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O-G’s Kadie Hempfling is the ultimate team player > INSIDEO-G’s Kadie Hempfling is the ultimate team player > INSIDE

COVER STORY THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T2

2 0 1 7- 1 8 H I G H S C H O O L B A S K E T B A L L

With natural talent, Hempfling has done it all for O-G’s girls

By DAVE HANNEMANSTAFF WRITER

OTTAWA — Troy Yant and his coaching staff faced a dilemma when Ottawa-Glandorf opened girls basketball practice in the fall of 2014: Should they rein in the talented young freshman zipping no-look passes here, there and everywhere, or should they let her run free and hope for the best?

They chose the latter, and the best is just what they got.“When Kadie came in as a freshman, her fundamentals were

not specifically basketball fundamentals — her passes were kind of all over and her shot was kind of ugly. We actually tried to hold her back a little bit,” Yant said.

“But what makes Kadie such a good player is her innate ability to see the floor. She sees the game like few girls do at her ability or her level.

“She sees it more as a chess game. She could see the pass, she could see the fast break, she could see the play develop even before some of the girls who were going to be on the receiving end of it saw it happening.

“From a coaching perspective, you can’t coach that. You can’t drill that and you can’t put things in place in practice for that because maybe one in 100 girls, or one in 500, can pick it up like that.

“It’s like trying to harness the energy of a tornado.“Finally we just said, ‘To heck with it. Let’s just let her play.’”That tornado, a whirlwind named Kadie Hempfling, is winding

up an outstanding prep career at O-G. And if this season approaches the last three when it comes to

excitation and duration, it’s going to be one heck of a ride. “State is always in the back of our minds. But we don’t really

talk about it at all,” said Hempfling, already a veteran of three Final Four trips by the Titans who will play her college ball at Bowling Green State University.

“Right now we’re just focusing on having a good season, espe-cially in the (Western Buckeye League). That’s what we focus on first. Tournament comes after all of that.”

Hempfling’s conversation is liberally sprinkled with more “us” and “our” than “me” and “mine.”

That’s not surprising, because her game — which last season had a stat line that read 13.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 4.0 steals — is more communal than individual.

“Actually, the best part of my game is passing. I love passing,” Hempfling said.

“Getting others involved is what I’m really big about. You can tell on the court. When I make a good pass, I probably smile more than if I made a good shot.”

Hempfling’s high-water mark offensively was her sophomore year, when she averaged 14.3 points a game. But while the 5-foot-9 wing has the skills and ability to be a much more prolific scorer, her overall value to the team isn’t measured by the letters PPG.

“She’s capable (of scoring more),” Yant said. “But what we

found, especially when we had Kylie (White) and Lexi (Schro-eder) last year, is that we’re a much better team when Kadie doesn’t have to worry about getting points and gets everybody involved.

“She’s deadly passing the ball. When she would go out to the perimeter and Kylie would cut inside or Lexi would set up on the other side, (Kadie) was in a position to get them the ball or create something herself and that made us very difficult to defend.

“Kadie’s capable of being a 20-, 25-points-a-game scorer. But

if she does, we’re easier to defend because now she’s easier to defend. You’re taking a great player who has a multi-faceted game and making her just a scorer, making her one-dimensional instead of allowing her to play in her two or three dimensions.

“You know teams are going to try to take certain things away from you. Obviously, it’s harder to take multi-faceted aspects away from somebody. Kadie makes it easier for us to do certain things,

Senior standout has led Titans to three state tournament appearances

MATTHIAS LEGUIRE / for The CourierOTTAWA-GLANDORF’S Kadie Hempfling (35) drives past Clyde’s Ally Barrera (21, right), draws two more defenders, and makes a pass around Addie Martin (41) to Kylie White (32) for an easy layup during a tournament win against the Fliers last season.

See HEMPFLING, Page T3

COVER STORYTHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T3

InsideArcadia T4

Arlington T5

Cory-Rawson T6

Hopewell-Loudon T7

Leipsic T8

Liberty-Benton T9

McComb T10

Thom Loomis Feature T11

North Baltimore T12

Pandora-Gilboa T13

Riverdale T14

Van Buren T15

Vanlue T16

Heritage Christian T17

Putnam County boys T18-19

Putnam County girls T20-21

Old Fort T21

Findlay T22-23

Ada T26

Bluffton T27

Carey T28

Columbus Grove T29

Elmwood T30

Fostoria T31

Mohawk T32

NW Ohio Schedule T32

Hardin Northern T34

Lakota T35

New Riegel T38

Ottawa-Glandorf T39

Patrick Henry T40

Upper Sandusky T41

SPORTS EDITOR

Jamie Baker

STAFF WRITERS

Dave HannemanTed RadickMichael BurwellAndy WolfJohn ReitmanBrandon ShriderScott CottosLarry Alter

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Randy Roberts

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Matthias LeguireJamie BakerTed RadickMichael BurwellScott CottosDavid Simonis

COVER PHOTOGRAPHY

Matthias Leguire

COVER DESIGN

Jason Smith

to play at a higher level. Coming into this season, our responsibility as a coaching staff is to find other play-ers, like Kylie and Lexi last season, who are able to play off her.”

One of four seniors on O-G’s roster, Hempfling may have to adopt more of a “big sister” role. The young-est of four girls in her family, Hemp-fling feels she can not only fill that role, but credits that concept for much of her development as a player.

“I have three older sisters (Chel-sea, Ashley and Stephanie) and they were always beating me up,” said Hempfling, her smile just barely hint-ing at whether she meant that literally or figuratively.

“We played P.I.G. all the time. Since I was always the littlest girl out there, I was always playing up. I was the runt, but I was always the more aggressive one. I had to be. I think that’s where my rebounding ability came from.”

Hempfling’s father, Keith, was her coach in junior high. But there was never any special treatment, not on the court anyway.

“He was always tough on us,” Kadie said. “He wasn’t my dad until we stepped out of the gym.”

It was Keith Hempfling who sug-gested his daughter develop a signa-ture move, a behind-the-back dribble that on many an occasion has gotten her around a defender and to the rim.

“When I was younger, my dad told me I needed to develop a special move,” Kadie said. “I asked him what move do most people not do, and he said the behind-the-back move was not used that often, especially by girls. So I said, ‘OK,’ and started prac-ticing it. I’d stand against a wall and just keep passing the ball to myself back and forth behind my back.

“A lot of girls have really good cross-overs (dribbles). I’m not saying I have a bad cross-over (move), but I would say I have a pretty good behind-the-back one.”

That attention to detail in all aspects of her game underscores Hempfling’s versatility. It’s also a reason BG is not penciling her into a specific spot on the floor.

“I see myself as a 2 (shooting guard) or 3 (small forward),” Hemp-fling said. “But no, BG hasn’t said I’d play this position or that position. They said I’m a versatile player and that’s nice to hear because that way they can use me in so many ways.”

BG had another advantage over other college options, and it was a huge one as far as Hempfling was concerned.

“It’s close to home, only about 45 minutes away,” she said. “I have a new nephew, Ethan (Duling). He’s actually my godson. Family is really,

really important to me, and if my family and others in the O-G commu-nity can watch me play, that would be awesome. That would mean so much to me.”

Hempfling will likely end her high school career with some truly impres-sive numbers — over 1,000 points and over 500 rebounds, assists and steals.

So far, Ottawa-Glandorf has gone 79-9 overall and 25-2 in WBL play with her in the lineup. She’s helped fill a school trophy case with hardware — two WBL championships, three

district and three regional titles and two state runner-up trophies.

Hempfling could fill a wall of her home with personal achievements — all-league, all-district, all-state — as well. But the shiny stuff, she says, is superficial.

“The awards, actually, are not very important to me,” she said.

“What I have are the memories I’ve made with my teammates, play-ing ball with my best friends and even against some of my best friends, like Paige Bellman from Columbus Grove.

“The awards will go away when I

get older, but the memories, they will always stay with me.”

Eventually, Yant and his staff know they will be facing another dilemma.

“Having a player like Kadie come through the program, you want to say that’s once in a lifetime,” Yant said. “But if I’m going to keep on coaching, I’d like to have a few more of them, because it sure makes coaching a lot easier.”

Hanneman, [email protected]

MATTHIAS LEGUIRE / for The CourierOTTAWA-GLANDORF’S Kadie Hempfling, right, steals the ball from Archbold’s Brooke Kohler during postseason action. Hempfling has helped the Titans reach the state tournament three straight years.

HempflingContinued from page T2

ARCADIA THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T4

ARCADIA — Arcadia made a significant improve-ment in the win-loss column last season and will be looking to boost that record even more with all-Blanchard Valley Conference selections Kennedy Pratt, Danielle Burnett and Samantha Watkins head-lining a junior-dominated group of Redskins.

Pratt, a 6-foot-2 junior center, earned second-team all-BVC honors after averaging 15.9 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.

Burnett, a 5-7 wing who averaged 7.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists, and Watkins, a 5-6 guard who averaged 4.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists, received honorable mention all-league recognition.

Also back for veteran Redskins head coach Randy Baker, who owns 506 victories in 34 seasons along with a state-tournament appearance in 1989 and five BVC titles, is Emma Saltzman, the lone senior on Arca-dia’s roster. Saltzman, a 6-1 post player, averaged 4.4 points and 3.8 rebounds for the Redskins, who fol-lowed an 11-13 record during the 2015-16 season by going 16-9 a year ago.

Mariah Monday, a third-team all-BVC pick, was a

key loss for Arcadia, along with Liliana Velazquez and Haley Kieffer. But Pratt, Burnett and Watkins headline a deep junior class that also includes 5-4 guards Kayla Brubaker and Ivy Noel, 5-7 wing Megan Mock and 5-7 forwards Elizabeth Keefe and Emily Peters. Most were key players on an Arcadia junior varsity team that went 20-2 last season.

Caity Cramer, a 5-6 sophomore, will also see varsity action this season, along with freshmen Samantha Bur-nett (5-4), Reagan Pratt (5-6) and Lyndee Ward (5-8).

ARCADIA — Clay Baker is back for his second year as he tries to revive the boys basketball program at Arcadia.

And he’ll have a more experienced team than he did a year ago, as four seniors, a junior and a sophomore with varsity experience all return.

Baker, though, will have to replace one of the team’s top scorers from last year’s ballclub that went 4-19 overall and finished 1-10 in Blanchard Valley Confer-ence play. Graduate Alex Pessell did a little bit of every-thing for the Redskins a year ago and led the team in scoring at 13.5 points per game.

Arcadia does have a pair of honorable mention all-BVC selections back.

Senior Levi Squire (5-foot-11) is back at wing. He is the team’s top returning scorer at 6.1 points per game. He also added 1.7 rebounds per contest.

Junior wing Eli Palmer (6-3) was also an honorable mention all-conference pick after tossing in 5.7 points with 3.6 rebounds per game.

Senior Trevor Brubaker has experience at running the floor at point guard. He netted 4.2 points with

2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game last season. Sophomore Justen Stoner (5-9) also earned valuable experience as a freshman at point guard.

Seniors Sammy Stahl (6-3) and Payton Simon (6-3) lettered a year ago as post players. Simon netted 5.6 points with 2.9 rebounds, while Stahl added 1.5 points and 1.8 rebounds a year ago for the Redskins. Luke Metzger, the tallest player on Arcadia’s roster at 6-4, will play the post. Classmate Dez Johnson will also see action inside.

Experienced group back for Arcadia’s boysREDSKINS | BOYS

Baker Squire Brubaker

Junior-dominated Redskins seek to contendREDSKINS | GIRLS

Baker K. Pratt D. Burnett

ARCADIA

BOYS 2017-2018SEASON SCHEDULE

GIRLS 2017-2018SEASON SCHEDULE

Dec. 2 Fremont St. Joseph (H)

Dec. 5 Lakota (A)

Dec. 8 Van Buren* (A)

Dec. 15 Hopewell-Loudon* (H)

Dec. 16 Tiffin Calvert (H)

Dec. 22 Liberty-Benton* (A)

Dec. 23 Fostoria (H)

Dec. 29 Elmwood (H)

Jan. 5 Leipsic* (H)

Jan. 6 Northwood (A)

Jan. 12 McComb* (A)

Jan. 16 Hardin Northern (H)

Jan. 19 Riverdale* (A)

Jan. 20 Mohawk (A)

Jan. 26 Pandora-Gilboa* (A)

Jan. 27 New Riegel (H)

Feb. 2 Vanlue* (H)

Feb. 3 Old Fort (A)

Feb. 9 North Baltimore* (A)

Feb. 10 Ridgemont (A)

Feb. 16 Cory-Rawson* (H)

Feb. 23 Arlington* (H)

REDSKINS

(*) Conference game

All games start at 7:30 p.m.

