News

Five WOAC Players were named First Team All-Ohio for 2025. (Dale Barger Graphic)

Five WOAC Football Players earn All-Ohio First Team, Two second team and 12 Honorable Mention were recognized as All-Ohio.

Here is the list of Players by division as selected by the Ohio Prep Sports Media Association.

DV
First Team       
Brody Morton – Sr. Quarterback – Preble Shawnee

Second Team
Cooper Shrout – Sr. Offensive Line – Preble Shawnee
Caleb Blankenship – Jr. Receiver – Preble Shawnee

Honorable Mention
Marcus Rayburn – Sr. Offensive Line – Arcanum
Colton Shroeder – Sr. Punter – Preble Shawnee

DVI
First Team
Trey Sagester – Sr. Quarterback – Tri-Village
Noah Finkbine – Sr. Linebacker – Tri-Village
Griffin Richards – Jr. Receiver – Tri-Village
Dom Black – Jr. Offensive Line – Tri-Village

Honorable Mention
Hunter Johnsman – Sr. Defensive Line – Tri-Village
Landen Moore – Sr. Linebacker – Tri-Village
Luke Vernon – Sr. Offensive Line – National Trail
Staley Colston – So. Running Back – Tri-Village
Colt Camacho – So. Defensive Back – Tri-Village

DVII
Honorable Mention
Frank Filbrun – Sr. Linebacker – Tri-County North
Oden Hoening – Offensive Line – Ansonia
Jacob Schmitmeyer – Running Back – Ansonia
Lucas Barlow – Offensive Line – Twin Valley South
Luke Wright – Offensive Line – Tri-County North

Congratulations to all our WOAC players earning All-Ohio recognition.
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Bella Cherry shown with the caretaker of "Hoosier Gym" and with the game ball where she scored her 1000th career point in win over National Trail. 

KNIGHSTTOWN, IN – Tri-County North senior guard Bella Cherry scores 1000^th career point at historic “Hoosier Gym” with a 29-point performance in a 53-23 win over National Trail.

Ironically, it was just a few weeks ago when Tri-County North opened the season in the inaugural Preble County Tournament where they fell to National Trail 37-31 and the Blazers held Bella Cherry to just 10 points in that game.

So, coming into the game with Trail and needing 26 points to eclipse a 1000 points wasn’t something Tri-County North or Bella was expecting to do.

“With it being a game at Hoosier gym we knew it would be a nice crowd, especially with the boys playing after and we were pumped looking forward to the rematch with National Trail,” Tri-County North coach Jessica Odell Spitler stated.

It was a special moment for coach Jessica Spitler and her daughter Bella with the game ball presentation.

Tri-County North got things rolling early in the game and the team got off to a really good start with the offense flowing and Bella scoring eight points in the first half.

She then got hot in the third quarter exploding for 16 points and had 24 points heading into the final frame.

“We didn’t have the goal to hit 1000 at Hoosier’s gym but with that 3rd quarter outburst it was within grasp, coach Spitler said.

Bella Cherry lines up the three-pointer that put her over 1000 points in her career.

It didn’t take long with Bella dribbling to her left outside the arch using a screen set by junior center Cadence Darnell, the defender went under the screen and Bella took advantage, set her feet and let fly a three-point shot that was all net to put her over the 1000-point plateau. 

Play was stopped with Bella getting a hug from her coach-mom followed by a twirling bear hug from teammate Darnell who set the screen.

Then her team held her up before the game ball was presented to Bella. 

Bella finished her night with 29 points, a stark contrast to the 10 she had the first time they played Trail and more importantly the team reversed their fortune with the 53-23 win.

The Tri-County North Girls Basketball team prior to their game with National Trail.

“It was a great team effort, all 12 players were able to play tonight, there was great energy and excitement, and it was an awesome Friday night at Hoosiers,” coach Spitler said after the game.

Bella who already holds Tri-County North girls school records for steals and assists needs just 74 points to become the all-time leading scorer as well.

But the 29 points and 1000  career points cemented at Hoosier Gym will be hard to top and a special and lasting memory for all who were there.

