Basketball Preview 2015-16

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Dec. 4, 2015

Index 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

Dec. 4, 2015

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Steubenville Big Red

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, Nov. 20 Howland Monday, Nov. 23 at Fort Frye Wednesday, Nov. 25 at Buckeye Local Monday, Nov. 30 at Claymont Thursday, Dec. 3 John Marshall Monday, Dec. 7 at Catholic Central Thursday, Dec. 10 at Weir High Monday, Dec. 14 Brooke Wednesday, Dec. 16 Edison Monday, Dec. 21 at Youngstown East, Noon Tuesday, Dec. 29 Claymont, 1:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 30 Harrison Central, 1:30 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 4 St. Clairsville Thursday, Jan. 7 Weir High Wednesday, Jan. 13 at Brooke Monday, Jan. 18 Fort Frye, 5 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 20 at East Liverpool Thursday, Jan. 21 Catholic Central Monday, Jan. 25 at Harrison Central Wednesday, Jan. 27 at John Marshall Feb. 1-6 OVAC Week

“Our goal is to be one of the best defensive teams in the area ...”

By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview STEUBENVILLE — Four games into his first season as the Big Red girls basketball coach, Jeff Lombardo admits he’s happy with the performance of his team.

“After four games (Big Red took a 3-1 record in Thursday’s contest with John Marshall), the effort the girls have put in during practice has shown,” said Lombardo, who spent the past three seasons as the SHS boys varsity assistant. “In our two wins, the girls’ conditioning carried us in both four quarters. Our defensive effort has been great and we can still improve fundamentally on that end. But, I’ve been happy with the amount of turnovers we have been creating.”

The lone setback came on the road at highly-regarded Fort Frye.

“The one positive from our loss at Fort Frye was that we were able to force 25 turnovers and finish plus four on that end,” Lombardo noted. “However, we need to do a better job of limiting our own turnovers and finishing

in transition when we do get steals.

“The Howland win was a good barometer to show how much the girls have improved

last season when we lost to them by double digits and were never really in the game. Similarly, the Fort Frye game showed us how

much room for growth we still have. Fort Frye is a great team and does all of the little See BIG RED Page 17 ➪

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Dec. 4, 2015

Weir Red Riders

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

“We’re looking to take advantage of the experience we have.”

By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WEIRTON — Rick Stead is the new head girls basketball coach at Weir High and he already has scored a win with 20 girls out for the team.

Stead is taking over for long-time coach, Bill Smith, who retired after last year’s 2-19 season and inherits four starters around which to build a winning attitude.

“The girls have a good attitude and are buying into what we’re trying to do,” said Stead, a Weir High graduate, who excelled at football and basketball for the Red Riders.

“We’re looking to take advantage of the experience we have.”

The four returning starters are senior Melissa Kelly, junior Fran Farran and sophomores Allison Phillips and Bailey Stead, the coach’s daughter. In addition to those four, Stead has two other letter winners in seniors Asharay Smith and Rachel Zapotoczny.

“That gives us six of our

top seven girls back from last year,” Stead explained.

“And we have a couple others that got a little experience last year in Lexi Brenneman and Shakira Elmore.”

The seventh player was Stead’s older daughter, Raegan Stead, who now is play-

ing at the Fransiscan University of Steubenville.

Raegan is one of the top all-time scorers at Weir High averaging 26 points a game last year as a senior.

She also led the Lady Riders in just about every other statistic, too. She finished

with 1,328 points in her four-year high school career.

That will be a lot of points and rebounds for Stead to make up, but he is confident his girls can do it.

See WEIR HIGH Page 22 ➪

Tuesday, Dec. 1 Oak Glen Friday, Dec. 4 Brooke Thursday, Dec. 10 Steubenville Monday, Dec. 14 at Edison Thursday, Dec. 17 at East Liverpool, 5:45 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 21 Toronto Monday, Dec. 28 at Martins Ferry Saturday, Jan. 2 at Avella (V), 11 a.m.

Monday, Jan. 4 at Bishop Donahue Thursday, Jan. 7 at Steubenville Monday, Jan. 11 Steubenville Catholic Central Thursday, Jan. 14 Madonna Saturday, Jan. 16 Martins Ferry, Noon Monday, Jan. 18 Edison Thursday, Jan. 21 at Oak Glen Monday, Jan. 25 East Liverpool Thursday, Jan. 28 Bishop Donahue Feb. 1-6 OVAC Week Monday, Feb. 8 at Toronto Thursday, Feb. 11 at Madonna (City Champ) Thursday, Feb. 18 at Brooke, 5:45 p.m.

Dec. 4, 2015

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2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, Nov. 20 at Harrison Central Monday, Nov. 30 Edison Thursday, Dec. 3 St. John Central Monday, Dec. 7 Steubenville Wednesday, Dec. 9 at Oak Glen Monday, Dec. 14 Bishop Donahue (V), 7 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 17 at Toronto Saturday, Dec. 19 Bridgeport, Noon Monday, Dec. 21 at St. John Central, 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 23 Harrison Central Dec. 29-30 at Holiday Tournament (Oak Glen/Morgantown Trinity), tba Monday, Jan. 4 at Bridgeport Thursday, Jan. 7 at Madonna Monday, Jan. 11 at Weir High Thursday, Jan. 14 Tusky Central Catholic Monday, Jan. 18 Newcomerstown Thursday, Jan. 21 at Steubenville Wednesday, Jan. 27 at Indian Creek Thursday, Jan. 28 Toronto Feb. 2-6 OVAC Week

Catholic Central Crusaders

“ ... the players must start believing in themselves and play as a team.”

By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview STEUBENVILLE — The Catholic Central girls basketball team stands at 1-1 after two games and second-year coach Jess Looman realizes her Crusaders must continue to improve.

“Two games into our season, we see several areas where we need to improve, especially when it comes to shooting and playing defense,” said Looman, whose club dropped its opener to Harrison Central before defeating Edison. “The girls come to practice every day and work hard so we know with time the little things will start falling into place.”

Central, which finished 914 in Looman’s first season and dropped a 58-57 heartbreaker to Shadyside in Division IV sectional play, began a tough stretch Thursday with a home game against Bellaire St. John. The Crusaders will Big Red Monday before visiting Oak Glen Wednesday.

“We have a very tough schedule this year but the girls are excited about the challenge,” Looman stated.

“We have a lot of potential on

COURTESY NEWBROUGH PHOTO this team but the players must start believing in themselves and play as a team.

“Unlike a lot of teams on our schedule, we don’t really have a go-to player. We do have good, solid players who know the game, want to compete and are beginning to understand their roles.

They’re hungry for success and hopefully they can hang on to that hunger for the remainder of the season.”

When practice began in October, Looman, who is again being assisted by Natasha Canella and Jess Meadows, welcomed nine letter winners. Four-year letter

winner Miranda Parkinson was the only starter from 2014-2015 lost to graduation.

Returning were seniors Haley Hartzell and Nicole Virtue, juniors Brittany Bertoia, Gabby Capaldi, Natalie Mastroianni, Shayna See CRUSADERS Page 15 ➪

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Dec. 4, 2015

Madonna Blue Dons

“ ... all are competing for a common goal — winning basketball.”

By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WEIRTON — When a coach has seven freshmen and sophomores on a 10-player roster there could be a certain amount of concern, but Madonna girls basketball coach Don Ogden is optimistic that his 2014-15 team will be solid.

Ogden has three seasoned seniors including Monica Bragg, who is one of the top Class A players in the state.

Bragg recently signed to attend West Liberty University to play basketball.

“We’ll have to be patient with the freshmen,” said Ogden, who will have to start at least one of them. “They are a very talented group, but freshmen sometimes run into some problems when playing against good older girls.”

Ogden, a veteran of six seasons at Madonna, feels that Bragg along with two other starting seniors from the 13-9 club of a year ago, have the talent to make it easier for the freshmen to adjust to varsity competition.

Bragg averaged 22 points and 14 rebounds a game last

year and this will be her fourth year in the starting lineup. Classmates Mikaela Lenhart and Katie Lammers are returning starters and sophomore Kasey Canei was the first player off the bench as a freshman and started some.

“Already, the chemistry of

this team is fantastic,” Ogden exclaimed. “The girls all get along with each other and all are competing for a common goal — winning basketball.

And they’re having fun while doing it.

“This is the first time in three years we’ve had seniors.”

Lammers was a first team All-OVAC player a year ago and works hard in the post for the Lady Blue Dons.

“Katie is working hard and providing a lot of leadership to this team,” Ogden commented.

See MADONNA Page 20 ➪

2015-16 Schedule (All 7 p.m. varsity starts unless noted)

Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Morgantown Trinity Thursday, Dec. 10 at Bishop Donahue Monday, Dec. 14 at Clay-Battelle Thursday, Dec. 17 at Tusky Catholic Saturday, Dec. 19 at Magnolia, 5 p.m.

Dec. 29-30 at Undo’s Tournament (Bishop Rosecrans, 4 p.m./tba) Saturday, Jan. 2 at Oak Glen, 6 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 4 Toronto Thursday, Jan. 7 Steubenville Central Saturday, Jan. 9 St. Marys Noon Monday, Jan. 11 Clay-Battelle (V) Thursday, Jan. 14 at Weir Saturday, Jan. 16 Parkersburg Catholic, Noon Monday, Jan. 18 Oak Glen Thursday, Jan. 21 at Toronto Monday, Jan. 25 Morgantown Trinity Feb. 2-6 OVAC Week tba Monday, Feb. 8 Magnolia Thursday, Feb. 11 Weir (City Champ) Saturday, Feb. 13 Charleston Catholic, Noon

Dec. 4, 2015

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Indian Creek Redskins

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, Nov. 20 St. John Central Monday, Nov. 23 at Cambridge Monday, Nov. 30 at Harrison Central Thursday, Dec. 3 at Edison Monday, Dec. 7 Beaver Local Thursday, Dec. 10 Brooke Monday, Dec. 14 at East Liverpool Thursday, Dec. 17 Buckeye Local Monday, Dec. 21 Edison Wednesday, Dec. 30 St. Clairsville Monday, Jan. 4 at Beaver Local Thursday, Jan. 7John Marshall Saturday, Jan. 9 at St. Clairsville, 3 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 11 East Liverpool Thursday, Jan. 14 at Buckeye Local Thursday, Jan. 21 at Brooke, 5:45 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 23 Buckeye 8 Game, tba Monday, Jan. 25 at St. John Central, 5:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 27 Steubenville Catholic Thursday, Jan. 28 at John Marshall, 5:45 p.m.

Feb. 1-6 OVAC Week

“Our numbers are up and we are pleased to have 22 players ...”

By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview WINTERSVILLE — After three games, veteran Indian Creek girls coach Erin DeSantis is starting to “see a light clicking on” with her young basketball team.

“They’re beginning to understand and starting to buy into what we want to do,” she noted. “We’re improving.

There’s still a lot we need to work on but the light is clicking on with them. We opened the season with three brutal games (contests with Bellaire St. John, Cambridge and Harrison Central).”

“Our freshmen are learning and gaining some valuable experience. It’s hard to make that jump from junior high to varsity. Things they could do in junior high are just a little harder to do at this level.”

DeSantis has a roster that features just two seniors (Bethany Davis and Alaina Taylor) along with two juniors (Madison Smith and Kaitlyn Whitaker).

“We will be depending on the two seniors and our two juniors to fill leadership

COURTESY NEWBROUGH PHOTO roles,” she pointed out.

Davis, a four-year starter, has been Creek’s scoring leader in the first three games. DeSantis and company visited Edison Thursday, looking to earn their first victory.

“She (Davis) definitely is

the leader of this team,” DeSantis pointed out.

A season ago, the Redskins finished 11-11, bowing in the Division II sectional final to Maysville. Gone from that team is Bre Berryman, who scored more than 1,000 points and hauled down more than

1,000 rebounds during her four years as a Redskin.

“We are returning four starters from last year who understand the importance of taking the younger girls under their wings,” DeSantis See REDSKINS Page 22 ➪

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Dec. 4, 2015

Toronto Red Knights

“These girls are competitive and do whatever we ask of them.”

By MATTHEW PEASLEE Basketball Preview TORONTO — In order for the Toronto girls basketball team to improve on a 5-16 season, it’ll need its three experienced seniors to step up.

Lindsey Winstel, Miranda Robinson and Josey Jones have been in the Red Knights program for a while and now is the time to shine.

It’ll be especially important, because there are no juniors on the team.

“We’re going to be focused on what we can do and who we are, and hopefully that takes care of itself on the court,” said Toronto head coach Mallory Blanton, in her seventh year leading the team.

Robinson will handle duties at points guard for the first time in her career. Jones will also be a guard, while Winstel controls the post.

“Those three seniors are our leaders,” Blanton said.

“They’ve been with us for three years and they know what we want. They’ve been a big help guiding our younger girls.

