Hey Ohio State starts their season this Saturday at noon. At least one professional team in Ohio will have a winning record this season (insert rim shot here...). They have a patty cake opponent though - Navy. Do hope that the Buckeyes do better against USC this season than they did last year.

And I guess that professional can also loosely be applied to the Bengals. The Bengals have had a great track record with first round draft choices. With Smith breaking a bone in his foot during a drill, memories of blown draft pics gone by start to echo. Heard this quote on a sports talk show and it bears repeating. "At least Kijuana Carter made it into a game." Too early to throw in the towel on Smith of course, but his rookie season is starting to look like a bust. Late to camp, out for several weeks with a broken foot. When he does come back, it is going to take some additional time to get into game shape. So he will see the field what - maybe in October sometime. And now no scrimmages to make mistakes. When (if?) he does get to play, he gets to make his mistakes in a game.

I like the Bengals D, but worry about the offensive line and a fragile Palmer. If the linemen are playing Ole' - Palmer isn't mobile enough to dodge rampaging 300 pound linemen. When he gets pounded into the turf 5-6 times a game, look for another shortened season for Palmer.

CCC didn't do quite as well as I predicted on opening day. But 4 wins are better than the one that we had a year ago. Two of the losses were close and so could have slid the conference over to the plus side if they had gone the other way. The poll predicts Ansonia to take the CCC crown. And I have to lean towards them as well. I still can't wrap my brain around the Tigers passing for 5 TD's against Fort Recovery. History has them playing smashmouth football and you could generally count the number of passes they threw in a game on one hand. It might be worth the trip up there just to watch the air show.

Injuries are a factor for South. I was really looking forward to watching this years team. Lots of talent in the junior and senior classes. But in small school football, when you lose a starter - they generally are playing both ways. And so it may take two people to replace them, one on offense and one on defense. And there just isn't the depth once you get past the starters. So I still think that they will be formidable, but you hope that the kids heal fast and get back into the lineup. Being a D5 team, you just can't afford many losses with all the D6 schools in the conference. Two losses will make it extremely difficult to make the playoffs.
An interesting aside, I am wondering if the South coaches saw how well the Fort moved the ball with their spread against the Tigers and will change their game plan accordingly???

Bradford won big over Yellow Springs. Yeah the Bulldogs aren't known for their football, but on the other hand 64 points shows a dominant team. Are the Railroaders for real and can they make the race for the CCC crown interesting? Program has been down for awhile, they are due for some success.

Covington - high expectations and a disappointing loss to start the season. A winnable game for the Buccs. But look for them to be worked into a froth this week. Should be hitting on all cylinders come Friday.

Third quarter the Difference in Dixie Victory
J. C. Tilton

Dixie and TVS were evenly matched thru out the night, but the third quarter ended up being the difference on a wet Friday night. There was rain thru the first quarter and so the field was damp the entire night. Both teams had their share of penalties and turnovers. The coaching staffs had to begin to wonder if their teams could go thru a series without at least one yellow hanky being thrown.

South’s strategy seemed to be to establish a ball control running offense and to use the pass sparingly. While Dixie mixed things up, sometimes using their spread, sometimes using an I formation. And mixing in the pass more often. South did spread things out in the fourth quarter when they were trying to close the gap with Dixie.

South scored first on a Miles McCollum TD run from the two yard line that he had set up with a 41 yard carry. But Dixie answered quick as Gray connected with Prater for a 70 yard TD pass. South had another first quarter opportunity when Cody Bryant snagged a Grey pass to give South the ball at the Dixie 26. But Luke Bowling pounced on a South fumble to put an end to that threat.

Likewise Dixie had a chance with good field position in the 2nd quarter when a shanked punt gave them possession on the South 34. But a Tyler Leach sack put Dixie into a situation where they had to punt. And towards the end of the half Dixie did a fake punt where Hall managed a first down at midfield. But another penalty helped to put an end to that drive where they had to turn the ball over to South at the 40 with seconds left.

Dixie wasted no time scoring in the second half as Doogie Hauser carried for 60 yards to the TVS 8 and then scampered the remaining 8 yards for a TD on the next play. South did answer as Balthis rambled 35 yards for a TD. Michael Hall carried the load for the Greyhounds on the next possession ending the drive by going 22 yards for the next Dixie score.

And in the 4th quart Hauser found the endzone again and so the Panthers were down by two scores 28-14. After an inadvertent whistle caused a redo of a South punt. An alert Nick Youngerman was able to scoop up a Dixie fumble of this punt to give South new hope. But a stout Dixie defense forced South to 3 downs and punt. Later on the Nick grabbed an errant Dixie pass and this time South capitalized. Skylar Reckers closed the gap to a single touchdown with a touchdown run. But there was only 1:24 left in the game. Dixie covered the onside kick from South and ran out the clock.

