Our writers provide live updates from sporting events and insider information on high school and college sports in Clark, Champaign and Greene counties that you can't get anywhere else.
On Friday morning, Myles Trempe and the 12-1 Ball State University football team will leave for Mobile, Ala. where they’ll face Tulsa (10-3) in the GMAC Bowl on Jan. 6 on ESPN.
“I’m excited,” said Trempe, a Graham grad. “I’ve heard it’s a very player-friendly bowl game. Mobile’s a great city. It should be a lot of fun.”
Trempe, a 6-5 redshirt sophomore receiver, has caught 14 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns for the Cardinals this season.
Trempe knows it will be a tough game against Tulsa, which beat another MAC opponent, Bowling Green, 63-7 in last year’s GMAC Bowl.
“Tulsa’s going to be a very tough opponent,” Trempe said. “They’re first or second in the nation in points. It’s going to be a shootout.”
They’ll also be playing with a new head coach. Cardinals offensive coordinator Stan Parrish took over the team after Brady Hoke left to coach San Diego State.
“It’s part of the business,” Trempe said. “We’re happy to have Coach Parrish. He was a big part of our success. He’ll do a great job with the whole team now.”
Three years ago, Trempe was a three-sport athlete at Graham. On the basketball floor, Trempe finished his career as the all-time leader in points (1,186), rebounds (705), field goals made (465) and field goal attempted (1,162).
But one of those records has been broken. The career points mark now belongs to Graham senior Josh Schuler, who has 1,239 career points. Schuler scored 41 against Indian Lake on Dec. 27.
“It’s great,” Trempe said. “Records are meant to be broken. He’s tough. He’s very deserving of it. He’s a really good player.”
Trempe and Schuler were teammates during the 2005-2006 season when Trempe was a senior. But he always knew Schuler, who will play at Division I North Dakota, would be a great player.
“Coach Cupps always had me work summer camps with the boys basketball program,” Trempe said. “I remember seeing him in seventh and eighth grade. He’s so basketball-smart and I knew he was going to be a scorer. I knew my record wouldn’t last too long.”
MIDDLETOWN — Former Urbana University men’s basketball coach Bob Ronai is having all kinds of success at Middletown High School.
Ronai led the Blue Knights from 1986 through 1997, and had eight straight winning seasons. In both 1992-93 and 1996-97, Ronai coached the squad to a 26-8 record — the best in school history. Urbana hasn’t had a winning record since Ronai’s departure.
Sports Illustrated recently tabbed 2008 the Best Sports Year Ever. It wouldn’t be too far of a stretch to consider 2008 in similar terms for prep sports in Ohio.
Whether you like football, basketball, wrestling, track or whatever, 2008 was a remarkable year across the board.
For her 16th birthday, Greenon junior Allie Turner got the best gift anyone could possibly receive from her grandfather, Ashford Turner — a 2007 Ford Mustang, painted blue with white racing stripes.
“I was so happy,” Turner said. “He’s the best grandpa ever. He comes to every game to support me. My whole family does.”
Of course, Turner had to have vanity plates. It didn’t take long to find a fitting gesture.
“We were talking about it and my mom (Suzie) loves the song ‘Mustang Sally’ so we thought ‘Mustang Allie’ would fit,” Turner said.
Turner’s averaging 32.8 points per game for the Knights this season. She’s making 37.7 percent (23-for-61) on 3-pointers and 83.6 percent (77-for-92) from the free throw line.
Here’s what they had to say about their experience:
“Tammy and I were a bit stiff for a few days afterward - going down stairs was particularly challenging for me,” Goodman said. “It was probably pretty entertaining to watch.”
On this day eight years ago, Dec. 30, 2000, Wittenberg won the Kiwanis Holiday Classic for the 16th time out of 18 tournaments, beating Hanover (Ind.) 57-45.
Ryan Taylor was named tournament MVP that season. Click the jump for the complete story.
Published in the Dec. 31, 2000 edition of the News-Sun:
TIGERS GET DEFENSIVE TO WIN TOURNEY
By HOWIE MAGNER, News-Sun Sports Writer
The one thing Bill Brown wasn’t pleased with in his team’s first-round blowout win at the Kiwanis-Wittenberg Holiday Classic Friday was Wittenberg’s defensive efforts.
Guess you could say his Tigers aim to please.
Wittenberg held previously unbeaten Hanover to 29 percent shooting en route to a 57-45 victory and claimed its third straight Classic championship Saturday night at the HPER Center. Hanover’s lowest offensive output in its 10 wins this season was 67 points, and a night after Hanover shot 54 percent from three-point range to win its first-round contest against Kalamazoo, the Panthers were 4-of-23 from downtown against the Tigers.
“You look at their stats and the way they shoot the three, we were really concerned,” said Brown, whose team improved to 8-1. “But we did a really good job of guarding the three and we just have to be real pleased defensively.”
Tournament Most Valuable Player Ryan Taylor led Witt’s offense with 10 points after two early fouls limited him to just eight minutes and no points in the first half. Freshman Mark Borland added nine points, while Kevin Longley had a game-high 13 rebounds to go with his seven points, and both were selected to the all-tournament team.
Hanover got a game-high 19 points from all-tourney selection Jess Denger. Panther center Joe Neuman added nine points and six rebounds and also made the all-tournament team. Only one other Panther had more than three points.
“Their defense was outstanding and then we didn’t make some shots when we were open,” Hanover Coach Mike Beitzel said. “You can’t shoot the ball that way against a good ball club because you’re not going to have a lot of second shots.”
For most of the first half, it didn’t look like either team was even getting first shots. With only seven minutes left until halftime, the teams were tied at 12-all thanks to Hanover’s methodical offense and each squad’s tough man-to-man D.
