leading scorer from a year ago with Dylan Dokes forced to bypass the season due to a football injury. “We’ve got two of starters returning this season,” the Panther coach said. “(Damion) Beall is very good on the defensive end and he is See BUCKEYE Page 51 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Oak Glen Golden Bears

Everly moves over one chair to become sideline boss By RALPH COX Basketball Preview NEW MANCHESTER — After back-to-back four-win seasons, new Oak Glen boys basketball coach Jerry Everly is hoping that the victories will be more voluminous in 2014-15. He’s pinning most of his hopes for breaking that cycle on his two senior returning starters, Brennan Smith and Tyler Click, having good seasons. “Everything will go through Brennan,” Everly said of the Golden Bear scoring leader of a year ago with 13.8 points a game. “He severely injured his knee prior to his sophomore season and missed almost all of that season. He wasn’t completely healthy last year, but he is now and I’m expecting big things.” Smith, who was listed at 6-feet-3 last year is on the books at 6-5 this year and is stronger and more mature. Everly

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 9 Weir Dec. 11 at J. Mar., 5:45 p.m. Dec. 13 East Liverpool Dec. 16 at Steub. C. Central Dec. 20 at Wellsville Dec. 27 Beaver Local Dec. 30 at Southern Local Jan. 3 Madonna, 7:30 p.m. Jan. 10 Wellsville Jan. 13 Toronto Jan. 16 at Tyler Consol. Invitational, tba Jan. 17 at Tyler Consol. Invitational, tba Jan. 20 at Weir Jan. 30 at East Liverpool Feb. 3 at Beaver Local Feb. 4 Southern Local Feb. 6 Steub. C. Central Feb. 10 Madonna Feb. 13 at Toronto Feb. 17 OVAC Week Feb. 26 John Marshall JV games 6 p.m. unless noted

said several colleges are giving him some serious looks. “He scored more than 300 points for us last year and has worked hard over the summer to improve on his outside shooting. “We got a scare when he tweaked that knee during summer league

play in June, but he came back in August at full strength and actually we’ve seen improvement in his quickness since then.” Everly said Click, who played the twoguard spot last year scoring 5 points a game, worked hard over the summer and is a much-

improved player. He’ll take over the point guard post this season. “We have to get scoring from Click and I think we will,” Everly said. “He worked hard on his outside shooting during the off season and he is super quick. Everly, a 1983 Oak Glen graduate, moved

into the Golden Bear head basketball job when Dave Smith, Brennan’s father, was named principal at the school. While Everly is new to the head coaching job, he’s not new to the kids, having served as Golden Bear reserve team See BEARS Page 53 ➪

Dec. 5, 2014

Blue Dons

Bruins Continued from Page 35

add the scoring punch when Ross Comis graduated, but the sophomore, who was the starting quarterback on the football team, broke a bone in his foot in the last game of the season against Clay-Battelle. He will be lost to the Blue Dons through most of the early games in December. Vargo expects Ewusiak will return to the lineup by January. He and Tavon Jeter, another sophomore, got playing time last year at point guard. “I think we’ll be okay until Joey returns with Tavon, Shreve, Marquise Jeter, Mazur and Stakias playing the guard positions,” Vargo said. “Mazur also is a returning starter and he’s a very good outside shooter.” Vargo is counting upon Carnes and Retton to work in the post area along with Lyons, Higgins and Taflan. He said Stakias and Marquise Jeter probably will be counted upon both inside and outside as swing men. “I think we’ll have a good nucleus with those 10,” said the coach. “I’m not afraid to play any of them in the rotation. “We’ll have a team with eight seniors similar to last year. I’m comfortable with this team. The key, though, will be Carnes having a very good year and I think he’s capable of that. I don’t want

to put undue pressure on him, but if Carnes has a good year, Madonna will have a good year.” Vargo said the Blue Dons have the usual goals of winning the city championship over Weir High, get one of the four seeds as the OVAC final four and a high seed in the sectional tournament. “All that depends on a lot of things such as doing all the fundamentals, working together as a team and learning to make the correct decisions,” Vargo explained. “To reach those goals, it is important that we play each game as if it were for the state championship. We all, coaches and players, must show up each night. “We’ll need to stay away from injuries and win the close games, especially the overtime ones. I’ve been around long enough to know that we’re going to win some games we shouldn’t win and lose some that perhaps we should have won. Those things always seem to balance out. “But we did well in the summer basketball program and if that is any indication, then we should have a good team.” The coaching staff will remain the same with Mike Hagg and Chris Blair on the varsity staff and Mike Battista and J.D. Wall as junior varsity coaches.