(*) Conference game

All games start at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted

Nov. 25 Fostoria (A)

Nov. 30 McComb* (A)

Dec. 2 Carey (A) 1:30

Dec. 7 Cory-Rawson* (A)

Dec. 14 Van Buren* (H)

Dec. 16 Ridgemont (H) 2:30


Dec. 28 Gibsonburg (H)

Dec. 30 Bluffton (A) 1:30

Jan. 4 Hopewell-Loudon* (H)

Jan. 6 Allen East (A) 2:30

Jan. 11 Vanlue* (A)

Jan. 13 Old Fort (H) 2:30

Jan. 18 North Baltimore* (H)

Jan. 20 Elmwood (H) 2:30

Jan. 25 Arlington* (A)

Jan. 27 Hardin Northern (A) 1:30

Feb. 1 Leipsic* (H)

Feb. 3 New Riegel (H) 2:30

Feb. 8 Riverdale* (H)

Feb. 10 Upper Scioto Valley (A) 1:30

Feb. 15 Pandora-Gilboa* (H)

ARLINGTONTHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T5

ARLINGTON — The past two seasons, the Arling-ton girls basketball team wreaked havoc on its oppo-nents, compiling a cumulative record of 47-6.

Last season, it was Ottoville that ended Arlington’s season at 22-4 with a 45-34 decision in the district finals.

The Big Green went on to the Division IV Final Four, where they lost a semifinal matchup to eventual state champion Berlin Hiland.

The Red Devils will have to do some heavy lifting in coach Seth Newlove’s 10th year if they are to be a postseason force this season.

Gone from last season are six seniors and all five starters, including two-time all-BVC first-team picks Whitney Dodds and Sierra Nichols.

The only player who would have been back with significant experience is 6-1 junior forward Morgan Smith. An all-BVC honorable mention pick last season, Smith averaged 11 points and 4 rebounds per game last year.

The Red Devils, though, took a significant hit in the preseason when Smith went down with a season-

ending knee injury.Other returning letterwinners back this season are

junior guard Jenna Pepple (5-foot-6) and sophomore guard Lindsay Dodds (5-5). The pair combined for 5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

Newlove will call upon a host of newcomers for help, including guards Maria Crawford (5-3), Sarah Solt (5-7), Kyra Bormuth (5-5), and forwards Hannah Willow (5-11), Kylie Sheets (5-11) and Hailey Essinger (5-8).

ARLINGTON — Young.That might be the best word to describe Arlington’s

boys basketball team this season.As Jason Vermillion (294-138 career record) begins

his 20th season at the school, it might just be his green-est team ever.

Among the 22 boys in grades 9-12 out for the sport, there is just one senior and four juniors among them.

A talented senior class ended their careers in style last season. After an 11-11 regular season, the Red Devils caught fire in the tournament, reaching the district final and falling one game short of a regional appearance.

First team all-BVC selection Logan Speyer aver-aged 19.1 points with 8.4 rebounds per game. He also blocked a league-best 2.9 shots per game for the Red Devils. Corbin Mains and Matt Crawford, BVC honor-able mention selections, also graduated last spring.

As for this season, Caleb Price is the lone senior on the team. A 6-foot-2 wing, Price scored 2.0 points with 2.2 rebounds per game last season.

Junior Jacob Russell is the only other experienced

varsity player back. A 5-11 guard, Russell did a little bit of everything last season, scoring 4.9 points with 3.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.

Vermillion expects sophomore Carter Essinger (6-1) and junior Ryan Metzger (6-2) to see action at wing. Juniors Ivan Berry (6-3) and Nate Sheets (6-1) are candidates for playing time at wing, as is sopho-more Tyson Speyer (6-4).

Sophomores Jaret Vermillion (5-8) and Ty Webb (6-1) will add depth at guard.

Just one senior in Arlington boys programRED DEVILS | BOYS

Vermillion Price Russell

Graduation tough on Red Devils girls teamRED DEVILS | GIRLS

Newlove Pepple Dodds

ARLINGTON



RED DEVILS

(*) Conference game


(*) Conference game


Nov. 24 McDonald’s Tournament (A)

Nov. 25 McDonald’s Tournament (A)

Nov. 30 Hopewell-Loudon* (A)

Dec. 7 Vanlue* (H)

Dec. 9 Ridgemont (A) 11:30


Dec. 16 Ottawa-Glandorf (A) Noon

Dec. 21 North Baltimore* (H)

Dec. 23 Carey (A) Noon

Dec. 28 Ottoville (H)

Jan. 4 Liberty-Benton* (H)

Jan. 6 Hardin Northern (H) 1:00

Jan. 11 Leipsic* (A)


Jan. 20 Upper Scioto Valley (A) Noon

Jan. 25 Arcadia* (H)

Jan. 27 Kenton (H) 1:00

Feb. 1 McComb* (H)

Feb. 3 Wapakoneta (A) Noon

Feb. 8 Van Buren* (A)

Feb. 10 Columbus Grove (H) Noon

Feb. 15 Riverdale* (A)

Dec. 1 Fort Jennings (H)

Dec. 8 Leipsic* (H)

Dec. 9 Lima Temple Christian (H)


Dec. 16 Columbus Grove (A)

Dec. 22 Cory-Rawson* (H)

Dec. 29 McDonald’s Tournament (A)

Dec. 30 McDonald’s Tournament (A)


Jan. 6 Wayne Trace (A)

Jan. 12 Riverdale* (H)

Jan. 13 Convoy Crestview (A)

Jan. 19 Liberty-Benton* (A)

Jan. 20 Spencerville (H)

Jan. 23 Ada (A)

Jan. 26 North Baltimore* (A)

Feb. 2 Hopewell-Loudon* (H)

Feb. 3 Hardin Northern (H)

Feb. 9 McComb* (A)

Feb. 16 Vanlue* (H)

Feb. 17 Lincolnview (A)

Feb. 23 Arcadia* (A)

CORY-R AWSON THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T6

Good LuckCory Rawson

HORNETS!

RAWSON — Cory-Rawson’s girls basketball team is riding the kind of streak that no team wants.

After struggling through an 0-23 campaign last season in head coach Lauren Cuellar’s first year, which included an 0-11 mark in the Blanchard Valley Con-ference, the Hornets are 0 for their last 47, a streak that dates to a 57-40 win over Sandusky St. Mary’s on Feb. 24, 2015 in the tournament opener during former coach Ryan Ludwig’s tenure.

The Hornets came close to breaking the streak on a couple of occasions last year, losing by 10 to Hopewell-Loudon and eight to Lima Perry.

Cory-Rawson lost four senior starters off last year’s team, including Brittney Roth, Nicki Biery, Avery Hol-land and Mikaela Ricksecker.

The Hornets have five players coming back this season with varsity experience. That group includes seniors Sarah Curth, Savannah Traucht and Hayley Waltz, junior Amanda Green and sophomore Saman-tha Roth.

A 5-foot-11 forward, Curth was an honorable men-tion all-BVC pick a year ago as a junior when she

averaged 2 points and 4 rebounds per game. Roth averaged 3 points, 2 rebounds and 1 assist per game as a freshman.

Traucht, Waltz and Green each had averages of 1 point and 2 rebounds per game last year for C-R.

As Cuellar enters her second season as head coach of the Hornets, she will be looking down the bench at 5-8 freshman guard Zoe Chisholm to provide some valuable minutes and contribute on both ends of the floor.

RAWSON — Coach Dean Birchmeier had Cory-Rawson’s boys team in the mix of competition in the Blanchard Valley Conference a season ago.

While the Hornets never really had a shot at the crown, they did finish sixth out of 12 teams with a 6-5 conference mark and went 13-11 overall.

However, Birchmeier lost a host of valuable seniors from last year’s squad, led by first-team all-BVC do-it-all player Bryce Tuttle, who finished seventh in the BVC in scoring (14.6 points per game), fifth in rebounding (8.6) and sixth in blocks (0.8).

C-R does return three letterwinners, though, led by 6-foot-3 guard and captain Eric Ritter.

Ritter, who earned second-team all-BVC honors last season, averaged 12.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

Fellow senior captain Nathan Zuercher (5-8 guard) averaged 5.0 points, 2.0 rebounds and a team-high 2.4 assists at the point guard spot.

Also returning is 6-0 guard Kyle Schultz, who sported averages of 3.3 points, 1.3 rebounds and 1.4 assists.

Five-foot-11 senior guard Ashton Chester will be counted on as a shooter in the backcourt, while 5-11 guard/forward Matthew Roth will be an important wing defender.

Sophomores Carson Houck (6-2 forward) and Tommy Stauffer (6-1 forward) will add depth in the frontcourt.

Rounding out the roster are juniors Logan Stuckey (5-11) and Luke Wolford (5-8) and 5-9 sophomore Brandon Zuercher.

Hornets seek to climb the ladder in BVCHORNETS | BOYS

Birchmeier Ritter N. Zuercher

Cory-Rawson girls are looking to stop slideHORNETS | GIRLS

Cuellar Curth Waltz

CORY-RAWSON



HORNETS

(*) Conference game


(*) Conference game


Dec. 2 Ottoville (A) 7:00

Dec. 5 Lima Perry (A)

Dec. 8 Vanlue* (A)

Dec. 15 Liberty-Benton* (H)

Dec. 16 Lima Temple Christian (A)

Dec. 20 Ada (H)

Dec. 22 Arlington* (A)

Jan. 5 McComb* (A) 7:20

Jan. 6 New Riegel (H)

Jan. 12 Van Buren* (H)


Jan. 27 Waynesfield-Goshen (H)

Feb. 2 North Baltimore* (H)


Feb. 10 Upper Scioto Valley (A)


Feb. 17 Hardin Northern (H)

Feb. 20 Ridgemont (H)


Nov. 24 McDonald’s Tourney (A) 6:00

Nov. 25 McDonald’s Tourney (A) 6:00

Nov. 30 Pandora-Gilboa* (A)

Dec. 2 Mohawk (A) 1:30

Dec. 5 Miller City (A) 7:00

Dec. 7 Arcadia* (H)

Dec. 9 Waynesfield-Goshen (H) 12:30

Dec. 12 Delphos Jefferson (H)

Dec. 14 Arlington* (H)


Jan. 2 Lakota (A)


Jan. 9 Hardin Northern (H)

Jan. 11 Hopewell-Loudon* (A)

Jan. 18 McComb* (H)

Jan. 20 New Riegel (A) 2:30


Jan. 29 Lima Perry (H)

Feb. 1 Liberty-Benton* (H)

Feb. 8 Leipsic* (A) 7:35

Feb. 15 Vanlue* (H)

HOPEWELL-LOUDONTHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T7

BASCOM — As far as trying to win a Blanchard Valley Conference girls basketball championship, time is running out for Hopewell-Loudon.

The Chieftains will play in the conference this year and next before pulling up stakes and moving to the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division the follow-ing year.

With the likes of Leipsic, Liberty-Benton and Arca-dia churning out solid teams on a yearly basis, winning the BVC is no easy task.

This could be the year Hopewell-Loudon makes its move as coach Bob Gase returns six senior letterwin-ners from last year’s club that won a sectional title and posted a 14-9 overall record that included a 6-5 mark in the BVC.

Gase, though, does have at least one big pair of sneakers to fill.

Brooklyn Arbogast graduated after earning a spot on the all-BVC second team last season. She averaged a double-double of 12.3 points with 10.4 rebounds per game for the Chieftains.

Hailey Coppus, a 5-foot-3 senior guard, is likely the

top returning player for Hopewell-Loudon.She knocked down 12.0 points per game while grab-

bing 2.5 steals per contest. Two other senior guards, Kenadee Siebenaller

(5-8) and Jacque Burns (5-7), also return with solid resumes. Siebenaller was among the league leaders in steals (2.3 per game) and assists (2.3). Burns, an honorable mention all-BVC selection, was also among the league leaders in both categories as she dished out 2.2 assists per game with 2.1 steals.

BASCOM — Hopewell-Loudon’s boys basketball program took another step forward last season in Roger Jury’s second year as head coach.

With six returning players, look for the Chieftains to take an even bigger leap forward after posting a 14-9 overall record, including a 5-6 mark in the Blanchard Valley Conference last season.

Jury, who enters his 23rd season as a varsity head coach with a 245-229 career record, has two seniors, a junior and a trio of sophomores back.

Jordyn Jury headlines the group of three returning sophomores that saw action as freshmen a year ago.

The 6-foot-2 point guard earned honorable mention all-BVC recognition after averaging 10.8 points with 5.8 rebounds per game.

Luke Bolte (6-4, post) and Alec Hoover (6-0, post/wing) are returning seniors. Bolte netted 7.2 points with 7.0 rebounds, while Hoover grabbed 4.0 rpg as a part-time starter.

Jake Simonis, a 6-foot player who will see action at multiple positions, is the team’s returning junior.

Simonis went for 7.2 points with 5.3 rebounds prior

to missing the final 13 games with an ACL injury.Sophomores Kyle Rumschlag (6-3) and Travis Mil-

ligan (6-1) are back with experience at post and wing, respectively.

Coach Jury also expects contributions from juniors McKie Dubose (6-3, post), Caden Hoover (5-7, point guard) and Brock Williams (5-11, wing).

