CCC - How does the the Cross County Conference stack up in 2008?

Covington - Still the team to beat in the CCC. Should be a more experienced unit with talent. Their conference to lose.

Miami East - Had a fantastic season last year. Lost some good talent, but their excellent running back - Smallwood is back. Probably the team with the best chance at knocking off the Bucc's.

Everyone else - Lots of coaching changes in the CCC this season. About half of the league has had a coaching change this season. New systems, new coaches - who can get their team to adapt faster?

Ansonia - Should have a winning record. One of the smaller schools in the CCC, but they still play good ball. Graduated a good running back in Beisner, so someone will need to fill his shoes.

Arcanum - Also a program with a new coach. Have some solid returning players. They just have to gel.

Bethel - Mayes is gone, who will take his place? Have some returning linemen, should be in the mix this season.

Tri-County North - Return a lot of players. This is their second year under their new coach. So the team will know what to expect on July 31 when they report in. Should have the talent to be around .500 and if things break right, a winning record.

Twin Valley South - Lost a lot of talent at the skill positions. But almost all of their line is back. New coach here as well, Shondlemeyer who has a proven record at Arcanum. Struggled at Versailles, but he was trying to fill the shoes of a legend. If history holds true, look for South to run, run, run.

Mississinnewa Valley - Graher has left and he is the glue that held everything together. The Blackhawks have been respectable under his tenure. Will the new coach be able to continue the success, or will the program backslide and become doormats again?

Bradford - Low numbers last season. Another new coach. Program needs to right itself. Can the coach reenergize the community and get the numbers and enthusiasm back up?

National Trail - Another program plagued by apathy. Low numbers, not much help at the skill positions. This season will be another struggle.

Tony Augsperger is the new Athletic Director at TVS. Dan Bassler decided to step down. With South's financial woes, maybe he decided that now may be a good time to get out before budget cut backs get worse. Tony will have his hands full with pay to play. That will effect numbers at all sports. Also it may make parents more anxious. If a parent is paying X amount of money and my kid is on the bench then that may be something to gripe about. I do know that Tony will be stretched thin, wearing multiple hats this school year.


Shawnee Summer League for Junior High Girls.
Congrats to the champs - Eaton! Runners up was Twin Valley South. Third was Valley View, then Trail, last was Shawnee. South did have a little upset over Valley View in the opening round. In their first meeting South got thumped. But in the tournament, South played well enough to beat the Spartans and advance to the finals.

For next season, I think that a weekend shoot out might work out better. Maybe the weekend before the 4th of July. Everyone plays three games over a Friday, Saturday, Sunday. We can work with scheduling to a degree. If a bunch of your girls have a Sunday softball game, then we can schedule your three games for Friday and Saturday.

I see the value in a league in that you can work with and develop players. But I also know that in the summer the girls are doing so much that it is difficult to get a team together every week for the games.

It's about that time of year again. Practices are starting up, games are only a month or so away.

Eaton - Lost a lot, but have some good returning talent. Will probably have the best record of any Preble County team. Playoffs? I think that they have a shot.

TVS - New coach, but a coach that has had success in the CCC at Arcanum. Lost a lot of talent at the skill positions. But should be returning almost all of their line. I can have average running backs and a good line will make them look good. The team will be thin on seniors. So Juniors and Sophomores will have to step up. Also pay to play may keep some players away. So depth could be a problem. There has been a lot of coaching changes at several of the other teams in the CCC so if the team gels and learns the new system quickly then they have a good shot at a winning record.

TCN - Second year for their head coach. Another team relying on young talent. They should be improved over last years team. Should be around .500.

Preble Shawnee - Another team with a first year coach. They are in the small school division of the SWBL, but I see them sub .500.

National Trail - A program desperately needing a turnaround. Some young talent. The CCC has replaced like 6 or 7 coaches. So they might be able to surprise some of the teams that are learning new systems under their new coaches. Still I see them sub .500.

Congrats to Joe Maleski and J. T. Stone from South. Both made it to state in track - Maleski finished second in 100m, 7th in 200m while Stone finished 4th in the shotput. So a great way to cap off successful senior years. J. T. Stone is going to play football at Moorehead State in KY. Haven't heard what position they recruited him to play.

For myself, I have been working on Summer basket ball with Shawnee. The camp went OK, took a shot gun approach and showed them a little bit of everything. We had our first game on Sunday and got clobbered. Partially because we were short players and had to play some 6th graders on the Junior High team. So that made it tough. Also for many of the players it was their first time going against another school. But I saw some signs of progress. They were real ragged the first part of the game, but started to settle down and play better after that.