Coach Schondelmyer was contacted for comment after the game, “Despite the loss, we are showing signs of improvement from last year. But on Friday night we just had too many mental mistakes in crucial situations. We didn’t see this in the preseason – very few turnovers and few penalties. That was the difference maker, we can’t beat Dixie with the amount of mental mistakes we had. We did miss some critical tackles in the second half and that’s just something we have to get better at.“

Positives from the game, “Tyler Leach had a good game going and we lost him in the second half. Losing your fullback takes away from your option offense. Skylar Reckers played well on both sides of the ball. Steve Balthis had a good night as well. But really despite the disappointment, I feel our guys are playing harder and are in better shape than last year. They seem to be committed to playing winning football.”
Comments: chrisaukcam@gmail.com

Well football season opens this Friday. Lets look at some local match ups.

North hosts Brookville. On paper you have a championship team that was undefeated last season and made the playoffs going against a sub .500 team. But Brookville graduated a lot of talent. I am not sure that they are in a reload mode. They have struggled in at least one of their scrimmages. North returns a lot of players and has some big linemen. The Panther quarterback can air it out and if he can get time to pass, that could be a key to the game. I see momentum as being key. If North can score early and get confidence they will have a good chance.

Eaton vs. Talawanda. Eaton is loaded this year. Plenty of talent in the skill positions (Fudge is back) and a big, big line. All indications are that the Eagles will be the team to be in SWBL big school division this fall. Plus Eaton has home field advantage. Talawanda will have their hands full.

Valley View at Dunbar. The Spartans have a new quarterback in Pohl. Word is that he has a good arm, but this will be his first varsity season at this position. They return some decent lineman and some skill position players. Dunbar are no slouches, this should be a good game.

Shawnee at Trail. Shawnee graduated some good players, but they have a lot coming back. They have decent sized squad. They need to watch the penalties from what I saw at their last scrimmage. Trail has a new coach in Graher – he turned around the Mississinawa program from being a 1 or 2 win program to a respectable team. Even with a home field advantage it could be a tough night for the Blazers.

Dixie at North. The game of the week. Dixie has an experienced line and new faces at the quarterback and receiver positions. Can they establish a running game to give their new quarterback time to get comfortable at the position. Or will they throw their wild card early – go to the spread and air it out. South has almost everyone back, so they have experience and the home field advantage. Their offense has been sporadic at times. But the defense has been respectable. Still I like the overall team speed of Dixie, one missed tackle or one missed pass assignment and you have a Greyhound in the end zone. Should be a good game for the fans.

North – Getting Stronger
J. C. Tilton

Last season the team seemed to be young and the big players lacked stamina. This season the team returns experience and seemed to be in fair condition – although they did have some big bodies on the sidelines with injuries in the scrimmage that I watched. Two of their big linemen had to sit out due to illness and injury. But North was able to score first in their first scrimmage which was against Dixie. And they initially held Dixie to a single score. Although they did allow Dixie to come back late in their scrimmage.

With the big line, you can see that North will be trying to move the ball inside the tackles. But with Overholtz at quarterback, his arm will be able to stretch the field. Two of the North scores were from deep passes. And Booth scampered about 60 yards to score on the ground. I can see that the North strategy will be in part to establish the run inside and then when the defense focuses on stopping that, they will do a play action fake and go long. In the last part of the scrimmage, I thought that Dixie’s spread offense was being effective against North. They had an overall advantage in team speed and were able to beat North to the point of attack on several plays. So getting to the ball faster and better open field tackling will need to improve before next Friday.

Second year coach Jason Hart was asked to discuss the scrimmage, “A definite positive was our passing game, we haven’t had that the past couple of years. The quarterback threw well, the receivers were catching the ball, and we had decent pass protection from the line. We do need to work on our running game, up front we need to get better – we need to control the line of scrimmage. And defense we just need to tackle better. We are in position, but we are just not making tackles. Also I would like to see the team be more physical on defense.

On Dalton Overholtz, “We still have our underneath stuff, but with his arm we can go downfield. He has improved in the off season.” The team returns a lot of players in the skill positions, “All of our backs and receivers have 2 and 3 years experience. And our line returns several players who have been playing varsity level football. We expect a lot out of these guys this year. We have a new defensive end that we are expecting big things from.”

On the CCC competition, “Covington is tough to beat and they will be at the top of the league until someone knocks them off. And Ansonsia – they are bringing everyone back from last years playoff team. But you have to be on top of your game every week, because this is a year where anybody can beat any one. The league is much more balanced than it has been in the past. Even the bottom teams are pushing to get up in the middle.” North will open this Friday night against a tough Brookville team that was undefeated in the regular season and went to the playoffs.

South – Defense Improved
J. C. Tilton

In his comments after the scrimmage coach Shondlemeyer stated that defense was a focus for this season. “Last season we scored a lot of points, but we gave up a lots points too.” After holding Fort Loramie scoreless on Saturday, it was clear that the team was getting the message. They gave up a few plays, but kept Loramie out of the redzone the entire time. The defense also collected some turnovers, grabbing an interception and a couple of fumbles. But the offense returned the favor and gave up an interception and a fumble. Something that needs to be corrected before the season starts.

