A LOOK AT THE BUCKEYE 8
By Scotty Mincher
Over the last couple of weeks here at YSN, I’ve looked at some of the schools and teams that help to shape and make our three pillars of loyal, local, and live into something special. Today is no different, and up to bat for this story is the Buckeye 8 Conference. The Buckeye 8 Athletic League consists of ten schools. Here is the complete list of schools in the North and South divisions.
- East Liverpool Beaver Local Beavers (2013-)
- Rayland Buckeye Local Panthers (2008-)
- East Liverpool Potters (2013-)
- Richmond Edison Wildcats (2008-)
- Wintersville Indian Creek Redskins (2008-)
South Division
- Bellaire Big Reds (2008-)
- Cadiz Harrison Central Huskies (2008-)
- Martins Ferry Purple Riders (2008-)
- St. Clairsville Red Devils (2008-)
- Belmont Union Local Jets (2008-)
We’ll look at 3 of the school’s boys, as well as the Beaver Local girls and boys basketball programs from the North Division as the East Liverpool Beaver Local Beavers, East Liverpool Potters, and Richmond Edison Wildcats have the spotlight. Beaver local boys basketball in 2019-20 were coached by first-year man Nick Miller and finished the season with a record of 13-10. The Beaver Local high school girls finished the season with an almost identical record as the boys at 13-11. They were coached by Stephanie Coie. Like with any winning team, senior leadership is extremely important. The Beaver Local girls were lead by seniors Danica Taylor, Madison Cline, Jenna Riccardo, Brooke Briggs, and Riley Britt. The boys were led by Luke Chetock, Tate Joseph, Logan Reed, and Jaden Kiddey. Here are the full schedules, along with the win and loss results from the 2019-20 season, for the boy and girl Beaver Local Beavers, Starting with the boys. 11/27/19 vs Crestview HS W 67-45
12/03/19 vs Southern Local L 64-51
12/07/19 vs East Liverpool HS L 69-44
12/10/19 vs Buckeye Local HS W 55-66
12/13/19 vs Indian Creek HS W 67-36
12/14/19 vs The Linsly School L 64-60
12/17/19 vs Edison HS W 79-67
12/20/19 vs Wellsville HS W 74-36
12/21/19 vs South Side W 66-41
12/30/19 vs Indian Valley HS W 58-48
01/03/20 vs St.Thomas Aquinas L 51-40
01/04/20 vs Columbiana HS L 60-46
01/07/20 vs East Liverpool HS L 64-59
01/10/20 vs Buckeye Local HS W 56-64
01/14/20 vs Indian Creek HS W 54-30
01/17/20 vs Edison HS W 75-51
01/25/20 vs Wellsville HS W 59-54
01/28/20 vs The Linsly School L 36-47
02/01/20 Buckeye 8 Championship
vs Martins Ferry L 54-60
02/08/20 vs East Palestine W 91-51
OVAC Semi Final
02/11/20 vs St. Clairsville L 64-71
OVAC Consolation Game
02/14/20 vs Brooke W 74-53
Sectional Game
02/29/20 vs Claymont L 45-46
Beaver Local:50 Carrollton: 45 Won
Beaver Local:41 Martins Ferry: 56 Loss
Beaver Local:46 Crestview: 54 Loss
Beaver Local:55 East Liverpool:37 Won
Beaver Local:22 John Marshall: 55 Loss
Beaver Local:38 Indian Creek: 68 Loss
Beaver Local:60 Buckeye Local: 26 Won
Beaver Local:76 Edison: 30 Won
Beaver Local:68 Ontario: 75 Loss OT
Beaver Local:42 Indian Valley: 50 Loss
Beaver Local:64 East Liverpool:31 Won
Beaver Local:29 Indian Creek: 60 Lost
Beaver Local:55 Buckeye Local: 23 Won
Beaver Local:66 Edison: 31 Won
Beaver Local:50 Martins Ferry: 44 Won
Beaver Local:61 Oak Glen: 51 Won
Beaver Local:52 Sandy Valley: 67 Loss
Beaver Local:61 Toronto: 32 Won
OVAC Semi Final
Beaver Local:48 St. Clairsville:35 Won
OVAC Championship
Beaver Local:45 Martins Ferry: 63 Loss
Beaver Local:77 David Anderson:41 Won
Sectional Game
Beaver Local:61 St. Clairsville:60 Won
Sectional Final Game
Beaver Local:36 Zanesville Mysville:76 Lost
The next team up is the East Liverpool Potters. Coached by Nate Conley, the Potters had a very successful season, going 18-6 overall and 7-1 in conference play. They went 4-1 at home,6-2 on the road, and 8-3 at neutral sites, finishing the season with a winning percentage of 750. They were a senior-laden team led by Nick Woodyard, Brennan O’Hara, Timmy Neal, Levi George, Gannon Irvine, Tresean Jackson, and Demani Brown. Here’s the Potters full schedule and results from the 2019-20 boys basketball season, via maxpreps.com