At the high school level participation has been low at the open gyms. Same problem that there has been in the past. Everyone plays soccer or volleyball in the off season. But no one wants to focus on basketball. Even the 7th grade team that I coached last year - only one signed up to play this summer. So that is very discouraging, it will be tough to be competive next season if no one does any work this summer. I spoke with a few of the other JH coaches and they have kids doing AAU, etc. So it may be another tough winter. I don't know that the team will equal last years wins or not. Other teams are improving and we are pretty much treading water. I made it known that I would rather coach next years 7th grade squad, a good many of them attended camp and also are in the summer league. So I can see enthusiasm for the sport in that group, they want to get better - those are the players I want to work with. But I think the school is leaning for the JH coaches to stay with a team both years of JH. We'll see what happens this winter, if I lose my job, I may not be able to coach at all.

Spoke with Joe Webster, the Varsity coach and he is frustrated at the inablity to build enthusism for the program at almost all levels. His last open gym only 5 players showed up. Out of 28 who said that they would be there. We need a youth group to play in the Dayton Metro, Kingdom Sports, or some other league. But haven't seen any parents willing to step up an organize this. Now there are kids that are playing with other programs, but it would be great for a Shawnee team to get organized instead. But I think that will be the key for future, getting the girls turned on to the sport at an early age and getting them to buy into the program. Well that and of course winning doesn't hurt either. A winning season will help, but if things continue as they are now, that may still be on the horizon.

Well the latest rumor is that Coach Cottingim is stepping down at TVS. But his replacement is Shondlemyer(sp) - formerly of Versailles and Arcanum. Very successful at Arcanum, but not so good at Versailles. He was stepping into a legends shoes in Tiger land, and that can be tough to do. He tried to install his system and his offense and it just didn't click. He runs the double wing, and doesn't like to pass a lot. The contract has to approved by the school board but it should be a done deal shortly.

News from TVS - Head Football Coach Cottingim is stepping down. So that will make the 2008 campaign that much tougher. A very thin senior class, pay to play, and a new coach/new system. It will take a monumental effort to overcome all of this. I also understand that at least one of the assistants may be leaving as well.

Girls Summer Basketball. Had a rep from TVS get with me about restarting a basketball league that I had going when Chelsea was still in school. It will be good for local girls to get this going again. Lots of youngsters are doing JO volleyball, but not many are doing any basketball in the offseason. Right now 6 schools have expressed an interest. http://christ77.tripod.com/SummBB.html

The North Girls ended their season with a hard fought game in the state tournament. They got off to a slow start, but closed the gap and even lead in the 3rd quarter. But West Liberty Salem had a nice run at the start of the 4th quarter and North had to foul towards the end. The Tigers hit their shots and North dropped out.

Kevin Schaefer, the head coach for the Preble Shawnee girls was the first casualty of the offseason. he will not be renewed for next season. Usually the first season is a bye, too bad that things turned out the way that they did. Kevin did seem to have good knowledge about basketball. By next season the varsity team will have had 3 coaches in 3 years. And although the team only loses one senior, the returning starters have a lot of work to do to get back in the win column.

South's girls team was beaten soundly by Franklin Monroe. Katie McCoy was out with a badly injured knee and Lindsey Vogue was ill. So they were down 2 varsity players. The team never did get in sync on offense. Kate Ervin was the only beam of light on an otherwise dreary day. Lead the team in scoring, rebounded, and played solid defense. The team did have a good season, a winning record, next year they should reload.

South boys did win the league, got the Versailles bug off their back with a win over the Tigers in the first round of the tournament. But ended up losing a hard fought game in the next round. They graduate a lot, but some strong players are coming up so they shouldn't lose much.

Dixie boys played too many come from behind games and in the tournament against Arcanum, they couldn't muster up a rally and fell to the Trojans. A great season for the Hounds and they were state ranked for the first time in a long time.

My team finished just under .500 with an overall record of 7-9. That includes going 1-1 in the tournament at the end of the season. They ended the regular season with a 3 game winning streak and made it 4 in a row with a win over Dixie. After an 0-5 start, we turned things around. We finished the season with a tournament game against a tough Bellbrook team. We were definitely overmatched - they were like a head taller at every position. But we scrapped all the way to the end. The team went down, but we went down with full sails, cannons blazing, and flags snapping in the breeze. They fought all four quarters, they gave it all that they had. What more can a coach ask for.

South girls varsity had two injuries to post players at the end of the season. So they will have to retool the team going into the tournament.

Shawnee girls varsity have had a rough season, going winless in their season. Now to compound the situation, the team played 21 games due to a scheduling error. The AD was alerted a month ago about the situation, but they played it out. Several girls can't play in the post season and they go against a number one seed in the first round of the tournament. So that could be a real ugly game.

