ASHLAND — The success this winter for Ashland-area boys and girls basketball teams should not go quietly into history.
When the books finally closed on the season with All-Ohio announcements (the area had 11 players earn all-state and Ashland’s Renee Holt was Ohio’s Division III Coach of the Year), some reflection was absolutely necessary.
Last year, local success was built around historic campaigns for the Loudonville girls (26-2, the area’s first Final Four appearance since 2005) and the Crestview boys (22-2) – both of them finishing as champions of their respective leagues.
This season, the region saw four of its 10 teams advance to district championship games – including Sweet 16 squads in the Ashland girls and Hillsdale boys.
Of course, some of the team and individual success must be credited to this year’s expansion from four divisions to seven in Ohio high school boys and girls basketball. One huge goal of that expansion was to provide more opportunities to more teams and players throughout the state.
Regardless of division, though, local teams also combined for four conference-winning or conference runner-up finishes. Eight of the 10 total Ashland-area squads had records of .500 or better overall as well.
That balance has been rare in these parts.
Individually, meanwhile, Crestview’s Justice Thompson and Mapleton’s Scotty Hickey both took over their schools’ respective career scoring records.
With Hickey also named Firelands Conference Player of the Year and Ashland’s Kennedy Lacey taking home Ohio Cardinal Conference Player of the Year honors, there was a stack of headlines to note.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the most unique things that made this such a special season in the area’s hoops history.
Ashland
The checklist was long for the Arrow girls and Holt in her fifth season leading the program.
Not only did Ashland (20-6, 11-1 OCC) win its first district title since 1979, but it also claimed its first league championship in three decades.
Along with those milestones came a program record-tying 20 wins and a regular season-record 17 wins. The Arrows’ season finally came to a stop in the regional semifinals against eventual Division III Final Four squad Toledo Notre Dame Academy.
Individually, Lacey (Division III third-team All-Ohio) and junior Madison Hoffman (honorable mention All-Ohio) became the program’s first all-state players since Alyssa Steury in 2019.
Lacey is the first AHS girl to win OCC Player of the Year since Kylie Radebaugh in 2018, and the first sophomore to win the OCC’s top honor since West Holmes’ Laina Snyder (an eventual star at Ashland University) in 2012.
Lacey will start her junior season with 718 points and 343 rebounds in her career. That scoring total is is well ahead of the pace of Ashland’s all-time leading scorer Radebaugh, who finished with 1,150 in 2018.
Meanwhile, Holt collected honors as OCC Coach of the Year, Division III Northwest District Coach of the Year and the aforementioned Division III Coach of the Year for all of Ohio.
The Arrows combined with the AHS boys (11-11 overall) to pick up 31 wins this season – the most for the school since 2014-15 (36 wins). That also was the last time both the Ashland boys and girls were at least .500 in the same year.
For their part, the Arrow boys set new program records for team 3-point field-goal percentage (38.1) and for 3-pointers made in a game (19-of-36 against Massillon on Feb. 1).
Hitting shots from downtown in that game were Tyler Sauder (six), Gabe Baith (five), Paxon Ediger (four) and Reed Emmons (four).
Next year could be a history-making one for three returning starters. Ediger (762 career points) and Baith (689) will be senior guards and could both clear 1,000 points.
The Arrows have eight 1,000-point scorers in their history and never have they had two in the same graduating class.
Meanwhile, post player Nathan Bernhard has the potential to clear 700 career points and 600 career rebounds (currently at 578 and 476, respectively).
Crestview
Led again by Thompson, named a first-team All-Ohioan in Division VI, the Cougar boys (17-7) put together their third straight season with at least 17 wins and were Firelands Conference runners-up.
Crestview lost in its district championship game to Northern 10 Conference champ and eventual Final Four qualifier Colonel Crawford, which won 25 straight games after losing to the Cougars in their season-opening game.
Thompson will graduate as the program’s all-time leading scorer (1,536 points) after breaking a 60-year-old school record formerly held by 1965 graduate Dave Groff (1,332).
He averaged 23.6 points per game this season and also set the CHS record for career 3-pointers made, one formerly held by 2000 graduate Mike Vipperman.
Thompson was the Division VI Northwest District Player of the Year and is Crestview’s first-ever three-time All-Ohioan, and was joined this year by honorable-mention all-state senior Tyson Ringler. Of the eight current boys basketball teams in the FC (which have been the same since 1992-93), Thompson’s career points rank eighth all-time.
Earlier this month, he committed to play collegiately at NCCAA school Ohio Christian University.
The Crestview girls, meanwhile, finished with their first winning record (12-11) in three years. The Cougars tripled their win total from last season and head coach Amy Bays said things are looking up for a team that saw a bunch of underclassmen — including three freshmen — get varsity minutes.
