Basketball Preview
Kovalesky Takes Over at Edison
November 27, 2008
Now Tony Kovalesky gets to sit in the big chair. A longtime junior varsity coach and varsity assistant coach, Kovalesky has taken over the head-coaching duties of the Edison girls’ basketball program. He replaces Ron Smyth, who stepped down last summer. The Wildcats lost several players from last season’s 11-11 team, including four seniors — Kim Smyth, Holly Carson, Emily Pollock and Shaylyn Cain. Edison will rely on four seniors to lead the way, and all four — Megan Antigo, Adrian McEwen, Marah Noland and Kaitlin Blake — are expected to start. ‘‘Megan Antigo probably is the playmaker on the court,’’ Kovalesky said. ‘‘Adrian McEwen will be one of our post players. She has a decent shot from the elbow down in. ‘‘One of our wing players will be Marah Noland. She likes to take the ball inside, and she mixes up her play. Kaitlin Blake will be our other post player. She runs the floor well, and she loves to shoot from in close. ‘‘All four of the senior girls contributed last year. Antigo was the point guard, and she played with our four seniors. When Shaylyn Cain got injured, Marah Noland replaced her. ‘‘McEwen and Blake were our first two big girls off of the bench to replace Carson or Pollock in the post positions..’’ The six juniors on the roster are Kayla Richardson, Sierra Woodward, Courtney Robinson, Amanda Bake, Meghan Potock and Danielle Busana. Carisssa Myler is the lone sophomore.
» Full StoryAnother Late Start
November 27, 2008Lately, Steubenville Big Red has been used to getting a late start in the basketball season. The success of the football program has prompted a Dec. » Full Story
As Always, Matta Has OSU Men on the Fast Track
November 27, 2008Jim Tressel gets all the headlines and acquires all the good nicknames in Columbus, but he might not be the coach that is making the biggest impact at Ohio State. » Full Story
As Usual, Ammirante’s Bellaire Team Is Talented
November 27, 2008Banner Season Could be on Tap
November 27, 2008The Shadyside Tigers are ready to roar this season under the direction of fourth-year coach Tina Yates. » Full Story
Barnesville Boys are Tall and Unknown
November 27, 2008Entering his fourth season as coach of the Barnesville boys’ basketball team, Chris Pack isn’t sure what the 2008-09 season has in store. » Full Story
Bears Girls Look To King, Roper in ’08
November 27, 2008With a strong finish, two starters returning and a year under his belt, Oak Glen girls’ basketball coach Phil Rujak is looking to improve on the Bears’ 10-13 record from last season, whe » Full Story
Beaver Back On Track
November 27, 2008
By MIKE HUGHES
Beaver Local didn’t make much of a dent in the victory column during Jake Walgate’s first turn at the helm last season. » Full Story
Beaver Local didn’t make much of a dent in the victory column during Jake Walgate’s first turn at the helm last season. » Full Story
Beros Back for Another Season at Trail
November 27, 2008Big Three Could Very Well Carry Union Local Boys
November 27, 2008Four seasons ago, then-Union Local boys’ basketball coach Rich Saffield made a decision to bring three freshmen up to the varsity level. » Full Story
Bobcats Welcome Back Six Seniors
November 27, 2008Cambridge returns six seniors as it tries to rebound from a disappointing 8-13 season in 2008. The Bobcats will try to do so with three of those seniors returning to the starting lineup. » Full Story
Bruins Eye Better Fortunes
November 27, 2008
By RALPH COX
Veteran Brooke boys’ basketball coach Dave Reitter points out that although his 2007 Bruins had a discouraging 3-19 record, they were in 10 or 12 games they possibly could hav » Full Story
Veteran Brooke boys’ basketball coach Dave Reitter points out that although his 2007 Bruins had a discouraging 3-19 record, they were in 10 or 12 games they possibly could hav » Full Story
Building Blocks Are in Place for Big Reds Girls
November 27, 2008Three seasons ago, the Bellaire girls’ basketball team was basking in the glory of an Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Championship. » Full Story
Bulldogs Have A Quiet Confidence
November 27, 2008Big things are expected of the Bridgeport girls’ basketball team for the 2008-09 season. Returning four starters from an 11-9 team, Coach Ed Metz is intent on improving. » Full Story
