Chris Tilton Sports

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

South Be-Deviled by Brookville

The Brookville Blue Devils focused on stopping one player - Wes Cole. Cole, who had been fighting illness coming into the game, was held to just 5 points - and South could not find anyone else to score against Brookville's box and one defense. The defense was effective in that the chaser kept Cole from touching the ball from most of the night, and the box kept South from driving to the basket.

Finally South, with the exception of the 2^nd quarter, had problems shooting from the outside. South’ defense, which had been playing with more vigor as of late, couldn’t keep Brookville from scoring. And Brookville’s taller lineup did a fair job on the boards as well.

As has been the case in several of the last few games, South got out to a slow start offensively. Brookville had a nice run to start the game, and South was forced to play catch up trailing 8-2. In the second quarter, South’s offense got on track and they actually outscored Brookville with 5 players nailing treys during the frame and at the half they were down by 4, 25-21. Cole provided momentum going into the locker room with a steal and layup right before the buzzer.

But that momentum did not carry far, Cole would not score the rest of the night and South was having problems hitting shots from outside again. With no one else stepping up, South was struggling to find any offense. The third quarter was a wash with both teams scoring just 6 points each. Brookville had another nice run to start the 4^th quarter and went into a slowdown at the midway point. South responded with a trapping defense. Both teams were giving bonus, but Brookville was an impressive 18 of 20 on the night, while South only made 2 of 10. With the Blue Devils acing shots at the foul line, South could not make up any ground and finally fell 51-39.

Still South had a good season – an undersized but scrappy team that utilized intensity on defense and physicality on the boards to compete against taller teams. They could strike from outside, but were proficient in driving to the basket. Again using strength and quickness to drive to the basket for scores. They were also a hard luck team. Almost all their losses were by a basket or less. So they very easily could have had several more wins and only lost to the number one ranked team in the state by a last second basket.

“It was hard to prepare for this game with Wes Cole being sick,” stated coach Augspurger afterwards, “We considered the possibility that they might do something special against Wes. But with him being out, we got ready with what we already knew. We wanted our defense to keep them from being able to score, and I thought our effort was there. Brad Cox had one of his best nights ever for them. We held down their main two scorers, but he came thru for them in a big way. They outplayed us tonight – and they shot much, much better from the free throw line.”

He went on about the season, “I really enjoyed this team; this team played basketball the way that Twin Valley South basketball should be played. They played tough, they played hard and with intensity. I was disappointed that we could not continue on for them. Our 5 seniors will be tough to replace. Wes Cole has been a very good athlete for us. Anthony Augspurger was a hard nosed defender, Jacob and Jason helped quite a bit too. They were good, they will be missed.”

