Most, if not all, coaches profess to have tunnel vision when it comes their opponents — the last thing they want is to get caught looking past someone.
In most leagues, that can be avoided. The Ohio Cardinal Conference, Inter-Valley Conference and Principals Athletic Conference all have their league games spread out over the course of the season.
The Wayne County Athletic League, however, poses a different problem. Three times during the WCAL season, league games are scheduled on back-to-back weekend nights — Jan. 5-6, last weekend and upcoming on Feb. 2-3.
Last Friday, league-leading Waynedale went on the road and beat Smithville 77-54. The next night at Rittman, the Golden Bears scored only 10 first-half points and suffered their first WCAL setback, 43-32.
Waynedale coach Kevin Stacy, in his second season, said preparing for two opponents in the same week can be a balancing act.
"It’s tricky," Stacy said after last Friday’s win. "We tried to do a little bit each day to prep for both Smithville and Rittman.
"We were very clear that we were taking it one game at a time, but we’re not going to overlook anyone. We just tried to break it up throughout the week as best we could, a little bit on Smithville and a little on Rittman."
After last weekend, the WCAL boys race has been cut to three contenders — the Bears (7-1) are a half-game ahead of Rittman (7-2), while Smithville rebounded from Friday’s loss to outlast Northwestern 74-70 Saturday to stay alive at 5-3. Every other league squad has at least five losses.
Still, things can change, and in less than 48 hours.
"I don’t like the back-to-backs," admitted Stacy. "If you have a guy who is sick over the weekend or hobbling, it could change the fate of the conference."
MIX OF OLD & NEW — As much as Stacy says his four seniors are his team leaders, including double-figure scorers in guards Ryan Weaver and Manny Camacho, the Golden Bears probably wouldn’t be where they are without the contributions of freshman guard Zach Geiser and sophomore post Mason Higgins.
Against Smithville, the pair combined for 41 points (Higgins 21, Geiser 20), and the seniors aren’t about to pull rank on their younger teammates.
"As long as he’s helping us win, we couldn’t care less, really," said Weaver of Geiser. "He’s playing really good — he just knows what he’s doing. We have to coach him up a little sometimes, but he knows the ropes."
In the 6-foot-6 Higgins, the Bears finally have some size to go along with their guard-oriented attack of the past few seasons.
"He was always the biggest kid, but he’s starting to figure it out now, he’s playing crazy," Weaver said. "It makes everything easier, because if he catches it in the post, he can survey because he’s 6-6. It makes everything easier having a big guy."
CAREER WINDING DOWN — The basketball career of Triway senior standout Gabe Walker is heading into the stretch drive. The 1,000-point career scorer said after Tuesday’s win – Walker put in 30 points in a 60-54 victory over Tuslaw — that he has decided not to try to continue basketball at a higher level.
Instead, the area’s leading scorer said he plans to attend Kent State University, where he will focus on his studies in criminal justice — and make someone’s intramural team a whole lot better.
BRIGHT FUTURE — Central Christian is just 4-10 through 14 games, but the future looks bright for the Comets of head coach Craig Martin, thanks to three sophomores who are making significant contributions.
Guard Dylan Bonner and forward Sam Otto are starters, while classmate Isaac Troyer has provided quite a spark coming off the bench, highlighted by team-high scoring outputs of 24 and 15 points, respectively, in the Comets’ last two games.
SCORING IN THE BALANCE — Wooster High may not have a real go-to scorer — Calvin Blair is tops for the Generals at 13.3 points a game — but WHS has used a balanced attack to post an 8-5 overall record just past the midway point of the season, including 5-3 in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. That’s two games behind OCC-leading Mansfield Senior.
Right behind Blair is first-year starting senior Kedric Corbin at 12.4 ppg, while Dylan Dagley (8.7), Jett Morgan (8.2) and Colton Sparks (8.2) all average over 8 points a game.