Ken Grisdale has much for which to be thankful

By Joe Scalzo

Poland’s coach has a lot of pride in what the team accomplished.

As Poland High boys basketball coach Ken Grisdale sat in the stands at Value City Arena this weekend, he felt a little empty.

“We had such a good group last year and we had such a good group this year, so to lose them, there was a part of me that felt empty,” said Grisdale, whose team lost to Chillicothe in Thursday’s Division II state semifinal. “Then I looked around and said, ‘Man, there’s a lot of good coaches who have never been here once.’ ”

He mentioned coaches such as John Cullen of Canfield — “He’s one of my coaching heroes,” Grisdale said — and former Struthers coach Joe Fuline. Neither has coached in the state semifinals as a head coach (Cullen made it as an assistant with Brookfield in the 1970s), while Grisdale has done it three times this decade.

“We’re very fortunate,” he said.

Poland set a school record by winning its first 25 games en route to capturing the Associated Press poll title before losing, 78-70, to the eventual champions. That, too, was a first for the Bulldogs, who had lost to the state runner-up in three previous trips (1972, 2002 and 2007) to Columbus.

“No more Poland jinx,” Grisdale said.

It was also the first time Grisdale didn’t have to face Mr. Basketball in the state semifinals — LeBron James played for Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary in 2002, while Jon Diebler was on Upper Sandusky last year — although based on Saturday’s result, that may not have been a good thing.

Chillicothe senior Anthony Hitchens, a University of Akron recruit, shared tournament MVP honors with teammate Ray Chambers, outplayed Libbey’s Mr. Basketball winner, William Buford, driving the length of the court in the closing seconds of overtime to set up Chambers for the game-winning basket.

“What a game,” said Grisdale, who stayed with his team in Columbus through Saturday morning. “That Hitchens, he’s a pretty darn good guard.

“Akron’s getting a steal.”

Grisdale — who graduated from Akron, by the way — cheered for Chillicothe.

“Most definitely,” he said. “I thought Chillicothe and Libbey were the two best teams in the state, including [Warren] Harding [in Div. I]. I thought Harding was the third-best.

“I think Div. II was better than Div. I this year.”

Grisdale’s wife, Kim, coordinated the weekend’s events, making sure the players ate all their meals and had time with their coaches — and away from them. The Bulldogs went to most of the games and ate at Eddie George’s restaurant near campus on Friday night.

“My wife is the key to the trip,” Grisdale said. “She makes my life easier.

“If she didn’t help me the way she does, I’d have been done [coaching] five or six years ago.”

Instead, he’s been energized by a new playing style and a bright future for his team, which features five sophomores who saw extensive playing time during the postseason Only two of his key underclassmen play football — Luke Wollet and Andy Bartos — which means they’ll be together during the summer, too.

“We took a lot of pride in what we accomplished as a group,” Grisdale said. “To take the risk that we took and try something different. ... The easiest thing would have been to stay with what we had done.

“Instead, we stepped outside our comfort zone and it brought a lot more satisfaction.”

scalzo@vindy.com