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Home > Blogs > Springfield, Ohio High School Sports > Archives > 2009 > February > 04 > Entry
On this date in area sports history…
On this date, Feb. 4, 2003, the New-Sun published a story on West Liberty-Salem freshman guards Tyler Ledford and Brad Coder.
Published in the Feb. 4, 2003 edition of the Springfield News-Sun:
THEY’RE NO LONGER TIGER CUBS; FRESHMAN GUARDS ARE GROWING UP FAST AT WLS
By BRIAN PLASTERS, News-Sun Sports Writer
WEST LIBERTY — Aaron Hollar no longer considers his two young guards — Tyler Ledford and Brad Coder — freshmen.
“I think it’s a little bit overrated that they’re freshmen, because they’ve played so much basketball with us and with AAU. They’ve played as much basketball as some juniors and seniors,” explained Hollar, the West Liberty-Salem coach.
After the way this season has gone, it only seems that the two are older than the WLS roster indicates. Ledford has started every game in his young varsity career while Coder eased into a starting role after the first week of the season.
Ledford, a 5-foot-9 point guard, leads the team with 4.2 assists per game and adds 10.1 points.
Coder, a 6-foot wing, averages 13.2 points and grabs 7.4 rebounds per contest. He has also connected on a team-best 24 of 57 3-pointers (42.1 percent). Coder grabbed 18 rebounds in one game this season.
Ledford is a vocal leader on the floor, says Hollar, unafraid to speak his mind or suggest a play.
“Brad’s one of those kids that’s got a nose for the ball. He just anticipates very well. He jumps very well,” Hollar said. “(Tyler’s) had a couple games where’s he’s turned the ball over too much, but he’s still got a lot more assists than turnovers.”
Ledford and Coder’s arrival onto the varsity scene has been anticipated ever since their middle school teams lost just one game over the last two years.
Hollar said he saw the potential in his young duo, but he didn’t expect things to pick up so quickly when the season started.
“I thought after watching this summer that they would contribute significantly, but I don’t think I could have predicted them both in double figures and starting every game,” Hollar said. “We were awfully excited about them. We just weren’t sure what we were going to have until we saw them playing with the other guys.”
But they fit in immediately, Hollar said, and the older players helped ease the transition.
“There hasn’t been any animosity at all (from the older players),” Hollar said. “The upperclassman have been very good teammates.”
The freshmen have been able to flourish because the Tigers (10-7, 6-5 Ohio Heritage Conference) had a good support system already in place when they arrived.
Tim Steiner, a 6-foot junior guard, leads the Tigers with 17.9 points per game. Meanwhile, 6-10 senior Trey Richardson averages 9.5 boards per contest.
Steiner draws opponents’ best defender while Richardson ties up the other team’s big man. Ledford and Coder usually get the leftovers.
The Tigers are currently tied for fourth in the OHC with Mechanicsburg, trailing the first-place trio of Greeneview, Cedarville and Southeastern by two games.
Although the Tigers beat both Greeneview and Southeastern, Cedarville swept the season series.
“Every game we’ve played in the league has been a close game. Unfortunately we haven’t finished off a few of those. That would help us,” Hollar said.
Even though he’d like to have a few more wins, Hollar said he’s happy with the play of his team and his freshmen.
“It’s unbelievable how relaxing some parts of the game can be. They do everything we ask them to do. It’s fun being around them,” he said. “It’s an exciting brand of basketball that we play.”
And the future looks bright in West Liberty as Steiner, Ledford and Coder are all underclassmen. The Tigers will lose just three seniors to graduation.
“We’ve got a nice core of players that will be back next year,” Hollar said.
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