Tallked to one of the WH starters a few weeks ago. He was very optimistic about the season. He said they would defintitely be better this year and he expected them to win many more games.

I asked him if they would beat Hiland. He just laughed. Not sure what he meant by that, but I took it as, "Uh, let's not get carried away." I'll take the Hawks big in that one.

That alumni game was very encouraging. They moved the ball well, shot well, played together well, played hard-nosed defense, showed toughness, Braden was great at PG, Jason Miller was shooting lights out, Jalen was playing his butt off (as usual), and the stars were stars. They seem to be as good as advertised. Beating a bunch of men, who are all very good players, and most importantly, who were led by Jason Mishler, was very, very impressive.

Ricola, I am pretty familiar with the situation at West Holmes. I would say they will be better this year, but are still a long long way away from winning many more games. I'll set the over/under at 4......Hiland is going to beat them by 30+.

Strasburg opens with the Smithies. Without Seger it will be interesting to see how the first game goes in the new gym, against a Smithville team that isn't close to what the past few years have shown. I'll say that one is a wire to wire affair.

The Times Reporter IVC preview is out.

http://www.timesreporter.com/sports/x1790518513/IVC-boys-preview-The-league-is-deep

majorspark;586011 wrote:The Times Reporter IVC preview is out.

http://www.timesreporter.com/sports/x1790518513/IVC-boys-preview-The-league-is-deep

They no longer include team photos and schedules, just these few paragraphs?

Yes. The TR isn't the best way to get coverage of IVC teams/games. They will only have a reporter at one, maybe two, big games per night, and those will often involve Dover or Philly. Can't blame them for that. But for the game between X and Y IVC teams, they have the score and somethiing like "X defeated Y in an IVC game. X's Joe Schmo led the victory with 14 points. Johnny Doe had 12 points for Y". And that's it! Really, you get more just from reading the box score.

The DR covers Hiland a lot better, but not other IVC schools except Strasburg sometimes. The DR boxscores have more info too like techs, to's, rebounds, etc. Hiland also has local papers and radio where you can get info on games you don't attend.

The Budget covers Hiland and Garaway really well.

The Coshocton Tribune takes pretty good care of RW and maybe NCT.

I'm not sure the rest of the schools have any other papers or media that lets them know what happened at a particular game. It's gotta be frustrating to pay your 75 cents and get two sentences and a limited boxscore on the game you are interested in.

Since the TR is in the middle of IVC country, it would be nice to see them find a way to do a little more, but I'm sure they have cost and space concerns. But if they did step up, they would probably sell more papers during basketball season. It seems to me that they could have an unpaid or minimally paid responsible fan of each school provide them with a little more beef for their game recaps.

riders1;586084 wrote:They no longer include team photos and schedules, just these few paragraphs?

We were discussing the preview at work.....it has turned into a joke. The TR used to do a pretty nice job covering local teams, now it is just pretty much Philly/Dover....sad. Honestly though, the whole paper has become a joke, so I guess this was expected.

wes_mantooth;587181 wrote:We were discussing the preview at work.....it has turned into a joke. The TR used to do a pretty nice job covering local teams, now it is just pretty much Philly/Dover....sad. Honestly though, the whole paper has become a joke, so I guess this was expected.

this is certainly true! We've been getting the TR for years, but it may be time to stop. I would imagine they have had to cut back significantly because of the economics of the situation, but it's laughable what it's become. One would think Dover and Philly are the only high schools in their coverage area.
It's somewhat of a self fulfilling cycle: can't afford to cover the area, areas not covered stop getting paper, paper gets less revenue and cuts back on reporting, etc etc. I'd be surprised if the TR is still around in another 5 years.

The TR hears your words fellows. They have added some additional commentary.

http://www.timesreporter.com/sports/x556846303/Commentary-The-boys-IVC-title-up-for-grabs

^^ not to be ungrateful---I'm thankful for any IVC news they might place----but not quite what I was hoping for. I could have done that myself. Told the mrs it's time to say bye to the TR
So enough of TR bashing--back to the games!
League play starts this week. The big one (at least for many) is Hiland at Starsburg. (Strasburg: be nice!). Who else plays?