Bella and her teammates make a lasting memory at Hoosier Gym celebrating a milestone moment

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It was a battle between Franklin Monroe & Twin Valley South neither team led by more than four points. The Jets would won late at free throw line 59-56. (Dale Barger photo)

PITSBURG – Franklin Monroe and Twin Valley South kicked off their boys basketball season in a WOAC match-up and both teams had lots of questions about their teams. It would be a highly competitive game giving each team some answers to those questions.  In a game that could have gone either way Franklin Monroe would make a few more winning plays late to earn a 59-56 victory.

The Jets were coming off 21-5 record, 10-1 in the WOAC and a District Championship last season and graduated five seniors from that team: EB Fall (13.5 pt), Eric Brenner (14.7 pt), Ty Riffle, Trey Wilson and Tysyn Miller taking with them almost 40 points per game.

Franklin Monroe did have a few key pieces return from that team this year starting with Seniors Lucas Brenner (7.3 pt ) Ben Denlinger (5 pt), and junior Blake Riffle (8.4 pt) and all three would play a big role in the Jets win and help take up some of the scoring needed to make up from the previous season.

On the flip side Twin Valley South would have their third coach in three years with the current girls varsity coach Kerry Crouch serving double duty coaching the boys varsity team this year.

The Panthers finished 2024-25 with a 5-18 overall record and 3-8 in the WOAC and graduated seven seniors on that team. 

Returning for South was their leading scorer junior Trent Ray (13.6 pt) and senior guard Aiden White (9.7 pt) so the Panthers also were looking to find out who will step up on the offensive side of the ball

Defensively the Panthers have plenty of size with 5 players 6’2” or taller and that length would be a concern for FM coach Troy Myers.

TV South 6'2' junior Parker Howard is one of five Panthers over 6'2" in the line-up. He scored 10 points in the game. (Dale Barger photo)

“I honestly thought coming into the game that it would be a struggle for us because of their size. They have a lot of kids who haven't played on the basketball floor in a varsity game, and neither do we. But size in high school basketball does make a difference, especially in small schools,” coach Myers stated.

That size would help Twin Valley South as they jumped on top of Franklin Monroe 12-8 in the first quarter a score that could have been higher had it not been for a number of missed lay-ups by the Panthers. 

They would get five points from Trent Ray, three from 6’2” junior forward Parker Howard and two each from Levi Ritchie and 6’3” senior forward Laiden Carver.

Franklin Monroe also missed shots in the opening frame but got a triple and two free throws from Lucas Brenner, a lay-up from Blake Riffle and a free throw from junior forward Reed Brumbaugh.

FM junior Blake Riffle returns with a bigger frame and ability to not only shoot outside but go inside as well.  He had 12 points for the Jets in win. (Dale Barger photo)

It would go back and forth in the second quarter with the Jets picking up some scoring from new faces with junior guard Braden Gilbert knocking down a triple and sophomore Grady Myers adding a fielder to go along with another four points from Brenner, three free throws from Blake Riffle and three points from Ben Denlinger to give FM a 23-22 lead at the break.

South points came on four points from Aiden White layups, two from Ray and Carver, then one point each from 6’2” junior forward Parker Howard and 6’5” junior forward Lucas Barlow.

South senior Aiden White can run the offense and also get to the rim and had two lay-ups in the second quarter. (Dale Barger photo)

In the third quarters Ray would step-up for South going for seven points and was matched by teammate Ritchie for an 18-point quarter.

Franklin Monroe kept the scoring pace with 17-points in the third period led by Blake Riffle's six points, Brenner’s five and another triple from Gilbert for a 40-40 tie heading into the final stanza.

FM jr. Braden Gilbert had three big triples & 11 points for the Jets. (Dale Barger photo)

There were a number of lead changes throughout the contest and neither team led in the game by more than four points.

Franklin Monroe took back the lead 45-44 on the third triple of the game by Gilbert at 6:18, then extended it on a free throw and a lay-up by Brenner to go up 48-44 at 5:07.

South responded with a five-point run to jump back in front 49-48 only to see Brenner connect on his second triple of the game to regain the lead 51-49 for the Jets.

Ritchie tied the game back up and then a free throw by Howard flipped the score 52-51 South.