“This is Miranda’s first

COURTESY NEWBROUGH PHOTO time at setting up the offense from point guard. She’s trying to find out how to handle the pressure, Blanton said the team consists of, “mostly sophomores” and she is already seeing that younger crew come into its own. Jenna Leasure and Gina

Fogle are two of the sophomores who will be the Red Knights’ biggest scoring threats.

“Gina is very tough and Jenna, offensively, has been working on her moves around the basket,” Blanton said.

Rounding out the roster

are sophomores Samantha Swearingen, Sydney Taggart, Anna Holloway and Maisie Swartz. Freshmen Bianca McDonald, Kaliyah McEwen, Misty Davis and Jozaeyah Jordan may also see action.

See TORONTO Page 15 ➪

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Monday, Nov. 23 Malvern Wednesday Nov. 25 Edison Monday Nov. 30 Bridgeport Thursday Dec. 3 Bishop Donahue (V), 7 p.m.

Thursday Dec. 10 at St. John Central Saturday Dec. 12 at Frontier, 1 p.m.

Wednesday Dec. 16 at Bridgeport Thursday Dec. 17 Steubenville Central Monday Dec. 21 at Weir Wednesday Dec. 23 at Edison Monday Jan. 4 at Madonna Thursday Jan. 7 St. John Central Saturday Jan. 9 Frontier, 1 p.m.

Monday Jan. 11 at Bishop Donahue (V), 7 p.m.

Wednesday Jan. 13 at Oak Glen Thursday Jan. 21 Madonna Monday Jan. 25 Linsly Thursday Jan. 28 at Steubenville Central Feb. 1-6 OVAC Week Monday, Feb. 8 Weir Wednesday, Feb. 10 Southern Local

Dec. 4, 2015

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Edison Wildcats

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Saturday, Nov. 21 at St. Clairsville, 12:30 p.m.

Monday, Nov. 23 Harrison Central Wednesday, Nov. 25 at Toronto Monday, Nov. 30 at Steubenville Central Thursday, Dec. 3 Indian Creek Monday, Dec. 7 at East Liverpool Thursday, Dec. 10 Buckeye Local Monday, Dec. 14 Weir Wednesday, Dec. 16 at Steubenville Thursday, Dec. 17 at Beaver Local, 5:45 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 21 at Indian Creek Wednesday, Dec. 23 Toronto Monday, Dec. 28 at Brooke, Noon Monday, Jan. 4 East Liverpool Thursday, Jan. 7 at Buckeye Local Monday, Jan. 11 Brooke Thursday, Jan. 14 Beaver Local, 5:30 p.m.

Monday, Jan. 18 at Weir Thursday, Jan. 21 Martins Ferry Saturday, Jan. 23 Buckeye 8 Championships, tba Feb. 1-6 OVAC Week

“Team strengths are our team defense and the versatility ...”

By AARON PETCHAL Basketball Preview RICHMOND — It is a season of change for the Edison girls’ basketball team.

This year Ryan Powell, who spent the previous two seasons as head coach of the boys’ basketball team out at Conotton Valley, takes over the head coaching duties of the Wildcats from former head coach Jason Ensinger, who spent three years at the helm of the team.

“We are a very young team with only one senior who did not play last season,” Powell said. “We have also been dealing with some early season injuries that have required us to juggle and adjust our rotations at the beginning of the year. We are off to a slower start than we had hoped for.

Most of our girls are seeing their first varsity action as starters.”

The Wildcats lost four seniors — guards Amara Proffitt and Ashlee Miller and forwards Paige Reynolds and Kaylinn Drabick — from last year’s team which ended the season with a record of 8-15.

“We are learning a new

COURTESY RICH CERNANSKY system,” said Powell. “Our goal is to get better each day and see where that takes us.”

Edison returns five lettermen this season. They are juniors Skylar Fankhauser, who is a two-year lettermen, Rachel Cline, Charli McConnell, Sarah Anderson

and sophomore Kayla Huff.

Fankhauser and McConnell are guards, Huff is a guard/forward and Cline is a forward.

The Wildcats do not have a set starting five. Six players will be competing for the five starting spots. Those players

are McConnell, Fankhauser, Huff, Cline, senior forward Madison Carpenter and sophomore forward Sami Springer.

Anderson, along with junior guard Madison Shannon, See EDISON Page 20 ➪

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Dec. 4, 2015

Harrison Central Huskies

“We know we are going to have a target on our back.”

By AARON PETCHAL Basketball Preview CADIZ — The Harrison Central girls’ basketball team is looking to achieve a double three-peat this season.

“It (the season) is going well so far,” head coach Nick Yourkovich said. “We have started 3-0, but more importantly we have improved in some aspect in each game.

Our defense is ahead of schedule, and I think that our girls are starting to put things together offensively. Being 30 is nice, but we need to realize we still need to improve to reach some of the goals we have set.”

The Huskies enter this season coming off of a 19-6 season in which Harrison Central captured the OVAC 4A Tournament championship as well as willing an Ohio Division III Eastern District Sectional championship for the second straight season.

“Every opponent on our schedule this season knows we won the past two OVAC 4A championships and when it comes time for the tournament those team know we have two straight sectional

COURTESY ACTION IMAGES titles,” Yourkovich said. “We know we are going to have a target on our back.

“At the same time, last year was last year. It is over with.

It is nice to win those things, but all of those medals, trophies and banners we won are

just nice decorations now.”

Though the Huskies only lost one senior from last year’s team, Harrison Central will have a very difficult time trying to replace her. Her of course being standout Katie Ellzy, who graduated as the

school’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder. Ellzy, who was named First Team AllState last year, signed to play softball at Robert Morris.

Ellzy was also a standout See HUSKIES Page 16 ➪

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Saturday, Nov. 20 Steubenville Central Wednesday, Nov. 23 at Edison Wednesday, Nov. 30 Indian Creek Thursday, Dec. 3 Bellaire Monday, Dec. 7 at Martins Ferry Thursday, Dec. 10 St. Clairsville Saturday, Dec. 12 at Linsly, 1 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 17 Union Local Monday, Dec. 21 at Bellaire Wednesday, Dec. 23 at Steubenville Central Monday, Dec. 28 at Malvern Wednesday, Dec. 30 at Steubenville Monday, Jan. 4 Martins Ferry Thursday, Jan. 7 at St. Clairsville Thursday, Jan. 14 at Union Local Monday, Jan. 18 Garaway Wednesday, Jan. 20 at Buckeye Local Saturday, Jan. 23 Buckeye 8 Championship, tba Monday, Jan. 25 Steubenville Feb. 1-6 OVAC Week

Dec. 4, 2015

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Brooke Bruins

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 5:45 unless noted)

Wednesday, Dec. 2 at East Liverpool Friday, Dec. 4 at Weir, 6 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 7 at John Marshall Thursday, Dec. 10 at Indian Creek, 6 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 12 Oak Glen, Noon Monday, Dec. 14 at Steubenville, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 15 Wheeling Park Monday, Dec. 28 Edison, Noon Monday, Jan. 4 at Wheeling Park Tuesday, Jan. 5 at Morgantown Monday, Jan. 11 at Edison, 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 13 Steubenville Tuesday, Jan. 19 at University Thursday, Jan. 21 Indian Creek Monday, Jan. 25 John Marshall Saturday, Jan. 20 Ringgold, Noon Feb. 1-4 OVAC Week Friday, Feb. 12 Parkersburg South Monday, Feb. 15 at Oak Glen, 6 p.m.

Wednesday Feb. 17 University Thursday, Feb. 18 Weir

“We have to work on cutting down on our turnovers.”

By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WELLSBURG — Brooke girls basketball coach Ryan Scherich knows there won’t be another Angela Staffileno for a long, long time, but he’s still working hard to put a winning basketball team together without her.

“You can never replace an Angela Staffileno,” Scherich said. “There may never be a player like that walking the halls of this school for another 30 years. She not only was a great scorer, but a team player always doing what was best for the team.”

Staffileno, who was a four-year starter and All State selection, is continueing her basketball career at the next level as a member of the Lady Dukes at Division 1 Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

She finished her career at Brooke as the leading scorer in school history for both girls and boys. She scored 1,889 points and grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds while averaging a doubledouble every time out.

Scherich hopes he can

somehow fill at least some of the 26 points and 10 rebounds a game he enjoyed with Staffileno in the lineup the past four years and he‘ll start out with two starters

from last year in Payge Farmer and Gabby Velegol.

He also has four other letter winners and some promising girls up from the junior varsity along with a couple

of freshmen that Scherich feels have a chance to perhaps get into a varsity uniform by the end of the seaSee BROOKE Page 27 ➪

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Dec. 4, 2015

Crusaders Mirabella and Samm Simmons along with sophomores Grace Godich and Tia Taglione.

Bertoia, who started at point guard as a sophomore, led Central in scoring a season ago, averaging 8.8 points per game. She also dished out an average of 2.3 assists and recorded 3.2 steals per outing. Simmons was second in scoring at 8.3 points per game pulled down 9.5 rebounds. Capaldi scored 7.9 points per game and had 23 three-pointers.

Bertoia and Simmons both earned honorable mention all-district honors.

“Even though we have experience, we still are young from a grade standpoint,” Looman noted. “Seven of our nine returning letter winners are either juniors or sophomores. So, there’s still a lot of work to do, but the coaching staff is excited about the potential these girls have.

“The girls worked hard in the offseason and we played in the tough Wheeling league.

That experience should pay off for us somewhere down the road this season.”

Toronto Continued from Page 6

Continued from Page 9

Looman also has freshmen Emma Borden, Karmen DiBiase, Christine Dombrowski, Haley Olesky and Julia Zatta.

“This freshman group has some real potential ,” Looman commented. “We’re excited to watch them develop and grow as a unit.

They’ve looked very good in the first two junior varsity games.”

New additions to the Central schedule this year are Harrison Central, Newcomerstown, Edison, Indian Creek, Bishop Donahue and Tuscarawas Central Catholic.

“We’re optimistic about being able to build off the success we had last season,” Looman said. “After learning a whole new system and dealing with a new coaching staff, the girls now are aware of what we expect from them.

“We’ve started both our games this year kind of slow and a little hesitant. The girls know they need to find a way to prove to themselves and their fans that they can be a good team, can achieve success and can compete with the tough opponents we’ll be facing.”

“These girls are competitive and do whatever we ask of them.

They have so much heart and show so much hustle. They never give less than 110 percent everyday. Their character and ability to pick up one another is remarkable and I commend them on their hard work and effort.”

The Red Knights opened the season on Nov. 23 at home, facing Malvern, one of the top teams in Division IV. Toronto was originally schedule to play Conotton Valley, but its girls basketball program folded due to lack of participation this year.

With a slow start to the season, Toronto will have to get back on track quickly if it has hopes to duplicate recent success. In 2012-13, the Red Knights won 14 games and, two years ago, the Red Knights went 12-10 and won their first postseason game in nearly a decade, knocking off Bellaire St. John, 54-51.

Two senior starters have graduated from last year’s team.

They are Makayla Baumann and Malaysia Harrison, who is now playing collegiately at Blanton’s alma mater, Muskingum University. Harrison was an Eastern District honorable mention in 2015 and the team’s leading scorer for the past two years, so finding her replacement will be key in the early part of the season.

“The girls never stop,” Blanton said. “That’s all we can ask of them.”

Brianna Cooper has also graduated from Toronto.

Dec. 4, 2015

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Huskies Continued from Page 11 pitcher during her time at Harrison Central.

This season the Huskies return seven lettermen to lead the way.

“I believe our biggest strength is our experience in terms of game action,” Yourkovich said. “We have a lot of girls on this team that have played major varsity minutes in the past few seasons. That type of experience is invaluable. They have been involved in every sort of game and game situation you could imagine. They are very prepared to handle almost anything that comes their way.”

Harrison Central is starting three seniors and two juniors this season.

The seniors are Paige Richards, Shianne Nameth and D.J. Keesey, while the juniors are Alexia Dowdle and Maddy Doty. Richards is in her third season as the team’s point guard, Nameth is one of the top sharp-shooters in the area, Keesey will replace Ellzy at

center and Dowdle and Doty are guards.

Also expected to see time on the court this season for the Huskies are juniors Megan Stackhouse (forward), Alexis Yoho (guard), Hannah Warrington (guard), Morgan Carter (guard), Ashley Mencer (forward) and Rachel Morrison (forward), and sophomore Emilee Yoho (guard).

“I knew coming into the season that putting everything together was going to be a process,” Yourkovich said. “I thought our offense would click before the defense, but it has been the other way. Neither aspect is near where it needs to be, but each game we have improved and the girls have been focusing on what the staff is telling them. We are definitely headed in the right direction.”

The other sophomores are guards Abby Dowdle and Shelbie Mitchell and forward Taylor Hunt.

Harrison Central also has six freshmen this season. They are Joclyn Peshek, Kylie Hyrie, Marina Miller, Asia Muckle, Jara Madzia and Sydney Starr.

