All-Time Wayne/Holmes County Boys Basketball Scoring Leaders

This isn't so much an Orrville post as it is a historical reference post.

With Hiland winning another state title, and being led by senior standout and D-IV Player of the Year Dylan Kauffman, I began wondering about his all-time points scored. He's a rare 4-year starter and has made deep tournament runs every year.

I listened to the Hiland games on WQKT (great job as usual!) and caught them saying that Kauffman had 1,698 points coming in to the semifinal game on Thursday.  He scored 20 in that win and then 17 more in the championship game, putting his all-time points scored at 1,735.

His teammate Seger Bonifant finished his career (2 years at Strasburg & 2 at Hiland) with 1,456 points.

Both point totals are good enough to crack the top 20 in Dauily Record area history.

Below is the list of all-time leading scorers in Wayne/Holmes Co. (and Hillsdale) basketball history.

2011 Post-Season Football Awards

Time to pass out some post-season football awards.  Here's everything from All-OCC all the way up to the All-Ohio team that was just released yesterday. 

Congrats to all the honorees.

Vikings Vanquished...Bobcats Next

Another chapter in Red Rider Football playoff history is in the books, and what a night it was.  An action packed 53-14 win over LaBrae and Orrville is back in familiar territory, week 12...something only 16 teams in Division 4 can say at this moment. 

The win was the 29th win in the history of Orrville playoffs, the 596th overall and the 50th for head coach Doug Davault.

Let's look back on the win and look ahead to the much anticipated week 12 matchup with the Nor-what? Norwayne Bobcats.

Pics courtesy of Rod Dilyard.  Full Gallery here.  Thanks Rod!

Week 10 Preview: The Game - Orrville vs Wooster

Who: Wooster Generals (4-5, 2-4 in OCC) at Orrville Red Riders (6-3, 4-2 in OCC)
When: Saturday October 29, 2011, 7pm
Where: Red Rider Stadium

Series: Wooster leads 50-41-9 (Click here for detail)
Last Year: Orrville won 42-17
Last Week: Orrville beat Clear Fork 20-13, Wooster beat West Holmes 35-14

Coaches: Doug Davault is 48-21 in his 6th season for Orrville, he is 5-0 vs. Wooster. Mike McCreary is 69-62 in his 13th year for Wooster, he is 5-7 vs. Orrville.
TV/Radio: Game will be broadcast on WKVX AM 960 and will also stream at www.wqkt.com

All-Time Records: Wooster is 542-466-53 in their 111th season of football...while Orrville is 594-344-41 in 102 seasons of football. Thanks to Aaron Dorksen at the Daily Record for the Wooster info.

I think we all know the overlying theme to this game...backyard rivals, throw the records out the window, blah, blah, blah. Looking deeper, I believe this has the potential to be one of the better Orrville/Wooster games in recent memory, and local fans would expect nothing less from the 6th longest running rivalry in all of Ohio.

After Week 4: Football and Everything Else

Well, Friday night after Week 4 sure felt better than Friday night after week 3 didn't it? A nice bounce back performance by the Riders. Doesn't it seem when this program is counted out or doubted that they always respond? Not just sometimes...ALWAYS. Again....TRADITION.

Let's review the game, the rest of the OCC, some Region 13 chatter and a little bit of volleyball, golf and Tim Hiller sprinkled in for good measure.

Pics, as always, courtesy of Rod Dilyard. Lexington gallery here. Thanks Rod.

Week 2 Review & Upcoming Schedule

Week 2 of football season is in the books...a nice 52-7 thumping over Triway. Again, can't complain about the points this offense has put up and the play of the defense either. But still lots to work on, but that's a good thing. No reason to peak in week 2. Seems that through history, Coach Davault's team hit their stride late in the season and are playing their best ball late in the season.

I'll hit the high points of the win over Triway, look ahead to week 3 vs. Copley and look at the upcoming week for all the fall sports teams.

Here & There....Summertime Reading

Hope everyone is having a great summer so far. It seems amazing, but football season is only 2 months away. Wont be long until 2-a-days begin and another season of Friday nights at Red Rider Stadium will be upon us.

Got a few items of note below so lets get to it.

The 2011 Orrville High School Sports Hall of Fame Induction Class

The 11th induction class of the Orrville Sports Hall of Fame has been confirmed and will be inducted on October 8, 2011 at Orrville High School.

This year's class of eight inductees puts the total number of OHS-HOF inductees since the first induction in 1991 at 89 members.

