Feb. 17th Roundup

Monroe over Eaton

Madison Girls Hit Century Mark

Middletown over Big Blue

Jerry Lucas Grateful

Bellbrook Girls Over Monroe

Waynesville Wins Division with win over Dixie

Northmont Upsets Wayne

Marion Local Flyers Bury Panthers

Three Aviators Sign for College Football

Student Honored, but Lady Aviators 
Fall on Senior Night

North - South Game Coming to Dayton

WildCats Pounce on Tippecanoe

Tigers Too Much for Wave

TriVillage Finishes Undefeated

Enis Honored as Football Coach

Thomas Named Player of the Year

Lady Tigers Win Tournament Opener

Arrows Hit Bullseye 

Eaton Rides 2 Game Win Streak

South in 2 Close Wins

Trail Over North Girls

Changes in Deer Season for Next Year

Hal McCoy - Homer Bailey at Spring Training

Fairlawn Spoils Senior Night for Jackson Center

Patriots Give Clinic

Prize Fight between Anna and Fort Loramie

SouthEastern Edges South

SouthEastern Edged out South in a defensive battle in the opening round of the girls basketball state tournament. It was a low scoring affair as both teams were tentative in their offense but strong on defense.  Which isn't too unusual in tournament play as both schools are meeting for the first time and so like a boxing match, they feel out their opponent to see what will work.  Then you have the tournament factor where both teams are intense and playing tight. Which is not conducive for offensive production.

SouthEastern had an early edge with their half court trap.  It seemed to keep South from getting into an offensive flow and did create turnovers - over 10 in the second half alone.  On the other hand, South seemed to do a good job rebounding and limited SouthEastern to just one shot per possession. Katie Strazheim had a productive second quarter and in a low scoring game, gave South the lead going into the locker room - 10 to 8.  But the third quarter was not productive for South, they could only muster a single basket.  And as the game went on, they were cold from the foul line - only hitting on 2 foul shots for the game and bricking 6 foul shots in the 4th quarter alone.

Still South staying within striking distance when Whitney White connected on a three point shot late in the fourth quarter.  South was fouling in the last minute and SouthEastern connected when it counted to keep their lead. When the horn blew it was SouthEastern 22 TVS 19 in a closely contested game.  Scoring for TVS: Whitney White 3, Gentry Gates 3, Kara Mackie 4, Timberlynn Donaldson 3, Katie Strazheim 6.

TVS - Shawnee Split Games

Saturday night was an 'All the Basketball You Can Eat' night at Preble Shawnee high school.  The two schools matched up both girls and boys squads from freshman to varsity.  It was an eventful evening - thanks to 'Hoops for Hope' there was a proliferation of pink t-shirts in the stands and both varsity teams wore the the shirts during warm ups. The Hoops for Hope shirts were for raising cancer awareness.  It was also senior night, so in between varsity games the seniors were recognized.

Ladies were up first.  Shawnee took off of with an early lead.  They used their basketball skills well - passing, rebounding and a stubborn defense.  They mixed in some full court pressure and kept South off balance.  It was 9-2 in favor of the Arrows about half into the first quarter  South did find some traction with their inside game, but were still down 19-10 at the end of the quarter.

South had accumulated several early fouls and early in the second quarter they were giving up bonus to the Arrows.  But that was the least of their worries as Shawnee dialed up the pressure - trapping South for turnovers. It was a frustrating quarter for South, if Shawnee didn't get a steal - then a pass out of bounds, or a travel would likewise give the ball right back to the Arrows.  South took a time out to try to turn the tide, but it was to no avail - Shawnee went into the locker room with a 42-15 lead.  Holding South to just 5 points while scoring 23 themselves to break the game wide open.

In the second half, South tried to do a little trapping of their own and switched up defenses - but Shawnee shook off any attempt by South at a comeback.  They kept up the pace and cruised to an easy 74-29 victory.  Scoring for South: Taylor Clark 2, Beth Foust 1, Kara Mackie 7, Timberlynn Donaldson 15, Katie Strazheim 4.  Scoring for Shawnee: Woodard 6, Edwards 20, Brown 10, Moore 16, Klamm 6, Lakes 16.