If the South boys don't choke, they are in the drivers seat for an outright league championship. They have tough brackets in the tournament, but they are capable of winning a district title as well.

My team is back in the win column. But only after a couple of losses. We had a disappointing game against Carlisle, scored only 5 points in the first half, then came back in the second half and just fell short. I don't know if we were over confident after our lopsided victory or what, but the team was just flat in the first half. We played the second best team in the lead toe to toe for about 3 and a half quarters. After being close we found ourselves down 10 with a little over a minute and a half to go. I thought about fouling, but we had only accumulated 3 fouls. Plus they were hitting their foul shots and were like 0 for 7 from the 3 point line. So a very very slim chance of pulling off the upset. I pulled the starters and gave the bench a little playing time. It's a fine line between balancing playing time and playing to win at the 7th grade level.

But the team rebounded after that performance and has had one sided victories over Milton and Northridge. They seem to be peaking at the right time with the tournament coming up this weekend. One concern is that we have been lucky with illness and injuries. Last night both occured. My center felt ill after the game and her backup injured her knee - took a hard fall on the floor. It looked like it would bruise. They have a day to recover, then our last regular season game, then the tournament.

At the high school level South boys have posted a big victory with a win over Miami East. It gives them a real good shot at winning the league outright. They have a tough tournament bracket. So getting a district title will be a dog fight. The South girls are out of the hunt for the ccc crown, but could do something in the districts. They are D4 this year and so they have a chance of getting a sectional and even a district title if they play the way that they are capable.

My team: A roller coaster week. We had a close game on Tuesday. We were up by two at one point in the second half. But we gave up a turnover, had a mixup on the called defense, and had another miscue. It added up to a 4 point loss - 24-20. Still the team played hard. Another coach told me that he arrived at halftime and saw the halftime score (5-5), then saw the other team take the court. He wondered how my scrawny little team held them to just 5 points. Like all the other teams they outsized us, we just play scrappy basketball. Still it was an emotional loss.

We did manage another win. We crushed Franklin 38-8. Almost everyone got at least one basket. I was worried about how the team would rebound coming off of that loss and they did surprisely well.

Won a close game over Waynesville - a one point victory. We had a slim lead at halftime, they battled back and had the lead in the last quarter. We got the lead back with about 2 minutes left and hung on for the win. It was the best game that we have played this season. The team played hard from the tip off to the closing buzzer. After winter break we play two tough games against larger schools. We had better not lose our momentum from back to back victories. Now that they know we can win, it should give them more confidence against the bigger schools.

at the high school level South boys won the Shawnee Christmas tournament. The consolation game was won by TCN. Dixie girls won their holiday tournament. South won the consolation game. South is having a winning season so far which is a positive.

Tough start to the season. The Junior High teams play against some bigger schools. We pulled up to Bellbrook Middle school and the girls remarked that their Middle School was as big as our High School. So that makes it tough to compete. We finally managed our first victory tonight. We were even at half time and after a good talking to and a change to a full court man to man press we pulled ahead for good. The girls seem to get into lackadaisical moods at times and you have to get tough with them to get them focussed.

At the High School level TVS was upset by Franklin Monroe. Lost by one point. I thought that they had the talent to run the table in the CCC. Still the league seems to continuously have strong basketball teams. So it is tough to make it thru the season undefeated. It is more common to have co-champions at the end of the season than a single championship team.

My team:Our first 4-5 games are our toughest. The team is gradually getting better - at least we are starting to score points. But we are still needing our first win. Also the team needs to start stronger. We have been allowing the other teams to race out to early leads. We seem to play solid basketball in the second half.The girls suggested that I do some sort of Vince Lombardi speech in the pregame, but thats not my style. We just need to be mentally prepared from the beginning. At least we are getting better each game, as long as we are improving - we will eventually get that first win.

Around the area: South boys seem to be on fire in the early going, no losses and beat Tri Village who is perennially in the top of the CCC. South girls upset favored Franklin Monroe in the CCC. Preble Shawnee girls are really struggling in the early season. The other boys teams in the county aren't doing so well. The North girls are continuing their winning ways and seem to be well on their way to a good season.

Yeouch, zonked on our first game of the season. Really outsized and our turnovers really made it easy for them. They had tall girls with coordination. They could take the ball coast to coast and outdistance our girls who I consider as being quick. The half court defense was fair, but a lot of turnovers became points. Lots of work to do before the next game. As a small team we need to work hard to get position on rebounds. Our best quarter was the third quarter. The team came out of the locker room and played with determination. So they did not give up, they showed spirit.

Chelsea has been a good help on the bench and in the locker room. I think she would make a good coach, but with school and work there just isn't enough hours in the day for her to do it all. I think the girls look up to her. It is interesting to hear her say same some of the same things that I have told her over the years. After all those years of basketball some of it sunk in.