Cadets’ Webb Knows Adversity
November 27, 2008A season ago, first-year Fort Frye girls’ basketball coach Bobbi Webb had to deal with a multitude of injuries before capping off a 10-11 campaign. » Full Story
Caldwell Boys Should be Solid Club
November 27, 2008As Brian Burson enters his third season guiding the Caldwell boys, he believes the program is ready to take the next step. » Full Story
Cambridge Girls Lost Four Seniors
November 27, 2008Cameron Girls On an Extended Run
November 27, 2008The amount of time it has taken to get here isn’t nearly as important as where the Cameron girls’ basketball program is at this point, and where it hopes to be sooner rather than later. » Full Story
Cash: This Season All That Matters
November 27, 2008Bridgeport won the inaugural Wheeling Hospital Ohio Valley Athletic Conference boys’ basketball championship last season as the No. 2 seed. » Full Story
Cashdollar, EL Boys Searching for an Identity
November 27, 2008The East Liverpool Potters will have a new look when they take to the court at Potter Fieldhouse for their home opener against Youngstown East. » Full Story
Cats Put Odd Season in Past
November 27, 2008Clifford Expects Quick Progress for Red Devils
November 27, 2008At St. Clairsville, Kim Clifford insists the term rebuilding is better suited for carpenters — not basketball coaches. » Full Story
Cline’s Return A Key for Brooke
November 27, 2008Brooke girls’ basketball coach John Leary was, of course, disappointed when his 2007-08 team lost its last 10 games after posting an 8-5 record and earning a spot in the new OVAC playoffs » Full Story
Colts Are Still Building
November 27, 2008Talk about finishing on a roll.
After completing the 2007-08 regular season with an 11-9 record, the Meadowbrook boys went on a tear in the Ohio Division II tournament. » Full Story
Conotton Valley Counting On Big Things by Gooding
November 27, 2008Cougars Primed To Break Out
November 27, 2008Frontier boys’ basketball coach Roger Kirkpatrick entered the 2007-2008 basketball season with five returning starters and racked up a 15-9 record and a sectional championship. » Full Story
Creek Doesn’t Change Formula
November 27, 2008As things change with the Indian Creek boys’ basketball team, the more things stay the same. » Full Story
Crusaders Undergo Coaching Change
November 27, 2008The Steubenville Catholic boys’ basketball team has been here before.
This season, Sean Tucker, a 1996 graduate of Indian Creek High School, takes over as coach. » Full Story
DeSantis’ Redskins Can No Longer Hide Under the Radar
November 27, 2008
By MIKE MATHISON
The Indian Creek girls’ basketball team will not sneak up on anyone this season. Last season’s 17-4 record makes sure of that. » Full Story
The Indian Creek girls’ basketball team will not sneak up on anyone this season. Last season’s 17-4 record makes sure of that. » Full Story
Donahue Putting the Ball Into the Hands of Fallova
November 27, 2008Bishop Donahue boys’ basketball coach Tom Wise may not have a lot of experience returning this season, but he hopes what he calls huge freshman and sophomore classes can help fill the new » Full Story
Ferry Boys Have To Replace Guards
November 27, 2008On paper the Martins Ferry boy’ basketball team looks to be handful. But coach Jeff Sabatino needs to replace one of the area’s top backcourts from a year ago. » Full Story
Flowers Has 4 of 5 Starters Back at McMechen School
November 27, 2008Coming off a 13-11 season that ended in a sectional final loss to eventual West Virginia Class A champion Wheeling Central, the Bishop Donahue girls’ basketball team appears ready for big » Full Story
Fort Frye’s Bench Will Be Deep
November 27, 2008While losing two starters to graduation, Fort Frye boys’ basketball coach Dan Liedtke will have plenty of senior leadership and a deep bench as the Cadets try to defend another sectional » Full Story
Frontier Will Have A Youthful Bunch
November 27, 2008Leadership and experience were a couple of things Frontier girls’ basketball coach Eric Rinard had plenty of heading into last season. » Full Story
Getting Invited Not Enough for Foster
November 27, 2008Could Foster be Australian for winning?
