Reckless abandon pays off for Poland

By Joe Scalzo

POLAND — Ken Grisdale was fortunate he didn’t have any hair left last March because he probably would have pulled it out.

He’d been head coach at Poland for 14 seasons. He’d won more games than anyone in school history. He’d won district titles with very different players and very different teams. He’d matched up against the best prep player in Ohio history, LeBron James, in the state tournament five years earlier.

He’d built his basketball program on a conservative, half-court approach that played to his team’s strengths.

And as it all unraveled in front of him during last year’s Division II state semifinal against Upper Sandusky, he was powerless to do anything but sit there and watch.

“We couldn’t do anything we normally did,” said Grisdale, whose team lost 89-58. “We had over 70 sets and we couldn’t do any of it.

“I’ve never been so frustrated as a head coach.”

What happened next has become part of Poland folklore. With a terrific sophomore class on the way, he and his assistants toyed with the idea of adopting the Rams’ style for this season. To make the change, Grisdale would have to expand his rotation and become more reckless.

“We said, ‘Do we really want to try this?’ ” said Grisdale. “Myself, I’m a very conservative coach. We were a little concerned.

“But after we talked for awhile, we knew we needed to do what was best for the kids. We wanted to put them in the situation that gave the best chance to be successful.”

Grisdale spoke with Upper Sandusky coach Keith Diebler, who invited him to spend a day with the team in the offseason to study the style. Diebler told him the key to the style was length, not height. The Bulldogs aren’t all that tall — no one on the roster is bigger than 6-foot-5 — but they’re long and athletic.

“This system fits these kids,” Grisdale said. “If we played the way we played last year, we’d probably be out of the tournament and we probably would have lost five or six regular season games.”

Instead, they became the first team in school history to finish undefeated, winning the Associated Press regular season poll title. Only one team, Boardman, came within 15 points of the Bulldogs during the regular season, a testament to their talent, their depth and their willingness to share the spotlight.

“Our team is so deep,” said Ben Brocker, one of five sophomores expected to see time in today’s state semifinal. “We get along great too. The chemistry between us is amazing.”

Poland’s style is designed to wear down other teams with a frenetic pace from baseline to baseline. The first thing the Bulldogs try to do is get an early lead, hoping teams will make poor choices with the ball while trying to rally.

“We want to dishearten teams,” senior point guard Anthony DeFelice said. “We try to get up on them in the beginning.”

Chillicothe coach Gary Kellough is familiar with the style, having scouted Upper Sandusky twice last year.

He thinks his team can handle it.

“We’re good at handling full-court pressure,” he said. “We’re the type of team that can play up-tempo.”

The biggest emphasis will be transition defense, Kellough said.

“We need to take care of the perimeter because they’ll shoot 30 to 35 3s a game,” he said. “We want to get a lot of pressure on their shooters, get back in transition and make them run their offense.”

Although the Cavaliers haven’t played in the state tournament — they lost in the regional final last season — they are familiar with Value City Arena, having played there in the Play-by-Play Classic the past two years. They also played in U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati this season.

“We’ve played against good competition in big arenas,” Kellough said. “That won’t really affect our kids.”

Today’s game is Grisdale’s best chance to win in three state tournament appearances — this is the first time he won’t be playing a team with Mr. Basketball — but it’s going to be a big challenge.

The final four teams in Div. II were ranked in the top five at the end of the season, so there’s no slouches.

“The AP knew what was going on,” Grisdale said. “I think it’s going to be a really good final four in Division II.”

scalzo@vindy.com