Thursday, January 31, 2008
Looking for a good prep event to take in over the next week? Here are five suggestions:
BOARDMAN VS. HOOVER
It’s round 2 in this sometimes fun, often tense, always competitive Federal League girls basketball rivalry. They’ll play for the Federal League girls tournament championship Saturday night at Alliance High School. The Spartans didn’t win the regular season matchup, but the coaching matchup between Ron Moschella and Paul Wackerly is as entertaining as the on-court action. Considering these two programs are likely to meet up again on the same floor Feb. 21 in a Division I district semifinal, this game could have a lot of moves and countermoves.
ITCL title night
MONDAY AT SOUTH
Range, the Raiders (16-2, 11-1 entering tonight’s game) play host to United (13-4, 10-2) in the Tier One girls showdown. South Range won by three points at United earlier this season, but the Raiders have been involved in three straight games decided by five points or less. The other common thread for these teams? They both lost to Columbiana. Meanwhile, at McDonald, the Blue Devils (16-1, 11-1) will play host to Leetonia (14-3, 11-1) for the Tier Two championship. The Bears lost at Lowellville on Dec. 10 and have won nine straight in the league since, including a 52-45 home win over McDonald Jan. 7. Both teams are allowing fewer than 40 points per game, so don’t expect a lot of easy baskets.
EOWL WRESTLING
The area’s best gather at Canfield High School Friday and Saturday for the league championships. Fitch’s Tony Jameson goes for his fourth straight title, this time at 145 pounds, and, like last week, will have some stiff competition. The finals begin at 6 p.m. Saturday and will feature introduction of this year’s hall of fame class.
TAC TITLE ON THE LINE
Newton Falls has raced through the first nine games of the Trumbull Athletic Conference season … OK, “raced” might not be the right word. How about “ran roughshod”? The Tigers are giving up fewer than 38 points per game in conference play and winning by almost 20 per game. They have a two-game lead over Friday’s opponent, Hubbard (11-4, 7-2), and can virtually ensure themselves of the title with a win. Sure, the Falls won by 35 points in this season’s first meeting, but the Eagles have lost just one game since then and only one of the five wins in that span have been by single digits.
MORE SPARTANS-VIKINGS
Hey, who would have predicted this? Fresh off a three-overtime win over North Canton that netted them second place in the Federal League, Lake was stunned Tuesday by Boardman. That win sends the Spartans to North Canton Saturday night. At first glance this might seem like another mismatch, but consider this: the Spartans battled Hoover right to the end on Jan. 11, losing only 58-54.