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Women's Basketball: 'Cats ready to bounce back in Georgia State Tournament

By Luke O'Roark | Dec. 19, 2014

Following a loss to James Madison on Monday, Ohio is looking to clean up some of its mistakes it displayed in the first half of the season at the Georgia State Tournament.The tournament, which will be held in Atlanta, will have the Bobcats tip off against La Salle (6-3) on Friday and Massachusetts (5-4) on Saturday.Going in, the Bobcats (6-2) have dropped their previous two and will attempt to fix a slumping shooting percentage in their final three non-conference games of the season.“I feel like there are always positives in a game, but we don’t take moral victories,” junior guard Kiyanna Black said. “We set the standards high for ourselves and we just don’t accept moral victories.”Black, who had 17 points in Ohio’s 69-62 loss to James Madison, helped Ohio jump out to its best start in almost 30 years by shooting 51 percent from the field in the first two wins of the season. In the past two losses, however, Black has gone 10 for 35 from the field — a 29 percent shooting percentage.Despite facing tougher opponents in James Madison and East Carolina, Ohio’s shooting percentage, as a whole, has declined.In early wins against Manhattan and Morehead State, Ohio shot 55 and 45 percent from the field, respectively, but against East Carolina on Dec. 6 and James Madison on Monday, Black and the Bobcats shot 39 percent.“(Against JMU) was very choppy and I think we can play that game. When we’re locked in we guard pretty well, and that benefits the defense when that starts happening because there is no flow in the game,” coach Bob Boldon said. “I thought defensively, we were okay but I thought offensively, we were just too stagnant. We’ve got to be more comfortable playing half-court basketball.”Redshirt junior guard Mariah Harris, who made her Ohio debut Monday, could be more involved in Boldon’s game plan this weekend. The Bobcats already have a deep bench and Harris could provide more ball handling to a backcourt that averages just 13.6 turnover per game.Harris transferred from Michigan State to Ohio this fall and wasn’t allowed to play in the Bobcat’s first seven games because of NCAA transfer regulations.  At Michigan State, Harris played 18 total games off the bench.“I know there were some jitters and it would have been nice to get her in against some other teams that we’ve played, but she just became eligible Friday,” Boldon said. “We’ve got three more non-conference games with her before we get to conference schedule. I don’t personally think she is a point guard, but I thought she showed her versatility and did a lot of good things for us tonight.”The Bobcats may also see sophomore point guard Yamonie Jenkins return to action sometime soon, as Jenkins suffered a concussion in Ohio’s 76-68 loss to East Carolina and sat out Monday. Jenkins has paced the Bobcats with a team-best 26 assists and at one point led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.For Ohio’s opponents, La Salle is coming off a 70-36 loss to Villanova, which ended its six-game winning streak. Massachusetts goes into the tournament beating its last two opponents by double digits. UMass’ leading scorer, senior forward Kim Peirre-Louis, leads the team in scoring with 159 total points this season.“I think we’re small, but we can still compete with the big teams. It’s all about boxing out. It’s not height, it’s about sticking to the principals and boxing out every time,” Black said. “If you put a body on somebody, no matter how big they are, nine times out of ten its going to beat it.”@Lukeoroarklr514812@ohio.edu

Athens High School football

Athens High School football team falls shy of state championship

By Andy Kovar | Dec. 5, 2014

COLUMBUS — Trae Williams had a chance to seal the game for the second straight week, this time to clinch a Division III State Championship.But unlike in last week’s semifinal against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Williams was unable to pull in a game-ending interception that fell softly to the ground in the north end zone of Ohio Stadium. On the next play, Toledo Central Catholic quarterback Marcus Winters ran it in from the 8-yard line with 15 seconds remaining to secure a 56-52 lead that ended up being Thursday’s final score.Williams, a senior running back and Ohio commit, scored his second touchdown with 2:52 left on the clock to give Athens a 52-49 lead. The teams went back-and-forth throughout the game, but it seemed then as if the Bulldogs had landed the final blow of the night.But Central Catholic converted on its final drive, and the Athens players were left to watch silently from the sideline as Central Catholic celebrated its third state title in the past 10 years.“There hasn’t been a state title game at The Shoe in 25 years, but us and Athens made up for that tonight,” Central Catholic coach Greg Dempsey said. “I don’t think you could see a more exciting football game.”On Athens’ first play from offense, senior quarterback Joe Burrow eluded multiple defenders in the backfield to scamper for a 49-yard run to set up Williams, who finished the drive with a rushing touchdown from one yard out. In his final game in a Bulldogs uniform, Burrow put on a show. His six touchdown passes and 446 yards are new Division III state championship game records. He also received Ohio Mr. Football honors on Wednesday.Sitting crouched over during the postgame news conference, Burrow had a blank stare on his face as he recalled his only memory of the game.“Nothing matters except that loss,” Burrow said. “We put in all the hard work to get here, just didn’t end up making enough plays at the end.”Burrow tossed an interception — just his second of the season — that he said will resonate for him for a while.“I think it’s easily the worst feeling in the world,” Burrow said. “Worst day of my life, not much more to be said.”For every Bulldogs touchdown, the Fighting Irish had an answer — and they preferred to score on the ground instead of through the air. Central Catholic wore Athens (14-1) away between the tackles, but its big plays came when the Fighting Irish got their playmakers to the outside.“Both teams kept throwing right hooks at each other back and forth,” Athens coach Ryan Adams said. “Defensively, I think we were really struggling at times containing the perimeter, and they were having trouble containing our passing game.”Central Catholic (13-2) didn’t need to throw the ball to hang with Burrow and Athens. The Fighting Irish were one yard short of tying the state championship record for rushing yards in a game. The Fighting Irish had 501 yards on the ground with each member of their backfield trio each finishing with more 100 yards individually.This year’s playoff run was the furthest the Bulldogs had ever gone in the postseason. Adams gave credit for the team’s success to its senior class. “The effort that these kids have given while they have been here, we have seen the progress along the way,” Adams said. “This year we lined up and we totally looked like we belonged, and that’s a tribute to the hard work and effort that these kids have put in.”@KOVARANDREWAK840611@ohio.edu

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