Wittenberg eventually went into the locker room with a 30-24 lead, then threatened to break the game open with Taylor back on the floor after halftime. The Tigers opened the second half on a 9-2 run and went ahead, 39-26, thanks to Taylor’s three buckets and a three-pointer from Kyle Krauss.
“(Taylor) was just able to go out there and get a fresh start,” Brown said. “He was just able to get his offensive aggressiveness back at the start of the second half, and then he’s just a really good player.”
But Hanover responded with a 9-2 run of its own to get back in striking distance and the game stayed tight until the closing minutes.
Witt was clinging to a slim 48-45 lead when Borland nailed a three-pointer on what was his only field goal of the night. Hanover went scoreless the rest of the way, missing four free throws and a trio of three-pointers down the stretch, and its undefeated season was a thing of the past.
“It’s not too many times that we get to play someone that’s unbeaten. It was a big motivation,” Taylor said. “You don’t want them to leave our floor 11-0. We all wanted to beat them and we’re glad they’re going home 10-1.”
The Tigers also wanted to maintain their domination of the Holiday Classic. Wittenberg has now won 16 of the 18 tournaments since 1983. Chicago defeated the Tigers, 64-61, in the 1997 title contest and Centre beat Witt, 80-78, back in the 1986 championship game.
Springfield native and North High School graduate John Legend may be winning Grammy after Grammy, but in his spare time he’s serving as a host.
Legend made a cameo appearance as host of the first annual Mayne Event awards, which appeared on ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown on Dec. 28.
Here’s what ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne said about Legend’s appearance on his weekly segment, according to John Legend.com:
“It was a huge thrill to work with John Legend. He bought into the concept of the fake awards show right away. We were worried he wouldn’t want to sing for us on the spot, particularly in that the songs we wrote for him were terrible. But he is so good, he was able to make terrible songs sound like ballads, which they now are. He has an album for sale.”
A nice moment from the Charles B. Zimmerman Memorial Classic at Wittenberg on Monday afternoon:
Both teams and all the spectators stood for the national anthem before the first-round game between Wittenberg and the College of Mount St. Joseph. But for maybe two minutes, there was just silence. Because of an unknown technical issue, the anthem wasn’t playing.
All of a sudden, from the northwest corner of the arena, came a voice.
“O! say can you see by the dawn’s early light.”
It was Wittenberg athletic director Garnett Purnell, filling in for the CD that wouldn’t play. He was soon joined by other voices from around the arena, and they completed the anthem without any technical issues.
Kenton Ridge enters the Classic with a talent-loaded roster and they’ll have their hands full with an athletic Villa Angela-St. Joseph squad. Abbie Fabo and Jessica Kravchuck can score points in bunches for the Vikings, and they’ll likely have to against Kenton Ridge. The Cougars are young—they have just one senior—but ultra-talented. Saira House is one of the top juniors in the state and the Cougars feature three freshmen that should see quality minutes—Lindsey Fenwick, Mariah Harris and Alana Lassiter.
SPRINGFIELD — Several area boys and girls basketball squads were ranked in the Dayton Daily News High School Basketball ratings.
The Graham (3-0) boys squad is still the No. 1 ranked team in Division II. Southeastern (3-0) is also ranked No. 4 in Division VI.
On the girls’ side, Kenton Ridge (5-0) is ranked No. 2 in Division II, while West Liberty-Salem (7-0) and Southeastern (6-2) are each ranked fifth in D-III and D-IV, respectively.
I played three sports in high school, participating in football, basketball and baseball. Everyone I knew played three sports. That’s just what we did as athletes.
Most of today’s athletes, however, specialize on one sport, whether it be basketball, football, soccer, whatever. They play for their high school team. They play AAU or Junior Olympics in the summer with hopes of getting a college scholarship.
Bowl games are known for giving glamorous gift packages to student-athletes who participate in bowl games. This year, students will get everything from Blu-Ray players to Flip cameras to Best Buy Shopping sprees.
Graham High School grad Myles Trempe, a sophomore wideout at Ball State University, is the only area college football player to participate in a bowl game this year. Here’s what they had to say about the gifts Ball State will receive when they take on Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. on Jan. 6:
The gear: Ring, Watch, Hat, Football, Luggage tags. The verdict: Geez. Talk about a no-frills gift pack.
An odd thing happened to Mark Titus during an Ohio State home game earlier this season. The Buckeyes guard grabbed a rebound - and people booed.
The reaction might have been puzzling to a few folks in the stands, but for the religious readers of Titus’ popular blog, the good-natured jeers made perfect sense. By snaring the rebound, Titus, a seldom-used reserve, had ruined his chance of achieving a “trillion.”
“A trillion,” Titus explains, “is when you play one minute but don’t record any other stats. So when you look at the box score you see a ‘1’ to the far left followed by a bunch of zeros - just like the number 1,000,000,000,000.”
Titus was featured on ESPN.com Sports Guy Bill Simmons’ podcast. In this video, Titus puts off the NBA Draft.
Walsh Jesuit junior pitcher Tyler Skulina, who struck out eight and allowed two 5 2/3 innings against Kenton Ridge in a Division II state semifinal last season, has committed to Virginia.
These boys basketball games scheduled for tonight, Tuesday, Dec. 23, have been postponed: Southeastern at Greeneview, Graham at Shawnee, Urbana at Kenton Ridge, Greenon at Tecumseh, Northwestern at Tippecanoe, Catholic Central at Triad and Northeastern at Cedarville.
Tonight’s Mechanicsburg at West Liberty-Salem game will be played.
No makeup dates have been announced for Southeastern-Greeneview, Northeastern-Cedarville, Northwestern-Tippecanoe, Catholic Central-Triad and Graham-Shawnee.