South had a couple of scores against a stingy Fort Loramie defense. Tyler Leach set up the first one with a 60 yard carry and the other score was from a nice balanced drive where South mixed the pass and run to get into the endzone a second time. Defensively, they collected several sacks and I liked seeing all the Panthers around the ball. There were some starters on the sideline for the scrimmage with injuries, but word is that all but one are planning to be back before the season starts.

Coach Shondlemeyer was asked for comment afterwards, “I like what we did on defense today, last year we did not do a good job of getting to the ball and gang tackling. I saw great effort on defense and lots of red helmets at the point of attack. Offensively I didn’t think our skill guys blocked very well. Also we coughed up the ball a couple of times and good teams - championship teams do not turn the ball over. I do like the way our players stepped it up on our last scoring drive. Senior Miles McCollum escaped the rush and made a play with Steve Balthis.”

Key returning starters, “Well our offensive line is intact from last year. AJ Bantz is a senior 4 year starter. Jesse Koeller at guard, Ross Lundsford at tackle both have 3 years, Bobby Greene is a two year starter. In the backfield, Skylar Reckers is a senior, Tyler Leach is our fullback. Miles McCollum our quarterback, Steve Balthis at running back – all are back from last year. Roy Wysong and Cody Bryant at the receiver round out the offense.

When asked about the top competition in the league, coach mentioned Covington – “They always have a strong tradition up there. But Miami East has got something going, they have skill guys that are going to be a concern. And I really like Ansonia, they really came off the ball well against us last year. And in this conference the physical team wins the conference and so that’s why I like Ansonia – they are going to be a challenge.

Dixie Football – Young but Ready
J. C. Tilton

Dixie graduated a lot of their skill players last year. So they are coming in with a new quarterback, receivers, and running backs. But they do have an experienced line. In their scrimmage this past week against Tri-County North, they started off slow. North seemed to dominate the first part of the scrimmage. But Dixie regrouped, adjusted and they out scored North in last part of the scrimmage. Their final drive was the best drive by either team. Running the spread offense, they threw short possession passes and mixed in the run to make the final score of the night.

The team did mix in a traditional offense, but the spread with their team quickness was most effective. The defense did give up some big plays - two long TD passes and one long TD run, but overall seemed to handle the run fairly well. The middle linebacker, Ethan Hayes, really seemed to have a nose for the ball. But the young team will need to find a way to be more consistent and eliminate those defense breakdowns before week one.

Coach Tarpley was asked to comment after the scrimmage, “You could tell that we were young and inexperienced. But in that last quarter we did a really good job of coming back. That is something we emphasize to the team - to keep coming back. Our offensive line did a pretty good job, but we are really young at quarterback, receiver, and slots. We are really looking for big things from Michael Hall – who has the potential to be one of the better running backs in the league, Dougie Hauser, and Ryan Jordan. On defense we are impressed with Ethan Hayes, a third year starter. He was a state runner up in wrestling. Cody Johnson is another 3 year starter on the line. “

The League, “Monroe and Carlisle will be two of the tougher teams in the Buckeye division this season. Monroe has always done well in our division and Carlisle returns a lot – plus two kids from Valley View left and are now playing for them. We hope to be competitive with them.”

The Bengals are looking at the success of Pittsburgh and are focusing on a run offense. Which makes sense with a young line - run blocking is easier than pass blocking. We will see if they can pull this off. Also it's worth noting that they have yet to sign their number one pick. Getting Andre Smith into camp as soon as possible will help the cause.

OSU is preseason number 6 pick. I would not pick them so high. I think that they are still a year away.

Will be covering some high school scrimmage action this week. Looking forward to this season.

Well at the midway point this is shaping up to be a typical SW Ohio sports season. The Reds are out of it after the all-star break. Now football fans are waiting for the next season to begin. Bengals fans will be saying "this is the year", but by the end of October the Bengals gear will go back in the closet. They are supposed to be on TV during camp, that should be interesting to get a peak behind the curtain.

Again OSU will probably end the season with a top 10 ranking, but I don't see this as the year that they will be the hunt for a national championship. Lots of turnover on defense. The offense should be solid at QB and wideout. But the running game will be a question mark. Herron seems to have the most potential at this point. As we all know, Tressel likes to get the lead and sit on it by going to a running game and a stout defense to eat clock. Will he change tactics this season?

At Michigan, Rodriguez had best get things in gear this season and show progress. If he doesn't, then the clock will start ticking for him. University of Cincinnati is starting to eat into OSU's recruiting base. Not huge bites, just nibbles around the edges. I think that they have a shot at a top 25 ranking if they continue to reload as they have been doing under Kelley.