Miami Valley Sports March 10th

WC softball earns first win

Rams set to fight for district title

Xenia Fairborn make return to state mats

Bauer helped Xenia trump GWOC South

Edward Jones presented with game ball

Lady Aviators compete at District meet

Lady Aviator rally falls just short

Aviator matmen second in GWOC North

Helke Sacks advance to District

Aviators season ends in tourney opener

Five Aviators advance to District

Pole vaulters strong in final indoor meet

A new era in D III

2 Eagles cruise

Tipps season ends in semis

Red Devils look to keep making history

Cash returns

Picking up victories

New ground

Just what they needed

Bitter rivals

Buccs Ganger not bothered by big stage

Hancock not backing down

3rd quarter dooms Minster

Raiders capture sectional title

Russia defeats Southeastern Local for district championship

Anna upsets previously unbeaten Madeira

Two Jackets qualify for state

Jackson advances to district finals

Inside the Lines

Lady Tigers keep rolling

Tough way to finish season

Three point shooting sparks Lady Raiders

Bryant wins D I sectional title

Lady Tigers shine at state

Triad stuns Lehman boys

Russia boys handle Bradford

Feeling comfy

Back to Columbus

Tigers Raiders win district

Buccs send four to state

Brown headed to state

Fitting finish for Brown

LCCs Huffman notches district crown

Thobe nets 33 to lead Flyers into regionals

Thirsty for 3s

Sampson ready for state debut

Lima Seniors Graham Cousey to sign with Ashland

Lady Bolts whip Springfield

Bolts end an era with win

Lady Bolts fall in sectional

Bolts tie for 2nd at GWOC

Bolts fall to Xenia in sectional

Three wrestlers qualify for state

State ranked SCD pulls away from Greeneview

Xenia Fairborn make return to state mats

Elks end Xenias season

Bauer helped Xenia trump GWOC South

Bulldog girls fall in OT

Celebrating a Tipp legend

Arrows comeback falls short

Trail falls to Miami East

North gets routed by one seeded CJ

Shawnee finishes last week of regular season with two wins

Shawnee wrestling sends five to districts

Eaton loses to Dunbar in opening round

Basketball showcase this weekend

South loses in sectional semi finals

Trail loses opening round against Versailles

Backtoback titles for Richmond

Wolves back in NAIAs

Richmond looks forward to regional

Gresham Visits Raiders

Cardale Jones opens Spring Training

AJ Hawk Signs with Bengals

Elder Over Thunderhawks

Mason Volpenhein 2 titles

Kings Soph Wins State

West over Lebanon

Tim Tebow to NFL?

Tri Village wins 4th consecutive sectional title

Versailles wins district title

Versailles eliminates Arcanum

Franklin Monroe starts strong but loses to Troy Christian

Versailles returns to regionals

2 Greenville girls earn GWOC North recognition

2 Versailles girls named 1st team all MAC

Brown named player of the year

Linkous helps lead Cedarville to NCAA tournament

No quick answer to Ohio State QB question

Bradford girls finish 4th boys 5th at state meet

Tri Village girls place 8th boys 9th at state meet

Sunday, March 01, 2015

Miami Valley Sports March 1

Eagle boys advance easily

Inside the Lines

Lady Raiders advance in hoops

Like looking in mirror

Feeling comfortable

Lady Tigers keep rolling

Tough way to finish season

Three point shooting sparks Lady Raiders

Bryant wins D I sectional title

Bath rolls to sectional crown

LCC girls move on to district in hoops

Elks stop Northmont

Lady Bolts whip Springfield

Wrestling team wins at Lakota East

Bolts end an era with win

Out manned Bucs bow out of tourney

Pitchers battling for spot in Reds rotation

Cedarville buzzsaw defeats Xenia Christian

Bailey may not be ready for Reds opener

Greeneview Rams advance

Rainbow threes fight off feisty Fairborn

Rams win sectional title

Cope places in two events at State

Hard work paying off

Tecumseh ousts Troy in sectionals 1st round

Tipp advances to sectional title game

Indians reach sectional title game

Vikings season ends

Win for Griffin

Troy football to begin interview process

Tipp advances

Trojans season ends

Troys Pascale Scott advance

Zelnicks legacy cemented at state meet

Girls Basketball Association to host tournaments

Lady Bolts fall in sectional

Bolts fall to Xenia in sectional

Tigers top Devils 83 58

Bulldog girls fall in OT

Eagles fall but seniors leave legacy

Patriots fall in sectional final

Seton Catholic starting five bears burden

Red Devils focus on selves

Jimmy Johnson Pulls Away

Mason Falls to Elyria

East Sophomore Crushes Record

Fairfield West Rolls

Lakota East Advances

East Girls Roll to Sectional

Mason to State

Missing Race Car recovered

Versailles wins sectional title

Bradford loses to Minster as Wildcat coach reaches milestone

Schondelmyer takes the reins at Tri Village

Murphy surprises self with quick success in college

Hard work leads to success for Pipenger

Fort Loramie eliminates Ansonia from postseason

Lady Patriots upset in sectional final

Tri Village tops Emmanuel Christian in tournament

Triad eliminates MV from tournament

After slow start FM defeats Miami Valley

Greenvilles Badell finishes 20th in state

Greenville defeats Springboro

Defense the Difference in South Win

This past week South went back to basics on defense during their preparation and it paid dividends in the opening round of the state tournament. It may have been first round jitters but South had problems scoring in the first quarter. Anthony Augspurger finally scored the first points of the night after South went scoreless for the first 4 and a half minutes. But fortunately their defense had held West Liberty to just 6 points at that juncture. South finished out that first quarter strong and were only down by a point at the end of the first quarter (7-6).