Sophomores Ethan Grieser (5-10, wing), Carter Coffman (6-2, combo player) and Ethan Oswalt (6-3, post) could also see playing time.

Chieftains are primed for big leap forwardCHIEFTAINS | BOYS

R. Jury J. Jury Bolte

H-L girls ready to make their move in BVCCHIEFTAINS | GIRLS

Gase Coppus Siebenaller



HOPEWELL-LOUDON

CHIEFTAINS

(*) Conference game


(*) Conference game


Dec. 1 Tipoff Classic (H)

Dec. 2 Tipoff Classic (H)

Dec. 8 Riverdale* (H)

Dec. 12 Lakota (H)

Dec. 15 Arcadia* (A)

Dec. 16 Woodmore (A)

Dec. 22 Pandora-Gilboa* (A)

Dec. 28 Tiffin Calvert (A)

Jan. 2 Mohawk (H)

Jan. 5 Vanlue* (H)


Jan. 13 Old Fort (H)

Jan. 19 Cory-Rawson* (H)

Jan. 20 Sandusky St. Mary’s (H)


Jan. 27 Fostoria (H)

Feb. 2 Arlington* (A)

Feb. 9 Liberty-Benton* (A)

Feb. 13 Willard (A)

Feb. 16 Leipsic* (H)

Feb. 17 New Riegel (A)

Feb. 23 McComb* (A)

Nov. 24 Fostoria (H)

Nov. 28 Elmwood (H)

Nov. 30 Arlington* (H)

Dec. 5 New Riegel (H)


Dec. 12 Old Fort (A)

Dec. 14 Riverdale* (A)

Dec. 19 Lakota (H)

Dec. 21 McComb* (H)

Dec. 30 Fremont St. Joseph (A)

Jan. 2 Mohawk (H)

Jan. 4 Arcadia* (A)


Jan. 13 Gibsonburg (A) 1:00


Jan. 20 Woodmore (H) 1:00


Feb. 1 Vanlue* (A)


Feb. 10 Genoa (A)

Feb. 12 Tiffin Calvert (A)


LEIPSIC THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T8

biorefining

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Quality business forms, nationwide.

LEIPSIC — Leipsic has participated in the district tournament for eight straight seasons, but it ran into a buzzsaw in eventual state semifinalist Ottoville last season in the district semifinals to end a 17-7 season in 2016-17.

While the regular season success didn’t materialize into a very deep postseason run, the Vikings return five seniors and five juniors as they appear poised to build on last season’s finish of 8-3 in the Blanchard Valley Conference and 4-3 in the Putnam County League.

Kierra Meyer, who earned first-team honors in both the PCL and District 8 with second-team honors in the BVC a year ago, is back for her senior season after leading Leipsic in points (13.3), rebounds (6.5) and steals (3.0) per game.

Creating a dynamic duo is fellow senior Heather Lammers, the team’s sharpshooter and a second-team PCL pick last season, who averaged 11.5 points and 4.8 rebounds while shooting a team-best 39 percent (48 of 123) from beyond the 3-point arc.

The Vikings did lose to graduation valuable post

player Brooke Gerdeman, whose 6-foot-2 frame patrolled the paint with 7.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

Other returning letterwinners include juniors Carlee Siefker and Peyton Henry, both listed at 5-9 and tied with Lammers for team-high in height, along with junior Claire Rigel and senior Morgan Niese.

Four others will round out the roster for Leipsic: seniors Kelly Scheckelhoff and Stevie Brooks and juniors Bailee Sickmiller and Kacey Dulle.

LEIPSIC — Leipsic finished just out of the money in the Blanchard Valley Conference and Putnam County League a year ago.

Still, it was, by all measures, a successful season in Chris Kuhlman’s first as head coach after spending 10 years as an assistant coach in the program.

Kuhlman welcomes back six letterwinners from last year’s team that posted a 14-9 overall record that included 8-3 and 4-3 marks in the BVC and PCL, respectively.

The two toughest players from last year’s seven-member senior class to replace are four-year varsity guard Grant Schroeder and three-year forward Jordan Berger.

Schroeder was a first-team selection in both leagues after averaging 16.3 points per game with a team-high 62 assists. Berger was second team all-PCL as he aver-aged 11.4 points with 9.2 rebounds per contest.

Forward Dylan Schroeder (6-foot-3) might be the go-to player for the Vikings. He returns after tossing in 9.1 points per game.

Junior guard Cole Rieman (6-0) netted 2.6 points

per game, while Alec Schroeder, a 6-3 forward, scored 2.1 points per contest.

Guards Braydon Niese (5-9) and Tyler Gillespie (6-1) and post player Reese Mangas (6-7) are back after seeing limited varsity action.

Kuhlman also expects Tyler Hiegel (6-2) and Kaiden Rader (5-9) to play key roles for the Vikings.

Kuhlman thinks defense will be the key for his team early, especially as the Vikings try to go from football to basketball shape.

Leipsic boys must replace seven seniorsVIKINGS | BOYS

Kuhlman D. Schroeder Rieman

Meyer, Lammers are back for Vikings’ girlsVIKINGS | GIRLS

Kreinbrink Meyer Lammers



LEIPSIC

VIKINGS

(*) BVC game, (**) PCL game




Dec. 1 Bluffton (A)

Dec. 2 Holgate (H)


Dec. 15 North Baltimore* (A)

Dec. 16 Miller City** (H)



Jan. 5 Arcadia* (A)

Jan. 6 Continental** (A)

Jan. 12 Pandora-Gilboa** (H)

Jan. 13 Columbus Grove** (A)

Jan. 19 Vanlue* (A)

Jan. 20 Maumee Valley C.D. (H)


Jan. 27 Kalida** (H)

Feb. 2 McComb* (A)

Feb. 9 Van Buren* (H)

Feb. 10 Edgerton (H)

Feb. 16 Hopewell-Loudon* (A)

Feb. 17 Ottoville** (A)


Feb. 23 Fort Jennings** (H)

Nov. 24 Pandora-Gilboa** (A)

Nov. 30 Liberty-Benton* (H)

Dec. 7 McComb* (H)

Dec. 12 Fort Jennings** (A)

Dec. 14 Vanlue* (A)

Dec. 19 Miller City** (A) 7:00

Dec. 21 Pandora-Gilboa* (H)

Dec. 28 Ayersville Tourney (A) 6:00

Dec. 29 Ayersville Tourney (A) 6:00


Jan. 9 Patrick Henry (H)

Jan. 11 Arlington* (H)

Jan. 13 Columbus Grove** (A) 2:30


Jan. 20 Continental** (H) 2:20


Jan. 27 Elida (H)

Feb. 1 Arcadia* (A)

Feb. 3 Ottoville** (H) 7:35

Feb. 8 Cory-Rawson* (H) 7:35

Feb. 10 Kalida** (A) 2:30


LIBERTY-BENTONTHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T9

HAVE AGREAT SEASON!

With four starters, six letterwinners and a transfer who lettered at another school, it looks like Liberty-Benton could be favored to defend its Blanchard Valley Conference girls basketball title.

Liberty-Benton coach Nate Irwin, who has a record of 247-64 entering his 14th season at the school, will have to replace a pair of solid starters lost to gradua-tion from last year’s team that went 22-4 and lost to Archbold in the Division III regional semifinals.

Both Jensen Hiegel and Sydney Lasiter picked up their diplomas last spring.

Hiegel, last season’s BVC Player of the Year, scored a team-best 16.0 points and grabbed 5.7 rebounds for the Eagles last year and is playing at Tiffin University this season.

While there is plenty of experience back at L-B, the team is still relatively young, with just three seniors on the roster.

Junior guard Savanah Richards (5-foot-7) and soph-omore post Caitlin Elseser (6-3) are the top returnees.

Richards did a little bit of everything last season, as she knocked down 10.5 points to go with 4.0 rebounds,

4.3 steals and 2.6 assists per game. Elseser scored 11.7 points per game with 7.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots per game as a freshman.

Senior Alexa Lenhart (5-6), junior Abby Reynolds (5-8) and sophomore Alissa Rhodes (5-5) are back with experience at the guard spot.

Sophomore Schy Shepherd (5-9) is back at wing after scoring 5.6 points per game. Sammy Shardo (5-7), a letterwinner at Findlay last season, will see action at guard spot.

Only three lettermen return from last season’s Liberty-Benton boys team that went 20-4 overall and won the Blanchard Valley Conference title at 11-0.

Two of the three returnees, however, received all-BVC recognition in 2016-17, so that’s a good starting point for fourth-year coach Ben Gerken.

Gerken, who owns a 58-16 record as head coach, has 6-foot-3 senior wing/post Austin May, 5-10 senior guard Conor Greer and 6-0 senior wing Will Poling back from last year’s squad that fell to Van Buren in last season’s district semifinals.

May was a second-team all-BVC selection after averaging 10.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists last season. Greer received honorable mention after putting up 7.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest. Poling returns after contributing 6.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per outing.

Three seniors, four juniors, two sophomores and a freshman are vying to provide reinforcements for a team that has to replace the contributions of graduated Anthony Masterlasco, who averaged 25.1 points per game and was named first-team all-Ohio. Masterlasco

now plays at the University of Findlay.Joining May, Greer and Poling in the Eagles’ senior

class are 6-1 post player Owen Rath, 6-1 forward Conner Johannigman and 5-9 guard Tyler Dillon.

L-B’s junior class includes 6-1 wing/post Jake Rein-del, 6-2 wing Lucas Mattingly, and guards Cameron Schroeder (6-0) and Dalton Alexander (5-9).

Michael Kotey, a 6-2 wing/post and Seth Lasiter, a 5-10 guard, are the club’s sophomores.

Also looking to help is 6-0 guard Josh Reindel.

L-B seeks to defend its BVC championshipEAGLES | BOYS

Gerken May Poling

4 starters back for returning BVC champsEAGLES | GIRLS

Irwin Richards Elseser

LIBERTY-BENTON



EAGLES

(*) Conference game


(*) Conference game


Dec. 2 Rossford (A)


Dec. 9 Ottawa-Glandorf (A)


Dec. 16 Ottawa Hills (H)

Dec. 19 Carey (A)

Dec. 22 Arcadia* (H)

Dec. 28 Lima Bath (H)

Jan. 5 Van Buren* (A)

Jan. 6 Wapakoneta (H)

Jan. 12 Vanlue* (A)

Jan. 13 Kenton (A)


Jan. 20 Toledo Christian (A)

Jan. 26 McComb* (H)


Feb. 3 Lima Central Catholic (H)


Feb. 10 Elmwood (A)

Feb. 17 Patrick Henry (H)

Feb. 22 Leipsic* (A)

Nov. 28 Miller City (A) 7:00

Nov. 30 Leipsic* (A) 7:35

Dec. 5 Upper Scioto Valley (H)


Dec. 12 Lima Shawnee (A)


Dec. 21 Arcadia* (H)

Dec. 30 Ottawa-Glandorf (H)


Jan. 9 Wapakoneta (H)


Jan. 13 Kalida (A) 1:30


Jan. 23 Kenton (A)

Jan. 25 Vanlue* (H)

Jan. 30 Columbus Grove (H)

Feb. 1 Cory-Rawson* (A)

Feb. 6 Bluffton (H)

Feb. 8 North Baltimore* (H)

Feb. 13 Ottoville (A)

Feb. 15 McComb* (H)

McCOMB THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T10

McCOMB — After toughing it out through a 10-14 campaign last season, the McComb girls basketball team has a solid nucleus returning as the Panthers try to get back into the win column in head coach Jeremy Herr’s 10th year at the wheel.

The Panthers lost two all-Blanchard Valley Confer-ence players in Jenna Herr and Nora Hemminger, both of whom had averages of 17 points and 6 rebounds per game to help the Panthers to a 6-5 mark in the BVC last season.

Five players with letter-winning experience from a year ago are back this season, and all will have to step up their game if the Panthers are going to return to their winning ways.

Alyssa Herr, a 6-foot junior center, scored 3 points and averaged 6 rebounds per game as a sophomore. She will be joined on the front line by junior Lauren Grubb and sophomore Hannah Schroeder, a pair of 5-8 forwards who also can play at the guard spot.

Schroeder scored at a 4 points-per-game clip last year as a freshman and also averaged a pair of rebounds. Grubb (1.4 points) was a solid inside pres-

ence, averaging just more than 3 rebounds per contest.Other players with significant playing experience

from last year are guards Kadalena Duran and Maddie Buck. Duran, a 5-8 senior, scored 3 points and aver-aged nearly 4 rebounds per game. Buck, a 5-6 sopho-more, averaged 2.1 points, 1.5 rebounds and 1 assist per game as a ninth-grader.

A sophomore, Shaye Hemminger, and freshmen Malorie Schroeder, Lexi Shoop and Olivia Miehls will have to provide some support.

McCOMB — It will be another late start for the boys basketball team at McComb.