Urbana will play at Kenton Ridge on Tuesday, Jan. 27. Greenon will play at Tecumseh on Jan. 6.
Never a fan of taking his offense off the field, the coach became miffed when his Bruins punted away to Pine Bluff (Ark.) Dollarway High only to see Pulaski allow an 80-yard touchdown on the return.
“That was stupid,” Kelley said. “We should’ve gone for it.”
As a result, his 2008 team did not punt during 14 games. Such an unorthodox strategy may seem like lunacy, but it was successful: Pulaski won the 5A state title on Dec. 6.
The Raiders earned the distinction by USA Today, ESPN’s Rise Fab 50 Poll, PrepNation’s final National Prep Poll, Rivals.com and MaxPreps following Friday’s 56-7 victory over nationally ranked Lakeland for the Class 5A state championship in Orlando.
Fourteen years ago on this date, Dec. 23, 1994, South High School athletic director C. Duane Baker spoke in the News-Sun about his impending retirement after 28 years at the school. Complete story on the jump:
Published Dec. 23, 1994
BAKER SET FOR HIS SOUTH FAREWELL
ATHLETIC DIRECTOR RETIRING AFTER 28 YEARS OF SERVICE
Byline: By Cindy Horner - Sports Writer
It’s kind of like counting down the number of days until Christmas, although the Xs have been marked on the calandar dating back a few extra months.
South Athletic Director C. Duane Baker has been the one with the pencil in his hand counting down the days until his retirement.
Not that Baker hasn’t enjoyed his stay at South, but putting in 28 years at one place is enough for anyone.
“I would have gotten out of it a long time ago if I didn’t like what I was doing,” said the 58-year-old Baker, whose last day is Dec. 31 when school is out.
“I’ve never thought of it as a job and I’ve never dreaded coming in here,” Baker said as he leaned back in his chair in his office, just outside South’s main gymnasium. “I was fortunate to find a niche. I like it here. I loved it here for 28 years. I will always love it here, it’s just time to give someone else a shot.”
Baker, affectionately known as “Bake,” spent the past 14 years as the athletic director after 14 as a teacher and assistant basketball coach.
A native of Celina, Ohio, he might have ended up at Oxford Talawanda, but Baker found out through a friend that there was an opening in Springfield.
“South was a much bigger school,” said Baker, who spent a year at Republic High School, near Tiffin, and five more at Wapakoneta. “They played a big-time schedule. The interview went well here and so I came to South as the assistant basketball coach. Wayne Wiseman was the hoops coach at the time and we hit it off real well.”
Wiseman remembers when South hired Baker.
“He came here and just fit in perfectly with the whole staff,” Wiseman said. “Things couldn’t have gone better. I didn’t know him before we hired him. We met in late June or July and I took him around Springfield. We dropped by the board office and that was the end of it. We’ve hit it off since day one.”
Wiseman is one who has appreciated Baker’s efforts.
“I’d have to say that the Springfield City Schools are very fortunate to have someone as dedicated as him all these years,” he said. “I know we’ve had excellent times there. I’m glad he’s retiring, though, because we’ve been euchre partners for about the past 20 years. He hasn’t been carrying his load lately, so hopefully he’ll have more time to practice now.”
Baker, who graduated from Ohio University in 1959, was an assistant under Wiseman until 1981, when AD Bucky Walters had health problems and retired.
“Wiseman was offered the job, but he wasn’t ready to give up basketball and no one was allowed to do both,” Baker explained. “He passed it up and it fell to me. I took it right away.”
Baker, who played basketball and was a pitcher in baseball in high school and college, had to give up the close relationships with students that develop through coaching and teaching.
“It was a big adjustment for me,” he said. “Coaching kids is different than being the athletic director. You get close to kids in the classroom. I miss the personal relationships and I think I was best in the classroom.”
Baker has been in education for 34 years. But his counterpart at North, Jim Rolfes, has been in the business longer and says he’ll miss Baker.
“Bake is very well liked by his peers. The (Western Ohio) League will miss him as well,” said Rolfes, who has been at North for 35 years, 20 as AD. “We talk several times a week. We ask each other for advice on how to handle certain things. Duane was always there if I needed anything. There was no North-South rivalry between us. We just always tried to do what we felt was best for both schools. I’ll miss him.”
Baker’s plans include attending sporting events here and there.
“I’m not going to do anything right away,” said Baker, who has been married to his wife, Pat, for 28 years. “I’m just going to keep the logs on the fire. If something comes along, I’ll look at it. I’m not going to just sit around in a rocking chair. I’ll come back for games and hoot and holler.”
Pat, who taught at Clark Middle School, is in her second year of retirement. They have one daughter, Suzanne, who is completing a degree in elementary education at Ohio U.
Baker was hooting and hollering in 1984 when South went undefeated and was ranked No. 1 in the state in basketball. He said that had to be one of the most exciting years.
“It was a team that just went together,” he said. “The whole team was tight and very unique. Everybody loved those kids. The place was packed every night. They gave off such a positive image. They were like ambassadors to good will.”
Another exciting project for Baker was the renovation of Evans Stadium.
“It’s been challenging, interesting, educational and fun,” he said. “There have been so many people involved in the project. Everyone was a tremendous help.
“There’s a lot of great people here that I’ve worked with over the years both at the administrative level and in the faculty. Plus, all the kids that come through. The coaching staff has been great, too. I’ve enjoyed it all.”
Senior Brandon Johnson didn’t want to play his last season at The College of Wooster with his surgically repaired left knee at less than 100 percent. With that in mind, the returning All-North Coast Athletic Conference first-team guard has decided to completely sit out the 2008-09 campaign and request a medical waiver to come back as a fifth-year senior.