In addition to a refocused defense, South hit the boards hard and despite West Liberty-Salem’s height advantage, they did a good of pulling rebounds off of the glass. They were very effective snagging defensive rebounds, which limited the Tigers ability to get points off of put backs. South played an aggressive man to man defense the entire game while the Tigers alternated between man to man and zone defenses.

At about the 3 minute mark of the second quarter, South got their first lead of the night. The Tigers made their first defensive switch of the night dropping the man defense and going to a zone defense. But the Panthers proceeded to go on a little run to close out the first half with the lead 20-13.

South broke the game open in the second half. West Liberty had the South lead down to 2 points in the 3rd quarter. Wes Cole then got into a shooting zone and scored 12 points in the quarter and gave South an 8 point lead. When West Liberty pressured the edge to get Cole out of his game, South fed the ball inside in the 4th quarter and went on a 10-2 run to extend the lead even more thanks to Augspurger who scored 9 of his 15 points in the last quarter.

The Tigers went into a press in the last 5 minutes as they pulled out all of the stops in an effort to generate some points. Being aggressive they fouled and South shot a decent 9 of 14 from the foul line. South outscored West Liberty and was able to empty the bench in last minute and a half as they won 56-38.

“We talked this past week about how we played so well defensively in the first 12 games or so,” spoke coach Augspurger after the game, “and it wasn’t that we were a bad defensive team – but we were not doing things as well in the second half of the season. And this week we went back to doing drills, working on fundamentals and doing things the right way. And tonight I thought that we played 3 excellent quarters of defense. That was definitely the key to the game.”

Next he was asked about South breaking the game open in the second half, “It all started when Wes Cole got hot and started feeling it in the 3^rd quarter. He hit a crazy shot at the end of the quarter to give us momentum. Then I thought that Anthony Augspurger did a great job of going inside and being strong in the 4th. And we clamped the D back down - not giving them good looks and that was what made the biggest difference. At this point, you survive and move on.”

South will be playing Brookville on Tuesday at 6pm at Bellbrook High School, “Brookville is scary, they are playing better than when we played them the first time. They know us and we know them – they chose to play us and they have had more time to get ready. Brookville plays in this league, so they play in this gym all the time so that is an advantage for them. I just hope that we continue to be nasty on D and we will see what we see.”

Thursday, February 26, 2015

South Drops from Tournament

South was dropped from the State Tournament in the first round by Southeastern's Lady Rams. Southeastern used an aggressive press and sharp ball movement on offense to keep the Panthers off balance the entire game. South had a rough time figuring out the press and the Trojans half court defense. Dominating from beginning to end the Trojans defeated South 64-16.

South was struggling against the Ram press and the Rams made their first lineup change of the game. Looking across the court as they lined up in man to man defense, each Ram player was a head taller than the corresponding South girl that they were guarding. So not only were they quick and athletic, they were also taller than the Panthers. The team could not catch a break at all on the night.

South could not slow down and had to play at full speed as the Rams pressed for almost the entire game. South did try a zone and some man to man to defense in the half court to try and slow down the pace of scoring, but the Rams adjusted well and did not slow down their pace on offense much at all. Still the girls scrapped as best they could for all 4 quarters.

It was not the best season for the Panthers, but on a positive note the numbers are up for both Varsity and Junior Varsity teams from a year ago. Also all the starters are underclassmen, so there should be a lot of experience coming back for next season. And it wouldn’t hurt for one or two of the players to hit a growth spurt over the summer, the team has to be one of the shorter teams around.

“They are quick and can shoot the ball, “ said coach Mabry of Southeastern, “We played them hard and I told them afterwards that they are starting to see the game. We had places where we passed well and moved the ball. But other places where we used the wrong pass, or tried to pass over top of people. There are still things like we need to work on.”