South girls will play SouthEastern next Saturday morning at Brookville. 15-5 Shawnee will make up a league game against Waynesville, but they are runners up in their division of the SWBL.

Next up were the boys varsity teams.  They had met earlier in the year at the Shawnee holiday tournament and South was able to win that time. Again the Panthers found themselves in hostile territory - playing as the visitors. But this did not phase them as they hit some big shots to go out in front early.  Shawnee played zone in the early going and South took advantage with Wysong and Cole chucking in treys. During this period, South was doing a good job rebounding as well.  Shawnee took a timeout to adjust their defense when South had a 10-2 lead. Shawnee closed the gap with a buzzer beater and were down 12-17 after one quarter.

Shawnee pressed some in the second quarter and South responded with some trapping of their own. With the flurry of action from both aggressive defenses, the teams accumulated a lot of fouls.  South was able to go into the locker room with a 26-34 lead.  Inexplicably they came out of the locker room cold as the team couldn't hit a shot in the first 4 minutes of the quarter. And when things aren't working of offense you strain to make things happen on defense.  But when you overplay, you get called for fouls. Innis picked up his third foul early in the quarter and the Panthers were accumulating fouls at a rate of one a minute as Shawnee thundered down the comeback trail.

Shawnee actually took a 2 point lead during their 10-0 run. The drought was finally broken for South when Wes Cole drained a three to allow South to regain the lead, then Anthony Augspurger made a shot on the next possession to provide a cushion.  The South defense was generating turnovers at this time and so it was hard for Shawnee to make any headway.

It was a 4 point game as the teams entered the final quarter of play. South, who had been so cold in the third quarter, found their mark in the 4th quarter.  Extending their lead to 9 points and forcing Shawnee to take a time out at the 5 minute mark to adjust.   With three minutes to go South was very deliberate in their offense, chewing precious seconds off the clock.  Shawnee went to the press to make a run - and they did close to 6 points with 34 seconds left where they sunk a three to make it a three point game. But they had to foul to get the ball back and Mike Green iced the game for South at the free throw line for a 56-51 victory. Scoring for South: Wes Cole 20, Jesse Wysong 12, Mike Green 12, Anthony Augspurger 8, Jordan Burns 5, Seth Baker 6.

Tvs 34 shawnee 26 at half

Girls tvs 29 shawnee 74

Half girls tvs 15 shawnee 42

Sports Wrap up for Feb. 3

Carlisle Dispatches Dixie

Edgewood Over Talawanda

Middletown Christian Evens with Miami Valley (girls bb)

Indoor Football - Dayton Sharks season set to Launch

Miami East - Versailles knockdown, drag out fight (girls bb)

Troy Christian - Lehman Catholic.  A Child Shall lead them

Cardinals Knockoff Ranked Redskins

Inspired Indians defeat Catholic Central

Michael Shines in Fairborn Defeat

Bucc's Beat Blackhawks

Lady Pats Win on Senior Night

Arcanum Girls Dominate Bethel

Cavaliers Down Jets (girls bb)

Stammen on USO trip

Harbaugh's Deep Local Ties

Patriot Powers Past 1000 (girls bb)

Lady Eagles 7 Straight

South Boys Split 2

Eaton Boys Quiet

South Girls - 3 in a Row

Sports Roundup, January 19th

Eaton Takes Bellbrook (girls bb)

Arrows Demolish West Milton (girls bb)

Eaton Beats Brookville

TCN Girls Lose 2

Pipenger - the best in the West

New Breman Over Minster

Centerville Over Fairmont

Oakwood Falls to Waynesville

Lady Knights Down McNichols

Alter Drops Fenwick

Alter Falls to Centerville

Lady Aviators Drop Trotwood

Arcanum no Match for Marion Local

Ansonia Loses to Bethel

Franklin Monroe all-state at soccer

Patriots Untouchable

Jets Repel BlackHawks (girls bb)