Continued from Page 40 senior Antonio Pizzuti (6-0), juniors Brandon Miller (5-8), Fargo Carmenlengo and Cameron Barchiesi and sophomore Cody Hudson (5-7). “No question that we have to find a point guard quickly,” Reitter said. “Getting the ball up and down the court is our No. 1 priority. But overall there is a real nice nucleus. The starting five will be good, but we have to find another five to nine players to put around them. “Nathan Green is going to have to be someone who needs to step-up while Justin Laugherie is going to have to continue to play good defense and be our biggest outside threat. “I think the Mathison kid will give us a little leeway to move him around and do some things. We watched him over the summer and he has a lot of potential and can really help us. But I think everyone needs to understand where he came from is a little different than Class AAA basketball.” A pair of seniors will by vying for playing time in Luke Pannet (6-3, forward) and Zach Buffington (6-6, forward) and four sophomores who Reitter says have all shown promise. That foursome, all guard/forwards, include Matt Petrosky, Noah Talbott, Austin Guiller and Chris Yachini. Junior Zach

Tweedy is also available. “Early on the kids are looking good and I believe we can be competitive,” Reitter said. “But we are going to have to come together, be cohesive, play hard and accept the roles that they are given.” Reitter points out that the schedule is as competitive as ever and strong all the way through. After hosting Parkersburg South in its opener, the Bruins will play the Patriots on a neutral court a week later in their second game. “We have to figure things out quickly because our schedule doesn’t allow us much time to play around,” Reitter quipped. “It’s tough in the beginning and doesn’t get any easier in the second half. “If the kids step up we should be all right. We have to continue to get better every week and be at our best by tournament time. We are just going to have to line up and mix it up early on and hope for the best. “But these are the games and the type of schedule I want to play to help make us better.” Reitter welcomes new assistant coaches in C.J. Besece and former Bruin Chris Baldauf. Larry Hood and John Pizutti will also assist.

Big Red Continued from Page 32 some big catches for us in football and we’re going to count on him in basketball to fill a leadership role.” “Collaros will provide some much needed assistance and we’ll Mandela Lawrence-Burke playing for us this year,” Haney said. “He (LawrenceBurke) is still recovering from a football injury but he’ll help later in the season once he gets totally healthy.” Big Red, which grabbed a Division II sectional crown before losing a heartbreaker to Dover in the district finals, has moved up to Class 5A this season in the OVAC. The 21 wins were the most achieved by a Big Red team since the 1993-1994 season. Haney, who was the Eastern District Division II coach of the year last season, faces the task of replacing “our senior leadership from last year.” Players gone via graduation are Brandon

Herring-Hill, Adam Sterling, Chris Smith and Khaliq Bougard. HerringHill and Sterling now are playing at Bethany College while Smith is competing at Wheeling Jesuit. Last season, Big Red averaged 70 points per game (the graduated seniors accounted for 42 of them) while allowing 52. Haney again will be assisted by Jeff Lombardo, Greg Bowers and Brian Pruitt. The Big Red schedule has undergone some major changes this year. Gone from the slate are East Liverpool, Buckeye Local, St. Clairsville, Minerva and Beaver Local. New additions include Canton Central Catholic, Marietta, Union Local, West Branch, Massillon Perry and New Philadelphia. “Our schedule has really stepped up and our players will have to step up

with it,” Haney noted. “We’re playing in a holiday tournament at Caldwell along with Marietta and New Lexington, two other Division II teams. We’re excited to play teams from that area of the state.” Big Red will begin with a Dec. 13 contest against Canton Central Catholic as part of the Tip-Off Classic at Malone University. “We’re getting a late start but that’s a good thing since we are doing well in football,” Haney stated. “The guys are competing at the highest level of the playoffs (Herrington, Reeves, Smith, Wolfe and Collaros all donned the pads for Big Red). “We’re happy with how things went football-wise. We’ll give our guys some time to get healthy then we will get after it on the basketball court. Canton Central Catholic is in the same boat

