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Hope Classic features return of an old friend
YSU alum is bringing her Milford team
By Daniel Rubens
STRUTHERS
Nine high school basketball teams will descend on the Mahoning Valley this weekend for the Fourth Annual Hope Classic Showcase, a five-game event sponsored by the Hope Foundation of the Mahoning Valley.
Five games will be played — one on Friday in Girard and four on Saturday at Struthers Fieldhouse.
Kristi Echelberry-McKenney, a Youngstown State Hall of Famer, returns to Northeast Ohio with her Cincinnati Milford girls team for two games. Milford will Girard on Friday night before kicking off Saturday’s quadruple-header at Struthers Fieldhouse with a matchup against Austintown Fitch.
Echelberry-McKenney’s seventh season as Milford head coach is off to a flying start, with Milford opening 3-1 after the Eagles went 8-16 last season. They are ranked ninth in Cincinnati.com’s Division I girls basketball coaches poll.
“We’re off to a great start,” Echelberry-McKenney said. “I have five seniors and seven juniors, a great group of girls that play hard for me and play together.
“Hopefully, we can keep moving forward, we’ve got a lot of goals we set, and we just have to keep getting better.”
Echelberry-McKenney grew up in Mantua where she excelled at Crestwood High School. A forward for YSU from 1991-95 under YSU head coach Ed DiGregorio, Echelberry-McKenney ranks 12th in Penguins history in points scored and eighth in rebounds.
“I had a wonderful basketball family and college family at Youngstown, and to be able to bring my basketball family there is great,” Echelberry-McKenney said. “I feel like I’m going home, and I love that my girls will have an opportunity to give back to a community that meant so much to me.”
Another girls game will feature a matchup between South Range and Struthers, both off to good starts. South Range is 4-0 after beating Cardinal Mooney, 60-40. Struthers is 3-1 after Friday’s victory over Edgewood.
Struthers coach John Grandy said he thinks his young team is still finding its identity, but that the Hope Classic offers more than a basketball game.
“South Range is a good team with a great coach,” Grandy said. “Tony Matisi does a great job, and we know we’re going into a battle with a great program. It’s a great opportunity for us to see where we’re at, and also for our athletes to do something good for someone else.”
The other two games of the showcase will pit the South Range boys team against Bristol and the Struthers boys team against Lisbon.
South Range head coach John Cullen said he thinks Bristol is one of the better teams in the area and is led by one of the best play-makers he’s seen in recent years in Alex Jones. He feels his squad can compete with the Panthers.
“It’ll be a really good game,” Cullen said. “Both teams have the ability to go off on any night. My team, like with a lot of teams, what we’re good at, we’re really good at, and we need to improve where we aren’t, particularly our defense and transition defense. That was what let us down [in the opener].”
Struthers started its regular season with a come-from-behind, 65-63 win over Edgewood. Lisbon opened its season with a victory over East Palestine.
Friday’s game between Milford and Girard tips off at 6 p.m. Saturday’s first game begins at 3 p.m.