Mr. Russell;583239 wrote:Ricola, I am pretty familiar with the situation at West Holmes. I would say they will be better this year, but are still a long long way away from winning many more games. I'll set the over/under at 4......Hiland is going to beat them by 30+.

re WH: they are certainly an improved team from last year. After the game last year I wondered if they would win one. They will certainly get a few this year. I'll take the over---tho they are in a heck of a league. Frosh Arnold was at times the best player on the floor. He's fun to watch. Good days ahead for the team from the west.

As much as we up here complain about the Daily Record their basketball preview was 2 sections with 14 pages each, total 28 pages and color pictures. So I would have to say they deserve congrats on this and maybe some awards later.

IVC did well in opening non-conference match ups:

Garaway 51
Alliance 45

Hiland 61
West Holmes 41

Conotton Valley 62
Kidron Central Christian 50

Tuscarawas Central Catholic 55
Stuebenville Central Catholic 52

Strasburg 68
Smithville 62

Malvern 56
East Canton 45

Sandy Valley was the only team that lost. 53-36 to Tuscarawas Valley.

^^ all away games too, correct?

All except Strasburg.

Also forgot Newcomerstown beat Indian Valley 37-34.

ricola;591009 wrote:^^ all away games too, correct?

Strasburg was at home against Smithville, but I am pretty sure the rest were on the road.

Round 1

Hiland 72
Strasburg 44

Malvern 48
TCC 42
Malvern trailed going into the fourth. I believe TCC is without Sweet who is injured.

Garaway 49
Newcomerstown 37

Ridgewood 57
Sandy Valley 38

In a non conference game:

Conotton Valley 90
Bellaire St John 37
2-0 to start for Conotton Valley.

http://www.timesreporter.com/sports/highschool/x2012965076/Malvern-rallies-for-win-at-Central-Catholic

Heard Malvern has a player out for awhile? No idea if true, or who it is/would be. Maybe someone else knows if true.
The league looks good so far.

Hiland 54
Malvern 40

Rosecrans 56
Newcomerstown 35

TCC 54
Sandy Valley 36

Garaway 79
Strasburg 45

^^^whoa, I am kind of surprised that Garaway beat Strasburg that bad.

Evidently Coach Miller was too. TR reports: "Strasburg coach Shawn Miller had little to say after the game. 'Garaway played a great game,' he observed."

could be a long year for Strasburg

I see the Rosecrans have a couple of IVC teams on their schedule this year. They took care of Newcomerstown easily by 21. They play TCC at the end of the season. Two teams not expected to finish at the top in the IVC. But may provide a small measuring stick as to how the Rosecrans will compare in district competition. If the season goes as expected they will have to defeat two IVC teams to get through the district.

Last year both IVC teams lost in the first round. Shadyside 55-50 over Hiland and Rosecrans 49-44 over Malvern. Shadyside won the district with a 60-57 win over the Rosecrans. This year Rosecrans has everyone back. Malvern lost a productive senior in Wackerly, but gained a valuable move in. Hiland lost some senior support off the bench to graduation, but also gained a productive move in. If all goes as predicted the Byesville district will be a meat grinder.

One of the best high school basketball games I ever witnessed was the 1999 district championship between Hiland and the Rosecrans. Hiland ripped off nearly 70pts in the second half. Rosecrans were right with them till the end. Most points I have ever seen scored by two high school teams in one half. Both teams just went off. It was not because of lack of defense either, kids were just on and from long range too. The game ended with a 97-92 Hiland victory.

Perhaps a new epic battle is in the making?

Those bombs Bills was hitting in that game were impressive. Matched only by the incredible foul shooting of the Hawks (what was it, 18 of 19 in the 4th qtr?) Wouldn't be surprised to see a Hiland/Rosecrans rematch at some point; at least I hope Hiland makes it that far to keep playing. But I hope it's not a game like that; not sure the ticker could take one like that at this age!

that '99 battle in the districts between Hiland and Roscrans was epic, probably the 2nd best Hiland game/high school game period I ever saw..... Joe Miller hitting FT's and Kendall and Bills just getting off bombs one after the other and those two trash talking up and down the court......epic

Rivaled only by Joel Gause's "shot heard around Malvern" in 07. Wasn't as good of a game as the 99 Rcrans game, but the ending was incredible. Sorry Hornet friends.