Dixie Fastpitch Scores Big Against Ponitz

After splitting a doubleheader with Bethel (3-9; 13- 6) last weekend, Dixie wanted to get some momentum after their win in the second game. In the first game Dixie's Stacy Rader was 2 for 3 with a triple, and Jordan Buxton was 2 for 2. In the second game Courtney Hawk was 4 for 4 - scoring twice and stealing 2 bases. Abby Bertke was 4 for 4, scoring twice and driving in 2 runs. Both Shelby Shope and Julia Wilson were 2 for 4. Tori Bargo and Cassidy Shell split pitching duties in the win. Shelby Shope also had an impressive 7 putouts.

But they lost their first game of the week against Milton Union 7-2. Errors were a problem for the team, although Shelby Shope lead the way defensively with 5 putouts. Tori Bargo took the loss – although she only gave up a single earned run. Madison Buxton was half of the Dixie offense, hitting a single, stealing a base and finally crossing the plate. Julia Wilson scored the other Dixie run, reaching base on a double before scoring. Courtney Hawk was 2 for 2 from the plate. Julia Wilson had a double as did Katie Honeywell.

Dixie had a much bigger mountain to climb in their next game. Undefeated Preble Shawnee was the next matchup. They are undefeated thanks in part to their pitching ace - Hannah Belvo. But they are a balanced team – the hitting and defense are spot on as well. The Hounds were shut out and it was a no hitter to boot. They had a total of 10 strikeouts at the plate. Shawnee on the other hand were on the bases early and often – run ruling Dixie in a 15-0 thrashing. Errors were again a problem for Dixie with 8 miscues. Madison Buxton did get 5 put outs to lead the way on defense. Tori Bargo pitched almost the whole game with 2 earned runs. Stacy Rader completed the game allowing a single earned run.

Last game of the week was against Ponitz Career Technology Center. Having been frustrated all week, it was time for Dixie to dish it out instead of take it. Dixie took charge of the game early and decisively racking up some big innings to leap out to a huge lead. With the game being so lopsided, the Dixie bench got to see time on the field. Coach Perry saw that 18 players were able to make a varsity plate appearance. So it wasn't like the team kept the first squad in and ran up the score. The game was run ruled and was a much needed 23-5 victory for the Hounds.

Kelly Speak was a perfect 3 for 3 from the plate with a double. Ashley Rader was 2 for 4 including a triple. Judy Cronenwelt was 2 for 3 with a double. Marissa Overholtz was 2 for 3 as was Madison Buxton. The errors for Dixie were few and were made mostly in the last part of game with the bench. Ashley Rader had 5 put outs for the night. Tori Bargo pitched the first 3 innings to get the win – allowing only a single earned run. Stacy Radar got the other 2 innings on the mound and allowed 2 runs.

Dixie Baseball Back on Winning Track

The Dixie baseball team got back on the winning track this week against Milton Union. They allowed the Bulldogs 2 runs in the first inning, but went on from there to run rule for a victory. Scoring a total of 14 runs. Seth Angel dominated on the mound allowing a single earned run and recording 8 strikeouts. Josh VonBehren was an impressive 3 for 3 from the plate – one of those hits was double and he recorded 4 RBI's for his efforts. Luke Bowling and Greg Leonard were 3 for 4. Leonard had 2 doubles and a triple with 3 RBI's. Brody Queen and Dustin Bartrum were 2 for 3. Christian Evans was 2 for 4. From the field both Brody Queen and Greg Leonard had 6 put outs. The team only had a single error recorded in an excellent defensive showing.

The Greyhounds had to work a little harder and the ending a bit more dramatic when they next played Preble Shawnee. It was a scoreless ball game until the late innings as both teams played hard nosed defense. Shawnee was finally able to score a run in the 6^th inning to break the deadlock. That set up the last inning for the Greyhounds who were now down 0-1.

It was their last at bat and the first batter struck out, but the next hitter, Brody Queen, was able to reach base on an error. But with the tying run on first, the next batter struck out. Could Dixie do a 2 out rally and comeback for the win? Luke Bowling was hit by a pitch and reached first. With 2 runners on base Josh VanBehren made contact and reached base on a single. This loaded the bases for Greg Leonard; behind on the count at one ball and 2 strikes, he connected on the next pitch for a walk off double that scored two runs for Dixie – winning the game in exciting fashion.

Josh VanBehren lead the hitting going 3 for 3. Greg Leonard was 2 for 4, including the game winning double, he also lead the team defensively with 3 put outs. Seth Angel pitched 5 scoreless innings with 9 strikeouts. Luke Bowling finished the game on the mound and recorded the win, allowing 2 hits and a run.

Dixie closed out their week against Belmont. It was a 2-0 game at the end of the first inning, but after that the Greyhounds padded their baseball card stats by racking up 17 more unanswered runs. It was another run rule victory for Dixie. Seth Angel was 3 for 3 with 2 RBI's. Josh VanBehren was 2 for 2;

Jacob Campbell and Brody Queen were 2 for 2. Campbell also had 6 RBI's. Luke Bowling was 2 for 2 and had a 3 run home run. This hit was one for the record books as it was the first home run hit at the new Belmont Bison ball park.

Dexter Poole recorded the shutout win, only allowing a single hit. Aaron King had a good day defensively with 3 put outs. Dixie is now 5-6, but the two league wins this week will help them in the SWBL. Next week is a busy week and the schedule isn't any easier as they take on Waynesville, Franklin, Milton Union, and TVS.