It’s a yearly occurrence at a school known in recent years for its deep runs into the football playoffs.

Once fourth-year head coach Nick Latta knocks the rust off of his players, the Panthers will be looking to improve on last year’s 3-19 record that included a 2-9 mark in the Blanchard Valley Conference.

Jacob Case is one player the Panthers will miss from last year’s team. He graduated after being among the league leaders in 3-pointers made and assists a year ago while earning an honorable mention nod on the all-BVC team.

The cupboard isn’t bare for Latta’s team, though, as three key letterwinners return.

Justin Wasson (6-foot-1), one of two seniors expected to play a major role for McComb this season, is back at the forward spot. He knocked down 7.9 points to go with 3.4 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game.

Look for junior letterwinner Tanner Schroeder (5-11) and experienced sophomore Koby Gustwiller

(6-1) to man the guard spots. Schroeder tossed in 6.6 points with 2.9 rebounds

and 1.1 assists per game. Gustwiller netted 5.7 points with 2.8 rebounds per contest as a freshman.

Latta will also be looking for contributions from a senior, a junior and a trio of sophomores.

Senior Jacob Rider (6-1) and sophomores Aaron Davis (5-9) and Logan Kepling (5-11) will see action at guard. Rider will be expected to add scoring and rebounding.

Wasson back to lead Panthers’ boys teamPANTHERS | BOYS

Latta Wasson Rider

5 letterwinners return for Herr at McCombPANTHERS | GIRLS

J. Herr A. Herr H. Schroeder

McCOMB



PANTHERS

(*) Conference game


(*) Conference game


Nov. 30 Arcadia* (H)

Dec. 4 Lima Perry (H)

Dec. 7 Leipsic* (A)

Dec. 9 Upper Scioto Valley (H) Noon


Dec. 16 Ayersville (A) Noon

Dec. 21 Hopewell-Loudon* (A)

Dec. 28 Toledo Christian (H)

Dec. 30 Fort Jennings (A) 1:00


Jan. 8 Tiffin Calvert (H)


Jan. 13 Ada (H) Noon

Jan. 16 Miller City (H)

Jan. 18 Cory-Rawson* (A)


Jan. 27 Holgate (A) 1:00


Feb. 3 Otsego (H) Noon

Feb. 8 Vanlue* (H)


Feb. 17 Fort Recovery (H) Noon

Dec. 1 Ayersville (H)


Dec. 15 Vanlue* (H)

Dec. 16 Bluffton (H)

Dec. 21 Liberty Center (A)


Dec. 29 Lake (A)

Jan. 2 Ottoville (H)


Jan. 6 Kalida (H)

Jan. 11 Lakota (H)



Jan. 20 Continental (A)

Jan. 27 Patrick Henry (H)

Feb. 2 Leipsic* (H)



Feb. 17 Fort Recovery (H)


Feb. 24 Lima Perry (A)

PREP BASKETBALLTHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T11

By SCOTT COTTOSSTAFF WRITER

FOSTORIA — Sometimes things come full circle.

Having worked at four high schools and coaching at three of them, Thom Loomis is back where it all started. As Fostoria High School’s new head boys basketball coach, he’ll try to spark a program that has largely struggled for more than a decade.

“I grew up right over here on West Haven Drive,” Loomis said while seated at the desk in his office at FHS. “When I was in junior high, they were building this building. During the con-struction phase, I was over here all the time as a young kid, just watching this building go up.

“It’s always been a special place to me just because I saw it from ground zero to what it is today. And then to be able to go here and gradu-ate, come back and teach and coach here like I did in the 80s, this has just always been home.”

Coaching basketball has long been a passion for the 57-year-old Loomis, who has done so in some capacity not only at Fostoria, but also at Bettsville, Arcadia and Gibsonburg. His only non-coaching stop in his career as a teacher and administrator was during a four-year term as principal at Swanton.

He’s always lived in Fostoria, though, and last year, in his first year of retirement as an educa-tor, he coached the Redmen junior varsity boys squad under head coach J.T. Bates.

Bates took the head football coaching job at Van Buren in January. Subsequently, Loomis interviewed for and received the FHS head coaching spot in the spring.

“This has been a dream of mine for a very, very, very long time,” Loomis, a former Redmen basketball and baseball player, said. “When I was in high school here, I had some teachers and coaches who made very big impressions upon me. Rick Haddix, Steve Russell and then, later, in my senior year, Jim Bailey, just really made me realize that I wanted to be a teacher and coach, not because of anything specific that they ever said to me that I can recall, but just the way that they treated us, and especially treated me, and how they dealt with situations.”

To Loomis, coaching is a form of teaching. So, with the Redmen he is essentially working similarly as he does part-time as a supervisor of student teachers for Bowling Green State Uni-versity and when he substitute teaches and heads up a leadership class at FHS.

Loomis owns bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from the University of Toledo. He had two previous stints at Fostoria, from 1984-87 and in the 1996-97 season, working under head coaches Russell and Jim Rutter, both of whom he considers mentors.

In between his stops at FHS, he was head boys basketball coach at tiny, now-defunct Bet-tsville, where he compiled a 42-85 record and in 1996 led the Bobcats to their first tournament victory in 24 years. In addition to teaching at Fostoria, now-closed Millersville St. Mary’s and Bettsville, Loomis also worked as Bettsville’s principal and athletic director.

Loomis went to Swanton as principal after his teaching position at Fostoria was eliminated due to a levy failure in 1997. He next became high school principal at Arcadia, where he coached eighth-grade girls basketball in three of his four years.

Loomis worked the past 12 years of his career at Gibsonburg, first as principal and then as director of technology and instruction. During the entire time, he assisted head boys basketball coach Brent Liskai in an unofficial capacity.

In addition to basketball, Loomis has been head cross country coach at Bettsville, an assis-tant softball coach at FHS and a head coach in the now-dissolved Fostoria Redhawks travel softball organization.

Regardless of the sport, Loomis has carried the same approach.

“Coaching’s coaching,” he said. “Dealing with kids — the more you do it, the better you get at it. Sometimes you’re the coach who’s really on them hard; sometimes you’re the parent, put-ting your arm around them and telling them you love them and just listening when they have a problem. It’s a lot more than just X’s and O’s. I think that’s the part I love most — just dealing with kids.”

Loomis is taking the helm of a program that has won 98 games and lost 192 in the last 13 seasons under both Bates, who went 11-58 in three seasons, and Rick Renz who was 87-134 in 10 seasons. Last year’s Redmen were 5-18 overall and 2-12 in the Northern Buckeye Conference.

Loomis worked with Rutter during both of his previous stints at FHS. Rutter, who was the Redmen’s head coach for 17 seasons in the 1980s and 90s, called Loomis “a good hire for Fostoria.”

“Knowing Thom, he’ll be dedicated to it, and I think he’ll do a good job,” Rutter said. “He’s a great guy. I think the world of him and I’m really

happy for him and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does.”

For Loomis, the ground floor of trying to rebuild the FHS program is working to estab-lish trusting relationships with his players in an effort to bring out the best in them on and off the floor.

“I’ve talked to the guys a lot about players who have what I call unfulfilled potential,” he said. “There’s a long list of Fostoria guys who I think fall into that category. If I could just write a book or find a magic potion and bottle it to get kids to buy into the things that they need to do to fulfill the potential that they have, I’d be a rich man.

“I think that really does boil down to those relationships with the kids. If they know that I care about them — first, as a person and their potential and their future beyond Fostoria High School, whether it has basketball as a main com-ponent in it or not — is really important. I try to sell that to the kids, that I’m here for you beyond the basketball court all the time.

“But I like to teach them and challenge them. I tell them, ‘We are going to challenge you to get better because we, as coaches, see things in you

that you can’t see in yourself and that you don’t know exist. You may see it as us being hard on you, but it’s just because with our experiences as coaches and in life, we know that we’re capable of more than we think we are.’”

Junior Aneas Cousin, last year’s leading scorer and rebounder for the Redmen, said he and his teammates appreciate the approach Loomis is taking.

“It’s been really great,” he said. “We’ve learned a lot. We’ve come together a lot as a team. You can tell he cares about us and that makes everyone want to come together as a team even more, and hopefully that’ll make us better than we already are.”

Loomis’ players can know that he’s overcome more than a few challenges of his own. He’s had a lumbar back, cervical vertebrae, retinal and knee surgeries, including a replacement of his left knee.

Through it all, the 5-foot-11 Loomis’ weight ballooned to as much as 328 pounds, so follow-ing in the footsteps of youngest daughter Brit-tany — “She was my inspiration,” he said — he

DAVID SIMONIS / for The CourierFOSTORIA HIGH SCHOOL boys basketball coach Thom Loomis, right, talks to Alex Sierra during a recent practice. Loomis, a Fostoria High School graduate and former assistant coach at the school says taking over as head coach at his alma mater is a dream come true.

Getting to be the school’s head coach is a dream come true for the 57-year-old Fostoria native

B OYS B A S K E T B A L L

Loomis is head coach where it all started in Fostoria

See LOOMIS, Page T17

NORTH BALTIMORE THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T12

NORTH BALTIMORE — Adam Burris got North Baltimore’s girls basketball program rolling the last few seasons.

It will be up to new head coach Cody Pelton to keep it going.

Pelton takes over for Burris, who is now North Baltimore’s boys coach.

The program doesn’t just have a new coach; there will be a number of new faces on the court this winter as well.

The first order of business will be to try and find a replacement for first team all-Blanchard Valley Confer-ence selection Kiah Powell.

Powell helped North Baltimore finish with a 15-7 overall mark. She scored 14.7 points and collected 8.8 rebounds per game for the Tigers. She also averaged 2.8 blocks and 2.0 steals per game. She has gone on to play at NCAA Division II Malone University.

Junior Alivia Light leads the list of North Balti-more’s returning players.

Light (5-foot-7) was an all-BVC third-team selec-tion, as she knocked down 13.5 points with 3.6

rebounds and a team-high 3.7 assists per game.Katelyn Weinandy (5-7) is the other experienced

player who returns. She scored 4.4 points with 2.6 rebounds per contest.

A pair of juniors and two sophomores figure to play prominent roles for the Tigers as well.

Juniors Hailey Watson (5-9) and Kiley Brooker (5-8) will see action at center and forward, respec-tively. Sophomore Leah Lee (5-7), one of the team’s best ball-handlers and shooters, will play guard.

NORTH BALTIMORE — North Baltimore’s boys basketball team was the surprise success story of the 2016-17 season.

After fashioning a 12-10 regular season that included a 5-6 mark in the Blanchard Valley Confer-ence, the Tigers got on a postseason roll and advanced all the way to the Division IV regionals, where North Baltimore was defeated by Mansfield St. Peter’s in the semifinals.

The Tigers were the only boys team in The Cou-rier’s coverage area to win a district championship.

There’s plenty of ammunition back for the Tigers this season.

Coach Adam Burris, in his first season with the boys after running North Baltimore’s girls program the past several seasons, will lean on four senior returnees.

Julian Hagemyer, a 6-foot-3 small forward, aver-aged 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds last year and was a second-team all-BVC selection. Point guard Chase Naugle (5-8) dished out an average of 4.5 assists to go with 11 points, 3 rebounds and a league-high 4.1 steals. Shooting guard Adam Flores (5-8) and power

forward Noah Cotterman (6-2) both scored 4 points per game, with Cotterman averaging 3 rebounds and Flores 2 assists per game.

Junior Brady Rader (6-1) played multiple roles and averaged 6 points and 4 rebounds. Sophomore Levi Gazarek (6-4) swung between the forward and center spots and averaged 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds. Gaz-arek was an honorable mention all-BVC pick.

Key newcomers include juniors Tyler Durfey (6-1) and Alex Snyder (6-3), who will post up at center.

NB boys aim to return to regional tourneyTIGERS | BOYS

Burris Hagemyer Gazarek

Watson

Pelton takes charge of Tigers’ girls teamTIGERS | GIRLS

Pelton Light

NORTH BALTIMORE



TIGERS

(*) Conference game


(*) Conference game


Dec. 2 Elmwood (H)


Dec. 9 Toledo Christian (A)

Dec. 15 Leipsic* (H)

Dec. 16 Hardin Northern (A)

Dec. 22 McComb* (H)

Dec. 30 New Riegel (H)


Jan. 6 Holgate (A)


Jan. 16 Patrick Henry (A)



Jan. 27 Maumee Valley C.D. (H)


Feb. 3 Northwood (H)

Feb. 7 Lakota (A)

Feb. 9 Arcadia* (H)

Feb. 10 Old Fort (H)


Feb. 17 Upper Scioto Valley (A)

Feb. 23 Vanlue* (H)

Nov. 24 Otsego (A)

Nov. 28 Old Fort (H)

Nov. 30 Vanlue* (A)


Dec. 12 Holgate (A)

Dec. 14 McComb* (A)

Dec. 16 Bluffton (H) Noon


Dec. 27 Miller City (A)

Dec. 29 Carey (A)

Jan. 4 Leipsic* (H)

Jan. 9 Upper Scioto Valley (H)


Jan. 18 Arcadia* (A)

Jan. 20 Patrick Henry (A) Noon


Jan. 30 Hardin Northern (A)


Feb. 6 Fremont St. Joseph (H)



Feb. 17 New Riegel (H) Noon

PANDOR A-GILBOATHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T13

Best of LuckPandora Gilboa

Rockets!