Jim Foster enters his seventh season as coach of the Ohio State women’s basketball program with some astounding numbers on his side. » Full Story
Gorby-McDiffitt Combo Ready to Lead Hornets
November 27, 2008
By MIKE HUGHES
The Hundred girls have been a step away from Charleston three of the last four seasons, falling in the Class A, Region III title game. » Full Story
The Hundred girls have been a step away from Charleston three of the last four seasons, falling in the Class A, Region III title game. » Full Story
Guiler, Seminoles Primed for Big Things
November 27, 2008Be it volleyball or basketball, Troy Baker and success go hand-in-hand.
The former Woodsfield High basketball standout has built juggernauts in both sports at Monroe Central. » Full Story
Harrison Central Girls Need to Get Healthy
November 27, 2008Mark Kowalski is marking his 10th season as a varsity coach and his third with the Harrison Central Huskies. He hasn’t wasted any time on the court in any of those 10 seasons. » Full Story
History Won’t Repeat Itself for Monroe Boys
November 27, 2008Huskies Have Sights Set on OVAC Crown
November 27, 2008Harrison Central coach Adam Pittis was hoping for a better finish to his first season with the Huskies, but the victories and defeats don’t measure the improvement his players showed dur » Full Story
Improving Name Of the Game In Morristown
November 27, 2008Drew Greenwood’s really not sure what his emotions are as he enters his first season as Union Local girls’ basketball coach, but he’s got plenty of them running through his head as his De » Full Story
Injuries Have Led to Depth for Monarchs Girls
November 27, 2008The natives don’t get too excited about 12-10 seasons, but then again neither does John Marshall girls’ basketball coach Stan Blankenship. » Full Story
Inquiring Minds: Will Eagles Rebuild or Reload?
November 27, 2008Magnolia had a balanced team that was as deep as it was talented during the 2007-2008 season that ended with a crushing loss to Weir in the West Virginia Class AA, Region I final. » Full Story
Jarrett’s Blue Devils Maintain High Hopes
November 27, 2008Despite graduating four seniors, Beallsville coach Terry Jarrett is expecting big things from his 2008-09 squad. » Full Story
Jebbia: It’s Time for a State Tournament Run
November 27, 2008The Wheeling Park boys’ basketball program made some impressive strides during Michael Jebbia’s first two seasons as head coach. » Full Story
John Marshall Boys are the Talk of the Town
November 27, 2008Coming off a season in which it came one victory away from a school record, the John Marshall boys’ basketball team enters the 2008 campaign loaded for bear. » Full Story
Key’s Cardinals Care About PPGs and GPAs
November 27, 2008
For the Wheeling Jesuit women, this season might be about junior Lindsay Stuckey and these numbers: 16, 5 and 4.0. » Full Story
Kimble Will Try To Get Knights Back at the Top
November 27, 2008Kovalesky Takes Over at Edison
November 27, 2008Linsly’s Hall Has Her Players Thinking Faster
November 27, 2008Linsly coach Erica Hall wants to change the way the Cadets play basketball. She wants a more up-tempo style of play, and she will be banking on a trio of seniors to accomplish that task. » Full Story
Luther Excited For Opportunity
November 27, 2008A 2001 graduate of Harrison Central and a short-term resident of North Carolina, Willie Luther was lured back to the Ohio Valley by the chance of being a basketball coach at Buckeye Loca » Full Story
Maroon Knights Girls Ready to Raise a Banner
November 27, 2008Wheeling Central Catholic’s girls’ basketball coach Penn Kurtz enters his 15th season hopeful his team can improve enough during the campaign to contend for another state championship. » Full Story
Miley’s Crew Has Challenge
November 27, 2008Shenandoah and coach Lynn Miley went 9-12 last season and secured a sectional championship. With four returning seniors, she is expecting much more. » Full Story
Mitts, Toronto Won’t Use Youth as an Excuse
November 27, 2008Second-year Toronto boys’ basketball coach Greg Mitts lost seven seniors off last season’s squad.