“The biggest goal every year for me is having the team playing the best basketball possible at the end of the season,” Yourkovich said. “Obviously we want the chance to defend our OVAC title by getting into the field of 4 with a home game. Every year the girls tell me they want to make it further than the previous year, so I guess that could be a goal.”

“We are going to need everyone to contribute, from No. 1 to No. 15. Everyone needs to accept their role and do that role to the best of their ability. We need to rely on and trust our teammates. We lost a very important player in Katie Ellzy. It is going to take a little more from everyone to make up for her production. It has to be all about the

team, and nothing else.”

Yourkovich is assisted by John Visser, Jay Smith and Sarah Hawthorne.

“We are going to have girls who did not take a lot of shots last year to take more shots this year,” Yourkovich said.

“D.J. Keesey has really come on for us.

She is going to play inside. She has become our go-to post player.

“Before the season, I talked to our three returning starters from last year, and I asked them what they thought we needed to do to have success this season, and they rambled off a few things and none of them were close to what I was thinking.

“I told them they just needed to score four more points a game. I told them they just had to score two more buckets a game.

“Katie averaged 20 points and 12-15 rebounds a game last year. I told them they can’t do it by themselves. We have to do it as a team.”

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Dec. 4, 2015

Big Red Continued from Page 4 things — the basketball gods are smiling every time they play.”

Lombardo inherited four returning starters from the 2014-2015 Big Red team which finished at 13-11 and lost to Minerva in the Division II sectional final.

“We have an experienced team,” he said. “We want to play a fast-paced, aggressive style of basketball on both ends of the floor.

“Our goal is to be one of the best defensive teams in the area and win on the defensive and offensive boards.”

Big Red is led by seniors Lysaih Rice, Hannah Masloski, Tenia Barker, Amyrah Forte, Janelle Dokes, Oceana Agresta and Elise Watts.

Also returning is junior Rhiannon Petrisko and sophomore Jaliyah Hubbard.

“Lysaih is our leader when it comes to production,” Lombardo said of the four-year letter winner who reached the 1,000 point mark in Monday’s vic-

tory over Claymont. “We are challenging her to be the best player on the floor, in every game, on both ends.”

Rice, who became the eighth player in Big Red girls basketball history to achieve the coveted scoring plateau, recently signed a letter of intent to attend Pitt and run track.

“Hannah was the distributor last year, but this year we are counting on her to be more aggressive as a scorer to go along with Lysaih and Rhiannon (second-leading scorer at 11 points per game),” Lombardo continued.

“Tenia makes us go on defense and we will be looking to her and Elise to help set the tone on that end. Amyrah, Janelle and Oceana put in a lot of work this offseason and we look forward to them getting a chance to put that work to the test this season.”

Lombardo is being assisted by Mark Masloski and Angie Forte.

“Things really worked out perfectly for me,” said Lombardo. “I get hired and have the opportunity to work with Mike (Haney). I was able to see how he deals with the kids and runs his program.

“Moving into this spot, I have coaches Masloski and Forte. Both of them have so much experience.

There’s ton of knowledge on my staff and having them there is going to be invaluable.”

Lombardo noted his Big Red has a “challenging schedule” ahead of it.

“We have made some changes to our style of play and this will be tested early and often as we have a challenging schedule that should have our group battle tested come tourney time,” he stated.

“What makes me proud of my girls is that they have responded to the Fort Frye loss not by getting discouraged, but by wanting to dig deep and get better so that we may get to that level of competition by the end of the season.”

Big Red’s girls will participate in the first Chuck Watt/John Nese Holiday Tournament Dec. 29 and Dec. 30. Lombardo’s crew is paired against Claymont and Harrison Central in the event.

Dec. 4, 2015

18

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Wednesday, Nov. 25 Steubenville Monday, Nov. 30 East Liverpool Monday, Dec. 7 St. Clairsville Thursday, Dec. 10 at Edison Saturday, Dec. 12 at Bellaire Monday, Dec. 14 Beaver Local Thursday, Dec. 17 at Indian Creek Monday, Dec. 21 at East Liverpool Wednesday, Dec. 23 Martins Ferry Monday, Dec. 28 Union Local Thursday, Jan. 7 Edison Monday, Jan. 11 at Beaver Wednesday, Jan. 13 at Martins Ferry Thursday, Jan. 14 Indian Creek Monday, Jan. 18 Bellaire Wednesday, Jan. 20 Harrison Central Thursday, Jan. 21 at Union Local Saturday, Jan. 23 Buckeye 8 Tournament, tba Monday, Jan. 25 at St. Clairsville Wednesday, Jan. 27 St. John Feb. 1-6 OVAC Week

Buckeye Local Panthers

“ ... we want to play an up tempo style and do not have a lot of size.”

By AARON PETCHAL Basketball Preview RAYLAND — The Buckeye Local girls’ basketball team is looking to build off last season.

Last year, the Panthers finished the season at 9-13, but the nine wins were a six-win improvement from the previous season.

“We have only played one game so far — a six-point loss to Steubenville,” third-year head coach Tom Figurski said. “We have a total of 30 girls in grades 9 through 12, so things are definitely looking up.

“Becky Zeroski needs 106 points now to reach 1,000 points.

“It should be a fun year at Buckeye.”

From a numbers point of view, the Panthers were not hard hit by graduation, but they were in terms of production. Buckeye Local only lost two seniors from last season — Lauren Swiger and Carly Banal — but both are big losses.

The loss of Swiger is on the biggest losses for any team in the Valley, as the four-year lettermen left the school as

COURTESY ACTION IMAGES Buckeye Local’s all-time leading scorer with 1,137 career point. Swiger is just one of three players to reach the 1,000-point mark in the history of the Panthers’ program.

Swiger averaged more than 27 points per game last season.

Banal on the other hand was a solid two-way player for the Panthers. She did a lot

of things on the court that tend to get overlooked.

This season, the Panthers return seven lettermen to help offset the loss of Swiger and Banal. Five of the returning lettermen — Becky Zeroski, Rachel Zeroski, Rachel Vince, Kate Torok and Kylee Torok are seniors, while two of them — Danielle Dvorcek and Lexie

Swiger — are juniors.

Becky Zeroski, Vince, Dvorcek and Lexie Swiger are all guards, Rachel Zeroski and Katie Torok are forwards and Kylee Torok is a center.

Maddy Doyle, who earned a letter earlier in her career, is the sixth senior on the roster See PANTHERS Page 30 ➪

19

Dec. 4, 2015

Oak Glen Golden Bears

“We are coming off a very successful first season together.”

By RALPH COX Basketball Preview NEW MANCHESTER — There is reason for optimism for the 2015-2016 Lady Golden Bears basketball team with four starters including the top three scorers returning from the successful 15-6 team of a year ago.

Second year coach Ryan Wells also is excited that several other players with varsity experience are returning along with new addition, junior Hannah Clunk, whom he terms as one of the top athletes in Oak Glen High School.

Clunk, who is one of the stalwarts on the Oak Glen softball team, is expected to bolster the Lady Golden Bear guard unit.

“We are coming off a very successful first season together,” said Wells. “I’m looking forward to building off of the foundation left by our 2015 graduates, Jessica Stivason, Brie Evans and Aly Snow.”

The four starters returning are Alex Arnott, Logan Andrews, Maisie Witherow and Taylor McKay.

Wells also is counting on seniors Briget Bemis and Megan Stipec to help lead the team along with juniors Allison Click and Amber Grotefend. Sophomores Dominica Price and Emmy Severs round out the varsity squad.

Arnott, a senior, led the Lady Bears with 18.6 points per game. Witherow, also a

senior scored at the rate of 13.7 points a game and another senior classmate, Andrews, posted a 9.3 points a game average. They are joined by junior Taylor McKay at point guard.

“Alex is one of those special players every coach dreams of and she has dedicated herself since basketball

ended last year with a loss to North Marion in the sectional,” Wells, an Oak Glen graduate, said. “She is a natural scorer and her vision and defense has really improved.

“She is extremely versatile and when you put players like Maisie, Logan and Taylor See OAK GLEN Page 20 ➪

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Tuesday, Dec. 1 at Weir Thursday, Dec. 3 at East Liverpool Wednesday, Dec. 9 Steubenville Central Friday, Dec. 11 John Marshall Saturday, Dec. 12 at Brooke Noon Monday, Dec. 14 at Wellsville Friday, Dec. 18 at Wheeling Park, 5:45 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 23 Beaver Local Monday, Dec. 28 Wellsville Tuesday, Dec. 29 Steubenville Central at Steubenville, Noon Saturday, Jan. 2 Madonna (V), 6 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 9 East Liverpool (V), 3 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 13 Toronto Friday, Jan. 15 Wheeling Park Monday, Jan. 18 at Madonna Thursday, Jan. 21 Weir Monday, Jan. 25 at Beaver Local Feb. 1-6 OVAC Week tba Wednesday, Feb. 10 at Toronto Thursday, Feb. 11 at John Marshall, 5:45 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 15 Brooke

Dec. 4, 2015

20

Madonna

Edison

Oak Glen

Continued from Page 7

Continued from Page 10

Continued from Page 19

He said Lenhart will be the primary Blue Don long range shooter while Canei, who brings with her some bulk, also plays in the post.

“Both girls seem to get better every day and you can tell that Kasey has worked hard during the off season because she is much improved in her rebounding, shooting and stamina,” said Ogden.

He noted that because of the improvement of Lammers and Canei and expected contributions from 5-11 freshman Andrea Alimario, Bragg will be able to play a lot more outside.

“Playing more on the perimeter will be to Monica’s strength because in addition to being a good shooter and rebounder she is an excellent passer,” Ogden explained. “Part of that is because of her 5-11 height she can see over most defenses. Also she’s a good ball handler.”

Ogden says he has a nice balance of experience and youth.

“These freshmen were undefeated in middle school last year and won their conference championship,” he continued.

“They are an above average group of freshman and they will make contributions right from the start. They play like they don’t know they are freshmen.

“And they are coming into the program at the right time because we have no juniors and only one sophomore so everyone should see significant playing time.”

The freshmen are Gabriella Staffileno, Gia Fuscardo, Alimario, Rachel Boniti, Sabrina Alatis and Gia Riccadonna.

The Blue Dons had no seniors last year, but they lost Becca Holt and Maddie Moore as each decided to not play basketball this year. Holt was the starting point guard.

“We’re looking at Rachel Boniti and Gia Fuscardo to step into the point guard role this year,” Ogden said. “Whichever one isn’t at point guard has the talent to play another guard position.”

Ogden said that Riccadonna also is in the mix at guard and will provide outside scoring along with Lenhart. Staffileno and Alatis are guards that have been showing a lot of scrappiness. Alatis is coming off of a knee injury from a year ago. Staffileno is a scrambler, according to Ogden, and always seems to be around the ball.

sophomore guard Tommi McConnell and junior forward Jaclyn Horvath are all expected to see significant time on the floor for the varsity team this season.

Junior guard Megan Sanchez saw varsity time early in the season, but she is likely out for the remainder of the season due to an injury.

“We are a little behind where I thought we would be at this point in the season,” Powell said. “We have been competitive so far in the early season.

Our practice schedule has been a little hectic at the beginning of the season.”

Rounding out the roster are junior guard Parry Kryder, sophomore forward Kierstyn Simeral and freshmen Shanna Reed, a guard, and forwards Kenzi Potkrajac and Lauren Ferralli.

“Team strengths are our team defense and the versatility in our lineup,” Powell said. “We are very young and looking to grow from so many underclassmen gaining varsity experience.

The Wildcats want to get better every day throughout the season.

“Our goal for the season is to be better today than we were yesterday,” Powell said. “For the most part, that has been happening so far.

“Our game goals are to: compete harder than our opponent, box out and take care of the basketball.”

While the Wildcats want to take care of the basketball, Edison wants to force its opponents into committing turnovers.

“Our goal is to put pressure on the ball at all times,” Powell said. “For what we lack in height, we will need to make up for with quickness and defensive positioning.

“Offensively, our goal is to push the ball up the floor under control and look for good shots.

“Our ability to limit turnovers and rebound will dictate the success of our season.”

“If we take care of our three goals for each game we feel we can compete with the teams on our schedule,” Powell said.

Powell is assisted by Jeff Stone.

“We are a very young team with only one senior,” Powell said. “We are trying to get our numbers back up in the program.”

around her, we feel it is going to put other teams in extremely difficult defensive situations.”

Wells says that if opponents concentrate on Arnott, the Lady Bears have others that can score 20 points or more and pick up the load in Witherow and Andrews.

Andrews returns as the leading rebounder at 7.1 per game.

“I believe we have one of the best distributing point guards in the OVAC with Taylor McKay,” he continued.

Wells knows, however, that the offense is just one part of a successful basketball team so he has stepped up the defensive emphasis and is looking forward to throwing a variety of defensive styles at opponents..

“The life and tenacity we have approached our defensive sessions with shows that our girls understand what it takes to win an OVAC championship and give ourselves an opportunity to get out of our region and get to the state tournament.

