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TVC-Hocking Standings: Southern Boys clinch the top spot as tournament time is around the corner

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This week in the hocking, Southern’s boys clinch the title for the first time since 2014.  Waterford’s girls took down Belpre, putting the Golden Eagles in a tie with Federal Hocking for second.  Eastern boys have two tough conference tests before heading into tournament play.   

TVC-Hocking Boys’ Standings   

  1. Southern Tornadoes | 16-3 (Conf. 9-0)

Written by: Charlie Ihlenfeld 

The Tornadoes kept rolling through a busy week against the former and current TVC-Hocking members. Starting on Tuesday, Southern overcame a first half deficit to defeat the visiting Waterford Wildcats 44-34. In a demonstration of how intense the parity is in the Hocking this year, it was the first time the Tornadoes beat a conference opponent by double digits since December 13th. From there, Southern moved to the main event of the week. On Friday, the Tornadoes traveled to Belpre with a chance to snatch their first conference title since 2014. Despite a late rally from the Golden Eagles, Southern dispatched Belpre 48-41. Wrapping up the week, they went to Miller the next day. Against a former TVC-Hocking rival, the Tornadoes cruised to 56-27 win. It was their largest victory of the season.  

Now, Southern turns its focus to a loaded final three games of the season. First, on Tuesday night, the Tornadoes host a 14-7 Southeastern squad. The Panthers have won five of their last six games heading into this week. The Tornadoes have not lost in over a month. Riding a ten-game winning streak, Southern has a chance to extend its winning against a high quality opponent. Another high quality opponent, the Eastern Eagles, will head to Racine to wrap up Southern’s Hocking slate. Last time the two teams met, the game ended 64-61 in overtime at Reedsville. Last, on Saturday, the Tornadoes go to Peebles to wrap up the regular season. The magic run keeps on rolling for Southern.  

  1. Eastern Eagles | 12-8 (Conf. 6-2)

Written by: Stephen Koroly 

The Eastern Eagles race for a share of the TVC-Hocking title is over. With Southern beating Belpre, the Tornadoes have clinched the TVC-Hocking outright. But the Eagles did manage to get three wins this past week. Starting on February Fourth, the Eagles traveled to Stewart to meet with the Federal Hocking Lancers who are still looking for their first in-conference win. This game was down to the wire in the first half with Eastern only leading by two at halftime but a Hero of The Week performance with 28 points, 20 rebounds, and 4 steals. Eastern ended up winning by 30, 74-44. Eastern later in the week headed into a back-to-back starting on February Seventh against Trimble. The Eagles won this game big as well with a score of 63-45. Finally, Eastern turned around the next day and visited the Alley to take on the Alexander Spartans. The Eagles picked up a gritty road win in this one, winning 59-54.

Eastern finishes up the regular season with in-conference games against second place Belpre and conference champions, Southern.

  1.  Belpre Golden Eagles | 8-11 (Conf. 5-3)

The Written by: Joshua Hoerner  

Coming into this week, Belpre had a chance to clinch the conference.  After a tough loss to Trimble on Tuesday, the Golden Eagles aimed to rebound Friday against Southern. In a back-and-forth battle, Southern came away with a 48-41 victory.  Chris Copen led the Golden Eagles with 11 points, while Nasaih Spencer followed up with eight.  On Saturday, Belpre lost to Fort Frye in a non-conference matchup.   

The Golden Eagles will have plenty of chances to bounce back this week, as they take on Eastern and Waterford.  If Belpre wins both games this week, they will either share or secure second place outright.   

  1. Waterford Wildcats | 9-9 (Conf. 4-5)

Written by: Charlie Ihlenfeld 

In a difficult week for the Waterford Wildcats, they managed to emerge with a winning record. First, the Wildcats had to face the conference top dogs, the Southern Tornadoes. While the Wildcats fell 44-34, it was the start of an excellent week for sophomore Gavin Heiner. Two days later, Waterford faced Federal Hocking in the first of a two-game series this week. It was another sophomore, this time Reese Lang, who propelled the Wildcats. With 22 points, Lang led Waterford to a 54-43 victory at the Harry Cooper Annex. The next day, the Lancers were ready for the Wildcats at home. Down six heading into the locker room, Waterford stormed back to win 50-46. Heiner led the Wildcats in scoring with 14, but Finn Pennock was right behind him with 12.  