‘‘We were a very veteran team a year ago,’’ Mitts said. » Full Story
Moulton Will Be Counted on to Guide Cadets
November 27, 2008With the advent of the OVAC playoffs, Linsly was ecstatic and the goal was to win the tournament — its ‘‘state championship. » Full Story
Much is Unknown For King, Wildcats
November 27, 2008If Paden City boys’ basketball coach Fred King knows anything about this season’s team, it’s that he doesn’t really know anything. » Full Story
Odgen Inherits An Experienced Club
November 27, 2008With four starters returning and three other letterwinners back, first-year Weirton Madonna girls’ basketball coach Don Ogden feels his team has a chance for success. » Full Story
OVAC Has Given Bishops Girls a Place to Call Home
November 27, 2008Entering their second season in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference, Zanesville Rosecrans and coach Mike Birkhimer could not be happier about what the switch has meant for his Bishops. » Full Story
Paden City Looking To Rebound Under Sine
November 27, 2008If it could have gone wrong for the Paden City girls’ basketball team last season, it did. » Full Story
Petties Is Still On The Mend
November 27, 2008Pilots Have Wealth Of Experience
November 27, 2008Coming off a dismal 2-18 season, River girls’ basketball coach Rick Isaly has a wealth of experience back. » Full Story
Podlasiak Back on Bench, This Time With Redskins
November 27, 2008Mike Podlasiak is back on the bench.
Podlasiak, who last guided a varsity team at Union Local in 2003, has his whistle in hand again. » Full Story
Potters Girls Will Have a Family Feel This Season
November 27, 2008Self-professed “basketball junkie” Tony Tomaselli replaced Jim Walker last May after a 10-11 season that included a sectional victory against always-tough St. » Full Story
Purple Riders Are Earning Respect
November 27, 2008The Martins Ferry girls’ basketball team went into the 2007-08 campaign hoping to ‘‘win something. » Full Story
Raber Back On Buckeye’s Bench
November 27, 2008Red Riders Seek Tourney Berth
November 27, 2008If Weir basketball coach Mike Granato can fill the void left when his top two scorers graduated last May, his Red Riders could be looking at a return trip to the state tournament in Charl » Full Story
Rockets are in Search of Offense
November 27, 2008Romick Says Term ‘Rebuilding’ Apt for River
November 27, 2008Not every coach has the luxuries River’s Mark Romick has when his team is in a ‘‘rebuilding mode. » Full Story
Rosecrans Boys Face Uncertainty
November 27, 2008Uncertainty is a word that could best be used to describe what Todd Rock and his Zanesville Rosecrans boys’ basketball team will face heading into the 2008-2009 high school basketball sea » Full Story
Sancomb Getting His Guys at WJU
November 27, 2008There was a lot of meeting and greeting in the early days of practices at Wheeling Jesuit, as second-year coach Dan Sancomb welcomed nine new players to his program. » Full Story
Scoring’s an Issue for Dragons
November 27, 2008There’s an old saying that says defense wins championships. While that may in fact be true, a basketball team also has to have the ability to put the ball in the basket. » Full Story
Senior Leadership Will Be Key for Casinelli, Big Red
November 27, 2008
Steubenville Big Red girls’ basketball coach Phil Casinelli really doesn’t want to dwell much on last season.
‘‘Last year was last year,’’ he said. ‘‘We can’t look at that. » Full Story
‘‘Last year was last year,’’ he said. ‘‘We can’t look at that. » Full Story
Shamrocks Girls Return Fewer Than 2 Points Per Game
November 27, 2008Jamie Carpenter found out a week prior to last season that he’d be the head coach of the Barnesville Shamrocks girls’ team. » Full Story
Sigler Has Shot To Put His Own Mark On Beaver Local
November 27, 2008Beaver Local lost in the Ohio Division II District Tournament in 2008, finishing 16-8 in Frank Linkous’ final season as coach. » Full Story
Smith Seeks Big Senior Season for Lumberjacks
November 27, 2008The Valley Lumberjacks lost quite a bit of production with the departure of Haden Kocher, Clay Dallison and Danny Bresidine following a near-.500 campaign last season. » Full Story
St. John Central Hopes Maturity Comes Quick
November 27, 2008At St. John’s, Nick Yourkovich foresees progress within the Fighting Irish program.
