There is a cycle to program success and frustration in high school athletics.
The vast majority of schools rarely remain at the top or the bottom for long periods of time. Great teams and great players come and go.
There are exceptions to this rule.
The prosperity of Bath’s girls basketball program and Marion Local’s football success come to mind.
But the fact is, the vast majority of high school coaches are forced to rebuild every few years and begin again the cycle of grooming a new cast of athletes and that often means struggling with mistakes as young players learn the ropes.
Lima Senior High and Lima Central Catholic are two programs that enter this new basketball season at the top of the cycle.
The Spartans, under the direction of second year coach Quincey Simpson, return an impressive cache of talent from a squad that came within one game of advancing to state last season.
Coach “Q” energized his alma mater after a period of rare mediocrity for the Lima Senior basketball program.
The Spartans boast, size, speed, depth and the best point guard in the state of Ohio. Xavier Simpson, who recently signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Michigan next year, will certainly be on the short list for Ohio’s Mr. Basketball.
Xavier follows an impressive line of great guards spawned here in the Lima area. He is the consummate playmaker, who can beat teams with his scoring, passing, defense and, most importantly, decision making.
If you don’t take the opportunity to see him and the Spartans play, you’re making a big mistake.
Lima Senior High opens at home with Toledo St. Francis on Friday, Dec. 4.
Lima Central Catholic returns almost their entire team intact from two consecutive trips to state where they collected a state championship and a runner-up trophy.
Coach Frank Kill’s Thunderbirds will be led by seniors Dantez Walton and Tre Cobbs.
Walton recently signed a letter-of-intent to play for Northern Kentucky University. The silky, smooth forward can shoot it from deep or finish at the rim with a thunderous dunk.
An injury forced Cobbs, an explosively athletic guard, to miss a summer of AAU basketball which hindered his recruitment, but he will certainly be playing college basketball next season.
LCC faces a grueling schedule which will help prepare them for a deep tournament run.
Their matchup with Lima Senior in late January will be a can’t miss game for serious basketball fans.
The Thunderbirds join Elida, Bath and Shawnee this weekend in the annual season opening Tip-Off Classic at the Elida Fieldhouse.
Speaking of the postseason tournament, a couple of notes:
The team that beat Lima Senior in the regional finals last season, Lakewood St. Edward, will be playing without their best player, Derek Funderburk, an Ohio State recruit who was the difference in the closing minutes of their tournament win over the Spartans last March. He has transferred to Hargrave Military Academy in Virginia, which also takes him out of the running for Ohio’s Mr. Basketball.
Ottawa-Glandorf moves up a division, which means there will be no match up with LCC in the tournament, a collision that fans have come to expect in recent years.
It may well be the last time these two proud programs ever meet in postseason play. This may come as a relief to fans from both schools who have sweated through those nerve racking tournament showdowns, but not me.
I loved coaching and watching that postseason battle. The anticipation, the drama and the passion produced by their clash is what high school basketball is all about.
There are many more interesting stories that will unfold in this new basketball season.
Regardless of where your favorite team fits in the cycle of success, get out and support them.
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