ThisWeek Community Newspapers Bexley
January 13, 2011
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Commentary
Athletes share wishes for 2011 The beginning of the year brings a chance to set goals and kindle hopes of good things that could occur. Here are the 2011 wishes of some of central Ohio’s top high school athletes. Stevie Taylor, Gahanna boys basketball: “I wish that my team LARRY stays unbeatLARSON en throughout the season and, personally, that I can break the school scoring record.” Abby Chin, Upper Arlington girls swimming: “My wish for 2011 is to swim NCAA cut times and Olympic trial cut times so I can be ready for 2012.” Kyle Annis, Hilliard Davidson football: “My wish for the new year would just be for everyone to be safe and enjoy time with their families.” Hannah Stefanoff, Grandview cross country and track: “My new year’s wish is to have a healthy winter of training which can lead into a successful track season this spring and to stay positive through these winter months.” Joey Tomko, Gahanna baseball: “I wish that my family and friends have a healthy 2011. I hope that all my friends graduate and have successful college careers.” Chris Diaz, Watterson boys tennis: “My wish for 2011 is to have a great and successful start to four years of college and for college to be the best years of my life up to that point.” Joey Uhle, Olentangy Liberty pole vault: “My wish is real short and simple. I wish for warm weather during the track season.” Nick Netotian, Whitehall boys bowling: “For the new year, I look forward to my final year competing with my teammates on the bowling and baseball teams at Whitehall. I am also very excited about graduating with my class of 2011 and starting college this fall.” Ron Tanner, Eastmoor Academy football and basketball: “In 2011, I would like to truly get better every day. If I begin to improve every day, then I know I will be the best that I can be.” May all of you have your wishes come true in the coming year. I’ll see you at a game. Larry Larson is a former athletics director at Grandview High School. He can be heard as “Mr. High School Sports” on WTVN 610 AM.
By Andrea Kjerrumgard/ThisWeek
Bexley’s Bailey Breese pulls a rebound away from Columbus Academy’s Erica Frank last Saturday. The Lions won 45-39 to improve to 7-4 overall and 4-2 in the MSL-Ohio Division. They will play host to Heath on Friday.
Bexley Roundup
Boys buying into team defense By PAUL BATTERSON ThisWeek Community Newspapers The Bexley High School boys basketball team continues to work on shoring up its defense. “We’re starting to get the concept of team defense,” said coach Dave Gustin, whose team lost to Newark Catholic 6355 last Friday to fall to 4-4 overall. “We’re starting to understand that the parts of the defense make the whole. We’ve done a good job of denying the posts.” The problem, Gustin said, has been stopping teams from hitting shots from beyond the 3-point line. The Green Wave made a season-high eight 3-pointers against the Lions. Through eight games, Bexley allowed 38 3-pointers. The Lions face another good 3-point shooting team on Friday when they visit Licking Valley. The Panthers averaged four 3-pointers a contest through eight games and hit shots from beyond the arc in a 44-42 win over Whitehall last Friday. “Our guards are going to have to pressure their guards and almost faceguard their 3-point shooters,” said senior Jon Primes, a 6-foot-2 post player who was averaging 16 points and seven rebounds through eight games. “The rest of the team is going to have to help out on defense.” Gustin credits Primes for helping re-
At a glance Below are the recent results and coming schedules for Bexley boys basketball, girls basketball, swimming and diving, and wrestling teams: BOYS BASKETBALL *Dec. 21 — Lost to Granville 51-44 Dec. 29 — Defeated Circleville 58-53. Jon Primes scored 23 points and Jalen Robinette and Evan Port both added 14. *Last Friday — Lost to Newark Catholic 63-55. Primes scored 20 points. Robinette and Porter both scored 14. *Last Tuesday — Played Lakewood *Saturday — At Licking Valley Tuesday — Home vs. Wellington Of note: The Lions were 4-4 overall and 1-3 in the MSL-Ohio before last Tuesday.
GIRLS BASKETBALL Dec. 21 — Def. Buckeye Valley 65-32 Dec. 22 — Def. Beechcroft 68-64 Dec. 30 — Def. Washington Court House 52-37. Kylee Soga scored 16 points, Jelicia Shelton added 14 and Bailey Breese had 12. *Jan. 4 — Lost to Licking Valley 47-46. Shelton scored 17 points, Soga 11 and Breese 10. *Last Saturday — Def. Columbus Academy 4539. Breese scored 14 points. *Friday — Home vs. Heath. The Lions lost to the Bulldogs 46-41 on Dec. 2 *Tuesday — Home vs. Whitehall. The Lions defeated the Rams 44-34 on Dec. 4. Of note: The Lions are 7-4 overall and 4-3 in the MSL-Ohio.