TVS Fastpitch 2-0

Twin Valley South fastpitch got their season started on the right foot with a pair of wins to start the season.  But South was a little anxious as their pitching ace, Emily Froment, was recovering from a hip injury. Their first game was a rainout, giving her additional time to heal.  The team has done well with her on the mound.  And she has drawn the notice of the University of Dayton – who has given her a scholarship.  But they did not know how she would perform in the first few games – would it be a nagging injury that would keep her on the bench?  And South has limited numbers this season, so they can ill afford any injuries.

   

The 4 year starter was able to take the mound against Dixie, but only pitched the first 3 innings.  Dixie had a rough time making contact with the ball, and could not generate much offense against Froment.  She would get 7 strikeouts in her brief mound appearance.   South placed battery mate Katie Strazheim on the mound next.  She would pitch the next 4 innings and earn the win.  Strazheim had 6 strikeouts and only allowed one walk. 

South on the other hand, was able to get runners on base, but couldn’t cross the plate. At the end of 5 innings it was a 0-0 tie.  Dixie threatened in the top of the sixth, but good defensive play by South kept the runners from crossing the plate.  Now it was time for South to pick up their bats. Froment reached base first, then Strazheim also hit  a single.  South finally got on the board when Cayla Hartley cleared the bases with a double.  South went on to  load the bases and scored some insurance runs to break the game open.  South finished out strong and earned a 5-0 win.

Coach Robinson commented after the game, “I was a little frustrated with our hitting early on in the game.  We weren't making the adjustments that were necessary to get solid hits.  Finally in the 6th inning, we started keeping our weight back and waiting on the pitch to get to the plate, then exploded through the ball.  Of course, hitting is contagious, so once our first batters started being successful, everyone else started coming to the plate with more confidence.  That's when we were able to string together the hits necessary to score the runs.”

On Hartley, “Cayla had an exceptionally good game.  She turned a double play on a bunt attempt, by throwing the runner out going to third.  She also made a couple of tough tag plays on batters, one time preventing a run from scoring.  She also was the batter who drove in our first two runs of the 6th inning with a double.  She's been a great leader so far this year.”

Next up for South was the Brookville BlueDevils.  In this game, a healthy Froment pitched the distance – accumulating 14 strikeouts.  But as they did in their first game, South was slow to get their motor running on offense.  Brookville was able to bunt effectively and were able to score.  So South was playing from behind.   Strazheim did crush the ball with a solo home run shot in the second inning to put South on the board.  

But South had their best inning in the 5^th when Strazheim(who would be 3 for 3 at the plate) reached first on a single.  Then Leanne Johnson hit a double to score her.  The next batter, Angela Nushawg walked and a sacrifice fly by Kaylee Rivers scored Johnson while a single by Ali Robertson scored Nushawg. This inning was the difference in the game as South was able to earn a 6-4 victory.

Coach Robinson, “This was a great come-from-behind victory for us.  We've had some issues in our scrimmages with wanting to shut down when things weren't going well.  Tonight, we proved that we are capable of fighting through adversity and doing what it takes to win.  We started out slow tonight in every aspect of the game.  Mentally, we weren't sharp, and we were being impatient at the plate.  Once we settled in, we played with a lot more confidence and poise.  Brookville was a very good hitting team; they bunted well and forced us to come up with some good defensive plays.  I thought our girls responded well to the pressure.”

New Football Coach Takes Helm at Dixie

Coach Tarpley elected to step down as coach of Dixie football.  During his tenure, he has returned Dixie football to a measure of respectability.  Before 2010, Dixie had not had a winning football season since 1983. That changed with a 7-3 record that earned Tarpley coach of the year honors in Division 5. Implementing a spread offense and an aggressive defense, Dixie football improved under his watch.  Being the smallest school in the SWBL Buckeye division, the Hounds are a potential underdog in every league game.

So Dixie had some big shoes to fill in the off season.   This past week Sam Watson was selected to be the next head football coach at Dixie.  He is very familiar with the Miami Valley area having played his high school under Jay Niswonger at Valley View. He is very familiar with Dixie as he was assistant coach before moving up to head coach.  After graduation, he attended college at Otterbein where he was a 3 year starter. Returning from college, he went to Valley View this time as an assistant coach. 

A side note: Dixie is not the only local school filling an open head coach position.  Three time state Champion, Jay Niswonger is stepping down as football coach at Valley View.  He will be an offensive coordinator at Wilmington College.  I have heard that a replacement has been selected, but is waiting upon confirmation by the school board.

Coach Watson then left Valley View and went to Dixie where he was an assistant for coach Tarpley. So having been an assistant at Dixie he will have a good feel for the program and already knows the players.  That will give him a big head start as he prepares for his first year as head coach at Dixie. He is also on staff at Dixie so that gives him contact with the players on daily basis.

Having both played and coached under the spread offense I asked coach Watson what his plans were, “I am going to gear the offense towards the capabilities that our players have, the spread is certainly an option – but not the only one.  The same with the defense, we are going to gear that towards the strengths of our players. We will be aggressive, our defenses have always done that. ”

 About being the smallest school in the league, “Our kids know that, it’s nothing new and they are ready to accept that challenge.”

Coach Watson has already taken over the weight and conditioning program in December, “I’ve had good attendance. Every kid that is not in a winter or spring sport has been attending the weight room.  Then we have also had great attendance from kids who are doing another sport.  The activity level is high and they are all working hard in the weight room.”

Assistant Coaches, “We had one coach leave and go to West Carrollton, which is great for him.  And of course my slot is open – so we are looking to fill two positions.  We are evaluating the whole staff to see how we can optimize their abilities.”  

