TVC-Hocking Standings: Southern and Belpre boys tied for first, Waterford girls continue dominance
By: Hardwood Heroes
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TVC-Hocking Boys’ Standings
T1. Southern Tornadoes | 5-1 (Conf. 3-0)
Written by: Joshua Hoerner
Despite an opening season loss to River Valley, Southern has rattled off five straight wins en route to a tie at the top of the conference. Their first three wins came in dominating fashion, winning each game by over twenty points. Their last two games have been much closer, including a 46-45 win over Fort Frye.
Southern will take on South Gallia and Glenwood for their next two games. Their next conference opponent is Belpre on January 7th, which will break the tie for the top of the conference.
T1. Belpre Golden Eagles | 4-2 (Conf. 3-0)
Written by: Joshua Hoerner
The Golden Eagles came out of the gates red-hot, winning their first four games, including three conference wins. After that, Belpre dropped their last two contests to Meigs and Caldwell.
Despite losing star big man Junior Bass, the Golden Eagles are in a great position to defend their conference title. Belpre will take on Athens and Marietta next week on Monday and Friday. Their next conference game will be at Southern on January 7th.
3. Eastern Eagles | 5-3 (Conf. 2-1)
Written by: Stephen Koroly
The Eastern Eagles boys have already surpassed last season’s win total in only 8 games. The Eagles have started the 2024-2025 season with a 5-3 overall record and a 2-1 conference record. In Eastern’s first game of the year, they surpassed 100 points and beat River View by a score of 106-74. This score alone shows that this team is miles different from last year. The Eagles only lost three seniors last season but have made a change at the Head Coach position. Greg Lloyd, an assistant coach for Eastern previously, has taken over. His plan is to utilize the mass amount of athletic talent on his roster. So far, he’s been successful with other notable wins over Waterford, Fed Hock, and South Galia.
On the floor, Ethan Edwards is back at the one, Derrick Barnes, a sharpshooter is back on the wing, Colton Llyod, a three-level reliable scorer is a major conti butor, and Gavin Murphy, an athletic scoring post is slotted into the starting lineup. The Eagles have a ton of talent and look to increase their win total with rematches against River View on January Third and South Galia on January Fourth.
4. Waterford Wildcats | 3-4 (Conf. 1-2)
Written by: Charlie Ihlenfeld
The Waterford Wildcat boys have rebounded after a difficult road stretch to the season. In the aftermath of dropping four of their first five, the boys have rattled off two consecutive wins on the road. Avenging their first loss of the season, the Wildcats defeated Morgan 54-48 in the Clash at the Coliseum at Warren. Senior Cole Sparling-Ponchak and sophomore Finn Pennock have been the go-to options for the Wildcats offensively in the post-Jarrett Armstrong era.
While Waterford has been working to find their groove on that side of the ball, Coach DJ Cunningham’s team has remained stout on defense. After a battle in the Alexander Classic against the Spartans on the 28th, the Wildcat boys will start the new year with an extended home stretch. This young team has plenty of faces such as Dylan McCutcheon, Gavin Heiner, Weston Fairchild, and many more that can continue to grow throughout the course of the season.
T5. Trimble Tomcats | 1-6 (Conf. 0-3)
Written by: Ty Carpenter
After graduating much of their starting lineup last season, the Trimble Tomcat boys have been struggling through the early parts of their schedule, posting a 1-6 record on the season. This comes with an 0-3 record in conference, with notable conference losses against the Waterford Wildcats, Southern Tornadoes, and Belpre Golden Eagles.
Heading into this past week, the Tomcats were 0-5 on the season as they faced the 4-1 Belpre Golden Eagles on the road. Trimble would fall in this matchup but would show stark signs of improvement, with their margin of loss being 65 to 61, their closest game of the season against a Belpre squad that has been off and running. The Tomcats would take this momentum against the Adena Warriors, in which they would pick up their first win of the season, 49 to 32, moving to 1-6 on the year.
The Tomcats will look to continue carrying this momentum next week, as they host the Crooksville Ceramics on Monday and the Athens Bulldogs on Saturday.
T5. Federal Hocking Lancers | 0-6 (Conf. 0-3)
Written by: Gavin Carrig
It hasn’t been the start that the new look Federal Hocking Lancers have been looking for this season, who are still looking for their first win. Graduating four seniors a season ago, two of which being Tariq Cottrill and Andrew Airhart, both of whom were on the Hardwood Heroes All-Heroes team. And for Cottrill, he took home the Hardwood Heroes Boys Player of the Year Award as well.
The Lancers could not find their stride this week, dropping the two games they had. Fed Hock went on the road to Reedsville to face off against Eastern, where they dropped the contest 53-68. Junior Cam Joy led the team with 19 points, while Rustam Waltz pitched in with 12.
The boys continued their road stretch with a tough out of conference matchup against South Webster. In this game last year, the Jeeps took home the win 63-47. This time around appeared to be more of the same, as Federal Hocking dropped this season’s battle 39-72. Mosiah Cottrill led the team with 12 points, while Cam Joy added 10 of his own in the loss.
The Lancers have two great chances this week of grabbing their first win of the season, as they play at home to Miller and Crooksville, both of whom are 0-4 on the year.
