Winning matters…and winning is remembered by the next generation (above). Fort Loramie’s girls were the first to win 1000 games last week in the history of Ohio High School women’s basketball. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Julie McMaken Wright)
If there’s anything to the old adage of the strongest steel being forged by fire, are we not seeing that in the post-season basketball tournaments? And, isn’t it something you’d want for your student athlete?
At Piqua High School last week a basketball reader of the site approached with kind words about our work.
Then the person added, “But you only cover the teams that win. I think you should cover the teams more that don’t win, too, because those kids work just as hard and they deserve equal recognition.”
She was very kind with her issue, and I smiled as she concluded and waited for a response.
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“Do you know how many people read sports on a daily basis?” I asked. “And when have you seen, in the history of journalism, where teams that don’t win get the same coverage as the teams that do?
“Journalism is a business,” I explained. “It’s not a hobby, and the number of people who read on a daily basis is a big deal. And unfortunately for the sake of your concern, they want to read about the teams that win.”
And there are, of course, the discussions about the difference between teams that win and teams that participate…the basis for current question about seven divisions of everything in high school sports for the sake of giving more athletes a chance to win a trophy. “More state champions are a good thing,” an area coach reminds me, repeatedly.
“We need to provide more opportunity for kids to compete against schools their own size, and against those who look more like them,” OHSAA executive director Doug Ute said last spring (paraphrasing).
But over the weekend we saw something that was hard to ignore, and hard not to appreciate. We witnessed the benefit of playing teams that make you have to be better…because it’s the only way YOU get better.
“I like the feeling of winning against a team that’s good,” a local player said earlier this month.
And I believe them when they do.
Best teams and best records are not always that easy to determine. For instance, when we saw Lehman play Loramie last week in the boys sectional tournament, Lehman had the better record (19-3), but Loramie (10-12) had played the much tougher schedule in the regular season – Russia, Anna, New Bremen, Jackson Center, Versailles, St. Henry, and Marion Local. And after a fast Lehman start Loramie eventually reeled them in and won the game at Piqua High School by 10 points.
On Saturday we watched the district final in girls basketball between Versailles and Mariemont. Versailles entered that game with a record of 16-7, compared to 22-3 for Mariemont, a team touted by the Cincinnati Enquirer as one of the city’s best prospects to reach a regional final game. Again, the difference in schedules between the two was telling, comparing the competition in the Cincinnati Hills League to that of the MAC. Close for a half, Versailles focused on stopping the primary scoring threat of Mariemont in the second half and won the game by 12 points.
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Likewise, Saturday…we covered the occasion of Fort Loramie winning its 1000th game in the history of girls basketball at that school. Loramie is the first OHSAA women’s program in basketball to do this, and their record of winning is going to long be remembered, and written about. Because it should be. They play to win. And it’s a good bet they’re going to win a few more.
In a losing scenario the night before, consider this. We covered the Coldwater-Parkway game, a Division VI sectional final played at Coldwater. Coldwater’s Baylen Blockberger had a fabulous shooting night from three-point range and personally shot the Cavaliers to a 20-3 lead by the end of the first quarter, and a 34-15 lead at halftime.
But Parkway and coach Doug Hughes adjusted, determined to compete in the second half, and literally played Coldwater even for the final sixteen minutes. They lost 62-42, the same margin as halftime, but they played hard and finished 19 points better than they were in the first half. I thought it was impressive, and worthy of mentioning. Something I’ll remember for future reference.
Now to the point of the person’s issue at the top of the story, it’s more impressive to see Parkway refuse to buckle than it is to see someone accept the inevitable.
It’s impressive to recognize that playing the kind of competition that the Versailles girls see in their conference prepares you for unfamiliar teams from other parts with better records that want the same title that you want. It gives you faith in those old words…steel sharpens steel. And basketball teams. It really does.
Columnist Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and Ohio State baseball for Press Pros Magazine.com.
And when it’s all over in three weeks we’re going to look at the teams at UD Arena and in most cases not be surprised. The best are going to advance, and win, and go home with the better trophy. And whether you believe it or not, that trophy is going to be more significant than those won through expansion of opportunity.
At Trotwood last week, another reader approached and made his own, different case.
“I’m glad you write about respect for winning and the higher standard,” he said. “I think it’s important, because that’s how I grew up.”
Titles don’t come easy. Nor should they. It makes a better story.
Why we write about them. Why you read them.
Believe it or not.