“We have hit the ground running this year and quickly been able to build off the read and react offense we put in last year,” Wells commented.

“We are looking to continue our fast-paced up-tempo style on both sides of the ball and see a growth in our 60 points per game average.

“It is great to work with a varsity squad full of juniors and seniors this year that can help our younger players grow. Our staff has stayed together as well, giving us consistency going into this season.”

Sam Paletta is varsity and jayvee assistant while Sherri Garner is jayvee head coach and Jeremy Krzys also is an assistant working primarily with the guards.

21

Dec. 4, 2015

Wheeling Park Patriots

“ ... we have kids who are hungry and have chips on their shoulders ...”

By SHAWN RINE Basketball Preview WHEELING — Life in West Virginia Class AAA Region One girls’ basketball is not for the faint of heart. It includes the two-time defending state champion (Morgantown), two-time runnerup (Parkersburg South) and an up-and-coming Parkersburg club that Wheeling Park coach Ryan Young believes will be right up there with those first two this season. ‘‘We understand if we want to go downstate we have to beat Morgantown, Parkersburg and Parkersburg South, and we talk about them every day in practice,’’ Young said. ‘‘They (Mohigans, Patriots) are going to be No. 1 and No. 2 to start the year. ‘‘This is not going to be an easy road, but we have kids who are hungry and have chips on their shoulders because nobody is talking about Wheeling Park.’’

That may soon change.

Young welcomes back a number of key contributors to a team that finished 11-11 and lost to Parkersburg in the first round of the sectional. But the staff, which includes Shane Glass (head varsity assistant), Katelyn Hackathorn (jayvee) and Jason Chambers and Dwane Bennett, knew it would be somewhat of a transition season under the new regime.

What none of the coaches counted on was being without an injured Tam Bumgardner for a long stretch during the season. Not only did her absence show

up in the won-lost column, but in a way it stunted the team’s growth. ‘‘When she came back it made a big difference right away,’’ Young said of Bumgardner, who is the team’s lone senior. ‘‘She has a lot of varsity experience and is one of the best athletes in the school. ‘‘We are going to do a lot of pressing and running up the floor and she knows how to play that kind of basketball. Tam is a huge piece of the puzzle.’’

But Bumgardner wasn’t the only Patriot to be hit with the injury bug. ‘‘The only game we played the entire year with an entire roster healthy was the sectional game and so the chemistry was not where it needed to be,’’ Young said. ‘‘And it was never just one kid. It was multiple kids.’’

Bumgardner may be the only senior, but the junior class is deep, beginning with Josie Daugherty. ‘‘We’re expecting a breakout year from Josie,’’ Young said. ‘‘She has two years of varsity experience but last year there were still a couple kids at her position she was behind. This year she will be asked to carry the load. ‘‘She has one of the quickest releases I have seen and will be a kid to look out for in the valley and even state, if she has the year we think she can.’’

Emma Kendle was one of those who battled injuries, but if she can stay healthy Young sees a promising future. ‘‘She is our biggest, most physical kid,’’ the coach said. ‘‘If we get up

against the size of Morgantown or Parkersburg, she can body kids up.’’

Kirstin Hartman and Megan Stanford ‘‘really developed and are ready to contribute for us,’’ Young said.

Kylie McKennen is a sophomore point guard who has a chance to start. ‘‘She is a tempo setter and a tenacious defender, but we have to learn to play without foul trouble,’’ Young said. ‘‘She is a basketball junkie and is always working to get better and understands what it takes to do so.’’

The latest in a long line of Robbs to play for the Patriots, Laurel, is more of an inside player compared to her older sisters — Haley and Chloe — who made a living on the outside. But, Young said, she can step outside and knock down jumpers.

Lauren Schultz’s future is undoubtedly in soccer, but it turns out she is a pretty good basketball player as well. ‘‘She’s very much like Tam. When you talk about the best athletes in the school, those two are definitely in the conversation,’’ Young said. ‘‘She will also see a lot of minutes and I wouldn’t be surprised if a kid like that is one of our leading scorers. ‘‘She’s long and help us play a lot of defenses.’’

Morgan Glass played mostly jayvee but will take her athletic ability and speed to the varsity level. Young called her one of the best kids he has ever coached.

Emily Pavilack and Abby Jones are a couple of freshmen who will debut.

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Dec. 3: at Parkersburg Dec. 5: East Liverpool, 12:30 p.m.

Dec. 8: Morgantown Dec. 12: at Pksbg. South, 1 p.m.

Dec. 15: at Brooke Dec. 17: at University Dec. 18: Oak Glen Jan. 2: Marietta, 1 p.m.

Jan. 4: Brooke Jan. 7: at Morgantown Jan. 13: at John Marshall Jan. 15: at Oak Glen Jan. 19: Zanesville Jan. 21: Pksbg. South Jan. 26: University Jan. 28: at East Liverpool Jan. 30: at St. Clairsville Feb. 8: Parkersburg Feb. 16: at Fairmont Feb. 18: John Marshall

Dec. 4, 2015

22

Weir High

Redskins

Continued from Page 5

Continued from Page 8 stated. “We are definitely young but the young girls really represent a talented group.”

Indian Creek’s roster also features sophomores Rachel Cooper, Beyonce Dudley, Jocelyn Mattern, Spencer Neville, Katie Scott and Mazzie Tipton, along with freshmen Sadie Allen, Mimi Beatty, Megan Kelly, Alyssa Merriman, Autumn Miller, Mackenzie Orban, Tera Parrish, Haylie Scott, Taylor Scott, Kylie Turner, Kacie Vandeborne and Ashley Yaich.

“We are looking to have an eight to nine player rotation,” DeSantis added. “The younger girls are all in the mix to help at the varsity level.

Our numbers are up and we are pleased to have 22 players this season.

This will allow us not to have to worry about juggling quarters.”

Following the seasonopening loss to St. John, DeSantis pointed out she “learned a lot about these girls.”

“We have such a young mix of kids and when you have a lot of young kids, you are not sure they are doing to buy into what you are trying to do,” she noted.

“We did a lot of good things in the game. We did a good job defensively.

“Offensively, every kid shot the ball. They would not have done that in the last few years.

“I think the younger girls will add a nice dimension to the program. Our underclassmen are coming along. I think by midseason we will be on the right

track. We have 12 freshmen, six sophomores, two juniors and two seniors. It’s like have a whole new team but I am OK with it.”

DeSantis, who has been at the Redskin helm for the past 10 seasons, is being assisted by Ray Case and Gabby Davis, a former Indian Creek player.

“We realize our success this season won’t be measured by wins and losses,” DeSantis stated.

“Success is going to come game by game. It’s going to involve how we are improving. I’ve already seen a lot of wins in the attitude of this team, the way the girls don’t quit.

“It’s going to be a struggle to get a lot of wins, but we’ll certainly get our younger players a lot of experience and help them prepare for the future.”

Having 12 freshmen out for basketball is a development that has DeSantis excited about the future of the Indian Creek program.

“They (the freshmen) have worked hard and are so dedicated to the sport,” she stressed.

“That’s something you just can’t teach.”

“I think those returning starters and letter winners will step up,” said Stead, who served as the assistant coach working with the freshmen and sophomores at the junior varsity level last year often times with only five or six girls.

“With nine freshmen, we have the numbers so that we shouldn’t have that type of problem this year,” said Stead. “It looks like we’ll have eight or nine dressed for jayvees this year and have a freshman team. Those girls should get a lot of playing time.”

Previously, when a player moved up from the freshman team to junior varsity, they couldn’t go back and play freshman basketball, but that rule has been changed.

“Also, I believe we’ll have more depth at the varsity level,” said Stead. “Zapotoczny worked hard during the off season and has come a long way.

“Also we will have Dakota Davidson, a transfer from Peters Township, near Pittsburgh, who played ball there.”

Davidson is a good ball handler, according to Stead, and is pressing for a starting spot at point guard.

Stead also has Casidy Champ, a junior, who has played on the jayvee team the last two years as has sophomores Lexi Brenneman and Shakira Elmore.

He also has senior Savannah Elias, who is out for basketball for the first time since middle school.

“With those numbers we now will have a chance to develop kids on a

freshman team as well as junior varsity,” Stead explained. “That will give the kids a chance to play against girls their own age and developmental level.

“It will be good for them and good for the program overall.”

The freshmen are Taryn Davis, Maddie DiLullo, Rachel Evans, Julia Gianni, Samantha Kaczmarek, Alexis Kosut, Katelynn McCallister, Cori Pierce, Trezur Sartor and Alexis Vuiller.

Stead said he plans to play an up tempo style as much as possible to take advantage of some of his kids that can run.

“We have several girls that played soccer and ran cross country so we want to take advantage of their conditioning as we do conditioning ourselves,” he continued.

Stead indicated that Smith and Phillips should be able to play well in the post area and Bailey Stead, Farran, Kelly and Davidson will work the perimeter.

“The strength of this group is we have to run,” Stead said.

“We have to rely on our experienced group until the younger kids get some experience and improve their skill level.

“One of the things I want to do as a new coach is develop that skill level at the middle school. We want to change the culture.

“If the girls come into the high school gym with improved skills and fundamentals, it will give us more time in the pre-season to coach and teach higher skills.”

27

Dec. 4, 2015

Brooke Continued from Page 12 son after working at the jayvee level.

In addition to Staffileno, Brooke lost Lauren Altobell and Krista D’Ulisse to graduation.

Farmer, whom Scherich calls his best shooter, should be ready to step into the top scorering role after starting the past three seasons. She’s a senior, who averaged about 6 points a game as a junior.

Velegol, a junior, earned a varsity letter the past two years and also will be called upon to help not only in scoring but, surprisingly for her 5-4 height, on the boards as well.

“Gabby is a very aggressive guard who plays bigger than she is,” Scherich said. “She’s an aggressive rebounder and I’m hoping her point total will increase from the five a game she gave us last year.”

The rest of Sherich’s starting five may come from seniors Abbey Jackson and Jessica Gaston, junior Madison Reynolds and sophomores Marrissa Elliot and Grace Dodson. All are in the mix for the starting positions.

Also battling for playing time will be senior Page Wood and sophomores Kylie Byers, Aleigha

Edgar and Sierra Sesto. Scherich said a pair of freshmen could also help out. They are Hope Bowman, who at 6-foot-3 is the tallest of the Lady Bruins, and Carly Julio.

“Payge Farmer is our best shooter,” Scherich explained. “We need to get her some open looks off the ball. We also expect big things from Gabby Velegol, who started off and on as a freshman and most of the time last year.

“Those two will have to lead us, but we have some other pretty solid players as well, and we need them to step up, too. Reynolds, Dodson and Elliot all saw playing time on the jayvee and varsity teams last year and should be ready to make the move this year.

“Edgar and Kylie Byers both will see plenty of varsity time this year as well, and Chrissy Byers and Bowman both have the ability to play at the varsity level, but we have to get those freshman into a better comfort level.

“Many of these girls now are playing travel ball in the off season and that is a must if they want to compete with the kind of schedule we have,” Scherich explained. “It started with Staffileno as the lone one playing travel ball, but now a lot of them are finding out that the experience they get playing a lot of off season basketball gives them

the ability to compete.”

Scherich said the Bruin schedule has more of a local flavor this year with two games against Indian Creek, Oak Glen and Edison. Rival Weir High continues on the schedule with two games.

“It’s the kind of schedule I prefer to play,” Scherich said.

Ballhandling and making good passes will be one of the keys to success, according to Scherich.

“We have to work on cutting down on our turnovers.”

Scherich will be assisted

by Amy Serevicz and John Schupbach.

Dec. 4, 2015

30

Panthers Continued from Page 18 this season. Doyle, 6-0, will play center.

The other juniors on the roster are guard Shannon Good and forwards Shelby Gorlock and Logan Cunningham and center Emily Fox. The Panthers have a lot of talented younger players in the sophomore and freshmen classes.

The sophomores are Angelina Piergallini along with guards Casey Banal, Brooke Miller, Skylar Langford and Julie Wilfong and forwards Maddy Gill, Lillie Windsheimer and Carrie Dill.

The freshmen are forwards Emily Holzopfel, Alaire Destifanes, Mikayla Green and Morgan Donley, guards Rachel Moore, Maddy Kujawa, Lillie Stills and Bridget Dean and centers Paige Risdon and Cameron Henry.

“I believe so,” Figurski said asked if his team is where he thought they would be at this point in the season. “The girls have been working extremely hard and we are rounding into shape. We have to be in excellent shape because we want to play an up tempo style and do not have a lot of size.”

Becky Zeroski, who is a three-year lettermen, and Rachel Zeroski, who is a two-year lettermen, are

starters as are Dvoreck, who has won one letter, Piergallini and Holzopfel.

Seeing time off of the bench for Buckeye Local this season will be Doyle, Lexie Swiger, Gorlock, Casey Banal, Gill, Miller and Windsheimer. Lexie Swiger will be the first player off of the bench for

the Panthers.