WESTERVILLE — Wittenberg men’s basketball coach Bill Brown has set an early rule for the 2009-2010 Tiger basketball squad.
“They’re all playing football before next year,” Brown said.
That’s because the Tigers have gotten a shot in the arm in December from freshman Michael Cooper and Josh McKee, both of whom play on the Tigers’ football squad.
“It’s remarkable how they’ve made the transition,” Brown said.
Thirteen years ago on this date, Dec. 22, 1995, the North boys basketball team and head coach Eddie Ford suffered an 83-71 loss to Wayne. Ford (above) retired after the 2007-08 season. Complete story on the jump:
Published: Dec. 23, 1995
PANTHERS LEFT UNSATISFIED
AFTER TOUGH LOSS TO WAYNE
By Ron Ware, News-Sun Sports Writer
Throughout his seven-year head coaching career, North’s Eddie Ford has prided himself on his ability to keep his lips tightly sealed no matter what he might think of the officiating.
Friday night _ as he watched his Panthers drop out of a share of the Western Ohio League lead with an 83-71 homecourt loss to Wayne _ he found himself teetering closer and closer to the brink.
Ford avoided a Bob Knight-style conflagration, and he stopped short of doing or saying anything that could land him in trouble with the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
But his displeasure with the three-man crew was clearly evident to the sparse crowd, especially in the final minutes, when he repeatedly mocked referee Bill Mason _ telling him several times that he would be sure to get his name _ and chided umpires Scott Myers and Kyle Bachman for not making calls.
Ford maintained his composure in his postgame assessment but was pointed in his comments.
“I think the free throws were the difference,” he said as his assistants nodded in agreement. “They shot 37 (making 29) and we shot 28 (making 18). And it hurt our defense. I think what hurt us was our (lack of) intensity on defense.
“The calls were going against us, so we backed off. And I think the other team was allowed to remain aggressive.”
But Ford quickly agreed with the assessment that if North had gotten better play from its young backcourt and shot a reasonable percentage, it might still be tied with South atop the WOL. The loss dropped the Panthers, two-time defending league champions, to 4-2 overall and to 3-1 in the league, tied for second with the Warriors, 5-1 and 3-1.
For most of the night, North’s offense came off second shots. And even when a team is getting a bundle of them, that isn’t necessarily a good sign, considering how many missed shots preceded all of those offensive rebounds.
The Panthers, who were led by senior guard Pat Rastatter’s 20 points, shot only 38 percent, negating their staggering 47-25 rebounding edge, which included 27 offensive boards.
After 13 lead changes and eight ties, Wayne took command for good with a 10-5 spurt midway through a sloppily played third quarter, which put the Warriors ahead, 51-46. North pulled within 51-49 on Carl Berg’s two free throws with 53 seconds to go in the quarter, but Wayne, which shot 48 percent, scored the next five points and led by at least five the rest of the way.
The Warriors, who got 25 points from 6-foot-8 senior center Paul Blankenship and 21 from senior forward T.J. Jackson, pulled away by hitting 15 of 19 free throws in the last 1:19. Their last field goal came on Blankenship’s basket from underneath with 2:05 remaining.
Chris Strodes added 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds for North, while Robbie Browning came off the bench to score 11 and Eric Thomas had 10 boards. The Panthers were without junior forward William Castleberry, serving the first half of a two-game OHSAA suspension for his ejection from a game last week.
“We really missed his leadership,” Ford said. “He gives us a lot of the same things that Walt (Sanford) did last year (when North advanced to the Division I state semifinals).”
While Ford was smoldering afterward, Wayne Coach Jim Muntz could scarcely hide his glee. The Warriors had been shooting only 53 percent from the line and also were hit hard by the flu during the week.
Now, they’re firmly in the WOL race.
“I’ll tell you, the league is so competitive,” he said. “You got teams that are 0-3 going into tonight that are good basketball teams.
“If you can go in and get one on the road, you gotta be pleased. … We’re just thrilled to get this.”
The Ohio High School Athletic Association Foundation recently held its state-wide Foundation Service Week, which saw OHSAA member schools conduct 136 charity events that coincided with an exhibition basketball game. Together, they produced a massive statewide community service event of unmatched proportions.
On this day 13 years ago, Dec. 20, 1995, Kenton Ridge graduate Dave Burba signed a one-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds. Meanwhile, KR grad Rick White was battling back from Tommy John surgery after spending the season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Click the jump for a story about both major league pitchers.
Published in the Dec. 21, 1995 edition of the Springfield News-Sun:
TALE OF TWO COUGARS
BURBA INKS $1.1 MILLION CONTRACT WITH CINCINNATI …
By Matt Thompson, News-Sun Sports Writer
Now a full-time resident of sunny Gilbert, Ariz., Dave Burba has the tact to at least pretend he envies those battling snowdrifts back in his old hometown.
“Remember,” he says in all sincerity, “there’s nothing like a white Christmas.”
And then the truth comes out. “But it’s also nice to go golfing anytime you want.”
Burba’s Christmas certainly won’t be white _ more like green, and not just because of the fairways where he’ll be hacking away.
Burba agreed to a one-year deal with the Reds on Wednesday worth $1.1 million, nearly doubling his 1995 salary of $600,000.
“I guess when you do good, you get rewarded,” said Burba, who did, indeed, do good last season.
The Kenton Ridge product came over to Cincinnati as part of a five-player deal that sent outfielder Deion Sanders to San Francisco. Though Burba was far from a principle in that trade, he ended up making the most impact of any of the involved, going 6-2 with a 3.27 ERA in a Reds’ uniform.
He was even more effective as a starter (4-1, 2.41) and that’s apparently where he’ll be staying.