Well I must confess that I have been busy with a new job, etc. So I have taken a hiatus from sports. But things are leveling off and so I can start devoting more time. I have been adding links to local sports content on my Sports web page so that fans who want to keep up with the area news can do so.

Reds - Not off to a good second half, a young team with lots of injuries. A good team should finish around .500. If they can keep that pitching staff intact and add a bat or two, they could do some damage.

Bengals - The best thing that could happen for this team is this - sometime during training camp a group of Bengals takes Chad Johnson behind the dumpster and give him a good thumping. That should shut his mouth. On paper they should be an improved team. Defensively and on offense. But you have the Mike Brown factor, he could ruin a 2 car funeral - but he would find a way to make a profit off of it...

CCC - It is no secret that the CCC had a down year last season. 1-9 on opening day, ouch! But look at what you had - coaching changes for the majority of teams. A perfect storm (with the exception of league winning Miami East) of weak senior classes. So young teams with new coaches is not a recipe for success. But a lot of coaches were able to lay down a foundation for this season. South returns almost everyone, Covington lost only 6 seniors, Ansonia returns a majority of their players and on down the line. I only know of one or two coaching changes, so there is continuity. Last year the CCC was laughed about, but this year I see the league will be much improved as a whole.

I predict a winning record for the CCC on opening day. I predict a dog fight for first place. The Buccs will be competing, Ansonia can lay a claim, Miami East says we graduated a lot, but our backfield returns a lot of yards. I wouldn't be surprised for South and Arcanum be in the hunt. There will be a lot coming back and we will see some real grid iron battles this fall.

Ansonia - returns a good young QB and some strength at running back. They perform well year and year out thanks to coach Hoening. Last season was a winning one and I can't see them faltering this year.

Arcanum - Coming off a winning season with their coach. The Trojans have a strong tradition, rarely do their teams have a losing season. Look for them to be in the mix.

Bethel - Another team that should be better adjusted to their coach. Heard that they have some good linemen. They usually have good backs. We'll see if they can improve on last years record.

Bradford - Railroader football has been struggling this decade. Their current coach is trying to right the ship. I haven't heard anything to indicate that they will do much better than a win or two.

Covington - Returns almost everyone from a playoff team. Have heard that Millers Father will be helping the team. That is pretty much like having two head coaches for your squad. Reports are that the weight room is very well attended. Look for a big strong squad that will be the team to beat once again. Will this be the year that the CCC beats a team from that league up North???

Miami East - They were the beast from the East last season. Graduated a ton of seniors from a playoff team. But return a good backfield. With any blocking, this team could be back in the mix again this season.

Mississenewa Valley - Will they stay respectable or backslide? Another team that is adjusting to new coaching with the loss of Graher.

National Trail - And speaking of the loss of Graher, this is where he ended up. He took the Black Hawks from a team that saw more homecoming parades than anyone else, to respectablity and their first playoffs. If anyone can turn around the CCC doormat Trail Blazers, this is the man. I am not expecting miracles, but I expect Trail to begin the trip to respectability this fall.

Tri County North - I remember some big linemen that lost their stamina, some talent in the backfield, and yet another CCC team with a new coach, Hart. They have had a year to improve on strength and stamina and also they now know the new system. I look for them to be better this year.

Twin Valley South - The same linemen have pretty much been playing together since they were sophomores. They return experience at all positions. If my memory is right they had none or at most 1 or 2 seniors last year. A decent quarterback, speed and strength in the backfield (Thunder and Lightening???). Returning a lot at the skill positions on both sides of the ball. Word is that there is decent attendance in the weight room. Could be a sleeper team that sneaks up on everyone this year. This will be their second year under Shondlemeyer so that will be a plus for them as well.

Reds have a winning record despite scoring few runs overall than their opponents. The young team needs to grow up quick and figure out how to hit. They don't have a real number four hitter, but I don't know how you get a power with trading away the strength of team - pitching.

In about a week the Bengals will be ruining the football careers of another fresh crop of players. Poor guys will come in all smiles and full of vim and vinegar. Then they will leave discouraged and bitter after being dashed against the rocks of futility that line Paul Brown Stadium. Is it any wonder the Bengals bring out the worst in a player. Carl Pickens, Corey Dillon, and now Chad Johnson.

Seriously the team needs to draft offensive linemen high in the draft. Palmer will get reamed next fall without a halfway decent line.

Congrats to Miami East for their District Championship and their narrow win over Anna. They are all tough games from here - wish them the best.

Hats off to the University of Dayton for making it to the Dance. But I watched them in the league tournament. Not so hot. I know they have some injuries to players, but they seemed disjointed and out of sync in both the games I watched. Not a good send off into the tournament. And they start against West Virginia. After seeing both teams play, I have WV coming out of the bracket. I hope that UD proves me wrong.

Saw a blurb in the news that stated that Bengals were looking at running backs in the draft. Hopefully it is just some predraft misinformation that was being leaked. If I were a running back the last team that I want to have draft me is the Bengals. Just a horrible track record. In my opinion 2 picks out of the first 3 rounds should be for offensive linemen. Use Benson for another couple of years then sign another free agent.