112 E. Main St. Pandora, OH419.384.3303

www.gregspharmacy.com

UNITED WE FIGHT.UNITED WE WIN.

PANDORA — During most of the past decade, Pandora-Gilboa has enjoyed a great deal of success in girls basketball.

The Rockets finished 14-9 a year ago, including 5-2 in the Putnam County League and 7-4 in the Blanchard Valley Conference.

Coach Jessica Liedtke has put together a career record of 61-54 in six seasons at Pandora-Gilboa.

This year’s edition of the Rockets will have its hands full in keeping that tradition alive and get past the first round of the postseason, something P-G hasn’t done since the 2013-14 season when the Rockets went 16-9 under Liedtke, including marks of 5-2 in the PCL and 5-4 in the BVC.

The only players returning this year with letter-winning experience are Paige Fenstermaker and Kayla Ferguson.

They’ll have to show leadership early and often this year for the Rockets.

Ferguson is a 5-10 senior center while Fenster-maker is a 6-foot senior forward.

There are only two juniors on the team as Deanna

Friesel (5-7) will see time at forward while Kaylynne Koeppinger (5-6) will add depth at center. Sophomore Becca Luttfring is a candidate for playing time at for-ward.

The other six players on the Rockets’ 12-player varsity roster are freshmen. Alexis Augsburger (5-0) and Alexis McCoy (5-0) are guards and Makiya Brown (5-3), Regan Russell (5-6) and Lexie Neuenschwander (5-8) will line up at forward. Makayla Kinsinger is a (5-10) center.

PANDORA — It may take awhile for the Pandora-Gilboa boys basketball team to get rolling this season.

But once they get rid of the lingering effects of an extended football playoff run, the Rockets may be tough to beat.

Veteran coach Joe Braidic, in his second season of his second stint as Pandora-Gilboa’s boys coach, has plenty of size and experience back.

Eight letterwinners, including six seniors, return from last year’s team that posted a 16-7 overall record that included a 6-1 mark and a Putnam County League championship and an 8-3 record in the Blanchard Valley Conference.

Drew Johnson is the top returnee for the Rockets. The 6-foot-6 senior forward was a first-team selection in both leagues and third-team all-Ohio after tossing in 19.3 points with 8.9 rebounds per game. He’s commit-ted to play at Huntington College next season.

The talent doesn’t stop there, as four other all-leaguers are back.

Senior guard Cooper McCullough (5-11) was second team all-PCL and second team all-BVC. He led

the BVC by hitting 84.8 percent of his free throws.Junior guard Jared Breece (6-0) was a second-team

pick in both leagues, as he netted 3.5 assists and 2.0 steals per contest.

Senior forward Eli Phillips (6-3) and junior for-ward Riley Larcom (6-2) made the honorable mention list for both leagues. In addition to those five players, senior forward Grant Murphy (6-4) and senior guards Josh Wauters (5-10) and Chase Huffman (6-2) are also returning letterwinners.

Plenty of talent back for Braidic at P-GROCKETS | BOYS

Braidic Johnson McCullough

Fenstermaker, Ferguson back for RocketsROCKETS | GIRLS

Liedtke Fenstermaker Ferguson

PANDORA-GILBOA



ROCKETSDec. 2 Allen East (A)

Dec. 8 McComb* (H)

Dec. 12 Kalida** (H)


Dec. 16 Delphos Jefferson (H)


Dec. 23 Upper Scioto Valley (A)

Dec. 28 Leipsic** (H)


Jan. 6 Miller City** (A) 7:00

Jan. 12 Leipsic* (H)

Jan. 13 Ottoville** (H)




Feb. 3 Bluffton (A)

Feb. 6 Columbus Grove** (A)

Feb. 9 Vanlue* (A)


Feb. 17 Fort Jennings** (A)

Feb. 22 Continental* (H)


Nov 24 Leipsic** (H)

Nov. 30 Cory-Rawson* (H)


Dec. 9 Miller City** (H) 2:30

Dec. 14 Liberty-Benton* (H)

Dec. 16 Upper Scioto Valley (H) 2:00

Dec. 21 Leipsic* (A) 7:35

Jan. 2 Hardin Northern (A)

Jan. 4 Vanlue* (A)

Jan. 11 McComb* (H)

Jan. 13 Fort Jennings** (H) 2:30

Jan. 16 Ottoville** (A) 7:00


Jan. 20 Bluffton (H) 1:30


Jan. 27 Continental** (A) 2:30


Feb. 3 Kalida** (A) 2:30

Feb. 8 Hopewell-Loudon* (A)


Feb. 17 Columbus Grove** (H) 2:30





RIVERDALE THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T14

MOUNT BLANCHARD — After spending last year as the girls junior varsity coach at Riverdale, Emily Reynolds takes over this season as the varsity coach. And she has some big shoes to fill.

Perhaps the most significant absence from last year’s team that finished 15-12 is former coach Mary-ann Holderman, who compiled a career record of 296-165, including 204-82 in a dozen seasons at Riverdale after having worked at Old Fort and Fostoria.

The Falcons made it all the way to the regional semifinals before falling 85-46 to perennial power Columbus Africentric.

Also gone are Sydney Holderman and Janessa Taylor.

Holderman, twice a first-team all-Blanchard Valley Conference choice, led the league in scoring the past two years. She averaged 20 points per game as a junior and popped in 21 per contest in her senior season. Holderman has moved on to play at Siena Heights.

Five players who earned letters last year return for Riverdale, including senior guard Reygan Frey and senior center Lexie Wright.

Frey averaged 10 points and 3 rebounds per game last year and also handed out 4 assists and grabbed 2 steals per contest.

Wright scored at a clip of 10 points per game and grabbed 11 rebounds per outing. Both players were honorable mention all-league picks last year as juniors. Other letterwinners back are junior guards Caitlyn Hughes and Brooke Kuenzli, who averaged 3 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists per game last year; and junior center Bryanna Vanden Bosch.

MOUNT BLANCHARD — Riverdale’s boys bas-ketball team is looking for a rebound of sorts this year.

The school is coming off a 5-18 season that included a 3-8 record in the Blanchard Valley Conference for coach Craig Taylor.

Taylor has a good group of 26 players out for the sport in grades 9-12 this season.

But the Falcons may still be a year away from con-tending for a league title or a long tournament run, as 20 of those 26 players in the program are freshmen and sophomores.

Riverdale did lose a pair of all-conference perform-ers to graduation, as Noah Hough, Riverdale’s key inside player at 6-foot-5, and Levi Stauffer both picked up their diplomas last spring.

Nine players who saw varsity action for Riverdale return.

Senior Alec Loveridge, a 6-foot-2 guard/forward, is the top scorer back for the Falcons. He popped in 10.4 points with 5.5 rebounds per game last season.

Sophomore guard/forward Brock Davis (5-11) netted 3.4 points with 1.3 rebounds per game. Also

back at forward is 6-2 senior Jonathan Walter, who tossed in 2.5 points with 3.0 rebounds per game.

Junior Seth McElree (5-9) returns at guard after scoring 2.7 points with 2.5 rebounds per game.

Senior Cody Mason (5-11) is back at guard, as is junior Gage Murphy (5-10) and sophomores Coby Miller (5-8) and Logan Frey (5-8), who all combined for 4.2 points per game a year ago.

Junior Aiden Vent (6-0) lettered last season as a forward.

Loveridge leads Riverdale boys returneesFALCONS | BOYS

Taylor Loveridge Davis

Reynolds takes charge of Riverdale teamFALCONS | GIRLS

Reynolds Frey Wright

RIVERDALE



FALCONS

(*) Conference game


(*) Conference game


Dec. 1 Carey (H)

Dec. 2 Upper Scioto Valley (H)

Dec. 8 Hopewell-Loudon* (A)

Dec. 9 New Riegel (A)


Dec. 16 Kenton (H)

Dec. 22 Leipsic* (A)

Dec. 23 Bucyrus (A)


Dec. 28 North Union (A)



Jan. 13 Ridgemont (A)



Jan. 26 Vanlue* (A)


Feb. 3 Miller City (A)


Feb. 10 Bluffton (H)

Feb. 16 McComb* (H)


Nov. 24 Carey (A)

Nov. 25 Upper Sandusky (H)

Nov. 28 Hardin Northern (H)

Nov. 30 Van Buren* (H)

Dec. 2 Wynford (A) 1:30


Dec. 12 Ada (A)


Dec. 16 Kenton (A) 1:30

Dec. 21 Vanlue* (H)

Dec. 23 Bucyrus (A) 1:30

Jan. 2 Buckeye Central (A)




Jan. 25 McComb* (A)

Jan. 27 Bluffton (A) 1:30


Feb. 1 Pandora-Gilboa* (A)

Feb. 8 Arcadia* (A)

Feb. 10 Ridgemont (H) 2:00


VAN BURENTHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T15

1283 Township Road 14, Van Buren419-299-3616

VAN BUREN — Last season brought some grow-ing pains for Van Buren’s girls basketball team, as a young Black Knights squad worked its way through a 4-19 season that included a 2-10 mark in the Blanchard Valley Conference.

Van Buren lost just one senior to graduation and again has a relatively young team, with just three seniors on the roster.

But with eight players having lettered last season, coach Shawn Ginnan can hope such seasoning will lead to better fortunes in the 2017-18 campaign.

Three Black Knights come back after combining for 25.9 points per game last year.

The top returning scorer is 5-foot-7 sophomore wing Mady Parker, whose freshman season brought her 9.2 points per game.

Zoe Horne, a 5-6 sophomore wing, tossed in 8.9 points per contest and senior Lydia Reineke, a 5-8 post player, added 7.8 points per outing. Reineke is the team’s lone two-time letterwinner; all others have earned one letter.

Sara Rosenberger, a 5-8 post player, joins Reineke

as a returning senior letterwinner for Van Buren. Returning juniors are 5-9 Sydney Leeper, 5-7

post player Mackenzie Saltzman and 5-7 wings Faith Dewalt and Audrey Nessler.

Carrigan Stacy moves up to the varsity as a senior. At 5-5, she could help at wing.

Jessica Rinehart, a 5-3 junior, also could contrib-ute at wing. Juniors rounding out the roster are 5-9 Amanda Strapp, and Hope Dewalt and Hannah Betts, both of whom stand 5-7.

VAN BUREN — A 2016-17 season in which Van Buren posted records of 21-4 overall and 10-1 in the Blanchard Valley Conference brought the Black Knights runner-up finishes in BVC and Division III district play.

While the Black Knights must replace graduated all-Ohioan Braxton Fasone, but four senior letterwin-ners return as the foundation for what could be another strong season.

New coach Tyler Niekamp won’t have the luxury of a lineup that includes Fasone, an honorable mention all-Ohio pick who averaged 16.7 points per game last season and now plays at Tiffin University.

Niekamp, who takes the reins from Marc Bishop who stepped down at the end of last season, will be able to count on a roster sporting quite a bit of size and a crew of lettermen that includes Matthew Ayers, a third-team all-BVC selection last season, and Kade Ste-veson, who received honorable mention all-conference recognition.

Ayers, a 6-foot-1 guard, returns after averaging 11.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game

last season. Steveson, a 6-5 forward, was good for 7.0 points and 4.5 rebounds. Also back for Van Buren are 6-3 forward Nick Beitzel (3.3 points. 1.5 rebounds) and 6-5 center Matthew Iliff (3.0 points, 2.3 rebounds).

Connor Ohlrich, a 6-3 junior, will be looked to for help at guard. Michael Kramer, a 6-2 sophomore, will be counted on to contribute at guard. Rounding out the Black Knights roster are 6-4 junior Wyatt Schlappi and 6-2 sophomores Carson Gertz, Cardson Goble and Saige Warren.

Ayers, Steveson top returnees at VBBLACK KNIGHTS | BOYS

Niekamp Ayers

Reineke

Steveson

Van Buren girls young, but experiencedBLACK KNIGHTS | GIRLS

Ginnan Horne

VAN BUREN



BLACK KNIGHTS

(*) Conference game


(*) Conference game


Dec. 1 Allen East (H)

Dec. 2 Old Fort (H)


Dec. 9 Monclova Christian (A)

Dec. 15 McComb* (A)








Jan. 27 Toledo Jones (H)

Feb. 2 Arcadia* (A)

Feb. 6 Carey (A)




Feb. 20 Lakota (A)


Nov. 24 Elmwood (A)

Nov. 28 Vanlue* (H)

Nov. 30 Riverdale* (A)


Dec. 6 Lakota (H)


Dec. 12 Maumee Valley C.D. (A)

Dec. 14 Arcadia* (A)

Dec. 19 Ada (H)


Dec. 28 Otsego (A)

Jan. 4 McComb* (A)

Jan. 9 Allen East (H)


Jan. 16 Eastwood (A)

Jan. 23 Lima Perry (A)

Jan. 25 Pandora-Gilboa* (H)


Feb. 3 Tiffin Calvert (H)

Feb. 6 Miller City (H)


Feb. 16 Leipsic* (H)

VANLUE THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T16

WE SUPPORTTHE WILDCATS!

