Woman gets first win as boys’ team coach

Published 2:12 am Wednesday, January 16, 2013

COLUMBUS (AP) — Cara Noel, one of just two women coaching boys basketball teams in the state of Ohio, chalked up her first win last week when Arcadia defeated Bettsville 66-39.

“I told (the players) to enjoy the win tonight. It’s been a long time coming. They’ve worked hard to get it. They deserve it,” Noel said after her first win. “But we still have a lot of work to do to get where we want to be this season.”

A 1999 Arcadia graduate and former standout for Arcadia’s girls basketball program, Noel was the head girls coach at Fostoria in 2006-07, and has been a grad assistant with Bluffton University and Rose-Hulman. She was also an assistant girls coach at Arcadia under veteran coach Randy Baker (who compiled a 427-227 record), for whom she played and who recommended she apply for the boys job when it opened up last spring.

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Not too far away, Cynthia Berry is the head coach of the boys team at Sullivan Black River. She is still looking for her first win after the Pirates (0-9) fell to Keystone 73-35.

THANKS, COACH: The Columbiana Clippers showed their old coach what they learned.

Senior Jake DeJong scored 15 points during the Clippers’ 23-9 fourth-quarter run that gave them their first win of the season, 65-61 over Leetonia on Friday night.

Eric Whitmer, in his first season as Leetonia’s head coach, was coaching at Columbiana when the Clipper seniors were freshmen.

DeJong led all scorers, finishing with 27 points.

DOT-DOT-DOT: Ironton’s boys are 9-0 playing in Ohio with the only losses to Class 8-A Florida schools including the defending state champs. … Bellevue sophomore Carly Santoro set a school record with 43 points in less than three quarters Friday in a 73-21 victory over Tiffin Columbian, breaking the previous mark set by Lori LaFollette of 41. … St. Henry celebrated its 90th anniversary of boys basketball by moving to 12-1 on the season with big wins over Versailles and Anna. … Senior Jordan Lauf hit 28 points in a win over Sylvania Northview, giving him 1,330 points to break the Napoleon career scoring record of Tim Reiser from 1980; Bellville Clear Fork’s Ridge Winand (21), Kadin Chrastina (20) and Keith Corbin (17) combined for 58 points in the Colts’ 64-54 win over Ashland. … Vincent Warren boys coach Blane Maddox recently won his 200th game as coach of the Warriors by defeating his alma mater, Logan. … Speaking of which, Logan had a streak of 127 consecutive games making a 3-point basket snapped in a 47-46 loss to Teays Valley — going 0 for 6 behind the arc to go without a 3 for the first time since a Dec. 28, 2006, game against Zanesville. … Jacob Griffith had 10 points, 12 rebounds and 10 blocks in leading Beloit West Branch past Louisville, 48-40.

LATE-GAME STARDOM: Zeb Frank finished with 21 points all after halftime, hitting a shot with 5 seconds left to tie the game, then making 4 of 4 at the foul line in overtime to help Archbold knock off Elida 70-68; a night after New Knoxville defeated Marion Local 56-49 in double overtime at The Barn in New Knoxville, it worked overtime again to beat Marion Local 56-49 at The Hangar in Maria Stein; Salem’s Ryan Bush connected on a pair of late free throws, including his 1,000th career point, to lift the Quakers over Louisville, 47-43; and Columbiana Crestview’s Ashley Harrison did all of her team’s scoring in overtime with 12 points and three steals and finished with 23 points in a 56-52 win over Canfield South Range.

SEEING DOUBLE: The Ottoville inside duo of Abby Siefker and Rachel Beining had big nights in helping the Division IV top-ranked Big Green to a 69-37 win over Continental in a battle of Putnam County League unbeatens. Siefker, a 6-foot-2 senior headed to Bowling Green, had 19 points and 16 rebounds while Beining, a 6-0 junior, added 18 points and 10 boards.

STANDING TALL: Vanlue is one of the smallest public schools in the state but the Wildcats have one of Ohio’s best big men in Zach Garber, a 6-10 senior who has signed a national letter of intent to play college ball for the University of Toledo. Garber, who has helped Vanlue to a 9-2 start, is averaging 20.7 points, 10.4 rebounds and 3 blocked shots a game. He topped the 1,000-point career milestone with 29 points in Friday’s last-second 62-61 loss to Leipsic.

SHE’S NO. 1: West Salem Northwestern senior guard Megan McKean, with a 23-point performance last week in a Wayne County Athletic League win over Apple Creek Waynedale, became her school’s all-time leading scorer in girls basketball. Her brother Brennan, now playing at Marietta College, is No. 2 on the boys’ list, having fallen 29 points short.

GO, FIGHT, PIN: North Baltimore’s Dalton Ishmael set the state record for career pins in wrestling on Saturday when he beat Perrysburg’s Brady Clayton in 1:54 in the 195-pound final of the Perrysburg Invitational Wrestling Tournament.

The pin was the 144th of Ishmael’s career. Derrick Bendau of Mayfield had 143 pins during his career from 2000-2003.

While Ishmael’s pursuit of the career pin record drew state-wide attention in wrestling circles, the straight-A student and three-sport athlete (football, wrestling, baseball) has his sights set on higher goals.

“It’s not really a big deal to me. My goal is just to win state,” Ishmael said. “My family is much more into it. I know how many pins I have, but winning a state championship is really what it’s all about this year.”

Ishmael is 28-0 this season with 27 pins. He was 37-9 as a freshman with 31 falls, 46-4 as a sophomore with 39 pins and last season rang up a 50-1 record with 43 pins. His only loss came in last year’s Division III state semifinals.

CENTURY MARK: Logan senior wrestler Josh VanBibber reached the career 100-victory milestone in style by pinning Amanda-Clearcreek’s Jared Dilley in the 138-pound championship finals of the Rimmert Invitational at Thornville Sheridan.

“A hundred career wins is definitely a noteworthy achievement,” Logan coach Noah Straus said. “Josh has worked hard to get there. For him to win the way he did — in the finals with a fall over a quality wrestler — made it that much more special. He was on cloud nine after his match.”

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Rusty Miller can be reached at http://twitter.com/rustymillerap