Bradford Over Newton

Lady Wave Shuts Down Aviators 

Rumble in the East

Twin Valley South went thru a tough 5 day stretch this past week, playing 3 games in 5 days.  With two of those games on the road against tough CCC opponents.  Tuesday saw South lose on the road against Franklin Monroe by 5, 45-40. But they rebounded Friday against Bradford with a decisive 70-50 victory.  That brought up Saturday night’s road game against Miami East who was coming off of a Friday night victory of their own.  They dispatched Newton easily 52-24.  South and Miami East entered the game with similar 8 win records and both are jockeying behind Tri-Village for second place in the conference and also a good seed in the state tournament.

But before the game started there was a ceremony for the Miami East volleyball team who received championship rings for their state championship – their second in a row.  The school had the raised the money with fund raisers. They had only one loss on the season and won the championship in straight sets, so it was great to see their achievements rewarded.

Back to the game – South started slow.  They gave up 3 turnovers in the early going and along with some fouls, they were playing sloppy.  Miami East charged out to an early 9-2 lead.  Coach Augspurger took a time out to get the players settled down – and they went to work.  Mike Green responded and helped spark a little run to keep the score close.  The two post players – South’s Mike Green and East’s AJ Hickman battled all night.  South played in man to man defense while Miami East stayed in a zone defense for the most part.

So after being down in the first quarter, South hit their stride in the second quarter.  Mike Green tied the game at 14–all on a put back and in the next possession Jesse Wysong sunk a trey to give South their first lead of the night.  JJ Utz then hit a layup and the Miami East coach had seen enough, calling a time out to cool off the South run.  East’s Luke House scored two points at the end of the half to close the gap and South went to the locker room with a 19-17 lead in a defensive battle.

The game became unraveled in the third quarter for South.  Miami East really focused on Green in the second half and so he scored no points in the third.  And the South perimeter was stone cold, they weren’t hitting their shots.  Although Green got a respectable 18 points on the night,  no one else scored more than 4. At the other end of the court, East was able to make some backside cuts to get some easy baskets.  Finally, to add to South’s frustrations, they were called for a technical foul.  It was a miserable quarter – East rallied for  14 points and South only scored 4.    

South tried to respond in the last quarter, but they were giving up bonus – which sent East to the foul line and just didn’t seem to get any breaks.    The team had their best quarter scoring wise, but it was not enough as East held off any attempt at a comeback and won 46-35. 

“We struggled to score,” commented coach Augspurger after the game, “I think we are a little too emotional.  We get a bad call against us – we react and we get angry.  We miss a couple of shots and we react by getting down on ourselves.  Instead of just understanding that those things are just part of the game and we have to play thru it.  In order to be successful we just have to stop that.”

“Our offensive symmetry is just not what it needs to be and tonight I thought we rushed our shots,”  he continued, “Jesse Wysong spotted up and hit a nice three, but every other shot – I thought we rushed it.  We knew coming into the new year that this would be our toughest week – playing Franklin Monroe and Miami East on the road.  They are both good basketball schools.  I can not fault how we battled – we defended pretty well and gave great effort but we didn’t finish some of our possessions and just didn’t score enough.”

South lost

Miami east 17 tvs 19 at half

Jan. 13 Roundup

Eaton Over TVS - girls bb

Defense Carries Redskins

Coldwater Football gets National Honor

Fenwick Falls to Alter

Middies Grind Past Oak Hill

Brubaker Record Night Leads Pats to Win

Franklin Monroe Beats Arcanum

Shawnee Splits Two League Games

TCN Girls Grind out win at Newton

Lady Arrows put up 62 at Dixie

Battered South Bests Brookville

Twin Valley South had a tough game Friday night, losing by single point to league rival, Mississinewa Valley.  And their weekend did not get any easier as they had to take on Brookville on Saturday night. The team is already shorthanded with Anthony Augspurger out due to injury and although Troy Innis is able to play – he isn’t 100%.  And just before halftime,  yet another South starter was dinged up scrambling for a loose ball - Wes Cole spent part of halftime visiting the trainers room – but he was cleared to play and finished the game.  

