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COMMENTARY
Possible WSU player wows crowd
Friday, March 14, 2008
COLUMBUS — Cell phone usage along the Schottenstein Center press row spiked at halftime of the Chillicothe-Poland Seminary Division II state semifinal Thursday, March 13, when tournament staff handed out the Xeroxed statistics.
Ray Chambers, a 6-foot-7 senior forward for Chillicothe, had this stat line: 18 points, 11 rebounds, 8-of-11 shooting, 1 block, 1 steal. At halftime.
Extras
That's when we dialed our friends. Yes, many of those numbers came because Poland Seminary was trying to shut down Akron-bound guard Anthony Hitchens (who had his own dandy stat line, but more on him later).
But still. Goodness gracious.
And that's when the games really get interesting.
It was an otherwise nondescript game for basketball fans in the Miami Valley, partially because Graham had already lost the other D-II semifinal. Then Chambers and Chillicothe, making its first state tournament appearance since the Great Depression, gave us a reason to stop what we were doing, close our laptops and call our buddies.
The final line was this: 31 points, 17 rebounds, 13-of-18 shooting, 5-of-7 free throws. Chambers' dunks and boards gave second-ranked Chillicothe the big early lead it needed to upset No. 1 Poland Seminary, 78-70.
It was the kind of monster game that makes the boys basketball state tournament my favorite event each year. The kind that makes you watch the stat monitor and root for more rebounds and points to see the stats balloon.
Now, about Chambers. He moved to Chillicothe from Cincinnati two years ago to pair with his summer-league friend, Hitchens (he of 24 points and 11-of-18 shooting, meaning he and Chambers scored a combined 55 points by making 24-of-36 shots). Both are seniors and have led the Cavaliers to a 24-2 season, a big deal for a town that watched a losing basketball team for the better part of two decades until recently. This is credited as Chillicothe's first state tournament appearance since 1930.
He's tall and athletic, with a shaved head and facial hair on his chin. He moves quickly from basket to basket and has long arms for rebounds.
Plus, there's a chance he could wear a Wright State jersey in the future. Standing in a quiet hallway inside the Schottenstein Center, Chambers admitted he was waiting for his newest batch of ACT scores before getting serious about choosing a school for next year, but Wright State is on his list of hopefuls. He would immediately be one of the most athletic players on the Raiders' roster if he showed up on campus next season.
That remains, though, a big if.
What is certain is that Chambers provided eye-popping numbers for us basketball junkies on Thursday. In the post-game press conference, someone asked Chambers why he was so successful early in the game.
"It was just open looks for me," he said leaning into the microphone almost sheepishly.
Coach Gary Kellough interrupted.
"Guys, he's usually not that quiet," he said.
The room laughed in response. Maybe some of the reporters knew him better than that, or maybe it was the irony of Chambers providing the loudest performance in a day of D-II and D-IV semifinals.
"My bad," Chambers said.
