NEWS AND NOTES

Who are the Newark Wildcats? High school basketball junkies in Ohio know who they are for sure. Newark enters this contest with a tradition of basketball excellence along with teams like Middletown and Canton McKinley. Over the years, the Wildcats have accumulated more than 1,400 wins, 22 district championships with at least one each decade since the 1930s and 4 state titles. They have an OHSAA enrollment of 674 boys in the upper three grades compared to 436 for Scioto. The Wildcats fill the large Jimmy Allen Gymnasium on a regular basis and their fans travel extremely well.

Where did you get those socks? Close observers at last Saturday’s district semi-final noticed that the Scioto players were all wearing high socks with green and gray stripes at the top. These Back to the Future old school socks have been worn all season by the Irish varsity cheerleaders, drawing the attention of more than one opposing student section. As a show of solidarity, the girls and their coach found extra socks for the players. The socks are 1-0 on the Fairgrounds Coliseum basketball floor and may make another appearance this weekend.

District Final Match-Ups. Many high school basketball observers expect Saturday’s games to be very entertaining and competitive match-ups. The top five seeds have advanced to district finals. In the opener, OCC Central champ Dublin Coffman (20-3) takes on OCC-Ohio co-champ Grove City (21-2). Both teams play an up-tempo style, although the Greyhounds have more size than the Rocks. OCC Cardinal champ Scioto and OCC Ohio co-champ Newark are the only remaining Division I 2008 Central District champions alive. These teams are known for their lock-down defenses and great ball movement on the offensive end of the floor. They are veteran teams who have experienced coaching staffs. The third game features #1 state-ranked Northland (22-1) against upstart Westerville North (13-10) from the OCC Cardinal. The Vikings swept to the Columbus City League championship and have only lost in overtime to state-ranked Canton Timken. The Warriors put together a nice late season run and have beaten two seeded teams on their way to the district championship, #8 Westerville South and #9 Gahanna. These teams feature three Division I college recruit frontcourt players in Northland’s Jared Sullinger and J.D. Weatherspoon, and North’s Ralph Hill.

The tradition of cutting down the nets. Following the trophy and individual medal presentations at each district final, the champion will have an opportunity to cut down the nets. How did this tradition start? Legend has it that North Carolina State coach Everett Case decided to cut down the nets as a souvenir following the Wolfpack’s 1947 Southern Conference Tournament championship. It soon caught on and teams were cutting down nets all over the country within a few years. Case continued to coach the Wolfpack until he stepped down mid-season during 1964-65 after being diagnosed with cancer. The Wolfpack upset Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference final that season and hoisted Coach Case onto their shoulders to cut the nets down one final time. He died in April 1966.

Digital Scout helps the coaches and players. Thanks to the hard work of Irish players, coaches, parents and other volunteers during a spring girls basketball tournament held last May, the program has been able to purchase a laptop computer and Digital Scout software that tracks team and individual stats during games. Veteran scorekeeper Chris Cordi has mastered the software and is joined by a volunteer spotter during games. The tournament also allowed the Irish to purchase new video equipment and other items to support the program.