Now, the Wildcats will have two of their final three games of the regular season this week. First, their rescheduled game against Caldwell will take place this Tuesday. Caldwell has thoroughly dominated the Hocking this year, winning each of their four games against Eastern, Belpre and Trimble. The Wildcats will have a chance to avenge their heartbreaking loss to Belpre earlier this year on Friday. Next week, Waterford has one final game in the regular season against rival Fort Frye. Then, they move onto Division Six Southeast where they are ranked ninth, one seed behind conference rival Eastern.  

  1. Trimble Tomcats | 3-16 (Conf. 2-7)

Written by: Ty Carpenter 

The Trimble Tomcats boys’ team saw two conference games this week as they hoped to build momentum before the tournament draw. Trimble started their week at home against Belpre, where the team honored former head coach Howie Caldwell and his 2015 varsity boys’ basketball team that went 25-1 as district champions. In a back-and-forth battle against the Golden Eagles, the Tomcats would emerge victorious, 46-44, off a game winner from Sophomore Brady Jajczyk, who also led the team with 21 points. Trimble would follow up this win traveling to the Eastern Eagles on Friday but would lose 63-45 as Eastern hoped to stay in the race for the Hocking. 

After finding the win column once again, the Trimble Tomcats move to 3-16 overall and 2-7 in the TVC-Hocking. They hope to continue their success against the Miller Falcons on Tuesday, before hosting the Federal Hocking Lancers on Friday.  

  1. Federal Hocking Lancers | 3-16 (Conf. 0-9)

Written by: Gavin Carrig 

A three-game week for the Lancers saw them looking for their first conference win, having three opportunities to grab it. The first game of the week came against Eastern, where Federal Hocking could not keep pace with the Eagles, dropping the contest 44-74. Wren Ballew led the team dropping 15 points on the night, with Cam Joy adding 14. 

Next was back-to-back games against Waterford, the first being Thursday in enemy territory. The Lancers dropped the contest 43-54. Joy led the team on the night scoring 21, while Mosiah Cottrill added 10. 

Friday night Fed Hock was looking to write their wrongs. The Lancers got off to a hot start throughout the first half, but could not keep their foot on the gas, losing to the Wildcats 46-50. Ballew balled out and dropped 23 points, earning the Hugh White Player of the Game. Joy added 18 in the loss. 

Fed Hock again has three games on the calendar this week. Opening the week on Tuesday against Berne Union (5-14), followed up by a trip to Trimble (3-16), then ending the week on Saturday by hosting Nelsonville-York (12-7).  

The Lancers have been drawn up against Portsmouth Clay in the first round of the OHSAA Division VI Tournament. That game will be played on February 18. 

 

TVC-Hocking Girls’ Standings 

  1. Waterford Wildcats | 20-1 (Conf. 10-0)

Written by: Charlie Ihlenfeld 

It was another incredible week for the Waterford girls. First, on Thursday, they cruised to a 44-34 win at Belpre. Paced by Kendall Sury, who exploded for 15 third-quarter points, Waterford claimed a commanding lead and never looked back. The squad had quite the challenge on Saturday, facing the Williamstown Yellowjackets. Despite taking a lead late, the Yellowjackets were smothered by the Waterford defense as they secured the game at the free-throw line. Waterford bested the 14-5 squad 40-33.  

As for next week, the Wildcats might be in the match of the year for Southeast Ohio. On Tuesday, Waterford heads to Marietta to face the 20-0 Marietta Tigers. Both schools were ranked in the state top 25. The Tigers landed at 11 while the Wildcats were ranked 22. As standalone weeks go, it is hard to beat this. The squads have not faced since 2021 when Marietta won 61-52. That year, Waterford went all the way to the state semifinals before losing to McDonald. It is going to be a thriller.  