since its football team also made the Final Four.” Even though he lost plenty of offensive firepower, Haney still has “high expectations” for his Big Red. “Every year we look to build on the successes from the previous season,” he pointed out. “We were OVAC champs and went to the district finals. Now we want to step it up from there. Our goal is to get into the top four of the OVAC and host a playoff game. We want to win our sectional and advance to the district. “Being in 5A of the OVAC is a whole new area for us. We do play some other 5A teams and we’re excited about the change. We’re looking forward to maybe seeing Morgantown, Parkersburg or Parkersburg South in the OVAC tournament. Our guys know they have to step up their games.”

Dec. 5, 2014

Wheeling Park Patriots

Jebbia: ‘We always like to be able to advance to the state tournament’ By SHAWN RINE Basketball Preview WHEELING ä This offseason certainly wasnát the best of times for Wheeling Park boysá basketball coach Michael Jebbia. First he learned that key contributors Savion Johnson and Chalmer Moffett wouldnát be playing after each tore up a knee during football season, and then came news that both Trenton Smith and Phil Bledsoe, who has a scholarship offer from Navy, were transferring. ààLosing Chalmer and Savion hurts us so bad as far as inside presence (because) they are tough,áá Jebbia said. ààThey are probably two of the most coachable kids I have coached. ààThat is where it is going to give some other guys.áá The news eventually got better as the Patriots received word that Bledsoe was returning from Massillon Perry for his junior season. ààPhilip coming back helped us unbelievably,áá Jebbia said. Wheeling Park has four starters returning, beginning with Bledsoe (6-foot-6, 208 pounds) who averaged 11.7 and an area-leading 12.6 rebounds a night on his way to first team

All-Valley honors. ààHis conditioning and getting up and down the court has made huge strides,áá Jebbia said. ààI thought last year he would have a good year, but never envisioned he would get almost 12 rebounds. àHeás really worked on his post moves and his passing. Teams are going to double him and the skip-opposite is going to be there.áá An All-Valley honoree in his own right, sharpshooter Ryan Reinbeau (6-5, 190) really began developing an all-around game as last season, which ended at 17-8 with a loss to Parkersburg South. He averaged a team-leading 18.5 points and pulled down 5.1 rebound en route to also garnering first-team all-state recognition. ààI told him he can be an overall scorer and he has the ability to get to the foul line,áá Jebbia said. ààHeás a really good defensive rebounder and doesnát get credit for it. àWeáre going to need six or seven rebounds a game from himáá Point guard Toddy GoodwinRowe established himself as one of the better at the position in the valley once he got comfortable in the offense. He has a knack for getting into the lane,

landing on two feet and going up strong for two or a trip to the foul line. ààHe started at Linsly for two years, but itás not the same schedule we play,áá Jebbia said. ààI thought he did a nice job. He has tremendous leadership qualities, and a point guard is extension of coach.áá There may not be a more athletic player in the state than junior swingman Elijah Bell (6-2). Not only does he have the ability to get to the basket whenever he so chooses, but his long, active arms allow Park to turn turnovers into easy buckets on the other end. ààThereás no doubt that for us to win, Ryan and Phil and Elijah are going to make more shots,áá Jebbia said. ààHe was the sixth man last year and played about 17-18 minutes, and thatás going to go up. àOf course he is the best defender, but heás going to have to help us a little extra in scoring (in addition to) guarding the other teamás best player.áá The Patriots also got a boost when word came that Theo Blackston was coming back out for the team after skipping his junior season to concentrate on football. ààWe lose Savion and Chalmer,

