Winter’s top notes, quotes & anecdotes

This column is about looking back at the winter sports season, but I’d like to look ahead first.

As news surfaced last week about the demise of the Steel Valley Conference, fans from across the Valley speculated about Boardman’s and Fitch’s role in the Federal League.

Would they form a new league with Warren Harding, East and Chaney?

Would they be willing to join Mooney and Ursuline and save the SVC?

Would they join the All-American Conference?

No, no and no.

“We’re very content with the Federal League,” Boardman athletic director Dave Smercansky said. “Obviously, people start these rumors about us coming back to the Steel Valley. Those are absolutely false.”

Know this: Boardman and Fitch would be very interested in joining the AAC. But for that to happen, schools such as Canfield, Poland and Howland would have to agree to it. That’s not happening anytime soon.

Football drives league decisions because it’s the sport with the biggest profile and it’s the sport that (in most cases) brings in the most money. Canfield and Poland already schedule Boardman in most sports, but the size difference makes them reluctant to play the Spartans in football.

Case in point: Canfield has made the Division II playoffs three straight years, yet bought out a two-year contract with the Spartans two years ago. This despite the Spartans posting a 2-28 record over the previous three seasons.

Boardman and Fitch fit in well with the Federal League schools demographically and from an overall competition standpoint. But with gas creeping toward $4 a gallon, there are going to be more complaints from parents and fans about travel. It’s obviously not a permanent solution.

But, right now, neither school feels there’s a better option.

Highlights from
winter season

OK, enough league talk. Let’s move on.

This was an unusual season for me in that I missed a few weeks covering the Pavlik fight. Still, I saw more than 35 high school basketball games and covered a few swim meets, so I feel like I saw most of the area’s best athletes. The exception is Fitch senior wrestler Tony Jameson.

I also didn’t get any Ursuline pepperoni rolls and I lost $10 on the Pavlik fight. (I bet the under.)

It wasn’t a perfect winter, but it wasn’t bad. Here are the highlights.

Five favorite boys basketball players to watch: Ursuline senior guard Nick McCartney (who put on a show in a loss to Mooney this year, scoring 32 of his team’s 55 points), Canfield’s John Manzoian (who averaged eight assists per game this year), Warren Harding junior Desmar Jackson (who was dazzling against Zanesville in the Play-by-Play Classic), Harding junior Sheldon Brogdon (no one has a prettier jump shot) and Poland senior Ben Umbel (this is my seventh season covering basketball at the paper and he might be my favorite player).

Five favorite girls basketball players to watch: Brookfield senior Morgan Bonekovic (who is also a terrific interview), Salem sophomore Amy Scullion (sophomores shouldn’t be that good), Canfield sophomore Jillian Halfhill (see previous comment), Howland senior Alexa Williams (who was phenomenal in the district final against Shaker Heights) and Boardman senior Courtney Schiffauer (one of the five best girls I’ve seen in my seven years).

Five favorite athletes to interview: Canfield senior swimmer James Hunter, Canfield senior swimmer Jordan Graham (who is far too friendly to have been an all-state defensive lineman), Harding senior Damian Eargle, Poland senior David White and Boardman senior swimmer Conner O’Halloran.

Five favorite coaches to interview: Boardman girls coach Ron Moschella (I’m sad to admit we got along really well all year, so there’s no funny stories to pass on), Poland boys coach Ken Grisdale (who might be my favorite coach to interview in any sport and who has actually managed to provide good quotes in recent years), Lowellville girls coach Tony Matisi (as I’ve said before — it’s impossible for a reporter to dislike this man), Campbell boys coach Brian Danilov (no one’s funnier on the sidelines ... well, except for Moschella, but it’s a different kind of funny) and Howland girls coach John Diehl.

Boys player of the year: Umbel.

Girls player of the year: Schiffauer.

Coach of the year: Grisdale.

Favorite place to watch a game: The Canton Field House, with special mention to the Chevy Centre. (Wouldn’t it be terrific to watch district tournament games downtown?)

Least favorite place to watch a game: The winner and still champion ... the Canton Civic Center, which robs people by charging $5 to park while providing a cave-like atmosphere and unfriendly service. Special mention goes to Warrensville Heights High School, which somehow managed to host a boys Division I district tournament despite barely being big enough to host a Div. IV girls district tournament.

Best team I saw this year: Warren Harding boys. If you’re officiating a state tournament game or a regional final, you simply cannot get a buzzer-beating call wrong. That it happened twice in a 24-hour period is a major black eye for the state. (Back story: Harding lost in overtime to Lakewood St. Edward in a Div. I regional final after an Eagle player made a game-tying 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer. The next day, Cincinnati Mt. Notre Dame made a layup after the buzzer to beat Lakota West in the Div. I girls final.)

OHSAA commissioner Dan Ross called Raiders coach Steve Arnold the next day and apologized and said the state would look into using video replay, if possible. Let’s hope it happens.

Best quotes
of the season

And, finally, the five quotes I loved the most.

UGrisdale, referring to Umbel’s propensity for steals: “Ben Umbel’s a thief. He ought to be in jail.” Umbel finished the year with a state record 175 steals — 20 more than the previous mark.

UCanfield High boys basketball coach John Cullen, on his December wish list: “All I want for Christmas is better foul shooting.”

UDanilov, on coaching a game at the same time as the NFC championship game: “When one of those teams starts rebounding for me, I’ll worry about that game.” Danilov also had a terrific quote about senior Antwan Dawson, who grew from 5-foot-10 to 6-2 since his freshman year. “I wish he’d grow another four inches by Jan. 1,” he said.

UMoschella, on three technical fouls being assessed (including one on Schiffauer) in the first three minutes of a regional semifinal against Akron Kenmore: “After the fight, we had a little discussion. Then [Schiffauer] decided to take off her boxing gloves.”

UMatisi, on the inspiration for his team’s up-tempo playing style. “We’re toying with that Poland [boys] mentality of pushing and shooting. I told the girls, ‘We’re Poland with turnovers.’ ”

XJoe Scalzo covers high school sports for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.