SCOL to lose Circleville; reduced to five schools
By
Bob Patton-
Heavy clouds hung over the South Central Ohio Athletic League as the 1988-89 basketball season got under way. Circleville, a charter member of the loop, had formally withdrawn for the 1989-90 school year. They would be joining the Mid-States League in the suburban Columbus area in order to avoid the long trips to Hillsboro, Wilmington and Greenfield.
More than a half-dozen non-league schools were represented at a meeting set up by the SCOL, which invited them to consider joining the conference. SCOL officials were open to considering any number of schools.
But Doug Male, principal of Miami Trace High School and president of the SCOL board of control said he didn’t really get a great feel for the positive. If no new schools elected to join the league, there would be only five member schools, next year, which would mean only four SCOL football games.
The league basketball coaches had unanimously picked Washington as the team to beat in the SCOL this season. The Blue Lions returned most of their starters from last season, including outstanding scorers Rob Pittser and Aaron Kidney. They also featured a solid bench. Circleville was the second pick. The Tigers also returned most of their starters from a year ago.
Wilmington and Hillsboro, on the other hand, were both hard hit by graduation. The Indians lost seven seniors, including starters Kenny McCord, Joe Crawford, Ritchie Butler and Ryan Hopkins. They did have Scott Cumberland coming back as well as some promising players coming off the reserve team.
Art Myers, at Wilmington, lost all five of his starters, including All-Everything star, Mike Taylor. But he had another big transfer student, Thomas Riihimakki, who was 6’6” and hailed from Sweden. With Riihimakki, 6’6” senior Mike Merritt and 6’5” senior Brandon Dun, Myers could start a huge team, if he chose. But both the Indians and the Hurricane were expected to lose plenty of games this winter.
However, Joe Stewart and Art Myers had been winners everywhere they had coached and it would not be wise to count either the Tribe or the ’Cane out too early.
Coach Harold Rose was back for his second year at the helm of the Miami Trace Panthers. This was the first time in the past six seasons that a Miami Trace head basketball coach had returned for a second season. That must be some kind of a record. The Panthers would be a young team, with only four seniors on the twelve-man roster. They had 6’6” Brad Guthrie, but he was the only big man on the roster. They also had three sophomores on the team.
Senior Jason Moore, who saw a lot of action last season, appeared to be Rose’s chief threat. Moore was good enough to play for any team in the SCOL.
At McClain, Coach Rick Van Matre hoped to be a little more competitive this season than last year, when they ended the league season just 2-8. Guard play should be a definite strength, with senior Shane Anderson and junior Kile Cameron running the offense.
But the Tigers would be a small team and not terribly strong. The biggest man in the starting lineup would be a little over 6’ in height. Since they would be lacking a physical inside game, the Tigers would have to rely on good perimeter shooting, and it would be crucial that they keep Cameron and Anderson healthy and out of foul trouble.
Coach Tom Hamman, at Circleville, had six lettermen (including four starters) back from last year’s team. This was no dumb team, either, as four team members were in the National Honor Society and one was a National Merit Scholar.
Circleville was picked to challenge Washington for the league championship. The one starter that Hammon did lose was a good one. Scott Allen was All-SCOL, All Central District and honorable mention All-State.
All the league teams opened the season with several non-league games. Miami Trace was pummeled by Portsmouth on the road, then handily defeated by Zane Trace at home.
Hillsboro downed East Clinton in Hillsboro, then won a “nailbiter” from the Peebles Indians on the road.
Circleville dropped a road game to neighboring Teays Valley, then thumped Westfall by 22 points in Circleville. Wilmington edged Scioto Northwest, then, returned home to drop a 20-point decision to Lebanon. Washington only played one non-league game with Jamestown Greeneview before opening the league season by hosting the Wilmington Hurricane. The Blue
Lions had to go all out to down Greeneview on the Rams’ home court in a close game. Also, McClain opened their season at Paint Valley, where they defeated the Bearcats with a strong second half.
The SCOL season finally got under way Friday, Dec. 2, 1988 with Washington taking a six-point halftime lead over Wilmington. This was a very closely contested game until one of Wilmington’s huge inside men, Thomas Riihimakki, went down with a severely sprained right ankle. From then on, it was no contest, with the Lions taking a 71-51 win over the ’Cane. The same night, Miami Trace lost a home game to visiting Circleville, 66-51. Trace showed some promise at times, but had 24 turnovers, many of which were not forced by the defense but simply the result of careless passing.
Elsewhere, the Hillsboro Indians opened league play with a 58-47 win over county rival McClain. The Indians grabbed an early lead and held on. The Hillsboro defense was outstanding. The red-and-white also held a 34-14 rebounding advantage. Cumberland (17), Stanforth (14) and Gilliland (11) set the scoring pace for the Indians.
Shane Anderson of the Tigers totaled 24 points, but got little help from his teammates.