My own personal opinion...this is a very solid class of high achievers, both at high school and in college, and as you'll read, some very solid classroom achievers as well.  Most excelled in multiple sports and a lot of the class saw success at the highest level of high school athletics, the state tournament.  In fact, 7 of the 8 either qualified for the state tournament or were named All-Ohio at some point of their high school career.

Once more, please let me clarify how this nomination and selection process works.  I know last time and probably every time this happens, there's some that think the inductees are handpicked, and that couldn't be further from the truth.

The Sports Hall of Fame committee (which I am honored to say I am a part of)...receives nominations from the general public.  Announcements were made on the radio, in the newspaper and on this very website to send in nominations.  Those nominations were compiled into a list, which I believe was over 50 this time around.

That list was narrowed by a vote to 20 finalists, and from that list, up to 10 finalists that receive a majority vote, are the induction class.  Inductees MUST ACCEPT the invitation for induction.

If you can't at least call that a fair process, I'm not sure what to tell you.

Join me in welcoming this year's class.......

District Champs....Back to Back.

(Thanks to Rod Dilyard for the excellent photo and great work all season.  Check out his pictures from last night and from all season)

Talk about a fun night.  Beating Triway (again) on Wooster's home court for a district title (again).  Doesn't get much better than that does it?

Was 1992 the Greatest Season of Wayne/Holmes County Basketball History?

Just thinking out loud here.

Great article in today's Daily Record about Northwestern guard Brennan McKean closing in on his school's scoring record. Orrville fans got to see him up-close and personal last weekend, so no more really needs to be said about his talent...only that I hope he "takes his talents to Beall Avenue" and plays for the College of Wooster next season.

As an accompaniment to the article was a list of the top 25 scorers in area history. It's stat-geekery gold for someone like me. The list is littered with names from the past and present that any area hoops fan would immediately recognize.

What also jumped out at me was the number of great players that all happened to graduate in 1992. Look at these names and their ranking on the all-time area top 25.

Mike Plant speaks the truth....

Taking a break from the Top 10 of 2010, I wanted to draw attention to an article by Daily Record sportswriter Mike Plant. It appeared in this past Sunday's sports section. It was your obligatory "end of the year" article, full of gifts and wishes for 2011 in both the local, and national sports scene.

In one sentence, Mike sums up what a proud sports landscape we've carved out in this sleepy town of 8,000, and how proud we should be of our young athletes, and the community (us) that supports them.

Let's talk Girls Basketball, OK?

A very nice start for Coach Alberts and the Lady Riders. A convincing 4-0 start that has seen the Lady Riders win very handily in 3 of the 4.

Leading the way again this season for the defending OCC champs is sophomore Hannah Plybon. Her numbers this season have been very impressive, leading the team in scoring in all four games so far, including a 35-point effort last week against Lexington. By the records listed in the Winter Sports program, 35 points is tied for the 3rd most in OHS girls history.

Here's the team results along with leading scorer info so far....

After Week 14...and the season.

And just like that, it's over. Another season of Orrville football has come and gone, the 101st season if my numbers are correct. The 21-3 loss to Chagrin Falls was not the way we wanted to go out, but on that night they were the better team and I wish them luck this Friday as they take on Bishop Hartley for the D-IV crown.

It stinks to see things end.  We're very proud of the team but when a season ends short of the ultimate goal, it's always so sudden and so final.  What makes the Orrville sports community special is what makes it very difficult at times too.  It's not a curse, that's the wrong word, it's just part of being a fan.  You have to be invested as a fan, and with that investment comes an acknowledgment that you have to take the good with the bad.

Some choose not to be invested, fearing a letdown.  I guess I've never been that way.  I try to enjoy the ride, knowing that you're always one game from the end, and there's never a gentle letdown.  It always comes to a screeching halt.

I wish our kids could have had a shot at the big prize this Friday morning in Massillon, but it wasn't to be I guess.

But you find the good...the silver lining, and you move on.  We'll turn the page to basketball and wrestling, then to baseball, softball and track in the spring.

Let's talk (quickly) about the Chagrin Falls game and look to next season. We'll talk some basketball too and throw in a few other things for good measure.

After Week 13...Final Four edition

What a night that was. What a great all-around game by the entire team. This team is peaking at the right time, our defense is playing awesome. Last night was the 9th regional title in school history, and first since 1999. Now it's on to the state FINAL FOUR and a date with the Chagrin Falls Tigers this Friday at Medina.

This team has a look....a legitimate look at the state title. No one's getting ahead of themselves, but this team has a real chance to be the last team standing. Who'd have thought that at the beginning of the year? We have the talent on offense, a strong defense, and capable special teams.  We're also battle tested.  The scary part is we can still get better.

