Tribe, 'Cane take early SCOL lead
By
Bob Patton-
(Continued from last week.)
On Friday, Dec. 4, 1987, Washington held torrid Wilmington shooter Mike Taylor to only 12 points but forgot to guard Jeff Rayman, and he scored 26 points, as the Hurricane downed Washington, 67-54.
In Circleville, Miami Trace found themselves trailing the red-and-black by 23 points with nearly three minutes remaining in the third stanza. Then, the Panthers went on a tear which stunned the home team. Miami Trace came roaring back, playing inspired basketball. They tied the score and actually took a brief lead late in the fourth period. Trace senior Barry Ankrom played the game of his career, scoring 31 points and bringing his team back from almost-certain defeat. But in the end, the Panthers fell one point short, and Circleville won, 69-68.
The next night, Washington hosted Adena. The game started slowly, with WCH holding an 11-9 lead midway through the first quarter. At that point, the Lions went on an 18-point run, which led to an easy 84-60 Blue Lion win. The Lions had four men in double figures, scoring a combined 65 points.
On Dec. 8, Hillsboro overcame an outstanding 25-point performance by big Steve Florence of Lynchburg when six Indian players scored at least eight points and the Indians took a 68-62 win over the Mustangs. In other games on the 8th, Chillicothe traveled to Miami Trace, where the improving Panthers clipped the Cavaliers, 89-79. Also, the Wilmington Hurricane blew into Franklin where they ran into 6’7” center Ron Pierce. Pierce hit 16-of-18 free-throw opportunities on his way to a game-high 28 points. But Wilmington had better scoring balance and got out of Franklin with a 70-66 win.
After about one-fourth of the season, Mike Taylor of Wilmington was leading the league individual scoring race with an average of 26 points per game. He was followed by Barry Ankrom of MT, who had a 21.5 ppg. average, while Hillsboro’s Kenny McCord averaged 17.5 ppg. and Jeff Rayman of Wilmington was at 17.2 ppg.
SCOL competition was getting cranked up by this time. Friday, Dec. 11 saw Circleville edge Washington, 66-63, when senior Travis Stonerock stole the ball from a WCH guard near mid-court with six seconds remaining in overtime and took it in for an uncontested goal. Rob Pittser scored 20 points for Washington, and Scott Allen hit 20 for Circleville.
In Hillsboro, Miami Trace led the Indians, 50-48, after three quarters, but Indian Ritchie Butler hit two three-pointers and a free-throw early in the fourth stanza to put a little distance between the two teams, and Hillsboro went on to grab a 69-57 win over the Panthers.
McClain visited Wilmington, where the Tigers contained hot-shooting Mike Taylor to some extent, but the Hurricane put four men in double figures and took a 68-56 home-court victory.
There were several Saturday night games as well. Miami Trace edged Westfall, 68-62; WCH beat Goshen, 75-61; McClain played at Waverly and were defeated, 53-44; and Logan Elm slipped by Circleville, 70-68.
The following Tuesday night, Grove City downed Circleville, 56-43. The Hillsboro Indians suffered their first defeat of the season Dec. 18 at Washington, when they blew an 18-point lead and dropped a 73-68 decision to the Blue Lions. The blue-and-white whipped the taller Indians on the offensive boards, which was a key statistic in this matchup.
Also, WCH had four men scoring in double figures and two more who scored 8 and 9, respectively. It is not easy to beat that kind of balance. The Lions were obviously much quicker than the somewhat plodding Indians.
Elsewhere, McClain served notice that they were improving when they played at Miami Trace and pushed the Panthers to the wire before falling, 61-59, in overtime. The Tigers had trouble defending Barry Ankrom, and the Panther sharpshooter collected 26 points. The Tigers lost Cameron, Rolfe and Coleman on fouls toward the end of the game.
At Circleville, Tiger Scott Allen scored a whopping 34 points against Wilmington, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates, and Wilmington took a 74-64 SCOL win when Taylor, Cleaver and Rayman all scored in serious double figures.
Just before Christmas, on Dec. 22, Washington traveled to Madison-Plains, where they routed the Golden Eagles, 82-54 with balanced scoring and rugged rebounding. This was the fourth straight win for the Lions. At Miami Trace, the same evening, Pickerington, with 6’8” Bob Sahr, dominated Trace and downed the Panthers, 67-51.