The Jets senior Lucas Brenner made the tough buckets when the team needed it and had 23 points in the game to lead all scorers. (Dale Barger photo)

One thing was becoming clear in the game and that is whenever Franklin Monroe needed a tough bucket it was Lucas Brenner stepping forward.  The senior guard was fouled hard going to the rim and made two free throws with a minute to go for a 53-52 lead.

Brenner scored 23 points in the game to lead all scorers with nine in the 4th quarter.

South was unable to respond, fouled sophomore guard Braxtyn Cool who sank one of two free throws to go up 54-52 with 30 seconds to play.

Cool found himself back at the line with 19 seconds left, again going one for two keeping the lead at two, 55-53.

South failed to score and the Panthers fouled senior Ben Denlinger who drained the two throws to push the lead to 57-53.

TV South junior Trent Ray would be the go to guy for the Panthers when they needed a play.  he had 17 to lead his team.  (Dale Barger photo)

Trent Ray, South’s leading scorer with 17 rose up and fired in a long range three ball to close the gap to 57-56 with 8 seconds to play.

The Panthers had to foul and sent Gilbert to the line with 3 seconds to play.  He connected on both for a Jets. 

The team that was a combined 9-for-12 in the 4th period and 22 of 32 for the game.

South had one last shot from just over half-court, but it was too long and Franklin Monroe hung on 59-56 for their season opening win.

After the game Troy Myers talked about his team’s effort and ability to make plays down the stretch as keys to the win.

“I told the guys if we didn't win the rebounding war, we weren't in the game. And down the stretch, we had some monumental rebounds. We had one by our smallest kid on the floor on the defensive end, and then we had an extra effort play down here by Denlinger on the free throw. Both got us a possession, and I thought our guys really locked in and understood the assignment on the glass, and we had some gutsy efforts there at the end,” Myers would say.

Franklin Monroe senior Ben Denlinger was one of the players praised by Myers who made big plays at the end of the game. (Dale Barger photo)

“I didn’t thing we would score 59 points on opening night. I thought we would struggle to score, and we did at times. The first half was pretty ugly, but we shot a lot of free throws, got to the rim, put pressure on the rim, and gave ourselves a chance to shoot a lot of free throws. So, I'm really proud of the guys' effort and in the second half understanding what it was going to take to win and come up with a few stops that we had to have,” Myers added.

On the other side Twin Valley South coach Kerry Crouch was pleased with his team’s effort as well and knows they were just play or two away from getting a win.

“I think we shot 43% from the field, and we probably missed 10 easy bunnies, right? So, if we make a few of those baskets. It's a different ball game,” Crouch stated.

Crouch, much like Myers is trying to feel out where he is as a team and trying not to complicate things too much initially and knows they have things to work on.

“Starting off in the beginning of the year we’re talking about just playing basketball and not worrying about running a lot of sets, we want the kids go out there and not think about too many things and just play basketball,” Crouch explained.

“We’ve got kids out there that have some experience, other who haven’t played in a while and some new with little experience.  So, I feel like we're at different tiers, but I like what we have, and our length is going to help us,” Crouch added.

Junior Guard Levi Ritchie had a good game of South and glides to the rim for a bucket. He had 14 points for the Panthers. (Dale Barger photo)

“I think people will have to take notice that we're a pretty good basketball team. We'll go back to practice on Sunday and obviously work on defense, help side defense, playing without following, which I yelled the whole game.  We had a lot of kids in foul trouble and had to go deeper in the bench. But I think those kids stepped up. I believe we’re just a steppingstone away from figuring it out,” Crouch concluded.

South was led by Trent Ray with 17 points, Levi Rithchie 14 and Parker Howard 10. They will back in action on Monday traveling to Middletown Christian.

Franklin Monroe was led by Lucas Brenner with 23 points, Blake Riffle had 12, and Braden Gilbert with 11.  The Jets are back in action at Calvary Christian Saturday.