but he will help us clean up some of the boards,áá Jebbia said. Junior Richard Cummings (60) is an ààincredibly gifted athleteáá who is being counted on to pick up his game a notch this season. Classmates Jake Laing (6-1) and Treá Saunders (5-7) are also expected to see their roles increase. ààJake can go in and help inside and get some rebounds. Heás very strong and a really coachable kid,áá Jebbia said. ààTreá is not the biggest, but he will also go in there and fight.áá Seniors Justin Akers (5-10) and Elliot OáBrien, a star lineman on the football team playing basketball for the first time in quite a while, will also have roles. Sophomore Rhett Schodzinski (6-2) and freshman Jimmy Zecca (6-0) have shown promise. ààWeáve got four good ones to start, and spots 5-10 are pretty open, so itás kind of interesting,áá Jebbia said. ààWe always like to be able to advance to the state tournament. ààOur job as coaches to put them in right spot.áá Jebbia is assisted by Tony Marvin, Dave Stahnke and Terry Payne. Shaun Black and Don Headley handle the freshmen.

2014-15 Schedule

Dec. 16: at University Dec. 19: at Riverside, 5 p.m.* Dec. 23: Vincent Warren Dec. 29: Rustin, Pa., 6 p.m.# Dec. 30: at Aliquippa, 8 p.m.# Jan. 3: Neuman-Goretti, tba@ Jan. 6: John Marshall Jan. 9: at Brooke Jan. 10: at Preston Jan. 13: at Morgantown. Jan. 16: at Pksbg. South Jan. 21: University Jan. 24: at Zanesville, 6 p.m. Jan. 30: at Steubenville Feb. 3: Brooke Feb. 6: Pksbg. South Feb. 7: Preston Feb. 10: at John Marshall Feb. 13: Morgantown Feb. 28: South Charleston *-Hoops Classic in Charleston #-Aliquippa Classic @-CRC at WJU

Dec. 5, 2014

Creek Continued from Page 36 up this year — Jabari Taylor, Nick Crawford and Aaron Robinson. Foldi is the team’s top returning scorer. He averaged eight points a game, and led the team with 83 rebounds. Connor recorded 10 points and five rebounds a game, but he only played in four games last season. “To be successful this year we have to get a lot better than we are right now,” Dunlevy said. “Our first scrimmage was a disaster. “We just need to keep on improving. Like they say, basketball season is not a sprint. It is a marathon. We have smart kids. We have kids who work hard. I think that helps. It is good to have smart kids. “We will pretty much do what we always do. We will run a motion offense, and we will play man-toman on defense. That is pretty much it. I always say we don’t do a lot, but what we do do we try to do well.” Dunlevy added his team is getting

to where it should be heading into the new campaign. “We are getting there,” he said. “We have had kids with injuries.” As usual, the Redskins play a tough schedule. “Our non-conference schedule is Brooke, Carrollton and Steubenville, and all three of those teams are going to be very good,” Dunlevy said. “As far as our conference schedule goes, I think it is going to be a pretty good year for the Buckeye 8. There are some outstanding teams in the league. “Union Local is very good. They are not on our schedule, but they will be very good in the southern part of the league. We have picked up Beaver Local and East Liverpool. They will be a big challenge. It is a challenging schedule.” Each team on the Redskins’ slate this season brings something different to the table. “I do like it,” Dunlevy said about

his team’s schedule. “We play our local rivals — Edison, Harrison Central, Buckeye Local and Steubenville. Those games are always fun. We also play Martins Ferry, St. Clairsville, East Liverpool and Beaver Local. Those are all good teams. “They all play different styles. In basketball, everybody makes the tournament. Playing these teams will help us prepare for the tournament. It helps to play good teams with different styles.” This is the first season for the Beavers and the Potters in the Buckeye 8. “One thing you have to have is good leadership,” Dunlevy said. “We have that. Zach Connor was the middle linebacker on the football team. We have two of the kids who were quarterback on the football team. I like have players like that. I think that is important. Zach Connor is a good leader.”

Dunlevy hopes to have Connor in the lineup all season this year. “Zach did not have an injury last year,” Dunlevy said. “He needed to have an operation. It had to be done when it was done. He played well when we got him back at the end of the year. I look forward to him playing a full year. “He is a tough kid. He is a leader. It is nice having a middle linebacker on your team. They are tough kids, and they see things. They are like a catcher in baseball. They see things.” Dunlevy is assisted by Rob Lucas, Mike Furda and Rich Morelli this year. “Our team goals are to play hard every minute of every game and to make our community proud of us,” Dunlevy said. If the past is an indication, achieving those two goals will not be a problem for Indian Creek this season.