So look for some changes in Dixie football this coming fall. It will be advantage to have a coach that is already familiar with the league, the school, and the kids.  There will be some changes in philosophy and structure of the offense and defense.  But the amount of turmoil will be much less than if a totally new person was brought in from outside, so once the staff is set, it will be easier to for Coach Watson to introduce his brand of football to the Dixie Greyhounds.  Good Luck next fall!

Congrats to Tri Village girls on their state tournament run. For a number of years Miami East simply dominated the CCC. Their first few years in the league, they didn't lose a game.  But the Patriots responded to the upgrade in competition and have excelled. Linkous, a transfer from Arcanum, was key in their success.  But it takes a team to get to the state semi-finals. Coach Grey has done a good job in assembling and coaching a team to reach the highest levels of high school competition.  Congrats to him and the players for carrying the CCC banner deep into the playoffs.

Charlie Coles had a good run at Miami University. In his heyday he had a knack for finding that one blue chip recruit and building a team around him.  Ron Harper and  Wally Szcerbiak spring to mind.  He was almost always in the top half of the MAC. He had a good run. As of late he couldn't seem to land those top recruits and the program slipped. Hats off to a guy who made it to the sweet 16 - lots of college coaches have never sniffed that level of basketball. He will be remembered fondly by Miami Un. fans.


Watched UD play Iowa tonight. I don't think that the Flyers heart was really in the game.  Iowa played a 2-3 zone and UD gave up on the inside game and just chucked up 3 pointers.  Iowa seemed to play with intensity and desire, UD seemed to be just mailing it in.  The Iowa post player - can't remember his name, seemed to score and rebound at will.  Can't give up on the inside game and rely on the outside game. For the most part teams that control the paint will win the game.

Dixie’s season came to an end this weekend at the sectional final game in University of Dayton arena.  It capped off a 3 game tournament run with wins against NorthEastern and a game last Tuesday against Carlisle.  But Versailles, a perennial basketball powerhouse, overwhelmed Dixie on Friday night.  Still it was a successful season for the Greyhounds especially when you consider the adversity that the team had to overcome.

But first lets recap this past week.  Dixie played game two of the of state tournament on Tuesday against Carlisle.  It was the third matchup between the two league foes.  The first two games were split between the two teams, so this would be the rubber match for bragging rights for the season.  Dixie had lost their season opener against Carlisle, but rebounded for a win late in the season.

Carlisle used a full court man to man defense against Dixie.  But it was generally ineffective. Dixie got the lead and kept it for the game. They did run into some foul trouble as John Issacs and Mike Smiley had to go to the bench in the first half. But despite this, Dixie maintained the lead -  Carlisle was down by 5 at the half.

With Carlisle only down by 2 possessions,  Dixie needed some breathing room.  Mike Smiley and then Andrew Barnett quickly sunk three point shots coming out of the locker room and suddenly Dixie was on a roll. Carlisle took a time out to cool down the hot shooting of the Greyhounds, but they just kept the pressure on.   Carlisle did finish out the third quarter strong, but were still down by 10 entering the 4^th quarter.   About midway thru the last quarter Dixie took a time out and set up their end game strategy.  They executed a slowdown to perfection and went home with the victory.

Friday night the team played against battle tested Versailles.  When you don’t play in UD arena that often it can be intimidating.  You are playing on a college size floor in a huge arena, a lot different from the close confines of a high school gymnasium.   That was a factor and Versailles is just a physical, dominating team.  Dixie missed some inside shots early and then never did seem to get into much of a rhythm.  The team just seemed overwhelmed with it all and never did get into a rhythm on offense.

Dixie took some early timeouts to try and right the ship, but they couldn’t make much headway. Defensively they tried their trapping half court zone, but Versailles move the ball too well for Dixie to pull in many turnovers.  When the buzzer sounded for the last time, Dixie had an uncharacteristic double digit loss 63-36.  Still it was a good season overall for Dixie, despite losing one of their better players early in the season they overcame adversity and got to play in the sectional final.

“We’ve had the most success this year against teams that we were physically better than them, “stated coach Creamer after the game, “and we’ve struggled against teams that could match our athleticism.  Not only could they match us athletically, they took it to another level.  We don’t feel that it was our best effort, but we got beat by a much better team.”

On the season, “We were second place outright in the Buckeye Division, we were the only league school to knock [division champ] Waynesville off.  We won two tournament games for the first time in a number of years.  We have lots of things to be proud of. We would have liked to have finished better, but we can’t dwell on that.  We need to get back to the drawing board for next year so that advancing to the sectional final is the rule, not the exception.”

The seniors, “Having completed my second year at Dixie, this year’s seniors have had me for two years.  We have gone through a great maturing process together and they have shown the way for the young kids. They bought in to what we are trying to do. Their efforts are greatly appreciated.  We had times this season when we could have packed it in and our seniors did not let that happen.  We had issues internally and our seniors didn’t let things go South. I feel badly for them, you don’t want their last high school game to end the way that this one ended.  But they did a lot of great things to get us here.”

Dixie 16 versailles 39 halftime

fenwick 65 waynesville 51 ch 7 at game

dixie 27 carlisle 22 at half

Dixie Advances Over NorthEastern

Dixie Advances Over NorthEastern

Dixie and NorthEastern played a heated first round game in the state tournament.  It was a physical contest – by the end of the game both NorthEastern and Dixie had players fouling out.  The tone was set early on when Andrew Barnett caught an elbow to the face and went to the bench briefly in the first quarter.  Then later on in the first quarter Matt Isaacs was called for a technical foul for smacking the backboard.   The early accumulation of fouls would put Isaacs on the bench and change the makeup of the Dixie lineup.