Box Scores

Score by Quarters
TVS … 12 … 10 … 18 … 16 – 56
FM …. 08 … 15 … 17 … 19 – 59

Team Scoring

Twin Valley South – (0-1, 0-1 WOAC)
P. Howard 0-3-4/8 - 10, A. White 0-2-0/0 - 4, L Ritchie 2-3-2/2 – 14, L. Carter 0-3-0/0 - 6,          L. Barlow 0-2-1/2 - 5, T. Ray 1-6-2/4 – 17, Totals 3-19-9/16 – 56

Franklin Monroe – (1-0, 1-0 WOAC)
L.Brenner 2-5-7/10 -23, B. Cool 0-0-2/4 -2, R. Brumbaugh 0-1-1/2 -3, B. Gilbert 0-3-2/2-11, B Riffle 0-3-6/8 -12, B. Denlinger 0-1-4/6 -6, G Myers 0-1-0/0 -2, Totals 5-11-22/32 -59


Franklin Monroe was able to defend their home court and open the season with a big 59-56 win over Twin Valley South. (Dale Barger photo)
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Mississinawa Coach Kirk Comer makes adjustments during game with Tri-Village.  The Blackhawks won the key early season WOAC game 65-38.  (Dale Barger photo)

NEW MADISON – The Mississinawa Valley girls basketball team jumped out to a 17-5 first quarter lead and finished strong in the fourth quarter for a convincing 65-38 win over Tri-Village in a key WOAC match-up of top teams.

Both teams were tight to start the contest until Mississinawa senior Makenna Hoggatt dropped a trey at the 5:45 mark and she would follow that up with a second one at 4:31 to give the Hawks a 9-3 lead.

Mississinawa came out in a 3-2 zone and the Patriots who have traditionally feasted on perimeter shooting struggled against the zone with freshman Taytum Gray the only one to hit one from deep in the first quarter.

Meanwhile the Blackhawks would get one more triple from Makenna, a fielder from Cora Hoggatt and Brooklynn Seubert along with free throws from Paige Emrick for a 17-5 lead.

Senior Makenna Hoggatt had the hot hand early knocking down three triples in the opening quarter to give the Hawks a 17-5 lead. (Dale Barger photo)

First year Mississinawa Valley head coach Kirk Comer was pleased but not really surprised by his team’s start.

“They came in here tonight with a lot of confidence, everybody did their job and MaKenna hitting those threes early, I thought was just huge for us,” Comer said.

Comer a veteran coach with 20 years at Jay County (Portland, Indiana) takes over the reins left by departing coach Michael Paige who is now coaching at Northmont.

While the offense was good … it’s the defense that would make the difference in the first half as they would hold the Patriots to just six points in the second quarter and 11 in the first half with 8 Patriot points coming from Gray.

Blackhawk’s senior guard Paige Emrick scored 6 of her 9 first half points in the second quarter by getting to the rim to tie Makenna who had 9 as well for a 29-11 lead at the break.

Senior Paige Emrick would lead all scorers in the game with 19 points for the Hawks in big win over Tri-Village. (Dale Barger photo)

Tri-Village adjusted trying to solve the zone defense in the third quarter by attacking middle of the zone which got them some lay-ups and to the free throw line, rather than chucking up all perimeter shots. 

They scored 17 in the third quarter cutting into the lead trailing 40-28 heading into the final stanza.

Coach Comer talked about the adjustments by Tri-Village against their defense.

“I thought our defense played extremely well, we got out on their shooters and pushed them out a little bit further than maybe they're used to. They started to attack the middle of our zone, and it hurt us a couple times in the third quarter,” Comer stated.

But Mississinawa made some of their own adjustments defensively heading into the fourth quarter.

“We had our girls start doubling the middle forcing them to kick it back out,” Comer explained.

Typically, a good three-point shooting team, Tri-Village couldn’t dial it in, and the lack of scoring kept them from getting into their press forcing an up-tempo game that they like to play to get easy scores off turnovers.

Mississinawa was able to move the ball around shared it well forcing the Patriots to foul in the final frame with Paige Emrick and Brooklyn Seubert going to the line 14 times and would convert 10 of them. 

The Hawks scored 25 points in the final frame for a convincing 65-38 victory.

Mississinawa coming off the school’s back-to-back district championship lost their all-time leading scorer Taylee Woodbury 16 ppg and Syenna Purdin 10 ppg to graduation.