“I talked to (new Reds Manager) Ray (Knight), and he said he wants me to start,” said Burba, who began the season in long relief. “That’s where I’d really rather be.”
Burba gets a bonus of $25,000 if he starts 30 games.
By signing, Burba avoided the often-grueling process of salary arbitration _ “All that’s how bad can they abuse you,” he said _ but then, the Reds were just as eager to clear that particular hurdle.
After signing left-hander Pete Schourek, 18-7, to a one-year, $3.3-million contract and reaching a three-year, $2.3-million agreement with catcher Eddie Taubensee Wednesday, the Reds have all of their arbitration-eligible players either under contract or cast adrift.
Outfielder Ron Gant refused the Reds’ offer of arbitration on Monday and the team has three weeks to work out the long-term deal he’s seeking before Gant becomes fair game to all teams.
As for Burba, he’s just glad his part in the whole process is over.
“It gets a little old,” he said of the negotiations. “You’re kind of bickering, back and forth. They compare you to one person, you compare yourself to another.
“I’m happy with what I got, and I’m sure the Reds are happy, too.”
One thing Burba didn’t get, however, is a two-year deal, which would have taken him right through his sixth season — making him eligible for free agency.
“We worked on a two-year deal, but apparently they weren’t interested,” said Burba. “Maybe they want to see how this year goes.”
Does that add any pressure?
“I can’t put any more pressure on myself than I already do,” Burba said. “I’m just going to go out and do what I can do. It’s hard enough to get guys out.”
Reds General Manager Jim Bowden, meanwhile, continues trying to slash the team’s payroll _ one of baseball’s highest last season _ and is reportedly looking to trade some of the team’s higher-salaried pitchers in order to sign Gant.
Along with Schourek and Burba, the Reds have John Smiley ($4.6 million), Mark Portugal ($4 million) and David Wells ($3 million) in the rotation. Veteran Jose Rijo is attempting a comeback from reconstructive elbow surgery.
“I think we’re gonna have a solid team, still,” Burba said. “Only guys we’re really missing is Gant and (catcher) Benito (Santiago), and Taubensee can fill his shoes.”
Of course, that’s assuming there’s a season next year. No one’s floating strike talk much, but, with no collective bargaining agreement yet between the players and owners, nothing is certain.
“I think about that every day,” Burba said. “I just think it would kill baseball. There’s no way they can go with another strike. We know that, the owners know that, and (player negotiator) Don (Fehr) knows that.”
Burba said he’s heard of no progress from recent closed-door negotiations between the players’ association and the owners, but he hopes there will be some, “really, really soon.
“It’d be a nice present from Santa.”
No matter what color your Christmas is.
Published in the Dec. 21, 1995 edition of the Springfield News-Sun:
TALE OF TWO COUGARS
… WHILE WHITE AWAITS RETURN TO FORM FOLLOWING RECONSTRUCTIVE ARM SURGERY
By Steve Jacoby, News-Sun Sports Writer
Rick White doesn’t need a string around his finger to remember the 8-10 month rehabilitation awaiting him.
But move a few inches upward on White’s right arm and the reminder — a seven-inch scar along his elbow — sticks out as glaringly as a Mike Tyson appearance on Jeopardy.
Following a two-hour “Tommy John” surgery last Thursday — in which a ligament from White’s left hand was transplanted into his right elbow — the 26-year-old Kenton Ridge graduate will rehabilitate the arm through next summer and hopes to return to baseball by August or September. It will be 12-16 more weeks before White will be able to throw a ball.
“I already have full mobility back in my left hand,” White said. “It was like I never had surgery on that arm.”
The right arm — the meal ticket — remains a little more dicey. White has been performing basic strength exercises designed to increase flexibility and range of motion. But White’s range of emotions has had all sorts of workouts lately.
The Pittsburgh Pirates, who knew of White’s medial collateral ligament tear, released the right-hander Nov. 19 only to reinstate him onto the 40-man roster Dec. 8 after realizing their action violated the existing collective bargaining agreement.
Baseball has been without a new collective agreement since Dec. 31, 1993, but the old one — under which players returned to work this past season — remains in effect. But, a week after putting him back on the roster, the Bucs then released White once again Dec. 15.
This time, the new, medical-related release — called a D-2 — means White will remain with Pittsburgh and will receive a third of his 1995 salary in 1996. Translation: While the paperwork has changed, the names remain the same.
“It’s a weird loophole,” said White, a combined 8-7 this past season in stints with Triple-A Calgary and the parent Pirates. “Now I’m technically still part of the team.”
The Pirates could have chosen to leave White totally off their roster or to give him his unconditional release, meaning, in either case, White would have been able to negotiate with other teams as a free agent.
But given White’s injury, he wasn’t the most attractive of the available free agents pitchers. And the Pirates have an interest in keeping White around. Not an outright divorce, the action serves as a trial separation. Sort of.
Like his arm, White’s salary took a serious cut. White, who played under a 1995 split contract of $140,000 when he was in the majors and $87,900 when he was in the minors, had his 1996 paycheck reduced to the neighborhood of $45,000.
“I understand the business aspect of things,” said White, who took an active role in union negotiations last year. “I could have easily gotten bitter because they had cut my pay by a lot. But I talked to (Pirates Manager Jim) Leyland and (Pirates General Manager Cam) Bonifay and they plan on me starting.”
The Pirates have been busy in the off-season free-agent market, signing former Colorado Rockies center fielder Mike Kingery and remaining in the bidding for other blue-chippers like Gary Gaetti, who signed with St. Louis.
A healthy White could lend stability to a shaky Pirates staff that had one of the worst ERAs in baseball. White came to spring training this season some 20 pounds overweight, hurt his arm in his very first appearance and was sent to Calgary for 10 weeks. But White, who threw 150 innings between the major- and minor-league levels, said it was on another trip — this one to winter ball in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic — when the pain became unbearable.