NorthEastern played a man to man defense and would jump into a full court press at times to pressure the Dixie guards.  In the first half, seniors Andrew Barnett and John Isaacs lead the way for the Greyhounds.  Barnett had 10 first half points and Isaacs had 11.  Although Dixie was able to maintain a lead, they were not able to shake the Jets from their heels.  Dixie did do some half court trapping – but for most of the game they played in their familiar man to man defense.

Dixie took a 7 point lead (39-32) into the locker room.  At halftime NorthEastern made some adjustments and slowed down the pace of scoring for Barnett and Isaacs.  Dixie needed some points from somewhere.  Mike Smiley and 6^th man Landon Hicks provided the offensive energy that Dixie needed.  Hicks would score 9, and Smiley 8 critical second half points. 

Despite some poor ball handling in the 3^rd quarter Dixie maintained a 7 point lead – 50 to 43.  Both teams were playing stout - in your face defense and both teams were piling on the fouls.  John Isaacs got his 4^th foul as did Luke Bowling.  Then with 2 minutes left John Isaacs fouled  out.  But Dixie was ready for a guard heavy lineup anyway as they went into a slow down with a 10 point lead.   

But despite having their best ball handlers in the game, they gave the ball away to the NorthEastern press.  With less than a minute it was a 2 possession game – Dixie was only up by 6.  And the NorthEastern stands were re-energized, the fans for both teams were vocal as the Jets took a timeout to set up their final game plan.  But the double bonus was in effect – and Dixie hit some clutch free throws by Moore and Bowling to put the game away for a 70-62 win.

“I am glad that one is over”, stated coach Creamer afterwards, “Never did we talk about the significance of who we were playing and my history with NorthEastern[former head coach for 8 years] – this was about Dixie vs Northeastern,  not about me versus NorthEastern.  My kids found a way to gut one out – the name of game this time of year is survival, and we survived.”

He continued, “The beautiful thing about our personnel this year is that you just never know who is going to be the one to step up and be that offensive leader or that defensive leader. We can be very difficult to scout at times because we don’t have a ‘go to’ guy. All we have is a lot of guys with ‘want-to’”

Dixie will play Carlisle on Tuesday night, Feb. 28^th 8pm at Tecumseh High School. 

South Defeated by Indians

South Defeated by Indians

This season Twin Valley South has had difficulty finishing close games.  They have played toe to toe with some very good teams only to falter down the stretch.  Last weekend’s game against Carlisle was another close game against a good team. The Indians finished in 3^rd place of the SWBL Buckeye division in the regular season and were a 9th seed team playing against 8^th seed team Twin Valley South.  Record wise the two teams were evenly matched.  And that was the way the game was played  - a closely contested game by two tough teams.

Carlisle went on a 9-0 run to start the game and South took a 1^st quarter time out to sort things out.  Carlisle was playing a pressing man to man to defense that they would use the entire game.  After the time out, Troy Innis took matters into his own hands and went on a run of his own – scoring 8 points on his own.  Then Baker hit a shot to pull South ahead. But Carlisle would bounce back – finishing the first quarter up 15-11.

Carlisle’s aggressive style of defense was causing them to foul.  This sent South shooters to the line where they made their shots.  At half time South had the advantage 26-19.  This lead melted away quickly in the opening minutes of the 3^rd quarter.  South had been using a type of zone defense in the first half.  Now Carlisle had adjusted and was using the dribble drive to penetrate and score.   At the 5 minute mark South took a time out and went to man to man themselves.

This defensive change seemed to throw the Indians off guard, South now opened their lead again – actually leading by 9 points at one point.  But the Indians finished strong and it was a 38-35 game going into the last quarter.  South shooters  were cold at the beginning of the quarter and Carlisle wasn’t shooting the lights out, but they hit well enough to close the gap and pull ahead.  About midway through the quarter Carlisle was up by 5.

Both teams were playing aggressive man to man defense and both teams were in bonus by this time.  So a foul sent a shooter to the line. South went on a run and then briefly had the lead at about the 45 second mark, but a foul sent a Carlisle shooter to the line where he tied the game.   At this point, the wheels fell off the cart for South, two costly turnovers on back to back possessions were converted into points by Carlisle and they ran out of clock before they could mount one last comeback.  A frustrating end to an otherwise well played game by the Panthers.   Carlisle would advance to the next round 50-45.

But the team can look back on this season with pride and say that South is back.  The previous two seasons had been subpar and it was great to see South back in the top half of the CCC conference where the team has been traditionally.  And the future looks bright as well.  At times during this game, there were no seniors on the court for South – all underclassmen.  And two of those underclassmen were freshman.  So as this group grows and matures look for bigger and better things from Twin Valley South.

Coach Augspurger reflected on the season and was asked about the loss of Myers down the stretch and he noted that the team lost one of the best conference players in rebounds and in scoring,  “There is no doubt in my mind that with Myers our finishing record would have better and that we would be playing in the next round of the tournament. But you can’t look back, you can only go forward.”

 He was asked about the future, “We had two seasons with losing records and this team can look back and say that they changed that. With the loss of Myers our younger players had to play more, and this was an advantage for next year.  They got additional experience that they otherwise may not have gotten.  But the sophomores and freshmen have to continue to develop and get better – it showed down the stretch that they can play well but aren’t quite there yet.”