Three non-league games occurred Dec. 29. Wilmington blasted East Clinton, 86-65 at Wilmington, when 6’6” exchange student Petri Jolkkonen of Finland posted a monster game, chalking up 21 points, grabbing 19 rebounds and getting five steals for the Hurricane.
McClain visited Gallipolis, where Gallia Academy downed the Tigers, 75-60.
At Hillsboro, neighboring Leesburg Fairfield held a nine-point lead in the second quarter, but the Indians came to life in the second half and outscored the Lions, 39-17, to take a 61-42 win.
As the SCOL teams took a few days off for the Christmas holidays, the standings were:
Wilmington – 3-0, 8-1
Hillsboro – 2-1, 6-1
Circleville – 2-1, 3-4
Washington – 1-2, 6-3
Miami Trace – 1-2, 4-4
McClain – 0-3, 1-6
Mike Taylor of Wilmington still led the league in individual scoring with an average of 23.6 ppg. Barry Ankrom of Trace stood at 19.9 ppg. Circleville’s Scott Allen had moved up to third with an average of 18.4 ppg., and Wilmington’s Rob Cleaver averaged 17.3 ppg.
John Rolfe of McClain was the rebounding leader, with an average of 11.3 caroms per game. Petri Jolkkonen of Wilmington held second place with 9.2 rpg., and Elgin Card and Barry Ankrom, both of Miami Trace, were virtually tied with about 7.4 rpg.
Rob Pittser of Washington was the league’s leading assist man, with 7.3 assists per game. Travis Stonerock of Circleville was averaging 5.4 assists, and Mike Taylor was closely behind with 5.2. After the holiday break, Wilmington thumped Clinton-Massie, 97-81. The Hurricane outscored Massie, 82-52 from the field, but the Falcons, playing at home, notched 24-of-31 free-throw attempts to prevent a total blowout.
Adena played McClain in Greenfield. The Tigers had four men in double figures, and big John Rolfe pulled down 17 rebounds as the purple-and-gold beat the Warriors, 55-47.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]
On Friday, Dec. 4, 1987, Washington held torrid Wilmington shooter Mike Taylor to only 12 points but forgot to guard Jeff Rayman, and he scored 26 points, as the Hurricane downed Washington, 67-54.
In Circleville, Miami Trace found themselves trailing the red-and-black by 23 points with nearly three minutes remaining in the third stanza. Then, the Panthers went on a tear which stunned the home team. Miami Trace came roaring back, playing inspired basketball. They tied the score and actually took a brief lead late in the fourth period. Trace senior Barry Ankrom played the game of his career, scoring 31 points and bringing his team back from almost-certain defeat. But in the end, the Panthers fell one point short, and Circleville won, 69-68.
The next night, Washington hosted Adena. The game started slowly, with WCH holding an 11-9 lead midway through the first quarter. At that point, the Lions went on an 18-point run, which led to an easy 84-60 Blue Lion win. The Lions had four men in double figures, scoring a combined 65 points.
On Dec. 8, Hillsboro overcame an outstanding 25-point performance by big Steve Florence of Lynchburg when six Indian players scored at least eight points and the Indians took a 68-62 win over the Mustangs. In other games on the 8th, Chillicothe traveled to Miami Trace, where the improving Panthers clipped the Cavaliers, 89-79. Also, the Wilmington Hurricane blew into Franklin where they ran into 6’7” center Ron Pierce. Pierce hit 16-of-18 free-throw opportunities on his way to a game-high 28 points. But Wilmington had better scoring balance and got out of Franklin with a 70-66 win.
After about one-fourth of the season, Mike Taylor of Wilmington was leading the league individual scoring race with an average of 26 points per game. He was followed by Barry Ankrom of MT, who had a 21.5 ppg. average, while Hillsboro’s Kenny McCord averaged 17.5 ppg. and Jeff Rayman of Wilmington was at 17.2 ppg.
SCOL competition was getting cranked up by this time. Friday, Dec. 11 saw Circleville edge Washington, 66-63, when senior Travis Stonerock stole the ball from a WCH guard near mid-court with six seconds remaining in overtime and took it in for an uncontested goal. Rob Pittser scored 20 points for Washington, and Scott Allen hit 20 for Circleville.
