Previewing Holmes area H.S. boys basketball teams
Garaway’s Bronson Speedy (12) and Hiland’s Nick Wigton will continue the spirited rivalry between the Pirates and Hawks.
The high school boys basketball season began Nov. 27. Here are season previews for schools in The Holmes Bargain Hunter’s coverage area:
Hiland
The Hawks overcame plenty of adversity last season to reach the Division IV state tournament for the third consecutive year, falling to powerhouse Richmond Heights in the championship game.
“We are much smaller (this season) than last year, but we did play a lot of games without Alex Yoder at the end of the year, so hopefully that will help us,” 20th-year coach Mark Schlabach said.
Hiland graduated its top scorer but returns numerous players with big-game experience — seniors Nick Wigton (F), Logan Hershberger (G), Zeke Bodiker (F) and Sam Wengerd (F) and junior Alex Miller (PG).
They’ll be joined by newcomers in senior Andrew Weaver (G) and junior guards Ashton Schrock, Caleb Yoder, Caleb Mishler, CJ Yoder and Cade Beachy.
“We should be able to score more efficiently from the perimeter this year, and we have a much deeper team than last year,” Schlabach said. “We are small. It will be a struggle to rebound and defend the paint.”
Another lengthy postseason run is likely in store for the Hawks, who will compete in Div. VI this year after the OHSAA expanded from four to seven divisions beginning this season. Hiland finished 23-7 overall last season and 10-2 in Inter-Valley Conference South Division games, sharing the division title with Indian Valley.
“Indian Valley and Garaway will be very good (in the South Division),” Schlabach said. “We hope to be a tough team to beat by the end of the year.”
West Holmes
The Knights will be youthful this season and look to grow with experience.
“This team will be a lot younger than last year’s team,” second-year coach Ben Belden said. “We lost a lot of seniors and letterwinners off of last year’s team and will replace them with younger players this year.”
West Holmes returns two letterwinners — junior post Manny Camacho and sophomore wing Nate Sprang. They’ll be joined by sophomore newcomers Cooper Maltarich (G), Zane Kinsey (G), Billy Patten (W), Keston McKinney (P) and Preston Troyer (W).
“I like our quickness and athleticism,” Belden said. “We have some guys who can score and shoot well from the perimeter. We are very inexperienced and not tremendously big or physical.”
West Holmes finished 4-19 overall last season and 1-13 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference.
“We will be a very young team with no seniors on the roster,” Belden said. “It will be a time for us to learn and grow together and to gain a lot of experience. Though we know that there will be struggles, we expect to compete.”
Garaway
The Pirates will look to fill several holes in their starting lineup after graduating four starters.
Senior guard Blaine Raber, who averaged 13 points last season, is their lone returning starter. Fellow returning senior letterwinners Bronson Speedy (F, 4.2), Brady Geibel (F, 2.8) and Bennet Wallick (G, 2.8) were all key contributors off the bench last season.
They’ll be joined by newcomers in senior Chett Troyer (P) and juniors Kingman Bear (P), Jaxon Garber (F), Lofton Numbers (G), Tanner Rowe (F) and Micah Yoder (G).
Garaway finished 15-9 overall last season and 6-6 in Inter-Valley Conference South Division games.
“Many players in our rotation will be experiencing their first true varsity role,” ninth-year coach Terry Rowe said. “With that being said, we are excited for the opportunity to see the growth of our new starters and key players off the bench throughout the upcoming season as we strive to improve each day and be playing our best basketball at the end of the season.”
Waynedale
Last year the Golden Bears were competitive most nights before finishing 12-11 overall, 7-7 (fourth) in the Wayne County Athletic League. They were talented enough to hang with teams for the most part, if not to contend for any trophies.
Fourth-year coach Dane Held welcomes back all-league senior guard Matthias Raber (16 points per game) and senior forward Neal Brewer, junior forward Brayden Schlabach and junior guard Evan Yoder, and sophomore Hudson Barkman. Filling gaps created by the graduation of four letterwinners is a quartet of juniors in guard Bradon Lorenzt, guard Luke Lorentz, guard Jonny Schlabach and guard Tavyn Frazier.
“We are really going to have to work on being a better rebounding team, both defensively and offensively,” Held said. “Another point of emphasis for us this season is to play stronger with the basketball and to play with more aggression on the defensive end.”
Held said he expects Raber to lead what should be a good perimeter scoring team.
“Matthias Raber is a great scorer, and we have some other kids this season that can knock down shots and spread the floor,” the coach said. “Having more depth this year will allow us to be more aggressive on the offensive and defensive end.”
Triway
Triway has a new coach and, eventually, a new gym, but the Titans have the same expectations as always. The Titans were 18-6 a year ago including a 10-3 Principals Athletic Conference mark that was good for second.
“We will be a lot younger, playing with a defense-first mentality and playing with a lot of fast-paced offense,” first-year coach Nathon Loney said. “Our conditioning will be our biggest strength, which is required for us to play at the pace we want to play, (along with) our 3-point shooting abilities.”
Two of Loney’s top returnees lettered as freshman last season — point guard Bruin Flinner and forward Jalen Hackett.
“Bruin Flinner had a great summer, and it transferred over to a very good football season,” Loney said. “Jalen Hackett is just like Flinner — constantly working on his craft to improve.”
Three seniors — Ron Bricker, Stephen Shickluna and Landon Frank — also are back, joined by classmate DJ Corbett (F) and sophomores Brandt Clippinger (G), Jaxon Clippinger (F) and shooting guard Lane Crilow.
“Lane Crilow is going to fly under the radar at the beginning of the season, but by midseason I expect everyone to know who he is. He’s arguably one of the best catch and shoot 3-point shooters I’ve coached,” Loney said.
The Titans will be on the younger said, so Loney said they might take a while to come together.
“Our overall team youth and learning how to win basketball games (will be a challenge). We have a lot of young guys stepping into varsity roles, and it takes a little time to adjust and learn to win at the varsity level,” Loney said. “I think from what I know about the league that Northwest has to be a favorite. I think a good year for us would be to finish top three in the league.”