Milan Crews did a pretty good for being thrown into the fire as freshman at point, “ he responded when asked about the point guard, “she and a lot of the players have a lot of work to do. It’s really up to them – how much time do they want to put in the off season to be better? Over the year from last year to this year I think that we did get better. We easily could have had a couple of more wins. But when you let things get away from you in a season like this then it snow balls. It’s not that they give up – it’s that the frustration sets in.”

South will lose two seniors this season, Jessica Keener and Abbey Horton, “They knew coming in that with the players we had that playing time was going to be limited. They accepted their roles. They were leaders on the team – not always on the court, but in the locker room and at practice. I am proud of them for their leadership.”

Scoring for TVS: Bingham 1, Crews 2, Hutchings 4, Vorhis 1, Creech 4, Newhart 2, J. Keener 2.

Miami Valley Sports Update Feb. 26th

Fourth quarter run earns Xenia outright GWOC South title

Greenon falls Carroll moves on

Twins effort has Wayne seeing double

Out manned Bucs bow out of tourney

Cedarville buzzsaw defeats Xenia Christian

Bailey may not be ready for Reds opener

Bad second half ends Carrolls season

Lady Aviator rally falls just short

Aviator matmen second in GWOC North

Cope smashes two records at District

Local teams gearing up for sectionals

Tecumseh ousts Troy in sectionals 1st round

Tipp advances to sectional title game

Lady Jackets notch 22nd win

Another North title for Sidney

Houston downs Bradford in makeup action

Jackson girls advance to finals

Anna reaches sectional finals

Russia cruises into sectional finals

Houston gets past Bradford 57 49

Tourney time

Hoying embraces each promotion

Lauren Hill makes it through full season

Inside the Lines

Taking class out of room

Lady Tiger Fab Five ready for state

Bryant reaches milestone

Striving to become special

Local teams move on

Southeastern tackles Lady Buccs victory hopes

Lady Indians keep rolling

Lady Raiders advance in hoops

Like looking in mirror

Ashland ousts Lima Senior

Columbus Grove takes advantage of free throws to top Bath

Bluffton unable to stay with Coldwater

Fairmont foils Northmont

Firebirds soar over Bolts

Lady Warriors defeat Northmont

Lady Bolts fall in sectional

Bolts tie for 2nd at GWOC

Pitchers battling for spot in Reds rotation

Bad second half ends Carrolls season

Celebrating a Tipp legend

Lady Eagles blowout Indian Lake in opening round

Lady Arrows cruise to opening round victory

Trail loses pair of match ups

Panthers fall in first round of sectional

Eaton beats Trail loses to Bellbrook

Wave loses to 1 seeded Tipp

Greenville defeats Versailles

1 seeded Tipp

Fickert Joins St. Joseph

Bradford stutters in 2nd half against Newton

Slow start boys basketball contribute to Trojans loss

Versailles swimmers aim for podium

Tri Village dominates Jefferson

Versailles boys MVs Teeter qualify for district tourney

Badell hopes to drop more time at state meet

Tri Village finishes regular season undefeated

Arcanum wins regular season finale

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Miami Valley Sports Update Feb. 21