South’s Season Comes to an End
J. C. Tilton
The last team playing basketball in Preble County finally ended their season at UD arena in the second round of the state playoffs. Their opponent was number one seeded Miami East. Their feature player was Dan Hickman who plans to be playing at the next level for next basketball season. South would have their hands full keeping him away from the basket. And in their regular season encounter, the Vikings decisively beat the Panthers. So South had a lot to overcome to have a chance.

Despite a gallant effort, the team could not overcome a rough first quarter against the Vikings. The Viking execute their trapping 1-3-1 zone very well. And it gave the Panthers fits in the first quarter. The team racked up 8 turnovers in the first 8 minutes. At one point the score was 15-2 and the Panther faithful had to sit on their hands as there just wasn’t much to cheer about. The Panthers were in a hole and had to dig their way out.

The next three quarters were almost even between the two teams. Ryan Innis and Clint Spitler did almost all of the scoring for South. But it just wasn’t enough. The team did adjust and the turnovers slowed down. In the second quarter the team stopped the bleeding and managed to keep pace with the Vikings scoring wise. But were down 34-21 at halftime.

Defensively the Panthers assigned a defender to Dan Hickman throughout the game and the remaining players fell into a zone. The Panthers did keep Hickman from scoring from the field in the second half although he still scored with foul shots. With the extra attention to Hickman, this opened up opportunities for the other players. A total of 4 Vikings would score in double figures.
Like the little engine that could the Panthers kept chugging away at the Viking lead. Finally pulling to within 6 points at the 1:21 mark. Fans that had been quiet were vocal as the Panthers made their late game run. But that would be their high water mark for the game. A heart breaking 3 point shot rimmed out and the Vikings would turn around and score at their end to re-extend the lead. Fouling in the last minute wouldn’t help as they made their shots and the South season ended on the wrong end of a 56-46 score.

“We played even for three quarters, if you could have taken away the first quarter then who knows what might have happened”, stated coach Augspurger. We played so hard and came so close - sometimes this is a game of inches. But we have almost everyone coming back and if they all play ball this summer they have the makings of a solid team - but they have to work at it, it’s not going to happen on it’s own.” Comments: chrisaukcam@gmail.com

State Tournament - One Advance, Two Fall

J. C. Tilton
Thursday night was the opening round of the state tournament for three area teams, the season would halt for two and so only one would advance to the next round. The first game had familiar foes Twin Valley South and Preble Shawnee. This would be the third meeting between the two teams, but the first one at a neutral site. The previous games had taken place at Shawnee’s home court. The series was tied with one win apiece, with both games being hard fought. Fans were looking forward to yet another battle on the hardwood.

But Thursdays game was anticlimactic. South used a stifling defense and a strong presence on the boards to control the game. Shawnee had a tough time getting anything going offensively against the Panthers. South used to the same zone as they had in the previous encounter. But Shawnee was cold from outside - a good many of their points came from driving to the basket. And any rebounds from missed shots were quickly scooped up by the Panthers.

South’s scoring was consistent. Shawnee showed a type of zone in the opening quarter, but went to man to man when South drilled some three point shots. Then the Panthers moved the ball inside and continued to rack up the points. At the half South was up, but not by a lot. Shawnee was down 19-8 with seconds left when Dylan Brown hit a buzzer beater to give Shawnee some momentum going into the locker room.

But in the second half the wheels fell off the Shawnee cart. South charged out of the locker room and built an impressive 18 point lead. Shawnee just couldn’t mount a response. When the horn sounded, South won 50-35. Tony Augspurger was ecstatic about the teams performance, “This was one of the best games we had for doing the things we laid out in practice. We talked about what we had to do to for each move they would make and to their credit we did everything we discussed in practice. Innis and Walker did a particularly good job on the boards. Ryan Innis did a good job of keeping his composure when Shawnee gave him extra attention. We have not been a good third quarter team and I told them in the locker room that if we want to be a tournament team, we have to win third quarters - and tonight we did that.”

Roger Ellis on the Arrows, “We plain didn’t shoot well tonight. South gave up some good looks, but we didn’t take advantage. We were hesitant with our offense. And when South came out strong in the second half, we didn’t respond. We held them to 50 points and if we could have generated any offense at all, we could have been in the game. But 5 out of our last 6 games we haven’t scored 50 points, you can’t win games like that.”

The Dixie Greyhounds drew a tough Dayton Christian team in the opening round. It has been a disappointing season for the team and although the team gave a good effort, the Crusaders just had too many weapons for the Greyhounds to stop. The team was tentative in the first quarter. Caught some momentum in the second quarter, and closed the gap with DC. Seniors Matt Risner and Nick Worley scored during this run. But just when the game got interesting, Dayton Christian found another gear and left the Greyhounds behind. They went on to win 57-38.