Result
12/3TBA Edison (Richmond, OH)
12/6TBA Beaver County Christian (Beaver Falls, PA)
12/77:00p Beaver (Lisbon, OH)
Location: East Liverpool High School
12/13TBA @ Buckeye Local (Rayland, OH)
Location: Buckeye Local High School
12/17TBA Indian Creek (Wintersville, OH)
Location: East Liverpool High School
12/214:15p Meadowbrook (Byesville, OH)
Game Details: Buckeye 8 Challenge @ Ohio University Eastern
12/277:00p @ Steubenville (Steubenville, OH)
Game Details: Steubenville High School, Crimson Center
1/3TBA Edison (Richmond, OH)
1/77:00p @ Beaver (Lisbon, OH)
Location: Beaver High School
1/111:30p East Palestine (East Palestine, OH)
Game Details: East Liverpool High School, Fieldhouse
1/117:00p @ Carrollton (Carrollton, OH)
Game Details: Carrollton HS/MS, High School Gym
1/14TBA @ Buckeye Local (Rayland, OH)
Location: Buckeye Local High School
1/177:30p @ Indian Creek (Wintersville, OH)
Location: Indian Creek High School
1/18TBA St. Clairsville (St. Clairsville, OH)
1/247:00p Steubenville (Steubenville, OH)
Game Details: East Liverpool High School, Fieldhouse
1/287:00p @ Salem (Salem, OH)
Location: Salem High School
2/1TBA St. Clairsville (St. Clairsville, OH)
2/47:00p Oak Glen (New Cumberland, WV)
Location: East Liverpool High School
2/77:00p @ Minerva (Minerva, OH)
Game Details: Minerva High School/ Middle School, Gym
2/11TBA Martins Ferry (Martins Ferry, OH)
2/1510:00a Meadowbrook (Byesville, OH)
Game Details: OVAC Tournament Finals @ Ohio University Eastern
2/187:00p Harrison Central (Cadiz, OH)
Location: East Liverpool High School
2/217:00p @ Minerva (Minerva, OH)
Game Details: Minerva High School/ Middle School, Gym
2/29TBA Indian Valley (Gnadenhutten, OH)
3/47:00p Carrollton (Carrollton, OH)
Game Details: at Steubenville HS
3/77:00p New Philadelphia (New Philadelphia, OH)
They bowed out to Meadowbrook in a tightly contested contest, but making it to the OVAC 4-A Championship game, Is something they can hang their hat on, and a tremendous accomplishment for the Potters, As they look to build on a successful 2019-20 season.
The final school being examined today is the Edison Wildcats. Coached by Todd English, The Wildcats finished 6-18 overall and went 3-7 in their conference. Even so, the Edison boys basketball team played their most complete game of the season in mid-February. It was a resounding win against Bridgeport, Alec McBane was the team’s leading scorer with 25 points, Noah Woods with 13 and Alex Mayle and Jayden Sanders chipped in with 8 points each. Freshman Gage Cline and Brayden Moses had 6 and 4 each. Senior progress on the court is always important on any team striving to get better, so the noticeable improvements of Mayle and Mcbane leading up to their best win of the year was a major factor in their success against Bridgeport. For the future, if Jayden Sanders makes the natural senior progression before and during his senior year it will go along way in helping the wildcats get more W’s during the 20-21 season. Cline and Moses are promising freshmen that should only get better, giving the Wildcats a bright future to look forward to in the next several years. Nothing is guaranteed, but if the Wildcats can get more consistent contributions from everyone on the roster as a whole, they could become a pretty big force to be reckoned with! All of the schools that I’ve covered today are examples of local sports teams with winning sports cultures, or like in the case of the Edison Wildcats a team that played their best game late in the season, and have players that are on the rise to better success. It’s a feather in the cap of the conference and shows that sports can be great in the Buckeye 8!