The seniors, “We have talked about Myers quite a bit, he has got to be the number one or number two player in the conference. Cole Cottingim had a good season, and I would have liked to have seen him play with better confidence. Michael Boggs came in as first year senior. When we talked in the preseason, I told that based on past experience that it never really worked out.  But he could stay on the roster. Well Michael Boggs proved me wrong, he had a great season coming off the bench – I wish that he was a junior, so that he could have developed even more.  Nick Gehring was good role player for us. He came off the bench and gave us good minutes every time we asked.”

Miami East Escapes Upset in Overtime

Twin Valley South closed out the regular season with a fierce matchup against league leading Miami East. The Vikings entered the contest undefeated in the league.   South is currently tied for 3^rd place in the CCC, and although a win would not propel them to the top – they could play spoilers by putting a blemish on East’s chance at a perfect season in the CCC.  Since last week, Johnny Myers prognosis has changed.  His leg injury was worse than first diagnosed and his season is done.  So South would have to face one of their most toughest opponents without their best player.

Miami East has not just been rolling through the Cross County  Conference, they have been crushing their foes.  For instance they recently beat Bradford and Newton by 30 and 40 point margins of victory. They do this with a mix of defenses – some half court zone sets that they trap out of and also some full court pressure.  South had their hands full against the defensive weapons of Miami East and young point guard Troy Innis had to work hard the entire game to keep the ball out of Viking hands.

South actually held a slim lead 2 point lead at halftime.   Miami East hit a 3 pointer just before the buzzer to go ahead at the end of the third quarter.  And extended that lead just a little with the first points of the last quarter.  But South made up the difference and it became a battle to the finish line for both squads.   Michael Boggs put some critical points on the board for South late in the quarter.  And with a minute left South had a 5 point lead. 

This set up a frantic last 60 seconds of regulation play. Gunner Shirk hit a 3 point shout for Miami East to cut the lead to 2 points.   Troy Innis was fouled and toed the line for 2 points to lengthen South’s lead.  But on their next trip down the court Shirk drained the net for another 3 to pull East within one.  Mike Green was fouled on South’s possession, but he hit just one of his tosses.  Brad Coomes put up an acrobatic shot in the closing seconds and tied the ball game.  South tried to get the ball downcourt for a last shot but couldn’t get a clean shot at the basket before time ran out.

Now the two stubborn teams played shutdown defense in the overtime.  Amazingly neither team  scored in the first minute, or the second minute of overtime,  finally Miami East took their last shot as overtime was clocking down.  Brad Coomes put up a shot – and missed.  But the rebound was tipped right back into his hands.  He took his second chance – and this time made it right before the buzzer ended the game.  It was a heart breaking loss for the Panthers. 

This is the second game in 10 days where the other team made miraculous shots down the stretch to beat us”, stated Coach Augspurger after the game, “There was a buzzer beater at Covington and this last second shot in overtime.  But the team did a lot of good things this game – we handled their pressure a lot better than other teams have.  Our players, lead by Troy Innis, did a good job against their defense by controlling our turnovers.  East has rolled over a lot of teams by their pressure defense.  “

On the team without Myers, “ Well we are a different team without Johnny Myers.  Our guys are working together well and are finding their roles as we adjust.  We are trying to pick up points where we can pick them up.  Mike Green had 15 points and 14 rebounds.  Cole Cottingim hit some big shots for us.  He is shooting in varsity games like he used to shoot in his JV games – playing with confidence.  But I look at this way, when we play in the tournament, it will be our 5^th game without Johnny so the kids are stepping up and adjusting already.  So it isn’t anything new, our roles are evolving.  We are looking forward to the chance of making a good tournament run. We had the number 2 tournament seed battered and on the ropes, we just couldn’t overcome a really good last second effort by them.” 

Carlisle – South’s Tournament game at Tecumseh on Saturday night, “Their coach has used man to man and so we expect that to be their primary defense – they play it well.  They have three excellent outside players that are averaging about 14 points per game.  They can all shoot, they can all drive, they can all make free throws. “

This past weekend the regular season ended for Ohio High Schools; these were the last games before the state tournament.  Some teams are playing for pride, others are jostling for position in their respective leagues.  Preble Shawnee falls into the playing for pride category.  They are well out of the race in the Buckeye Division,  but were riding a 3 game winning streak against quality opponents. They wanted to play the role of spoiler against Dixie who had a chance to finish in sole possession of second place in their Division. 

Hometown Shawnee raced out to an early lead – showing that they came ready to play.  But Dixie woke up and went to work, going on an 11-0 run.  Andrew Barnett gave Dixie their first lead of night with a trey.  The next possession, Mike Smiley followed up with a trey of his own.  Now it was a 11-6 ball game and Shawnee would have to be the ones playing catch up. The Shawnee zone frustrated the Dixie inside game at times, limiting the Isaacs brother’s touches.  But when Shawnee’s zone got more pressure on the outside shooters after they started hitting their shots, it again opened up the inside game for Dixie. This inside/outside game went back and forth all night.

Noteworthy for Dixie was that a couple of their subs got dinged in the first quarter. Both Landon Hicks and Zach Grubb had to be pulled out the game due to injury.  They both were eventually able to get back into the game, but in the first half it affected Dixie’s substitution pattern - meaning that the starters could not get much of a breather.

In the first half Shawnee was using screens to get their leading scorer, Jake Adams, open.  This was somewhat effective and even when Dixie picked him up coming off a screen, Adams was able to make easy passes to Shawnee post players for baskets.  They also opened up their defense and went to a press.   Dixie countered by throwing a trapping zone at the Arrows, they did this for a few possessions and went back to their man to man.   Dixie had the first quarter lead, and in the second quarter they extended their lead to 10 points. It looked like they might start to run away with the game.  But Shawnee made some plays before the half and closed to within 6 points – 28-34.