TVC-Hocking Girls’ Standings
1. Waterford Wildcats | 8-0 (Conf. 5-0)
Written by: Charlie Ihlenfeld
The Waterford girls’ team has been tearing through their schedule thus far. As of the writing of this article, the Wildcats have beaten opponents by an average margin of 24 points. This impressive margin comes despite the squad staring down many of the best squads in the region like Federal Hocking, Belpre, and Unioto. It will not get any easier for Waterford. Their next contest is against the top team in the TVC-Ohio, the Athens Bulldogs. Two state title contenders will meet in Waterford tomorrow.
For Waterford, many of the faces have remained the same core contributors. Avery Wagner and Avery Smithberger anchor the Wildcats defensively, Kendall Sury and Elsie Malec have excelled in a three-guard offense that has seamlessly incorporated freshman Brynnlee Pottmeyer. Off the bench, the Wildcats appear deeper than ever. Their rotation features Ava Hurley, Cira Ponchak, Gracie Hartline, and many more that make Waterford a powerhouse in the new Division Seven. A win tomorrow could make it loud and clear. The Wildcats are on the road back to Dayton.
2. Belpre Golden Eagles | 5-3 (Conf. 4-1)
Written by: Joshua Hoerner
The Golden Eagles opened up their season with a loss to Marietta. However, they followed that up with five wins in a row. Four of those five were in-conference, and three of them were won by over 30 points. Their most important win of the season thus far was a win over Federal Hocking, scoring a season-high 76 points over the Lancers. Their last two games were both losses, including to the Wildcats at the top of the standings.
Belpre will look forward to Newcomerstown and Philo on Thursday and Friday of next week.
3. Federal Hocking Lancers | 7-2 (Conf. 3-2)
Written by: Gavin Carrig
The Lady Lancers have picked up right where they left off after being crowned sectional champions last season and making it all the way to the district final. Federal Hocking has suffered only two losses on the season; however, both came in TVC-Hocking play. Losses to Waterford (55-63) and Belpre (68-76) will make it a difficult climb to the top of the conference now, but going perfect against Hocking opponents since those losses, sees the Lancers placed 3rd.
Federal Hocking had their hands full this week, with three games on their hands. The first contest of the week was a win against Southern 73-41. Junior Takira Walker dropped 22 points in the match, with senior Jaylee Orsborne scoring 18.
The Lancers followed up that victory with a full-on dismantle of Trimble 61-21. Brenlee Cottrill led the team in scoring with 17 on the night, while Walker added 13.
Looking for a win to cap off the week, Fed Hock traveled to Warren to face the Warriors in the Clash at the Colosseum. Last season, Warren took home the win 36-26, but it was much different this time around. The Lancers showcased the firepower offense we’ve seen from them so far this season, taking home the win 68-35. Cottrill led the way on the night, scoring 19, and taking home the player of the game award. Orsborne pitched in with 12 of her own, continuing her stellar first full season as a Lancer.
Fed Hock has two out of conference matches this week, hosting both Harvest Prep (2-7) and Minford (3-3).
4. Trimble Tomcats | 4-4 (Conf. 2-3)
Written by: Ty Carpenter
The Trimble Tomcat girls have been off to a middling start this season, posting a 4-4 record overall and a 2-3 conference record, with wins over the Eastern Eagles and Southern Tornadoes.
The Lady Tomcats would start the season with a big win over the Miller Falcons, 60-11. They would fall to Vinton County in their next game but would respond with back-to-back wins against the Eastern Eagles and Southern Tornadoes, starting the season at 3-1. They would hope to carry this momentum as they hosted a strong Waterford squad but would lose 49 to 12. Trimble would bounce back the next game with a win over the Nelsonville-York Buckeyes.
Coming off a win heading into this week, the Lady Tomcats stood at 4-2 with a 2-1 conference record, hoping to continue success against conference opponents Belpre and Federal Hocking. Trimble would travel to Belpre and struggle to find success, losing 53 to 17. These struggles would continue as they hosted the Federal Hocking Lady Lancers, as they would again lose 68 to 53.
Trimble will hope to stay afloat as they play the Tyler Knights this Saturday.
5. Southern Tornadoes | 6-4 (Conf. 1-4)
Written by: Joshua Hoerner
The Tornadoes have been undefeated outside of conference this year and feature strong wins over River Valley and Northwest. However, Southern has struggled in conference play. After winning four of their first five games, they lost their next three to the top three teams in the standings. They are currently on a two-game winning streak, after beating Eastern and Northwest.
The Tornadoes will head to Pomeroy to take on the Marauders for the second time this season and will play Ironton in a neutral site game on Thursday.
6. Eastern Eagles | 1-8 (Conf. 0-5)
Written by: Stephen Koroly
The Eastern Eagles girls’ basketball team is looking to take steps in a winning direction. While the girls have only posted one win on the season so far, their roster is filled with youth. The Eagles return more than five sophomores this season but also lose their biggest contributor, Hope Reed. Jim Simpson, a second-year head coach, has not seen much success while at the helm, but this rebuilding process has been expected to take multiple years.
Simpson notably excels in keeping morale high and improving his young talent game-by-game. The Eagles have recently lost on December 20th to Williamstown by a score of 66-33 and also to Southern, 56-28. Eastern’s one win on the season came on December 14th against Clay, winning by a score of 42-33. The Lady Eagles are back in action on December 30th when they travel to River View and January Third at the nest against Green.