Area boys teams prep for state runs

Harding, Poland and Columbiana will begin defense of district titles.

VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT

For the Poland High boys basketball team, this week begins a quest for a third straight Division II state tournament appearance.

At Warren Harding, it’s time to see if the high-flying Raiders can overcome last year’s controversial loss in the Div. I regional final.

For most Valley teams, tournament action begins over the next six nights.

“The tournament is the second season and it’s the thing you work for all year,” Harding coach Steve Arnold said. “We are looking forward to it and hope to defend our district title.”

At Poland (16-4), the champion of the All-American Conference Red Tier, the journey begins with what Coach Ken Grisdale expects to be a challenging bracket.

“I think it’s one of the more competitive Boardman districts that we’ve seen in a long time,” said Grisdale who has guided Poland to three state semifinal appearances since 2002. “If we could win our first game [against West Branch or Crestwood], then we’d probably match up with Howland or Hubbard.”

In the regular season, Hubbard beat Poland. On Feb. 20, the Bulldogs needed double overtime to defeat Howland in a league game.

“It’s going to be very competitive,” Grisdale said.

Grisdale said graduation affected this year’s team.

“We had four really good seniors and great leadership,” Grisdale said of last year’s unbeaten squad in the regular season. “Now, we’re playing 11 juniors and one senior and our senior is more of a seventh or eighth guy. It’s been a growing experience.

We’ve got guys like [Ben] Donlow who has been big in the past; [Dave] Baker had a huge second half for us. Niko [Fatimus] always is a go-to guy,” Grisdale said. “As weird as it is to say after 20 games, we’re still trying to figure out our total identity.”

Poland’s Luke Wollet said past success means you’re a target.

“When you’ve have had success we’ve had the last three years, your always have that bulls-eye on your back,” Wollet said. “Once you get to the top, it’s hard to stay. Because we’re one of the better teams in the tournament, we’re going to have to work hard at practice.”

Most of the Valley’s Div. I teams will compete at Canton Civic Center. The exception is Warren Harding, which travels to the Cleveland suburb of Warrensville Heights. The Raiders’ first game will be Saturday against Solon or Cleveland John Adams.

“Many are saying that it’s the toughest district in the state again and that the team that wins is going to get to Columbus,” Arnold said. “I think eight or nine teams in our district have records above .500.

“The two seed, Garfield Heights, is 17-3, Cleveland Heights had another nice season and Nordonia and [Cleveland] St. Ignatius are solid teams,” Arnold said.

In the district semifinals, the Raiders (18-2) are bracketed for a possible rematch against Cleveland Heights, the team they beat last year in the district final.

“I’m sure they would want to pay us back,” Arnold said.

“What we’ve talked about is that we are the defending district champs,” Arnold said. “The other teams are going to have to take us out to take that title from us.”

In Canton on Tuesday, Canfield (14-6) faces Canton McKinley (14-5) in the tournament opener.

“We’re excited that we’re playing the No. 1 team in the history of the state of Ohio in terms of wins,” said Cardinals coach John Cullen whose team lost to Poland last Friday by two points to finish second in the AAC Red.

“It’s a big opportunity for our program to go see how we stack up against one of the better teams in Stark County with a rich tradition and rich history,” Cullen said. “We’re anxious to go over and represent Youngstown in that game.”

Also playing in Canton will be East, Boardman, Fitch and Chaney.

“Our goal is to win a tournament game and then see what happens,” said East coach Mark Cherol, whose Panthers finished second in the SVC.

Tonight at 7, the Panthers (11-8) play Massillon Perry (9-11) of the Federal League.

“They play in a strong league and have played a competitive schedule,” Cherol said.

If the Panthers advance, their reward would be top-seeded Canton Timken.

“Timken is a similar team to Harding, very athletic and quick,” Cherol said. “It would be nice to get a chance to redeem ourselves by playing a better game [against Timken] than we did [last Friday] against Harding.”

Div. III schools will be competing at Salem and Howland. The Salem event includes two league champions: East Palestine (18-2) of the Inter Tri-County League Tier One, and Campbell (15-5), co-champion of the AAC Blue.

After defeating Columbiana in a first-place showdown last Friday, Bingham said, “It doesn’t get any easier — we’re probably going to play Ursuline in the first game.”

Many observers feel that Ursuline is much stronger than its 5-15 record.

Newton Falls (18-2), which shared the AAC Blue crown with Campbell, plays at the Howland event, as does Maplewood (19-1, champion of the Northeastern Athletic Conference.

The Div. IV bracket at the Struthers Fieldhouse is loaded with good teams, including McDonald (20-0), champion of the ITCL Tier Two. Others are Youngstown Christian (17-3), which played a competitive schedule as an independent this season, and Columbiana (14-6) of the ITCL Tier One.

At the Warren Harding bracket will be top-seeded Warren JFK (13-7), which finished third in the SVC. Windham (13-7) has won the district all five years it’s been played at the old Harding Fieldhouse.