Several Southwest Ohio swimmers and divers will make the trek up north to Canton this week for the annual Ohio state swimming and diving championships.
Last week, Cincinnati St. Xavier, a perennial state power, continued its tradition locally by winning the Division I district meet this past weekend at Miami University. Senior Alex Miller won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:41.69. He was also part of the winning 400 yard freestyle relay.
In Division II, Cincinnati Wyoming won the boys district title. The Cowboys won the 200 and 400 freestyle relays along with the 200 medley relay.
Turpin won the Division I girls district title. Senior Libby Hunsche won the 100 backstroke in 57.07, while sophomore Molly Hazelbaker won the 500 freestyle in 4:51.97 – a district meet record. Turpin also won the 200 medley relay.
Wyoming won the Division II girls district meet. Junior Celia Oberholzer won the 100 backstroke in 56.51 – a meet record. Wyoming also won the 200 medley relay.
The state meet starts at 9 a.m. Wednesday in Stark County with the boys Division I diving competition at C.T. Branin Natatorium at Canton McKinley High School. The girls Division I diving is at 2 p.m. The Division II diving begins at 9 a.m. Thursday. The swimming competition begins at 9 a.m. Friday, with the finals beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.
2. Mason wins sectional wrestling title: Mason edged host Moeller in a Division I sectional wrestling tournament Saturday, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. The Comets will send a school-record 13 wrestlers to this week’s district tournament, according to the publication. Moeller, an area power, won the Greater Catholic League title for the 17th consecutive season recently prior to the postseason. Elder and Harrison also were sectional champions in Division I last weekend. Elder had six champions and will send 13 wrestlers to this week’s district meet, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. Harrison had seven wrestlers finish first or second.
3. Woodward continues to win: The Cincinnati Woodward boys basketball team seems to have plenty of momentum going into the postseason. The Bulldogs defeated visiting North College Hill 74-54 on Saturday. Woodward senior forward Mervin Taylor scored a game-high 33 points – the third consecutive game he has scored at least 30. Woodward opens the Division I sectional tournament against Middletown at 6 p.m. March 3 at Xavier University.
4. Kiser reaches milestone: Eastern Brown girls basketball coach Richard Kiser recently reached the 600-win milestone. Eastern Brown defeated Whiteoak 74-34 on Feb. 11. After the win, Kiser ranked sixth all-time among the winningest coaches in Ohio girls high school basketball. Kiser started coaching Eastern Brown during the 1977-78 season. "There aren’t a lot of people who stay in it and have the success at one school that I’ve been able to have," Kiser told The Ledger Independent. "It’s not a huge deal, but something nice you can be proud of. We’ve had some great teams over the years, and without them it wouldn’t be close."
5. Hayes adds additional offers: Archbishop Moeller junior defensive lineman Jesse Hayes (6-foot-4, 230 pounds) recently added an offer from Kansas. Hayes also has offers from West Virginia, Minnesota, North Carolina State, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin and Cincinnati. Hayes is the son of Cincinnati Bengals defensive line coach Jay Hayes. He is the nephew of Bengals tight ends coach Jonathan Hayes.
Among the outstanding efforts this week
Nick Brandts, Cincinnati Christian boys basketball: He recorded his third triple-double of the season in a 64-56 win over visiting Deer Park on Wednesday night. He had 23 points, 16 rebounds and 10 blocks. Brandts had 13 double-doubles in 18 games for the Cougars.
Louie Schaljo, Bethel-Tate boys basketball: The senior forward reached 1,500 career points in a recent game against Clermont Northeastern. Schaljo scored 27 points in the 64-52 win.
Chelsea Gilman, Milford girls basketball: The senior forward had 14 points, seven rebounds and a steal to lift Milford past Western Brown 52-51 in a Division I sectional tournament at Kings.
Looking ahead
West Chester Lakota West vs. Ursuline girls basketball, 6 p.m. Thursday: This should be an outstanding game. Ursuline is the No. 1 seed, while West is No. 6. Lakota West is led by senior guard Kindsay Brandt, who averages 9.1 points and 4.0 rebounds on a very balanced team. The Lions are also very balanced; senior forward Desirae Ball averages 13.2 points to lead the team in scoring.
Lakota East (Liberty Township) vs. Colerain (Cincinnati) girls basketball, 7:30 p.m. Friday: The Harrison Division I sectional features two Greater Miami Conference teams. Colerain defeated Turpin 63-48 last week, while Lakota East defeated Harrison 61-50. Colerain defeated East 59-51 in a regular-season game Jan. 23 at East.
District wrestling: The Divisions I-III district wrestling meets begin Friday night. Fairfield is the host of the Division I meet, while Goshen hosts Division II and Kettering Fairmont has Division III. The finals are Saturday. The state tournament is March 4-6 at Ohio State University in Columbus.
Recruiting news
Mt. Healthy junior DL Joel Heath (6-5, 240) has been offered by Toledo and Bowling Green. Those are his first two offers. …Wyoming junior defensive end Tony Davis (6-4, 250) has offers from Toledo, Ohio and Kent State. … Sycamore junior DB-WR Darius Hillary (5-10, 180) was offered by Ohio University and Indiana recently. He also has an offer from Illinois. ... Winton Woods junior linebacker Antonio Poole (6-1, 225) recently received an offer Michigan State. He also has offers that include Cincinnati, Bowling Green and Indiana. … Hughes Center defensive back Trey Foster has committed to Notre Dame College in Cleveland. … Mount Notre Dame junior Carolyn Hartman has committed to Lynn University for women’s soccer. Hartman is a three-year varsity starter at MND.