Soon thereafter, White conferred with Pirates team doctor Jack Failla and the renowned sports surgeon, Los Angeles-based Dr. Frank Jobe. Both recommended the surgery, which was performed by Jobe.
The surgery has left White with a lot of dead time, but, just maybe, with a live arm.
Springfield sophomore Akeem Freeman got to the free-throw line 16 times in Friday’s 80-72 loss at Wayne. He hit 10 of them.
“It tells me he’s really working hard under the basket,” Springfield coach Bill Slagle said. “At 6-1, 210, he’s really getting the job done against bigger players, and I told him that. I really appreciated how hard he played, and I thought everybody gave us a good effort as far as playing hard.”
HUBER HEIGHTS — It looks as if Springfield’s fourth-quarter comeback at Wayne is going to fall short. The Wildcats trail 78-67 with under a minute left here.
The Wildcats trailed by as many as 15 points in the third quarter. The Warriors’ Jordan Bazile has 24 points.
Springfield cut the deficit to four points on a 3-pointer by Zach Burks with 2:41 to go, but that was as close as it got.
It’s now 80-69. Bill Slagle just called a timeout for Springfield.
The Wildcats will fall to 2-3 and suffer their first Greater Western Ohio Conference Central Division defeat. They beat Beavercreek in their last game.
Sophomore Akeem Freeman has had a big fourth quarter with eight points.
Trey DePriest has 15 points, and Zack Burks has 18.
Just 14.2 seconds left. Burks hit a 3 at the buzzer.
On this day eight years ago, Dec. 19, 2000, future Harlem Globetrotter and Western Kentucky star Elgrace Wilborn blocked eight shots as South rolled Fairmont 65-39. Click the jump for the full game story.
Published in the Dec. 20, 2000 edition of the Springfield News-Sun:
SOUTH ROLLS UP WIN OVER FAIRMONT
WILDCATS STAY ATOP WOL FOLLOWING DOMINATING EFFORT FROM WILBORN
By HOWIE MAGNER, News-Sun Sports Writer
Elgrace Wilborn isn’t a coach yet, but the 6-foot-8 South center is already introducing opponents to the donut offense. It’s the system with nothing in the middle.
Fairmont became the latest South foe to experience the donut, as Wilborn dominated the paint defensively and led the homestanding Wildcats to a 65-39 victory Tuesday night.
South stayed unbeaten at 6-0 and is atop the Western Ohio League standings at 4-0, while Fairmont fell to 3-3 and 2-2.
Wilborn scored just 12 points, but he denied so many more to Fairmont, blocking eight shots and grabbing nine rebounds. Take into consideration the countless shots he altered simply by getting a hand up, and you understand why South Coach Larry Ham doesn’t pressure Wilborn to score.
“We don’t need Elgrace to score necessarily. He probably could average a lot more, but Elgrace knows that he doesn’t have to score,” Ham said. “But he also knows that it’s his job to do as much as he can to keep the other team from scoring.”
And when teams work overtime to keep Wilborn from scoring, as Fairmont did Tuesday by collapsing two and three men on him, he enjoys playing defense that much more. Swatting shots away like pesky gnats is a great way to relieve frustration.
“That’s what it is,” said Wilborn, who already has 35 blocks this season. “Shoot, if I can’t score on the offensive end, I’m just gonna do the job on the defensive end and kick it out to my teammates on offense so they can score.”
Jordan Copeland was the main beneficiary of those kickouts Tuesday, leading all scorers with 21 points to go with his nine rebounds. Byron Parks chipped in 12 points for the Wildcats and Tony Brown had eight.
“The points are being well distributed,” Copeland said. “The scoring’s not coming from one person. It’s spread out pretty nice.”
In fact, South entered the Fairmont game boasting five of the WOL’s top 17 scorers.
“We’ve got a lot of balanced scoring,” Ham said. “That has a lot to do with people being so afraid of Elgrace getting the ball close to the basket. He’s drawing three or four guys sometimes.”
Fairmont could’ve used some of South’s balance Tuesday. Though Frank Passaro scored 19 points and Brian Lee added 11, no other Firebird contributed more than three points. The Firebirds only had two points at the end of the first quarter and converted just 26 percent of their field-goal attempts.
Credit Wilborn, who established himself in the lane early and guarded it often, for much of Fairmont’s shooting woes. His presence inside turned the Firebird offense into a perimeter shootaround, with Fairmont’s only first-half layup coming from Passaro while Wilborn was on the bench. When Fairmont’s outside shots wouldn’t fall, the Firebirds were at a loss for answers.
“We just didn’t come to play. We played timid, played soft and played scared,” Fairmont coach Tim Casey said. “Obviously South is very good and you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. But I’d like to think that if we played harder, we’d at least make a game out of it and not embarrass ourselves like we did tonight.”
South led 27-15 at halftime, then put the game away early in the third quarter. The Wildcats came out of the locker room in a full-court press, forcing five turnovers and two missed shots on Fairmont’s first seven possessions of the third quarter. It led to an 8-0 run that pushed South’s lead up to 35-15 and Fairmont got no closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
South is back in action 8 p.m. Friday at Fairborn before returning home for Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. showdown against rival North. No doubt Ham will remind his players that they needed double overtime to win at Fairborn last season to keep the Wildcats from looking forward to North too much.
“We’ve got North coming up, but we’ve got Fairborn coming up before that, so we don’t want to look ahead,” Ham said. “Everybody’s asking about North and the kids, I don’t mind them talking about it, but I’ve got to remind them that Fairborn always plays us tough.”