Joe Miller was unhappy with the loss, but pleased with his seniors. “They are good kids, and they didn’t quit out there - they played hard. Dayton Christian is a good team and are loaded with seniors. We played some young kids today. They did well too and we talked in the locker room about next summer, what we want to do as a team to get where Dayton Christian is today. It’s been a tough season, but next season will be nice - we’ll be alright.” Comments: chrisaukcam@gmail.com

National Trail - New Football Coach

I like the selection that National Trail made for their new head football coach. It is Coach Graher formerly from Mississinewa Valley. The Black Hawks for a number of years were the team that you scheduled for homecoming. Lucky to eek out one or two wins a season. But Graher turned that program around and made it respectable. Even getting them into the playoffs for the first time ever. So here is a guy with proven track record.

He is being thrown into a similiar situation. Trail can count the number of winning seasons that they have had on one hand - and still have fingers to spare. Sports in general at Trail have really fallen off, although there are signs of life in the 2008-09 school year. I think that it is a good decision and I would like to see what one of the biggest school districts in the CCC can accomplish.

No Love Here

J. C. Tilton
Saturday was Valentines day. But there was no love in Preble Shawnee’s gymnasium as the Arrows squared off for a defensive battle against their neighboring adversary, the Twin Valley South Panthers. Veteran coaches Roger Ellis and Tony Augspurger had their respective teams ready to play on Saturday. South was trying to rebound from a Friday night thumping from league leading Miami East. But revenge was on their mind - Shawnee had beat the Panthers in December at the Holiday tournament. Shawnee was likewise trying to rebound from a Friday loss - a narrow 2 point loss against Carlisle.

Both teams played shut down defense in the first half. South played in a zone which they stuck with all night. Shawnee played some man to man and varied their half court defense. They did press against South, it was not too effective in the first half, but in the final stanza, their press would generate turnovers. The South defense was strong inside initially - blocking several shots and negating the Shawnee inside game.

South was starting to accumulate fouls and with about 4 minutes left had their 7th. During the game Shawnee would toe the line more often as South, but would shoot 53% from the foul line. Meanwhile South would make the most of their opportunities and their foul shooting was almost 80%. There were several lead changes in the second quarter. It looked like Shawnee would take a lead into half time, but Jordan Combs nailed a buzzer beater to give South a 23-21 halftime lead.

In the third quarter South kept making shots to keep their lead. Every time Shawnee would close the gap a South player would make a timely shot to extend their lead. Ryan Nisius and Clint Spitler both hit key three pointers during this stretch. Eric Walker would get his 3rd foul in the third quarter and at the start of the 4th he got another and was sent to the bench. Shawnee turned up the heat by going back to the press - and now were generating turnovers. Post player Levi Robbins put in some critical minutes in the fourth quarter. He scored 6 points in a row when South needed a momentum boost.

South held off the Shawnee onslaught and went into a slowdown offense. Shawnee fouled, but fouled the wrong guy. Ryan Innis would coolly score 5 points from the line in the last minute of the game and would have a total of 10 charity points for the night. South would win 54-49.
“It was a hard fought game from both of our perspectives,” stated Coach Augspurger from TVS, “Both teams are less than we thought we would be at this point in the season. We’ve both lost games we thought we should have won. I know Roger [Ellis] feels the same way. Our second half was great tonight. We had foul trouble, but we made some shots in the second half. We haven’t always used good basketball skills this year, but tonight we took a step in the right direction.”

Rockets Catch Fire in Second Half

J. C. Tilton
The Tri-County North Panthers fell into a tough district in the Division Three State tournament. It is a murder’s row of teams - most of which have winning records. The strength of the district shows when last years state champs - Versailles only drew a 5 seed. Their opponent was the Anna Rockets, a battle tested team from the Shelby-Mercer county area.

North seemed to be a bit intimidated in the first quarter. Anna capitalized by scoring the first 7 points of the game. The North defense stepped up and started to generate some turnovers and these turnovers became points. Mallory Ullery scored, then Sarah Whittaker scored 3 fast break layups in a row, and senior Emily Ervin chipped in a bucket. And although the Panthers were down after one quarter, it was by just 6 points.

One pattern became evident early. The Rockets were substituting freely while the Panthers were limiting their substitutions. Anna used full court pressure during a good part of the game to help tire the Panthers. They did not generate many turnovers from the press, but did make them work the ball down the court each possession. North did try to use a zone thru most of the game to save the legs of their players. Anna countered the zone with a single post spread offense to try to spread the North defense thin.

In the second quarter North had a strong finish. After being down by double figures, they scored the last six points of the quarter and kept the gap at 6 - being down 27-21. Kindra Mullins scored from the field just before the half, but the rest of the points came from free throws as North made a point of driving to the basket against the tough man to man half court defense of Anna.