Everyone else will primarily see time on the JV team, while possibly seeing some varsity time as the season unfolds.

The Panthers want to play at a fast pace this season.

“Speed and quickness,” Figurski said are the strengths of his team. “We have a lot of good basketball players with a lot of skill and heart.”

Buckeye Local’s primary goal this season is to end the year with a winning record, which is something the Panthers have not done for many years.

“Buckeye has not had a winning season in about 10 years, I believe, so that is our first goal, to have a winning season,” Figurski said. “These girls are quite capable of that and more. “We also want to contend for the Buckeye 8 title as well as for an OVAC title. Those are our other two goals.

Figurski is assisted by Charlie Nest, Ed Nest, Bob Czuchran and Christine Defede.

“Keeping everyone healthy and together as a team,” Figurski said is what it is going to take for his team to have a successful season this year.

Dec. 4, 2015

32

Steubenville Big Red

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Tuesday, Dec. 15 at Indian Creek Friday, Dec. 18 at Union Local Saturday, Dec. 19 East Liverpool, 1 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 22 at New Philadelphia Tuesday, Dec. 29 West Branch, 3:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 30 Edison, 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, Jan. 2 Steubenville Central Tuesday, Jan. 5 at John Marshall, 5:45 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 8 at Farrell, Pa. Friday, Jan. 15 at Steubenville Central Saturday, Jan. 16 at Meadowbrook, 5:45 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 19 Brooke Friday, Jan. 22 Cardinal Mooney Tuesday, Jan. 26 Martins Ferry Thursday, Jan. 28 First Love Christian Academy Saturday, Jan. 30 at Dover, 4 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 2 East Liverpool High School Wednesday, Feb. 3 First Love Christian Academy Friday, Feb. 5 at Brooke, 5:45 p.m.

Feb. 9-13 OVAC Week

“We’ll ... put pressure on the ball and look to score in transition.”

By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview STEUBENVILLE — When it comes to Big Red’s boys basketball team, there’s one thing for certain — it won’t be opening its season until Dec. 15.

Since the school’s football team will play for a state championship Saturday, the basketball opener has been pushed back. Mike Haney and company will visit Indian Creek for its 2015-2016 lid lifter.

The Dec. 8 game with East Liverpool has been moved to Dec.19 and the contest originally scheduled with Akron Garfield has been canceled.

Haney, who serves on the school’s football staff, is entering his eighth season as Big Red’s hoops boss. He guided his 2014-2015 club to a 17-9 record. The Big Red claimed a Division II sectional title and fell to Dover in the district championship game.

The Tornadoes have ended Steubenville’s tournament run the past two campaigns.

Gone from that club are Lucas Herrington, Travis Wolfe, Shakur Thomas-Miller and Raekwon Williams.

“This team will not be

known until football season is over and we begin to practice with everybody,” said Haney.

“This is a good problem to have because our other players will develop with a month of practices and scrimmages against other varsity teams

while the football players are still in season.”

Big Red’s roster will feature four seniors including two-year starter Dionee Wallace-Jones (9 points per game last year), returning starter Dimitri Collaros, Mandela

Lawrence-Burke (he missed most of last season with an injury) and forward Joey Walkosky. Wallace-Jones (he earned honorable mention alldistrict honors), Collaros and See BIG RED Page 48 ➪

33

Dec. 4, 2015

Weir Red Riders

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

“Any successful team has to ... finish and score in transition.”

By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WEIRTON — The Weir High Red Riders lost 18 of 24 games last year, but won four of the last six and coach Mike Granato is hoping that winning trend continues into the 2015-16 season.

To help him do that, he goes into the season with five letter winners from a year ago and what he terms as a strong junior class.

The Red Riders will be led by senior Jo Jo West, a slick 6-2 guard, who led the team averaging 17 points a game and was first team All OVAC and Class AA, Region 1 alltournament and honorable mention all-state.

Also returning is 6-3 junior Cody Enrietti, who led the Riders with six rebounds a game.

Enrietti is destined to get some help on the boards this year from 6-7 transfer Grant Carrigan, who came to Weirton from Las Vegas and almost immediately made an impact on the Weir High football team as a tight end and defensive end.

Granato said that although

Carrigan played junior varsity basketball last year as a sophomore in Vegas, he played against some big time basketball opposition last summer on an AAU team.

“We’ve got a little bit of size and a whole lot of experience,” Granato said. “We have guys that have played a lot of basketball the last few years. The seniors have paid

their dues with three teams that had losing records.

“We also have some guys returning that saw some varsity time, but didn’t letter.

This is the most experienced team I’ve had in several years.”

Besides West and Enrietti, Weir High returns seniors Marcus Smith, the starting point guard, and Angelo Cas-

siadoro, a part time starter last year and Ethan Gilberto, a 5-10 guard that saw plenty of playing time last year as a sophomore.

Those returning letter winners will form the nucleus for Granato, but he also is high on juniors Matt Anderson, who at 6-2, had a growth spurt See RIDERS Page 48 ➪

Tuesday, Dec. 8 Oak Glen Friday, Dec. 11 at Edison Tuesday, Dec. 15 at John Marshall, 5:45 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 18 Indian Creek Tuesday, Dec. 22 Madonna Tuesday, Dec. 29 Toronto Saturday, Jan. 2 at Burgettstown (V), 6:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 5 at Toronto Saturday, Jan. 9 Harrison Central Tuesday, Jan. 12 at Steubenville Central Friday, Jan. 15 at Madonna Monday, Jan. 18 vs. Roane Co. at Fairmont Sr., tba Wednesday, Jan. 20 at Oak Glen Friday, Jan. 22 Brooke Tuesday, Jan. 26 at Buckeye Local, 5:45 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 29 at Indian Creek Tuesday, Feb. 2 Edison Friday, Feb. 5 Buckeye Local Feb. 9-13 OVAC Week Tuesday, Feb. 16 Brooke 5:45 p.m.

Tuesday, Feb. 23 John Marshall

Dec. 4, 2015

34

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, Dec. 11 at Shadyside Tuesday, Dec. 15 Toronto Friday, Dec. 18 Madonna Tuesday, Dec. 22 at Bishop Donahue Tue.-Wed., Dec. 29-30 Holiday Tournament Saturday, Jan. 2 at Steubenville Tuesday, Jan. 5 at Bridgeport Friday, Jan. 8 at Oak Glen Saturday, Jan. 9 Bishop Donahue Tuesday, Jan. 12 Weir High Friday, Jan. 15 Steubenville Tuesday, Jan. 19 at Toronto Friday, Jan. 22 Shadyside Saturday, Jan. 23 at Wheeling Central Tuesday, Jan. 26 Bridgeport Friday, Jan. 29 at Madonna Saturday, Jan. 30 at St. John Central, 5:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 5 Oak Glen Saturday, Feb. 6 Malvern Feb. 8-13 OVAC Week

Catholic Central Crusaders

“ ... we are excited about what we can accomplish this year.”

By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview STEUBENVILLE — Under Sean Tucker, the Catholic Central boys basketball team has developed a reputation for hustle and defense.

Tucker, who’s entering his eighth season, stressed recently his 2015-2016 Crusaders will keep those qualities intact.

“We will pride ourselves on hustle and defense as we look to those things as our difference makers from last year’s young team,” Tucker said.

“We didn’t graduate any seniors and it was our youngest team by far. So we are excited about what we can accomplish this year. There are a lot of things we need to improve defensively. Our coaching staff really emphasizes defense and the details of our defense.

“That’s something we’ve been known for the last seven years. We really focus on and emphasize our defense.”

The Crusaders open their season Dec. 11 at Shadyside.

Central’s roster features three seniors — Tony Barber, a second team all-District 5 selection as a junior, Jacob Rigaud and Brandon Svec.

Returning juniors are Jake Bolger and Austin Fowkes, who was an honorable mention District 5 pick. Sophomore A.J. Connor also is a returning letter winner.

“We are looking forward to a very successful season as we have everyone returning in good health,” Tucker noted.

“We have a great group of kids that support each other and rely on each person to make them better. In my eight years

at Central, this may be a group that surprises a lot of people because of the drive they have to become better as a unit.

“These guys work so well with each other. They look forward to making sure each teammate improves. They correct problems among themselves, almost to the point where they are doing some self-coaching.”

Barber and Rigaud have been with the varsity since

their freshmen campaigns.

“Tony is a total team player,” Tucker stated. “He puts his team first and is not an I player. He could have scored more last year but instead, he worked to make everyone around him better. Our team this year shows that.”

Tucker, who again is being assisted by Joe Ribar and Mike Barber, stressed he is “very See CENTRAL Page 51 ➪

35

Dec. 4, 2015

Madonna Blue Dons

“We have a lot of guys with very little varsity experience.”

By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WEIRTON — Whether new Madonna boys basketball head coach Chris Blair has a successful season depends upon how fast his underclassmen develop.

The 2015-16 edition of the Blue Dons has only one senior among the 26 boys out for basketball. The lone senior is Nick Higgins, who lettered last year coming off the bench.

Blair, a Madonna alumnus, had been assisting long time Blue Don coach, George Vargo, for several years so he knows the players well. Vargo, who coached at Madonna for 20 years, moved to the college ranks as the head coach at Franciscan University of Steubenville after posting a 138 Blue Don record a year ago.

Graduation took three starters from that team.

The returning starters are juniors Joey Ewusiak and Tavon Jeter.

Blair has 11 more juniors that gained significant experience at the junior varsity level the last couple of years. They are Justin Canei, Nate Smith, Jake Gasvoda, Max Carey,

Jimmy Mazzone, Dustin Brown, Chase DiBartolomeo, James Shreve, Kyle McAfle, Joe DeFelice and Hunter Payne.

“We have a lot of guys with very little varsity experience, but they had success on the jayvee level,” Blair said. “I’m hoping they will be quick learners, be ready for the challenge and not be afraid of the

moment. We have a bunch of guys that I think are excited about the opportunity to prove themselves.”

Blair has some size in Ewusiak at 6-3, Canei at 6-6, Nate Smith at 6-2 and Gasvoda and Carey, both six-footers.

Ewusiak (6-3) is the most experienced player on the squad having started for the Blue Dons as a freshman and

sophomore. He is a swing player that has a good outside shot, according to Blair.

“Joey and Tavon got significant minutes at the varsity level the last two years and I’m looking for them to elevate their level of play in all facets and lead this team,” Blair explained. “We are looking for See BLUE DONS Page 52 ➪

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, Dec. 11 Toronto Friday, Dec. 18 at Steubenville Central Tuesday, Dec. 22 at Weir Dec. 29-30 at Undo’s Tournament (Wheeling Central 8:30 p.m./tba) (V) Saturday, Jan. 2 at Oak Glen 7:30 p.m. (V) Tuesday, Jan. 5 Clay-Battelle Saturday, Jan. 9 Wheeling Central Tuesday, Jan. 12 at Toronto Friday, Jan. 15 Weir (City Championship) Wednesday, Jan. 20 at Morgantown Trinity Friday, Jan. 22 Oak Glen Tuesday, Jan. 26 at Clay-Battelle Friday, Jan. 29 Steubenville Central Saturday, Jan. 30 Tyler Consolidated at Magnolia, tba Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Paden City Friday, Feb. 6 Morgantown Trinity Feb. 9-13 OVAC Week Tuesday, Feb. 16 at Bishop Donahue Monday, Feb. 22 St. Marys Friday, Feb. 26 at Magnolia

Dec. 4, 2015

36

Indian Creek Redskins

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, Nov. 27 at Carrollton Tuesday, Dec. 1 Martins Ferry Friday, Dec. 4 at Beaver Local Tuesday, Dec. 8 Brooke Friday, Dec. 11 Buckeye Local Tuesday, Dec. 15 Steubenville Friday, Dec. 18 at Weir Tuesday, Dec. 22 Harrison Central Tuesday, Dec. 29 St. Clairsville Saturday, Jan. 2 at East Liverpool Tuesday, Jan. 5 Edison Friday, Jan. 8 Beaver Local Saturday, Jan. 9 at St. Clairsville Tuesday, Jan. 12 at Buckeye Local Tuesday, Jan. 19 East Liverpool Friday, Jan. 22 at Edison Friday, Jan. Weir Saturday, Jan. 30 Buckeye 8 Game, tba Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Martins Ferry Friday, Feb. 5 at Harrison Central Feb. 9-13 OVAC Week

“We have to develop depth. That’s just a real need ...”

By ED LOOMAN Basketball Preview WINTERSVILLE — Developing depth is the key need going forward for the Indian Creek boys basketball team.

The Redskins opened the 2015-2016 season with tough losses to Carrollton and Martins Ferry. Joe Dunlevy’s club will return to the floor today, visiting Beaver Local.

“We have to develop depth,” said Dunlevy, who is in his 23rd year as Creek’s court boss. “That’s just a real need so I’m not wearing our guys out night in and night out. We had kids who never left the floor in the Martins Ferry game.