WEST LIBERTY — It’s over. WLS outscored SE 11-6 in the overtime for a 61-56 victory. Haleigh Hickenbottom had seven points in the overtime, going 4-for-6 from the free throw line.
4 quarters weren’t enough. SE freshman Jenna Erwin, fouled shooting from half-court at the buzzer, nailed two-of-three free throws to send the game into overtime. Haleigh Hickenbottom made one-of-two free throws to give WLS a 50-48 lead before Erwin’s late heroics.
After three quarters, the Tigers still lead 35-31. Neither team played well in the third quarter, suffering from missed shots and turnovers. At this point, it could go either way.
At the half, WLS leads 26-21. The Trojans held WLS senior Haleigh Hickenbottom scoreless until she nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. SE freshman Jenna Erwin had six points in the second quarter. Danielle King has 10 points for WLS.
It was a quick first quarter. WLS leads 16-11. The Tigers jumped out to a 10-2 lead, but the Trojans fought back to pull within five. WLS is playing a stingy 2-3 zone, keeping the ball out of the Trojans big senior post players Amanda Harvey and Amber Hayslip. Danielle King is on fire for WLS, scoring seven points.
The ball’s been tipped and we’re off here at West Liberty-Salem High School for tonight’s OHC girls basketball clash.
SPRINGFIELD — One week before Christmas, one team will look to grab the early lead in the Ohio Heritage Conference girls basketball race.
Southeastern travels to West Liberty-Salem tonight, Dec. 18, in a battle of unbeaten squads in the OHC.
Last year, the squads dominated each other’s home court. A victory in the early matchup this season will give the winner a definite advantage down the stretch.
The key matchup in the game will be in the post. WLS freshman Becka Peterson is averaging 14.4 points per game, but she’ll have a big test against SE’s two seasoned post players: Amanda Harvey and Amber Hayslip. The game should be determined by the team who can control the paint.
Click the jump for a preview of all of Thursday’s games.
Thursday, Dec. 18 schedule
Catholic Central at Mechanicsburg, 7:30: The Irish are strong inside with Maggie Williams and Garrett Weber, but the Indians have a nice inside-outside tandem in Kristin Dunlap and Mary Bline.
Northeastern at Cedarville, 7:30: Jillians Adams should have a big night against the Indians.
Triad at Greeneview, 7:30: The Cardinals are the most improved team in the OHC.
Troy Christian at Yellow Springs, 7:30: The Bulldogs are averaging 51 points per game, while the Eagles are allowing just 21 points a game. Something has to give in this MBC matchup.
Graham at Indian Lake, 8: The Falcons can grab a share of first place in the CBC Mad River Division with a win.
Kenton Ridge at Stebbins, 8: Cougars haven’t allowed more than 55 points a game this season. Look for Saira House and Co. to have a big night.
Northwestern at Benjamin Logan, 8: The Warriors have lost five straight since an opening night victory against Greeneview. They’ll look to get back to winning ways.
Tecumseh at Bellefontaine, 8: The young Arrows have a good chance to get their first victory tonight.
Tippecanoe at Shawnee, 8: The Red Devils are still unbeaten. It will be a tough task for the Braves.
Urbana at Greenon, 8: The Hillclimbers will do whatever it takes to stop Allie Turner. The junior will see every junk defense imaginable against Urbana tonight.
Ten years ago on this date, Dec. 18, 1998, the South boys basketball team beat Fairmont 59-51 with strong play from Thomas Stephens, Elgrace Wilborn and Jordan Copeland. Complete story on the jump:
Published Dec. 19, 1998
DEFENSE DOES IT
SOUTH SHUTS DOOR ON FAIRMONT RALLY.
By Matt Thompson, News-Sun Sports Writer
Okay, sure … at times South’s defense looked every bit as stiffly choreographed as one of those “Old Navy” commercials, but with a rapidly developing pair of sophomores wreaking havoc on the visitors, that ultimately didn’t matter much.
With 24 points, senior Thomas Stephens provided the bulk of South scoring during the Wildcats’ 59-51 victory over Kettering Fairmont, but it was sophomores Jordan Copeland _ with 13 points, three steals and some solid man-to-man defense _ and Elgrace Wilborn _ with nine points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots _ that really raised some eyebrows Friday night.
“Elgrace is coming along,” said South Coach Larry Ham, whose team improved to 5-0, 3-0 in the Western Ohio League. “And Jordan is a sophomore that’s playing like a senior.”
Meanwhile, Fairmont _ with the exception of senior center Bryan Nelson, who matched a season-high with 34 points _ struggled just to find the bottom of the basket, shooting an icy 38 percent from the field. Take out Nelson’s 12-for-24 performance and that percentage drops below 30 percent.
“We continue to struggle shooting the basketball,” said Fairmont Coach Tim Casey, whose team is now 2-3, 0-3 in the WOL. “And I still think this is a good-shooting team.
“We’re just frustrated right now.”
The only other Firebird to even sniff double-figures was James Thompson, and he had just seven points on 3-of-10 shooting.
That’s not to say Fairmont didn’t make a game of it.
Fairmont battled back from an early 10-2 deficit by embarking on an 18-4 run _ nearly all Nelson _ that stretched into the early minutes of the second quarter.
“We’re not that used to playing guys that strong,” said Stephens. “Plus we didn’t have any backside help.”
Nelson was at times almost comically wide open, once allowed to get the ball all by himself directly under the basket with at least eight feet between himself and the nearest South defender. He made the basket to even the score at 14-all.
South responded by dropping down from man-to-man to a 1-3-1 zone, and _ after some initial confusion among the Wildcats _ that seemed more than enough to get the Firebirds out of their game.
“We just lost our aggressiveness,” said Casey. “We’ve got to do a better job of recognizing when teams change up on us, and not letting that take away our aggressiveness.”