The game itself was one of those rubber band games – one team stretches the lead, the other makes a run, but can’t quite catch up.  Then the first team makes another little run and stretches the lead out again. South found themselves in the driver’s seat – but it was not a smooth ride.  They extended their lead out to 9-10 points a few times during the game, but could not shake Brookville who doggedly stayed on their tail.  That rubber band got real short in the last minute of the game when South had a 2 point lead with less than a minute left.

South’s half court offense was strong in the first quarter.  Post player Mike Green was getting good looks on the inside while the South perimeter was knocking down treys on the outside.  Wes Cole, Jesse Wysong, and Seth Baker all connected for three’s in the first quarter.   This gave TVS a comfortable 18-9 lead.  But Brookville turned up the intensity on defense in the second quarter and also went into a full court man to man defense.   This gave Brookville some points from South turnovers and prompted their first good run of the night.  The Blue Devils scored the first 6 points of the quarter and now it was game.  Unofficially I had South with 5 turnovers on their first 5 possessions of the quarter.  The team did settle down and re-extend their lead late in the quarter.  Jesse Wysong connected on another trey at the 2 minute mark and gave South a brief 10 point lead.   South went into the locker room with a 36-27 lead.

The 3^rd quarter saw more intense action as the teams scrambled for every loose ball, every rebound.  And so both teams started to accumulate fouls.  At the end of the 3rd quarter Wes Cole got his 4^th foul and went to the bench.  Likewise Seth Baker got his 4^th foul at the start of the 4^th quarter and he went to the bench as well.  Both teams would be getting double bonus in the last quarter.   Brookville gradually closed the gap – making it a 2 point game with less than a minute left.  Free throws were critical for South.   Mike Green would be high scorer with 34 points – 14 from free throws.  And 8 of those free throws were hit down the stretch in the 4^th quarter.   But in the waning seconds South bricked a total of 4 free throws – allowing Brookville to have a chance to tie it with seconds left in the game.  But Brookville muffed an inbound pass – giving South the ball with the lead and one second on the clock.  They inbounded and held the ball for a 67-64 victory.

“This was the best offensive game that we have played,” stated coach Augspurger, “We were better offensively than we have been all year long.  We mixed up the inside – outside [shooting] pretty well.  Mike Green was strong last night, but he was even stronger tonight.  Jesse Wysong did a really good job of handling pressure, running the show, and matching up on defense.  It was a good win for us, after coming off of a disappointing win last night.  We lost a game that we believe we should have won.  We let them out rebound us at both ends of the court.  They got all the hustle plays and we just didn’t play very well at all. But we responded to adversity very well tonight.”

On Mike Green, “We are trying to teach him that if he goes to the rim, he is very hard to stop.  And tonight he did that.  If you go to the rim, ref’s will give you calls but if you fade away from the rim – they won’t.  And Mike played very, very well – he made his shots, got his own rebound several times and put it in.  He’s an athletic kid and I think he is just seeing how he can use that athleticism, tonight he took some steps in the right direction.”  

Scoring for TVS:  Wes Cole 7, Jesse Wysong 8, Mike Green 34, Troy Innis 4, Seth Baker 8, JJ Utz 6.

RC Boat Racing Schedule for 2013

Sunsite Race Dates 2013

April-14-----test & tune (sunday) 12:00-3:00

April-20-21-----test & tune  (saturday- 12:00-3:00 / sunday-12:00 -3:00)

April-28-----Race

May-11----Race (saturday)

June-2-----Race

June-16---Race

June-30---Race

July-14-----Gold Cup Race

August-11---Race

September-8----Race

October-6----Race

October-20---Race

On race day the gate will open at 9:00am. Drivers meeting at 11:15, first heat starts at 11:30. The race course will be open for testing until the drivers meeting.