The third quarter was more of the same, Dixie trying to shake the Arrows off their tail, but not really being able to extend their lead and run with it.  Again a vigorous Shawnee press took its toll, they closed to within 5 points to begin the 4^th quarter.  The Dixie contingent had to begin to feel the heat when Shawnee closed to within 3 points and the Shawnee faithful got vocal.  But Dixie composed themselves and made some plays to re-extend their lead once again.  At the midway point of the last quarter, Dixie had a 6 point lead. 

Shawnee had accumulated a lot of fouls with their aggressive full court defense and now it began to catch up to them.   Each foul now meant a trip to the line for Dixie.  The team shot 12 foul shots in the 4^th quarter – and missed only one.  Andrew Barnet had 8 points off of foul shots in the 4^th quarter alone.   A weary Shawnee team fought all the way to the wire, but Dixie handled the pressure and closed their regular season with a 62-51 victory and sole possession of second place in the division. Dixie would have 3 players score in double figures – John Isaacs(16), Mike Smiley(13 - 3 3pt shots), and Andrew Barnett(16 - 10 from free throws).

“It seemed like we couldn’t handle prosperity, “  stated coach Creamer after the game, “we got things going the way we wanted them to go and opened up the lead – and then we just relax.  And when we relaxed, they took advantage of it. To their credit, they never stopped playing hard.  They made several runs at us, but to our kids credit they took their best punches and gave it right back. We did struggle to find someone to handle Jake Adams and we had to change our defense in the second half for that reason. The kids executed well and it was effective. “

On Andrew Barnett,”We talked a lot during the season about what good point guards do.  They first make their team mates better, they knock down shots when they have to, and they make free throws in the fourth quarter.  He did all of the things that we talked about at point guard.”

Mike Smiley, “He has been our most consistent shooter over the second half of this season.  Tonight was no exception to that.  He made some big shots and allowed us to open up a first half lead. We’re going to continue to pump him the basketball as he continues to make shots.”

Dixie will play NorthEastern in the state tournament next Saturday at Tecumseh High school 8pm. When asked what he knew about Northeastern coach Creamer responded, “ I am very familiar with NorthEastern, I coached there for 8 years before coming to Dixie. For our players, they look at it as just another game – but NorthEastern is coming into the game looking to prove something. “ 

Shawnee Duels South

The first matchup between Shawnee and South was exciting where the game’s outcome wasn’t decided until late in the 4^th quarter.  Round two would also be closely contested game where the neighboring schools would go toe to toe for 4 quarters.  However, this time South was playing with a handicap.  Senior and leading scorer Johnny Meyers would be watching the game from the sidelines.  He had injured his leg in the game against Tri-County North and has not been able to play since.  Speaking to him before the game – his injury is day to day.  His return to the court is expected, but no idea as to exactly when.

South got an early advantage, but Shawnee made up the difference and then some – leading the game 15-13 at the end of the first quarter.  South repeated their defense from the first matchup – a box and one with the extra attention going to Jake Adams.  Shawnee used a couple of zone variations (2-3,1-3-1) and then mixed in a little full court pressure to keep South off balance.

It was a one point game at half time.  And that was the type of game that it was – two teams going toe to toe for 4 quarters. Neither team could go on a long scoring run and they swapped the lead time after time, the lead not being much more than 2-3 points at any one time for either team.  It was close to a stalemate. 

In the 4^th quarter it was a one point game at the 6:30 mark in favor of Shawnee. In an effort to break the stalemate, South went to a man to man defense.  But Shawnee was able to adjust and South couldn’t get an advantage.  But the game broke open on a pair of old fashioned 3 point plays late in the game.  Shawnee’s Matt Buell threw up a shot that dropped and he was fouled.  Buell completed the three point play by making his foul shot.  Then Jake Adams drove the basket, and likewise was fouled and made his shot.

Suddenly Shawnee had some breathing room – a 7 point lead.  It was at the 02:30 mark and Coach Gerken took a timeout to set up the end game for his team.  The strategy worked out as South was unable to close to gap in the waning minutes – fouling sent Shawnee shooters to the foul line where they put the game away.  At the final buzzer it was 62-54 Shawnee, a reversal of their earlier game.

“South has a really nice team regardless of who they have on the floor -they have a lot of really good shooters,” commented Shawnee coach Gerken, “They can extend your defense because you have to defend Cottingim and Innis.  As soon as you extend, then they go inside to Green.  In the first half I didn’t think we did a very good job of hitting the glass, Green had 10 rebounds. So we adjusted to take that away.”

He continued, “We kept fighting back and forth the entire game, I was proud of way our kids kept fighting back.  We made some key half time adjustments and they worked out for us. It made them change what they were doing. Overall it was a competitive game, I was really happy with the effort.”

On David Willoughby, “In the first half, he got into early foul trouble and was pretty much a nonfactor. But in the second half, he was aggressive and got after it. He did a nice job of making open jump shots when we called upon him.  He did a nice job of keeping Green off the glass as well.  And Jake Adams came on in the second half. This is probably the best he’s played against the box and one.  Give South credit – he had to work for every one of his shots.”

Scoring for TVS: Baker 7, Cole 5, Cottingim 9, Green 17, Guehring 2, Innis 13; Scoring for Shawnee: Adams 14, Buell 9, Elam 4, Hocker 6, Letner 8, Mann 6, Willoughby 15.