Have a great season

Vanlue Marathon417 Bu� alo St.

Vanlue419-387-7646

VANLUE — Success is a relative term when your school is the smallest in its conference and one of the smallest in the state.

A total of eight wins might not be enough to please some girls high school basketball teams, but for others that might be a monumental achievement.

Vanlue compiled a record of 8-14 and 2-9 in the Blanchard Valley Conference last season in what was coach Renee Schlumbohm’s second year guiding the Wildcats. That was an improvement over the 6-15 record they posted in her inaugural season of 2015-16. Even the Wildcats’ 2-9 mark in league play was an improvement over a 1-11 record the season before.

And there is enough talent and experience coming back this year to conclude that further improvement is not an unrealistic expectation. In fact, the Wildcats return seven letterwinners and didn’t lose a single player to graduation last year.

Back this season are a trio of seniors who will con-tribute experience and leadership.

Amanda Clymer, a 5-11 forward who was an all-BVC honorable mention selection in 2016-17, averaged

12 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists last season. Also back are Madi Yeater and Lydia Czarnecki, a pair of 5-2 guards who contributed averages of 1 ppg, 1 rpg, 1 apg last season.

Junior Bethany Smith, a 5-8 guard, had averages of 4 ppg and 4 rpg last season. Emma Biller, a 5-9 sopho-more forward, scored 10 points and pulled down 10 rebounds per game and was another all-BVC honorable mention pick a year ago. Fellow sophomores Lauren Kin and Maliah Snook also are back this season.

VANLUE — The time is now at Vanlue.The Wildcats are coming off a 3-19 season, but

coach Nick Jacobs has six returning senior letterwin-ners, many of whom have been varsity performers since they were sophomores.

The Wildcats are also looking to snap a lengthy losing streak in Blanchard Valley Conference play. Vanlue has dropped 26 straight BVC contests, with its last win coming on Feb. 6, 2015, when it whipped Hardin Northern 72-50.

With a solid combination of size and experience, the Wildcats will be looking not only to win a confer-ence game this season, they’ll be looking to climb the ladder in the conference standings.

Senior post player Caleb Bonham (6-foot-4), a third-team all-BVC pick in 2017, is one of three return-ees who scored in double digits. Bonham popped in 13.5 points with 8.8 rebounds per game to lead the Wildcats last season.

Seniors Troy Ward and Jacob Kloepfer made the all-BVC honorable mention list last year.

Ward, a 6-4 guard, scored 10.7 points with 8.2

rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.Kloepfer, a 6-3 post player, netted 10.7 points and

grabbed 5.6 boards per contest.Seniors Treg Price, Luke Sunderhaus and Reed

Davis all saw varsity action at guard in 2016-17. Price scored 6.0 points with 4.2 rebounds per game. Sun-derhaus and Davis combined for 3.2 points and 3.4 rebounds for Vanlue.

Two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman will provide depth off the bench.

Time to win is now for Wildcats boys teamWILDCATS | BOYS

Jacobs C. Bonham Ward

Vanlue girls seeking more improvementWILDCATS | GIRLS

Schlumbohm Clymer Smith

VANLUE



WILDCATS

(*) Conference game


(*) Conference game


Dec. 1 Allen East (H)

Dec. 2 Old Fort (H)


Dec. 9 Monclova Christian (A)

Dec. 15 McComb* (A)








Jan. 27 Toledo Jones (H)

Feb. 2 Arcadia* (A)

Feb. 6 Carey (A)




Feb. 20 Lakota (A)


Nov. 24 Lima Temple Christian (H) 6:00

Nov. 25 Toledo Jones (H) 3:00

Nov. 28 Van Buren* (A)

Nov. 30 North Baltimore* (H)

Dec. 2 Crestline (H) 2:30


Dec. 9 Maumee Valley C.D. (H) 2:30

Dec. 14 Leipsic* (H)

Dec. 16 Miller City (A) 7:15

Dec. 21 Riverdale* (A)


Jan. 4 Pandora-Gilboa* (H)

Jan. 6 Waynesfield-Goshen (A) 2:30


Jan. 13 Monclova Christian (A) 2:30

Jan. 20 Ridgemont (H)


Jan. 30 Lakota (H)


Feb. 8 McComb* (A)

Feb. 12 Lima Perry (A)


SPORTSTHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T17

ies of himself and his daughter have helped him in other facets of life, such as setting goals and pursuing them.

With his renewed energy, a goal for Loomis is to lead Fostoria back to a position of strength in boys basket-ball.

“J.T. did a nice job of starting to change the culture of the program and getting the kids to understand just how much time and effort and commitment they need to make bas-ketball year-round and how you have to become a student of the game,” he said. “I think we took big steps for-ward with our kids who are coming back this year. Last year, our JV team was really successful, and that was really a tribute to the kids buying in. That group of kids we had last year really did buy into the culture.”

When some internal problems arose within the JV team early last

season, Loomis told his team that it needed to close ranks and play unself-ishly toward the common goal of win-ning.

The squad went on to finish 17-5 overall and claim the NBC junior var-sity title at 12-2. Many of the players from that team will move to the var-sity this season.

“He let us know what had to get done,” said Devin Mauricio, a sopho-more who saw most of his playing time at the JV level last season. “And every practice after that, we just kept working and working toward our goal.”

With “We > Me” emblazoned on their shirts, the Redmen went 19-13 at the three-day Eastern Ohio Camp in the summer, often playing against teams from larger schools.

“We’re all buying into what he’s saying and we believe that we’re going to be able to have a great season if we listen to what our coaches tell us to do,” said Trae Anderson, a member of last year’s JV team who is moving up to the varsity as a senior.

“They just wanted to win,” Loomis

said of last year’s JVs. “It was 12 guys who were together. We just pretty much eliminated the dissension, the individualism, and they just bought in. That really is the kind of culture we need to continue to grow.”

Loomis is aiming for a winning record as a start to what he hopes will be bigger and better things.

“We want to gain more respect for Fostoria basketball and then keep it that way so that year after year, it continues to grow,” he said. “We truly want to become a basketball force to be reckoned with in the league and in northwest Ohio and wherever we go from there.”

Few could begin to doubt that Loomis wants badly for this mission to be a success.

“I’m sure that I’ll never coach bas-ketball anyplace else,” he said. “That’s for sure, because this is where I’ve always wanted to be. This is the job that I ultimately, always wanted to have.”

DAVID SIMONIS / for The CourierFOSTORIA BOYS BASKETBALL coach Thom Loomis works with Eli Ward on a passing drill during a recent practice.

B OYS B A S K E T B A L L

England has eight letterwinners back at Heritage Christian

It’s an experienced boys basket-ball team at Heritage Christian this season.

Head coach Tim England, who is also the pastor of Calvary Bap-tist Church, has eight letterwinners returning from last year’s squad that posted a 9-8 overall record.

The Minute -men have a pair of seniors and a solid group of four juniors back.

One player who will be difficult to replace is graduate Andrew VanDen-Berghe, who was a four-year starter at point guard for the Minutemen.

Senior Rob Sorensen (5-foot-8) returns at guard, while classmate Josh Grimm (5-10) is an experienced forward.

Grimm was among the team’s leaders a year ago as he averaged 5.9 points with 1.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.

It will be a pair of juniors, though, who will likely be counted upon to pro-vide much of the scoring punch for

Heritage Christian this season.Marcus Larsen, who at 6-5 will

be the biggest player on the floor in most of the school’s games, is back after tossing in 13.8 points and grab-bing 7.5 rebounds with 1.9 assists per game last year.

Matthew Bame (5-9), a guard, made the Buckeye Christian School Organization’s all-tournament team last season. He averaged 11.4 points, grabbed 3.5 rebounds and dished out 3.2 assists per game.

Junior Andrew Ridenour (5-9) is back at forward. He scored 2.25 points with 4.1 rebounds per game.

Junior Tristen Barajaz (6-0) and sophomore Caleb Bame (5-9) are returning players at the forward spot. Sophomore Isaac Schultz is back with some experience at guard.

England expects freshman Simon Fickel (5-8) to take over for VanDen-Berghe at point guard.

Minutemen posted 9-8 record a year ago

England

Sorensen Grimm

Noted Putnam County sports historian Dan Kern has updated and upgraded his extensive collection of records, statistics and standings and is making that information available on a flash drive memory stick as well as printed copies.

Kern has compiled in-depth records of Putnam County basketball (boys and girls), baseball, track and golf, as well as separate collections on Miller City baseball and basketball (boys and girls).

Cost of printed versions range from $30 (golf) to $60 (basket-

ball, baseball). Cost of a flash drive memory stick is $15 and $5 for each additional book.

Persons interested in one or more books or memory sticks must place their order by Dec. 31. Arrangements will be made for delivery of local orders.

Orders and/or more information can be made by contacting Kern by email ([email protected]), phone (419-596-4385) or regular mail (16544 Road H13, Continental OH 45831).

Kern’s PCL history book is available

LoomisContinued from page T11

PUTNA M COUNTY LEAGUE BOYS THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T18

P C L B OYS B A S K E T B A L L R O U N D U P

With coaching changes complete it’s time to play basketball in the PCL

Miller City coach Bryan Kuhlman was the lone holdover in a wave of coaching changes over the last two years in the Putnam County League.

The entire roster of head coaches in the league, with the exception of Kuhlman at Miller City, has turned over during the past two years.

It all began last season with long-time coach Dick Kortokrax passing the torch at Kalida to Ryan Stech-schulte. Also a year ago, Chris Saut-ter moved from Ada to take over at Columbus Grove, Scott Maag stepped down at Leipsic as Chris Kuhlman took over and Joe Braidic returned as Pandora-Gilboa’s head coach to lead the Rockets to the PCL championship.

There were more changes in the PCL coaching ranks this season, too.

At Ottoville, Todd Turnwald stepped down, which opened the door for Fort Jennings coach Keith Uten-dorf to move down the road to become the head coach of the Big Green.

Fort Jennings hired Ryan Schro-eder to replace Utendorf. Eric Maag is Continental’s new boys basketball coach after Kurtis Brown’s coaching duties were nonrenewed by the school.

Now that the game of coaching musical chairs has stopped, it’s time to take a look at what the PCL’s non-football schools will look like on the court for the 2017-18 campaign.

Kalida boys

KALIDA — With good size and experience, Kalida expects to move up the ladder in the Putnam County League this season.

Coach Ryan Stechschulte (79-44 career coaching record) begins his second year in the post-Dick Kor-tokrax era at Kalida with five return-ing players from last year’s squad that

went 12-13 overall with a 4-3 mark in the PCL and won a sectional cham-pionship.

Kalida did graduate a pair of all-PCL honorable mention performers in Collin Nartker and Trent Siebeneck.

Junior Grant Laudick (6 -foot-4) is a returning starter for the Wildcats. Seniors Braden Decker (5 -8) and Josh Klausing (5-11) are back with experi-ence at guard.

R e t u r n i n g juniors Trevor Lambert (6-3) and Owen Recker (6-4) give Kalida some size at forward and at the post spot.

Carter Moore (5-8), one of just three seniors on the team, could see action at guard.

Five other players — two juniors, two sophomores and a freshman — could see action for the Wildcats.

Junior Connor Krouse (5-10) and sophomores Gabe Hovest (5-11) and Evan Roebke (6-0) are candidates for playing time at guard.

Junior Brad Siefker (6-1) and 6-4 freshman Luke Erhart will add depth for Kalida at forward.

Developing chemistry with a young team will be key to Kalida’s success.

According to Stechschulte, his team is giving great effort on a day-to-day basis.

He also expects the Wildcats to be a very balanced team, with scoring to come from many different players this season.

Continental boys

CONTINENTAL — Continental could just be primed to make a run at the Putnam County League boys basketball title this season.

Eric Maag takes charge of the pro-gram after coach Kurtis Brown’s con-tract was nonrenewed by the school.

Maag has a solid group of five let-terwinners back from last year’s team that was 15-10 overall and 4-3 in the PCL and claimed a sectional champion-ship.

There are a few holes to fill, though.

Wade Stauffer, a f irst-team all -Distr ict 8 and PCL selection last season, graduated after scoring more than 1,000 points in his career.

Jacob Williams, a four-year let-terwinner, and Trevor Williamson, a three-year letterman, both picked up their diplomas after earning all-PCL honorable mention awards.

Seniors Caleb Olds (6-foot) and Tyler Brecht (6-0) are fourth-year varsity players and return as guards for the Pirates. Another senior, three-year letterwinner Chris Potts (5-10), will also see action at guard.