One might expect the Blackhawks to struggle a bit to start the year having to replace 26 points and the intangibles they brought to the table … but the Blackhawks senior class this year might be one of the most athletic they’ve had in school history, and they would show that in their game with Tri-Village.

“I thought the key for us tonight was just everybody doing what they do. We dominated the boards. we know Tri-Village is a good team and they shoot the ball well, but if they miss and get the rebound then shoot again that’s a problem, so we knew we had to limit them to one shot,” Comer stated after the game.

Senior Brooklynn Seubert had 15 of the Mississinawa's 48 rebounds the played a big role in their win over Tri-Village.  (Dale Barger photo)

“Tonight was just a really good win. The girls are really excited and should be they've been working really hard. Sometimes they don't understand why we're doing things, the way we're doing it. But when you get something to pay off like this, it sure helps the next day to go back into practice,” Comer added.

“Hopefully now we can build on this. And I told them, we're only four games in and what happens in December, doesn't really matter, it's what happens in February and March,” Comer clarified.

On that note, he knows the Tri-Village loss now isn’t the worst thing that can happen to them.

“Brad's a great coach and a good friend they'll bounce back, and they’ll be better because of it,” Comer concluded.

Fr. Taytum Gray goes in for a lay-up for the Patriots and led the team with 12 points. (Dale Barger photo)

Tri-Village got 12 points from Taytum Gray and 10 each from Tai Mize and Adalynn Hines in the game.  The Patriots fall to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the WOAC.  They will look to rebound at Bellefontaine on Monday.

Mississinawa was led by Paige Emrick with 19 points, Makenna Hoggatt had 14 and Brooklynn Seubert had a double-double 12 points and 15 rebounds.  The Blackhawks improve to 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the WOAC and will host Botkins on Monday.

Another big game in the conference last night saw Arcanum come away with a 58-54 overtime win at Ansonia.

Box Score

Score by Quarters

MV          17 … 12 … 11 … 25 – 65
TV            05 … 06 … 17 … 10 – 38

Team Scoring

MV: T. Woodbury 1-2-1/2 – 8, M. Hoggatt 4-1-0/0 – 14, M. Stachler 0-1-0/0 – 2,
C. Seubert 0-2-0/0 – 4, C. Hoggatt 0-3-0/0 – 6, P. Emerick 0-5-9/12 – 19,
B. Seubert 0-3-6/11 – 12, Totals 5-17-16/25 – 65

TV: T. Gray 2-3-0/0 – 12, T. Mize 1-2-3-4 – 10, M. Bierly 0-0-1/2 – 1, R. Hunt 1-0-0/0 – 3,
K. Wilcox 0-1-0/0 – 2, A. Hines 0-4-2/4 – 10, Totals 4-10-6/10 – 38

Mississinawa had plenty to cheer about as they just plain outplayed Tri-Village for a key early season WOAC win 65-38.  (Dale Barger photo)

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No Harm, No Foul, a game of Chicago, in Newton vs Bradford game. Each team gave as good as they got. The Indians won the low scoring game 33-19. (Dale Barger photo)

PLEASANT HILL – The Newton boys basketball team’s 33-19 win over visiting Bradford resembled a pick-up game of “Chicago” or even “King of the Mountain” with a football rather than basketball due to the physical style of play.

Ironically the only 3-pointer of the night for Bradford came on the first shot of the game from senior guard Greg Chowning for a quick 3-0 lead for the Railroaders.

Bradford guard Greg Chowning knocks down a triple ... it was the only one for the Railroaders all night. (Dale Barger photo)

Senior forward Isaac Hainline would sink two free throws for Newton to close the gap to 3-2 at 7:19 where the score remained that way for the next couple of minutes.

A free throw by Newton senior guard Rhett Koffer knotted the game at 3-3 and then a putback from Ayden Kane gave the Indians the lead 5-4 at 4:19 and they would never relinquish it the rest of the game.

Bradford was working hard to get their big man 6’5” junior center Rallie Wirrig going but the Indians were attached to him on both sides making life difficult inside for him and would shut him out in the first quarter with Newton holding a 10-5 lead.