SWIMMING & DIVING Last Friday — Boys: Lost to Grandview 70-24; Girls: Def. Grandview 48-46 Last Saturday — Boys: Def. Hartley 46-35; lost to DeSales 63-31; Girls: Lost to Hartley 66-28; lost to DeSales 53-40 Friday — Gahanna and Granville at St. Charles Saturday — Bexley Invitational at St. Charles WRESTLING Dec. 29-30 — Finished ninth (88.5) at 21-team Ready Winter Classic, behind champion Whitehall (286.5). D.J. Jones was first at 130 pounds. Friday-Saturday — Licking Heights Invitational Jan. 20 — At Licking Valley with Columbus Academy *MSL-Ohio contest
build the Lions, who graduated three players from a team that finished 20-3 overall and shared the MSL-Ohio title with Newark Catholic last season. Last season, Primes averaged only two points while playing behind 2010 graduate Reuel Rogers. Primes said Rogers went from being a player he was competing with for playing time to being his mentor. “It was frustrating, but I remember after the third game Reuel said, ‘You’ll get your chance next year,’” Primes said. “He and I became best friends. Every time he’d go to the weight room, I’d say,
‘Let me tag along with you.’ He made sure I did what I needed to do. I don’t think I’d be playing like this if he weren’t around.” Primes, who had 20 points against Newark Catholic, scored in double figures in six of the Lions’ first eight games. He was held to nine points in a 66-45 loss to Heath on Dec. 11 and scored only five points in a 51-44 loss to Granville on Dec. 21. Primes had 29 points and 12 rebounds in a 114-108 triple-overtime win over Licking Heights on Dec. 3. “He’s our basketball junkie,” Gustin
said. “I see the improvements he has made everywhere, from the classroom to the locker room, to his stats to his defense. In the summer and the fall, you could see he was really into it.” Primes said his improvement on the court started with a change of attitude in the classroom. After moving to Bexley from Canton, he struggled academically as a freshman but had a 3.8 grade point average last quarter. “When I moved here, all I was concerned about was sports and my grades See LIONS, page B2
St. Charles Roundup
Basketball team shooting for DeSales By SCOTT HENNEN
At a glance
ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
St. Charles’ Dane McLoughlin (right) defends Watterson’s Jake Brobst during the Cardinals’ 42-32 home win Jan. 5.
The St. Charles Preparatory School basketball team hasn’t beaten DeSales in more than six years. The Cardinals, who have lost 11 consecutive meeting with the Stallions, hope to end that streak Friday when they play host to DeSales in a CCL contest. Their last win over DeSales was a 63-61 decision on Dec. 17, 2004. Despite the losing streak, St. Charles holds a 41-40 edge in the all-time series. “It’s a CCL game and our No. 1 goal is to win the CCL,” senior guard Joe Spahr said. “We have the game marked on the calendar, but we have all the CCL games marked.” The Stallions improved to 5-3 overall with a 50-43 win over Jonathan Alder last Saturday. They lost to Hartley 51-40 last Friday, snapping a 50-game home winning streak. “We have to come out strong,” senior forward J. Schroeder said. “We have to stop their penetration and cut down on our turnovers.”
Below are the recent results and coming schedules for the St. Charles basketball and bowling teams: BASKETBALL Dec. 21 — Lost to Eastmoor Academy 44-42. Dane McLoughlin scored 10 points. Dec. 22 — Lost to Columbus West 6967. McLoughlin scored 24 points, Jimmy Ryan had 15 and J. Schroeder added 14. Dan Hennessey had nine. *Dec. 27 — Lost to Hartley 44-42. McLoughlin scored 18 points. Dec. 30 — Defeated Hilliard Bradley 39-37. McLoughlin scored 15 points and Joe Spahr scored 13.
*Jan. 5 — Def. Watterson 42-32. Ryan scored 11 points and Spahr supplied 10. Jan. 8 — Def. Whitehall 57-48. Ryan scored 19 points, Spahr had 14 and McLoughlin added 10. Last Tuesday — Played Franklin Heights *Friday — Home vs. DeSales Tuesday — Home vs. Westerville Central Of note: The Cardinals were 5-3 overall before last Tuesday and are 1-1 in the CCL. *CCL game BOWLING *Jan. 4 — Def. Beechcroft 2,104-
In the loss to Hartley, 6-foot-1 junior guard Brennan Schlabig and 6-2 senior guard Clinton James scored 11 points apiece. Tevin Cox, a 511 senior guard, had nine points and 6-4 senior forward Kenny Cooper scored seven. “Every time you play DeSales, you know it’s going to be a tough game when every possession
1,707. Zak Stephenson was medalist with 440 (226-214). Others competing were Dan Stickel (225 game, 408 series), Tom Cianflona (225, 407) and Josh Bruggeman (162, 312). *Last Friday — Def. Haugland Learning Center 1,992-1,048 *Last Wednesday — Played Brookhaven *Friday — Columbus West at Hillcrest Lanes *Tuesday — Watterson at HP Lanes Of note: The Cardinals were 5-0 overall and in the COHSBC-Central before last Wednesday. *COHSBC-Central match
counts,” Spahr said. “We just have to play smart basketball and play our game and everything will be OK.” Hartley leads the CCL at 3-0, followed by DeSales, St. Charles and Watterson at 1-1. See CARDINALS, page B2