The Rockets blasted off in the second half. North assigned Abbie Schlater to Anna’s Carrie Watkins who had been an offensive dynamo. She would end up with a game high 19 points. But once North slowed down her down, the remainder of the Anna team stepped it up. Both offensively and defensively. And North’s woes were later compounded when 6 foot post player Mallory Ullery got her 5th foul. Her inside presence had helped keep Anna away from the basket. Scoring inside and outside the Rockets built an insurmountable lead. By the time that the dust settled, Anna had a comfortable 55-33 victory.

Coach Music was disappointed with the loss, “They did a good job of taking Rachel Heindl out of the game. We had a good run at the end of the first half. But they just dominated in the second half.” On his seniors, “Rachel Heindl scored over 1100 points for us and was a competitor. Sarah Whittaker pound for pound, inch for inch may be the most hard nosed player I ever coached. She keeps getting after people on defense and is a vocal leader for the team. Emily Ervin sparked us in several games with her three’s. She was a real team player throughout the season.

Finally, “We take pride in our record as a 13-8 team. We won the mythical Preble County championship as we swept the other teams. There was a late start to the season since I took over at the last minute. I am looking forward to next year with our returning players and being able to get them ready this summer.”

Scoring for the Panthers: Sara Brierly 3; Emily Ervin 3; Rachel Heindl 6; Kindra Mullins 5; Mallory Ullery 8; Sarah Whitaker 8. Comments: chrisaukcam@gmail.com

Rachel Heindl: Congrats to her for scoring her 1000th career point earlier this month. On the the subject of TCN - the girls team are in a tough DIII district bracket. Wow, what a murderers row of teams. Almost every team in that district has a winning record. The Panthers will really need to scrap to advance.

On the other hand, the girls DIV district at Brookville has several local teams that could advance.

Poor Preble Shawnee - another year without a win? Time is running out. A new coach has not made a difference. Picking up a basketball before October would help. I do know that in both of the last two summers that the coaches tried to do summer programs - but no one would show. And the last two winters you can see the results.

South Clashes With Trail

J. C. Tilton
National Trail has had a resurgent season this year thanks in part to freshman 6 footer Kate Yeazel. She has been able to score in double figures almost at will this season. This has lead to a rebound of the Blazer fortunes. They are playing .500 ball this season after a series of losing seasons. South is struggling this season. They are a team of guards, with little height. So they would need to find a way to counterbalance Yeazel’s inside game with speed. The result was a closely fought game with several lead changes.

South sprang out to an early 6-0 lead. They were double teaming Yeazel every time she touched the ball. At first this was effective but finally Trail found other ways to score and closed the gap and the first quarter ended with a 9-9 tie. South employed a number of defenses - man to man and several zone offenses. But Trail showed the ability to score from outside and it was difficult to stay in a zone for very long. Trail stayed in man to man thru out the game. Placing Stacy Davis against South’s leading scorer Adelee Gates.

Yeazel was able to score more on the South defense in the second quarter - she had all of the Blazers 10 points. Trail employed a spread offense to loosen up the South defense and when South tried to trip them up by going to a zone, they were still able to get the ball inside to her. The half ended with Trail up 19-18.
This season South has had problems in the third quarter and this game was not an exception. They had two turnovers, missed foul shots and open shots from the field in the first 4 minutes of the half. Finally coach Mabry had seen enough and called a time out to get the team back on track. But Trail had already taken advantage and rang up a 10 point lead thanks to Kate Yeazel and Alyssa Joyce. The time out had the desired effect. Now it was South’s turn to go on a run and they closed the gap by slashing to the basket. Adelee Gates, Taylor Creech, and Whitney Wysong (4 free throws) all contributed to the South run which allowed South to pull within 2 of Trail by the end of the third.

Another factor that fell into the Panthers favor was Yeazel getting her third foul in the third quarter which sent her to the bench. And early in the fourth quarter, she would get her fourth. With Yeazel out of the game, South was able to get a small lead. But with the game on the line Yeazel would reappear in the last 5 minutes of the quarter. South had a 4 point lead at this point. But during this critical stretch, South could not find the basket and began missing shots. Alyssa Joyce was a big factor for Trail, scoring 2 big baskets during their run to the finish. Her second basket would tie the game at 41 with 1:47 on the clock. Later with :28 on the clock Yeazel would hit one of two free throws to give Trail the lead. South would try to set up a last second shot, but the attempt did not fall and they fouled on the rebound. This set up the final score of 43-41 in favor of the Blazers.

South Coach Mabry on the game, “Our girls played well, it just came down to who would score the final bucket. We had to foul on their end and they made the bucket. And we tried to set up an out of bounds play, but we couldn’t get the ball where we wanted it.”

Trail Coach Ferguson, “We tried to pull ahead there in the second half. But give South credit they really came back. I thought that our girls played really well. Our bread and butter is our inside game. They did a good job of taking it away early by doubling down. But our girls stayed with it. And Alyssa Joyce ended up with a critical rebound at the end of the game that sealed the win for us.” On defense, “We knew going in that Gates was their leading scorer and we assigned Stacy Davis to her - she held her to 9 points so she really hustled.”