Central Continued from Page 34 right now they are visually missed on the floor. We miss their leadership and their experience at the varsity level.” This year’s CCHS squad will have no seniors. The top returner is guard Tony Barber, who averaged 4.7 points per game a season ago. “I look for him, based on his experience, to be a huge leader for us,” Tucker noted. “We’ll count on him to get everybody comfortable in their varsity roles. He saw a ton of varsity time for us last season and he will need to be our leader.” Juniors Jacob Rigaud, Brandon Svec and James Howard will all “see a lot of floor time” for the Crusaders. “I look for Rigaud to have an impact for us,” Tucker pointed out. “He was a role player for us as a sophomore but he saw considerable varsity action. “James (Howard) has been dealing with injuries the last two seasons and he’s still not 100 percent healthy

yet. He looked good in two of our three scrimmages and he is a force on the boards. We hope he continues to buy into the fact that his comfort zone is in the paint and on the boards. We expect a lot out of Brandon. If he’s doing something wrong, he’ll come to you and ask to work on it after practice.” Sophomore Jake Bolger is the top candidate to replace M. Barber, a three-year starter, at point guard. Fellow sophomore Joe Sanford will see time at a forward position. “Jake can run the point for us but there are growing pains there since he has never played at the speed of the varsity game,” Central’s court boss stated. “He’s working hard to correct his mistakes and we continue to be patient with him. Sanford is working extremely hard and he can play inside or outside for us. His game at this time is more suited to playing inside.” Tucker noted sophomore Austin Fowkes “improved immensely through the summer” and the coach

expects him “to play a big role for us this season.” “We’re looking for him to have an impact,” Tucker said.” Nate Kilonsky and Kevin Wells round out Central’s group of sophomores. Tucker noted freshmen A.J. Connor, Don Vanderborne and Joe Zinno “may see some varsity time before the season ends,” “This group is working hard as a team,” Tucker stressed. “They have an opportunity to be very successful once we settle into our roles. We’re looking to go eight deep once the season gets started and there is a chance that we may be able to go nine deep.” Tucker again will be assisted by Joe Ribar and Michael Barber. Central opens its season today with a road trip to Toronto. The youth factor, Tucker commented, can be “trying for both the coaches and the players.” “They (the players) are working so hard but they’re not seeing immediate satisfaction. They’re just not

consistent yet,” he said. “That can be frustrating for both the players and the coaches. As coaches, we have to make sure we are being positive with this group. “The kids are doing everything we ask them to do. We as coaches have to work to keep them buying into what we are selling.” Tucker thinks his young Crusaders could very well surprise some people once the season gets going. “Coach Ribar and I were talking and I set a few goals for this team,” he said. “By the end of the season, we want them to be 10 times stronger both physically and mentally and playing better basketball than we did on Dec. 5. “This group of kids is willing to the put the time and work hard. The players listen and they work hard on the fundamentals. This might be the least experienced team we’ve had at Central but I believe their win, loss record is going to surprise some people.”

Dec. 5, 2014

Buckeye Continued from Page 46 one of those players who knows what he needs to do. (Ryan) Moffo was the young guy last year, but we are looking for big things from him this season. Hopefully, we will find a way to get the ball in his hands. “It’s going to be tough, but we will do what we have to do. We’re going to do a lot around those two returners we have.” Heading a large senior contingent is returning letter winner Damion Beall. The forward scored four points per game last season and was a key player

on defense. Buckeye’s senior group also includes guard Tommy Fish, guard Brandon Panepucci, forward Tyler Miller, forward Ryan Faulkner, guard Brendan Bobo and forward Logan Dehnart. Moffo leads a group of juniors that includes some who will be opening the season with the varsity. Juniors looking to play a big role with the Buckeye varsity attack this season are guard Cayden Hennen and guard Brandon Mayle. Guards Bobby Myers and Chayce Dufrasne will open