Bradford's Rallie Wiring had to endure physical double teams by the Indians who made it tough on him all night.  Wirrig led all scorers with 11 points. (Dale Barger photo)

First year Bradford coach Dillon McCullough was determined to get Wirrig touches in the 2nd period and why not.  He had 18 points in Bradford’s season opening win over Houston and averaged 11 points and 9 rebounds a game last year and the Railroaders needed some easy baskets.

While Wirrig scored 7 points in the quarter there was nothing easy about them with 6’4” sophomore center Ayden Kane leaning on him and getting help defense from all over determined to not let Wirrig dominate the paint.

Newton senior guard Luke Cornett was consistent getting to the basket and went for 10 points on 5 rim attacks. (Dale Barger photo)

The Indians scored 6 points in the second and held a 16-12 lead at the break.

Newton started the 3rd quarter with a couple of Kane free throws and a triple from Koffer at 5:24 to go up 21-14.

The Railroaders only mustered three points and trailed 27-15 and with both offenses struggling it would feel like a mountain to climb for Bradford heading into the final stanza.

The physicality was on full display in the final frame, and it was the Indians standing at the top of the mountain knocking Bradford off looking up from the bottom on the wrong end of the scoreboard with Newton winning 31-19.

Newton senior guard Rhett Koffer showed ability to get to the rim & knocked down a triple in the 2nd half the only one all night for the Indians. (Dale Barger photo)

Newton was coming off a very easy 62-5 win over Jefferson, but it would be anything but easy verses Bradford in their first WOAC league game.  They would have to earn the win and in the process find out a little bit about the toughness of their kids along the way.

“Kudos to Bradford coach McCullough, they were ready and played us hard. I mean, they took away things we usually try to get into, so good job by them. I'm just proud of my guys because at some point with our sporadic offense we had to turn defense into offense and it kind of helped us a lot,” Cantrell commented.

“When we scrimmaged Fort Recovery I saw something from our dudes, about their toughness, that's really one thing if you can't put the ball in the hoop, you’ve got to be tough,” Cantrell stated.

“We had to make life tough for their big, he’s a man amongst boys, obviously he's going to be the focal point on everybody's scouting report. In the  last week and a half, we've been really just keying in on, how can we eliminate paint touches and post touches and like, where do we want to send our help from? Because they run good stuff for him but at the end of the day Ayden Kane played up to the moment,” Cantrell praised.

While the Indians are happy with the win coach Cantrell knows they have to get better on offense.

“I think the big thing for us right now is for us to get our looks, we got to have good spacing, good movement, good off ball screening. We talk about getting two feet in the paint all the time and creating an advantage, or like a domino effect, that’s one thing that Luke and Rhett do a phenomenal job of, they really do a great job of penetrating and dishing, but you could tell, I mean, they were ready for us. They took away some things, but I was proud to see our guys react and tough it out,” Cantrell explained.

Newton Senior Isaac Hainline provided toughness all over the court and combined to help Ayden Kane to slow down Bradford in the paint. (Dale Barger photo)

Newton has put together some early season non-conference games to test them and will be going to Columbus to participate in the  Wellington Tournament to face Patriot Prep Academy who just won a district title last year.

“It should be a good challenge for us. I'm good friends with one of the previous coaches who just retired, so that's why we got into it, it should be fun and a good test,” Cantrell concluded.

Rylie Wirrig led all scorers with 11 points and a dozen rebounds to pace Bradford and Luke Cornett led the Indians with 10 points.

Bradford is back in action Saturday taking on the same Jefferson team that Newton played last week.

Box Score

Score by Quarter

Bradford: 05 … 07 … 03 … 04 – 19

Newton: 10 … 06 … 11 … 06 – 33

Team Scoring:

Bradford: Zander Lingo 0-0-1/2 -1, Greg Chowning 1-1-1/2 – 6, Colton Gambill 0-0-1/2 – 1,
Rallie Wirrig 0-4-3/4 – 11, Totals 1-5-6/10 – 19

Newton: Rhett Koffer 1-1-3/6 – 8, Luke Cornett 0-5-0/0 – 10, Trenton Robinson 0-0-2/2 – 2, Isaac Hainline 0-1-5/6 – 7, Ayden Kane 0-2-2/2 – 6, Totals 1-9-12/16 – 33


Newton Cheerleaders pose during the game. (Dale Barger photo)

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