The West Carrollton boys basketball team hadn’t won since late in the 2012-13 season. Since then longtime coach Dan Gerhard had retired, citing health reasons, and new coach Tony Clemens inherited a program that went 0-23 last season.
West Carrollton’s boys finally snapped the losing streak, pinning an 86-70 defeat on Valley View last week.
“It was good to get it early and it’s not still dragging over our head,” said Clemens, previously a varsity assistant at Trotwood-Madison. “It was really big to get the win.”
West Carrollton (1-3) has lost two games since and will lug an 18-game GWOC South Division losing streak that spans three seasons to Xenia on Friday. But there is renewed hope among the guard-oriented Pirates.
Alex Craig, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, is the leading scorer at 18 points per game. Spencer O’Day, a 5-11 senior guard, is at 11.0 and freshman Dylan Craver averages 10.0.
West Carrollton has turned to an up-tempo game to offset a lack of height.
“As long as the kids continue to buy in and play hard we can have a successful season,” Clemens said. “If we continue to put in the hard work, we’ll get rewarded for it.”
• Tecumseh junior guard Danielle Franklin broke free for a career-high 46 points in last Saturday’s 84-73 shoot-out loss at Kenton Ridge. The Arrows trailed by 15 points but rallied to take the lead with two minutes remaining before the Cougars pulled away.
Franklin was unstoppable, scoring in a variety of ways. When Kenton Ridge fouled her, she responded by sinking 13 free throws. She also figured she might garner more defensive attention against unbeaten Tippecanoe (7-0) on Monday.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Franklin said following a 73-47 flattening delivered by visiting Tipp. “The next time around we’ll be more prepared. Hopefully, we’ll do a lot better.”
Tecumseh coach Danielle Thomas knows all about Tipp’s winning tradition. She played for and coached with former Tipp coach Tom Benjamin, now at Springboro.
“They’re loaded,” she said. “That’s a great team.”
• Celena Taborn, a 6-2 super sophomore at Sidney, is on a rebounding rampage. She’s averaging 17.4 points, 14.2 rebounds and 3.8 blocks for the Yellow Jackets (4-1). She grabbed 22 rebounds in a season-opening defeat of Russia and 21 against Xenia.
Sylvia Hudson, a 5-10 junior, leads Sidney in scoring (23.0) and is second to Taborn in rebounds (9.4).
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