First scrimmage.

The team did OK - considering we have had only 8 or so practices. The first week we worked on defense, so only 3 practices on offense. And it showed, our defense was pretty good for the most part, the offense could have been better. But we did well enough to win 4 out of 5 quarters. Speed, hustle, good defensive plays made the difference. Only two practices and then we have our second and last scrimmage. So much to learn, so little time...

Had some good performances. One of the wings did a great job on defense when we had to shut down their best player. A guard hit a last second shot - the buzzer went off as the ball was in mid-air to win one of the quarters. Our center had a good game under the boards.

I am back in the saddle again. After laying off for a few years I am coaching basketball again. This time for a school. I am not used to all of the red tape that it takes to coach for a public school. I organized and started a peewee football program and a youth basketball program. Plus I did some AAU basketball. But these were all not connected directly with any school. There were a few forms to fill out, but after that you were able to concentrate on the team.

Not so easy with the school. A background check and fingerprints. CPR course - it had been 20 years since my first red cross course so it was time for a refresher. A "Pupil Activity Course" - it had some good stuff about concussions and injuries that I paid close attention to; every season there are at least a few sprains or hard falls. Still have to fill out some forms for the office. That takes care of me, then the parents and kids have to sign umpteen documents and return them. Next year I will have to hire a secretary....

The team is vertically challenged. But they are athletic and are competitive. They work hard and most of all they have fun on the court. So far no prima donna's or drama queens. We are really focusing on defense. We will need a tough defense to offset our lack of height.

What a season for the Panthers. I am sure that the seniors must have thought they they would never see a victory after going 0-10 their Freshman and Sophomore years. The team went 2-8 last season, and completed this season at 7-3. South's first winning season in like 5-6 years. Something that the seniors can be proud of. They can look back and say that we were the team that turned the program around and regained respectability.
They proved me wrong, my personal thoughts at the start of the season was that the team would go 5-5. Good thing that I am not in Vegas....

The last game was tough it was pretty even going into the last quarter, then Ansonia ran away with the ball game. According to my son it was emotional as the team gathered together for one last huddle. I hope that the underclassmen reflect back on the season, the emotions of that moment and resolve to do even better next year. We will be light on seniors and so the juniors and sophomores will have to step up even more to carry the team forward. Will South be a flash in the pan - a one season wonder, or is this the return of South to the days of old when they were consistantly at the top of the league?

ME 48 - TVS 7 Wow, what a whooping from the Vikings. A big game with playoff implications and the Vikings controlled it from the first whistle to the last. They were definitely up for the game and South just seemed to be in a daze. Nothing seemed to work on either defense or offense. We did have one drive that made it 21-7 and gave a glimmer of hope. We were hoping to see the magic happen, but South seemed to run out of mojo. We let their backs run wild, ripping off runs of 60+ yards several times. We got pushed off the ball and out of position. They ended up with a 41-7 halftime lead.

Maybe the team was emotionally spent to a degree. Back to back games against Covington and North - finally beating them for the first time in 5-6 years at least. Maybe the team got complacent and thought that they could just walk onto the field and win. East was definitely the better team, but South really seemed to tuck their tail between their legs and roll over.

Three winnable games left on the season, but I am sure that Bradford, Trail, and Ansonia all smell blood. The seniors need to show leadership and get the team rallied. Otherwise the highwater mark for season could be the North game.

Well many CCC teams have had their hopes dashed against the Covington Buccaneers. The first half was all Buccs as they accumulated a 14-0 half time lead. The defense was very stingy only allowing 4 first downs in the half, and about 80 yards of offense. South's best chance at a score was stopped. Maleski went deep on a pass and Flynn hit him in stride - he had the corner beat. But the Covington safety made one heck of a play. As Maleski was making the catch he raced across the field and knocked the ball loose for an incompletion.

In the second half, South put together a drive mixing the short pass and a few runs. They hit paydirt on a Flynn to Boyd TD catch to make the game 14-7. But was as close as the team would come. The Covington offense looked potent as they racked up another TD to make it 21-7. South did have another second half drive that was deep in Covington territory. But a trick play on 4th and 6 on about the Bucc 25 yard line fell short and South had to give up the ball on downs. They were driving at the end, but ran out of clock deep in Covington territory.

So the team has a gut check, they are not going to be undefeated, but how will they react to the loss? And now injuries are now starting to be a factor, they are starting almost all sophomores o on the offensive line. There are still plenty of tough games on the schedule. This week will be a critical one for the Panthers. Do they lick their wounds and tuck their tails? Or do they rebound from this loss and redouble their efforts?