Juniors Nick States and Jarret Keck are also back with varsity experi-ence. States is a 6-4 post player, while Keck is a 5-10 guard.

Seven other players could be con-tributors for Continental this season, according to Maag.

Seniors Cameron Mason (6-1), Dylan Coleman (5-10) and Chris-tian Keller (5-11) could see action at guard. Junior Taron Butler (6-0) and freshman Mitch Coleman (5-9) are also candidates for playing time at guard.

Juniors Bryce Slattman (6-1) and Alex Hale (6-1) will provide depth at the post.

Ottoville boysOTTOVILLE — Last year brought

an up-and-down season for Ottoville’s boys basketball team.

The Big Green started well enough, going 7-2 in their first nine games.

Ottoville went just 1-10 over its final 11 games of the regular season but upended Putnam County League champion Pandora-Gilboa 63-57 in its sectional opener.

It all added up to a 9-13 overall record that included a 2-5 mark in the PCL.

Keith Utendorf moves down the road from Fort Jen-nings to Ottoville to take charge of the program this season after Todd Turnwald stepped down at the end of last year.

Utendorf has seven letterwin-ners and a handful of newcomers as the Big Green try to return to the top of the PCL standings.

Seniors Logan Kemper (6-foot-3), Nick Moorman (6-1), Ryan Bendele (5-10) and Andy Schimmoeller (5-9) are all returning starters for Ottoville.

Kemper, a wing, is the top return-ing scorer, as he knocked down 16.4 points per game last season. Moor-man, a guard, returns after averaging 16.0 points per game. The duo should give the Big Green a solid 1-2 scoring punch.

Bendele scored 5.9 points and Schimmoeller added 3.3 points per contest as guards.

Senior Zane Martin (5-10) is back with experience at wing, senior Keagan Leis (6-2) returns at the post and Drew Fisher (6-4) saw enough playing time at post to letter a year ago.

Utendorf also expects contribu-tions from junior Jaden Schnipke (6-2) at wing and sophomores Joe Miller (5-9) and Dalton Davis (5-10).

Ottoville also has a pair of fresh-men who could be impact players as the season wears on. Ryan Suever is a 6-6 forward and Josh Thorbahn is a 6-3 guard.

Fort Jennings boys

FORT JENNINGS — Fort Jen-nings reached into the past to build for the future with Ryan Schroeder taking over as head coach of the Musketeers.

Schroeder was a first-team all-Putnam County League, second-team all-Northwest Ohio and honorable mention all-Ohio player at Fort Jen-nings, and led the Musketeers to the Division IV regional finals in 2004. The former JV and freshman coach at Fort Jennings and assistant at the University of South C a r o l i n a - A i k e n rep l aces Ke ith Utendorf, who has moved over to fill the head coaching spot at Ottoville.

S c h r o e d e r inherits a tall and veteran group of players from a team that went 8-15 last season. Headlining that group is Bran-don Wehri, a 6-foot-5, 245-pound senior post player who earned second-team all-PCL and all-District 8 honors last season.

Two other 6-5 seniors — Cole Horstman and Jeff Hoersten — also return this season, along with honor-able mention all-PCL players Ian Finn and Luke Trentman. Both senior let-termen, Trentman stands 6-2 and Finn 6-0. Erik Klausing, a 5-9 guard, rounds out a six-man group of upper-classmen that make the Musketeers one of the more senior-dominated teams in the league.

Schroeder will also be counting on juniors Ian Ricker (6-1), Reese Von-Sossan (6-0), Derek Luersman (6-0) and Simon Smith (5-9), along with 6-1 sophomore Carson Kazee, to transi-tion last year’s solid finish into a good start this season.

Every league school except Miller City has changed coaches during the last 2 years

Decker

Potts

Kemper

Horstman

Laudick

Olds

Moorman

Wehri

Maag

Schroeder

Utendorf

Stechschulte

See BOYS, Page T19

PUTNA M COUNTY LEAGUE BOYSTHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T19

Fort Jennings was just 4-11 in its first 15 games a year ago but went 4-4 in its last eight contests.

Miller City boysMILLER CITY — Coach Bryan

Kuhlman returns just three letter-men from last season’s Miller City boys basketball team.

One of them, however, was one of the Putnam County League’s top per-formers last season and should be at the center of any success the Wildcats

enjoy this season.Mark Kuhlman, a 6-foot-1 senior

guard, averaged 13.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game on his way to being named to the first team on both the all-PCL and all-District 8 squads.

Also back for Miller City, which was 12-10 overall and 5-2 in confer-ence play last season, are 6-5 forward Noah Otto and 5-9 guard Mitch Gable.

Otto, a senior, put up 9.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per contest last season.

Gable, also a senior, contributed 3.2 points per game.

Contributions will be expected from 6-2 senior post player Wes Gerten, 5-10 senior forward Tyler Schroeder and 5-6 junior guards Luke Lammers and Isaac Fillinger.

Gerten will be counted on to

anchor the back of the Wildcats’ defense, with Fillinger being sought to use his quickness in defending on the perimeter.

Schroeder and Lammers should contribute to the offensive attack, with Lammers’ ballhandling skills being important as well.

Rounding out the Wildcats roster are seniors Drew Johnston (6-1 post), Jacob Hermiller (5-11 forward) and Jordan Barlage (6-0 post) and sopho-mores Ezra Deitering (5-8 guard), Nick Gable (5-9 forward) and Jacob Koenig (5-11 forward).

Bryan Kuhlman enters his seventh season at the Miller City helm with an 88-50 record.

Continental PiratesDec. 1 at PauldingDec. 2 at Lima Temple Christian, 6:30Dec. 8 at HicksvilleDec. 9 LincolnviewDec. 15 FairviewDec. 16 AntwerpDec. 21 HolgateDec. 30 Lima PerryJan. 4 at Patrick HenryJan. 6 Leipsic (PCL)Jan. 13 AyersvilleJan. 19 Fort Jennings (PCL)Jan. 20 McCombJan. 27 at ArchboldJan. 30 at Wayne TraceFeb. 3 at Columbus Grove (PCL)Feb. 9 Ottoville (PCL)Feb. 16 at Kalida (PCL)Feb. 17 TinoraFeb. 23 at Delphos St. John'sAll games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

Fort Jennings MusketeersDec. 1 at ArlingtonDec. 8 AntwerpDec. 9 at SpencervilleDec. 15 at OttovilleDec. 19 Convoy CrestviewDec. 22 AyersvilleDec. 23 at LincolnviewDec. 29 at Lima Temple ChristianJan. 2 at AdaJan. 6 Columbus Grove (PCL)Jan. 12 at Kalida (PCL)Jan. 13 BlufftonJan. 19 at Continental (PCL)Jan. 23 HolgateJan. 26 Ottoville (PCL)Jan. 27 New KnoxvilleFeb. 2 Miller City (PCL)Feb. 3 at Allen EastFeb. 6 Delphos JeffersonFeb. 10 at New BremenFeb. 17 Pandora-Gilboa (PCL)Feb. 23 at Leipsic (PCL)All games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

Kalida WildcatsDec. 1 New BremenDec. 2 at Convoy Crestview, 11:45 a.m.Dec. 8 AdaDec. 9 at Archbold Dec. 15 HolgateDec. 22 Upper Scioto ValleyDec. 23 at Spencerville Dec. 27 at Lima Central Catholic Dec. 29 LincolnviewJan. 6 at McComb Jan. 12 Fort Jennings (PCL)Jan. 13 TinoraJan. 20 Columbus Grove (PCL)Jan. 23 Van WertJan. 27 at Leipsic (PCL)Feb. 2 at Ottoville (PCL), 7Feb. 3 at Wayne Trace Feb. 10 AyersvilleFeb. 16 Continental (PCL)Feb. 17 at Van Buren Feb. 23 at Fairview All games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

Miller City WildcatsDec. 1 at TinoraDec. 2 at Convoy CrestviewDec. 8 at AyersvilleDec. 9 at Van BurenDec. 11 Patrick HenryDec. 16 at Leipsic (PCL)Dec. 18 PauldingDec. 22 at Wayne TraceDec. 29 at Bluffton's McDonald's TournamentDec. 30 at Bluffton's McDonald's TournamentJan. 6 Pandora-Gilboa (PCL)Jan. 12 Continental (PCL)Jan. 13 LincolnviewJan. 19 at Ottoville (PCL)Jan. 20 at Lima Temple ChristianJan. 27 HolgateFeb. 2 at Fort Jennings (PCL)Feb. 3 RiverdaleFeb. 9 Kalida (PCL)Feb. 13 at Lima PerryFeb. 17 Columbus Grove (PCL)Feb. 23 HicksvilleAll games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

Ottoville Big GreenDec. 1 Lima Temple Christian, 7Dec. 2 Cory-Rawson, 7Dec. 8 Columbus Grove (PCL), 7Dec. 9 Ada, 7Dec. 15 Fort Jennings (PCL), 7Dec. 16 Spencerville, 7Dec. 19 at Delphos JeffersonDec. 22 Elida, 7Dec. 23 at Delphos St. John'sDec. 27 Convoy CrestviewDec. 30 at LincolnviewJan. 2 at McComb, 7:20Jan. 6 at MinsterJan. 13 at Pandora-Gilboa (PCL)Jan. 19 Miller City (PCL), 7Jan. 23 at Allen EastJan. 26 at Fort Jennings (PCL)Feb. 2 Kalida (PCL), 7Feb. 9 at Continental (PCL)Feb. 17 Leipsic (PCL), 7Feb. 22 at TinoraFeb. 23 Wayne Trace, 7All games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

B. Kuhlman M. Kuhlman

OttoM. Gable

BoysContinued from page T18

PUTNA M COUNTY LEAGUE GIRLS THE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017T20

It appears it could be the same schools battling it out for the Putnam County League girls basketball cham-pionship this season.

Columbus Grove topped Ottoville for last year’s league championship and the two could do battle for the title yet again.

Grove returns a number of key players from last year’s title team but lost PCL Player of the Year Paige Bell-man with a knee injury.

The University of Detroit Mercy signee will be out for the entire season.

Ottoville, though, may just be the team to beat in the conference and its fans can expect another lengthy tournament run as veteran coach Dave Kleman returns several key players including University of Findlay signee Bridget Landin and three-year letter-winner C.J. Kemper.

Leipsic and Pandora-Gilboa are always in the mix near the top of the conference.

As for the rest of the league, Kalida returns an inexperienced group trying to get above the .500 mark while Con-tinental, Miller City and Fort Jennings will try and move up the ladder in the standings this season.

Here’s a look at the PCL’s nonfoot-ball schools.

Ottoville girls

OTTOVILLE — After a quarter-century as the head coach of the Otto-ville girls basketball program, Dave Kleman is closing in on a milestone.

Kleman needs 20 wins to become the 18th coach in Ohio girls high school basketball history to reach the 500-win mark. His career record of 480-120 would rank No. 22 in state history if the Ohio High School Ath-

letic Association could only manage to add him to its list of career coaching wins.

Although 20 wins might sound like a lofty goal, Kleman has posted 13 seasons of 20 or more victories in his first 25 years at Ottoville. And with nine players return-ing who earned let-ters on last year’s team that finished 24-4, were 6-1 in the Putnam County League standings and earned a spot in the Division IV state semifinals, win-ning 20 games for the 14th time in 26 seasons doesn’t seem so far-fetched for Kleman.

The Big Green return plenty of size, with two players at 6-feet, one at 5-11 and another at 5-10. And all are versatile talents who can play multiple positions.

The Big Green lost a host of tal-ented players, including two PCL second-team picks in Alexis Thor-bahn and Alicia Honigford as well as Brooke Mangas, Madison Knodell and Autumn Neer.

Despite those losses, Ottoville has a solid group of experienced players.

That list of returning veterans includes seniors Bridget Landin, a first-team all-PCL choice, C.J. Kemper, Amber Miller, Emily Landin and Abi Hilvers.

Bridget Landin (6-0) and Kemper (5-10) are three-year letterwinners who can play any position on the floor.

Miller, Hilvers and Emily Landin, as well as junior Kasey Knippen, all are two-year letterwinners.

Kalida girlsKALIDA — A year ago, coach

Adam Huber and the Kalida girls were in a position that no coach envies, entering the season with just one player returning with varsity experi-ence.

Last year’s inexperienced Kalida team managed an 11-12 record and were 3-4 in the PCL. It was an unfa-miliar position for Huber, who has

amassed a career record of 93-69 in a dozen years as head coach at Kalida.

What a difference a year makes.This year’s edition of the Wild-

cats lost just two players to gradua-tion, Brooke Kimball and Samantha Backus, and returns six letterwinners, including the top four scorers.

Last year’s team struggled in pres-sure situations and taking care of the ball. Huber hopes the experience helps the Wildcats better understand the speed and physical-ity of varsity ball.

