Semifinal insomnia Poland is 0-3 all-time in state semifinals.

By Joe Scalzo

POLAND — On Sunday night, hours after advancing to his second straight state tournament, Poland High boys basketball coach Ken Grisdale found himself tossing and turning in bed, trying (and failing) to fall asleep.

Finally, his wife, Kim, turned to him and said, “If you’re not going to sleep, go do something else.”

So he watched the game film from that day’s regional final against Cleveland Benedictine. Then he logged onto the Web and read newspaper stories.

He got to sleep around 3 a.m.

“My juices were flowing,” he said, smiling.

After a robust three hours of sleep, Grisdale taught classes at school Monday, then went to practice. After taking an afternoon nap, he was back to work on preparing for Thursday’s game. Then he got about three more hours of sleep Monday night.

Although this paper went to press before it could verify Tuesday’s night’s total, it’s unlikely he woke up this morning feeling refreshed.

“It’s hard to sleep,” said Grisdale, whose top-ranked team will meet second-ranked Chillicothe Thursday at 2 p.m. in a Division II state semifinal at Value City Arena. “It’s like being a kid at Christmas. You keep wanting the clock to turn so you can see what’s there.”

Fortunately (for him, anyway), this is a short week. Some teams across the state had six days between games. Poland has four. It makes things more hectic, but it also makes the wait more tolerable.

“It’s going to come quick,” Grisdale said.

Poland is 0-3 all-time in state semifinals. Grisdale, the school’s all-time winningest coach, is 0-2, falling to Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (76-36) in 2002 and Upper Sandusky (89-58) last year. Based on Grisdale’s sleep totals, the thrill hasn’t worn off yet.

“This means a ton to our kids,” he said. “We had an opportunity to come down in 2002 and face LeBron [James] and a lot of these kids were in middle school and went to the game. Then last year we made it and had a couple nice juniors coming back that are seniors now.

“They took the younger kids on their backs. It’s been a great ride.”

Senior guards Ben Umbel and Anthony DeFelice are the two returning starters from last year’s team. Both made All-Ohio on Monday, with Umbel earning first team honors and DeFelice special mention.

Grisdale, who is 248-101 in 15 years with the Bulldogs, shared Div. II coach of the year honors with Columbus Eastmoor Academy’s Sean Taylor and Perry’s Chad Frazier, who lost to Poland in the regional semifinals.

“That’s all about the kids,” said Grisdale, when asked about the award. “It isn’t about me. It’s not about adults. It’s great, but I’m more happy for them.

“Who am I? I’m just a guy who tries to help them out.”

Although Poland played a small rotation last year, it wasn’t just DeFelice and Umbel who got state experience.

Senior David White, a starter on this year’s team, scored 11 points in last year’s game, while sophomores Nike Fatimus (a starter this year), Ben Donlow (also a starter), Ben Brocker (whose older brother, Brad, was a key reserve last year) and David Baker all played limited minutes against Upper Sandusky.

“We’re really excited to be back,” Grisdale said.

Chillicothe (23-2), meanwhile, has been to the state tournament twice before. Sort of.

The Cavaliers advanced in 1924 and 1930 when the state accepted 16 teams. They’ve never made it to the final four. Consequently, Cavalier fans consider this their first trip.

“This is our first experience,” Chillicothe coach Gary Kellough said. “Our kids are excited and it’s created a lot of interest here in Chillicothe with boys basketball.

“We’re looking forward to creating a little history this weekend.”

scalzo@vindy.com