Ohio’s Mr Basketball, and Buckeyes recruit Colin White will lead Ottawa-Glandorf against Harvest Prep in the Division III semi-finals. (Press Pros File Photos)
A day spent canvasing basketball fans around Ohio Wednesday turned up some interesting opinions about tomorrow’s state tournament – the matchups, as well as the stage on which its presented.
After fifteen years of doing this you meet a lot of people, make a lot of relationships, and attract a lot of opinions about sports – particularly high school sports and how it pertains to the kid who lives next door.
And frankly, after fifteen years of Press Pros there aren’t too many platforms like it…that can reach out to fans in every region of the state…ask the questions on most people’s minds…and have people trust you enough to share how they feel.
And that’s how I spent Wednesday, calling all the regions and asking people about their expectations about this weekend’s boys state tournament. My question: “How good do you expect the state tournament to be?” I got a variety of answers.
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Location seemed to be the top priority on many minds. People in the Miami Valley loved it – the short drive to Dayton. But people in Lawrence County, where basketball-hot Fairland High School is, pretty much said, “No, thanks.”
“I was just there last week when our girls played,” said one. “Driving to Dayton is a longer drive than Columbus, and Columbus has a lot more to do.”
Another added, “There’s not much to do in Dayton but drink beer. We got that where I live.”
But generally, a lot of people complain about the tournament not being more centrally located, and some blast the OHSAA for making the tournament not only expensive to see, but a longer drive to get to.”
“They claim to be sitting on twenty million dollars (David Briggs column, the Toledo Blade) and they won’t spend to hold the tournaments where most people want them,” said a reader from Portsmouth, who spoke his mind. “I know it doesn’t make any difference, but I speak for others…I’ll never go to another state tournament. It’s too money-motivated now. They’re robbing the schools and the people blind.”
In central Ohio, Delaware Hayes (above, in white) is making its first trip to the Final Four, and seeking its first title in basketball.
In defense of the OHSAA, I cannot agree about UD Arena being a poor second choice. The Miami Valley has always been a real hotbed for high school basketball, and I guarantee that more people who just like basketball will show up to watch without benefit of having a school participating – a lot more than Columbus.
Second, parking is better. And it’s easy to get to without the bottleneck of Lane Avene and route 315 in Columbus. And for the fact of the building itself, no one has a better facility for basketball in Ohio than the University of Dayton. It is the Ohio Stadium of basketball venues.
But while I’ve always supported the change from Columbus to the University of Dayton, if I were the OHSAA I’d listen more closely to people who increasingly feel they’re being gouged – disrespected – even for a box of popcorn. If for nothing else, just for the sake of good retail.
“You can’t buy a hot dog or popcorn and pay cash,” said a respondent from Waverly. “Not doing it. Making people use their credit card is just another few cents out of my pocket and into theirs.”
I found that people are also not particularly excited with the matchups, despite a decided small-school flavor with teams like Russia, Shelby, Ottawa-Glandorf, and Maysville High School, from Zanesville.
Russia’s Hayden Quinter leads the Raiders to their second consecutive matchup with Richmond Heights in the Division IV semi-finals.
“I’ll root for Russia, because I’m tired of teams like Richmond Heights and Lutheran East loading up year after year,” said a reader from Putnam County. “And they (the OHSAA) talk about it like it’s a miracle when they hand them the trophy.”
Richmond Heights and Russia will meet for the second time in as many years in the Division IV semi-final on Friday afternoon. The records are misleading. Russia is 27-1, while Richmond Heights is 17-9, but Heights plays a largely independent schedule of Division I teams from around the state.
“They may be a Division IV school, but that’s sure not a Division IV basketball team,” he added.
Ottawa-Glandorf is back for a third year in a row, playing Harvest Prep, another school with a checkered past of basketball tradition. And if you haven’t heard, OG’s Colin White, an Ohio State recruit for next fall, was this week named ‘Mr. Basketball’ in the state of Ohio. Our congratulations to Colin and the OG program.
People we spoke with in central Ohio ARE excited about newcomer Delaware Hayes (27-1), who cracked the Final Four for the first time in school history. They should be excited, according to Press Pros writer, Steve Blackledge, a Delaware Hayes alum.
“They’re a good team with some size,” says Blackledge. “They play well together, it’s the first time they’ve been to the Final Four, and Hayes doesn’t have much history of winning titles, even districts. But I think they have a good chance.”
Publisher and editor Sonny Fulks writes the OHSAA and Buckeyes sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Hayes will match with Cleveland St. Ignatius at 5:15 on Saturday.
And in Division III, Preble Shawnee is also making its first trip to the big dance, matched up against Lutheran East, what someone called the Lex Luthor of small-school basketball.
So there is that small-school flavor, and a heavy dose of it…as well as the typical drama of good-guy vs. bad-guy from the standpoint of competitive balance.
“And seven divisions will never fix it,” said a person on the line from St. Clairsville, Thursday. “It just creates more options for outside advantage.”
“But,” added another, from Miami County. “I’ve been to the state tournament in Indiana, and I’ve seen Kentucky’s. And I think Ohio is always just as good. It’s non-stop action.”
I can’t disagree.
For a full schedule of action – games and times – go to the OHSAA website…https://www.ohsaa.org/Sports/News/ohsaa-boys-basketball-state-tournament-pairings-3.
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