JAMESTOWN — Teams are supposed to improve as the season rolls along, but Greeneview’s boys varsity basketball team appears to being doing just that and then some more.
The host Rams never took an improved Springfield Catholic Central team lightly, jumped out to an early lead and stayed out in front for a 66-54 win, Jan. 28 at Greeneview High.
The win, combined with Cedarville’s Tuesday night 75-63 road loss to London Madison Plains, puts the Rams all alone atop the Ohio Heritage Conference South division standings with a 14-4 overall record, 10-2 in the OHC.
Rams coach Kyle Fulk said the improvement in his youthful team is there, and it’s made his squad even more balanced.
“Going into the season, we had three guys (senior Gabe Caudill and juniors Cole Allen and Rhett Burtch) whom we thought we could rely on, then some new players with little experience and some freshmen. And now I think those guys are starting to gain some confidence in what they’re doing. We’re trying to get healthy, and we’re just moving forward,” Kyle Fulk said. “I think all teams are that way, but with these freshmen, I think we’ve seen bigger jumps than some of those other guys.”
On Tuesday night, it was freshman guard Carter Williams stepping up to hit some big shots.
Caudill, who along with David Lehotay are the team’s only seniors this season, led the Rams with 18 points, Allen was next with 17, then Williams finished with 14. Burtch, Mason and Myles Witt, and Ethan Caudill combined to score the other 17 of the Rams’ points.
“Carter is one of those freshmen we have who is getting over some injuries, and he’s come back and has gained some confidence. There’s other guys who aren’t going to show up on the stat sheet, but they’re doing really good things for us. They’ve bought into their roles. They know what has to be done to make this team successful. They’ve bought into that, and I think that’s truly what’s made us successful,” Fulk said.
Catholic Central’s record may not show it (3-14, 2-10 OHC South), but the Fightin’ Irish appear to have improved through the season as well. Fulk said he was wary of SCC prior to Tuesday night’s game.
“They’re record isn’t reflective of how good they are,” he said. “I was worried about this game. They’ve got a lot of youth, but their guys are making big steps moving forward. I knew it was going to be a battle. It wasn’t going to be like the first time we played them.”
Greeneview rolled to a 62-34 win back on Dec. 6, 2019.
In Tuesday’s contest, sophomore Patrick Cavanaugh led the Irish with 17 points scored — and 12 of those came in the second half. Fellow sophomore Ashton Young scored 10 points, and senior center Colby Zeller battled foul troubles and still finished with nine.
Catholic Central will return to Butler County for its next game, where they’ll head over to Cedarville for a 7:30 p.m. contest on Friday, Jan. 31. Greeneview is back in action on Friday as well. They play at Greenon for a 7:30 p.m. matchup.