Saturday night’s games found Washington entertaining Logan Elm. WCH senior Rob Pittser scorched the nets for 40 points, including seven three-point goals. The Blue Lions plastered the Braves, 90-64.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
More than a half-dozen non-league schools were represented at a meeting set up by the SCOL, which invited them to consider joining the conference. SCOL officials were open to considering any number of schools.
But Doug Male, principal of Miami Trace High School and president of the SCOL board of control said he didn’t really get a great feel for the positive. If no new schools elected to join the league, there would be only five member schools, next year, which would mean only four SCOL football games.
The league basketball coaches had unanimously picked Washington as the team to beat in the SCOL this season. The Blue Lions returned most of their starters from last season, including outstanding scorers Rob Pittser and Aaron Kidney. They also featured a solid bench. Circleville was the second pick. The Tigers also returned most of their starters from a year ago.
Wilmington and Hillsboro, on the other hand, were both hard hit by graduation. The Indians lost seven seniors, including starters Kenny McCord, Joe Crawford, Ritchie Butler and Ryan Hopkins. They did have Scott Cumberland coming back as well as some promising players coming off the reserve team.
Art Myers, at Wilmington, lost all five of his starters, including All-Everything star, Mike Taylor. But he had another big transfer student, Thomas Riihimakki, who was 6’6” and hailed from Sweden. With Riihimakki, 6’6” senior Mike Merritt and 6’5” senior Brandon Dun, Myers could start a huge team, if he chose. But both the Indians and the Hurricane were expected to lose plenty of games this winter.
However, Joe Stewart and Art Myers had been winners everywhere they had coached and it would not be wise to count either the Tribe or the ’Cane out too early.
Coach Harold Rose was back for his second year at the helm of the Miami Trace Panthers. This was the first time in the past six seasons that a Miami Trace head basketball coach had returned for a second season. That must be some kind of a record. The Panthers would be a young team, with only four seniors on the twelve-man roster. They had 6’6” Brad Guthrie, but he was the only big man on the roster. They also had three sophomores on the team.
Senior Jason Moore, who saw a lot of action last season, appeared to be Rose’s chief threat. Moore was good enough to play for any team in the SCOL.
At McClain, Coach Rick Van Matre hoped to be a little more competitive this season than last year, when they ended the league season just 2-8. Guard play should be a definite strength, with senior Shane Anderson and junior Kile Cameron running the offense.
But the Tigers would be a small team and not terribly strong. The biggest man in the starting lineup would be a little over 6’ in height. Since they would be lacking a physical inside game, the Tigers would have to rely on good perimeter shooting, and it would be crucial that they keep Cameron and Anderson healthy and out of foul trouble.
Coach Tom Hamman, at Circleville, had six lettermen (including four starters) back from last year’s team. This was no dumb team, either, as four team members were in the National Honor Society and one was a National Merit Scholar.
Circleville was picked to challenge Washington for the league championship. The one starter that Hammon did lose was a good one. Scott Allen was All-SCOL, All Central District and honorable mention All-State.
All the league teams opened the season with several non-league games. Miami Trace was pummeled by Portsmouth on the road, then handily defeated by Zane Trace at home.
Hillsboro downed East Clinton in Hillsboro, then won a “nailbiter” from the Peebles Indians on the road.
Circleville dropped a road game to neighboring Teays Valley, then thumped Westfall by 22 points in Circleville. Wilmington edged Scioto Northwest, then, returned home to drop a 20-point decision to Lebanon. Washington only played one non-league game with Jamestown Greeneview before opening the league season by hosting the Wilmington Hurricane. The Blue
Lions had to go all out to down Greeneview on the Rams’ home court in a close game. Also, McClain opened their season at Paint Valley, where they defeated the Bearcats with a strong second half.
The SCOL season finally got under way Friday, Dec. 2, 1988 with Washington taking a six-point halftime lead over Wilmington. This was a very closely contested game until one of Wilmington’s huge inside men, Thomas Riihimakki, went down with a severely sprained right ankle. From then on, it was no contest, with the Lions taking a 71-51 win over the ’Cane. The same night, Miami Trace lost a home game to visiting Circleville, 66-51. Trace showed some promise at times, but had 24 turnovers, many of which were not forced by the defense but simply the result of careless passing.
Elsewhere, the Hillsboro Indians opened league play with a 58-47 win over county rival McClain. The Indians grabbed an early lead and held on. The Hillsboro defense was outstanding. The red-and-white also held a 34-14 rebounding advantage. Cumberland (17), Stanforth (14) and Gilliland (11) set the scoring pace for the Indians.
Shane Anderson of the Tigers totaled 24 points, but got little help from his teammates.
Saturday night’s games found Washington entertaining Logan Elm. WCH senior Rob Pittser scorched the nets for 40 points, including seven three-point goals. The Blue Lions plastered the Braves, 90-64.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]