One thing is certain when it comes to the history of basketball in Ashtabula County — there is no shortage of great players.
The Ashtabula County Basketball Foundation demonstrates that once again when it inducts its 10th class into its hall of fame.
Fourteen members will be added at the annual ACBF Hall of Fame Banquet and Awards Ceremony on March 25 at the Conneaut Human Resource Center.
Austinburg’s Dutch Cotton was a member of the county championship his senior season in 1953, led the Big Seven League that season in scoring and claimed the league’s title in his last two years with the team.
Charles Watson coached both boys and girls at Edgewood in the 1930s and 40s before becoming the supintendent at Jefferson.
Steve Oman played for both Grand Valley and Pymatuning Valley in mid to late 90s. He tallied 1,140 points and 707 rebounds in his career. He led the Lakers and Mustangs to the district championship game in his junior and senior seasons, respectively, before playing college basketball at Owens Tech and Indiana University at South Bend (NAIA). He scored 1,042 points, for IUSB and grabbed 621 boards. He blocked 93 shots and was honorable mention on the NAIA All-American team as a senior.
Eugene Miller averaged 15 points per game as a senior at Ashtabula in 1972. He was first-team All-Northeastern Conference and first-team All-Ashtabula County his junior and senior seasons for the Panthers.
Jon Hall was the point guard for the best Edgewood team dating back 43 seasons — his father and Hall-of-Fame coach Jon Hall’s 1979-80 Warriors. At 5-foot-5, Hall averaged 6.0 points but set an Ashtabula County record that still stands by averaging an amazing 11.0 assists per game. The team’s 20 wins are the most in school history and had its season end in a heartbreaking 45-43 loss to Lake Catholic in a Class AAA district semifinal at Euclid.
Nate Wilson was a 6-5 member of the Jefferson Falcons from 1977-79 who had incredibly long arms, along with a dangerous left-handed shooting touch from the perimeter. He was a dominant force on Jefferson’s 1978-79 team, which ended a 31-year drought at the school by winning a Class AA sectional championship at Warren Western Reserve.
As a senior in that season, he established Jefferson records that still stand by scoring 465 points and averaging 22.1 points per game and averaged a double-double that season, grabbing 10.1 rebounds per game and set a Jefferson record that still stands by averaging 3.7 blocked shots per game, 78 for the season, another Jefferson record.
Lyle Pepin was a member of the famed 1958-59 Spencer team.
The father-son duo of Jerry and Jeff Puffer plied its trade in Conneaut. Jerry Puffer was a member of the dangerous 1945-46 Rowe team and Jeff graduated from Conneaut in 1971.
Gordon Hitchcock played for Andover his freshman season before it consolidated into PV. He netted 666 points and his teams were 70-21 from 1959-63. He was the team’s top rebounder for three seasons. He was first-team All-Ashtabula County League as a junior and honorable mention All-County as a senior.
Jim Chiacchiero was a 3-point shooting guard for St. John’s NEC-championship team and scored 1,159 points between 1988-91.
Lori Belconis was Geneva’s leader from 1983-85 and was named Star Beacon Ashtabula County Player of the Year in 1985-86.
Dave Sillanpa scored 1,001 points for Conneaut from 1975-78.
Brad Ellis was both a great player and coach at Geneva. He graduated in 1979 and led the Eagles as coach from 1999-2006.
The Eagles were 18-2 his senior year and 94-58 under his tutelage.
Ettinger is a freelance writer from Ashtabula.
Sports
ACBF excited to be hangin’ 10
Organization will celebrate anniversary by welcoming 14 to its Hall of Fame
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Bound for Columbus!
The Grand Valley Mustangs have averaged 11.7 runs during a 2012 baseball season that has now covered 31 games.
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A Vince Peluso column: GV finds a way, though that way is quite unclear
It’s tough to sum up what happened on Friday at Carl “Ducky” Schroeder Field at Massillon Washington High School when Grand Valley advanced to the Division III state semifinals by beating Ursuline, 12-11.
I can tell you that Stanley Sirrine delivered the game winning hit. -
Scholastic Statistics:
BASEBALL
DIVISION III
REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Grand Valley 12, Ursuline 11 -
Sandlot Roundup, with LeeAnn Farr
BASEBALL
Major
n Angels 7, Tigers 6
n WP — Grant Kingston.
n Other — Kyle Van Allen (T) 1 S, 1 D, Brandon Santiago (T) 1 D; Kingston (A) 2 S, Davey Amsdell (A) 2 S, Alex Tulino (A) 1 S, 1 D, Ethan Barker (A) 1 S. -
Scholastic Schedule:
SATURDAY, MAY 26
Track and Field
Regional
Division II
at Bedford High School
n Qualifiers from district (11:30) -
Mustangs move on!
The Grand Valley Mustangs used timely hitting, strong pitching and a dazzling play in the field to continue their impressive run through the Division III state playoffs as they knocked off the Orrville Red Raiders, 7-4, in a regional semifinal at Carl “Ducky” Schroeder Field at Massillon Washington High School.
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A Vince Peluso column: GV a long way from satisfied
At this point in the baseball season, there are two types of teams remaining — those that are happy to still be playing, and those that expect to still be playing.
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Scholastic Statistics:
BASEBALL
DIVISION III
REGIONAL SEMIFINAL
Grand Valley 7, Orrville 4
at Carl “Ducky” Schroeder Field, Massillon Washington High School -
Scholastic Schedule:
FRIDAY, MAY 25
Baseball
Division III
at Massillon Washington High School
Regional championship
n Grand Valley vs. Ursuline (5) -
PV’s Ratliff makes jump to state meet
Quintin Ratliff is Pymatuning Valley’s utlility player.
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