Let's talk about the Genoa game and all the lovely, lovely details of another playoff victory against an undefeated Comet team.

After Week 12 - Panthers caged...Comets on the horizon

How about them Riders?  What can you say about the effort that was put forth by the ENTIRE TEAM?  I know it was only an 8-point win, but it was very convincing to me.  I said it in the preview that we'd need to be excellent across the board to win.  And that's pretty much what happened.

Let's discuss it all and look forward to the regional final versus those pesky Comets from Genoa.

Picture from the Lorain Morning Journal.  Article and more pics here. 

Full gallery of game pics here, courtesy of Rod Dilyard Photography.

After Week 10...Ho-hum...another Wooster win & playoff talk

'Woo Who?' Indeed. 42-17.  Sixth straight win is very nice.  But don't let anyone fool you....it was a nervous week.

A week after being shutout by Clear Fork, I don't think I was alone in NOT knowing what to expect from this team, and that was concerning after nine weeks. All I, and everyone else, knew was that two straight losses to end the year would have been bad. And late Friday night it became more clear that if we lost to Wooster, we'd be traveling to Ottawa-Glandorf for the first round of the playoffs. Nobody wanted that.

But nobody really knew which Orrville team would show up. Would we get the team we saw in week 2 that dismantled Triway, or would we get the inconsistent team that was prone to penalties & turnovers? In a distracted week of special events like the Senior Assembly, Bonfire, captains lunch, no school on Friday and all the pre-game activities on a Saturday night in Wooster, it just had all the makings of a tough night for the Riders.

I got confident when I saw all those Red Rider alums form the tunnel for this years Rider team to run past. At that moment, it was like all the good vibes, all the hard earned victories, all the sacrifice and all of what encompasses 'Red Rider Tradition' was passed from past decades of Red Riders to this years team. It was then I knew that it was just a matter of playing Rider football.

We weren't losing this game, and we didn't.

For the 24th time in the last 34 rivalry games, the red, White & black came out the winners....and Wooster's all-time lead is down to single digits (50-41-9).  That hasn't happened since WAY back in 1935 when Wooster held a 16-7-3 edge over the Riders.

On to the minute details....PS - photos by Rod Dilyard. Full gallery here.

After Week 8.......

We'll save the football stuff for last. I'd rather highlight the positive first.  Let's talk Orrville Cross Country & Volleyball before we get to the ugliness that was Friday night against Clear Fork.

Week 7 Preview: Orrville at Ashland

Who: Orrville Red Riders (5-1, 3-0) vs. Ashland Arrows (5-1, 3-0)
Where: Ashland Community Stadium (Click Here for Map & Directions)
When: Friday October 8th, 7:00pm

All Time Series: Ashland leads 11-8, there has been 1 tie. (Click here for detail)
Last Meeting: 2009 (Ashland won 14-13)
Last Week: Orrville beat West Holmes 38-6, Ashland beat Mansfield Senior 49-20

Coaches: Scott Valentine is 70-27 in his 9th season as Ashland head coach.  Doug Davault is 37-15 in his 6th season as Orrville coach.
Radio:  WQKT travels West into Ashland County for this one.  Also will stream at WQKT.com.
Computer Points:  Orrville sits at #3 in Division 4, Region 14, Ashland sits in 7th in Division 2, Region 5.

Let's be honest, the minute we beat Lexington back in week 4, everyone's eyes turned to the Ashland game as the next roadblock on our schedule. Both teams come into the game with a 5-1 record and an unblemished 3-0 OCC record. The winner will take one big step towards an OCC title and help their playoff chances immensely.

Thoughts After Week 4...Plus Bobby Knight.

Sorry for being a day late on this one....I know it's how all of you wind down on your Sunday evening and prepare for another week leading up to Red Rider football.  Thanks to all of you, ok just one of you, who reminded me and kept me on the ball.

Anyway....another week, another win...ho-hum right?  Great start to the Ohio Cardinal Conference portion of the schedule, and just like last years win over Lexington, it's a big hurdle cleared on what is hopefully a 6-week run to the playoffs and maybe even an OCC title (something that Orrville has never won outright).

Let's talk about it all.

(Picture courtesy of Rod Dilyard.  Great work as always, Rod.  His full gallery can be viewed and purchased here.)

Thoughts after Week 2 - That was fun wasn't it?

These kinds of wins are the best ones to talk about.  What an improvement from week 1 to week 2.....and for the first time since the 2000 season, your Red Riders are 2-0.

Credit for the picture (click to see fullsize) goes to local photographer Rod Dilyard.  Check out his complete gallery here.

I guess it's time to load up the bandwagon and talk about all this.