“When you are playing against someone who is bigger than you and you’re working very hard — that just takes an awful lot out of you. I thought we were going to have a little more depth but, at this point anyway, we don’t.”

What Creek does have is two returning starters in Aaron Foldi and Adrian Greco.

In Tuesday’s 47-41 home setback to Ferry, Foldi went off for 24 points (12 coming via the three-ball). Greco connected twice from behind the arc

COURTESY NEWBROUGH PHOTO and finished with eight points.

They also grabbed four rebounds each to pace the Redskins.

“They’re two kids who work like crazy,” Dunlevy pointed out. “You really can’t ask them to work any harder. They are both playing well.”

Junior Greg Wade also is a returning starter (he had six

against Martins Ferry). Jabari Taylor, another junior, also started as a sophomore but he’s still recovering from injuries sustained during the football season and has yet to take the floor.

“With the number of starters we have coming back, hopefully we will be able to compete better than we did

last year,” noted Dunlevy, who guided the Mingo basketball program for eight years before moving on to Indian Creek.

“Our players work hard and we hope to carryover the positive attitude from our football season to the basketball campaign.”

See CREEK Page 41 ➪

37

Dec. 4, 2015

Toronto Red Knights

“We’ve got to switch defenses up a little more.”

By MATTHEW PEASLEE Basketball Preview TORONTO — For his fifth campaign as the Toronto boys basketball coach, John Leary is excited to implement some things he hasn’t had before.

First, the Red Knights will have two big men down low — senior Riley Kiersey and sophomore Nolan Clegg, who missed last season due to an injury.

“We’re going to have a strong inside presence that we’ve haven’t really had,”

Leary said. “We’ve had solid post players, but they were more wing-oriented guys. Riley and Nolan like playing in the post and they’re aggressive. We’re going to count on them to rebound.”

Also, Toronto will be “multi-faceted” on defense, “Leary said.

“In the past, I’ve always been a man guy,” he said. “We’ve got to switch defenses up a little more. We’re going to press a lot more than we’ve had in the past. When the game is on the line, I’d rather be up in someone’s shorts than

sitting back watching him shoot jump shots.”

Leary plans to run the traditional man-to-man defense, with various zone looks thrown in.

With some new plans on both sides of the ball, Leary hopes to adjustments will allow his team to do something more important that he hasn’t seen before.

That’s winning a postseason game.

“I’d like to win a postseason game, but See KNIGHTS Page 41 ➪

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, Nov. 27 Buckeye Local Tuesday, Dec. 1 at Bellaire Friday, Dec. 4 Bridgeport Tuesday, Dec. 8 Conotton Valley Friday, Dec. 11 at Madonna Tuesday, Dec. 15 at Steubenville Central Friday, Dec. 18 Oak Glen Tuesday, Dec. 22 Edison Tuesday, Dec. 29 at Weir High Tuesday, Jan. 5 Weir High Wednesday, Jan. 6 at Buckeye Local Tuesday, Jan. 12 Madonna Friday, Jan. 15 at Conotton Valley Tuesday, Jan. 19 Steubenville Central Friday, Jan. 22 at Bridgeport Tuesday, Jan. 26 at Edison Friday, Jan. 29 Beaver Local Tuesday, Feb. 2 Bellaire Friday, Feb. 5 at Beaver Local Feb. 9-12 OVAC Tuesday, Feb. 16 at Oak Glen

Dec. 4, 2015

38

Edison Wildcats

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. Unless noted)

Friday, Dec. 4 East Liverpool Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Harrison Central, 5:30 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 11 Weir Tuesday, Dec. 15 St. Clairsville Friday, Dec. 18 Beaver Local Tuesday, Dec. 22 at Toronto Tuesday, Dec. 29 at Holiday Tournament, tba Wednesday, Dec. 30 at Holiday Tournament, tba Saturday, Jan. 2 Buckeye Local Tuesday, Jan. 5 at Indian Creek Friday, Jan. 8 at East Liverpool Saturday, Jan. 9 at Minerva, 5 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 15 at Beaver Local Tuesday, Jan. 19 at Buckeye Local Friday, Jan. 22 Indian Creek Tuesday, Jan. 26 Toronto Saturday, Jan. 30 at Buckeye 8 Championships, tba Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Weir Friday, Feb. 5 First Love Christian Academy Saturday, Feb. 6 Carrollton Feb. 9-13 OVAC Week

“We will have to ... develop depth because it’s such a long season.”

By AARON PETCHAL Basketball Preview RICHMOND — The Edison boys’ basketball team is looking to build off of last season’s success.

“We had a real nice preseason with the kids working really hard,” head coach Nate Moses said. “Our numbers are up at every level in the program.”

Last year, the Wildcats finished the season at 14-9.

It was Edison’s first winning season in 15 years. Last season was also the final year for Edison’s talented trio of seniors Erik Lee, Austin Hyndman and Skylar Wilken.

This season, the Wildcats return five lettermen from last year’s team. They are Josh Woika, Hunter Talkington, Bryce Piatt, Joe Nave and Zac Kramarich.

“We have kids who have game experience,” Moses said asked what the strength of his team is this season.

Woika, Piatt, Nave and Kramarich will all start this season. Talkington or Shane Layman will be the team’s fifth starter.

COURTESY RICH CERNANSKY “We are excited to see how the returning lettermen who played key roles on last year’s team respond to their new roles this year,” Moses said. “These guys will be asked to do more on both ends of the floor.”

Edison also has a talented group of players who will come off of the bench. That

list includes Connor Bahen, Connor Hyndman, Mike Speedy, Dakota Swearingen, Anthony Sinicroppi and Zack Easter.

“We are excited to get the season started, and to see how the 2015-16 Wildcats stack up,” Moses said.

The Wildcats want to get better throughout the sea-

son.

“Our kids will have to improve every day,” Moses said. “We will have to continue to develop depth because it’s such a long season.”

The Wildcats have worked hard in the gym to See WILDCATS Page 42 ➪

39

Dec. 4, 2015

Harrison Central Huskies “We have kids who enjoy playing basketball.”

By SETH STASKEY Basketball Preview CADIZ — Numbers are up throughout the Harrison Central boys basketball program.

“We have kids who enjoy playing basketball,” head coach Justin Clifford said.

“On top of the kids in the program, we’re drawing between 70 and 80 kids every Tuesday at our youth camp.”

Depth remains one of the biggest concerns for the Huskies.

“The lack of experience with some of the guys concerns me,” Clifford admitted.

“We have four guys with a lot of minutes in, so we can’t whine or complain too much.

But, the guys who don’t have experience, don’t have any.

So, early in the season, we’ll rely on the four veterans.”

Leading the way for the Huskies will be senior standout Brandon Mitchell (6-0), who is embarking on his third season of varsity basketball.

“Brandon’s been a twoyear starter and he’s an allstate football player, so that’s a good start,” Clifford said.

“We’re looking for him to shoot it more. He’s a guy who

COURTESY ACTION IMAGES doesn’t always like to shoot it.

I never had that problem (during my playing days), so I don’t know how to fix that.

But, he’s going to be a guy we rely on.”

Senior Dustin Redish (6-0) is also a seasoned veteran.

He’s another who’s going to be asked to step up his scoring.

“We’re going to be looking for Dustin to score more,” Clifford said. “He’s another

really good athlete.”

Junior Tyler Redish (6-3) saw quality minutes last season en route to a letter.

“The sky is the limit for Tyler,” Clifford said. “He’s going to be one of our better players and another guy we can turn to to score. He’s a guy we’re asking a lot from.”

Senior Tison Johnson (5-9) has seen plenty of varsity action. He’s invested a lot of time in shooting and expects

to be more of a contributor on the offensive end.

“Tison had a great football season and he’s a very underrated shooter,” Clifford said.

“He’s a solid defender and we think he’s going to be a better scorer, too.”

The Huskies did lose two key cogs from last season’s team in all-Ohioan Austin Kowalski and Cory Yoho.

See HARRISON Page 43 ➪

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Tuesday, Dec. 1 at Beaver Local Tuesday, Dec. 8 Edison Friday, Dec. 11 at Union Local Saturday, Dec. 12 at Bellaire Tuesday, Dec. 15 Claymont Friday, Dec. 18 St. Clairsville Tuesday, Dec. 22 at Indian Creek Saturday, Dec. 26 Fort Frye (at OUE), 2 p.m.

Dec. 28-31 KSA Holiday Tournament in Orlando, tba Tuesday, Jan. 5 Martins Ferry Friday, Jan. 8 Buckeye Local Saturday, Jan. 9 at Weir Tuesday, Jan. 12 Union Local Friday, Jan. 15 at St. Clairsville Tuesday, Jan. 19 Bellaire Friday, Jan. 22 at Martins Ferry Saturday, Jan. 30 Buckeye 8 Championship at Buckeye Local, tba Friday, Feb. 5 Indian Creek Feb. 9-13 OVAC Tournament

Dec. 4, 2015

40

Brooke Bruins

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 5:45 p.m. unless noted)

Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Indian Creek, 6 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 11 at Parkersburg South Friday, Dec. 18 at Morgantown (vs. Magnolia), 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 22 Parkersburg Dec. 28-29 Bisco Holiday Tournament Tuesday, Jan. 5 at St. Clairsville Friday, Jan. 8 at Wheeling Park Tuesday, Jan. 12 at John Marshall Friday, Jan. 15 University Saturday, Jan. 16 Logan, tba Tuesday, Jan. 19 at Steubenville, 6 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 22 at Weir, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Jan. 26 Morgantown Tuesday, Feb. 2 Wheeling Park Friday, Feb. 5 Steubenville Feb. 19-22 OVAC Week Tuesday, Feb. 16 Weir Wednesday, Feb. 14 at University

“We have a lot of good senior leadership with some veteran players ...”

By RALPH COX Basketball Preview WELLSBURG — The Brooke High basketball team will again by tall up front and this year veteran head coach Dave Reitter feels he has the firepower from the smaller guys that will take the Bruins far into the postseason.

Led by 6-5 senior and three-year letterman, Thomas Cole, the Bruins could be a little slow out the gate because several of Reitter’s starters were members of the football team that went to the quarter-finals before bowing out. That put them nearly two weeks behind and Reitter says he’ll have to be patient while the get their basketball legs.

Cole, who averaged a double-double every night last season (20 points and 12 rebounds per game) needs just 25 more points to reach 1,000 in his four-year varsity career at Brooke. He’s already ranked eighth among Brooke basketball’s all-time scorers and baring injury should score enough points to jump him into second place behind former Bruin great

Matt Gaudio.

Cole should get 100 rebounds this season and when he does he’ll have 1,000, which again will place him second to Guadio all-time at

Brooke. Cole, who was AllValley, OVAC first team and All-State in Class AAA, also has 124 career assists.

“Thomas has been a force inside for us both on offense

and defense his entire career,” Reitter said. “He is a very unselfish player and we once again expect big things See BRUINS Page 48 ➪

41

Dec. 4, 2015

Creek Continued from Page 36 A season ago, Indian Creek went 6-17 and fell to Cambridge in the opening round of Division II tournament play.

Junior Austin Freshwater also returns with a lot of playing time under his belt. Dunlevy also has senior Cody Sinsel, junior Austin Rawson and

sophomores Andy Waggoner, Austin Yaich, Aaron Robinson, Nick Crawford, Trevor Martin and Ian Belt.

“Our team consists of good students and most of them played a fall sport,” Dunlevy pointed out.

The need for depth was

extremely obvious in the Martins Ferry game. Creek jumped out to a 24-17 halftime lead before being outscored 30-17 during the final 16 minutes.

“We just wilted—we ran out of steam,” Dunlevy stated following the game. “Sometimes that happens when you are

playing as hard as we do. We need to develop that depth. It’s hard when you are in these tight games.

“Part of the mistakes we are making probably comes because of fatigue. We have to get in better shape. Our mental health will be better when we

get in better shape. We’re asking kids to guard other kids who are six inches taller and 40 pounds heavier. They’re doing it, but that takes a lot of you.”

Dunlevy is being assisted this season by Robbie Lucas, Steve Eft, Jeremy Presley and Mike Furda.

Knights Continued from Page 37 a lot of that has to do with taking care of business during the regular season,” Leary said. “We need to have a better seed at the end of the year so we can be in a good position to win a tournament game.

“I have a lot of expectations and I expect to be competitive. We’ve had an early quiz against Bellaire. We lost, and that’s a game we need to win to get a better seed.

We were in it, but I saw some bad habits come back to bite us.

“I’m not going to settle for watching them do things at a level less than what I know they can do.”

The Red Knights finished the 2014-15 season with a 7-16 record, a onegame drop off from the 2013-14 season. They fell to Malvern in the first round of sectional play for the second time in three years.