Shawnee Defense Too Much for South

It has been a tough season for both Twin Valley South and Preble Shawnee’s girls basketball teams.  Shawnee had been fighting injuries all season and had only gotten back to full strength at the end of season.  Only to have the flu bug take away 3 players for their previous game against Dixie. South did not have the services of post player Gentry Gates due to injury.  Both teams entered the season finale looking for a victory to give them a boost before the state tournament begins next week.

Defensively both teams began with zone defenses.  It quickly became apparent that part of Shawnee’s strategy was to put a lid on the South inside game by double teaming Katie Strazheim who was South’s remaining post player.  At the other end of the court Shawnee was getting points in the paint and quickly ran a 14-5 lead at the end of the first quarter.

South went to a man to man defense in an effort to stem the tide.   But Shawnee continued to hit their shots,  Cheyenne Edwards had a good quarter – hitting several layups and short jumpers.  Turnovers would plague South throughout the game.   And a good many of those turnovers became Shawnee points as they took advantage of the gifts.  It was hard for South to create any offense. Their outside shots were not falling while the inside game continued to be frustrated.

In the second half Shawnee mixed in some zone and man to man defense to keep South off balance.   At the end of the third quarter they still had a healthy lead 36-20.  South went to a press in an effort to make up the difference.  They made up a little ground, but Shawnee would have none of that and did some half court trapping and some pressing of their own.  The pressure became too much for South to handle and Shawnee ran away with the lead and the ball game, winning 50-31.

“We just didn’t come out ready to play”, Commented South coach Mabry, “we talked about it at halftime and said we are putting out a lackluster effort. We like to have these nights where we play all day basketball against another school.  But every time we just aren’t ready to play.”

On not having Gates, “ When we have Gentry Gates and Katie Strazheim in there they complement each other. When you have two threats in the post it helps us out. Every time Katie got the ball tonight, they doubled down on her.  It definitely took out an option that we like to have.”

Shawnee coach Joe Webster, “Aggressive defense is what it comes down to - being able to trap and put pressure on the ball. Our goal was to double down on their post player and trap their perimeter players anyplace we could.  We had a lot of steal and goes – that’s what the traps do.  Courtney Lakes had 20 points, Cheyenne Edwards had 14 points, and Sidney Brown had 11.  “

He continued, “Coming into this week we had to practice with 4 and 5 kids because of the flu bug. But we have been down a good part of the year with injuries.  Lakes was out for 7 games, she just came back full strength last week. Steele went down the third game of the year, she was out until the 13^th game.  This has been the first game where we came out and did what we do. “

State Tournament matchups: Next week TVS plays Covington at Brookville High School at 2pm. Shawnee plays Hamilton Badin at 5pm at Monroe High School

Denny Dumps Dixie

Dixie entered Saturday night’s game with a two game losing skid after losing to Tri Village the previous week and dropping a game to league opponent Milton Union the night before. But it would be a tall order for Dixie to fulfill as Valley View came into the game with some height in the lineup and potent scoring weapon Zack Denny. And to make it even more of a challenge, Dixie would not have the services of senior guard Andrew Barnett who was unable to play in either weekend game.

Dixie employed their man to man defense, but also used a zone defense in the half court – occasionally trapping out of this set. Valley used a couple of different zone defenses and Dixie was able to get some points scoring from outside. But they had to play catch up all night. Valley View started with a 7-0 run before Dixie took a time out and got things figured out. Dixie tied the Spartans at one point in the first half, but the Spartans kept a 2 point lead going into the locker room at half time.

In the third quarter, the Greyhounds inexplicably were cold shooting from the floor. And since Valley View had decent height, there were not many second chance shots from rebounds. At the other end of the floor Valley View was steadily pulling away as they connected on shot after shot. Entering the 4th quarter, the Spartans lead had now grown to 12 points.

Dixie desperately went into a full court press to try and get some points from turnovers. Although they got some points from steals, they gave up some baskets in transition. And Zack Denny had a phenomenal game, when Dixie tried to make a surge, he was able to make some critical shots against a stalwart defense. For the game he had 31 points. Turnovers were also a problem for Dixie Saturday evening, time after time passes were picked off and converted into easy points.

Although Dixie had their best quarter of the game, scoring 17 points in the final stanza, Valley View bested them by scoring 18. Valley View would extend the Dixie losing streak to 3 as they would win 54-41. Next week the Greyhounds will play league foes Middletown Madison and Carlisle.

Coach Creamer commented after the game, “It’s been an extremely difficult week. It’s been harder for us in the locker room and in practicing than on the game floor. We’re dealing with some things and we just need to grow and mature as players and as a group. Of the three games that we have now lost, I thought that tonight was our best effort. I thought we played very hard tonight. But when you can’t put the ball in the hole, it makes the turnovers even that much more glaring. We are not where we want to be as a basketball team – but we not really that far away either. “

Scoring for Dixie: Luke Bowling 8, Zach Grubb 3, Landon Hicks 2, John Isaacs 14, Matt Isaacs 9, Jon Sauer 5. Scoring for Valley View: Patrick Boyle 4, Zack Denny 31, Josh Haeseker 5, Brad Miller 2, Cooper Nolte 2, Jeff Pierce 2, Andrew Zellner 8.

The Rivalry is Back

Rivals Twin Valley South and Tri-County North clashed on Friday night. Although South entered the game with the better record, North was able to give South all that they could handle. The last few years the series has been lopsided in the favor of South. But this game showed that the rivalry was back. It was a game with several lead changes and the end was in doubt up to the last minute.