Center Sarah Klausing, a 5 -11 senior and a second-team all-PCL pick, averaged 13 points and 7 rebounds as a junior.

Junior Lauren Langhals, a 5 -10 forward who can play inside or out, scored almost 8 points per game, grabbed 3.5 rebounds and averaged 1 assist and 1 steal.

Taylor Lucke, a 5-4 senior guard, averaged 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist per game, and 5-8 senior forward Kara Siefker had averages of 6 points and 3 rebounds per game.

Also back are guards Halie Kaufman, a junior, and McKayla Maag, a sophomore who contributed 2 points and 2 rebounds a game.

Fort Jennings girls

FORT JENNINGS — Fort Jen-

nings’ girls basketball team is looking to make a big jump in 2017-18.

After going 1-22 last season, including a 1-6 record in the PCL, second-year coach Bill Calvelage is hoping a .500 season is within reach for the Musketeers.

Three players from last year’s team graduated.

Guards Abby Von Sossan and E r i n E i c k h o l t combined for 10.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Forward Haley Wit-tler was among the team’s leaders in scoring (5.8 points per game) and rebounds (4.7 per game).

Four returning seniors and two returning underclassmen will be counted upon to turn things around at The Fort.

Senior Lillian Wisner, a 5-foot-6 post/wing, is the top returnee after netting 4.2 points with 4.8 rebounds per game. Kristen Luersman, a 5-9 wing, also scored 4.2 points with 2.0 rebounds per contest.

Makenna Ricker (5-7), Marissa Krietemeyer (5-8) and Rachel Kneale (5-11) are the other returning seniors. Ricker averaged 1.9 points per game from the guard spot. Krietemeyer tossed in 4.0 points with 3.3 rebounds per game at wing while Kneale is back with experience in the post.

Sophomore wing Madison Neidert (5-9) is back after tossing in 1.9 points per game.

Junior Erica Rau (5-9) will see action at both wing and post, while sophomores Chloe Wieging (5-10) and Annabelle Wisner (5-5) should add depth at the post and guard spots.

Calvelage thinks the Musketeers have decent depth and size at the post but must improve their shooting per-centage to be successful.

Miller City girlsMILLER CITY — Miller City’s

girls basketball team isn’t big, but the Wildcats have plenty of experience.

Four returning seniors, two juniors and a sophomore are back for second-year coach Ross Heuerman as the Wildcats try to improve upon last year’s 7-16 overall record that included a 1-6 PCL mark.

Heuerman will have to replace a pair of all-PCL players lost to gradu-

ation in Christina Berger and Tiffany Welty.

There is plenty of experience back at the guard spot.

Senior Chloe Lammers (5-6) and Allison Ruhe (5-5) return after seeing action a year ago. Senior Paige Wenz-inger (5 -2) and junior Abby Niese (5 -2) are back. Senior Alisha Hoff-man (5-7) will see time at guard and forward.

Look for juniors Kylie Berner (5-8) and Katelyn Kuhlman (5-10) to be the inside presence for Miller City. Berner scored 7.5 points per game and is the Wildcats’ top returning scorer.

Heuerman expects four other players among the 16 girls out for the sport to be contributors.

Senior Marci Schroeder, a solid rebounder, will see action at forward along with freshman Natalie Koenig (5-8), who will see time in the post.

Heuerman thinks sophomore Molly Ellerbrock (5-2) will step up and be a solid defender at guard, while freshman guard Adrienne Kuhlman (5-6) will be counted upon for her ball-handling and defensive skills.

Continental girls

Big Green could be primed for another long playoff run

P R E P G I R L S B A S K E T B A L L

Ottoville, Grove appear to be the PCL front-runners this season

Kemper Landin

Kleman

Klausing Ruhe

A. Armey

Langhals Lammers

Logan

Huber

L. Wisner Ricker

Calvelage

Heuerman

See PCL GIRLS, Page T21

PREP BASKETBALLTHE COURIERWEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2017 T21

CONTINENTAL — After claim-ing just one Putnam County League win last season, things may not get any easier for a Continental’s girls team that will roster just seven play-ers.

Having graduated a pair of two-year letterwinning guards in Jaylen Armey and Ashley Mansfield, inex-perience will be a factor for third-year coach Jaime Armey, who wrapped up last season with a 3-20 record and a 1-6 finish in the conference.

However, the Pirates sport five returning letterwin-ners among their seven players, led by 5-foot-8 senior Amber Logan and sophomore Addy-son Armey, both of whom notched honorable mention all-PCL recognition last season.

Also returning are 5-2 senior guard Kaitlyn Alvarado, 5-3 junior Brooke Bradford and 5-4 sophomore Alex Hoeffel.

Rounding out the roster are new-comer Madi Sharp, a 5-6 junior, and the tallest player on the Pirates’ roster, 5-11 freshman post player Maddie Burke.

Armey expects the team to be both quick and aggressive, but the Pirates are lacking in the size department this season.

Yet, she expects the hardworking seven-player squad to be more com-petitive in the league play than in years past.

Continental PiratesNov. 25 at LincolnviewNov. 30 at HicksvilleDec. 5 at Columbus Grove (PCL)Dec. 7 at TinoraDec. 12 at FairviewDec. 14 HolgateDec. 19 ArchboldDec. 28 at Ayersville Tournament, 6Dec. 29 at Ayersville Tournament, 6Jan. 5 at Miller City (PCL), 7Jan. 8 Convoy CrestviewJan. 11 Ottoville (PCL)Jan. 18 at Fort Jennings (PCL)Jan. 20 at Leipsic (PCL), 2:30Jan. 23 at AntwerpJan. 27 Pandora-Gilboa (PCL), 2:30Jan. 29 Lima Temple Christian, 6:30Feb. 3 Paulding, 2:30Feb. 6 Wayne TraceFeb. 10 at Patrick Henry, 1:30Feb. 13 AyersvilleFeb. 15 Kalida (PCL)All games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

Fort Jennings Musketeers

Nov. 24 St. Marys MemorialNov. 28 Lima Central CatholicDec. 2 Bluffton, noonDec. 5 OttovilleDec. 9 at Lima Shawnee, noonDec. 12 Leipsic (PCL)Dec. 16 at Kalida (PCL), 1Dec. 18 at Convoy CrestviewDec. 21 at Wayne TraceDec. 28 SpencervilleDec. 30 McComb, 1Jan. 6 at Delphos St. John's, 1Jan. 9 at ElidaJan. 11 at Lima Temple ChristianJan. 13 at Pandora-Gilboa (PCL), 1Jan. 18 Continental (PCL)Jan. 22 Columbus Grove (PCL)Jan. 25 at Ottoville (PCL)Jan. 30 at AyersvilleFeb. 5 LincolnviewFeb. 12 at Delphos JeffersonFeb. 16 Miller City (PCL)All games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

Kalida WildcatsNov. 24 MinsterNov. 28 St. Marys MemorialDec. 2 at Ottawa-Glandorf, 2:30Dec. 5 at Coldwater Dec. 7 at Antwerp Dec. 16 Fort Jennings (PCL), 2:30Dec. 19 at Columbus Grove (PCL)Dec. 21 at Delphos St. John’s Dec. 23 Convoy Crestview, 1:30Dec. 30 Delphos Jefferson, 1:30Jan. 4 at Ottoville (PCL), 7Jan. 6 at Wapakoneta, 1:30Jan. 9 at Lincolnview Jan. 13 Liberty-Benton, 1:30Jan. 16 TinoraJan. 22 AyersvilleJan. 27 Miller City (PCL), 2:30Jan. 30 at Spencerville Feb. 3 Pandora-Gilboa, 2:30Feb. 6 at Holgate Feb. 10 Leipsic, 2:30Feb. 15 at Continental All games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

Miller City WildcatsNov. 24 at TinoraNov. 28 Liberty-BentonDec. 2 at Holgate, 1Dec. 5 Cory-RawsonDec. 7 at AyersvilleDec. 9 at Pandora-Gilboa (PCL), 1Dec. 14 Ottoville (PCL)Dec. 16 Vanlue, 1Dec. 19 Leipsic (PCL)Dec. 23 at Liberty CenterDec. 27 North BaltimoreJan. 2 at Lima Central CatholicJan. 5 Continental (PCL)Jan. 9 at Delphos JeffersonJan. 16 at McCombJan. 20 Columbus Grove (PCL), 1Jan. 23 Patrick HenryJan. 27 at Kalida (PCL), 1Feb. 3 Wayne Trace, 1Feb. 6 at Van BurenFeb. 10 at Bluffton, noonFeb. 16 at Fort Jennings (PCL)All games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

Ottoville Big GreenNov. 24 Van Wert, 7Nov. 25 at Convoy CrestviewDec. 2 at Lincolnview, 2:30Dec. 5 at Fort JenningsDec. 9 at Bluffton, 1:30Dec. 14 at Miller City (PCL), 7Dec. 16 Coldwater, 1:30Dec. 21 Ottawa-Glandorf, 7Dec. 26 Wayne Trace, 7Dec. 28 at ArlingtonJan. 4 Kalida (PCL), 7Jan. 6 at Columbus Grove (PCL), 2:30Jan. 9 Lima Bath, 7Jan. 11 at Continental (PCL)Jan. 16 Pandora-Gilboa (PCL), 7Jan. 20 at Minster, 2:30Jan. 25 Fort Jennings (PCL), 7Jan. 27 Delphos Jefferson, 2:30Jan. 30 Elida, 7Feb. 3 at Leipsic (PCL), 7:35Feb. 10 Delphos St. John's, 7Feb. 13 Liberty-BentonAll games 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted

J. Armey

Alvarado

O L D FO R T B OYS

O L D FO R T G I R L S

Stockaders are defending SBC River Division champions

Six seniors lost to graduation from historic tournament run

OLD FORT — Old Fort lost one of its key players from last year’s San-dusky Bay Conference River Division championship team.

But the Stockaders do have one of the conference’s top players returning.

First team all-S B C s e le c t ion Hootie Cleveland picked up h is diploma last spring after netting 16.0 points per game and leading coach E r i c Ho ove r ’s Stockaders to a 20-4 overall record that included a 9-1 mark in the SBC River Division. Cleveland finished with more than

1,000 career points in a memorable Old Fort career and has gone on to play at Tiffin University.

All-league selections Eric Bell, Jacob Hammond and A.J. Baker also graduated.

Seniors Jacob Webb and Luke Wagner are the key players back who will try to help the Stockaders defend their title in the SBC.

Webb, a 5-foot-6 point guard, was a first-team all-conference selection after tossing in 14.0 points per game. He also added 3.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game to earn a spot on the all-District 6 second team.

Wagner, a 5-7 guard, added 7.5 points with 2.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game a year ago to land a spot on the all-SBC honorable men-tion list.

Junior A.J. Steyer also returns. The 6-1 junior forward netted 2.0 points with 2.4 rebounds per game.

Hoover, who is 98-43 entering his eighth season as Old Fort’s head coach, will count on seven varsity newcomers to play a key role this year.

Seniors Zach Kohlenberg (5-10) and Elvis Beachler (6-0) will see action at guard and post, respectively.

Junior Weston Miller (5-10) and sophomores Gregory Steyer (5-11) and sophomore Jordan Smith (5-9) will provide depth at guard.

Sophomores Carson Steyer (6-3) and Mason Salas (6-1) will provide depth at post and forward, respec-tively.

OLD FORT — A special group of seniors made for a memorable 2016-17 girls basketball season at Old Fort.

The Stockaders put together a 24-4 season that included a share of the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division title and school-best run to the Division IV regional final.

The season ended with a loss to Ottoville in the regional title game, marking the end of the careers of six seniors, including honorable mention all-Ohioan Alli Adelsperger, Mackie Ward and Peyton Miller. All three are now at Heidelberg University, where Adelsperger is playing both basketball and volleyball, Ward is playing basket-

ball and Miller is playing volleyball.While limited varsity experience

returns to Old Fort, sixth-year coach Jenny Ritzler says, “I’m just feel-ing like we’re reloading rather than rebuilding.”

The top returnee is 5-foot-10 junior Morgan Miller, who was the first Stockader off the bench last season. Also back for Old Fort are senior fraternal twins Whitney and Hanna Bilger, who stand 5-6 and 5-5, respec-tively; 5-11 senior Maddi Spencer and 5-10 senior Sydney Hossler.

Ritzler will also look for help from seniors Morgan Wilkinson (5-10) and Ashlyn Magers (5-6) and juniors Laini Gillett (5-9), Jenna Clouse (5-8) and Maddi Guth (5-5).

Ritzler says this year’s players gained valuable experience in play-ing against last year’s seniors in prac-tice, particularly on the offensive end because she drilled the regulars on their defensive play so often.

Also, the Stockaders will put greater height on the floor this season.

Five all-league players graduated for the Stockaders

Ritzler says she thinks Old Fort is reloading not rebuilding this year

Webb

Ritzler

Wagner

Miller W. Bilger

Hoover

H. Bilger

Hoeffel

PCL girlsContinued from page T20

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