With Fairmont pulling up lame, South slowly evened up the score, taking the lead for good when Stephens hit a long jumper as time expired on the half, 27-26.
As slim the margin was, it gave South a much-needed boost heading into the locker rooms.
“It gave us some momentum coming out in the second half,” said Copeland, who picked up just one foul despite applying heavy defensive pressure the whole game long.
South’s at-times-chaotic defense, combined with Fairmont’s chilly shooting touch, kept the scoring to a minimum through the third quarter, and the Wildcats slowly pieced together a lead that crested at 10 points, 48-38, with just under six minutes to play.
Once again, Nelson took over, scoring 13 of his points during the final stretch as the Firebirds got back in the game.
“Everybody had to guard him,” said Wilborn of Nelson. “But he was finding the open shots. You gotta give him his props this time.”
“It seems like every time there’s gonna be one guy who gets a bunch of points,” Stephens said. “But one guy can’t beat us, so that’s a good thing, too.”
The Firebirds pulled within three, 50-47, on a Nelson three-pointer with 3:51 left … but South closed out the game with a 9-4 run, most of those points coming on foul shots by Stephens and Copeland.
Ham was anything but pleased his team allowed Fairmont to hang around as long as it did.
“We had opportunities to put it away,” said Ham. “Missed layups, missed free throws at crucial points. Championship teams, or teams that want to contend for the league, have got to _ at those crucial points _ make those shots.”
South joins North and Beavercreek as unbeatens in the WOL. The loss likely precludes Fairmont from playing anything but a spoiler role in the league.
“This team has a lot of pride,” Casey said. “So they’ll be playing hard the rest of the way.”
Springfield High School’s girls varsity basketball game scheduled for today, Wednesday, Dec. 17, was postponed due to the weather. It has been rescheduled to Jan. 3 at 2 p.m.
Fifteen years ago on this date, Dec. 17, 1993, South High School’s Dee Miller announced his decision to play football at Ohio State. Complete story and YouTube video of Miller after jump:
Story published Dec. 18, 1993
DEE MILLER CHOOSES: IT’S OSU
`I WANTED TO GIVE MY FAMILY THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE ME PLAY’
By Cindy Horner, News-Sun Sports Writer
Dee Miller stood before a crowd of coaches, friends and media Friday morning and calmly unfolded a piece of paper containing the news that had been anticipated for weeks.
“I’ve weighed the disadvantages and advantages of my college choices and I’ve chosen to attend Ohio State,” the 6-foot-2, 205-pound wide receiver-safety said during a press conference the South High School library.
Miller will officially sign with Ohio State Feb. 2, when the scholarship arrives by Federal Express.
“I just thank God for giving me the ability to compete every Friday night,” Miller said, thanking his family, people in the community, the reverend at his church and his counselor, Ricky Gates.
The thought of attending Ohio State has been with him for a while, but he considered other Division I schools like Tennessee and Michigan.
He made up his mind this week after Ohio State Coach John Cooper visited his home Monday.
“I felt they’d utilize my talents and give me a better future,” said Miller, who caught 56 passes for 1,139 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Wildcats, who finished 7-3 this season.
“I wanted to give my family the opportunity to see me play,” Miller added. “I want to stay in Ohio, and I sat down with my family and my coach and thought it was better for me and my future. I’ve been to a lot of (Ohio State) games this season. Their success had a lot to do with my decision.”
Miller and South Coach Tom Adams visited the Ohio State campus again Wednesday to watch the Buckeyes practice for their game against Brigham Young University in the Dec. 30 Holiday Bowl at San Diego.
“I looked at Ohio State’s stats and saw that 60 percent of their offense was through the air,” said Miller, who completed his career with 126 catches for 2,726 yards and 36 touchdowns.
“If they weren’t throwing the ball, I wouldn’t go to Ohio State. I talked to Coach Cooper and he seemed like a nice guy and so did (receivers coach) Mike Stock. I saw something in (Stock’s) eyes that said, `I could get you to be a great wide receiver.”’
Miller and South quarterback Chris Wallace, who is still undecided about what college to attend, shared Division I offensive player of the year honors on the Associated Press All-Ohio team.
They also were co-winners of the Springfield News-Sun All-Area and AP Southwest District offensive player of the year awards.
“I felt he wanted to stay home,” said Adams, who was convinced Miller would choose Ohio State. “He’s very close to his mom and dad. They all tell me that he will fit in well there. Everybody is ecstatic with his decision because he’s only 40 miles away.”
The last area players to receive Ohio State scholarships were brothers Patrick and Greg Rogan, both graduates of Urbana.
“I’m still shocked,” Miller said. “It certainly will be different in college. Instead of playing in front of maybe 1,000 it will be more like 90,000. I have a dream of playing big time football and right now I can’t believe this is happening to me.
“Last summer, I went to Michigan and said Yeah this is the place for me', then I went to Ohio State and saidMan this is all very nice.’ “
Miller’s parents, Patty and Doug Miller, who are divorced, have supported him throughout the decision-making process.
“It’s been real exciting for us,” Patty Miller said. “Dee is a special kind of child. None of this has changed him as a person. We’re big Buckeye fans and we’re glad that he’ll be close by, but we didn’t want to influence his decision in any way.”
“We met Cooper before and liked him, but Monday’s visit was more personal,” Doug Miller said. “We’ve really enjoyed him and the coaching staff. Dee really likes their players, too.”
Miller said he appreciated the support of his parents.
“My parents may be divorced, but they’ve always been there for me,” said Miller, who’s an only child. “People think I’m very lucky because they get along real well, still. They both are a very big part of my life.”
2012 senior class photos
2012 West Carrollton graduation
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