Minor Setback for a Major Comeback; Rams win State, Silences Haters

Last year, the Trotwood Rams went into the OHSAA state football championship game feeling really confident that they could get it done and be 2016 - 17 state champions.

Trotwood celebrate 27-19 win over Tri-Valley for D-3 OHSAA Championship 

In that game, the Rams would be embarrassed, shut out on national TV and headed home with a nasty taste in their mouth.

Rams Coach Jeff Graham, the coaching staff, and the team was diploatic about it, but steaming inside.

Was the Rams overrated? Did they need some new juice in coaching or on the field? What was the reason for the collapse?
And on and on and on the questions ensued all summer and through the fall.

When the season started this year, there would be no hype train. Just all focus. No interviews, no preseason hoopla.

 This could be why the Trotwood Rams (15-0) are the 2017-18 OHSAA Division 3 State football champions after a comeback win on Saturday night vs Tri-Valley 27-19.

In In game that went back and forth, the Rams would step up in the most crucial of situations, in the 4th quarter.

Down 19-14 in the 3rd,  the Rams was able to score, shut down Tri-Valley and secure the championship on a William McDaniel TD, his 2nd of the half.

William McDaniel scores on a TD run

McDaniel scored 3 times on the night, while Hargrove got the Rams going with the 1st TD.
Hargrove, the runner up Mr Football, ran for 137 while McDaniels ran for 142 yards.

Then, in normal fashion, the Rams vaunted defense stepped up, as Jayvanare Nelloms snatched a huge INT, the only turnover of the night, and the Rams would hold on for the huge win.

The Rams have won their 2nd State Football title, the other in 2011. Offensive Coordinator Kerry Ivy stated, "This one means a lot" in which Ivy and the coaching staff endured all the criticism from last year.

All the haters can fall back now, as the Rams showed why they are the top team in D-3 & arguably the best in the State.

Congrats to Ram Nation on the title.
The question is, are the Rams the best in Ohio and the Midwest?

Minor setback for a major comeback.

Salute the Rams.

Dunbar streaks past Ponitz in 2nd half; Put 56 on the board

For about 20 solid minutes or for most of the 1st half, Ponitz went toe for toe, and actually had the lead vs Dunbar, much like last year;

    The Panthers showed they had the gameplan to play with the favored Wolverines. Star RB Jamil Freeman was doing work, & after a strong TD run by Ponitz late in the 2nd quarter, it looked as if we might have a upset on our hands, as the Panthers led 14-12.  The Panthers crowd was hype, and the sense of a Ponitz win was starting to look like a reality.

After that, Dunbar outscored Ponitz 44-21 in a blistering display of offense as they routed Ponitz 56-35.

Local and Ohio State Legend Keith Byars at the game

With City League legend Keith Byars watching the game, the Wolverines took it up a few notches.

  Jo Jo Scates, Keyshawn Jones & Tavion Thomas all scored, as the Wolverines put it all together in the 2nd half as Michigan committ Antwan Johnson led the Defense to some key stops early in the 3rd to take the game from a nail biter to a rout.

Dunbar moves to 2-0 while Ponitz  falls to 1-1.

Thurgood wins in OT, secures City League Title; Dunbar survives in OT; Wayne crusies

With everything on the line in Dayton Public Hoops last night, let's recap the City League games & see what happened:

Kent St bound Isiah Williams & Purdue bound Terrance Landers go at it

THURGOOD wins in OT, captures City title

  By the time the game was over, coach Darnell Hoskins and the Cougars was able to breathe a huge sigh of relief, as his Cougars escaped Belmont with a two-point win in overtime 52-50.

    From the jump Belmont was up in Thurgood and it was no doubt that they were going to have to fight to the end to get the win.
 

   Belmont had a two point lead in the final seconds of the game, when Darnell Hoskins Jr hit a beautiful spinning layup with 5 seconds left to push the game into overtime.
     Even in overtime, it looked as if the Bison would get it done. However, Thurgood grabbed a two-point lead, its first of the OT coming in the final moments of the game.
Belmont  missed their final attempt, and the rest was history.
The Cougar fans rejoiced, while Belmont was shocked in the defeat.
 
    Thurgood moves to 9-1 in the City, and 11-9 overall.
Belmont falls to 2-8.
But the optimism is real at Belmont, and within reason.



DUNBAR  wins in OT, survives TIGERS

      In a game that was similar to Belmont -Thurgood, Stivers stayed close all night,  and held a 6-point lead with less than 3 minutes to go, as it looked as if the Tigers would pull off the upset.

     Then the Wolverines kicked into gear, caused some turnovers, took advantage of Stivers misses at the line and pushed the game into OT.

    Both teams had a chance to win the game, but it headed to OT.

     In OT, Stivers still had a lead, but Dunbar got key baskets and at the end, Caleb McConnell caught a tipped pass from Stormi Cook and dished it to Devon Baker for a layup at the buzzer as the Wolverines won 72-70.
  The Tigers had numerous opportunities, but couldn't seal the deal.



 
MEADOWDALE knocks off PONITZ 

The Lions grabbed a 65- 53 victory over Ponitz as they roared late to get the win on Senior Night.
The game was close all night, and Ponitz held a 27-25 lead at half.
 The Lions regrouped in the 2nd half, and seemed to find their rhythm.
 So did Ponitz,  as it looked as if the Panthers Would Get Some "Getback" after losing earlier this season.
Not so fast Panthers.

Meadowdale finished on a 12-0 run to end the game, hence the final score.

  Jarvis Smith and Kameron Suber led the Lions with 14 a piece, while CJ Williams dropped 10.

