First Posted: 1/28/2015
Bravo Lima!
What a special night we had Tuesday night with a sold out Lima Senior High School gymnasium and those there were there, watching two of the best teams — not just in our area, but in the state of Ohio — do battle in boys high school basketball.
Lima Senior and Lima Central Catholic.
And to the winner — the Lima Cup.
The Thunderbirds had won the previous five meetings versus the Spartans, but Tuesday night Lima Senior emerged victorious.
In fact, the game itself wasn’t nearly as good as the hype and anticipation that had preceded it.
Only that it wasn’t a close, down-to-the-wire type finish. Lima Senior led by double digits most of the game. The T-Birds got as close as eight points in the second half, but no closer.
But it was still a special night.
Did you know that tickets went on sale the morning of the game and were gone by 12:30 p.m. that afternoon?
Doors for the varsity game opened at 5 p.m., and by the time the junior varsity game started at 6 p.m., a huge crowd was already in place.
I have been to a lot of junior varsity games, and never before had I seen as many people watching the reserves until Tuesday night.
And by the by, the J.V. game was an exciting contest that was decided on a last second shot made by Lima Senior to win dramatically.
The crowd went crazy, too — for an ending of a J.V. game.
If you weren’t at Lima Senior, did you see the great photos in Wednesday’s Lima News of the sold out gymnasium?
It was awesome to a part of, for sure.
We just don’t see sold out gymnasiums very often for regular season match-ups.
On a Tuesday night, to boot.
And to think that there were rumors running rampant that the two schools may discontinue their rivalry in boys’ hoops.
Fortunately, that wasn’t true and it was announced Tuesday that Lima Senior and L.C.C. have signed on to play at least for the next four years.
And hopefully four more years after that.
And four more years after that.
Look, it is Lima Senior’s biggest gate of the season.
And when the game is at L.C.C., same deal, folks.
It has been a great game for many, many years.
Remember the Holiday tournament?
That also, included Bath and Shawnee, but my favorite memories were of the LCC/Lima Senior matchups.
And with the renewal of the rivalry and the implementation of the Lima Cup in 2002, I was pumped again.
What made this year’s contest so widely anticipated was the transferring of Xavier Simpson from LCC to Lima Senior, to play for his father, Quincey, who had become the Spartans’ head coach.
Also, throw in that the two programs are very, very good this year.
LCC will not play a better team than it did in Lima Senior until the state tournament.
The Spartans have tough games ahead, and remember they are Division I, which means their path to state will be a lot tougher as the road continues.
But this is a great game, no matter how good or bad the teams are.
Long live Lima Senior/LCC and the Lima Cup!
OTHER KOZA THOUGHTS:
• What’s taking the Browns so long in dumping Josh Gordon? They should have released him once it was reported that he had failed another drug test and is facing a one year ban from the NFL. Haven’t they tired of this act? I know I have.
• Are we tired of “deflategate?”
You betcha! But I think the Seahawks will win Super Bowl XLIX, because the Patriots will have to play with footballs that aren’t deflated, and they will have trouble holding on to the football throughout. (Just couldn’t help myself here.)
• Spring training is less than a month away folks, and Sportsradio 93.1 the Fan is bringing Indians broadcaster Jim Rosenhaus and Indians senior vice president of public relations Bobby DiBiasio to Lima to talk Tribe on Thursday Feb. 5.
Both will be live at Westgate Entertainment Center’s party room from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. to answer questions about the Indians and baseball. There will be door prizes, including Indians tickets and Tribe memorabilia. And the event is absolutely free to the public. See you there!
