If you're keeping score, here's 3 points to add
- Tom Rife: Livin' the Team
- December 22, 2019
- 1072
Inkcasting today from behind the arc, launching long-range missiles from 3-point land with every intention of draining a nuthin’-but-net trifecta.
Point One: There’s always something hyperbolic happening with the College of Wooster men’s basketball team of legendary head coach Steve Moore. Yet another first in the storied history of the program looms Dec. 28-29 when the Fighting Scots host the Great Lakes Invitational tournament spotlighting eight teams and an enticing schedule that features four games each day in Timken Gymnasium.
The holiday tourney actually will do double duty, serving also as this year’s E.M. “Mose” Hole/Wooster Kiwanis Classic, one of the nation’s longest-running small college roundball rodeos. In the past the “Mose” tournament — in its 57th year — was a four-team affair. But 2019 is Wooster’s turn to host the rotating Great Lakes Invitational that celebrates its third year after stops at Marietta College (2017) and Hope College (2018).
The invitational field is bombastic, to be sure. The lineup includes sixth-ranked Marietta (6-0 as of Dec. 17), 14th-ranked Whitworth (7-1) and 24th-ranked Wooster (7-1). Rounding out the event are Ohio Wesleyan, York College of Pennsylvania, Salisbury University, John Carroll and Keene State College.
The real fireworks should be in the 6:30 p.m. game that Sunday when Wooster tangles with Whitworth in a rematch of the 2011 NCAA sectional final (equivalent of Elite Eight) that was played on the Timken hardwood.
At the time the Pirates were the top-ranked team in D3hoops.com’s top-25 poll. Whitworth downed Marietta 93-77 in the sectional semifinals while Wooster steadily pulled away from Cabrini 94-77. In the sectional final, Wooster fell behind for the first time in the second half at 51-49 but promptly answered with an 11-2 run to go ahead 60-53 with about 5:45 remaining en route to a 76-66 victory.
The 3,300 in attendance were sent into a frenzy, and the Fighting Scots were sent on to the NCAA Div. III national semifinals in Salem, Virginia.
The action on the court is sure to be first-rate, yet it is important to note that the primary reason for the tournament continues to be benefiting those less fortunate in the surrounding area. With a donation of new or gently worn clothing items, fans will receive discounted admission. Donations will go directly to Goodwill Industries of Wayne and Holmes Counties Inc.
Point Two: The Fighting Scots will return home for tourney play following a rousing championship effort in the Mauro Panaggio Tournament in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Senior Danyon Hempy was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after scoring a career-high 32 points during a 94-90 semifinal win over the College at Brockport, State University of New York. Hempy, the sixth player in program history with at least five career 30-point games, is averaging 22.3 points per game.
COW junior guard Keonn Scott scored 46 points over the two games in Daytona Beach, which included a career-high 26-point afternoon against Brockport. Thanks to his rapid uptick in the scoring column, Wooster now has three players averaging at least 15 points per night. Junior center Dontae Williams is the third (17.3 ppg).
Whitworth beat the University of Mary Washington 78-73 in its most recent contest when Ben College scored the final six points of the game and had a team-high 28. College is averaging 23.1 points per game. Whitworth has four players averaging double-digit points.
Point Three: Basketball fans in the area have to wonder what the future holds for “The Pit” gymnasium at Triway High, where a new school will be ready for occupancy in the next three to four years. Will this mean an end to the unusual, loud arena that has been a menace to the region’s boys and girls teams all these years?
Just in case you haven’t been there, imagine a swimming pool — without the water or diving board — surrounded by bleachers. That, in a nutshell, is The Pit. Access to the floor is limited to the players, coaches, game officials and score-table workers. Cheerleaders cheer and spectators spectate from the mezzanine level.
Word has it the Titans’ current hardwood should be able to withstand one more sanding/reconditioning. The new school, still in the funding/planning/design stages, likely will include a new gym.
Will there be a 2.0 version of The Pit?
And One: Here’s hoping for a stout turnout for the 16th annual WQKT-Steve Smith Holiday Hoops Classic set for Saturday, Dec. 21 at the College of Wooster’s Timken Gymnasium. Boys teams from Orrville, Norwayne, Triway, Northwestern, Hiland and Wooster will be involved in the six-game basketball buffet that tips off at 1 p.m.
See one game — or see 'em all — for an all-day ticket price that amounts to about a dollar a game. Now that’s getting a bang for your buck.