With Kiersey and Clegg down low, Toronto welcomes back the services of 1,000-point scorers Blaze Glenn. The three-year starter reached the milestone mark last season on Dec. 30 against Weir. Glenn is a first-team Eastern District selection. Other starters are Ty West and and Blaine Rawson, who are both Eastern District honorable mentions.

“The group we’re playing with now is what we’ve been using for a few years now,” Leary said. “We’ve added some skilled freshmen and look to get better. We do rely on Blaze to take it to the hole, but we need some other guys who

will be reliable scorers.

We can’t put that kind of pressure on Blaze, because the teams we play are already going to do that.

“We have to run our sets and have more discipline about what we’re doing. We’ve got athleti-

cism, but athleticism doesn’t help you beat everybody.”

Rounding out the roster are Hank Clegg, Jake Keenan, Sante Carducci, Dan Zdinak, Joe Jordan, Tyler Hill and Brandon Mitchell.

“We have the poten-

tial to be a very solid team,” Leary said. “However, I always tell boys potential means you haven’t done anything yet. Anything less that qualifying for the OVAC Tournament would be a disappointment. That’s a realistic goal.”

Dec. 4, 2015

42

Wildcats Continued from Page 38 prepare for this season.

“The key right now is improving,” Moses said.

“We feel like the kids are working hard in practice to get better each day. There is always a physical side and mental side to practice. We have to be physically strong and mentally tough daily.

When they both happen, we get better.”

Edison will not be looking too far ahead this

season.

“Our goals are always the same...to go 1-0 in our next game,” Moses said.

The Wildcats are in the North Division of the Buckeye 8, and Edison will play two games apiece against divisional foes Buckeye Local, Indian Creek, East Liverpool and Beaver Local. Edison will also play two games against non-league oppo-

nents Toronto and Weir. Edison will play home games against Carrollton and First Love Christian Academy and St. Clairsville, while going on the road and playing Harrison Central and Minerva.

Moses is assisted by Ron Durbin.

“We will have new leaders this year, and how they handle their new roles will determine the kind of season we will have,” Moses said.

43

Dec. 4, 2015

Harrison Continued from Page 39 “Those guys did a lot for us,” Clifford pointed out. “We lost an all-stater. Anytime that happens, you have a big void to fill. Are we going to replace him with another Austin? No because guys like him come around once in a long time.”

While the approach may change somewhat on the offensive end because of those two losses, the overall Huskies’ identity will remain with the defensive end of the floor.

“Every good team has an identity and we’re trying to make defense and hardnosed play our identity just because of the athletes and types of kids we have,” Clifford said. “We like to get after (people) on defense and push the ball on offense to get easy ones. That’s going to be what we try to hang our hat on again this season.”

The Huskies’ season was delayed by a week because of the Harrison Central football team qualifying for the Division V playoffs. Clifford was more

than OK with that and not because he was trying to delay basketball season, per se.

“We were waiting on kids who are talented, athletic and competitive,” Clifford said. “I was rooting like crazy for the football team to do well.

Because whenever you do get those kids with you, you know you’ve got talented kids coming your way.”

As they’ve played catch-up to make up for the lost practice time, Clifford believes his team will lean on the veterans in the program.

“We’re a little behind, but who doesn’t think they are at this point?” Clifford said. “We’ll simplify some things at the start (of the season) and as we get more comfortable with where we are, we’ll get more stuff in.”

The Huskies opened the season with a 65-62 loss at Beaver Local, in which, being outscored 24-14 in the final eight minutes.

Clifford loves the competitive nature of his team that comes off a season in which it was eliminated in the sectional tournament by Bellaire on a buzzer beating 3-pointer.

“All of our guys have the same mentality out here,” Clifford said. “They love to compete. Whether it’s on the football field, baseball field or on the basketball court, they give maximum effort and compete every time they’re doing something. We know we can rely on that because it’s a trait that all of the kids have.”

The head coach will look toward seniors Travis Stenson, Bryce Walrath, Austyn Porter and Keshaun Muckle, junior Jacob Barr, sophomore Caden Arbaugh and freshman Caden Dalton to see quality time.

Others working to get into the mix include juniors Hunter Sloan and Zach Henry as well as sophomores Dillon Dodds and Logan Elliott.

Clifford’s coaching staff includes: Serge Gentile and Chad Figurski at the varsity level; Jimmy Little and Willy Walker are with the freshmen program, while Ty Kenny, Ian White and Tom Kenny coach the junior high.

Dec. 4, 2015

46

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Friday, Nov. 27 at Toronto Friday, Dec. 4 Barnesville Tuesday, Dec. 8 Bridgeport Friday, Dec. 11 at Indian Creek Tuesday, Dec. 15 at Bellaire Friday, Dec. 18 at East Liverpool Tuesday, Dec. 22 at St. Clairsville Saturday, Dec. 26 at Martins Ferry Saturday, Jan. 2 at Edison Tuesday, Jan. 5 Beaver Local Wednesday, Jan. 6 Toronto Friday, Jan. 8 at Harrison Central Tuesday, Jan. 12 Indian Creek Friday, Jan. 15 East Liverpool Tuesday, Jan. 19 Edison Friday, Jan. 22 at Beaver Local Tuesday, Jan. 26 Weir Saturday, Jan. 30 Buckeye 8 Championship, tba Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Bridgeport Friday, Feb. 5 at Weir Feb. 9-13 OVAC Week

Buckeye Local Panthers “We have guys who are willing to be leaders ...”

By AARON PETCHAL Basketball Preview RAYLAND — Success does not come easy.

The Buckeye Local boys’ basketball team is hoping all of its hard work in the offseason will pay off this season.

“We have improved tremendously thus far,” thirdyear head coach Greg Haberfield said. “Our basketball IQ is much higher and we have found ways to score on the offensive end of the floor.”

The Panthers enter this season coming off of a 0-23 campaign last season, and Buckeye Local will be without the services of seven seniors — Damion Beall, Tyler Miller, Brendan Bobo, Logan Dehnart, Tommy Fish, Ryan Faulkner and Brandon Panepucci — who graduated in the spring.

“As a coach, you can never be satisfied with your team,” Haberfield said. “Although we have seen some improvement, we strive to get better each and every day in practice.”

This year, the Panthers return two lettermen — senior guard/forward Ryan Moffo, who is 6-3, and junior

COURTESY ACTION IMAGES center Carducci — from last year’s ballclub. Moffo is the team’s top returning scorer and rebounder. Carducci, who is 6-7, will provide a strong presence on the inside for the Panthers.

Moffo is one of seven seniors on the roster this season.

The other seniors are guards Dylan Dokes, Bobby Myers,

Brandon Mayle, Cayden Hennen, Jacob Savage and forward Chayce Dufrasne. Hennen is the Panthers top shooting threat from the outside.

Carducci is one of four juniors on the roster. The other three juniors are DonRay Mayle, who is 6-4 and will back up Carducci at center, guard Brad Cost and forward

Michael McCain, who will be a JV player at the start of the season.

Sophomores Drake Novak and Max Moffo are on the varsity roster. Novak is a guard, while Max Moffo is a forward.

“We want to improve from See BUCKEYE Page 53 ➪

47

Dec. 4, 2015

Oak Glen Golden Bears

“We have to stay healthy and continue our conditioning.”

By RALPH COX Basketball Preview NEW MANCHESTER — Things will be a little different this basketball season than it was last year for second-year Oak Glen boys coach, Jerry Everly.

A year ago, Everly greeted a squad that included Brendan Smith, a 6-2 veteran basketball player who was the top scorer for the Golden Bears and one of the better players in the Ohio Valley. He also had a veteran point guard in Tyler Click to run an offense that wound up losing the regional final game by five points to Ravenswood and finished at 14-11 the third best basketball record in Oak Glen hardwood history.

“We’ll be a much smaller team and our offense will have to come by committee at least in the early part of the season,” said Everly, who has three starters returning. “It’s not like last year when we relied on Brendan a whole lot.

We’ll probably have a different guy scoring every night at least until someone begins to stand out.”

That standout could come

COURTESY NEWBROUGH PHOTO from one of the three starters that Everly has for a nucleus.

Cyle Perez, a 6-3 senior heads the group and is the tallest of the Golden Bears. Perez averaged 10 points a game in 201415. Then there are two juniors in Noah Feicht (6-2) and Logan Taylor (6-1). They averaged 8.8 and 7.5 points a

game, respectively a year ago.

Everly expects the two outside guards will come from members of last year’s jayvee team. They are junior Jeffery Rice and Chris Kokoski, who each lettered on varsity. Kokoski, a 5-7 sophomore could be the heir to

Click at point guard. Everly also has Shane Theiss, Marques McHaffie and Chase Crago along with 5-10 senior transfer, Brendon Cole, who played jayvee ball at Indian Creek as a sophomore.

“All but Cole was able to See BEARS Page 50 ➪

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Tuesday, Dec. 8 at Weir Thursday, Dec. 10 John Marshall Friday, Dec. 18 at Toronto Saturday, Dec. 19 at Wellsville Tuesday, Dec. 22 Beaver Local Tuesday, Dec. 19 Southern Local Saturday, Jan. 2 Madonna (V) 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 8 Steubenville Central Saturday, Jan. 9 East Liverpool (V) 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday, Jan. 13 at Bellaire Wednesday, Jan. 20 Weir Friday, Jan. 22 at Madonna Saturday, Jan. 23 Wellsville Friday, Jan. 29 at East Liverpool Tuesday, Feb. 2 at Beaver Local Wednesday, Feb. 3 at Southern Local Friday, Feb. 5 at Steubenville Central Tuesday, Feb. 9 Webster County at Charleston Civic Center, 12:30 p.m.

Feb. 10-13 OVAC Week Tuesday, Feb. 16 Toronto Thursday, Feb. 25 at John Marshall, 5:45 p.m.

Dec. 4, 2015

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Bruins Continued from Page 40 from him. Just the fact that his name is associated with a player like Matt Gaudio tells you a lot about him.

“Thomas also led us in rebounding last season with 236,” Reitter explained. “We’re hoping for more this year.”

Cole, the leading pass receiver in the area and among the leaders in West Virginia, is a University of Akron football recruit.

Reitter also is hoping for more from senior Nate Green, who joins Cole on the back line giving the Bruins a twin tower look.

The 6-6 senior is a two-year letterman who scored 158 points and had 136 rebounds last season.

Another senior, Justin Loughrie, the leading rusher on the football team, returns to play a wing for Reitter.

Loughrie scored 244 points last year and has 318 in his two-year varsity career.

“I’m looking for Justin to increase his point production to take some of the offensive load off of the big guys,” Reitter said.

Graduation took Antonio Pizzuti, Zach Buffington, Luke Pannett 6-4 swingman Garrison Mathison, who is a candidate for basketball at Franciscan University of Steubenville next season.

Reitter is hoping that he can find enough ball handlers so that Brandon Miller, who scored 161 points last year, can play more on the wing. He could be the go to guy when the Bruins need a three-pointer.

Others that should get plenty of floor time in the back court are juniors Koty Hudson, the football quarterback, Chris Yachini, Matt Petrosky, Rylan Brown and Noah Talbott sophomore Evan Cuomo and senior Zachary Tweedy.

“Some of those guys will be coming off the bench to

play special roles for us. They will be competing to be our sixth and seventh men “We’re looking to improve our record of 8-15 last year, but we again play a tough schedule,” said Reitter.

“There are no easy games on our schedule.

“How well we do will depend on how soon we get into basketball shape and deal with an adversity that may arise.

“We have a lot of good senior leadership with some veteran players who excelled through a rugged football schedule and I hope that leadership can carry over to the basketball floor.

“They’ve been through the wars, but we still have to play the games one at a time and see what happens.”

Reitter’s staff includes C. J. Besece, the varsity assistant, Chris Baldauf, jayvee coach and Larry Hood, freshman coach.

Big Red Continued from Page 32 Lawrence-Burke all are guards.

The junior class is led by Charles Reeves, the 6-6 post player who averaged 15 points per game and earned alldistrict honors as a sophomore. Reeves is a two-year starter for Haney. Other juniors are forwards Alec Davis, Jack Marx and Jalen McGhee, forward/post Isaiah Lee-Granitir and guard Pookie Petteway.

Sophomores looking to gain varsity time are guards Davon Smith and Jacob Ice. Of the players listed, six are members of the football team.

“We’ll have to give those guys a crash course in basketball once the football season ends,” Haney stated.

“We’ll need to get them rested and

healthy but at the same time, they’ll have to get into basketball shape quickly.

“I know we will run an up-tempo offense and play man-to-man defense.

Even though we’ll be getting a late start with our team, the goal is to improve and get better every day. We’ll work hard, get after it, play great defense, put pressure on the ball and look to score in transition.”

Haney noted the schedule his team faces this season is “the toughest we’ve had since I’ve been coaching.”

“When you look at the teams on there, you realize it’s a quality schedule,” he continued. “It’s going to be tough so we’ll need to get better each game. We’ll take things as they come.

“The good thing about basketball is that everybody makes the tournament and you want to be peaking at the right time of year.”