Other Sports News for January 6th

Springboro defeats Franklin

Cedarville plays last game in old gym

Bellbrook gets past Oakwood

Greenville Falls by 2 to Piqua

Lady Wave Gets Win Over Rams

Versailles Over Panthers

Pats Easy Win Over TCN

Jets Shoot Down Arcanum

Lady Roaders win Basketball Tournament

Cardinals Need OT to Slip past Indians

2012 All NorthWest district football

PRO Sports

Bengals One and Done

Kelly has Browns and Eagles Waiting on Choice

Thanks!

Yes thanks for everyone who takes the time to follow our local athletes in 2012.  This blog has had over 8,400 page views since it's inception.  This has been a chance to give hardworking athletes a little extra attention via the internet.  

A lot of folks find this via google and a fair number find the blog via JJ's sports huddle and yappi.  Thanks for the regulars who check back periodically to see what's new.

Hounds Scalp Mohawks

The Dixie Greyhounds began the new year on the right foot with a victory over the Madison Mohawks.   Dixie got off to a slow start, allowing Madison 8 unanswered points to start the game – but were able to finish strong.  Dixie ended 2012 with a 54-35 victory over Newton and this extends their winning streak to 4 games.

Dixie seemed a bit lethargic in the early going.  Madison was able to spot up some outside shooters and connect from the perimeter for the lead.  Dixie played man to man defense, Madison would stay in a 2-3 zone for almost the entire night.  About midway thru the quarter, Dixie turned up the pressure to full court and started to get turnovers which then became baskets.  Holding Madison at 8, Dixie went on a run of their own and scored 20 points.  Griffen Moore and Austin Fisher scored on back to back treys to give Dixie their first lead. 

With Dixie hitting from the outside, Madison called a time out and got their players to close out on the shooters.  This slowed down the pace of Dixie scoring and Madison was able to close the gap before halftime to 7 points.    Coming out of the break Dixie went into a zone press against Madison.  They did this for the first part of the third quarter before going back into their half court man to man defense for the remainder of the game.   Madison was unable to make up any ground and were still down by 7 when they fouled Griffen Moore who was putting up a frantic last second three point shot as the quarter ended.   He calmly sank his 3 shots from the foul line to put Dixie up 39-29 as the teams entered the last quarter. 

Madison went to full court pressure in the last quarter in a last ditch effort to make a run at the Greyhounds.  But Dixie handled the pressure well and even extended their lead. Sixth man Greg Leonard gave the team some valuable minutes against the Mohawks.  He scored 8 points – 4 in the 4^th quarter and also seemed raise Dixie’s energy level on the court with his hard play – one those intangibles you don’t always see reflected in the scorebook.   He, along with Logan Watts and Griffen Moore dashed any hopes of comeback with their 4^th quarter scoring.  Dixie won handily 57-41 improving to a 6-3 record overall.   Scoring for Dixie: Fisher 7, Moore 16, Bowling 12, Benner 2, Watts 12, Leonard 8.

“I think we are good, now we are a little bit young, but we have a different mix of kids that are still finding out how to play together,” stated Coach Waggoner, “and that makes us streaky.  It seems like we are not always on the same page.  We gave them an 8 point run, then turned around and had a run of our own.  When we play together, we play well.” On Greg Leonard, “Yes, he gave us great points and great energy.  He makes things happen when he is on the court – going to the basket, getting to the ball on defense.”

Next week Dixie plays against league leading Carlisle and also Preble Shawnee.  Both games will be key games for the standings in the SWBL buckeye division. 

Other Area Sports News: January 1 2013

Other Area Sports News: January 1 2013

versailles repeats as champs

Tigers Lose to Wildcats

Patriots Win Holiday Tournament

Valley View - Madison Repeat as MUM Winners

Middies and Falcons Find Success in Florida

First Ever Bulldog classic a success

Dorn, Etter Lead Beavercreek Over St. Ursula

Centerville Pressure too much for Aviators

Football: Change is good, but can we tweak it?