Pitchers and catchers report this week to spring training

Lady Falcons pull away from Lady Cats

More century old baseball cards up for sale

Lady Hurricane postponed to Thursday

Lady Cats fade after fast start 44 31

Cats lose another close one 57 52

Wrestlers vie for league titles

Reds open Spring Training

Raider coach still believes in his team

Browns GM admits to texting violation

Fourth quarter run earns Xenia outright GWOC South title

Lady Marauders outlast Ohio Valley

Patriots fall to rival in regular season final

Shot Squadron builds future Lady Aviators

Lady Aviators split with Piqua Trotwood

Aviators honor seniors

Troy holds off East

Bulldogs cool off hot Indians

Game of runs

Big weekend

Rockets eliminate Bulldogs

Born into baseball

Some questions to ponder

Lost momentum

Zawadzki sets another record

Cleveland school removed from girls tourney for too many games

Jackets try to play spoiler

Danica to backup after wreck

Former Bengal new high school coach

Jackson defeats Loramie 51 38

Jackets routed by Greenville 87 58

Russia wraps up outright title

1 Patriots

Romies 25 powers Anna over Botkins

Inside the Lines - Irish Handle Indians

Shooting for big finish

Big weekend for Lehman

Troy boys stun East

A night to celebrate

Lady Tigers cruise in tourney opener

Bath notches first WBL win

Coldwater girls win bowling sectional

WBL takes big step forward

Best seat in the house

Wrestling team falls

Elks stop Northmont

Lady Bolts whip Springfield

Wrestling team wins at Lakota East

Bolts end an era with win

Xenia MS has successful wrestling season

Marauders fall to Ohio Valley

Raider coach still believes in his team

Patriots fall to rival in regular season final

Fourth quarter run earns Xenia outright GWOC South title

Celebrating a Tipp legend

Flyers on Right Side of Bubble

Cincy Bengal Honored in DC

Lebanon Senior Returns

Mason Falls to Elyria

Ansonia loses to Newton on senior night

Arcanum boys beat National Trail by 10

Cooks 50 points lead Tri Village past Lehman

FM wins on senior night

Ansonia loses in tourney on last second shot

Wave win GWOC North outright

Recorder in second phase of preserving records

Mississinawa Valley ends season with tournament loss to Russia

South Wins Battle of Panthers

It is an old expression, but when rivals meet you can throw out the record books. Rivals North and South ended the regular season in exciting fashion this past Friday night. It looked for a while as though it was going to be a lopsided game. But the game grew heated in the 4^th quarter when there was an 11^th hour surge that fell just short at the conclusion of the contest.

In the first quarter, it appeared that North’s Ryan Adams and South’s Wes Cole were going to put on a shooting clinic. Each scored 11 points apiece in the first quarter for their teams. McAdams last shot of the quarter was a deep 3 point shot that hit the back of the rim – but it took an advantageous bounce straight up and swished through the net on way back down. But South held the advantage at the end of the first period.

Both teams adjusted their defenses to put pressure on the other team’s shooters. Anthony Augspurger and later Winston Crozier drew the task of defending McAdams in South’s man to man defense. North adjusted their zone to take away Cole’s outside shooting. This slowed down the pace of scoring. And South had a decisive advantage at halftime, up 36-22.

Coming out of the break, North experimented with a man to man defense and also their offense seemed to focus on feeding the ball to the post. But South came out and had a nice run – growing their lead to 18 points as the teams entered the last quarter.

South was complacent in most of the 4^th quarter. The team seemed to dial back the intensity, but North seemed determined as ever. They began to claw away at the lead one possession at a time. When they closed to 12 at the 4:44 mark, coach Augspurger took a timeout to re-focus his players. But to no avail - in another minute it was an 8 point game. Now South was starting to sweat as the North crowd began to wake up and get into the game.

At a minute and a half, it was 63-56 and North had the momentum. North went to the press as they tried hard to make up the difference in the little time left. But South awakened from their slumber and scored on their next three possessions. They were fouled on two made layups and made those free throws, then hit a shot from the field. This stretched out the lead again. And North could not generate any offense when they needed it the most and would finally fall 72-56.

“This makes like 15 quarters in a row where we have not played good defensively,” stated a frustrated coach Augspurger, “We are going in the wrong direction. I am clearly not happy with the way that we have playing. We had a great defensive game against Tri-Village – and we have not done that since.”

“There is no doubt that Wes’s last half of the season has been great,” replied coach Augspurger when asked about Wes Cole, He is playing with a lot of confidence. I think a lot of it is that he is relying on the 3 point shot less, and attacking the basket more. Obviously we need him to keep doing the things that he has been doing. “

On North’s McAdams, “McAdams played well, as a matter of fact he was great. He had a fun night – he did some outstanding things.”

“I thought we started slow,” stated North’s coach King afterwards, “that has been the case the last 6 games. It is tough when you have to fight back from a deficit. We did do some good things tonight. Our defensive pressure was better, but I thought offensively we were lacking.“

About Ryan McAdams game, “He slowed down a bit in the second half, but still had a great game. He is very quick and athletic. He has learned to take what the defense gives him. When he plays within himself he is hard for other teams to handle. What happens is the defense hedges down on him more and that opens things up for the other players. There are 2-3 guys watching what he does, and the other players can cut to the basket. We were able to exploit that and get some layups.”