In Hillsboro, Miami Trace led the Indians, 50-48, after three quarters, but Indian Ritchie Butler hit two three-pointers and a free-throw early in the fourth stanza to put a little distance between the two teams, and Hillsboro went on to grab a 69-57 win over the Panthers.
McClain visited Wilmington, where the Tigers contained hot-shooting Mike Taylor to some extent, but the Hurricane put four men in double figures and took a 68-56 home-court victory.
There were several Saturday night games as well. Miami Trace edged Westfall, 68-62; WCH beat Goshen, 75-61; McClain played at Waverly and were defeated, 53-44; and Logan Elm slipped by Circleville, 70-68.
The following Tuesday night, Grove City downed Circleville, 56-43. The Hillsboro Indians suffered their first defeat of the season Dec. 18 at Washington, when they blew an 18-point lead and dropped a 73-68 decision to the Blue Lions. The blue-and-white whipped the taller Indians on the offensive boards, which was a key statistic in this matchup.
Also, WCH had four men scoring in double figures and two more who scored 8 and 9, respectively. It is not easy to beat that kind of balance. The Lions were obviously much quicker than the somewhat plodding Indians.
Elsewhere, McClain served notice that they were improving when they played at Miami Trace and pushed the Panthers to the wire before falling, 61-59, in overtime. The Tigers had trouble defending Barry Ankrom, and the Panther sharpshooter collected 26 points. The Tigers lost Cameron, Rolfe and Coleman on fouls toward the end of the game.
At Circleville, Tiger Scott Allen scored a whopping 34 points against Wilmington, but he didn’t get much help from his teammates, and Wilmington took a 74-64 SCOL win when Taylor, Cleaver and Rayman all scored in serious double figures.
Just before Christmas, on Dec. 22, Washington traveled to Madison-Plains, where they routed the Golden Eagles, 82-54 with balanced scoring and rugged rebounding. This was the fourth straight win for the Lions. At Miami Trace, the same evening, Pickerington, with 6’8” Bob Sahr, dominated Trace and downed the Panthers, 67-51.
Three non-league games occurred Dec. 29. Wilmington blasted East Clinton, 86-65 at Wilmington, when 6’6” exchange student Petri Jolkkonen of Finland posted a monster game, chalking up 21 points, grabbing 19 rebounds and getting five steals for the Hurricane.
McClain visited Gallipolis, where Gallia Academy downed the Tigers, 75-60.
At Hillsboro, neighboring Leesburg Fairfield held a nine-point lead in the second quarter, but the Indians came to life in the second half and outscored the Lions, 39-17, to take a 61-42 win.
As the SCOL teams took a few days off for the Christmas holidays, the standings were:
Wilmington – 3-0, 8-1
Hillsboro – 2-1, 6-1
Circleville – 2-1, 3-4
Washington – 1-2, 6-3
Miami Trace – 1-2, 4-4
McClain – 0-3, 1-6
Mike Taylor of Wilmington still led the league in individual scoring with an average of 23.6 ppg. Barry Ankrom of Trace stood at 19.9 ppg. Circleville’s Scott Allen had moved up to third with an average of 18.4 ppg., and Wilmington’s Rob Cleaver averaged 17.3 ppg.
John Rolfe of McClain was the rebounding leader, with an average of 11.3 caroms per game. Petri Jolkkonen of Wilmington held second place with 9.2 rpg., and Elgin Card and Barry Ankrom, both of Miami Trace, were virtually tied with about 7.4 rpg.
Rob Pittser of Washington was the league’s leading assist man, with 7.3 assists per game. Travis Stonerock of Circleville was averaging 5.4 assists, and Mike Taylor was closely behind with 5.2. After the holiday break, Wilmington thumped Clinton-Massie, 97-81. The Hurricane outscored Massie, 82-52 from the field, but the Falcons, playing at home, notched 24-of-31 free-throw attempts to prevent a total blowout.
Adena played McClain in Greenfield. The Tigers had four men in double figures, and big John Rolfe pulled down 17 rebounds as the purple-and-gold beat the Warriors, 55-47.
(Continued next week.)
Bob Patton is a Highland County sports historian and a contributing writer to The Highland County Press.[[In-content Ad]]