Commendable Piqua Indians

East off to a Fast Start

Troy Squanders First Half Lead

Eaton loses to Hamilton Ross

How Sweet it is: South Wins Second Tournament

Both North and South had success in the Preble Shawnee Holiday Tournament albeit in different ways.  South was able to capture their 2^nd championship in a row – winning their own Tip Off tournament to start the season and then winning the Holiday Tournament.  North won the consolation game, ending a 5 game skid. Although North had a nail biter - having to go to overtime before they earned that win.

On opening night South played National Trail. South nailed their outside shots in the first half and behind their zone defense they built a 31-14 halftime lead.  Trail countered in the second half with a press and even went to all guard line up to generate some turnovers, but South shrugged it off and maintained their lead.  Also in the second half Trail tried to connect on 3 point shots, but failed to find the hoop even though they were getting open looks and meanwhile South was cleaning the glass – holding Trail to one shot attempt per possession.  South won easily 59 to 40.  Wes Cole and Mike Green lead the team in scoring while Anthony Augspurger hauled in 12 rebounds, Seth Baker 7.

North’s first round game was against host Preble Shawnee.  And in the opening quarter, it looked like North was going to dominate completely.  Shawnee was playing sloppy and North took advantage starting the game with a 10-2 run.  Shawnee used a zone defense and pressed a little, while North played a man to man defense in the half court.  Shawnee settled down and in the second quarter they finished strong – using their inside game to catch North and then go into the locker room with a 26-25 lead at the half.

The two teams fought back and forth thru the 3^rd quarter and entered the last quarter in a 35 all tie.  But about 2 minutes into the last quarter things began to fall apart for North – their post player Josh Heltsley who had been clogging up the middle went to the bench with his 4^th foul, and seconds later they were hit with an intentional foul.  Shawnee had a 5 point lead at that point. Then inexplicably both teams went into a scoring drought that lasted almost 3 minutes.   And as the clocked clicked closer to the end of the game, Shawnee went into a slowdown.  North began to foul and Shawnee hit their foul shots and would break open a close game and win comfortably 53-40.  It was another hard fought loss for North. Scoring for North: Billy Derringer 10, Austin Hutchins 18, Amani Cunningham 6, Josh Heltsley 6.

So the next night North played Trail in the consolation game.  This time North was playing from behind as the Blazers came out on fire. Their outside shooting, led by Williams, was dead on as Trail quickly built a 16-4 lead based upon the 3 point shot.  North adjusted and fought back – finishing the quarter strong as Austin Hutchins hit a 3 point shot launched from half court at the buzzer.  Still Trail had the advantage 18-12.

Trail became more deliberate in their offense in the second quarter but maintained their lead at the half.  In the second half, it became obvious that Trail was paying extra attention to Hutchins, but he maintained his level of scoring.  The pace of the 4^th quarter was furious as the two teams battled back and forth for the lead.  But as regulation ran out, it was a 51 all tie.  The first minute of overtime was slow paced.  But at the 2 minute mark North got back to back buckets from  Hutchins and Heltsley to extend their lead and get some breathing space.   And now it was Trail forced to foul North and with North hitting their shots from the charity stripe they extended their lead and ended the year on an up note with a 67-59 victory.

“It was a hard fought game”, stated North’s coach Jackson afterwards, “We just executed better at the end and played good defense.  It was an awful first half, we are much better than that. But we had good senior leadership from Billy Derringer and Josh Heltsley – they really stepped up and did their jobs.  Austin Hutchins had a double double – 33 points and 10 rebounds.  This win means a lot to these guys, I am so proud of them and the way they responded in the second half.  You can have all the plays in the world, but you have to have the desire to win, and this team was inspired to win tonight – they really wanted it.”

This set up the championship game between South and Shawnee.  The teams sparred evenly in the first half.  Both teams began in a zone and Shawnee pressed a little, but called it off.  The teams were tied at the half with 29 points apiece.  After the game, coach Augspurger related that he challenged his team to play tougher defense in his half time talk and then switched the teams defense to man to man.  The effect was immediate.  South broke the game open with an 11-2 run to start the second half.

