Poland Live | Bulldogs looking to make a point

Just talked with former Poland standout Jamie Dunn, the leader of the 2002 team that lost to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in the state semifinals. Dunn's feeling watching the game?

"Man, I miss the competition," he said. "It's crazy to be back here. It feels weird."

Dunn graduated from Ohio University last year and is now in his first year of law school at Capital University.

"It's tough," he said with a laugh.

Dunn coached a lot of this year's Bulldogs when he was in high school and feels like his team helped this year's team dream big. The only downside?

"I feel old," he said, laughing.

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Ben Umbel just got his third foul with five minutes left in the second quarter. Uh-oh.

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Then again, Lou Coppola just got his third foul and there's seven minutes left in the second quarter. Foul trouble is going to loom large if this continues.

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Bulldogs trail 17-8 after first quarter but score is a little misleading. They've missed some easy shots and a lot of Sandusky's points have come in transition. If Poland can settle down and take care of the ball, they can get back in it.

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About five minutes away now. We'll be giving updates at the end of each quarter. Poland looks loose, confident. Should be a good one.

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Half-hour away now. Upper Sandusky senior Jon Diebler, Ohio's career points leader, spent a few minutes warming up in front of the Poland student section. This wasn't the smartest idea. He got greeted with chants like, "Diebler who?" and "Over-rated!"

He sat down for a few minutes and a couple kids asked for his autograph and to get their picture taken with him.

POLAND STUDENT SECTION: "Hey! Take a picture with me!"

One Poland student, senior Jason Butcher, went over with one of his friends and got Diebler's autograph. Butcher was wearing a "Poland Football Mom" T-shirt and Diebler autographed the shirt. (Butcher's friend, Paul Ciarniello, got an autograph on the arm.)

"He didn't say much," Butcher said. "He said he was kind of scared."

This, of course, is a lie. When I asked Butcher if he laughed, he said, "Yeah, he laughed."

Five years ago, when Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary junior LeBron James was warming up in front of the Poland student section, he got similar chants. The difference is, LeBron liked the attention. He made it a point to unleash a few dunks in warmups just to show off. Diebler was a lot more business-like.

"Yeah, I think LeBron was a little more confident," said Butcher.

The other thing I remember about that game is that LeBron popped a piece of gum in his mouth during warmups and threw the wrapper on the ground. The guy standing next to me (a local TV reporter) said we should take it and sell it on eBay.

And the crazy thing was, this actually sounded like a plausible idea at the time.

OK, we're 25 minutes away now. More updates to follow. (Quick insider scoop: Former Ohio State standout and current CBS commentator Clark Kellogg was in attendance at the first game to watch his sons, Alex and Nick. Kellogg was sitting next to two-time Heisman Trophy winner -- and world-renowned Motorists Insurance spokesman -- Archie Griffin.)

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We're an hour away from the tip and I guess it's time to reveal an uncomfortable truth to the Poland faithful.

Ready? OK. Here goes. No one thinks Poland can win.

OK, maybe no one is stretching it. But the consensus among observers is that the Bulldogs won't win. And, outside of the Mahoning Valley, most people don't want them to win. Most fans want to see Jon Diebler, in his final weekend of high school basketball, will wow the Buckeye faithful by scoring 50 points in each of his last two games, then ride off victorious into his Ohio State career.

I mean, hey, this IS Columbus.

That said, I sat in on the Dayton Dunbar press conference -- Dunbar beat Columbus DeSales in the first state semifinal game -- and no one mentioned Diebler's name. The most interesting question was directed at Dunbar coach Peter Pullen, who, like the rest of the team's coaches, was wearing an all-white suit with a blue tie.

Reporter: Coach, two-part question. Are those new suits and are we going to see the blue ones on Saturday?

Pullen: Yes and ... wait and see.

Reporter: Didn't you wear the blue ones when you won last year?

Pullen: Yes.

Reporter: Are you superstitious?

Pullen: No, not at all.

Other than that, it was regular press conference stuff, which consists of a coach and two players saying, "We knew it was going to be a battle and we were just hoping to stay focused and come out with a win. We did that today."

Will Poland be saying that afterward? We'll see. If the Bulldogs do pull off the upset, it sure would surprise a lot of people.