Surprisingly, it was North who got an early lead. They were able to get their outside shooting game going and in the first half it was effective. South started in a man to man defense, but also used their zone – going back and forth the entire night. North utilized a zone defense for most of the game. At the end of the first quarter it was 13-10 in favor of North. Cole Cottingim gave South their first lead of the game with a three point shot. But North closed the gap and the game was tied at halftime 21-21. In the close confines of the North gym, it was a noisy first half as the crowd rooted for the hometown team.

A re-invigorated South defense manned the court in the second half. They played aggressive half court defense and stifled the North shooters. Then South began to put a little distance between themselves and their rivals. Cole Cottingim hit another trey to break the tie and Mike Green, who had been benched in the second quarter with 2 fouls, had a good second half. It was time for the South fans to make a little noise.

But North stuck around, they stayed within 7-8 points of South. They went to a full court man to man late in the 4th quarter and were able to get some turnovers. When they fouled, South was not hitting the front end of 1 and 1’s, but South was able to control the rebound. So despite their efforts, they couldn’t make up any ground. With a minute left, South still had a 8 point lead. They were able to control the game from there, winning 51-42. South got their victory, but they had to earn it.

Coach Jackson commented after the game, “It’s good to get the rivalry back, we preached this week that it has been awhile since the North South game has been competitive. I thought it was a great game, South played hard, it was physical, hats off to coach Augspurger and his team – they finished. But our guys we have turned a corner, we’ve seen this from early on – we have gotten better each week. We’ve competed and had our chances against a good team, and South is a good team. With a minute left we had an opportunity and had we gotten a couple of rebounds, we could have cut it down to a one possession game.”

On Austin Hutchins who lead all scorers, “His effort was incredible and he showed good leadership. He has an excellent attitude. And Josh Diehl had a good game, he didn’t score as much, but he did a lot of little things to help the team, he took a beating down low – he played sick and just played through it. Billy Derringer had a good game, Cole Williams, Tyler Reese, Matt Louthan all gave great effort.”

Coach Augsperger commented on the rivalry: “We know this that no matter what their record is that North is always going to give us their best shot. It’s a rivalry game that they will get fired up for – and I thought they gave us their best shot tonight. Now we did not play a good first quarter, and they played really well. They were hitting their shots early in the game. We played a good third quarter and had a good start to the fourth quarter. For the most part, we felt pretty good about ourselves… I feel a lot better about this game than I did about our last two. “

tvs 21 tcn 21 halftime

Twin Valley South came into this week riding a 3 game losing skid, albeit against some top notch teams. The Panthers needed some victories to get their momentum back and this was a 3 game week with a rescheduled game against Bradford teed up first. They were able to dispatch the Railroaders 57-54 before going into the weekend with back to back games against Arcanum and Brookville. The Trojans fell 63-54 Friday and so the Panthers were ready to go for the trifecta against the Blue Devils. But Brookville would prove to be a stubborn nut to crack.

With only two victories it would be easy to overlook Brookville. But they had home court advantage and looked to be well prepared. They must have seen how South had problems with trapping defenses as they would use a ¾ court trap in the second half to throw South off balance and make a strong run. But the first half would go to South. They were able to get points from their big men even though Brookville tried to use a 2-3 zone to nail down the inside game. But it was a low scoring affair, about half way the second quarter it was only 13-10 in favor of South. However, South would finish the half strong thanks to a pair of Cole Cottingim treys to close out the half up decisively 23-13.

It looked like the game would be well in hand and I think the Panther fans were ready for the visiting team to extend their run coming out of the locker room and walk off with a victory. But Brookville ran their trap constantly in the second half and this put South into hurry up mode – when they didn’t turn over the ball, they rushed their shots and as a result were missing. At the other end of the court Brookville, who had been slow to score all night, found their range and began connecting on three point shots.

Brookville was able to take the lead (28-27) at the 05:26 mark in the 3rd quarter. The lead would bounce back and forth over the remainder of the quarter, until the end when Mike Green scored 2 baskets – to tie, then give South a slim 36-34 lead going into the last quarter. But Green had not cooled down yet, he was able to get 2 more baskets to extend South’s lead to start the last quarter. But would a 6 point lead be enough? South defenders worked hard, but Brookville was able to chip away at the South lead.

With a minute left, South had a 40-38 lead. South threw the ball away when they tried to go into a slowdown. But South was able to get the ball back and now Brookville had to foul with 30 seconds left in the game. Although South didn’t drain the nets from the foul line, they hit the front end of 1 and 1’s. Johnny Myers and Wes Cole made trips to the foul line and extended South’s lead for a 45-41 victory.

Coach Augspurger was not as happy as one would think after three victories, “One of my favorite expressions is playing with defensive integrity. When you are playing with defensive integrity then no matter who you are playing with, no matter what the score, you set yourself up for success. I have talked to this team about it, but we just haven’t shown it whatsoever.”

He continued, ”We have a tendency that we look at who we are playing and what their record is. When we play against good teams we have good quarters, we play close against them and lose. And against lesser teams - no offense to teams with a handful of wins, we come in and play to their level. We have not been a good enough Monday through Thursday team in practice. I am a huge believer that is important. We are not where we want to be at this point in the season.”

Scoring for TVS: Anthony Augspurger 4, Wes Cole 4, Cole Cottingim 8, Mike Green 14, Troy Innis 3, Johnny Myers 12. Scoring for Brookville: Derek Day 3, Logan Kindell 17, Austin Kuck 3, Luke Landis 6, Chaise Spangler 2, Tyler Tincher 8, Wes Zellers 2.