Scoring for North: “McAdams 29, Edgin 4, Cordes 2, Pitcock 7, Branson 4, Vanbrederode 10. South: Cole 26, Jason Utz 3, Cottingim 7, Bassler 5, Crozier 10, Augspurger 14, JJ Utz 7

TVS Hall of Fame Inductee's

Rea Ann Davis Crews. Sports: basketball, volleyball, and track.

Kathleen Ulrich Carpenter. Academic: class valedictorian, Rotary Honor Scholar, National Honor Society.

Kelli Maggard Ott. Academic: Rotary Honor Scholar, National Honor Society.

Brad Wright. Service: football, cross country, baseball. Coached High School sports, President of WABO, Salem Lutheran Church.

Late Randy Woodard. Sports: Football, basketball, baseball.

Jerry Cooper. Service: FFA, US Army, US Postal Service, Twin Valley Rod and Gun, NRA, Conservation, Salem Lutheran Church.

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

South Drops Two

The Trojans came into their game against South with only 5 wins. But for 4 quarters they gave 14 win Twin Valley South all that they could handle and more. Although South made a couple of good runs, Arcanum was able to come back and gain the lead in the 4^th quarter. With seconds left in the game, South’s Wes Cole hit a shot from the field and tied the ball game. Arcanum set up a play and shot and missed – but Colin Habel, who only had 2 points coming into the 4^th quarter, would score on a put back with .4 seconds left on the clock for a 44-42 win.

South’s starting point guard, JJ Utz, was not dressed for the game due to an ankle injury. In addition, Anthony Augspurger had signed earlier in the day with Walsh College to play football. So there were plenty of distractions for the team. They really struggled to get a rhythm on offense in the first half and were streaky in the second half. Arcanum was up by 5 at the first buzzer. South gradually caught up, thanks in part to Jake Osborn who had a good quarter - scoring 6 of his 10 points. And it was Winston Crozier coming off the bench who tickled the net with a trey right before halftime to give South the lead.

Jacob Bassler and Wes Cole struck early in the 3^rd quarter, both netting 3’s coming out of the locker room. That gave South their biggest lead of the night – 8 points and they seemed ready to break the game open. But Arcanum took a time out and adjusted the pressure on the wings. At quarters end it was 31-all.

The final quarter was a real battle as the lead went back and forth. The Trojan crowd could begin to smell an upset and became very vocal the last 3 minutes of the game. Arcanum had been working hard to prevent South from driving to the basket and they were accumulating fouls – giving up bonus, then double bonus.

With a minute left in the game and the lead, Arcanum went in a slowdown. South resorted to fouling now to get the ball back. And it was South’s Wes Cole who tied the game when he hit a shot from the field to tie it at 42-all with maybe 20 seconds left. Arcanum hastily worked the ball around on offense and took a deep shot but missed. Colin Habel scored 7 of his 9 points in the 4^th quarter. And none was more important than his last basket as he crashed the offensive boards, raked in the rebound and sank the put back with .4 seconds left on the clock. It was chaos on the Trojan bench as the team celebrated the upset.

“I want to give credit to Arcanum’s coach Bixler – he is one of the best,” stated subdued coach Augspurger after the game, “I think he is one of the best coaches in the league. He does a good job of getting his team ready. And I thought they were prepared better than we were. We played like a team expecting to win – and they played like a team with nothing to lose. They were playing loose and excited and we were playing uptight. We were a little out of sync without our point guard. But tonight we were just outplayed.”

South then visited Dayton Christian where they had a slim halftime lead, but had a bad 3^rd quarter. Perimeter shooting provided the offense for Dayton Christian – they would drop 10 treys in the contest. Despite a comeback attempt in the fourth quarter, South would lose 54-49. Wes Cole and Jacob Bassler lead scoring for South with 15 and 13 points respectively. South will wind down their regular season on Friday when they host rival Tri-County North.