Chillicothe’s Hitchens is key for Cavaliers

By Joe Scalzo

Poland’s opponent doesn’t have
the Bulldogs’ lineup depth.

The Poland High basketball team’s best chance of beating Chillicothe on Thursday is for guard Anthony Hitchens to miss the bus.

Failing that, the Bulldogs must at least find a way to slow him down.

“The Hitchens kid presents some major problems,” Bulldogs coach Ken Grisdale said. “He’s lightning-quick.”

The 5-foot-9 senior is averaging 21.3 points per game — he’s the school’s all-time leading scorer — for the Cavaliers (23-2), who will meet Poland in Thursday’s Division II state semifinal.

He also averages three assists, three rebounds and three steals, earning first team All-Ohio honors for the Cavaliers

“He’s the guy who gives us the juice,” Chillicothe coach Gary Kellough said. “When he’s playing well, we feed off him. He doesn’t have to be a scorer. He’s got great vision and passing ability.

“When he plays well, they [his teammates] just join in and they all play well.”

Grisdale scouted Chillicothe once in person and has seen plenty on tape this week. The Cavaliers remind him most of Cleveland Benedictine, which lost to Poland in Sunday’s regional final.

“They’re similar,” he said. “The biggest difference is Benedictine doesn’t have the Hitchens kid. He’s the X-factor.

“He’s the best guard we’ve seen all year and one of the best in the state.”

Hitchens scored 27 points against Byesville Meadowbrook in the regional final, while Ray Chambers, a 6-7 senior, had 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Chambers (15.5 points per game, nine rebounds) is a second team All-Ohioan and Stuart Beverly (who averages 9.4 ppg) was honorable mention.

The Cavaliers, ranked second in the final Associated Press poll (behind Poland), like to play three-guard sets with an aggressive, man-to-man defense. They’ll do some zone trapping and, like Poland, use their defense to generate offense.

“We’re the type of team that can play up-tempo,” Kellough said. “We don’t have to come down and run sets.”

Chillicothe isn’t quite as deep as Poland — the five starters all play at least 22 minutes per game — but it does have four or five players off the bench that regularly contribute.

The team’s core has been together for two years, with the Cavaliers falling to Columbus DeSales in the regional final last year.

“I think this is the toughest challenge of our season so far,” Grisdale said. “I was fortunate enough to see [Toledo] Libbey twice and I saw Chillicothe once and I think they’re the best teams in our division.”

scalzo@vindy.com