Each year when the NBA playoffs start I spend quite a bit of time in front of the TV. Back in the day (60’s and 70’s) I sat in front of a 19” black and white TV watching the great players of that time. Now I watch on the big screen 75″ all in color, which is like having a seat on the sideline. I watched as my team, the Cavaliers dropped the first two games at home to the Pacers. My other team the Celtics also fell in their first two games to the Knicks after leading by 20 or more in each game.

That’s the beauty of basketball. Momentum changes can change the outcome even when it looks like the game is over. The Knicks comebacks in two straight games show why as Yogi Berra would say, “it’s never over till it’s over.”

Paden City withdrew from the girls regional softball tournament moving Valley high school up to play Magnolia. Valley fell 12-2 to end their season. I was hoping the PC girls would extend their season one final game before the school closes.

The Regional track championship and state qualifier will be held Friday. It looks like Magnolia, Valley, and Tyler Consolidated all have potential gold metal performers. Magnolia won the OVAC championship in 1A2A and has depth, making them a team contender.

The 2024-25 school year is just about over. Lot’s of sports are still happening with the state track meet still to be run. However, I have decided to name my high school coach of the year. Without a doubt I choose Hundred Coach Bill Reynolds. Coach Reynolds has demonstrated a real desire to represent his school and their athletes. He coached girls high school basketball and the boys baseball team. Coach put his athletes first in everything. He was always first in helping me get stats and providing information. He never made excuses when the team lost, he just kept positive and encouraged his teams to work harder. His teams didn’t win very many games, but when they did he gave credit to the players.

He did everything he could along with his assistant coach Terry Riter to make the last season at Hundred high school a fun one and one for his players to remember. I would encourage all coaches to be as compassionate as Coach Reynolds. I congratulate Coach Bill Reynolds on his success beyond measure. It just proves that coaching isn’t always measured by wins and losses. Coach Reynolds said, ” I consider all my players winners regardless of how our season ended. And I wish them all the best wherever they go next.”

That is real class from a classy guy!

Speaking of class! It was great to see ex-Magnolia great Mark Cisar get his 100th career win as a high school baseball coach. Mark is head baseball coach at John Marshall. Seems just like yesterday when he was on the diamond for the Blue Eagles. Let’s hope Mark can continue on and match or surpass the great things his dad accomplished at Magnolia.

The Mountaineers baseball team has provided fans with a memorial season so far. They lead the big 12 and are in position to host Regional competition. Not everyone saw this coming at the beginning of the season, however after a fantastic start that had them 13-0, they began to look like the real thing and it turns out they were.. Adding another 14-0 run before dropping a few more along the way. However they will wrap up the regular season this weekend at home vs Kansas. Let’s get behind them and hope they can capture the big 12 championship, host the regionals, and make some noise in the NCCAA.

Paden City and Hundred were supposed to play in the Region 1 Class A baseball tournament, however Hundred withdrew and Paden City got a pass to play Madonna. The format for the baseball tournament is similar to the recently adopted one in basketball where the sectional is eliminated and every team plays in a regional. The regionals are separated into two brackets and the winners of each bracket play a best of three series to decide the winner. The entire regional will be double elimination and the final series must begin by May 26. The winners of the regional finals advance to play in the single elimination state tournament.