the campaign on the JV club, but could work their way to the next level. “We will probably go initially with a 6-to-7 man rotation. We will try to speed up the game when we can and we’ll press a little. We may change our style of play because of the personnel we have this year. We are real young and not very deep on the bench.” Two sophomores will play major roles at the varsity level with the return of versatile guard Jared Moore and 6-7 center Matthew Carducci. “Carducci, if he doesn’t start, will

probably find his way to that level. He has improved drastically over the summer. His work ethic has improved. His confidence level has improved. It will be good having a big man knowing the inside and out.” Haberfield returns a veteran staff in varsity assistant, Joe Soos, along with jayvee coach Chris Heaton, freshmen coach Tom Thompson and a junior high staff that includes Rob Hennebert, seventh grade head coach, Jeremy Millard, eighth grade head coach and assistants Geno Cesario and Chad Buksa.

Dec. 5, 2014

Wildcats Continued from Page 38 “Our starting lineup continues to change daily,” Moses said. “You could make a case for 10 or 11 guys to be in the starting lineup. The kids are competing daily for playing time, which is hopefully making each kid better.” No matter who starts and who comes off of the bench for Edison, the Wildcats will be able to have a talented group of players on the court at all times this season. Moses said his team’s strength this season is its “depth.” The Wildcats will rely on its depth

as Edison looks to improve on last year’s performance. Asked what he would consider being a success season this year for his team, Moses simply replied “consistency.” How do the Wildcats plan on having a successful season this year? The answer is by being “more consistent,” Moses said. Moses said his team’s goal is “to go 1-0 in our first game.” Edison opens the regular season with three straight away games. Edison’s first home game is scheduled for

Dec. 19 against Beaver Local. Moses said he likes his team’s schedule this season. “Yes, our schedule allows us to see a lot of different teams throughout the valley and our holiday tournament allows us to play some different teams outside the valley,” he said. “The addition of Beaver and East Liverpool makes sense for us. We are real close size wise and geographically. Both teams are well coached and both additions strengthen the Buckeye 8.” The Wildcats were continuing to

work hard in their final week of practice before the start of the regular season. “We still got a lot of work to do,” Moses said. “We are not close to being a finished product.” This season, Moses is assisted by Steve Eft, Ron Durbin and Cory Wickham. “Last year is in the past,” Moses said. “We did develop some depth and put a lot of our young kids in key positions that hopefully they can continue to build on.”

Dec. 5, 2014

Bears Continued from Page 47 coach the past seven years. “I coached the junior varsity under Vince Gilliam and Dave (Smith) and learned a lot from both of them,” Everly, a Fairmont State grad and teacher of the option pathway program at the John D. Rockefeller Center, explained. “I hope I can implement some of what I learned into the program this year.” Juniors Aaron Gray (6-4) and Cyle Perez (6-3) are letter winners who are likely to be in the starting lineup when the Golden Bears open the sea-

son at home against Hancock County rival Weir High on Dec. 9 in the Oak Glen Fieldhouse. Senior Cole Beaver is up from the junior varsity and Everly feels he’ll need contributions from a quintet of sophomores including Noah Feicht (61), Shane Theiss (6-1), Jeff Rice (5-9), Logan Taylor (6-0) and Marques McHaffie (5-10). “Brennan and Tyler are our leaders. We have only two juniors, so the younger kids have to step up when they come off the bench. I know it’s

not easy because the speed of the game goes up and so does the physical part with each step up to varsity. It will be interesting with our sophomores. It is one thing to play well at the JV level and another to step in there and play varsity.” Everly said he doesn’t want the Golden Bears to be known as a half court offensive team. “I think the kids will be in good enough shape to run the court and I know that is the style of basketball they want to play,” said Everly.

“Defensively, we plan to apply a lot of pressure. We want the other team to be uncomfortable so we’ll get in their faces. We’ll press and trap. “The key for us, though, is improving our shooting. That has been a big focus for us and the kids have worked hard on it.” Everly said Perez and Gray were starters on the Oak Glen football team and he expects them to be physical on the inside and get on the boards. Brian Hissam and Jered Gamble are Everly’s assistants.