South Outguns North

J. C. Tilton
Both North and South came into the game knowing that they would need to shut down the other teams leading scorer. Ryan Innis has lead the way for TVS and Brandon McAdams has been the leading scorer for TCN during this season. Finding a way to stop or at least slow down these two players would be a part of each teams defensive strategy.
North employed a man to man defense for most of the game - switching defenders on Innis. South implemented a box and one defense to start the game. This was effective for the first quarter and a half of play. North couldn’t get anything started offensively and South’s Innis had 15 first half points. At one point, South was up 30 to 12; it was starting to look like a blow out.

But finally the lethargic North offense woke up and they went on a 15-3 run to close the gap towards the end of the second quarter and at the half they were down 35-27. They continued their momentum in the third quarter. Closing the deficit to 5 with about a minute and a half left in the quarter. The North defense slowed down Innis, holding him to 4 during this run.

South entered the fourth quarter with resolve and went to work. South needed to regain the momentum and looked for someone to step it up a notch. Both Clint Spitler and Ryan Innis answered for South - finished strong, doing the bulk of the scoring in the stretch run. Both players attacked the basket and the North defense was back on their heels as the South lead lengthened. North tried vainly to press in the last couple of minutes as South countered with a slowdown and cruised to a 67-55 win.

“I thought that we passed well and Clint [Spitler] did a good job of looking up the floor,” stated Coach Augspurger after the win, “Our offensive rebounding went well, which is something we haven’t done much this year. We pounded the glass pretty hard in the second half.” On Ryan Innis, “He has done well for the team this year. One thing he did real well tonight was go after the boards, he got beat on pretty well, but fought hard for rebounds. And I don’t know how many assists Clint Spitler had tonight, but he had a bundle. He did a good job of taking care of the ball.”

Coach Woodworth had praise for South, “They know how to pass the ball, who to get it to at the right time. We were down by 18 points and outplayed them in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. But when we needed a stop tonight, we couldn’t get it done. We allowed Innis too many second shots in the paint. Defense and rebounding wins basketball games. When we learn to do that consistently then we will have something.”

Scoring for TVS: Spitler 16; Innis 25; Burns 1; Combs 7; Smith 4; Nisius 3; Balthis 3; Walker 8. Scoring for TCN: Broughton 2; Burnside 16; Werner 9; McAdams 12; Williams 3; Robinson 13. comments: chrisaukcam@gmail.com

North Defense the Difference Against Dixie
J. C. Tilton
On a day where most students had the day off, two teams were hard at work this past Martin Luther Kings day. The North girls basketball team has been riding a wave this season and have had only 3 losses. Seniors Sara Whittaker and 4 year starter Rachael Heindl and freshman Mallory Ullery have been factors in the teams success. Dixie had been playing .500 basketball, but was riding a losing streak that they wanted to break.

Both teams were sluggish as the game began. The North defense was generating turnovers, but no buckets. Coach Music from TCN speculated that the day off may have gotten the girls out of their groove. But in the last minute or so of the half North finally caught fire and went on a 10-2 run to open up a 14-5 lead.

North used their press to help keep Dixie off balance and get them out of their game. They went to a spread offense to try and open up opportunities to cut to the basket. Dixie played mostly man to man, mixing in some zone. For their part, North got their points from driving to the basket or by shooting from the outside. Dixie had a tough time getting any consistent offensive production against the stiff North defense. Although Kayla Bertke was a bright spot for Dixie - scoring in double figures again. Also the Dixie defense was tough inside. Limiting North’s post player Ullery to just 4 points.
However, Dixie could not find a way to halt Rachel Heindl who is fast closing in on 1000 career points. This was her second game in a row where she would score 21 points. Dixie did make a 6 point to run to start the third quarter and the fourth quarter. But just as things would start to get interesting, North would press the gas and pull ahead. In the final minute North went into a slow down and then rode home with a 53-40 victory.

“We were clicking on Saturday night against a decent Ansonia team.” Said Coach Music from Tri County North, “But tonight nothing was working. But it was a win and we’ll take it. Our press and transition really helped us tonight when our set offense wasn’t working. Both of our senior guards have come up big for us several times this season and both Heindl and Whittaker did well.”
Scoring for TCN: Mullins 2; Errin 8; Bierly 8; Ullery 4; Whittaker 10; Heindl 21.
Scoring for Dixie: Seim 5; Kneisly 9, Ruppert 2, Neaves 1, Bertke 11, Rader 7, Thompson 5.

The JV contest was a close game with North edging Dixie 28-25. Scoring for TCN: Whittaker 12, Broughton 2, Shrier 6, Cruse 1, Mullins 10. Dixie: Brannon 3, Purcell 4, Landis 5, Rader 6, Bates 6, Camper2.