New opponents include Dover, Meadowbrook, Farrell, Pa. and First Love Christian Academy, based in Washington. Pa. First Love recently launched its inaugural season and Haney said the Knights have a roster of tall and talented players.

East Liverpool returns to Big Red’s schedule after being absent a season ago.

In addition, Big Red will host the first Chuck Watt/John Nese Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29 and Dec. 30.

The event will involve the boys and girls teams from Big Red and Catholic

Central. Haney’s crew will meet West Branch and Edison.

“It’s something we talked about and were able to work out this year,” Haney stated. “There will be four varsity and four junior varsity games played. It’s a way of honoring coach Watt and coach Nese for all they did for the basketball programs at Big Red and Central.

“I think it will be good for the whole community to have this event.”

Anthony Saccoccia has joined Haney’s staff as the varsity assistant, taking over for Jeff Lombardo, the new girls coach at Big Red. Greg Bowers returns as the junior varsity leader while Brian Pruitt is back as an assistant. Floyd Thompson also has joined the staff.

Riders Continued from Page 33 over the summer and Levi Mikula.

Granato says five sophomores are pressing for varsity time. Cameron Pierce, Frank (Ty) Hudachek, Keyshawn Faulks, LaVelle Hall and Nick Krutilla all are competing for varsity spots.

“I think we could throw a hat over any of nine guys and call them starters,” Granato explained. “That means we should have some depth this year, a commodity we haven’t had recently.

“I think the big thing is what type of chemistry are we going to have. We have been using several different combinations daily in the early practices and I hope we can play eight or nine kids so we can keep everybody

fresh for the fourth quarters. Our goal is to be a good team by March.”

Granato said his team still is in the experimental stage with the offense because it is taking some getting used to with the taller players.

“When we push the ball down the floor on drills and scrimmages, some of the guards, especially, are still throwing the low passes and bounce passes to the big guys instead of getting them the ball above the waste,” he said. “Having the size takes some getting used to.”

Granato feels he has the team that can push the ball down the floor in a fast break style like some of his successful teams of earlier in the decade.

“Any successful team has to be able to finish and score in transition,” Granato explained. “We need our big guys to score in the half court offense and then recognize the player with the hot hand and set him up.

Those are some of the things we’re looking for in the pre-season.”

Granato said Carrigan has great footwork and is very athletic.

“We need to develop chemistry with him and our guys have to recognize that we now have a big guy,” he said. “These guys have never played with a guy 67 before. This team will be as good as they are unselfish.”

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Dec. 4, 2015

Wheeling Park Patriots “Our obvious goal is to get to Charleston.”

By SHAWN RINE Basketball Preview WHEELING — A 14-9 record against what MaxPreps called the toughest schedule in West Virginia last year might be acceptable for some. But Wheeling Park and 10th-year coach Michael Jebbia were left with an nasty taste in their mouths. ‘‘We made that schedule last year thinking Ryan Reinbeau, Savion Johnson and Chalmer Moffett were going to be on that team,’’ Jebbia said. ‘‘It ended with an early loss to Parkersburg in the sectional. ‘‘But you look at it now and Tre’ Saunders, Jake Laing and Rhett Schodzinski wouldn’t have gotten to play as much as they did.’’

That experience helps, said Jebbia, who sports a 162-64 (.717) career record.

The schedule hasn’t gotten easier with the likes of Allderdice, which went 26-3 and made it to the Pennsylvania state semifinals. Same is true of Hurricane, which went to the semifinals in West Virginia. Union Local made the Sweet 16 in Ohio and Linsly is always formidable.

Those are the new teams along with Lewis County and Logan on this season’s schedule, which includes 11 games at the Palace on the Hill.

The Patriots return three starters, all of whom are expected to have big seasons.

The list has to begin with Phil Bledsoe (6-foot-6), who signed recently to play next season at Marshall. A first team AllValley and second team all-state performer, Bledsoe averaged 19 points and 13.5 rebounds last season. ‘‘He had a tremendous offseason and improved even more. We’re going to see an even better Phil Bledsoe,’’ Jebbia predicted. ‘‘We’ll practice for two hours and he is always getting extra work in. He will go to the YMCA at 5 a.m. and in this day you don’t see that too much from teenagers. ‘‘He is without a doubt one of the best players in West Virginia.’’

Elijah Bell is certainly one of the best on-ball defenders the state has to offer.

But Jebbia wants to see him expand the offensive game a little bit. ‘‘Elijah’s 6-2, 205 pounds and can go post guys up,’’ Jebbia said. ‘‘He is so unselfish and creates with his defense, but Elijah will need to score a little more and be in the 12-13 a game range.’’

Bell scored an even 10 ppg. last season and hit was also first team All-Valley.

Then there’s Saunders, who although he stands 5-8, more than makes up for that with his tenacity. He’ll be making the transition from off-guard to the point. ‘‘He has embraced the move,’’ Jebbia said. ‘‘We haven’t had anyone shoot 43 percent from 3 around here in a while.’’

Saunders made 45 from 3-point range

last season.

Schodzinski (6-2), a junior, will also be a starter. He made 25 shots from 3 as the sixth man but will see his role increase. ‘‘He’s put on 15, 20 pounds and his body is solid,’’ Jebbia said.

It was unclear in the early portion of practice who would be the fifth starter, but the Patriots have no shortage of players to choose from.

Johnson is a rebounder and a great teammate. Laing hits the boards hard and the other players love him. Jimmy Zecca, a 6-1 sophomore, is coming off ACL surgery and is a solid defender and an energy guy.

Then there are juniors Maezi Mozby (5-7) and Noah Moulton (6-0), each of whom is expected to help. Nathan Phillips, a 5-11 sophomore, is someone that could see his minutes rise as the season progresses. ‘‘I personally need to do a better job of getting the bench players more minutes,’’ Jebbia said. ‘‘We got stuck on six guys last year and in Class AAA that won’t cut it. ‘‘Our region is tough as everyone knows. Morgantown and Parkersburg South are really good and University is really coming on. ‘‘Our obvious goal is to get to Charleston.’’

Jebbia’s varsity assistants are Tony Marvin, Dave Stahnke and Terry Payne.

Shaun Black and Josh Yost will handle the freshmen.

2015-16 Schedule (JV games at 6 p.m. unless noted)

Dec. 16: University Dec. 19: at Lewis County, 4 p.m.

Dec. 26: at Preston Dec. 29: Hurricane *Jan. 2: Allderdice, 11:30 a.m.

Jan. 5: Morgantown Jan. 8: Brooke Jan. 13: Union Local Jan. 15: Logan Jan. 16: at Pksbg. South Jan. 20: at University Jan. 22: at John Marshall Jan. 23: Zanesville Jan. 29: Pksbg. South Jan. 30: Linsly Feb. 2: at Brooke Feb. 6: Preston Feb. 16: John Marshall Feb. 19: at Morgantown Feb. 27: at South Charleston *-CRC at Wheeling Jesuit

Dec. 4, 2015

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Bears Continued from Page 47 practice with the varsity every day last year and will be expected to step in and play big roles this year,” Everly said. “We also have some other sophomores that, right now, are at the jayvee level, but whom may show enough to contribute on varsity this year.

“Because of our lack of size, we’ll want to push the ball up the floor to take advantage of more quickness than we’ve had in the past, so whoever has the ball will push it up the floor rather than just a lone point guard,” Everly explained..

Everly said he has enough freshmen out this year to have the first frosh team Oak Glen has had since 2008.

“That will be a big help for us down the road,” said Everly.

While Everly says he will rely on Perez, Feicht and Taylor under the basket, he’ll also have Theiss and Crago, both 6-2, at the forwards.

“We’ll really miss Aaron Gray, our 6-4 senior, who has some serious knee injuries. He’s about 225 pounds and would really help us inside. He practices with us every day and works out as much as his injuries will allow him.

He missed the entire football season too, but he’s helping us in practice and there’s a very slight chance he could be able to play by the end of the season.”

Everly said he has a couple of keys that could make the season for the Golden Bears.

“We have to stay healthy and continue our conditioning,” he explained.

“And we have to hit our outside shots at a reasonable rate.

“I suppose that’s the same with every high school team. You just have to hit from the outside in today’s game, but it might be a little more important for us since we don’t have that dominant big guy.”

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Dec. 4, 2015

Central Continued from Page 34 proud of the leadership qualities shown” by his three seniors.

“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate those three guys,” he said. “They all have grown so much since their freshmen years and are truly a pleasure to coach.

“I’m just so proud of them.”

Central finished 9-14 a year ago, bowing to River in the first round of sectional play.

Tucker’s roster also features sophomores Donnie Vandeborne, Joe Zinno and Gino DiBiase. Freshmen hitting the floor for the Crusaders include Dominic Argentine, Matt Bell, Noah Fayak, Justin Hartzell, Matt Kilonsky, Isaac Schmitz and Jacob Stoll.

“Size wise, we’re bigger than last year but we still are going to be smaller than a lot of teams we play,” Tucker pointed out. “We play a lot of big schools this year. We’ll have to outwork, outhustle and play smarter than the other teams.

“We’re concerned about going against teams that want to pound it inside. We’re trying to teach our guys to play smarter and faster on defense with really good rotation. So, when we go against teams that are bigger, we’ll be able to play to our strengths.”

The Crusaders will play their first home game Dec. 15 against Jefferson County rival Toronto.

“We’ve seen a constant improvement at the varsity

level in our scrimmages,” Tucker commented. “Each day our guys come into the gym, they are getting better. We continue working to fix our mistakes and we’ve seen a lot of progress from them.

“Right now, we are trying to establish a bench and that process is coming along slowly. Hopefully by the middle of the season, we’ll have a really good bench.

“Our first five guys are doing extremely well and our first two guys off the bench are doing a good job of improving as well.”

Adam Martello, a former team manager for Tucker and currently a law student at Duquesne University, has joined the coaching staff for the 2015-2016 season.

Dec. 4, 2015

52

Blue Dons Higgins, our lone senior, to provide valuable leadership and perimeter shooting.”

Blair said that point guard is where there is the most competition for a starting role with several players catching his eye.

“We’ll need good ball handlers because I want to continue the Madonna tradition of up tempo style of play,” he said. “And I think we have the players that can do it. I want to play fast and have a solid defensive structure.

“I played for Coach Crutchfield at West Liberty and that’s what he likes to do. We want to do like the successful West Liberty teams have done, create tempo to our benefit, play fast, shoot the three-pointer and play

Continued from Page 35 solid team defense.

“The West Liberty teams aren’t overly tall, but they run in transition and try to keep the opposition off kilter and that’s what we want to do playing multiple defensive sets.”

Besides lacking experience, Blair’s other concern is the Blue Don schedule.

“I feel we have the toughest Class A section in the state with Wheeling Central, Magnolia and Bishop Donahue,” he explained. “It is a real challenge, but I’m excited to take on that challenge.

“We have a young team, but as long as we work hard we’ll be okay. These kids really are a pleasure to coach.

“I’ll say that if we have a successful season, we’ll do

it as a team. These kids are unselfish and have great team chemistry.

Blair and jayvee coach, Mike Battista, are the only holdovers on the Blue Don coaching staff from the Vargo era. Dave Wilharm and Michael Payne are the varsity assistants and Gary Lyons is a jayvee assistant.

Blair says he is scouring Madonna high school for one more freshman.

“We need one more freshman to have a freshman team,” he said. “We have all these kids out for basketball and we just need one more so that our freshmen can develop at a level according to their age and not have to play against older kids at the jayvee level.”

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Dec. 4, 2015

Buckeye Continued from Page 46 last season,” Haberfield said about what his goal for his team is for this season.

The other sophomores in the program are guards Jeremiah Seaman, Shane Heitz, Ryan Kinyo, David Zanes and forward Kadin Weaver.

The three freshmen are Trayvon Barnett, Blake Ring-Fish and Owen Long. All three freshmen are guards. Ryan Moffo, Dokes, Savage, Carducci and Novak are the starters for the Panthers. Brandon Mayle and Myers will see a significant amount this season.

“We have guys who are willing to be leaders both

on and off of the floor this season,” Haberfield said.

“Our guys are learning to play off of one another, which has allowed us to distribute the basketball more often.”

The Panthers are in the North Division of the Buckeye 8, and Buckeye Local will play two games this season against divisional foes Edison, Indian Creek, East Liverpool and Buckeye Local. Buckeye Local will also play three road games against Harrison Central, Martins Ferry and Bellaire, all of which are in the South Division of the Buckeye 8.

Buckeye Local will play two games against out of

conference foes Toronto, Weir and Bridgeport.

Buckeye Local will play one game — at home — against Barnesville.

“Playing together as a team,” Haberfield said asked what it is going to take for the Panthers to have a successful season this year. “We must continue to improve our half court offensive sets in order to compete with other teams. If we play with an unselfish attitude, I believe it will improve our looks and scoring opportunities.”

Haberfield is assisted by Joe Soos and Chris Heaton.