Cloverleaf’s girls basketball team rose from the depths of a 2-19 campaign in 2005-06 to finish one game under .500 last season.
Most coaches would proclaim it’s time to reap the fruits of the growing pains, but fourth-year Cloverleaf pilot John Carmigiano isn’t quite ready for that.
“We’re hoping that with some returning players we’re going to [...]

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The Medina boys basketball team lost its top two scorers from a year ago, moved into a much tougher league and has only two seniors on its roster.
Other than that, coach Jody Peters has no concerns at all.
“Our lack of experience is obviously a big question mark,” Peters said. “And we don’t have a whole [...]

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Medina girls basketball coach Mark Loomis has no lack of motivational phrases.
One of his favorites is, “Character plus Team plus Intensity equals Success.”
The Bees lost All-Gazette picks Katelyn Warnke and Erin Beadle to graduation, as well as starting floor general Maria Platzbecker.
Then it got worse. Top-returning scorer Kelly Pickering (7.5 ppg), a Division I track [...]

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Times they are a changin’ at Buckeye High School.
Everyone’s favorite opponent not all that long ago, the boys basketball team has progressed to the point where it wants more than a Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division championship.
Buckeye (11-10, 10-3) shared that title with Wellington a year ago, but fourth-year coach Steve King now wants his [...]

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Buckeye girls basketball coach Connie Rummell didn’t take long to coin a catch phrase for her team this year: “The best team you’ve never heard of … yet.”
“We’re hoping to surprise some people and maybe have a tournament run again,” said Rummell, whose 2004-05 unit advanced to regionals.
If the Bucks and Rummell, who said there’s [...]

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Black River’s boys basketball program has produced exactly two winning seasons since 1968-69 and has a lifetime record of 358-645 (.325).
First-year coach Bryan Morgan knows what he’s getting into and inherits a unit that went 4-17 overall and 2-11 in the Patriot Athletic Conference.
If one thing’s for sure, you can bet the former Oberlin Firelands [...]

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Black River girls basketball coach Bill Roniger doesn’t wear a hard hat or steel-toed shoes, but he is definitely a man of construction.
In his fourth year, Roniger led the Pirates to nine wins — their most since 2001-02 — and the school’s first postseason victory in five seasons.
A little success like that has helped Black [...]

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Predicted finish
1. Garfield Heights; 2. Strongsville; 3. Brunswick; 4. Elyria; 5. Lakewood; 6. Medina.
Garfield Heights boys basketball coach Sonny Johnson doesn’t think his team has the best backcourt in the Northeast Ohio Conference Valley Division.
“We have the best backcourt in the state,” the third-year head coach said.
That very well may be true, as 6-foot-4 senior [...]

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Last season, Brunswick’s girls basketball team used its leadership to win the school’s first district title in 15 seasons.
This winter, that same guidance will be needed again, but for a different purpose as their returning players will join a handful of rookies.
“You have kids who played integral roles last season in a regional run, and [...]

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WADSWORTH — Scott Callaghan’s first season as Wadsworth’s boys basketball coach was a rousing success.
The Grizzlies reached double-digits in victories and made a memorable run to the Copley Division I District championship game.
A new year, however, brings new challenges.
“For us to reach our potential, we must develop a defensive identity,” Callaghan said. “We must be [...]

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