Boys Basketball Preview 2022

Edwards Has High Hopes For Martins Ferry This Season

MARTINS FERRY - Derek Edwards begins his seventh season at the helm of the Martins Ferry boys’ hoop program. It is a campaign in which the former All-Ohio Purple point guard harbors greats hopes for. Edwards, a former Associated Press D-III Coach-of-the-Year, likes the physical and mental makeup of his latest squad. “We have athleticism and good depth, although some of it is young,” Edward said. “I have had nine of these kids working out all football season. They are making themselves and their teammates accountable. “I find myself talking less at practice while the ...

Lack Of Practice Time Worries Veteran River Coach Romick

HANNIBAL -- Veteran River High head coach Mark Romick likes what he has returning to the floor for his 2022-23 Pilots, but there’s one excusable drawback as the Hannibal-based crew prep for Tuesday’s season opener at Buckeye Local unless pushed back due to football. “We’ve lacked the practice time to get in (basketball) shape and become a cohesive unit,” noted Romick as the successful Pilots football team enjoyed an extended run in the D7 playoffs. “We’ll have to rely on our experience early in the season until we get our legs under us.” “We have a lot of court ...

Bridgeport Finally Has Some Height In Cash’s 19th Season

BRIDGEPORT – Entering his 19th season as the head coach of the Bridgeport boys’ basketball team, Donnie Cash finally has some height on his roster. The past few years has seen the Bulldogs utilize a small roster which hurt them at the Division III level. They have dropped back down to Division IV this winter. “We are looking to improve in the preseason and in our scrimmages,” Cash said. “We have a lot back from last year and a few others that came back out. We do have some length this season and most of the kids are athletic.” Half-a-dozen players return as lettermen, ...

Barnesville Relying On Strong Sophomore Class

BARNESVILLE – Barnesville boys basketball head coach Johnny Hines is hoping two returning lettermen and a strong sophomore class will help make up for huge graduation losses. He will be relying on juniors Asa Geilinger (6-2) and Taison Starr (5-10), and sophomores Cam Carpenter (5-9), Casey Carpenter (5-10), Salvador Almaraz (6-0) and Bryson Eddy (5-7). He also likes what he has seen from freshman Braeden Willis (5-10). “This group brings a lot of flexibility and we have some letterwinners from the football program bringing some more toughness we will need game in and game ...

Buckeye Local Still Has Size

CONNORVILLE—Buckeye Local lost its leading scorer in Cameron Best and quite a bit of experience between Best, the Darrahs, Hunter (6-foot-6) and Luke (6-4), along with Ethan McHugh and Anthony Deitch off a team that finished 8-14. But while the girls team is low on numbers and on height, the boys’ program is not enduring such problems. Head coach Chris Heaton’s team is 21 players strong this season, enough for both a varsity and junior varsity roster. And while the Darrah Brothers have graduated, he still boasts some size down in the paint to utilize. “Our guards are all ...

2022 Boys Basketball Schedules

Barnesville Nov. 25 — Buckeye Local, 5 p.m. Nov. 29 — at Shadyside Dec. 2 — Buckeye Trail Dec. 9 — at Monroe Central Dec. 13 — at River Dec. 20 — at Bellaire Dec. 22 — Shenandoah Dec. 27 — at Union Local Dec. 29 — Frontier (at Toronto), 4:45 p.m. Jan. 3 — Caldwell Jan. 6 — River Jan. 10 — at Fort Frye Jan. 13 — at Shenandoah Jan. 17 — Monroe Central Jan. 18 — Bellaire Jan. 20 — at Caldwell Jan. 24 — at Buckeye Local Jan. 27 — Shadyside Jan. 31 — Union Local Feb. 3 — at Martins Ferry Feb. 7-11 — OVAC ...