Shawnee closed the gap at the end of the 3^rd quarter with the help of some South turnovers.  Still South had a 3 point lead as the game entered the final quarter.  In an attempt to make a run Shawnee went to a man to man defense and also pressed.  But South was undeterred and extended their lead.  South rebounded well – limiting Shawnee’s second chances on missed shots.  South scored 60 points in their victory. South had 3 players score in double figures:  Wes Cole 17, Jesse Wysong 3, Mike Green 23, Anthony Augspurger 3, Seth Baker 14. After the game, Wes Cole was named most valuable player for the tournament and Mike Green and Jesse Wysong were named to the all-tournament team.  Also North’s Austin Hutchins was selected for the all-tournament team.

“I have long believed that winning is a habit”, stated coach Augspurger afterwards, “the last 4 years we have had less than a winning habit than what I am used to as a coach here at South.  We are scratching the surface of where we can be for a young team. The team is 5 and 2 right now.  We act like we are young at times, and make young mistakes.  Tonight I challenged them, I gave them more of a tongue lashing at half time than I have all year long.  But that was because we played with no defensive integrity in the first half. “

He continued, “The bottom line in sports, in any sport – is to be good on defense.  Basketball is no exception.  They responded really well for the most part.  We defended much better in the second half.  Tonight was Mike Greens best all-around game.  He had a good tournament – made his free throws last night, he shot better tonight and pressured shots on defense.  And Wes Cole has responded very well in all 4 tournament games that we have played this season.  Last night he shot the lights out.  Tonight he really rebounded well and he took 3 charges in the game.  He does not let mistakes faze him and you can’t coach that.  He can miss a shot or make a mistake on defense and just come back and play that much harder.   Seth Baker made some nice shots for us tonight.  Anthony Augspurger played well against Trail, and defended well in the second half tonight.  But as a team we have to keep getting better.”

Young Dixie Players Step up Against Jets

Dixie continues their winning ways due in large part to the way that the young players are stepping up in the early part of the season.  After losing senior Matt Isaacs, Dixie needed someone to step in and replace his points and his presence on the court.   The Greyhounds have 3 wins a row since losing Isaacs and have not missed a beat.  This week the team played Franklin Monroe, a CCC team that is a perennial league challenger.  But the win was not easy.

Due to water damage to the gym floor at Franklin Monroe, the game was played in their old gymnasium.  A smaller gym where the close quarters helped lead to a more physical game.   Dixie got off a to a slow start, allowing Franklin to grow a 17-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.  The Jets got down the floor in the hurry and beat Dixie to the hoop for some easy baskets.  The team had to play catch up from there and only gained a lead with about 3 minutes to go.   Although the team started slow, they finished strong to lay claim to their 3^rd victory in a row. 

The second quarter was even and Franklin Monroe maintained a 10 point lead up 27-17 at the break. Freshman Cody Grubb got a timely basket from a stick back right before time ran out to cut the lead from 12 to 10.  In the third quarter, Dixie made up ground – but the Jets still lead.  Logan Watts had another strong 4^th quarter for Dixie and also Griffin Moore - who scored 6 points in a row contributed to the Greyhound 18 point 4^th quarter which put them over the Jets.  Dixie had come back for a 43-40 win.

“They just beat us down the floor in transition in the first quarter, but after that it became a physical half- court game with both teams playing hard man to man defense”, commented Coach Waggoner, “It was two games in a row where we put together a strong 4^th quarter”, he continued, “Logan Watts hit some nice shots as did Griffin Moore – he did a good job of getting open and making his mid-range shots.  Those two scored 14 of our 18 points in the 4^th quarter.  And this is two games in a row where Logan Watts stepped up big in the 4^th quarter.  We just hit some shots and that fueled our offense.  And that seems to be our theme this year, we will miss some shots during stretches in games, then we will find the basket and score in a hurry. I tell the kids once you see it go it in a couple of times, then you feel better and get more confident. They had scouted us pretty well and took some stuff away, but we also tweaked our offense and that helped us comeback. “