    Meadowdale now moves to 6-4 in City League play, good for 3rd in the Rankings, and giving them confidence for the tourney.
  Ponitz was game all night and while Coach Hansbro, while disappointed ab out the result, like the fight his team had in em.


WAYNE  throttles FAIRMONT, now one game away

A little snow couldn't stop the WayneTrain from dismantling the Fairmont Firebirds 88-51.
 
    Initially the game was cancelled, but after reassessing the situation, feeling the weather wasnt too dire, the game was back on.

     Probably not good for the Fairmont squad,  as they were no match for the Top team in the state.
 Wayne will now play for a chance to go undefeated this weekend, and they prep for their State Championship defense.

Wayne continues to roll; Key Games tonight

Here's the recap of the top teams and how they fared during New Years Weekend:

UD bound Landers skying for 2 in Arby's Classic

Wayne Train wins Arby Classic; Landers wins MVP

 The Wayne train continued the unbelievable run by winning the 33rd Annual Arby's Classic in Tennessee last weekend.
The Warriors became the 1st team from Ohio to win the prestigious event.
    Trey Landers, the UD signee, was the MVP of the tournament.
    In the championship game vs Tift County (Georgia), Wayne held a 10-point lead (32-22) at half after spurting late in the second quarter.
     In the third quarter Wayne outscored Tift 21 - 4 en route to an easy victory 72-47.  Landers was dominant in the tournament and led a balanced scoring attack with 16 and 5 boards, Rodrick Caldwell had 17 and L'Christian "Blu" Smith added 13 in the championship game.
  Tift head coach was quoted as saying, "We got outhustled, outcoached, and out executed" by Wayne.
   Tift (Ga) falls to 12-1 while the Wayne Train sits at 7-0 .
    Wayne coach Travis Trice Sr felt that his boys played very well and repped the 937 with honor, bringing back the trophy no other Ohio High School was able to do.

  Salute the Wayne Train for bringing back the gold. Look for them to be in Top 10 of the USA Today.
 They are that good.



Dunbar heads to Ponitz for key City League Game tonight

Can Cook keep up the hot shooting for Dunbar?

  Dunbar will look to find its rhythm after a 2-game losing streak as they head to Ponitz to face the Panthers.
   Ponitz (4-2) has played well of late, stifling Oakwood late to grab a huge comeback win.
   While Oakwood is no Dunbar by any stretch of the imagination, the Panthers are seemingly finding their rhythm, unlike Dunbar.
   Dunbar (5-4)  has lost a little more than expected with talented guards AJ Harris and Dorianne Dawson taking their talents to college. While the stable is full of players, who will be the ones to consistently step up for the Wolverines as the season starts to gear up for the tournament?

  This will be the first time that new Ponitz coach Dwayne Hansbro will face the Wolverines.
   
    Hansbro has his boys playing hard and has adjusted well in the early season; can they pull off the upset tonight at home vs the Mighty Wolverines?

 
Other key games:

 Xenia                @   Springfield
Beavercreek     @   Trotwood
Cin Winton Woods  @ Meadow dale
Centerville       vs  Alter
 

Dunbar track shows why its the best in the country, wins State in landslide; Meadowdale girls finish second

At the Franklin - Dunbar classic bball game at UD Arena, I ran into Dunbar track coach Alfred Powell, who reminded me that track was around the corner- and that his defending champion team was special. And as those previous State Championship rings shined so brightly on his fingers (multiple at that) while he talked, you had to respect the mere fact that him talking his track team up was no hype.

It was the reality.

Dayton Dunbar Wolverines have the best track team in the United States of America.

Period.

 

Dunbar celebrates second consecutive D-2 Ohio HS State Track Title

And after what happened in Columbus last weekend at the Ohio D-2 High School State Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in front of a packed house solidified not only the Wolverines as the class of Division 2, but the premiere Track team in the state, and frankly, the country after winning its second consecutive title on Saturday.

They demolished the competition in team play. And they did it with that Wolverine swagger that you used to seeing.

They almost doubled (64-40) the score of the second place team (Lake Catholic Central). They won most of the events they competed in, and when they didn't, it took a epic effort on the other opponents to defeat them (check headlines, video of 4x400 final)

There was no doubt who was the dominant team in Ohio. But how can you say the best in the country?

Well earlier in the season, the Wolverines competed in the National High School Track Invitational, (in New York) which only the best of the best are invited.

And they won that one too.

Now while winning the National tourney early in the season can sometimes feed too much arrogance to a already confident squad, the Wolverines used it as motivation to dominate throughout the tourney like few teams EVER have.

In the sectionals it was dominant, but it was "just the sectionals"

Then when it came to regionals, where it was more of the same, but the question was, "they cant dominate like that at State can they?"

All you had to do was ask the coach.
Or watch history, in its fastest and rarest form.
The execution was on point. The coaches had them well prepared and the fan base was in full effect.

Salute the Dunbar Wolverines as they show how to deal with early success and finish on top.
With class.

Dunbar Wolverines, Ohio HS Division 2 State Champs.

Could we see a 3-peat? 
Wouldn't bet against it.





Meadowdale ladies finish second in state

The Lady Lions repped the Miami Valley, had a very strong showing in Columbus. and showed they will be a contender for years to come as well.
 Meadowdale won the 800 Relay, finished 3rd in the 400 Relay (C-J finished first), and finished 3rd in the 1600 Relay.

The group of  lady Lions  (Henderson, Underwood, Mayfield-Brown, Pettigrew, Smith, Streety) definitely deserves praise for almost winning the State and having a great showing in Columbus.