How exactly that translates into victories, St. John’s coach isn’t certain. » Full Story
Stephens Wants His Seniors to Lead the Way
November 27, 2008After a two-year drought, the Wheeling Central Catholic boys’ basketball team captured the West Virginia Class A state championship last March. » Full Story
Strasser Enters Season With Some Optimism
November 27, 2008With eight players back in the fold, including six that started at some point last season, things are looking up for the Meadowbrook girls. » Full Story
There Is Plenty of Offense to Replace as Magnolia Girls Prepare for New Season
November 27, 2008Magnolia lost three seniors from last season’s team that fell to Tyler Consolidated in the sectional final. The season prior, those three led the Blue Eagles to the state tournament. » Full Story
Though New, Kinnard Is Quite Familiar With Tyler
November 27, 2008When Tyler Consolidated fell to Weir in double overtime last season in the Class AA, Region I final, the Silver Knights saw the careers of seven seniors come to a close. » Full Story
Tigers Are Team Full Of Heart, Desire
November 27, 2008While its roster might be small in size, Wellsville’s girls’ basketball team has plenty of heart and desire and is ready to get the season under way, according to its coach. » Full Story
Tigers Basically Beginning Anew
November 27, 2008Tolzda Unsure of What He’s Got at Beallsville
November 27, 2008Lou ‘‘Scooter’’ Tolzda has been coaching basketball for 29 seasons at various levels.
Rarely has he been so in the dark. » Full Story
Twiggs Experiencing Ups and Downs at Zanesville
November 27, 2008Zanesville High School’s new girls’ basketball coach has added an emphasis on getting kids involved in the program. » Full Story
Vargo, Madonna Must Replace Three Starters
November 27, 2008The Weirton Madonna boys’ basketball team finished last season with 16 victories in 22 games. » Full Story
Warriors Girls Lost a Lot of Scoring
November 27, 2008Buckeye Trail coach Brad Linebeck has a major task in front of him. He needs to replace three prime-time players who suited up and has just two seniors on his squad. » Full Story
Weekley Changes His Mind, Returns to Lumberjills Bench
November 27, 2008The retirement of longtime Valley girls’ coach Larry Weekley barely lasted long enough for the job to be posted. » Full Story
Weir Girls Start Over
November 27, 2008The Weir girls’ basketball team made it to the state tournament in 2007 for the first time in school history, losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Summers County. » Full Story
Wellsville Boys Still Formidable
November 27, 2008Dave Thompson begins his fifth season with the Wellsville boys with one senior, not much height, and many players with little varsity experience. » Full Story
Wheeling Park Girls Aim To Pick Up Where They Left Off
November 27, 2008Wheeling Park girls’ basketball coach Meredith Anderson is hoping the momentum from a strong finish to the 2007-2008 season will carry over into this season. » Full Story
With Teams Eyeing Owings, Oak Glen Seeking Balance
November 27, 2008In somewhat of a rebuilding season, coach Vince Gilliam’s Oak Glen boys’ basketball team found ways to win eight of its 21 games in 2007-08. » Full Story
You Can Never Count out Blatnik’s Girls
November 27, 2008On paper, Mickey Blatnik’s St. Clairsville girls have the look of a pretty good basketball team. But the veteran Red Devils coach realizes his team must get it done on the floor. » Full Story
Zanesville Boys Have Only One Starter Returning to Fold
November 27, 2008Rebuilding seasons usually are few and far between for the boys’ basketball program at Zanesville High School.
The 2008-2009 season, however, surely fits into that category. » Full Story
Zeps To Rely On Johnson
November 27, 2008Cody Johnson had a tremendous season on the football field playing quarterback for Shenandoah. The seasons and the sports have switched, but Johnson’s role hasn’t. » Full Story