Finally, “We are 3-0 without Matt [Isaacs] and we will take that. We are doing things a little different than if we had him in the lineup.  And the kids are responding.  Those are some nice wins – I mean this is a decent Franklin Monroe team, they barely lost in the 4^th quarter to [undefeated] Tri-Village.   I am thrilled with the way our kids have played since then – I feel good about this team. “

Leading scorers for Dixie: Luke Bowling 12, Logan Watts 14 (8 in 4^th quarter), Griffin Moore 8 (6 in 4^th quarter) Seth Benner 5.

Next week Dixie plays both Newton and Madison.  On Newton, “Steve Fisher is there.  We expect to see  2-2-1 pressure and a half court zone. Their team will be prepared. But if we play well we will have a chance. “

Dixie Over North

Saturday night’s game between Dixie and Tri-County was a defensive matchup,  both teams played stubborn man to man defensive where each basket was hard earned.  Fans hoping to see a lot of string music were disappointed, but basketball purists were able to watch an evening of intense defensive pressure.  Earlier in the week Dixie had lost to Waynesville where senior post player Matt Isaac’s had broken his foot.  North was coming off a loss the previous night and so both teams wanted to end the week on an up note with a victory.   Dixie’s head coach, Mike Waggoner, had formerly coached at North, so there was that factor as well.

North came out in a 2-3 zone, but Dixie was able to knockdown a couple of early 3’s and that pulled North out into man to man defense that they would use the remainder of the game.  That defensive pressure allowed North to slowly make up ground against Dixie.  They were down 7-11 at the first quarter.  Dixie changed up tactics and began to put full court pressure on North.   North was trying to get the ball inside to their big man – Josh Heltsley.   And he had some success – scoring all his points in the first half. A couple of the matchups to watch were Dixie’s postman Greg Leonard against Josh Heltsley and North’s Austin Hutchins against Luke Bowling.  Both Bowling and Hutchins are exceptional athletes  having played quarterback for their respective schools in the fall. North got a couple of baskets right before halftime to pull within one point 14-15.

The third quarter saw the lead change several times and right before the end of the third quarter, North’s  Austin Hutchins connected on a 3 point to break  a tie and give North a 26-23 lead.  Dixie played even with North thru out most of the third quarter, but they needed a spark to boost them past the Panthers.  This was provided by Logan Watts who connected on a key 3 point shot to tie the game at the 2:57 mark.   But he was not finished – he would score 9 of his 14 points down the stretch in the 4^th quarter.  He also made some critical free throws that protected the Dixie lead. North’s Billy Derringer  drove the length of the court for a layup to pull North to within 2, 30-32.  But Dixie was in slow down mode and North had to foul.   When the final horn blew, it was 33-35 Dixie in a hard fought game.

“We pride ourselves on defense,” stated North’s coach Jackson after the game, “we knew that if we kept them under 40, that we had a chance to win the game.  It was just a defensive battle, Hutchins still lead us in scoring, but they did a good job on us defensively.  It was a defensive  battle that came down to the last few possessions.  So you tip your hat to Dixie, they got the better of us. We lost two close games this weekend – that’s tough on the kids, but we will get better.”

“I thought very early that we defended very hard.” Said Dixie’s Mike Waggoner afterwards, “But we gave them 8 easy put backs.  So although we defended well, those stick backs cost us.  We did have some opportunities to score, but we couldn’t hit our shots.  When we didn’t make shots, we began to make bad decisions.  I told the guys when we’re not making shots - control the ball game and be patient on offense, don’t rush.  They will eventually break down and we will get the shot we want. “

He continued,” It has been an emotional week for us with loss of one of our leaders [Matt Isaacs].  So last night’s game against Northridge, our first without Isaacs was an emotional game.  Tonight Logan Watt’s three in the 4^th quarter was big for us.  Then he knocked out some free throws.   He stepped up when we needed him.”