T2. Belpre Golden Eagles | 13-7 (Conf. 7-3) 

Written by: Joshua Hoerner  

Belpre began the week by taking down Jackson on Monday, 57-28.  They followed with a tough loss to Waterford 44-34, then capped off the week with a 75-13 win over Meigs.   

After Monday’s game against Jackson, Gracie Bills and Haley Alloway led the Golden Eagles in scoring.  Bills topped the team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals.  Her averages after Monday are 14.4 points and nine rebounds per game, nearly a double-double.    Alloway led the team with 13 blocks while averaging 13 points per game.   

Belpre will host Paint Valley in round one of the tournament on Thursday.   

T2. Federal Hocking Lancers | 15-6 (Conf. 7-3) 

Written by: Gavin Carrig 

Federal Hocking had two games this past week, opening it up on Monday against an undefeated Marietta Tigers squad. In the 49-79 loss, Jaylee Orsborne led the team with 17 points on the night, with Brenlee Cottrill and McKayla Nelson adding 14 and 12 respectively. 

The Lady Lancers then hosted Trimble for senior night in Stewart. Orsborne, Addison Jackson, Audrey Clingenpeel, and Olivia Tabler all got buckets on their night. Orsborne led the way with a game-high 21 points, while also earning the Hugh White Player of the Game. 

Fed Hock only has one game this upcoming week, with a matchup against Minford (15-5), before getting ready for the tournament to face the winner of Valley/Lynchburg Clay. 

  1. Trimble Tomcats | 12-10 (Conf. 4-6)

Written by: Ty Carpenter 

The Trimble Tomcats girls’ team saw another three-game week with two conference games. The Tomcats started their week hosting the Southern Tornadoes, picking up a big conference victory, 45-28. Trimble would then travel to take on the Federal Hocking Lancers on Thursday, but their offense would struggle as they fell, 59-21. The Tomcats hoped to bounce back on the road against cross-TVC opponent, the Vinton County Vikings, but they would lose 56-42. Despite the loss, Trimble’s Rilynn Fouts posted an impressive 29 points.  

This week puts the Trimble girls’ regular season record at 12-10 and 3-6 in the TVC-Hocking as they look ahead to the tournament. They will host the Sciotoville East Tartans at home next Wednesday in the first round of the tournament. 

  1. Southern Tornadoes | 9-12 (Conf. 2-8)

Written by: Charlie Ihlenfeld 

After a midseason eight-game skid, Southern managed to right the ship with two wins this week. While Trimble managed to defeat the Tornadoes 45-28 on Monday, they rebounded for a victory on Thursday over Eastern 54-40. It was Southern’s first win since December 26th against Ironton. Two days later, the Tornadoes earned their largest win of the season, routing the Miller Falcons, 59-19.  

Now, Southern gets ready for tournament basketball. They host South Webster at home for a chance to advance to the next round. While the conference slate has been unkind to the Tornadoes, it was a big year nonetheless. Southern earned their most wins since the 2016-17 season. Nestled under one of the deepest conferences in recent memory, the Tornadoes have built a foundation this year.  

  1. Eastern Eagles | 2-17 (Conf. 0-10)

Written by: Stephen Koroly 

The Eastern Lady Eagles have earned their second win right before tournament time. The Eagles this week traveled first to Meigs to face off against the Marauders. Eastern dominated this game with Braelyn Simpson putting up a Hero of The Week performance. She poured in 20 points to go along with 14 rebounds. The Eagles came away with a big 55-17 win over the Marauders in the end. Eastern then went home to the nest to finish out the regular season, playing against Southern. The Eagles put up a good fight but lost in this game 54-40.  

The Lady Eagles begin Ohio State Tournament play when they travel to take on Portsmouth West on February 12th at 7:00 P.M.