Hillsdale
Second-year boys head coach Ben Ferguson and his squad built on the massive gains they made a season ago, winning their first district title since 2001.
The Falcons (19-7, 9-5 Wayne County Athletic League) played well in the uber-talented WCAL, which had four regional-qualifying squads (also 23-3 Norwayne, 22-4 Smithville and 16-11 Dalton), finishing third in the league as its lone Division VII team.
It likely marked the first time in program history that the Hillsdale boys won at least 18 games in back-to-back seasons, as Ferguson was named the Division VII Coach of the Year in District 4.
The Falcons were eliminated in the regionals by eventual state runner-up Cornerstone Christian, which featured Ohio’s all-time leading scorer, Quinn Kwasniak (finished with 3,341 points and an Ohio-record 562 career 3-pointers made).
Individually, it was the end of the high school basketball road for 6-foot-6 post player Bradey Krichbaum. The senior averaged 15 points, 11 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game, setting a new HHS record for single-game rebounds (26) against Heartland Christian and earning Division VII Player of the Year laurels in District 4.
On Wednesday, Krichbaum also was named a second-team All-Ohioan. He finished with 914 points and 683 rebounds for his Hillsdale career and was joined on the All-Ohio squad by honorable-mention picks Troy Bennett (junior) and Lowen Ferguson (freshman).
Loudonville
Winning has become second nature for the Redbird girls program, and they didn’t disappoint this winter during their first season in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.
Despite the gargantuan losses of the Vermilya sisters (area all-time leading scorer Corri now plays at Ashland University and sophomore Mya missed the season with a knee injury), Loudonville (16-9, 11-3) battled its way to a runner-up finish in the KMAC.
Led by a new coach in Daryl Young, who replaced Ashland County’s all-time wins leader Tyler Bates (202-69 at LHS), the Redbirds then made it to a district final for the fourth time in five seasons.
They lost 42-31 in that game to WCAL-champion and Elite Eight team Smithville (23-4).
Senior post player Alesha Felix proved to be the key individually, nearly averaging a double-double of 9.9 points (seventh in the KMAC) and 10.5 rebounds (first) per game. She was named a Division VI All-Ohio honorable-mention pick Monday.
The Loudonville boys didn’t have the winning season they would have liked (5-18), but they did feature a pair of record-setting seniors who were among the best in the KMAC this winter.
Judah Layton easily led the league in scoring (22.1 ppg) and was second in rebounding (9.3 rpg). He ended his career as the fifth 1,000-point scorer in program history and was named an honorable mention All-Ohioan in Division VI on Wednesday.
His classmate, Dilan Wade, also was impactful from the perimeter. The senior tied for fourth in the KMAC in scoring (17.0 ppg), setting a new LHS record for single-season 3-pointers made (82). He connected on a school-record 11 treys in a game against Temple Christian.
Mapleton
Rarely in its history has Mapleton basketball been a consistent winner in both boys and girls basketball, but the Mounties have strung together a few solid seasons with both programs, combining for at least 30 wins each of the last two years.
The Mountie girls (18-6, 11-3 FC) made it back-to-back seasons with winning records this winter, collecting their most victories since 2013-14 and placing second in the FC behind defending champ New London.
Senior post Hailey Bergosh was named Division VI All-Ohio honorable mention Monday, a little more than a week after committing to play NCAA Division III ball at the College of Wooster.
She led the FC in scoring (13.0 ppg) while also averaging 6.5 rebounds per game, closing out her career with 533 points and 327 rebounds.
Despite her graduation, Mapleton and head coach Matt Hess are set up to succeed next season, when the Mounties could threaten for their first FC crown since 1999.
Three of the team’s top players this season were underclassmen, including FC first-team pick and all-around talent Addison Hess (10.4 ppg, 5.7 rpg). The freshman led the league in assists (5.0), steals (4.5) and blocks (2.3) per game this winter.
The squad also returns a few key players from injury next season.
The Mapleton boys, meanwhile, put together their third straight winning season (12-10, 7-7 FC), doing so largely on the back of all-time scoring leader Scotty Hickey.
The senior finished with an MHS record 1,543 career points, good for seventh among the current eight programs in the FC. His average 26.3 points per game this season was the third-highest in league history, according to firelandsconferencehistory.com.
Hickey was named FC Player of the Year and District 4 Player of the Year for Division VI before taking home first-team All-Ohio status Wednesday.
He also holds Mapleton records for single-season scoring (578 points), single-season 3-pointers made (65) and career 3s made (194).
The last game of Hickey’s high school career was a 42-point effort against McDonald.
