Basketball Preview 2017

Red Knights are Looking to Take Next Step Forward

By AARON PETCHAL TORONTO — The Toronto girls’ basketball team took a big step forward last season, and the Red Knights are looking to take another step forward this season in Rusty Hodgkiss’ second season as head coach. Last season, the Red Knights ended the season with a record of 8-15. Toronto saw its season come to an end with an 81-36 loss to Bishop Rosecrans in an Ohio Division IV Eastern District Sectional game. The Red Knights lost three seniors form last season — Serena Burkey (point guard), Jazalyn Glenn (point guard) and Crystal Ford (shooting guard). “It is ...

Toronto Returns Almost Everyone Off 20-5 Team

By AARON PETCHAL TORONTO — The Toronto boys’ basketball team is looking to continue its success from last season. Last year, the Red Knights had a record of 20-5 in Sean Tucker’s first season at the helm, and Toronto advanced to the Ohio Division IV Eastern District Semifinals before falling to Strasburg, 55-38. “It is going to be tough to equal last season,” Tucker said. “We had a 20-5 record. We were sectional champs for the first time since the 2003-04 season. We did lose two guys from last year, but the nucleus of the team is back. The guys are continuing to work ...

Andes Says It’s Hard To Tell What He Has

By SETH STASKEY SHADYSIDE — During the course of his 20 years as the Shadyside basketball coach, Ed Andes has usually had a pretty good handle on his team during the month of November. As he prepares to tip off his 21st season at his alma mater, Andes still find himself in a quandry. What lies ahead for the Tigers during the course of the season, who is going to start and the depth of the rotation have all been among the questions that Andes and company have been trying to answer during the preseason. “It’s just hard to tell,” Andes said. “I can say we’re ...

Gentile, Shadyside Return Veteran Cast

By SETH STASKEY SHADYSIDE — Serge Gentile called his first season at the helm of the Shadyside girls’ basketball team a “roller coaster ride.” The Tigers certainly had their fair share of ups and downs during the course of a season in which they finished with an 11-12 record. “We had a really good start to the season, but we hit a buzzsaw on the backend of our schedule,” Gentile said. “We had opportunities to win some of those games, but just had some things not go our way.” While that certainly wasn’t what he had in mind, Gentile looks ahead to Season No. 2 ...

Crusaders Boys All In

By ED LOOMAN STEUBENVILLE — Steubenville Catholic Central’s boys basketball team is in an “all for one and one for all” mode as it prepares for the season. “We have 15 guys all working as one this year and that’s just a huge step forward,” Chris Tarquinio, who is entering his second season as Central’s coach, said. “In my first year, we laid the foundation and the guys are really buying into the philosophy we installed. They now have a better grasp of what we are trying to accomplish both offensively and defensively. “We have great unity with this squad. The ...

Promise Aplenty for Delman, Union Local

By KIM NORTH MORRISTOWN — Zach Delman liked what he saw at the tail end of his first season as head coach at Union Local last winter. With four starters back, Delman’s second season at his alma mater holds a lot of promise. “I thought we ended on a great note. Obviously, it was a tough loss. We were up 10 going to the fourth quarter, but they battled back and beat us at the end,” he said of a season-ending setback to a good Garaway team in the district tournament that left the Jets at 10-13. “Considering where we were earlier in the season, we were up-and-down and ...