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Press Box

By Staff | Feb 8, 2023

River high school has two terrific high school basketball teams. The Boys team is currently 16-3 and gearing up for the OVAC Turnament and the Ohio playoffs. The Girls team is dominating as well and sports an 18-1 record beating a good Wheeling Central team on Saturday for the OVAC 2A Championship. Both team are solid on offense and defense and have several quality underclass athletes. So look for bigger and better things to come. The boys team is led by Kabel Isaly a junior, but has tremendous support from seniors Ty Long and Brody Lolathin both who are or near 1,000 points for their career. The Girs team is led by junior Kelsey Harlan an All-State candidate who recently hit for her 1,000 point as well. Giving the lady Pilots plenty of scoring, plus all around solid defense are senior star Hannah Raper and Rylee Knight, both who hit double figures nearly every game. These are two exciting teams to watch. While some of the kids donát get the headlines, they are very well coached and play together well as a team.

I am disappointed that Hundred girls who got off to a fantastic start, lost their top scorer and rebounder and will not have her back this season as she tore her ACL. Roxie Huggins is a hard worker and had progressed into a fine player who was putting up double figures in every outing. For a small school losing one or two players can change the course of your season in a hurry. Lets hope the team can find some players to pick up the slack and get back in the win column.

All the local teams have some positive things going on, but most are young and inexperienced, however they play hard and are learning with each outing. The best thing they can do to turn their programs around for next year is to hit the courts during the off season. I’m not a big fan of club ball. I believe kids who want to win and be successful can do a lot on their own. Picking up a basketball in season only will not do it. You have to practice shooting and study the game. Listen to your coaches and play every day.

Paden City girls picked up a couple wins last week giving them 5 wins in their last 9 games. The Lady Cats started the season 1-11 but have started jelling as a team and with the scoring of senior standout McKenzie Thomas are winning a few and staying close in mst others. McKenzie has been consistently in double figures all season and in the past seven games is averaging over 20 points per outing. Including one 39 point output and one 27 point game. She is getting good support from Kim Burch and Lexi Mathis, while the other girls are filling their roles.

Late season spurts often show good dedication on the teams part and good coaching. Some teams get down on themselves and continue to lose, but hard work and determination can change things in a hurry.

Watching the high school teams throughout the season, I’m hoping one or two of our teams get hot and make it down to Charleston. Keep the faith it can happen. I remember a team in 1982 from Paden City that had won only four or five games all year and ended playing in the state championship game losing to a great Mullins team led by former WVU player Herbie Brooks.

I remember the day when you had to stand in line to get in an outdoor game in the summer. Leagues were going on in all the communities and every court was packed even when league play wasn’t happening. I would like to go back to the day when Bruce Park was lit up at night and kids played from noon to midnight. Also when fast pitch softball was happening all over the valley. Hundred used to put on a fast pitch tournament every year. Bruce Park had some of the best fast pitch games around and many of the top players were from right here locally. Large crowds came out for the games, it was great time.

I believe if we could get the kids more interested in playing on the outdoor courts and fields we would recover a lost interest in sports and develop better high school athletes. Joining club teams and traveling all season long takes a lot of fun out of the games and also puts a lot of stress on the kids, plus it’s a major expense for the parents. Just my thoughts, but I’ll bet many feel the same way.

It was great to see ex-Hundred high school athlete Katherine Henderson is performing quite well in track and field for Waynesburg College. It just seems like yesterday we were watching her at the state track meet in Charleston. She a dedicated athlete who has done well.

Get ready it’s only a couple weeks away before basketball tournament action starts in the state. Also the state wrestling tournament will be held in Huntington the first of March. Lets get out and support our teams and root them on to victory. Good luck the rest of the way for all our area teams.