Sure enough, Alter capped a 28-2 season by walloping Ottawa-Glandorf 74-48 in the state final at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center in Columbus. Miller was the D-II final four MVP and had 33 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 3 assists in the final.
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Also the wire-to-wire Associated Press D-II state poll champ, that concluded an unprecedented three-season run for Knights co-head coaches Chris Hart and Kendal Peck. Alter was a combined 87-3 with two D-II state titles, a D-II state runner-up and a 50-game regular-season win streak.
6. Alter boys and girls soccer: Yes, more Knights. That's because both teams swept their respective state championships this past fall at MAPFRE Stadium (formerly Columbus Crew) on the same weekend, the fifth time in Ohio soccer history that had happened.
Lauren Dietz scored two goals and assisted on Grace Haines' goal in a 3-0 defeat of Chagrin Falls in the girls D-II title game. An established girls power, it was the first state title for Alter (18-2-2).
The Knight's boys defeated Richfield Revere 1-0 in double overtime the next day. Junior Ty Borton hit the winner on an assist from senior Scott Beinlich for Alter (21-1-2) in the D-II championship. That was the fourth state title for Alter's boys, but first since 1998.
5. Football state championships: This was more noteworthy for who didn't win state titles at Ohio Stadium in Columbus last month, Trotwood-Madison (D-III) and Coldwater (D-V).
Trotwood shut down postseason nemesis and Toledo Central Catholic and its Mr. Football senior running back Michael Warren 36-0 in a state semifinal blowout at Lima. But the Rams (12-3) had no answer for defending state champ Akron Archbishop Hoban the following week and fell 30-0 . Still, it was the seventh straight year Trotwood had played in the final four and fifth time since 2010 in a championship game.
Coldwater (13-2) had a streak of four state titles snapped by Canton Central Catholic, 16-13. Ironically, Coldwater had beaten CCC in the two previous D-V title games.
That was one of three title games that featured Midwest Athletic Conference teams . Marion Local defeated Cuyahoga Heights 21-17 to win the D-VI title. That was the sixth straight year the Flyers (14-1) had played for a state title, losing only in the 2015 game. Minster (10-5) completed the MAC attack , falling 24-6 to Warren John F. Kennedy in the D-VII title game.
4. Premier Health Flyin' to the Hoop: The boys basketball midseason invite-only shootout at Fairmont's Trent Arena is must-see for college coaches who are bidding for the nation's best players. Eventual NBA lottery picks and Flyin' alums are numerous since creator Eric Horstman presented his first Flyin' in 2003.
It’s now a nationally renowned 37 teams in 20 games over the Martin Luther King holiday weekend. For the first time in 2017, a girls game will be in the mix: Alter vs. Cleveland St. Joseph Academy.
3. Josh Myers, Miamisburg football: The 6-foot-6, 310-pound offensive lineman is as sure an incoming hit at Ohio State as this area has ever produced. A consensus top five player in the nation by all recruiting services, the not-so-gentle giant was the first in the Class of 2017 to verbally commit to the Buckeyes way back after his sophomore season.
He graduated early and will participate in spring ball for the Buckeyes.
2. Greater Western Ohio Conference expansion: The area's largest affiliation super-sized itself by adding Tippecanoe and Stebbins, both of which left the Central Buckeye Conference. That bolstered the GWOC to a robust 20 teams. It also triggered a realignment of four divisions in two conferences.
American North: Vandalia-Butler, Greenville, Piqua, Sidney, Troy and Tipp.
American South: Fairborn, Stebbins, Trotwood, West Carrollton and Xenia.
National East: Beavercreek, Centerville, Fairmont, Springfield and Wayne.
National West: Lebanon, Miamisburg, Northmont and Springboro.
1. Dunbar football forfeits, investigations: This still isn't resolved.
Dunbar appeared destined to complete a 9-1 regular season and qualify for the D-IV playoffs featuring one of the City League’s most dominant teams in at least a decade, maybe longer. Instead, the Wolverines were forced to forfeit Weeks 9-10 games after using an academically ineligible player.
The collateral effect of reshuffling second-level, playoff points following those forfeitures also knocked Princeton (D-II) and Piqua (D-III) out of the postseason.
Players who are ruled ineligible for various reasons are common every school year, all sports. But the effect is magnified for football because it’s the only sport that teams must qualify for the postseason, based on computer points. Pete Pullen resigned as Dunbar’s AD soon after and remains the Wolverines’ highly successful boys basketball coach.
What took this to an unprecedented level was the accusation by Dunbar coaches that new Dayton Public Schools athletic director Mark Baker instructed Dunbar to lose or forfeit a Week 10 game against Belmont so both City League teams would qualify for the playoffs.
Superintendent Rhonda Corr issued a statement that said a DPS investigation had ended after determining Baker hadn’t told Dunbar to lose or forfeit the Belmont game. The Ohio High School Athletic Association likely will conclude its investigation this month.
It’s unprecedented subject-matter for the OHSAA, which oversees 820 high school members and has been in existence since 1907. Among the potential consequences are no football playoffs for an undetermined amount of seasons, association suspensions and fines.
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