Poland Notebook from Value City Arena

Bright future: Two sophomores started and three others saw extensive playing time for Poland in Thursday’s state semifinal, which bodes well for the Bulldogs’ future. Niko Fatimus (11 points) and Ben Donlow (seven points, 11 rebounds) started all season, with reserves David Baker, Ben Brocker and Luke Wollet providing a spark off the bench. “They’re pretty good, but we’ll talk about them in the future,” Poland coach Ken Grisdale said. “Right now, it’s about our seniors.” Poland will lose four seniors (Ben Umbel, Anthony DeFelice, Bryan Kosec and David White) to graduation. Ryan Terek is the only junior on the roster. Umbel and DeFelice started on last year’s team, which lost to Upper Sandusky in the state semifinals playing more of a half-court game. The Bulldogs copied the Rams’ full-court pressure style this season and may play that way again next season. “We’ll take a look at that,” Grisdale said. “I believe we’re in the right system now and I’d like to continue that. But we’ll have plenty of time to think about that.”

Man of steal: Umbel had six more steals on Thursday, finishing the season with state records for most steals in a season (175, breaking the previous mark of 155 set by Upper Sandusky’s Jacob Diebler in 2004-05) and in a game (14 against Salem, two better than the previous state mark held by two players). “He’s a thief and a warrior,” said Grisdale, smiling.

High-scoring: Poland entered the game averaging 88.8 points per game — the highest of any team in the tournament. The Bulldogs were held to their second-lowest point total of the season (70) by Chillicothe. Poland scored 67 against Perry in the regional semifinals.

Record season: Chillicothe was in the state semifinals for the first time in school history. The Cavaliers made the state tournament twice before, in 1924 and 1930, when 16 teams competed. Both times they lost to Canton McKinley in the first round. The 78 years between appearances is the longest in Ohio history. Wauseon held the previous mark of 68 (1926-1994). The Cavaliers won nine district titles from 1931-2007, falling in the regional final last year.

Quotable: Chillicothe senior guard Anthony Hitchens, the school’s all-time scoring leader, on Saturday’s state championship game against Toledo Libbey: “Like I’ve been saying all year, if we don’t win state, I consider it a failure,” he said.

Joe Scalzo